Like A Drunken Sailor

Obama has plunged the US into debt for generations to come.

And in just one month, CBO estimates had to be revised to show that we will be forced to borrow $9.3 trillion over the next ten years, which is $2.3 trillion more than Obama predicted just a month ago!

• The result, according to the CBO, would be a national debt that threatens the full faith and credit of the American monetary system with a national debt in excess of 82% of the entire economy by 2019.

But it seems he isn't done spending your money just yet. In addition to his health care plan, Obama also plans to spread the wealth around the Muslim world-

On education, we will expand exchange programs, and increase scholarships, like the one that brought my father to America, while encouraging more Americans to study in Muslim communities. And we will match promising Muslim students with internships in America; invest in on-line learning for teachers and children around the world; and create a new online network, so a teenager in Kansas can communicate instantly with a teenager in Cairo.

He can't afford to continue the Washington DC school voucher program but he can do this for foreign students?

And that's not all-

On science and technology, we will launch a new fund to support technological development in Muslim-majority countries, and to help transfer ideas to the marketplace so they can create jobs. We will open centers of scientific excellence in Africa, the Middle East and Southeast Asia, and appoint new Science Envoys to collaborate on programs that develop new sources of energy, create green jobs, digitize records, clean water, and grow new crops. And today I am announcing a new global effort with the Organization of the Islamic Conference to eradicate polio. And we will also expand partnerships with Muslim communities to promote child and maternal health.

Obama is so generous with your money. Any guesses as to how much these programs are going to cost?

Freedom of Speech

Looks like it's time to trot out this quote again-

"Being a lover of freedom, when the [Nazi] revolution came, I looked to the universities to defend it [freedom], knowing that they had always boasted of their devotion to the cause of truth; but no, the universities were immediately silenced. Then I looked to the great editors of the newspapers, whose flaming editorials in days gone by had proclaimed their love of freedom; but they, like the universities, were silenced in a few short weeks...Only the Church stood squarely across the path of Hitler's campaign for suppressing truth.

Here's yet another example of how much universities value freedom-

A student who wants to form a gun-rights group at the Community College of Allegheny County (CCAC) has been threatened with disciplinary action for her efforts. Student Christine Brashier has turned to the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE) for help after reporting that administrators banned her informational pamphlets, ordered her to destroy all copies of them, and told her that further "academic misconduct" would not be tolerated.

And now they do it all on their own, without any government coercion.

That's progress for you.

Education Experts

The education system once seemed to function fine (I went to a primary school in a pretty rough area but went on to grammar school and then university for example- as did many of my classmates)- but years of trying to "improve" things has left it a mess.

I now have two daughters at Primary school, separated by a couple of years. When the eldest was in P1 she was taught reading from the word go, with spellings and reading homework each night. Just a few years later and the younger one is only now- halfway through her first year- beginning to come home with reading homework. Why, you ask? Well, the new government-mandated curriculum means that the children are now forbidden from having homework books and their lessons are to include more play and more focus on "being a good friend".

Some improvement, eh?

Well, it seems that the empty-headed morons in charge of education aren't finished with trying to ruin what used to be a rather good education system.

Ministers will unveil a blueprint for a primary curriculum, which will require pupils as young as five to study blogging and Google Earth, as well as mastering search engines and writing emails.

At the same time, traditional subjects such as history and geography will be cut back in favour of lessons based around themes and social causes, including healthy eating and 'well-being'.

It's like something out of The Onion, isn't it? It's actually worse than it sounds-

In English, youngsters will be taught how to 'skim, scan and use key word searching and other features of texts to locate and select information' and use webcams, podcasts and video.

Literature will be defined more widely to include websites and emails, while pupils will be taught to 'adjust what they say where communication is facilitated by technology'.

These morons...sorry experts are worried that kids with a poor grounding in IT skills will fare badly out in the real world. Doesn't seem to have occurred to them that kids won't fare any better if they can't read or write properly either.

But last night the Conservatives voiced deep concerns about the plans, which have been called 'an assault on knowledge' by critics.

They published an analysis of official figures showing more than three million children have left primary school without a proper grounding in the basics since Labour came to power in 1997. Last year alone, almost 230,000 did not achieve the standard.

No doubt, some of Labour's education experts will be confounded by how removing reading and homework from schools has led to a reduction in basic knowledge.

Double Standards

School teachers are not pleased that they are being treated the same way that their students are.

