Concise Islamo-fascist Terrorism Assessment

A Washington Times commentary, Al Qaeda on the ropes?, on Sept 28, 2007, by Arnaud de Borchgrave is a concise assessment on the status of the war waged by Islamo-fascists. It is a harbinger of what is to come in the world-wide conflict.

…"Al Qaeda's organizing ability in cyberspace is unprecedented." Cyberpower has emerged as a complex ether power in which digital grass roots are truly global. Al Qaeda's 6,000-plus Web sites supply the ability to liberate and dominate at the same time. Al Qaeda now operates in virtual space with impunity in recruiting, proselytizing, plotting and planning.

In the ether (not the anesthetic), thought is a reality. For millions of Muslim surfers, the global caliphate and Shariah law exist. They have superseded the nation-state, whether the kingdom of Saudi Arabia or the Netherlands, where uhammad is the second most popular name for baby boys.

The Muslim world's extremists are roughly estimated at 1 percent of Islam's 1.3 billion adherents (or 13 million who see suicide bombers and other acts of terrorism as legitimate weapons of war against the U.S.-Zionist crusaders). The fundamentalists who approve of bin Laden, though not necessarily his MO, umber
about 130 million.

Extremist ranks include many well-educated, middle-class youngsters with computer skills. Some of the cells under surveillance in the United Kingdom include computer scientists and engineers. They travel online, meeting like-minded spirits in the virtual caliphate. Plotting has morphed from the mosque to the virtual global caliphate.

The world in on the cusp of the most disastrous war eclipsing all that we have imagined short of immediate nuclear annihilation in one fell swoop with the Soviet Union. However, the nuclear bomb component becomes an immediate reality should the government of Pakistan fall into the hands of the Islamo-fascists. Iran’s nuclear bomb is still in the future.

Unfortunately, without the help of the estimated 99% of Muslims currently classified as non-extremist, the war with Islamo-fascism is likely to be lost unless there are draconian steps taken. Given the crowing about Iraq by the turn tail and run crowd, we have a tough row to hoe.

Link in this Blog:
Al Qaeda on the ropes?

A Gay Place for Everyone

By now everyone is aware that there are no gays in Iran. The proof is Mahmud Ahmadinejad’s recent statement that it is so. He might be eventually right since he is trying to exterminate all of them. So it is refreshing to know that there are places in this troubled world which offer sanctuary and comfort to the “different.”

Take for instance San Francisco. No, you go ahead and take it. For all the beauty of the City by the Bay, it sure does have some strange characters, and they do like to flaunt their fetish driven lives.

Take an eye opening visit to the Folsom Street Fair 2007 web site for a peak at gay, leather, whips, chains, paddles and dog collars. If you hurry, you can still get to SF for tomorrow’s festivities.

As for me, I’ll stay in gang infested LA. I feel more comfortable with people that only want to steal from me or shoot me, as opposed to wearing a dog collar and other assorted leather items while someone whips or paddles my bare flesh.

Link in this Blog:
Folsom Street Fair 2007

Waiting for the Screams of Protest

Multiculturalists will love this one, and heaven forbid that anyone judge this ultraconservative Islamic view negatively.

A Saudi man divorced his wife for watching alone a television programme presented by a male, an act he deemed immoral, the Al Shams newspaper reported on Saturday.

The man…ended his marriage on the grounds his wife was effectively alone with an unrelated man, which is forbidden under the strict Islamic law…

OK all you liberals, leftists, feminists and politically correct college students, faculty and graduates, start bellowing your indignation. I can’t hear you!

Link in this Blog:
Saudi divorces wife for watching male TV host: report

F.B.I. Is Evolving To Meet the Need

On September 11, 2001 the U.S. got a wake-up call from the real world. While terrorism was not new to the homeland, it had very little media play and consequently the public had no idea what was, and is, hurtling over the horizon at them. Suddenly the F.B.I. found itself embarrassingly out-of-touch and well behind the curve. Consequently the F.B.I. took quite a drubbing by the 911 Commission.

One of the key problems in 2001, and to an extent still today, was the F.B.I.’s predominant role as a prosecutorial agency with a limited intelligence function. In addition, historically the F.B.I. often functionally clashed with federal prosecutorial and intelligence agencies and local law enforcement. Turf battles, bruised egos and compartmentalization on all sides prevailed. The interagency lack of cooperation was so great that local law enforcement agencies created their own intelligence sharing organization, Law Enforcement Intelligence Unit, in the 1950’s.

In the mid 1950's, local and state law enforcement agencies in the United States recognized that no single agency or organization was responsible for receiving, collating, maintaining, and disseminating information on persons involved in organized crime. These law enforcement agencies surmised correctly that organized crime would exploit advancing technologies in transportation and communications, become more mobile, and increase their spheres of influence and criminal activities.

As a result, twenty-six (26) law enforcement agencies met in San Francisco, California on March 29, 1956 to discuss problems and possible solutions. The most important result of that meeting was the creation of the LEIU – The LAW ENFORCEMENT INTELLIGENCE UNIT and the development of an organizational purpose that survives to this day.

You will notice that LEIU was originally comprised of, “…local and state law enforcement agencies in the United States…” Federal agencies need not apply. It is only in the last couple of years that LEIU invited federal agencies to join the organization in a somewhat limited fashion. Someone had to offer an olive branch after 50 years.

Local and state law enforcement has its own intrinsic problems. From my blog Domestically, How are We Doing on National Security?

Basically until the 9/11/01 attacks, local and state law enforcement was asleep and unaware of the magnitude of a problem not just on the horizon, but already entrenched in our towns and cities. That is especially true of the small and medium size departments, which were not members of a FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF). Large departments, such as the Los Angeles Police Department and the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Office, have enjoyed the luxury of holding full membership on the LA JTTF for many years. JTTF members are privy to a large amount of information concerning terrorist organizations and supporters present in the U.S. Unfortunately, that information is only sparingly and occasionally shared with non-member agencies even though the target individuals often work and live in a non-member’s jurisdiction. And, information that is potentially available from smaller agencies may not ever see the light of day or be passed to a JTTF.

In an effort to rectify the institutional barriers to sharing information and working together, the F.B.I. is beginning to reach out in areas previously un-served by a Joint Terrorism Task Force and create new multi-jurisdictional task forces.

