Extend sub deployments? What could go wrong?

Found this at washingtonexaminer.com, my comments within the article are in bold:

Navy explores longer sub deployments
By: MICHAEL MELIA

The Navy is considering lengthening the standard deployment of attack submarines beyond six months as it faces rising demands with a fleet that has been shrinking since the end of the Cold War, the commander of American submarine forces told The Associated Press in an interview.

Already, attack submarines are at times asked to stay out longer than six months — extensions that can be trying for sailors who serve in tightly confined spaces with limited outside communication as members of the "silent service."

Vice Adm. John Richardson told the AP this week that keeping subs out longer is one of several options the Navy is considering as the number of attack subs is projected to continue dropping in the next decade and beyond. Older boats seeing more use, that'll mean more equipment failures at the worst possible times. Lovely, just stinking lovely.

"I think we're looking at all the options," he said. "As you try and maintain the same presence with fewer hulls, there are all sorts of variables in that equation. One would be extending deployment lengths. So that's certainly on the table."

Submariners are not alone in seeing deployments extended periodically, as two wars and evolving threats strain the entire U.S. military. A spokeswoman for the admiral, Navy Cmdr. Monica Rousselow, said it is impossible to say how long sub deployments might become because so many factors are involved. To my successors in the sub force: BOHICA shipmates!

Extending deployments permanently would save resources because the Navy could complete more missions with the nuclear-powered submarines that it has available. The fast-attack subs travel to far-flung corners of the globe for missions including intelligence gathering and firing missiles, but they can maintain a presence only for so long before making the time-consuming journey back to U.S. bases. The real restriction is the crew, running out of food will get the attention of most people. Those boats ARE tight as far as space goes, you just can't dump an extra couple of months of groceries down the hatch and walk away thinking, "They'll figure a way to store it".

Navy contractors began stepping up submarine production this year, but pressure on the defense budget has raised uncertainty about future procurement. While some critics describe the multibillion-dollar vessels as costly relics of a different era, Richardson says submarines remain integral to America's nuclear deterrence strategy and the security of a nation that conducts the vast majority of its trade by maritime channels. They perform a host of other missions also. For a glimpse of what a boat's capabilities can include I recommend reading "Blind Man's Bluff" by Sontag and Drew.

Enlisted crew members on the attack subs sleep six to a room, stacked in bunks areas barely larger than a closet, and navigate corridors so narrow only one person can pass at a time. That would be if they're lucky enough to have their own rack(bunk). The Los Angeles class of subs were initially designed for more crewmembers than could be accomodated by assigning each sailor his individual rack. So the practice of "hotbunking" was used.The deployments are typically broken up by port calls, but they can remain at sea for weeks or months at a time. The bigger, roomier ballistic missile subs generally stay closer to their home ports and have shorter deployments.

Sailors in the elite, all-volunteer submarine force go through psychological screening to make sure they can cope with the tight quarters and extended time beneath the ocean's surface. Nobody with claustrophobic tendencies is allowed on board.

But retired submariners say the time at sea does take a physical and emotional toll, particularly when a mission is suddenly extended.

"You establish a battle rhythm in your mind where 'Six months is how long I'll be' and then, if it becomes seven months, you have to shift your mind a bit," said retired Rear Adm. John Padgett III, who remembers a particularly grueling 7 1/2-month submarine deployment during the Vietnam War. "You get a little tired of it."

Deployments longer than six months are unlikely to cause problems for specially trained sailors, but they would probably entail challenges for their families, said Army Col. Tom Kolditz, a psychologist at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. DUH!! Then the problems the wives & kids are having come back on those same sailors, this guy talks like an idiot. But wait a minute, we can always go back to the mindset of "If the Navy thought you needed a wife, they'd have issued one in your seabag". Yeah, that'll do wonders for retention.

"You can probably find business decisions in the community based on that six-month cycle. You can find various kinds of financial planning done on that six-month cycle. If you take something like that that people are used to and change it, it can create problems," said Kolditz, director of the military academy's Department of Behavioral Sciences and Leadership.

At Naval Submarine Base New London in Groton, support services are available to help sailors' families deal with prolonged deployments, said Beth Darius, a services facilitator for the base's Fleet and Family Support Center.

"We honestly try to tell them, 'Yes, you have a fixed date, but remember that date can always change,'" she said. "We try to help them not cement that date, but I personally know how easy it is to get that date and count down, and then have it change on you." The divorce rate in the sub force is just a bit high. This is coming from a guy who went through Connecticut courts twice for that experience while in the canoe club. I'm a slow learner, shoot me.

Richardson said in the interview Wednesday that constraints on communication are part of the nature of submarining, but that the Navy is working to improve bandwidth on the vessels. He said sailors will be able to communicate with family members more than ever, although e-mail will remain available only when it can be sent without the risk of giving up the sub's location.

Beyond the strain on sailors and their families, U.S. Rep. Joe Courtney said, the longer deployments reflect an increasingly acute security problem. Although Navy contractors received approval this year to double production of Virginia-class attack subs to two a year, he said that will only slow the decline in the size of the fleet and will not fully replace older ships as they are taken out of commission.

The number of nuclear-powered attack submarines in the U.S. force has fallen from a peak of 98 in the late 1980s to 53 at the end of fiscal year 2010, a decline that roughly matches a drop in the overall size of the Navy since the end of the Cold War. Each Virginia-class attack submarine costs about $2.6 billion and carries a crew of roughly 135 officers and sailors.

Courtney, who is pushing for an increase in attack sub procurement, said they are unmatched in their ability to deliver firepower and do surveillance without being detected. THAT is a fact, been there and done that. Nope, can't talk about it.

"Look at Libya. When President Obama said 'unique capabilities,' what he was really referring to was the USS Scranton, the Providence and the Florida, which in a matter of an hour obliterated Gadhafi's air defenses," said Courtney, a Democrat whose eastern Connecticut district includes the sub base and the Groton headquarters of the Navy's primary submarine contractor, General Dynamics' Electric Boat.

Currently, the submarine force can accommodate only about half the support requests from combatant commanders, according to Richardson, who said sub deployments are currently extended a month or more to meet demands on a case-by-case basis. He noted that surface ships also face extended deployments, as all branches of the military contend with increased demands.

As the Navy deals with rising security demands and budget pressures, he said, the force is also looking into repositioning submarines around the globe to reduce transit times and pressing builders to reduce maintenance periods and wring more deployments from aging vessels.

(End of story, my comments follow)

So the Powers That Be recently opened up the sub force to women, they've also scuttled DADT and will soon be actively recruiting flamboyant gays into the military (if you think that statement is a bit drastic, you don't know our military and the kind of assholes in charge in Washington).

Now they're looking at increasing the length of deployments. Yes, I know it's happening in the surface navy as well as the other armed forces of our nation. My chosen screen name is SUBvet for a reason. Check the profile if you're still puzzled.

Gee, what could possibly go wrong?

Plenty.

Eddie and Freddie go to sea aboard the USETAFISH, Eddie hooks up with Suzy Creamcheese who is the boats newest recruit. Suzy and Eddie slap bellies whenever they think they're alone (the photos the roving watch takes of them will go on sale a week after returning to homeport). Suzy dumps Eddie halfway through the deployment and starts banging Freddie (that roving watch loves it, they're making him rich).

Eddie cops an attitude, during one field day he clobbers Freddie. They both go talk to the "old man" (Captain). He discovers Suzy's involvement in this and transfers her skanky ass back to homeport. She promptly files a sexual discrimination complaint against the command (Eddie and Freddie weren't transferred, she was.Therefore she was inappropriately reprimanded, or so the complaint goes). The squadron sends out Lt. Lana, the lesbian JAG (Judge Advocate General) officer, to investigate the onboard climate of USETAFISH in order to determine if there's a problem with discrimination.

Lt. Lana interviews Mona Mattressback who just got denied promotion (if she studied for the test, she'd probably pass). Mona sees the Lt. Lana is a manhater from Jump Street and plays it up, citing numerous incidents where her LCPO (leading chief petty officer) made inappropriate comments to her. In private. No other witnesses cited. The good JAG officer knows she has a case and pursues it. To make a long story short, after the local fishwrap back home gets the story, the officers and crew of the good ship USETAFISH are crucified by the squadron commodore in order to show that "something has been done".

Then we can add in the zip of extending the deployments of the boat because, as a newer craft, it doesn't break down as often as the dinosaurs of the squadron do.

The crew gets the big flick, if you stick around you're screwed by either spending life at sea or by being dragged across the coals for PC purposes. Time to hit the highway by faking claustrophobia (very easy to do) and spending your remaining days in the canoe club aboard a tender (repair ship) that is basically welded to the pier and hardly ever gets underway.

I haven't even factored in a gay sailor or two actually in the crew, this post is already overly long.

Yep, we'll maintain an elite force under these conditions. Sure we will.

When pigs fly.

This gives me a bad feeling...

Here's the story: US: military chaplains may perform same-sex unions

So what happens when "Steve & Dave" show up for counseling and the only chaplain available cites religious beliefs against doing anything to help them keep their union intact? Not all denominations are represented on every military base. During the few years I spent as a Pentecostal I tried starting Bible study classes on the nearby base. I wound up talking to a chaplain who was Southern Baptist because there were no Pentecostal chaplains at that facility.