More than a dozen Houston school district employees are getting a lesson in the zero-tolerance policies typically applied to students as they await court hearings on drug charges that could land them in jail.

Some of the charges, particularly those involving prescription pills, are drawing criticism from lawyers, parents and teachers who say the Houston Independent School District and the Harris County District Attorney’s Office need a lesson in discretion.

Norm Uhl, an HISD spokesman, said the district is treating employees as it would students — arresting them for having drugs on campus and leaving it up to prosecutors to file charges.

“We do have discretion to accept charges or not accept charges, but as officers of the court, it’s our duty to see that justice is done,” said Donna Hawkins, a spokeswoman for the district attorney's office. “And if an officer calls us with a valid charge and probable cause, then we should accept that charge unless there is some extenuating circumstance.

The teachers concerned should just be thankful that they didn't have the humiliation of being strip searched. Like these other pupils were.

Round Up

Some news from the UK.

Science standards in schools have slipped ‘catastrophically’, the Royal Society of Chemistry declared yesterday. The eminent scientific body said it had ‘hard evidence’ that exams had been dumbed down since the 1960s.

Check out the two sample questions for proof.

British police raid a woman's house for cannabis plants- she was actually growing tomato plants on the windowsill.

Bureaucrats strike again-

A charity raft race which has never suffered a serious accident in its 27-year history has been sunk by the health and safety demands of police and council risk assessors.

A disgrace-

A lesbian soldier last night celebrated winning almost £200,000 compensation after being subjected to a lewd campaign of sexual harassment by a male sergeant.

Patrick Mercer, a Tory MP and former Army officer said: 'Servicemen and women who have been hideously injured defending this country receive a paltry amount in comparison. That can't be right.'

And finally, a sign of the times-

Teenage thieves, vandals, muggers and burglars will escape any punishment if they agree to say sorry 'on the spot' under a proposed scheme.

Justice Minister David Hanson said: 'Court is often an inappropriate option for young people who have never committed any previous offence.

'This will steer young people away from trouble at the earliest possible stage, particularly if their first offence is very minor.

'By introducing this option for the police, bad behaviour can be nipped in the bud at the same time as the victim's feelings are addressed.

Sure, making them say sorry and then letting them off with it is proven to be more of a deterrent than actually punishing them for breaking the law. And nothing makes the victim of a mugging or burglary feel better than knowing that their assailant is free as a bird and escaping any kind of consequences for their actions.

Makes you wonder what kind of world some of these politicians live in, doesn't it?

Ayers, Nebraska And Other Associations

William Ayers is such a toxic, unsavoury character that he's been dis-invited from speaking at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

And two prominent local politicians, one a Republican and the other a Democrat, are in agreement on the decision to invite him in the first place-

Gov. Dave Heineman released a statement saying that UNL leaders should not allow Ayers, a 1960s radical-turned-professor at the University of Illinois, to talk during a campus event on Nov. 15.

“Chairman of the Board of Regents Chuck Hassebrook and President of the University J.B. Milliken should immediately rescind the invitation extended to Bill Ayers to speak at the University,” the governor said. “This is an embarrassment to the University of Nebraska and the State of Nebraska. Bill Ayers is a well known radical who should never have been invited to the University of Nebraska.”

Meanwhile, Sen. Ben Nelson, D-Nebraska, today said in a statement that he is disappointed that UNL invited William Ayers to speak on campus Nov. 15.

“His past involvement in a violent protest group and incendiary comments are not consistent with the agenda of unity that we need in America today,” Nelson said. “I encourage the university to reconsider this decision.”

Ayers might be "mainstream" in Chicago but to the rest of America he's an unrepentant domestic terrorist. Let's face it, if ordinary, decent people don't want Ayers to speak at a university why should they want a President who had close ties with him?

Nelson's comments are also pertinent to the Obama campaign. This was a man who won the Democrat Primaries running on a ticket of post-partisan healing and unity. He has a long history of associating with radicals- his childhood mentor was a communist and self-confessed child rapist, his pastor spewed 20 years of racist, hate-filled bile at Obama and his family, on his trip to Kenya he campaigned for a radical who would have initiated Sharia law and banned Christian preaching, he has a long working relationship with Ayers who hosted the party that launched his political career, he used to regularly dine with Palestinian-terror advocate Rashid Khalidi, his other spiritual mentor, Michael Pfleger is a radical minister who called for the owner of a gun shop to be "snuffed out", and one of his long-term campaign donors is the corrupt Tony Rezko.