In addition to solving inter-agency issues, the F.B.I. has internal issues that must be rectified as well. Like most law enforcement agencies, the F.B.I. has both sworn agents and civilian analysts. Needless to say, the agents have the prestigious jobs and the analysts as not so well esteemed by the organization.

The F.B.I. recognized that they needed to hire more analysts and other non-sworn positions, but they were having a difficult time getting the people. So in 2005, they recommended lowering the requirements to be hired to increase the potential pool of applicants. That was a wrong-headed suggestion. Quoted in my blog, FBI Suggests Lowering Requirements,

The FBI, famous for its straight-laced crime-fighting image, is considering whether to relax its hiring rules over how often applicants could have used marijuana or other illegal drugs earlier in life.

The change would ease limits about how often — and how many years ago — applicants for jobs such as intelligence analysts, linguists, computer specialists, accountants and others had used illegal drugs.

The rules, however, would not be relaxed for FBI special agents, the fabled "G-men" who conduct most criminal and terrorism investigations. Also, the new plan would continue to ban current drug use.

I wrote in response to the suggested changes.

Drug use and financial problems are key issues in law enforcement since both can make a person susceptible to corruption and recruitment to treason. Obviously law enforcement agencies can not afford to have officers corrupted. What is amazing is that the FBI considers analysts, linguists, computer specialists, and accountants of lesser importance than sworn officers. Is that an example of sworn officer elitism or FBI bureaucratic ineptitude? A foreign intelligence agent compromising an FBI intelligence analyst could be a far greater coup than compromising a sworn FBI agent.

The FBI is undoubtedly, like law enforcement in general, having a difficult time recruiting quality people. The problem is not that there is a lack of qualified people in the population, but rather a problem of competing with the wages, benefits, and working conditions of private industry.

On Wednesday, the Washington Post reported that the F.B.I. in undergoing a reorganization that is long over-due. To be successful in the new intelligence driven world, the F.B.I. must reform its bureaucratic and personal prejudices about sworn and non-sworn employees.

“David Laufman, a former Justice Department lawyer who prosecuted several of the government's major terrorism cases since the 2001 attacks…” stated,

…the FBI reorganization must "overcome the agent culture of the bureau" and allow intelligence analysts to drive the case agents, much like MI5's domestic intelligence, which drives the investigations of Scotland Yard in Britain.

"The key to making this successful is to build a first-class analytical cadre, give counterterrorism analysts equivalent stature to agents in the FBI's counterterrorism culture, and create an environment where analysts and agents continuously and seamlessly work together to identify relationships, sources of funding and operational plotting,"

Significant points to the current F.B.I. reorganization include:

The FBI has begun the most comprehensive realignments of its counterterrorism division in six years so it can better detect the growing global collaborations by terrorists and dismantle larger terrorist enterprises, according to senior bureau officials.

The bureau will merge its two international terrorism units -- one for Osama bin Laden’s followers and the other for more established groups such as Hezbollah-- into a new structure that borrows both from Britain’s MI5 domestic intelligence agency and the bureau's own successful efforts against organized-crime families…

Driving the reorganization is a recognition that terrorism is coming home to roost in this country and a significant amount of it is and will be from residents within the country.

The changes have been driven partly by a growing number of FBI cases involving self-styled terrorist cells inside the United States that were inspired by al-Qaeda and bin Laden but receive support, advice or encouragement from disparate sympathizers across the globe, making group allegiances far less important.

I wrote in 2005 about this issue in my blog Black Islamic Terrorism and Crime Linked in LA

There is a tremendous potential for American homegrown black Islamo-fascist terror in the U.S.

The F.B.I.’s evolvement from a primarily prosecutorial agency toward an intelligence driven model for counter-terrorism is significant and no easy task. Again from the WaPo article.

Borrowing from its mob-busting strategies in the 1980s, the bureau will encourage counterterrorism agents to forgo immediate arrests when an imminent threat is not present, allowing the surveillance of terrorism suspects to last longer. The aim is to identify collaborators, facilitators and sympathizers who increasingly span across multiple groups and countries,…

The goal is,

The new approach is meant to channel raw intelligence and threat information through "desk officers" with expertise on specific world regions or terrorist groups, allowing those experts to spot trends and set investigative strategies for field agents and joint terrorism task forces that collaborate with local law enforcement,…

Those desk officers will in large part be civilian analysts. Let’s hope those analysts get the respect organizationally that they richly deserve. And, I hope the F.B.I. did not lower its hiring standards.

Links in this blog:
LEIU

Domestically, How are We Doing on National Security?

FBI Suggests Lowering Requirements

FBI Reorganizes Effort to Uncover Terror Groups' Global Ties

Black Islamic Terrorism and Crime Linked in LA

Illegal Alien U. S. Constitutional Rights

Obviously the courts have ruled that illegal alien’s have certain rights when they are in the U. S. For instance, the right to a deportation hearing. That’s probably an acceptable process, as opposed to a right, as a check and balance to be sure that the government is not deporting a lawful alien or a citizen by mistake. But in that case, it is the welfare of the lawful alien or the citizen that is paramount, not the welfare of the illegal alien.

We may hold certain rights to be inalienable rights, rights given from a higher authority, but that is merely a justification for throwing off the yoke of the British imperialism. It is not the same as deeming that rights accorded as a result of American law need be applicable to everyone in the world. To do otherwise is absurd, and it is not my view of a proper application of American exceptionalism.

Illegal aliens are now filing a lawsuit because Danbury, Connecticut, police arrested illegal aliens for being illegal aliens.

Ten Hispanic immigrants filed a lawsuit on Wednesday against a Connecticut city, its mayor and police chief, and federal agents who led a crackdown on illegal immigration last year.

The suit filed in U.S. District Court in New Haven, Connecticut, claims the arrests violated the civil rights of nine workers and a 10th man who was stopped at a traffic light, including their right to due legal process, free speech and freedom from unreasonable searches and seizures, according to court documents.