So the couple I mentioned may get married by a chaplain associated with the First Church of I'm-Okay-You're-Okay-And-Jesus-Is-Our-Palsywalsy, then get transferred to a spot where the Chaplain Corp is represented by a Catholic and a Southern Baptist. Wedded bliss hits the shitcan, they want counseling and the scenario I mentioned takes place.

I see a real possibility of legal action, and before anyone reminds me that service members can't sue the military I'll just state that spouses and family members can do that AND complain to their Congressional Representatives. So if that Rep. should be Barney Frank, just how sympathetic a hearing will the military get?

How long before ALL chaplains are instructed to provide services for ALL couples, regardless of any religious beliefs that are violated?

Think, think, think

Here's a quiz to see if you're paying attention: http://woodstermangotwood.blogspot.com/2011/09/keep-gray-matter-active.html

I missed two.

(H/T Adrienne's Corner)

Gee, who couldn't see this coming?

Found this at http://www.washingtontimes.com/:

Activists call for end to military ban on transgendersBy Rowan Scarborough

With homosexuals now able to serve openly in the military, the gay rights movement’s next battleground is to persuade the Obama administration to end the armed forces’ ban on “transgenders,” a group that includes transsexuals and cross-dressers.

“Our position is that the military should re-examine the policy, the medical regulations, so as to allow open service for transgender people,” said Vincent Paolo Villano, spokesman for the 6,000-member Center for Transgender Equality.

The Servicemembers Legal Defense Network (SLDN), which pushed to end the military’s gay ban, is urging President Obama to sign an executive order prohibiting discrimination based on “gender identity.”

It had wanted the order to happen on Sept. 20, the official date “don’t ask, don’t tell,” as the gay ban was called, ended via repeal legislation signed by Mr. Obama.

SLDN’s goal is contained on a Web page with the headline, “Working toward transgender military service.” The page states that a decision to remove the ban must be made at the Pentagon. “Relationships between transgender organizations, medical associations, and military allies will be crucial for advancing this issue,” it says.

“SLDN will continue to urge President Obama to issue an executive order to prohibit discrimination and harassment in the military based upon sexual orientation and gender identity, and we will work closely with our allies to educate and create greater awareness of this inequity,” SLDN spokesman Zeke Stokes said.

“SLDN supports the revision of medical regulations to ensure that transgender Americans may serve.”

SLDN has raised the possibility of filing lawsuits to attain its goals, which include housing and other benefits for the partners of gay military members.

A White House spokesman declined to provide Mr. Obama’s position on transgenders in the military, referring a reporter to the Pentagon.

“Transgender and transsexual individuals are not permitted to join the military services,” said Pentagon spokeswoman Eileen Lainez. “The repeal of ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ will have no effect on these policies.”

The SLDN says “transgender” is commonly identified as an umbrella term for “transsexuals, cross-dressers, gender-queer people, intersex people, and other gender-variant individuals.”

Transgenders are not banned by law, but rather by a Defense Department instruction, “Medical Standards for Appointment, Enlistment or Induction in the Military Service.”

It lists scores of medical conditions that make one ineligible, including: “Current or history of psychosexual conditions, including but not limited to transsexualism, exhibitionism, transvestism, voyeurism, and other paraphilias.”

The instruction was last updated by the Obama administration. Clifford Stanley, undersecretary of defense for personnel and readiness, signed the new 52-page version in April 2010. If the administration did desire to lift the ban, it could have done it then, in theory.

SLDN has set up a website on Change.org for a petition asking Mr. Obama to issue a nondiscrimination order on transgenders.

In a letter to Mr. Obama, SLDN Director Aubrey Sarvis wrote: “We … call on you to show the leadership President Truman did when he issued an Executive Order banning racial discrimination in the armed services and to issue an Executive Order prohibiting discrimination in the armed services based on sexual orientation and gender identity to be effective on the date of repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.”

Rep. Duncan Hunter, California Republican and Marine Corps combat veteran, said: “At some point, the administration will need to decide where this ranks among the military’s priorities. But it should send the message now that a line has been drawn, and it won’t get caught up in these discussions. I hope the administration has enough sense to see this for the unneeded distraction it is.”

(End of story, my comments follow)

Stick a fork in it, our military is dead.

When "Steve" comes to a dress uniform inspection dressed like "Eve" just how the hell do you know if the uniform is properly worn?

Stupid questions aside, our fighting men & women are being so disrespected it isn't funny. If the current administration in Foggy Bottom even seems to be thinking of implementing this insanity we deserve a military coup.

It's almost midnight, I've been spending the last few hours shampooing cat puke out of my carpets. Then I go online and find this shit. Phooey.

I'm going to bed, maybe when I wake up we'll all be back in Kansas.

Gay "marriage" infringes on religious freedom...

Denver, Colo., Sep 27, 2011 / 06:14 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Legalizing “gay marriage” is having major repercussions for religious freedom, according to observers of the latest developments.

Princeton law professor Robert P. George cited the words of American Jewish Committee lawyer Marc Stern, who in 2006 said the conflict between religious liberty and same-sex marriage would be “a train wreck.”

“That train wreck has now arrived in states that have redefined marriage or have created schemes of legal recognition for same-sex partnerships as the equivalent of marriage,” George told CNA.

He cited incidents of religious adoption and foster care agencies being pushed out of work, and small business owners being fined or sued for not accommodating same-sex couples. Education is another “critical area.”

“Once a state recognizes same-sex partnerships as marriages or the equivalent, then naturally the argument is made that in family life classes in schools this has to be taught to be a valid partnership.”

Religious parents who do not want their children to be “indoctrinated in beliefs contrary to their own” are “out of luck,” said George, who founded the Manhattan Declaration project to defend religious liberty.

Town clerks and other officials with objections to participating in same-sex union ceremonies or to the granting of same-sex marriage licenses are already being told to find another job, George said.

For Catholics, Evangelical Christians, Orthodox Jews or others who cannot in conscience participate in such ceremonies, he explained, “you are not eligible to be a town clerk, because that’s one of the things that town clerks are required to do” in states that recognize the unions.

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who pushed through the state’s new “gay marriage” law in June, has said that those who cannot follow the new law should not hold the position of town clerk. A July 13 memo from the New York State Department of Health said it is a misdemeanor for a clerk to refuse to provide a marriage license to eligible applicants.

The major Manhattan law firm Proskauer Rose is presently seeking the resignation of Rose Marie Belforti, a Ledyard, New York town clerk, who cannot provide the licenses on account of her religious objections.

Maggie Gallagher, former chair of the National Organization for Marriage, said that the Nassau County district attorney has threatened clerks with criminal prosecution if they tried to refer a same-sex couple to another employee.

“Kudos to those who have refused to bow to Caesar’s demands. And even more kudos to those who've decided not to resign but to stay and fight for their own, and all our rights,” Gallagher said to CNA.

She characterized town clerks as “canaries in the coal mine” because they are among the first to be affected by the ideas embedded in the recognition of same-sex “marriage.”

“If we start speaking out, rising up together, this kind of persecution would not, cannot continue. Their hope is that we give up, give in, acknowledge their sovereignty over God’s,” she said.

“This we cannot do. We have to find the unshakeable 10 percent who will stand, who will speak truth in love to the new power, and make it clear we cannot be bribed or coerced into muting or disappearing.”

Gallagher said Gov. Cuomo should apologize to 65-year-old Ruth Sheldon, a Granby town clerk who resigned because she could not in good conscience sign same-sex marriage licenses.

“There is no cost to protecting religious liberty--failing to do so is simply mean-spirited and pointless.”

Assurances of religious freedom protections appear not to have helped Catholic Charities agencies in Illinois, where the state government is now refusing to renew its contracts for foster care and adoption services after the passage of a civil unions bill last December.

“They believe we’re in violation of the law and are refusing to contract with us because of our religious beliefs, that children are best raised in a home with a mother and a father,” Robert Gilligan, executive director of the Catholic Conference of Illinois, told CNA.

The conference believes the state is interpreting the law in an incorrect manner. Gilligan noted that the civil unions bill included religious freedom protection in its title and the Illinois Human Rights Act “clearly allows a religious adoption agency to discriminate.” An exchange on the Senate floor also established that it was not the intention of the bill to impede Catholic Charities’ or other faith-based organizations’ religious practice.

Nevertheless, Catholic child placement agencies may lose their funding and face closure.

“It’s really a tragedy if the state decides it can’t embrace different organizations of different faiths to perform social services and health care,” Gilligan said. He characterized the action as an impediment to religious liberties of both organizations and individuals.

“There are Catholic foster parents out there that only wish to perform foster care with Catholic Charities agencies,” he said.

Gilligan believes the actions in Illinois signal a major change in the place of Catholic institutions in the public square.

Scholars like Chai Feldblum, a Georgetown Law Center professor and lesbian activist who was appointed to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, foresaw many conflicts coming between gay rights and religious liberty.

“She had trouble thinking of any cases where she believed the rights of religious liberty should triumph over gay rights,” George said.

He insisted that “(p)eople are bound to follow their consciences, especially in matters of religion, and the state should, to the extent possible, accommodate the religious consciences of its citizens.”