Has there ever been a candidate for president who has such a long history of such radical associations?

School Indoctrination

Two British schoolchildren have been punished for refusing to kneel down and pray to Allah- as part of a school religious education class.

Parents were outraged that the two boys from year seven (11 to 12-year-olds) were punished for not wanting to take part in the practical demonstration of how Allah is worshipped.

They said forcing their children to take part in the exercise at Alsager High School, near Stoke-on-Trent - which included wearing Muslim headgear - was a breach of their human rights.

Parents said that their children were made to bend down on their knees on prayer mats which the RE teacher had got out of her cupboard and they were also told to wear Islamic headgear during the lesson on Tuesday afternoon.

I must have missed the howls of outrage from Muslim students and parents about the classes where they had to perform Jewish prayers. Obviously the school isn't being discriminatory and they also have a stock of yarmulkes in the cupboard too. Right?

As we've seen before (California of course) it's only when Islam is being taught that students are expected to take on the role of actually being a Muslim as opposed to simply being taught about that faith. No American school would dare to have children perform Christian prayers in class- and I've never heard of any British RE class actually have children engage in prayer before.

Until and unless students role play being Christian, Jewish, Sikh, Hindu and Buddhist this attempt at indoctrination has to be stopped.

The Offensive Pledge

A Portland school has stopped its students from reciting the Pledge of Allegiance at a ceremony.

The pledge was instead replaced with a singing version of the preamble to the Constitution.

Why, you ask? Well, here's an explanation-

KATU tried repeatedly to talk with Principal Pam Wilson but got no results. However, in an e-mail response to Reese's questions, she explained the pledge was removed "out of respect for the diversity of religious faiths."

So a pledge of allegiance to the United States of America is offensive to some religions? One would have thought that "under God" would not be offensive to any monotheistic religion. Here's the full text of her email-

"The Pledge contains the words, 'under God' and we have many Muslim families here. So out of respect for the diversity of religious faiths practiced by our school community (parents and families) we decided that this year the students would memorize and sing the Preamble to the Constitution. At the rehearsal on Friday they did it from memory and to a wonderful song. It was very joyful and unique. I think you, and other parents, will really appreciate the creative and new way to open the program."

Makes you wonder if they had any complaints from the Muslim families or if this was another case of someone taking pre-emptive action because they think the Pledge is somehow offensive themselves?

UPDATE - I rest my case!

Portland school officials say the principal was trying to be sensitive, but some Muslims say the ban caused hurt feelings, and may foster bitterness and division within the community.

Berkeley Morals

It seems that ultra-progessive Berkeley talks the talk but they don't walk the walk.

The University of California at Berkeley is working on a partnership deal with Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, the San Jose Mercury News reports.

Some faculty members at Berkeley are upset about the pending deal, concerned that the $10-billion university will discriminate against women and others and limit academic freedom.

Their worries are echoed by critics of another pending deal, between Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and Saudi Arabia, to start an engineering program at Jubail University College there. According to a report in the Los Angeles Times, Cal Poly would receive $5.9-million over five years to create an engineering curriculum, build laboratories, and train teachers, but only men would qualify to take or teach engineering classes at the school.

And, of course, with the prospect of petro-dollars starting to flow, the Libs ditched their much vaunted ideals in favour of some Dark Ages misogyny.

At Berkeley, the Times reports, a committee of the Academic Senate voted in favor of the deal with King Abdullah University.

I guess the Moonbats will come out in force to protest this one. Right?

A Real Subject

Nanny Knows Best is a great blog- unfortunately it has the effect of making me become extremely pi annoyed, shall we say. Best taken in small doses if you don't want your head to explode at the sheer unthinking stupidity of the British government. There's an awful lot of material over there if you're looking for something to rant about.

Anyway, one story about schools having staff poke around in children's lunch-boxes to make sure that they were only eating govt. approved foodstuffs stood out.

Now it seems that dinner ladies could soon be used to monitor school lunchboxes, in order to ensure that children are eating healthy meals.

Under Nanny's "obesity strategy" (give me strength!), there are plans to force all schools to implement a "healthy lunchbox policy".

Good grief!

Seemingly parents may even be asked to sign a form agreeing to ban unhealthy foods from their children's lunches.

It seems to me that if schools are so worried about fat kids they might look to themselves first- and actually have PE classes make the little blighters actually do some exercise. Set a basic standard of fitness and then have the tender little blossoms have to pass the test to obtain a passing grade in the subject. It amazes me that so many complain about kids becoming more unhealthy and overweight but the simple solution of having them exercise to pass PE, rather than just having them turn up once a week to play football or hockey, for example, isn't even on the radar.