Due legal process, free speech and freedom from unreasonable searches and seizures are Constitutional rights. No where in the Constitution, which I know of, expressly states that our laws are applicable to non-citizens. When we choose to extend the courtesy of allowing non-citizens access to our rights, those non-citizens should be required to extend the courtesy of obeying all of our laws. To do otherwise strikes at the core of sovereignty, and the end results are absurd lawsuits and a country filling with people stealing the very essence of the American dream. What is really stupid is that Americans are helping them do it.

Link in this blog:
Hispanic immigrants sue U.S. city after crackdown

Why Does Government Thieve from Citizens to Benefit Illegal Aliens?

From a Washington Times Editorial on 8/27/07 entitled California Travesty.

Dr. Gene Rogers had a pretty good idea of what was coming when he saw his supervisor and a county security officer arrive at his office door. His supervisor was holding paperwork; the security guard was holding an empty box.

Dr. Gene Rogers knew what they had come to do, and why they were doing it. As the medical director for Sacramento County's Indigent Services program for the better part of the past decade, Dr. Rogers has waged a long fight against the central California county's practice of providing non-emergency medical care to illegal immigrants — a policy he says violates federal law and results in the poorest American citizens being denied the care they deserve.

And, why was he fired?

No reason for his termination was offered, but then he didn't really expect one. "Sacramento County knowingly violated state and federal laws, misappropriated taxpayer revenues and diverted funds designated for indigent citizens to pay for services delivered to illegal aliens,"…

Dr. Rogers backed his misappropriation assertions with a lawsuit, which is pending appeal in a Federal Court.

Dr. Rogers filed a lawsuit in 2003 after county officials "stonewalled" him when he questioned why they were cutting budgets while still providing non-emergency medical treatment to people who have no legal right to be in the country.

Dr. Rogers explained.

"I've seen cases and case histories of patients who essentially have come up from Mexico for the express purpose of being treated here, and then leaving to return home," Dr. Rogers said. "I've watched illegal immigrants brazenly demand free, non-emergency health care that was meant for our poorest citizens. I've heard them and their families complain. They feel entitled to it." Dr. Rogers filed a lawsuit in 2003 after county officials "stonewalled" him when he questioned why they were cutting budgets while still providing non-emergency medical treatment to people who have no legal right to be in the country.

This story has the ring of truth to it. When a man jeopardizes his job to file a lawsuit on behalf of the citizens of this country with no benefit to himself, he deserves to be heard.

Link in this blog:
California travesty

Leftist is Profane & Child Like

I lived through the student Vietnam anti-war demonstrations and the 1960’s free speech demonstrations at the University of California at Berkeley. And, I witnessed a number of leftist demonstrations in the last 30 years. I concluded that there is one unseemly leftist characteristic that transcends the immaturity of youth, the proclivity of expressing oneself in profane terms, which foretells the lack of a cogent argument. It is perhaps the result of an inability to express oneself intellectually.

In Colorado Springs, the Rocky Mountain Collegian at Colorado State University joined the ranks of the profane.

A four word editorial with a four letter word in it is sparking a spirited discussion on free speech at Colorado State University.

The Rocky Mountain Collegian published an editorial on page 4 of the paper Friday which read "Taser this ... F*** Bush." The expletive was spelled out.

Often the profanity is linked to accusations of “Nazi” or “Hitler.” You come to expect that sort of thing from childish minds.

Links in this blog:
Profane Language Puts Student Editor's Job On Line

Brown Pelican 1st Year Juvenile

Greatest “Ass” Award Reveals True Colors

I received an e-mail entitled the “Greatest “Ass” Award” from a dear friend, a woman that I’ve known for many years. The third runner-up is the photo depicted herein. The second runner-up was of a standing male with his pants down to his knees. And, the winner was, yes you guessed it, a photo of Pres. George Bush. Here is my reply to my friend.

Dear…,

Your e-mail is either directed to females or gay males. That’s ok, but I’m wondering why you, therefore, sent it to me.

The characterizing of a person as an “ass” is not the provision of just the left/liberal. There is an e-mail going around depicting Hillary Clinton as the rear end of a horse.

Having said all of that, I don’t take offense at the jab at the President. You notice that I capitalized the “P” which signifies not only the office title, but also the respect for the office. While I would do the same for ex-Presidents Clinton and Carter, their presidencies only merit a small “p” based upon their performance. You can dislike Pres. Bush all you like, and he has made lots of mistakes. Given today’s world conditions, the alternative of having had Gore or Kerry as President is too horrible to consider. I find that people who hate Pres. Bush don’t seem to have much of a concept of how bad these two alternatives would have been.

I imagine that most liberal/leftists (there is a dramatic shrinking gap between the two today) will get a big kick out of your e-mail because they literally hate Pres. Bush. The hate is characteristic of the left and somewhat representative of liberals because they are generally more emotionally based people. And, it is emotions, rather than intellect, that guides and colors their political persuasion. It is, therefore, understandable that there are greater percentages of females in the leftist and liberal camps than males. And, it is my experience from public demonstrations that females are generally more volatile and profane than males.

It is not the shot at Pres. Bush that I find offensive with your e-mail. It is the photo of the male lying on an American flag. The American flag represents the blood of hundreds of thousands of Americans that has been spilled for your freedom to take pot-shots at the President. The male might just as well be stomping on the flag. The flag is to be flown proudly and not disrespected by being placed on the ground and laid upon as if it were a blanket.

You probably never even gave the depicted American flag a second glance. Most leftists/liberals probably would not, as well. Basic respect of the flag, as a symbol of freedom and the sacrifice for that freedom, are not core values of leftists. They show more respect to the butcher Che Guevara.

Now, I don’t believe that you are a leftist by any stretch of the imagination. But, you do profess the emotional response of liberals in respect to your disdain for our President. You do have the right to do so, and you do have the right to be short-sighted and ill-informed. But, I suggest that you rethink your positions. If you can’t be passionately opposed to what the leftist philosophy portends for your own sake, you might start considering what all this means for your grandchildren.

The Racist Pot Calls the Kettle White

The self-righteous Reverend Jesse Jackson is playing the race card again. But what the heck, he’s good at it. Why stop when you have a good thing going? This time he attacked another black, in the person of Barrack Obama.

Jackson sharply criticized presidential hopeful and Illinois Sen. Barack Obama for “acting like he’s white” in what Jackson said has been a tepid response to six black juveniles’ arrest on attempted-murder charges in Jena, La. Jackson, who also lives in Illinois, endorsed Obama in March, according to The Associated Press.