But instead of allowing religious freedom, marriage laws and anti-discrimination laws are being used as “instruments to whip dissenters from the laws into line” in order to change people’s views and to advance an agenda, George charged.

The laws are being used to “brand and label as bigots and the equivalent of racists people who have the temerity to say that marriage is a union of a man and a woman and to say that sex belongs in marriage and not outside of it.”

“It’s a great way to change the culture, by depicting your opponents as bigots and haters, and imposing on them civil disabilities by using the weapons of anti-discrimination law.

“It’s a brilliant strategy. I have to applaud them for the brilliance of the strategy as much as I loathe its bad faith and consequences,” George said.

Gallagher encouraged those who object to the legal recognition of same-sex unions.

“I think Christians and other people from traditional faith communities are being called in a new way to courage,” she said. “Are we going to volunteer to live in a world where the idea that marriage is the union of husband and wife because children need their mom and dad can be treated as the moral equivalent of racism?”

Proponents of same-sex “marriage” cannot win “unless they get us to agree to our own inferiority. Otherwise we are too many to stigmatize.”

(End of story, my comments follow)

I believe Mrs. Gallagher is unduly optimistic. We'll have same-sex "marriage" rammed down our collective throat all too soon. It's already happening.

Those who back this abomination HAVE to be successful. If they fail in one instance to have homosexuality recognized as normal, the stage is then set for a rollback in other areas. I'm thinking of places such as the military for this but it also applies to any private business not wishing to cater to an abnormal desire. Once freedom of religion is allowed to trump gay "rights" it becomes implicitly recognized that homosexual behavior just might not be acceptable.

So this is why we see such vehement reactions to supporters of Prop. 8 in California, why any criticism of gay acts/expressions are met with a "take no prisoners" approach.

It's going to get a lot tougher before this is all sorted out and I've doubts we'll see a favorable outcome in this life. But Christ warned us about that, didn't He? Something about "No servant is greater than his master, if they persecute Me they'll come for you too."

Theres probably a bit of unintentional paraphrasing in there. But the point remains the same.

God's will be done.

For the "geezers" amongst us...

I suggest anyone reading this just amble on over to "Odie's" blog and check out: A Branch of the Tea Party ?

Stay healthy, Big Brother is watching...

Found this at washingtonexaminer.com:

Obamacare HHS rule would give government everybody’s health records
By: Rep. Tim Huelskamp

It’s been said a thousand times: Congress had to pass President Obama’s health care law in order to find out what’s in it. But, despite the repetitiveness, the level of shock from each new discovery never seems to recede.

This time, America is learning about the federal government’s plan to collect and aggregate confidential patient records for every one of us.

In a proposed rule from Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the federal government is demanding insurance companies submit detailed health care information about their patients.

(See Proposed Rule: Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act; Standards Related to Reinsurance, Risk Corridors and Risk Adjustment, Volume 76, page 41930. Proposed rule docket ID is HHS-OS-2011-0022 http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2011-07-15/pdf/2011-17609.pdf)

The HHS has proposed the federal government pursue one of three paths to obtain this sensitive information: A “centralized approach” wherein insurers’ data go directly to Washington; an “intermediate state-level approach” in which insurers give the information to the 50 states; or a “distributed approach” in which health insurance companies crunch the numbers according to federal bureaucrat edict.

It’s par for the course with the federal government, but abstract terms are used to distract from the real objectives of this idea: no matter which “option” is chosen, government bureaucrats would have access to the health records of every American - including you.

There are major problems with any one of these three “options.” First is the obvious breach of patient confidentiality. The federal government does not exactly have a stellar track record when it comes to managing private information about its citizens.

Why should we trust that the federal government would somehow keep all patient records confidential? In one case, a government employee’s laptop containing information about 26.5 million veterans and their spouses was stolen from the employee’s home.

There's also the HHS contractor who lost a laptop containing medical information about nearly 50,000 Medicare beneficiaries. And, we cannot forget when the USDA's computer system was compromised and information and photos of 26,000 employees, contractors, and retirees potentially accessed.

The second concern is the government compulsion to seize details about private business practices. Certainly many health insurance companies defended and advocated for the president’s health care law, but they likely did not know this was part of the bargain.

They are being asked to provide proprietary information to governments for purposes that will undermine their competitiveness. Obama and Sebelius made such a big deal about Americans being able to keep the coverage they have under ObamaCare; with these provisions, such private insurance may cease to exist if insurers are required to divulge their business models.

Certainly businesses have lost confidential data like the federal government has, but the power of the market can punish the private sector. A victim can fire a health insurance company; he cannot fire a bureaucrat.

What happens to the federal government if it loses a laptop full of patient data or business information? What recourse do individual citizens have against an inept bureaucrat who leaves the computer unlocked? Imagine a Wikileaks-sized disclosure of every Americans’ health histories. The results could be devastating - embarrassing - even Orwellian.

With its extensive rule-making decrees, ObamaCare has been an exercise in creating authority out of thin air at the expense of individuals’ rights, freedoms, and liberties.

The ability of the federal government to spy on, review, and approve individuals’ private patient-doctor interactions is an excessive power-grab.

Like other discoveries that have occurred since the law’s passage, this one leaves us scratching our heads as to the necessity not just of this provision, but the entire law.

The HHS attempts to justify its proposal on the grounds that it has to be able to compare performance. No matter what the explanation is, however, this type of data collection is an egregious violation of patient-doctor confidentiality and business privacy. It is like J. Edgar Hoover in a lab coat.

And, no matter what assurances Obama, Sebelius and their unelected and unaccountable HHS bureaucrats make about protections and safeguards of data, too many people already know what can result when their confidential information gets into the wrong hands, either intentionally or unintentionally.

Republican Tim Huelskamp represents the first congressional district of Kansas.

(End of story, my comments follow.)

For an excellent example of what can happen when the government gets too much private information, read Edwin Black's "War Against The Weak".

It details how the eugenics movement in America was successful in sterilizing "undesirables". And just how was someone deemed "undesirable" you may ask. Simple, they answered questionnaires that would pinpoint who came from families with chronic poverty, who had a mass of relatives with chronic diseases, it went all the way to determining who was a compulsive masturbater in the quest to purify the human race.

We've a whole slew of laws protecting patient confidentiality right now. But under Obamacare they'll evidently take a backseat to the desires of chair polishers in Foggy Bottom. If you think common sense will prevail and it's no big deal, consider what happens when any kind of government entity gets too powerful. Here's a recent post proving my point: http://agangershome.blogspot.com/2011/09/when-crooks-do-it-its-called-extortion.html

So our government will now tell us what to eat (http://agangershome.blogspot.com/2011/09/usda-get-hell-out-of-my-kitchen.html), they'll actively indoctrinate our kids against our beliefs (http://agangershome.blogspot.com/2011/09/teen-muzzled-for-stating-his-religious.html)they'll soon mandate our homes have remotely controlled thermostats so THEY can decide if we're actually cool/warm enough, knowledge of our health problems will be available for the de facto "death panels" to decide if we should be eliminated.

How much of this sounds like tinfoil hat thinking? I keep hoping someone will answer questions like that and assure me I've gone around the bend. Really, I do.

Because I'll be 59 in a few weeks and my years on this earth may not be for much longer. Even if I get to 80 that's chump change, comparatively speaking. So I can happily thumb my nose at the bastards as far as my own future is concerned. But my children are just starting out in life. Even if they didn't have "special needs" I'd be concerned for them. They'll need a lot of extra attention over the next couple of decades in order to compete with "normal" kids. So I pay attention to whats happening with just a bit more incentive than otherwise.

God help us all. When did the United States of America become the People's Republic of Amerikka?

My little girl...

So we noticed a limp whenever our four year old daughter walked. It certainly didn't slow her down any, she's a little bull that stands head & shoulders over the rest of her preschool class. She also routinely annoys the batsnot out of her two older brothers.

We had her X-rayed and spoke to the pediatrician today. It turns out one leg is ever so slightly shorter than the other.

Now we're trying to have her treated by the Scottish Rite Hospital in Dallas. They're the best and known the world over. It'll be some months before we find out. No hurry, she won't get any worse. It's a condition that allows some time to be taken for things like this.

My suggestion that we move to the Hill Country area here in Texas got nowhere. Well at least I didn't suggest West Virginia. The wife would hate moving out of Texas. But it seems the Hill Country is out too.

Just trying to help, I've always heard hillbillies don't need legs the same length. Supposedly it helps if they're not. Oh well.

Now I'll end this because she's busy chasing her brothers again. They'll need my help soon.

Teaching our kids to be good little muslims...

Found this via Jihad Watch at http://www.wsbtv.com/:

COBB COUNTY, Ga. -- A father's complaint that his daughter's homework promotes the Muslim faith could lead to a lesson change in Cobb County.

Channel 2's Tom Regan talked to the father who showed him where his daughter’s homework which said there's nothing wrong with having multiple wives.

The assignment went home with seventh-graders at Campbell Middle School.

The school told Regan the assignment was used to compare the pros and cons of the school's dress policy.

But one parent said he thinks the material shows bias toward Islam and is completely inappropriate for the kids.