I'm sure it wouldn't be too difficult to calculate how far or fast the average schoolchild can run, how many push ups or pull ups they should be able to do and turn that into an end-of-year test. No doubt some will complain that this will discriminate against plump children or the like but it's no different than maths classes discriminating against the less intelligent. Smart kids will pass their written exams, fit kids will pass their PE exams.

You know, it might even make some of the less scholarly pupils feel good to get an "A" now and then too.

Teaching Intolerance

Saudi propaganda culture comes to an American school.

For one night, on May 9, the quaint colonial town of Amherst, New Hampshire, was transformed into a Saudi Arabian Bedouin tent community, with the help of 80 seventh-graders at the Amherst Middle School.

Pay close attention to the actual details of what these children are being taught-

During the check-in, guests selected a traditional Arabic name for their name badge and completed an actual Saudi customs form, which warned in bold letters “Death for Drug Trafficking ” at the top.

As Robert Spencer adds, "Were crosses, Bibles, stars of David, and all other non-Muslim religious articles confiscated and destroyed?" I've tried to find a copy of the customs form but haven't been able to so far- if you have a link please leave it in the comments. What I did find was the visa application, which includes the following-

"I also agree not to introduce any materials into the Kingdom that contradict the Islamic religion."

Wonder if that was mentioned in any of the school's classes leading up to this activity?

Flowing fabrics hung from the ceiling separated the family and men-only dining sections.

Only the seventh-grade boys were allowed to host the food stations and the Arabic dancing, as the traditions of Saudi Arabia at this time prevent women from participating in these public roles.

Teaching gender apartheid- isn't the US school system so progressive!

Ignoring History

Another sign of Britain's slide into oblivion.

Schools are dropping the Holocaust from history lessons to avoid offending Muslim pupils, a Government backed study has revealed.

It found some teachers are reluctant to cover the atrocity for fear of upsetting students whose beliefs include Holocaust denial.

There is also resistance to tackling the 11th century Crusades - where Christians fought Muslim armies for control of Jerusalem - because lessons often contradict what is taught in local mosques.

I guess it doesn't matter that these topics are part of the National Curriculum- evidently Muslim sensibilities trump that. And how could teachers possibly dare to contradict the local mosque? I suppose they'll stop teaching evolution too because it contradicts what the local church teaches too? These cowering, craven fools have no place in the classroom- to ignore actual historical facts for fear of offending pupils? It's shameful.

And once again Einstein's maxim is proved true; the press and educational establishments are the first to cave to any kind of pressure.

Freedom of speech and thought? Not if you're a teacher or journalist.

Read on too for this-

A lack of knowledge among teachers, particularly in primary schools, is also leading to "shallow" lessons on emotive and difficult subjects.

In other words, the teachers do not have sufficient knowledge to actually be teaching these subjects to pupils- one might think then that they should not have been given their teaching degree.

Lego Banned

No, it's nothing to do with the Mohammed cartoons- this time a school in the United States has banned Lego. Health and safety concerns? Nope, nothing so "logical"- it seems that the Lego bricks were having an unusual effect on the children-

"building their assumptions about ownership and the social power it conveys — assumptions that mirrored those of a class-based, capitalist society — a society that we teachers believe to be unjust and oppressive.”

You mean *gasp* kids were learning about the real world? Well, those teachers didn't stand for that-

they banned the Legos and began their program of re-education. “Our intention was to promote a contrasting set of values: collectivity, collaboration, resource-sharing, and full democratic participation,” they write.

...in Hilltop’s new Lego regime, there would be three immutable laws:

- All structures are public structures. Everyone can use all the Lego structures. But only the builder or people who have her or his permission are allowed to change a structure.

- Lego people can be saved only by a “team” of kids, not by individuals.

- All structures will be standard sizes.

In short, the children have been indoctrinated with communist ideals. Totally brainwashed by public educators who brag about it in a schools magazine. But it's fairly typical of modern liberal thought- ban what doesn't agree with your beliefs and inflict your own view-point on others. Tolerance, freedom of thought and expression- those are ideals which run counter to today's liberalism, subsumed under the belief that their point of view is the only reasonable one anyone should have. A hop, skip and a jump away from Hitler's National Socialism and Stalin's Communism.

Big hat tip to Frau Budgie.