Perhaps someone can clarify the qualities of acting white. Add in the qualities of acting black. Maybe we can then have a dialogue. Unfortunately, we are stuck with Jackson doing what he does best, demonizing and bullying by using race. Jesse Jackson is as much of a racist as is a Ku Klux Klan member. No wonder Obama does not want to join Jackson’s latest racist tirade.

Links in this blog:
Jackson criticizes Obama

Conviction in Jena case overturned

Britney Spears and the Big Three Evils

Can you believe it? A former security guard for Britney Spears (a terminated security guard) is willing to testify in a custody hearing about

"nudity, drug use and safety issues post-rehab."*

And, Spears is going to temporarily lose custody of the children.

I’m sure glad to know that nudity ranks right up there with drug use and safety issues when considering the welfare of the children. Heaven knows that the 2 and 1 year old boys will be permanently scarred by seeing someone nude. What do you suppose they think of themselves nude?

Link in this blog:
Britney Spears Will Temporarily Lose Custody of Her Children

Impassioned Demonstrators Make for A Lively Day in Simi Valley

Here’s the backstory. The United Church of Christ in Simi Valley elected to join the New Sanctuary Movement and shelter an illegal alien and her U.S. born son. Liliana is subject to deportation and chose to go into “sanctuary” (there is legally no such thing in the U.S.) ICE actually facilitated the sanctuary move by not arresting her at her home. When she complained that she is breast feeding her child, ICE gave her a few days to get her affairs in order. Liliana chose to thumb her nose at the generosity and appealed to the New Sanctuary Movement to shelter her. Now anti-illegal immigration and pro-illegal immigration groups are standing nose to nose on the issue.

Yesterday, the two groups held opposing demonstrations in front of the church, each trying to out-shout the other. There is not much print coverage on the event, but you can read about it in a Ventura County Star article, Protesters target Simi church.

Each side of the equation was passionate in expressing their position on these important issues of our time. People took great efforts and sacrificed a goodly portion of their Sunday to exercise their First Amendment rights. As raucous and disrespectful as it may have been, you’ve got to admire folks who have better things to do than to go to the Minneapolis airport to view the bathroom stall where Senator Larry Craig was arrested. I wrote on the vacuous bathroom voyeurs in Shallow Is As Shallow Does.

Public demonstrations are expensive to police, and we all pay the bill. But, it is a cost of freedom that must be borne. We owe a debt of gratitude to those people willing to stand up for their beliefs, no matter on which side the line they stand.

Links in this blog:
Protesters target Simi church

Shallow Is As Shallow Does

Shallow Is As Shallow Does

By now the whole world must know about Senator Larry Craig’s arrest in a Minneapolis Airport bathroom for engaging in preliminary homosexual contact activity. But, do you know that the bathroom in question has become a tourist attraction? From an AP article,

It's because they want to see the stall made famous by U.S. Sen. Larry Craig's arrest in a sex sting.

"It's become a tourist attraction," said Karen Evans, information specialist at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport. "People are taking pictures."

Here is a clear example that there is quite a segment of society that are losers in their own right given that they have nothing more engaging in their lives than visiting said bathroom.

"We had to just stop and check out the bathroom," Sally said. "In fact, it's Jon's second time _ he was here last week already."

You’ve got to wonder about the future of the American society when this sort of stuff is important to people.

Link in this blog:
Travelers Ask To See Craig Bathroom

Wish These Were My Parents, I’d Be So Proud

Picture this: you are boy three to four years old and you wear a Mohawk hairdo at least 3 inches tall; your father is wearing a Superman shirt; and your mother looks like the other photograph. Don’t miss Dad’s forearm decoration. What are your prospects of reaching adulthood as a mature, well adjusted individual? Oh, by the way, Halloween is still seven weeks away.

From my blog The Conformity of Non-Conformity or How I Learned to Love the Tattoo,

Noted psychiatrist Dr. Stephen Marmer stated on Dennis Prager’s nationally syndicated radio show sometime ago that individuals who have not done anything to earn recognition will get a tattoo as a way of saying look at me, I’m somebody.

I quoted Thomas Sowell in my blog Look At Me,

People can get attention either from their accomplishments or from their deliberate attempts to get attention. Today, almost everywhere you look, people seem to be putting their efforts into getting attention.

Wild hairdos, huge tattoos, pierced body parts, outlandish clothing, weird statements -- all these have become substitutes for achievements.

So lovers of ink, what do you think? I am just asking because I doubt that the little boy requested the hair style all by himself.

Links in this Blog:
The Conformity of Non-Conformity or How I Learned to Love the Tattoo

Look At Me

Sex Offenders, Moral Morass-Exhibit Two Revisited

The organization Human Rights Watch released a new report on sex offense laws restricting, among other things, where a convicted sex offender may not live after release and completion of his criminal sentence.

"These are laws that weren't based on reason -- they were based on a few horrific cases," said Jamie Fellner, director of the U.S. program at Human Rights Watch. "But it's very difficult for politicians to demonstrate the courage to urge changes in these laws."

In the broader scheme of things, Human Rights Watch has a point relative to some sex offense convictions. Read my previous piece, Sex Offenders, Moral Morass-Exhibit Two.

Re the Human Rights Watch report,

The report, titled "No Easy Answers," criticizes the three main categories of laws that have spread nationwide in the past 15 years: those that require registration of convicted sex offenders; create online registries accessible to the public; and impose residency restrictions which ban registered offenders from living near schools, parks and other designated facilities.

On the subject of a recently self-avowed pedophile, the LA Times published a ill-conceived piece entitled, What to do with the innocent pedophile? I replied to the LA Times in my blog, Los Angeles Times Unhinged on Pedophile & Civil Rights.

Human Rights Watch misses the point that the public is so frightened by sexual victimization of our young that they are willing to impose, via legislation, extra punitive conditions above and beyond the standard incarceration penalties. In essence, the public judges the continuing welfare of the child to be more important than the quality of the life of the probable re-offender after release from prison. The people have spoken, so be it. “If you can’t do the time, don’t do the crime.”