"Trying to relate this to school uniforms, the context they put it into, doesn't make much sense to me," parent Hal Medlin said.

Medlin showed Regan the assignment brought home by his 13-year-old daughter. The assignment consisted of a letter from Ahlima, a 20-year-old Muslim woman, and touts the advantage of a wearing a Burqa and finds the way western women dress to be "horribly immodest," according to the assignment.

The assignment shows Ahlima saying she doesn't mind if her future husband takes more wives. "I understand that some Westerners condemn our practice of polygamy, but I also know they are wrong," the assignment said.

"It's promoting or positively depicting their belief that polygamy is fine, if that’s what they believe. But I don't know how you could possibly state that and not have any kind of disclaimer that this is what these people think, but not necessarily what all of us believe," Medlin said.

Another page of the assignment lists the seven conditions for women's dress in Islam, including:

-It cannot resemble the clothing of nonbelieving women -It must protect women from the lustful gaze of men

It also states, "Islam liberated woman over 1,400 years ago. Is it better to dress according to man or God?”

"It represents Islam in a positive manner. That doesn't offend me as much as the fact that it represents no other religions," Medlin said. "To me, this material is being used the way it's used is like tearing a page out of text book and saying here's the whole story."

On Friday afternoon, Regan got an email statement from a Cobb Schools saying the school district didn't create the materials, they were provided by the state. The representative went on to say, “The district will review the material in question and determine if it can be taught in a more balance way or if it should no longer be used."

(End of story, my comments follow.)

So, where is the ACLU screaming about a separation of church (er, mosque) and state? Is there a double standard for followers of the Pedophile Prophet vice the rest of us?

I wouldn't hold my breath waiting for the district to change the lesson. Their statement sounds too much like, "Trust me."

When crooks do it, it's called "extortion"...

Sometimes I'll come across a news item that seems too bizarre to be real. After doublechecking (something I highly recommend) it often turns out to be far different than what was originally portrayed.

This doesn't seem to be the case here, found this at various sites:

Sackett v. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

When Mike and Chantell Sackett paid $23,000 for a lot near the banks of Priest Lake in northern Idaho in 2005, they thought they were buying the site for a picturesque new home. They got a lot more: a long feud with the Environmental Protection Agency and now a Supreme Court case that could bolster the rights of landowners facing costly demands from the federal government.

Four years ago the Sacketts were filling in their lot with dirt and rock, preparing to build a simple three-bedroom home in a neighborhood where other houses have stood for years. Then three federal officials showed up and demanded they stop construction. The agency claimed the .63-acre lot was a wetland, protected under the Clean Water Act.

The Sacketts say they were stunned. The owners of an excavation company, they had secured all the necessary local permits. And Chantell Sackett says that before work began, she drove two hours to Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, to consult with an Army Corps of Engineers official. She says the official told her orally, though not in writing, that she didn’t need a federal permit. “We did all the right things,” she says.

The EPA issued an order requiring the Sacketts to put the land back the way it was, removing the piles of fill material and replanting the vegetation they had cleared away. The property was to be fenced off and the Sacketts would be required to submit annual reports about its condition to the EPA. The agency threatened to fine them up to $32,500 a day until they complied.

The Sacketts instead tried to get a hearing in federal court, seeking a declaration that their property wasn’t a protected wetland. The plot is not connected either to the lake or a nearby creek, though Mike Sackett, 45, says part of the land got “wet” at times in the spring. “We sued because we wanted our day in court to say, ‘This is not a wetland,’ ” he says. Two lower courts turned the couple away, saying they could not make that argument until the EPA asked a federal judge to enforce the order. That left the Sacketts in limbo. Restoring the property as the EPA demanded made no sense to them. It would cost hundreds of thousands of dollars, they say, and if they ultimately won the case they’d have to clear the land a second time. But defying the order potentially meant racking up $32,500 in fines each day—and perhaps criminal liability if they continued with construction—while they waited for the EPA to decide whether to pursue the case. “It’s an unenviable choice,” says Damien M. Schiff of the Pacific Legal Foundation, a Sacramento-based property rights group that is representing the couple for free. “It’s really almost no choice at all.”

The Sacketts appealed to the Supreme Court, asking for the right to go straight to a federal judge. The high court agreed to hear the case in its fall term. It is being watched closely by environmentalists and property rights activists because of its potential scope. A ruling in the Sacketts’ favor would blunt one of the agency’s favorite enforcement tools. Each year it issues up to 3,000 “administrative compliance orders” to businesses and individuals, demanding an end to alleged environmental violations and applying enough pressure that those who are accused typically give in before the agency has to justify the action before a judge.

“The compliance order tool is one of a few mechanisms that EPA has to resolve, and resolve quickly, pollution problems,” says Jon P. Devine, a senior attorney with the National Resources Defense Council. The EPA argues the rules are reasonable. While fines may accrue, they won’t actually be assessed until the Sacketts have a chance to make their case to a judge, it says. Agency officials declined to be interviewed.

In taking on the case, the high court told the two sides to discuss in their filings whether the EPA’s procedures are so unfair that they violate the Sacketts’ constitutional right to due process. A ruling in favor of the landowners on those grounds would reverberate beyond the EPA, potentially forcing both state and federal agencies to seek court permission before trying to enforce rules.

Some environmental advocates believe the agency made a mistake in letting a case with such appealing plaintiffs reach the Supreme Court. The Sacketts haven’t dared to touch their land since the dispute began. Their dream house is on hold; they live in a rental nearby. It’s a problem for the EPA that the Sacketts “feel like the mom and pop who are getting the heavy hand of government brought down on them,” says Catholic University law professor Amanda Cohen Leiter, who sides with the agency. “I can imagine the court being sympathetic to these particular plaintiffs and issuing … an overbroad ruling as a result.”

(End of story, my comments follow)

First, note that this fiasco started back in the Bush years. So the heavy hand of our nannystate is something that goes beyond whether a Democrat or Republican sits in the Oval Office.

Next, $32,500 a DAY in fines for noncompliance? You must be shitting me. Really.

Then theres the telltale quote about halfway through the story, "... those who are accused typically give in before the agency has to justify the action before a judge." Uh-huh, who wants to trust the legal system when you're being extorted. And thats what this is, extortion. Put it another way, "Nice life you have there, do what we say or you'll spend your sunset years eating dog food. Thats IF and only IF we decide not to lock you away and toss the key."

Our government has gotten too damned big, too damned intrusive and too damned repressive. If someone is wanting to ask me where theres a better place to live and why don't I just go there, the answers would be; A) Don't know of a better place so far. B) I spent 22 years defending this nation and what it was originally standing for, it's my home. Even if the hired help has gotten out of hand I'm STILL going to stick around and do whatever I think possible and necessary to fix things. It might not amount to much in the long run, but I'm not leaving.

Wasn't Ruby Ridge also in Idaho?

Yeah, thought so.

Evidently "gay" is always okay...

I found this via Pewsitter at http://www.pacificjustice.org/:

Ridgecrest, CA--A parent of two young girls was caught off guard recently when her daughters came home from school with questions about a man dressed like a woman on duty in the school cafeteria. The parent was further chagrined when officials in the Sierra Sands Unified School District confirmed the story but insisted their hands were tied.

What continues to floor the parent, Phyllis Fernandez, whose daughters attend kindergarten and third grade at Faller Elementary School, is that the employee’s attire would not be permissible for students. The employee, a substitute lunch duty worker, was wearing makeup and a spaghetti strap shirt, with his bra straps visible to students. District dress code policies for students ban both spaghetti straps and visible undergarments.

“I shouldn’t have to be explaining to my five and eight year old girls why a man at their school is wearing a bra,” said Mrs. Fernandez. “The school believes they have to give special treatment to this individual because of his chosen gender expression, but the learning environment is suffering.”

Attorneys at the Pacific Justice Institute, who are advising Mrs. Fernandez, noted that these types of frustrations are fueling a groundswell of support to repeal SB 48, which would require California schools to promote transgender, bisexual and homosexual historical figures. “Parents are fed up with schools being manipulated by politicians and special interest groups to push an extreme social agenda,” said PJI President Brad Dacus. He added, “Behavior like cross-dressing disrupts the educational environment, and parents have a right to be concerned for their children.”

(End of story, my comments follow.)

Okay, no putting lipstick on this pig and I'm tired of euphemisms and pulling punches.

We're now at a point where anything goes if you're queer. Here's a blatantly open fag allowed to be in the presence of small children. The school district claims they're powerless to do anything. Scared to do anything is probably more like it.

This is where our country has come to. It's wrong. It condones an aberrant mode of thought and behavior. Young children shouldn't have to learn why "Steve" dresses like "Eve". They shouldn't have to be subjected to public displays of homosexual behavior. It's an abomination. The freak show belongs behind closed doors between consenting adults with no children allowed.

We'll pay for this, both those of us who actively promote it and those of us whose silence implies acceptance. God have mercy on us all, but we WILL pay for this and other abominations.

USDA, get the hell out of my kitchen!

The damned government can keep their greasy paws off my food:

(CNSNews.com) - U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack told members of the National Restaurant Association on Monday that Americans need to “adjust” their tastes so that they like the kind of food the government believes they should eat—and “we have to make sure that what we do is create the appropriate transition.”

“You know, as we deal with this issue of reducing sodium and sugar, it sounds simple to do, but you all know better than I do, it’s not as simple as it sounds,” said Vilsack.

“It’s going to take time for people’s taste to adjust and they will adjust over time, but it will take some time,” he said. “So, we have to make sure that what we do is create the appropriate transition.

"At the end of the day, though, we've got to deal with this," said Vilsack.

Vilsack’s remarks about Americans’ taste buds came in response to a question about the best way to deal with food waste. He said the Agriculture Department has ongoing research projects to determine how to make nutritious food more appealing so that less of it is wasted.

Vilsack mentioned visiting a Colorado school that was serving children brownies made with black beans. “The kids didn’t even know they were eating a healthier snack,” Vilsack said.

The restaurant trade group is working with the USDA to promote the government’s revised dietary guidelines for Americans.

Restaurants that participate in the voluntary Kids LiveWell program commit to offering healthful meal items for children, with a particular focus on increasing consumption of fruit and vegetables, lean protein, whole grains and low-fat dairy, and limiting unhealthy fats, sugars and sodium.

First Lady Michelle Obama has made childhood obesity her signature issue, launching the administration’s “Let’s Move” program which is dedicated to “solving the challenge of childhood obesity within a generation.”

On its website, the “Let’s Move” program says that: “Everyone has a role to play in reducing childhood obesity, including parents, elected officials from all levels of government, schools, health care professionals, faith-based and community-based organizations, and private sector companies.”

(End of story, my comments follow.)

I don't need somebody deciding how to feed my kids. I can do that quite well, thank you. How well? I've found a recipe for creamed spinach that has them sucking it down. That isn't bad considering they're ages are 7,6 and 4.

So we don't need my OR their appetites "tweaked". We don't need guilt trips about the number of calories consumed when we go out to eat. Seriously, who the hell counts calories at a restaurant?

I don't need "low cal" ice cream, it tastes like frozen cat piss. I won't buy low-fat kielbasa, thats heresy in a plastic wrapper. I don't go for reduced calorie Mexican food (some things should never have been invented).

So the USDA can kiss my royal rednecked ass. The function of the government isn't to substitute for my mother or second guess on how well my kids are fed. End of story.

The active campaign against our children's innocence.

It seems that our culture goes out of it's way to destroy the innocence of children. Recently I went to an outlet mall in a nearby town to get my daughter some clothing. Silly me, I thought because the women assisting me were likely moms of kids themselves and working for an outlet of Oshkosh B'Gosh there'd be no problems.

Sometimes I'm dumber than a box of rocks.

After getting home and washing the clothes I realize the short pants are just this side of being "Daisy Dukes" aka hotpants. For a four year old girl. The things were almost obscene.

I went back two days later and got some long pants. THEY are appropriate for my daughter.

That'll learn me.

But it isn't just this incident where a prudish 59 yr. old man gets his dander up about clothing styles. There are other indicators, am I the only one uncomfortable with the Disney cartoon characters of the past 15 years or so? My kids have been watching the "Aladdin" trilogy of movies lately. The character of "Jasmine" is more than slightly suggestive of a hard bodied, scantily clad babe. Yeah, theres a real role model for young girls. Noted.

Outside the home and in public settings it's evidently becoming a hazard for childhood innocence. For starters I'd suggest this link: http://www.lifesitenews.com/news/the-rise-of-public-nudity-major-cities-hosting-go-topless-days

Now I know there are places in the world where public nudity isn't considered that big a deal. I've been to southern Europe and the beaches there. FWIW, seeing a topless 70 year old woman will kill any desire for viewing her teenaged granddaughters. Just a side note on perspective.

But this isn't Europe and even there the areas where you'll find nudity are well known and easily avoided if you're offended by it. It seems from the linked article that we'll have bare tits shoved in our faces soon, like it or not, wherever we go. So much for discretion and decorum.

As if the spectacle of bare chested babes isn't reason enough to forgo public venues, check out the experience of this lady in Massachusetts: http://www.acceptingabundance.com/2011/08/cant-even-go-to-park.html

I call your attention to the comments following her post. It seems any objections to PDA's of homosexuals made by a concerned parent unleashes the blogosphere's hounds of Hell. Tolerance only goes one way.

This isn't all low level corruption of our kids either. This article, http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=46356 talks of the ongoing campaign by the ACLU to remove porn filters from school computers. Seems the idea of a child somewhere, somehow having a life free of sexual immersion is anathema to them.

Don't mention the boob tube (no pun intended). We gave up on that when Janet Jackson had her "wardrobe malfunction". If you can't even watch a Super Bowl halftime show with your kids just what the hell can you safely view on the television? From having to view "Sponge Bob Squarepants" every time we go to the pediatrician I'd say the answer is "not much".

Nor is the dissolution of decency confined to the efforts of amoral liberals. I've just about stopped listening to talk radio shows in my car when the kids are with me. Sooner or later they'll pay attention to the ads and I'll be explaining what the term "erectile dysfunction" means. Something to look forward to.

We live in a cesspool and there's no denying that. This is a time when doting parents will pay for their 16 yr. old daughter's breast implants, when one of the leading GOP contenders for the Presidency unashamedly signed into law am executive order for his state that mandated the vaccination of middle school girls against an STD, when pole dancing is considered a valid physical exercise regimen, the list goes on and it's getting too close to supper to continue. I'll only ruin my appetite if I don't stop now.

I keep hoping we'll see some sort of backlash, a sudden and abrupt return to modesty, chastity and teaching our kids that sex is something to be cherished for it's intimacy and reserved for the one true love we find in life. As I said earlier, there are times I'm dumber than a box of rocks.

But I'll be damned if I stop trying to raise my kids properly. Lately I've come to realize that if the good Lord doesn't give us more than we can handle it only follows that what we ARE given to do in this life should be done wholeheartedly and with faith that it'll turn out for the best.

Teen muzzled for stating his religious beliefs...

Found this at www.myfoxdfw.com

FORT WORTH, Texas - A Fort Worth high school student was sent to the principal’s office earlier this week for telling another classmate he believes homosexuality is wrong.

Fourteen-year-old Dakota Ary spent most of the day Tuesday serving an in-school suspension. It was punishment for discussion in his German class at Fort Worth’s Western Hills High School.

“We were talking about religions in Germany. I said, ‘I’m a Christian. I think being a homosexual is wrong,’” he said. “It wasn’t directed to anyone except my friend who was sitting behind me. I guess [the teacher] heard me. He started yelling. He told me he was going to write me an infraction and send me to the office.”

An assistant principal called Ary’s mother at work to let her know he was in trouble.

“At first I was in disbelief. My son is on the honor roll with great grades. I don’t have any problems out of him,” Holly Pope said.

After hearing Ary’s explanation of what happened, the assistant principal reduced the original suspension from two days to one. But Pope was not satisfied with that.

“He was stating an opinion. He has a right to do that. They punished him for it,” she said.

Attorney Matt Krause joined Ary and his mom at a Wednesday morning meeting with the principal. They asked for the blemish to be taken off his record and reassurance there would be no retaliation.

“Students don’t lose their first amendment rights just because they go in the schoolhouse door,” Krause said.

District spokesman Clint Bond said the Fort Worth Independent School District does not comment on specific employee or student-related issues.

“We are following district policy in our review of the circumstances and any resolution will likewise be in accordance with district policy,” Bond said.

If Ary continues taking German he’ll have to learn from the same teacher who punished him. His mom is relying on faith that things will work out.

“I want to believe the school will make the right decision. That’s something the school will need to handle,” she said.

(End of story, my comments follow)

So the kid mentions his religious beliefs and the teacher flips out. According to the local radio station, the suspension was for "bullying". I know that would come as a surprise to many people.

As has been said by quite a few folks lately, you just can't accept the presence of gays in society no matter how you feel about the immorality of their actions. You have to be in full embrace of them and their "lifestyle". Otherwise, you're a bigot.

This isn't over. We can expect a flap & furor from the local homosexual community as they scream about their victimhood.

Please note this is happening in Texas, a supposedly ultra red state.

UPDATE: Evidently there's more to this story, here's an excerpt from a followup article, the boy's lawyer is quoted here;

" Krause called the incident “mind blowing” and said the teacher had frequently brought homosexuality into ninth grade classroom discussions.

“There has been a history with this teacher in the class regarding homosexual topics,” Krause said. “The teacher had posted a picture of two men kissing on a wall that offended some of the students.”

Krause said the picture was posted on the teacher’s “world wall.”

“He told the students this is happening all over the world and you need to accept the fact that homosexuality is just part of our culture now,” Krause said.

The school district would not comment on why a teacher was discussing homosexuality in a ninth grade German class."

Someone has an agenda and is enthusiastically pushing it.

On Father Frank Pavone...

I agree with everything said in the following link, it's author states it much better that I ever could: http://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/otc.cfm?id=861

FWIW, I notice how the strong voices of those defending adherence to Church teaching are falling. Those voices include Fr. John Corapi, Fr. Thomas Euteneuer and now Fr. Frank Pavone.

I'm sure there will be more in the near future, we're seeing the actions of Satan in this world. God has granted him ascendency for a time, may His will be done.