That being said, there is a whole realm of “sexual offenses” that have been scooped up and thrown in the basket with predation upon children. A little common sense and less hysteria among the populous would be helpful. However, until the public gets a healthy perspective relative to separating the human body from the behavior of sexual activity and child sexual predation, innocent people will suffer the consequences. That’s the nature of living within a society, any society.

Links in this blog:
Report Criticizes State Federal Sex Offender Laws

Sex Offenders, Moral Morass-Exhibit Two

What to do with the innocent pedophile?

Los Angeles Times Unhinged on Pedophile & Civil Rights

Unpatriotic Relativism-A Cancer in the Body of Freedom

You’ve probably seen the news piece on the high school that has banned the wearing of clothing depicting a country’s flag, all flags including the American flag.

Under a new school rule, students at Hobbton High School are not allowed to wear items with flags, from any country, including the United States.

And why did the school impose the ban?

The new rule stems from a controversy over students wearing shirts bearing flags of other countries.

And, what is the rationale?

The superintendent of schools in Sampson County calls the situation unfortunate, but says educators didn’t want to be forced to pick and choose which flags should be permissible.

Here’s a revelation for the superintendent of schools in Sampson County. It is real simple; see if you can get a grasp on the concept. You have some disruptive problem in school with students wearing clothing depicting flags of other countries, then ban it and explain how your ban does not violate the First Amendment. But, when you banned the American flag you equated the United States with all other countries. That’s called relativism, which is symptomatic of liberal and leftist philosophies.

If there is someone in the school system that has a specific problem with the depiction of the American flag, invite that person to get a job or an education with a different school district.

The Sampson County educators are a bunch of gutless, sorry excuses for Americans. They represent the cancer that is growing ever so prevalent in our society. These “educators” are incapable of recognizing that the American flag is representative of the country with the best values in the world. And, these spineless relativists are in charge of our educational system?

OK parents of Sampson County; Do you have any spine? Throw the bums out. If you don’t, you have nothing to lose but the education of your children. You have no one to blame but yourselves when your children develop concepts inimical to the unique values that built America.

America is under attack from without and within by Islamo-fascism, and it is rotting within from leftist philosophy. I am an optimist by nature, but it is getting harder and harder to feel good about so many of my fellow Americans.

Update 9/14/2007
The flag ban is rescinded.

Superintendent Dr. L. Stewart Hobbs, Jr said they have lifted the ban on flags and “from this point on, all dress code changes will be made at the school board level.”

Hobbs said the county has a dress code policy in place and says individual school dress codes are not allowed.

According to Hobbs, the policy all stems from information from law enforcement of gangs wearing foreign flags as gang symbols and the board does have a policy to prevent gang signs in schools.

Strange how the beacon of national attention can put a spotlight on the decay in the body politic and cause a change of policy. The disturbing fact is that the school district didn’t have the right thinking in the first place. Just because it was spanked doesn’t change the root cause for its impertinence.

Link in this blog:
High School Bans American Flag

School Rescinds Ban On Flag Clothing

Freedom Walk Ronald Reagan Library

Deena Burnett Baily, whose husband Tom Burnett was a principal in the small group of men who took back Flight 93 from the Islamo-fascist hijackers and thwarted the intended crash into the White House.

9/11-Remembering Frances Cilente & the Day She was Murdered

Is it unreasonable that some people don’t want to continue the public 9/11 remembrance ceremonies? After all it has been 2,191 days, and how long can you grieve? For those who lost relatives, I’ll leave it to them to make their individual decisions on grieving. For the rest of us, I suggest that allowing the event to slide over the horizon of awareness is a major mistake. Our enemies have not forgotten. On that subject matter, Cal Thomas wrote this,

Terrorists have not forgotten 9/11. Tape of the Twin Towers is used on jihadist Websites for the purpose of recruiting new "martyrs."

Some people suggest that ceremony weariness, a fatigue, has set-in. From an article by N.R. Kleinfield.

Each year, murmuring about Sept. 11 fatigue arises, a weariness of reliving a day that everyone wishes had never happened. It began before the first anniversary of the terrorist attack. By now, though, many people feel that the collective commemorations, publicly staged, are excessive and vacant, even annoying.

There is shallowness and a weakness in the spirit and psyche of some Americans. Yes, that is it, isn’t it? How does that happen? Is it a function of a society with too much individual prosperity and a sense of entitlement? Or, could it be a function of so many people getting a liberal college education predominately controlled by an overarching leftist philosophy? Is it a function of losing positive personal values? Is it a function of becoming secular? Is it a function of a liberal education system taking advantage of the parental abdication of educational responsibilities? Is it a function of the main stream media deliberately pushing an agenda contrary to the interests of America and failing to educate the public on the issues? Most likely, it is a combination of all of the above.

Kleinfield continues with this perplexing paragraph.

As life pushes on in its ragged way, it is natural that the U.S. fixation on an ominous event becomes ruptured and its anniversary starts to wear out. Commemorations of horrific events exist worldwide, like the annual ceremony in Hiroshima, Japan, to mark the first wartime use of a nuclear bomb. Many European cities mark the end of World War I each year.

The rest of the world gets it, but Americans don’t? If we are to believe the previous quotation, perhaps it is so.

More from Kleinfield.

But few Americans give much thought anymore on Dec. 7 to the fact that Pearl Harbor was attacked in 1941 (the date to live in infamy). Similar subdued attention is paid to other scarring U.S. tragedies: the Kennedy assassination (Nov. 22, 1963), the Kent State shootings (May 4, 1970), the Oklahoma City bombing (April 19, 1995). Already since Sept. 11 there have been Katrina and Virginia Tech in the United States. And people have their own, more circumscribed agonies.

While each of the above incidents were tragic in their own right, it is only Pearl Harbor Day that is paramount and on the level of the 9/11 events. As it was in 1941, 9/11/2001 dramatically signals the necessity of the U.S. to proactively enter a world wide conflict and get on a war footing to defeat the threat. That war footing requires large scale personal sacrifice across the breadth of society. It happened in World War II, but it has not happened this time around.