What those of us in the pews can do is pray, fast, sacrifice and hold steady. The Church has been here before and will be here again.

Autistic kids can't hold a flag?

NH School Confiscates Autistic Boy’s American Flag
by Jonathon M. Seidl

DOVER, N.H. (The Blaze/AP) — A New Hampshire woman is upset that middle school officials confiscated her autistic son’s American flag because the rod it was attached to was deemed a safety hazard and, the mother claims, a possible “weapon.”

Theresa Stevens, of Dover, says her 12-year-old son, Shawn, brought the small flag to school to show friends. He had received it as a gift from a family friend whose son is in Afghanistan.

“When he saw how upset the mother of this boy is that’s going to Afghanistan, he wanted to do everything in his power to show support for her son,” Mrs. Stevens told WMUR-TV:

“He wants to bring patriotism back one person at a time, starting with his peer group and adults that have lost their way,” she added.

Stevens says a school official called Wednesday to say that school workers were concerned that the rod’s pointed end could have been dangerous.

“I got the phone call at 8:30 [Wednesday] morning,” she said. “‘This flag needs to be immediately removed from school because it can be considered a weapon.‘ I don’t understand how an American flag can be considered a weapon.”

Dover Middle school Co-Principal Kimberly Lyndes told Fosters Daily Democrat it wasn’t about discipline or patriotism, but about safety.

“A student came to school yesterday with a flag that was rather large and didn’t fit inside the backpack,” she added to WMUR. “A staff member felt that it could potentially be dangerous because of the pointy end and took the item and let the student know and the parent know that they took the item and could pick it up.”

The boy was not disciplined in the matter.

Stevens says she wants her son to know he did nothing wrong. She says students routinely carry around sharp-tipped items, such as compasses and pencils.

“So can pencils, so can protractors, so can any of the school supplies that they give to these children, and their stance is, ‘Well, we don’t let them wave them around in class, and your son has autism,’” Stevens told the station. “Really? That’s your stance?”

“When somebody shows up with an American flag on American soil at an American school, that’s his First Amendment right to do so,” she added. “Just because he‘s 12 doesn’t mean he doesn’t have constitutional rights.”

(End of story, my comments follow.)

WHOA, WHOA, WHOA! Stop the presses and step back, Jack! I didn't sit up and pay attention until I saw this; ‘Well, we don’t let them wave them around in class, and your son has autism,’

"...your son has autism"

Oh. Really. Guess that means the mom should just meekly turn away and let her betters get on with the indoctrination of the kids.

Okay, I've two sons who are autistic and pointy objects ARE a concern at times. My boys are aged 7 & 6 but still use plastic forks to eat with. Forget about knives, ain't happening yet. Yes, there is a valid concern there.

But that doesn't mean they're using crayons instead of pens & pencils. It doesn't mean they don't ever pick up a stick to play with. Their behavior is monitored by the wife and I, as caregivers we know how to handle this.

Autism isn't synonymous with "completely stupid". My oldest son just got a grade report, he's got "A's" in all but one subject and HE IS MAINSTREAMED!! I want a bumper sticker that says "My autistic kid makes your "normal" son look like a dummy"

So citing autism as a basis for taking away the flag is BS. If the parents think the child can handle it responsibly (and by the age of twelve I've no doubt both my boys will be that responsible) then go with the parent's judgement.

Unfortunately that brings up another pet peeve, trusting parents with their own kids. Too damned many schoolroom chair polishers think parents are fit for breeding and that's it.

In this particular case the most the school administration should have done was monitor the behavior of the child (which they should be doing ANYWAY, even if he ISN'T autistic!) and act accordingly. Seriously, if the child didn't have special needs wouldn't the teachers STILL monitor his behavior, even without possession of a flag on a stick? I'd hope so, otherwise we've a "Lord of The Flies" scenario in the making. Maybe a lack of supervision of "normal" kids would explain some of the off-the-charts behavior that gets reported from various schools.

I'll stop now, my blood pressure meds are wearing off.

About the jobs bill...

So now Obama is urging Congress to hurry up and pass the American Jobs Act with no delay.

Why am I reminded of Obamacare and "we'll find out whats in it after we pass it..." from Nancy Pelosi?

Screw me once, shame on you. Screw me twice, shame on me.

Today's trip to the tooth fairy...

I took my son out of his elementary school this morning so he'd visit the dentist for his scheduled cleaning.

I signed him out at the receptionist desk, the receptionist saw us leave the building.

Two hours later I signed him back in, same receptionist at the desk, now in the company of the principal who listens in to our conversation and nods like a bobblehead doll the entire time.

RECEPTIONIST: Sir did you get a doctor's note to excuse your son's absence?

ME: No, is it necessary?

RECEPTIONIST: Yes, we'll need one. You can have them fax it to us if you'd like.

ME: (biting tongue, remembering not to shoot any messengers today) Okay. Thank you.

I then bade my boy goodbye and he ran off back to class. I hope he always likes school so much.

So I go home and double check with the wife if a note is necessary. She's more familiar with this sort of thing, both from being a hell of a lot younger than I and from being a pediatric nurse who dealt with schools and their idiotic requirements.

Yep, need a note. The parent's word cannot be trusted. The little darling needs a note to excuse his time absent from school. Too much unexcused time and he'll be doing makeup classes on Saturdays. There was actually a kindergarten kid at this school who had to attend those classes, I wonder what the hell you could fail to learn in kindergarten? Maybe how to stay within the lines while coloring, who the hell really knows?

So I then have the following conversation with the wife. I know just a little bit about the laws regarding homeschooling here in Texas, I was looking into it at one time. Here we go:

ME: So let me get this straight. I need a note to justify taking our son out to get his teeth cleaned because good God almighty, the word of a parent in this situation just can't be trusted. But if we were home schooling our kids I could take him to strip clubs every damned day of the week and no one would check on it when I called it a biology field trip?

WIFE: That's the law.

ME: Whoever is responsible for this idiocy needs a job more in line with their abilities. I hear McDonalds is hiring.

WIFE: (Boy, that woman hears a lot of crap!) That's the law passed by the state, the school has nothing to do with it.

ME: Makes no difference.

WIFE: At least we're in a school that still has CHRISTMAS trees, our children go on CHRISTMAS vacation and they're allowed to exchange CHRISTMAS cards with their classmates!

ME: For how much longer?

WIFE: (She works nights and was getting tired, and not just with listening to my whining.) G'nite, I'd tell you to have a good day but you've already made other plans.

Like a good little drone I got the fax number from the school and called the dentist, his receptionist very cheerfully assented to sending a note.

The good Lord only knows what the requirements would be in other states besides Texas. Maybe you put up a bond in order to take your kid to the dentist. I really don't want to know.

I am speechless...

(H/T to Rick at Divine Ripples)

I had to double check on the authenticity of this when I first heard of it. Words fail me right now:

..Obama declares September 11 National Grandparents Day
By Caroline May - The Daily Caller The Daily Caller – Mon, Sep 12, 2011..

Despite the seemingly singular focus on tragedy this September 11, the White House found another purpose for the day: recognizing the importance of grandparents.

Quietly on Friday, President Barack Obama declared September 11, 2011 National Grandparents Day.

“NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim September 11, 2011, as National Grandparents Day,” Obama officially declared. “I call upon all Americans to take the time to honor their own grandparents and those in their community.”

The first Sunday after Labor Day has been designated a secular holiday to recognize the contribution of grandparents since then-President Jimmy Carter signed the first declaration in 1978. Presidents since 1978 have followed in Carter’s footsteps, ensuring that that Sunday is reserved for grandparent appreciation.

“The support of loved ones provides the earliest and often most powerful influence on our lives. Grandparents hold a special place in our families, serving as elders, caregivers, and sources of lasting inspiration,” Obama said in a statement. “On National Grandparents Day, we honor the loving presence of these mentors who have contributed immeasurably to the strength of our families and our Nation.”

To be sure, Obama did not forget the significance of the date on which Grandparents Day happened to fall. On Friday Obama also declared September 11 a National Day of Prayer and Remembrance as well as Patriot Day and National Day of Service and Remembrance.

Ten years.

A personal observation...

With all of the enthusiastic kissing of Muslim ass that will happen this weekend the breath mint industry stands to make a fortune.

Bullies and their ennablers.

My six year old son (Isaac) came home with a mark upon his nose yesterday. When questioned about it, he stated he'd been hit by "Matthias". Hmm.

That's the same name of a kid who was harassing him last year in kindergarten. To be fair, "Matthias" was an equal opportunity asshole, known to pick on a lot of kids. But I don't worry about those kids, just my own.

If this is the same urchin, I'll have a bone to pick with the school administration. The wife has written to Issac's teacher, trying to verify this and get the boys separated. Should this happen again, I'll take action myself. For right now though I'll be content with coaxing my son to hit back as hard as he can.

I went through something like this with my oldest son (Brian) about 15-20 years ago. He was a target of opportunity for a class bully, unfortunately I was pretty much sidelined since Brian's mother and I had been divorced for a while. Anything I could say or do was discounted. Too bad because everyone involved contented themselves with uttering the tired old platitudes of, "Just ignore him and he'll finally leave you alone." or "Don't hit him back, just call a teacher over to take care of it."

This went on to the point where the little darling got his buddies together and they waylaid Brian on his way home, beating the snot out of him until some highschoolers broke it up (this happened when Brian was about 12.)

Then the courts got involved, the offending kid was sent to an alternative learning institute, etc, etc., blah, blah, blah.

Which is all well and good, except I wonder what would have happened if those highschoolers hadn't intervened.

Isaac is a sweet natured kid and autistic. So I have doubts as to whether he'll act on what I'm teaching and hit "Matthias" back as hard and often as he can. The school has an anti-bullying policy, so I wonder WTF they're doing to implement the sucker.

We've had Isaac "mainstreamed" because we want him to learn how to live in general society to the greatest extent possible. A downside of that is he's now more available to jerks wanting to pick on "special needs" kids, the same kind of jerks that like pulling wings off of flies IMO. So I worry about my autistic sons and how they'll fare. Welcome to parenthood.

One thing is for certain, I ain't waiting for my boy to be the object of a beatdown. That happened once when I couldn't do die-diddle-squat. Hell freezes before it happens again.

"...from my cold, dead hands..."

Found this at www.buffalonews.com:

Gun buyback for kids? It’s about toys . . . and pizza
By Gene Warner

This was a different kind of gun buyback program.

The guns being bought back from the streets weren’t 9 mm handguns or Glocks. Instead, they were Nerf guns or toy pistols.

And they weren’t being bought with cash. This time, the currency was pizza slices, notebooks and dress shirts.

The FATHERS group and Bona Pizza teamed up Monday for a buyback aimed at younger teens and preteens at the pizzeria at Bailey and Kensington avenues.

The idea was simple: Don’t let kids get used to firing weapons, even if they’re toys.

“It makes them too comfortable, holding that gun,” said Leonard Lane, president of Fathers Armed Together to Help, Educate, Restore and Save. “Then there’s no fear holding the real gun when they get older. We want to put that fear back into our children, teaching them what guns can do, how they affect their community.”

“A toy gun today, a real gun tomorrow,” said Charles Cina, owner of Bona Pizza. “That’s what we want to stop.”

So kids such as Tarence Callaham, 14, a Buffalo ninth-grader, brought in his green and orange Nerf gun. In return, Tarence got a piece of pepperoni pizza, a snazzy dress shirt and the chance to shoot some hoops in the pizzeria parking lot.

“I learned that you shouldn’t have guns and stuff,” Tarence said. “It gives kids an education not to play with bad things.”

Tynell Ruffins, 9, a fourth-grader at Community Charter School, got a bigger haul in return for his orange and black Nerf gun. He got the pizza, a soft drink, a notebook, a dress shirt and a Marvel Heroes folder.

Kids were encouraged to make the trades, Tynell said, “so they can stop playing with guns.”

Lane explained why the location of Monday’s buyback was appropriate.

“Bailey Avenue is an area where gun violence is up,” he said. “Let’s be real. The only way we can save this community is to work together—the residents, the businesses—to stop violence.”

Lane said the five-hour gun buyback was expected to take about 100 toy guns from young people.

“We’ve got to be willing to exchange everything and anything to get guns off the street,” he added.

So what will the FATHERS group do with the 100 or so toy guns?

“We plan on burying them in the next six months,” Lane said. “We’re going to get a coffin and put the guns in the coffin, and we’re going to close that coffin and pray.

“It’s symbolic — burying the guns that have been burying us.”

(End of story, my comments follow.)

Okay, if you're of the belief that boys (or girls) should never, ever play with toy guns then you may want to move on. My beliefs are slightly different.

Looking at this article, the first words out of my mouth were, "You have got to be shitting me!" Fortunately my kids were out of the room.

This is completely ridiculous, the fact that a fathers' organization is a part of this lunacy only underscores how pervasive the PC crap of our culture is.

IMO these kids who are in a high crime environment SHOULD be taught how to handle firearms, they should be comfortable with that means of self defense. Chances are they're more likely to have need of it than some kid in a gated community. That applies to both boys AND girls.

Really, the emphasis should be on raising morally upright and responsible citizens. Never mind if they're taught to play with water pistols and nerf guns. Being taught to act as decent human beings will go a lot further in cutting down the likelihood of a child becoming a felon than taking away a supersoaker.

I really wonder how much further the lunacy will go in this world?

This is no laughing matter!

Atlanta (WAOK)– A trial date has been set for a 20-year-old single mother who was arrested after her son made laughing noises while in a Decatur library.

Donnetta Foster was thrown out of the library after she said her 14-month-old son, Savon, made a laughing noise while looking at an animal flash card in October 2010. Ms. Foster was a full-time student at Georgia Perimeter studying Business Administration when the incident happened. She told police she was at the Decatur branch of the DeKalb County library using the computers to look for employment when her son began laughing. Police were called and she was asked to leave.

Police arrested Foster across the street from the library while she was waiting for a police sergeant to arrive at the scene.

Ms. Foster faces charges of obstruction for what she says was a request for the police officer to take a report from her regarding how she was inappropriately treated by library staff. Foster could face jail time if she is found guilty at her trial.

The trial date has been set for September 13, 2011 before Dekalb County State Court Judge Janis Gordon.

(Story ends here, my comments follow.)

This sounds like stupid piled on top of asinine. Tossing someone out because their 14 month old child laughed? I could maybe see if the kiddo was crying at the top of their lungs, but laughter from a small child is natural music (yeah, I'm softhearted. Deal with it.)

Then the cops top it off by arresting "Mom" for wanting to file a report? WTF?

Believe it or not, I've run into this sort of stupidity up in Connecticut. My oldest son resided in Wallingford with the ex and I used to visit him. Sometimes I'd go to the local library just to kill an hour or so while waiting for them to get home. The library had a very prominent sign outside the restroom doors warning that there was only a five minute allowance for anyone using the facilities.

I often wondered if they'd call the Potty Police, Crap Cops, Poop Patrol or Fecal Fuzz for anyone staying past the allotted time. Maybe it's a good thing I never put it to the test. It'd been difficult to explain to my naval superiors how I came to be busted for excessive time in a public toilet.

SHEEESH! This really is a Bizarro Universe! Where's the worm hole back out of here?

There is a valid reason for CPS...

Found this on abcnews.go.com:

New Jersey Couple Loses Custody of Son Named Adolf Hitler

By BARBARA GOLDBERG
Aug. 6, 2010

The New Jersey parents who gave their children Nazi-inspired names including Adolf Hitler lost custody after a state appeals court ruled that a history of domestic violence puts the children at risk of abuse and neglect.

Court documents show that the oldest child frequently threatens to kill people and the mother once slipped a note to a neighbor saying she was terrified of her husband because he said he would kill her.

Adolf Hitler Campbell, 4, and his two younger sisters, JoyceLynn Aryan Nation Campbell, 3, and Honszlynn Hinler Jeannie Campbell, 2, will remain in the care of the Division of Youth and Family Services (DYFS).

Their parents, Heath Campbell, 37, and Deborah Campbell, 27, both unemployed and disabled, were abused as children and "neither has received adequate treament for their serious psychological conditions," the three-judge panel of the Superior Court of New Jersey Appellate Division.

The family made headlines back in 2009 when a ShopRite supermarket in Greenwich, N.J., refused to inscribe Adolf Hitler Campbell's name on a cake for his third birthday. At the time, police and child protection officials took the children into protective custody, declining to reveal the exact reason but indicating it was not because of the children's names.

Today's ruling reversed a family court order that determined there was insufficient evidence that the parents had abused or neglected the children. The appeals court sent the case back to family court for further monitoring.

The 49-page ruling shed light on the bleak life inside the Campbell home in Holland Township, where windows were nailed shut and "unusual decorative features" included skulls and knives. DYFS first became involved in the case in December 2008 after receiving complaints that the children were being strapped into their booster seats for unusually long periods of time amid ongoing domestic violence.

A neighbor turned over a handwritten note signed by Deborah Campbell, who dropped out of the 10th grade, that accused her husband of trying to kill her and expressed fear for her children's safety. The note, replete with spelling errors, said, "Hes thrend to have me killed or kill me himself hes alread tried it a few times. Im scare to leave b/c I will be killed. Im afread that he might hurt my children if they are keeped in his care... He's already stabed me with a screwdriver in the hand... He teaches my son how to kill someone at the age of 3."

Asked about the letter during court custody proceedings, Deborah Campbell admitted that she wrote it but testified it was all a lie. She described her husband as "a perfect guy."

Heath Campbell, who cannot read, has been married twice before, fathered other children and has an alleged history of domestic violence, according to the ruling. One of his ex-wives has a restraining order against him and has "moved to an Air Force base with family in Florida to be away and safe from him," court papers said.


Four-Year-Old Adolf Hitler Allegedly Curses, Threatens Violence
One of his ex-wives testified that Heath Campbell disciplined their son so severely with a vacuum in his face that everytime she cleans house with the vacuum he screams "bloody murder." She also testified that she "could not bring her son around 'anybody that wasn't white' because the son would say 'terrible things'" that he learned at his father's knee.