Despite what has been negatively stated of some Americans herein, I suspect that future historians will judge the Islamo-fascist attacks on 9/11/2001 to have been a colossal mistake by Usama bin Ladin and his Al Qaeda. Based upon American foreign policy behavior since the days of the Vietnam War, bin Ladin and crew misjudged the core resilience of Americans. Islamists should have been content to silently take control through the mechanism of population growth dynamics, which are occurring world wide, especially in Europe. Had they waited 40 or 50 more years before striking, Europe would have been theirs for the taking. And, the fifth column population growth in the U.S., with the concomitant infiltration into government and the military, would have been significant enough to cause serious disruptions.

I suspect that the recognition of the Islamo-fascist threat by Pres. George W. Bush and his subsequent resolve to engage the problem has set the stage for the eventual demise of Islamo-fascism. Pres. George Bush has the American resilience that is totally lacking in American leftists and mostly lacking in American true liberals. Thank God we elected Pres. Bush and not Al Gore or John Kerry at this crucial juncture in time.

Until Islamo-fascism is defeated we must fixate on their barbarity. The 9/11 events are just one gigantic example.

Unlike those who lost someone on 9/11 or lived the event, most of us don’t have a strong personal attachment to the day. One way I fixate is to remember Frances Ann Cilente, previously unknown to me, who lost her life at the WTC. On last year’s anniversary, I wrote about her in my blog entitled, “Frances Ann Cilente Remembered.” The research I did on Frances Cilente made her life and the loss to her family and friends quite real to me. She is not just a name on a list. She became my sister.

Sis was murdered six years ago today by Islamo-fascists who supported the philosophy of doing the same to all of us, and that’s important to remember.

Links in this blog:
Forget 9/11 At Our Peril-Cal Thomas
New Yorkers split over how to commemorate Sept. 11 attack-N.R. Kleinfield
Frances Ann Cilente Remembered

Veterans For Peace Have Their Heads In The Sand

On Sundays, Chapter 54 of the Veterans for Peace construct Arlington West at the foot of the Santa Barbara Pier at the intersection of Cabrillo Blvd. and State St., in Santa Barbara. The commemoration is for each U.S. military life lost in Iraq. Chapter 54 posted this on their website:

Veterans For Peace (VFP) is a national non-profit 501(c)(3) educational and humanitarian organization dedicated to the abolition of war. Santa Barbara Veterans for Peace, local chapter 54 was formed during Operation Desert Shield in 1990 to question the use of war as an instrument of foreign policy. Our chapter of Veterans for Peace initiated the Arlington West memorial to call attention to the human cost of the war in Iraq.

Operation Desert Storm was a coalition of countries under the auspice of the United Nations specifically charged with removing Sadam Hussein’s Iraqi forces from occupying and raping Kuwait. There can not be much of a better rational for the use of force than the repelling of a brutal tyrant that has taken over a peaceful country solely for his own benefit.

VFP Santa Barbara says that they wish to abolish war. That is a noble idea, if both sides of a conflict are in accord on the issue. Based upon written material at the site, VFP zeros in on some conspiratorial military-industrial complex that is alleged to be at the root of our wars. There was also something about global warming, but how that is relevant to war is beyond me.

The national VFP website says this.

We draw on our personal experiences and perspectives gained as veterans to raise public awareness of the true costs and consequences of militarism and war - and to seek peaceful, effective alternatives.

I assume that the VFP would never sanction the use of military force under any circumstance, until the enemy began cutting off their heads. But, I could be wrong. They could die bleating like sheep.

What struck me as strange was that the Santa Barbara VFP members on duty at Arlington West yesterday were all about my age; Vietnam War age. That means that they probably have grandchildren. I am not interested is gambling with my grandchildren’s lives when there is a sworn enemy who wants to kill them. What’s wrong with these VFP? Were they so scared by war that they are willing to sacrifice their own grandchildren? What happened to the concept of standing up for those you love? Wishing that the world were different and placing all blame on the U.S. is intellectually stupid. Life has many inequities and hardships. Get over it!

As soon as someone comes up with viable “…peaceful, effective alternatives.” to military conflict, I’d sure like to see them put in operation. Until then, I’ll discount the VFP who advocate a foreign policy that facilitates the eventual enslavement or killing of my grandchildren.

However, I thank VFP for Arlington West to remind each of us of the sacrifice being made for us by our own people. That’s not the sacrifice of a Sunday standing around in the beautiful weather on a Santa Barbara beach. For all the VFP’s good intentions about ending war, they might just as well stick their heads in the sand instead of all those white crosses. Their time would be better spent educating the public about the Islamo-fascist evil that is causing all of those crosses in the sand.

Links in this blog:
Veterans for Peace Chapter 54 Santa Barbara

Arlington West

Veterans for Peace

Most Were Blind to His Presence

Today this regal Great Blue Heron was prominently displayed on foliage next to some water at the intersection of State St and Cabrillo Blvd., in Santa Barbara, CA. Pedestrians trooped by without so much as glancing in his direction. While I was photographing him, one couple momentarily stopped, looked and then walked off without so much as an ooh or an ah. Oh well, it’s their loss to not to appreciate this magnificent bird.

Fun Day In The Water on the Eve of 9/11

Considering all the commonality that exists among humans, you would think that we could all get along together and that we would have a commonality of life expectations. Consider this photo of families enjoying the water. As you can see, everyone seems to be having a good time. Well, we really can’t determine about the woman in the foreground. But, presumably she is enjoying herself. At least her man seems happy.

Is there a fly in the ointment here? There certainly is, and it is the fact that the woman is probably happy with her circumstances so much so that she will willingly inflict a like fate on her daughters. And, that includes female circumcision, if that practice is included in her cultural heritage. Of course, in every culture there will be those females who object to the subjugation, but they have little alternative outside of suicide.

The Western world had better understand the mindset depicted here. This woman is most likely a willing participant in the process intended to lead toward your conversion to Islam and your ultimate subjugation. It is the goal of Islam to convert the entire world to Islam. It is the goal of Islamo-fascism to impose the conversion under threat of death. To the Islamo-fascist it is a simple directive: convert or die.

If you don’t believe that truth, you are either uninformed from a lack of exposure to world conditions or you are a member of the blinder crowd that previously denied the seriousness of or supported Nazi Germany and Communism. And, you can’t read the Islamic handwriting on the wall. It is your attitude that is inhibiting the U.S. from getting on a war footing to truly address the Islamo-fascist threat. You are the ones who don’t understand the significance of the war in Iraq and Afghanistan. And, you don’t understand that they are only theaters in the greater world war. The Muslims understand this simple truth, and many of them still live as if in the Stone Age. It is fascinating how the so called educated Western Man can be so ignorant. Apparently you think that 9/11/2001 just happened, and that is all there is to it.

New York City Madrassa Helping the Fifth Column

The New York City Education System jumped right out front in the development of a slew of bi-lingual schools teaching in at least Chinese, Spanish and now Arabic. The original concept of bi-lingual education was to be a mechanism to bring non-English speaking students along academically while they are learning English. That seems like a good idea in a quest to assimilate and make productive citizens of the students. But, that is not good enough for New Yorkers.

The Khalil Gibran International Academy is not a bi-lingual school in the traditional concept. Rather, it is a school to teach the Arabic culture and the Arabic language as a second language.

A public school in New York that will teach Arabic language and culture opened Tuesday amid accusations that it will impose a radical Islamist agenda in its classrooms.

The Arabic school has many detractors who allege that the school is a potential breeding ground for terrorists. That is probably a little bit of a harsh assessment. But, there is no doubt that the school is pandering to the Muslim community and spending public dollars to do so. If the non-Arabic speaking Muslims want to learn to speak and read Arabic, let them attend regular public schools and petition the teaching of Arabic as a second language.

By teaching in a sequestered school both the Arabic language and the Arabic culture, you can be sure that there is a heavy emphasis on Islam. That puts the school into the realm of being a publicly funded madrassa. This is a dangerous precedent and a severe threat to the American society by supporting a culture that wants to impose Sharia and Islam upon all.

Do you suppose that there is any agenda on the part of non-Arabic reading Muslims to learn the language of the Koran? That is in and of itself a danger because it is a fundamentalist Muslim concept that the Koran must be read in Arabic and not a translation.

The New York City Education System has developed a mechanism for the public to pay for the potential fueling of the growing Fifth Column of American citizens.

Links in this blog:
New York public school accused of radical Islamist agenda

New York's first Arabic school opens under police guard

Update 4/10/08: Muslim Educational Trojan Horse

Socialism with a Personal Responsibility Twist

Here’s a novel twist; The British are suggesting that the National Health Service withhold certain services to those who live an “unhealthy lifestyle.”

Failing to follow a healthy lifestyle could lead to free NHS treatment being denied under the Tory plans.

But heavy smokers, the obese and binge drinkers who were a drain on the NHS could be denied some routine treatments such as hip replacements until they cleaned up their act.

Also, the NHS already demands that obese patients lose weight before receiving hip replacements.

What is the world coming to? The next thing you know, they’ll require everyone to work in order to be eligible to receive public benefits. Do you suppose that the virus of personal responsibility could spread to the U.S.? If that happened, what would become of the Democratic Party’s trump card to appeal to the masses?

Link in this blog:
NHS should not treat those with unhealthy lifestyles' say Tories

She-Ra Frightened Me So Much…

“This frightened me so much that I decided I'd send it as a warning to all my friends!” wrote a friend of mine. Appended was a missive from an unknown author. My wife and I laughed so hard the tears were streaming. Normally I don’t quote unknown sources and certainly not an entire piece. But, I’ve made an exception here since a quick check with Google shows that the piece is all over the Internet. Enjoy, and kudos to the unknown author for a bit of splendid writing.

All hair removal methods have tricked women with their promises of easy painless removal - The epitorture, scissors, razors, Nair and now…the wax. My night began as any other normal weeknight. Come home, fix dinner, play with the kids. I then had the thought that would ring painfully in my mind for the next few hours: "Maybe I should pull the waxing kit out of the medicine cabinet."

So I headed to the site of my demise: the bathroom. It was one of those "cold wax" kits. No melting a clump of hot wax, you just rub the strips together in your hand, they get warm and you peel them apart and press them to your leg (or wherever else) and you pull the hair right off.

No muss, no fuss. How hard can it be? I mean, I'm not a genius, but I am mechanically inclined enough to figure this out. (YA THINK!?!) So I pull one of the thin strips out. Its two strips facing each other stuck together. Instead of rubbing them together, my genius kicks in so I get out the hair dryer and heat it to 1000 degrees. ("Cold wax," yeah...right!)

I lay the strip across my thigh. Hold the skin around it tight and pull. It works! OK, so it wasn't the best feeling, but it wasn't too bad. I can do this!

Hair removal no longer eludes me! I am She-Ra, fighter of all wayward body hair and maker of smooth skin extraordinaire. With my next wax strip I move north. After checking on the kids, I sneak back into the bathroom, for the ultimate hair fighting championship. I drop my panties and place one foot on the toilet.

Using the same procedure, I apply the wax strip across the right side of my bikini line, covering the right half of my hoo-ha and stretching down to the inside of my butt cheek (it was a long strip.)

I inhale deeply and brace myself....RRRRIIIPPP!!!!

I'm blind!!! Blinded from pain!!!!.... OH MY GAWD!!!!!!!!!

Vision returning, I notice that I've only managed to pull off half the strip. CRAP! Another deep breath and RIPP! Everything is spinning and spotted.

I think I may pass out...must stay conscious...must stay conscious. Do I hear crashing drums??? Breathe, breathe...OK, back to normal.

I want to see my trophy - a wax covered strip, the one that has caused me so much pain, with my hairy pelt sticking to it. I want to revel in the lory that is my triumph over body hair. I hold up the strip!

There's no hair on it. Where is the hair??? WHERE IS THE WAX??

Slowly I ease my head down, foot still perched on the toilet. I see the air. The hair that should be on the strip...it's not! I touch. I am touching wax.

I run my fingers over the most sensitive part of my body, which is now covered in cold wax and matted hair. Then I make the next BIG mistake...remember my foot is still propped upon the toilet? I know I need to do something. So I put my foot down.

Sealed shut! My butt is sealed shut. Sealed shut!

I penguin walk around the bathroom trying to figure out what to do and think to myself, "Please don't let me get the urge to poop. My head may pop off!" What can I do to melt the wax?