When her children were taken into custody, Deborah Campbell "angrily asked whether she was being forced to choose between her children and her husband, and then said, 'Take them,'" the court document said.

While in custody, little Adolf Hitler Campbell has acted out aggressively toward his sisters, his foster mother and state psychologist Dr. Alice Nadelman, the court record showed.

"(He) took a vacuum cleaner to his sister's throat, saying, 'I'm going to kill you.' The boy told the foster mother on more than one occassion that she was a 'b**ch' and that he was going to kill her... Dr. Nadelman was called a 'b**ch' by the 3-year-old boy when she prevented him from leaving the room."

At the time the children were taken into custody in January 2009, DYFS spokeswoman Kate Bernyk said, "I can say we become involved when there is an allegation of abuse or neglect, and remove a child only if there is an imminent risk to the safety of child. We would never remove a child simply based on their name."

Holland Township Police Sgt. John Harris who personally escorted the child-safety workers to the family's Holland Township home last year, said at the time, "I was at the house to keep the peace and protect the workers."


Children With Nazi Inspired Names Had Little Freedom
One of the family's neighbors said she had been called by DYFS to testify at a hearing but said she had not witnessed any "sexual or physical abuse."

"He [Heath Campbell] had some kind of hold over those kids and his wife. I don't think it was sexual or physical abuse, but the kids were confined to certain areas in the house," said Lori Dilts, 38, a neighbor and the daughter of the Campbells' landlord.

"It was more than just their names and the cake situation," said Dilts, who was reluctant to share any more details until after the hearing.

"Those children look outwardly healthy, but they didn't have much freedom," she said. "Occasionally, the little boy would come over here and would hate having to go back to his house."

Dilts said Campbell had swords and Nazi paraphernalia hanging on the walls of the family's home. She said the couple was unemployed and received government assistance to pay their rent.

(End of story, my comments follow.)

I originally posted on this story when it made the news a couple of years ago. It seemed like another example of the Nannystate run wild. Seems I backed the wrong horse on that one.

Like it or not, there are valid reasons for the existence of government agencies such as Child Protective Services. Quite often they get staffed by incompetent chair polishers on an ego trip, they often get played by parents in the midst of custody battles, sometimes they find problems that don't really exist. One example would be the McMartin preschool case out in California.

Despite all that, these agencies serve a valid purpose, as shown in this article. It's something to keep in mind when it seems they've gone off the deep end (again).

About those "noble" Libyan rebels...

..TRIPOLI, Libya (AP) — Rebel forces and armed civilians are rounding up thousands of black Libyans and migrants from sub-Sahara Africa, accusing them of fighting for ousted strongman Moammar Gadhafi and holding them in makeshift jails across the capital.

Virtually all of the detainees say they are innocent migrant workers, and in most cases there is no evidence that they are lying. But that is not stopping the rebels from placing the men in facilities like the Gate of the Sea sports club, where about 200 detainees — all black — clustered on a soccer field this week, bunching against a high wall to avoid the scorching sun.

Handling the prisoners is one of the first major tests for the rebel leaders, who are scrambling to set up a government that they promise will respect human rights and international norms, unlike the dictatorship they overthrew.

The rebels' National Transitional Council has called on fighters not to abuse prisoners and says those accused of crimes will receive fair trials.There has been little credible evidence of rebels killing or systematically abusing captives during the six-month conflict. Still, the African Union and Amnesty International have protested the treatment of blacks inside Libya, saying there is a potential for serious abuse.

Aladdin Mabrouk, a spokesman for Tripoli's military council, said no one knows how many people have been detained in the city, but he guessed more than 5,000. While no central registry exists, he said neighborhood councils he knows have between 200 and 300 prisoners each. The city of 1.8 million has dozens of such groups.

Justice Minister Mohammed al-Alagi told reporters this week that he'd visited several detention centers and found conditions "up to international standards."

"We are building a Libya of tolerance and freedom, not of revenge," he said.

Oil-rich but with a relatively small population of 6.6. million, Gadhafi's Libya welcomed hundreds of thousands of black Africans looking for work in recent decades. Many young citizens of Mali and Niger who flocked to Libya in the 1970s and 1980s were recruited into an "Islamic Legion" modeled on the French Foreign Legion. In addition, Gadhafi's military recruited heavily from black tribes in Libya's south.

In February, witnesses reported African fighters shooting at protesters or being captured by anti-Gadhafi forces. Witnesses have described scores of mercenaries being flown in to put down the rebellion, although many of the fighters already were in Libya.

As a result, people with roots in sub-Saharan Africa and black Libyan citizens have been targeted by rebel forces in the messy and confusing fight for control of the country.

In the Khallat al-Firjan neighborhood in south Tripoli, Associated Press reporters saw rebel forces punching a dozen black men before determining they were innocent migrant workers and releasing them.

The Gate of the Sea club near Tripoli's fishing port became a lockup Monday night, when residents rounded up people in the surrounding area.

Guards at the club said they looked for unfamiliar faces, then asked for IDs. Those without papers or whose legal residences were distant cities were marched to the club.

This week, an armed guard stood by a short hallway that led through two metal gates onto a soccer field surrounded by high walls. There was no roof, so the detainees clustered against the wall to get out of the heat.

One black Libyan from the southern city of Sebha said he had worked for a Tripoli cleaning company. A French-speaking man from Niger said he had a shop nearby. One black Libyan said he was in the army but quit during the uprising.

In an office nearby where sports trophies still lined the shelves, Ibrahim al-Rais, a 60-year-old fisherman, acted as prison director. A bag held wallets and IDs taken from the captives. Another was stuffed with cellphones, which occasionally rang.

He acknowledged that many of the detainees were likely innocent migrant workers stranded in the country but he insisted that a "big percentage" were mercenaries.

"These people were fighting against our people," he said.

As proof, his team pointed to ID cards issued in Libya's south that he said were fake and a document issued by the Niger Embassy in Tripoli. He said Gadhafi gave many mercenaries Libyan IDs so they could fight. He also said many had been carrying dollars or euros — which al-Rais said were mercenary wages.

Sabri Taha, a fish merchant in shorts and flip-flops who was guarding prisoners, said one had a video on his phone of a soldier shooting children. When asked by an AP reporter to play it, he couldn't find it. The prisoner said he didn't know how the video got on his phone.

In another detainee's wallet, Taha said he found a photo of the detainee in a green military uniform and accused him of fighting for Gadhafi. The detainee said he had manned a regime checkpoint, but had defected to the rebels when they reached the city.

The captors insist their prison is temporary and that the local military council will question the detainees before releasing them or transferring them elsewhere.

In the meantime, they started a handwritten list of the men's names, ages and nationalities.

"You see, we have no experience, but we have figured out how to get organized," said Abu-Bakir Zaroug, a local volunteer.

They still didn't know how many prisoners they held.

"The danger is that there is no oversight by any authorities, and the people who are carrying out the arrests — more like abductions — are not trained to respect human rights," said Diana Eltahawy of Amnesty International. "They are people who carry a lot of anger against people they believe committed atrocities."

For about a week, the Tripoli Local Prison has been receiving inmates and now holds about 300, said Anwar Bin Naji, a former prison employee who helps run the facility. About 50 are Libyans. The rest are from Ghana, Nigeria, Niger and other African countries.

"They are all arrested by rebels or by civilians who love the homeland," Naji said.

As he spoke, two rebel trucks carrying about a dozen black men entered the prison, honking their horns.

"Those are all mercenaries, or most of them," he said before speaking to the men.

In the cellblock, captives clustered by the barred doors of their cells. All said they were migrant workers who had come to Libya to work. Some said they'd lived here for years.

They said they hadn't been beaten, and were given simple food once or twice a day. They had drinking water, but none for bathing, they said.

Of the 28 people in one five-meter-by-six meter (15-foot-by-18-foot) cell, one had blistering burns on his face, neck and arm. Naji, the guard, said volunteers were still setting up a medical clinic.

The burned man, Ahmed Ali, said he'd come to Libya from his native Chad two years ago and worked as a house painter before the uprising.

"When the rebels entered Tripoli, some guys came and burned down my house," he said. He escaped and ran to some rebel fighters, hoping they'd protect him.

"They brought me here," he said, adding that he'd received no medical care in the six days since his arrest.

"They believe that most of the black in Libya are mercenaries, so now all the blacks on the street, they pick them up," he said.

(End of story, my comments follow.)

I posted this because I've doubts there will be any real followup by the MSM. To do so would entail criticism of B.O.'s goal of regime change in Libya, something for which he never followed the War Powers Act guidelines concerning the use of our troops in an armed conflict. Yeah, I know, I know, the use of troops was never directly "on the ground" in Libya and supposedly ended before B.O. was called to account by Congress. Can I say that sounds like a lot of whitewash?

Anyway, this will be the start of a long line of unreported atrocities against any blacks in Libya. Arabs in general and Muslim Arabs in particular have a history of EXTREME racism against blacks, for this I reference the works of Robert Spencer and his comparison of slavery under Westerners vice followers of the Pedophile Prophet.

So we can expect a deafening silence as the true nature of these Libyan rebels comes to light. IMO they'll be worse than Ghadafi since they'll be more religiously motivated by their cult than he ever was by simple greed and ambition.