Hot water!! Hot water melts wax!! I'll run the hottest water I can stand into the bathtub, get in, immerse the wax-covered bits and the wax should melt and I can gently wipe it off, right??? *WRONG!!!!!!!*

I get in the tub - the water is slightly hotter than that used to torture prisoners of war or sterilize surgical equipment - I sit.

Now, the only thing worse than having your nether regions glued together, is having them glued together and then glued to the bottom of the tub...in scalding hot water. This, by the way, doesn't melt cold wax.

So, now I'm stuck to the bottom of the tub as though I had cemented myself to the porcelain!! God bless the man who had convinced me a few months ago to have a phone put in the bathroom!!!!!

I call my friend, thinking surely she has waxed before and have some secret of how to get me undone. It's a very good conversation starter "So, my butt and hoo-ha are glued together to the bottom of the tub!"

There is a slight pause. She doesn't know any secret tricks for removal but she does try to hide her laughter from me. She wants to know exactly where the wax is located, "Are we talking cheeks or hole or hoo-ha?"

She's laughing out loud by now...I can hear her. I give her the rundown and she suggests I call the number on the side of the box.

YEAH!!!!! Right!! I should be the joke of someone else's night. While we go through various solutions, I resort to trying to scrape the wax off with a razor. Nothing feels better than to have your girlie goodies covered in hot wax, glued shut, stuck to the tub in super hot water and then dry-shaving the sticky wax off!!

By now the brain is not working, dignity has taken a major hike and I'm pretty sure I'm going to need Post-Traumatic Stress counseling for this event.

My friend is still talking with me when I finally see my saving grace....the lotion they give you to remove the excess wax. What do I really have to lose at this point? I rub some on and .... OH MY GAWD!!!!!!! The scream probably woke the kids and scared the dickens out of my friend. Its sooo painful, but I really don't care. "IT WORKS!! It works!!"

I get a hearty congratulation from my friend and she hangs up. I successfully remove the remainder of the wax and then notice to my grief and despair....THE HAIR IS STILL THERE.......ALL OF IT! So I recklessly shave it off. Heck, I'm numb by now. Nothing hurts. I could have amputated my own leg at this point.

Next week I'm going to try hair color.

Link in this blog:
She-Ra: Princess of Power-Wikipedia

Surviving the Curve by Living the Moment

One of the main concepts of the Human Potential Movement is the philosophy of living in the moment. I was reminded of that when watching the movie Peaceful Warrior based upon Dan Millman’s book, Way of the Peaceful Warrior. To make the “in the moment” point, Socrates (played by Nick Nolte) tosses Millman, (played by Scott Mechlowicz) off of a bridge and into a creek at U.C. Berkeley. For the brief moment that Millman is falling, his brain is free of “trash,” and he is only able to utter “arghhhhhhh.” The point is that there is only now. The past is the product of a faulty memory and the future has not occurred. If your mind is cluttered with images of memory and future fantasy, you can not perceive nor absorb all that is occurring in the “now,” which is the only thing that really exists.

Yesterday I took a motorcycle ride with six friends escaping the sweltering heat of inland Ventura County for the coolness of the Pacific Ocean. We traversed over some of the favored Southern California motorcycle routes, which incorporates mountain roads ascending and descending with a large number of tight twists and turns suitable to challenge motorcycle riding skills. The group that I rode with had good, highly experienced riders and the leaders are accomplished motorcycle racers. Hence, they set a mean pace that would be unsafe for lesser riders. It behooves each rider to pick his pace and not to worry about being left behind because the group will be waiting for you at the next change of roads.

I set myself in the middle of the group and pushed the bike far further than I would have had I been solo riding. I was truly “in the moment,” and the bike and I became one fluid motion of acceleration and deceleration with a meshing of balance, gears, throttle and brakes. Everything about the bike and the road was absorbed and processed: the g-forces; the lean; the subtle shifts of body position; the whine of the gears; the roar of the engine; and the bite of the tires. Stay in the moment, not too close to the bike in front of you and not too far back; Learning about the road from him. Push the envelope without exceeding your riding skills or violating the laws of physics and the co-efficient of friction. It was neither time nor place to be anywhere else other than living the moment on the motorcycle and in the curve. It was a collection of moments some would call the essence of freedom.

Links in this blog:
Human Potential Movement-Wikipedia

Touch of Paso

Frequently I travel via Highway 101 traversing between northern and southern California. I have my favorite spots, such as the rest stop that invariably treats me to the sight of yellow billed magpies. But when it comes to dining, I like to visit establishments away from the main highway. I find restaurants primarily catering to the local people to be much more interesting than those serving travelers. I previously wrote about my mechanism of finding never before visited dining locations in Dining Via GPS.

Here’s the deal to go dining via GPS. First of all, you can’t be in a tight time constraint, and you can’t be starving and on the precipice of a hypoglycemic crash. Other than that, I only have one other major rule. I will not enter an establishment where I feel that it is best to be packing a gun while going in, coming out, or remaining inside. That’s it. Pretty simple.

Here’s how you locate those quaint dining spots via GPS. Ask your GPS to give you all of the restaurants in your immediate area and begin sorting through them from the closest to the furthest. Disregard any fast food or national chain restaurant and select the first interesting name that you come upon. Tell the GPS to route you to the selection and head out. If the first selection does not meet your standards, make a new choice and travel on. If you find yourself in a less than desirable neighborhood, see if you can get into a better area and start the procedure over.

Traveling on my motorcycle to Southern California this week, I had been rained on and treated to an occasional lightening strike on the horizon. Shortly before pulling off the highway at Paso Robles, the clouds dispersed revealing a scorching sun and high humidity. Using my GPS technique I found myself at the Touch of Paso Restaurant, and I wondered if they would welcome a traveler bedecked in motorcycle leathers and rain gear. Predictably, I was greeted by both employees and customers with warmth and friendliness, as if I were a favorite neighbor. Though it was lunch time, I opted for breakfast, which is served all day. The country omelet was exquisite.

You can find Touch of Paso Restaurant at 1414 Pine Street, Paso Robles, CA 93446.

Link in this blog:
Dining Via GPS

Santa Cruz Morning this Week

Moments after these pictures were taken, large rain drops splattered on the ground pattering the pavement as if someone had stepped on ripe grapes. And, then it was over.