Children Taken to Mosque?

They took prayer out of school, and now we have violence. Now they take our children to a mosque to learn how to be more voilent?

Here is the link, just in case.

A few points if I may. In the first place, the moslem children already have their seperate place to pray during the day and their special time swim so as not to have to share with the infidel. That's you and me. In our land.

Secondly, we are not even allowed to bring a Bible to school. Does anyone remember the purpose of schools? They were to teach virtue, the Bible, manners, respect for elders, the pledge, etc. None of which is enforced today. Why not? Ask the Supreme Court. I wonder what they are going to answer to God when they are at the Pearly Gates?

Lastly (but probably not the only reason), do these teachers ever check out the people that they are exposing the children who are charged to be in their care?

This is sickening, and I hope you feel the same way. This country was NOT built by muslims. No matter what they say. Thomas Jefferson did indeed have a koran. This is so he could know our enemy as we fought at the Barbary Coast. It was not a praise to them as he knew our God was Holy and Almighty. He may not have believed in Jesus, he might have, but that is something between God and him.

Oh yes, Congress paid for those Bibles. Mosques? Nope. Never crossed their minds. They were for learning to read and learn about right and wrong. I don't think murdering someone just because they are different is right. Period.

May you walk with the LORD always, and when you cannot take another step, may He carry you the rest of the way until you can walk along side Him again.

Founders' Daily Quote(s): 6/21-25/10

Monday, June 21, 2010.
"Promote then as an object of primary importance, Institutions for the general diffusion of knowledge. In proportion as the structure of a government gives force to public opinion, it is essential that public opinion should be enlightened." --George Washington, Farewell Address, 1796

Tue. 6/22.
"Enlighten the people, generally, and tyranny and oppressions of body and mind will vanish like spirits at the dawn of day." --Thomas Jefferson, letter to Dupont de Nemours, 1816

Wed. 6/23.
"Cherish, therefore, the spirit of our people, and keep alive their attention. Do not be too severe upon their errors, but reclaim them by enlightening them." --Thomas Jefferson, letter to Edward Carrington, 1787

HEY OBAMA, DID YOU SEE THIS ONE? You read and taught Constitutional Law? OMG.

Thu. 6/24.
"A nation under a well regulated government, should permit none to remain uninstructed. It is monarchical and aristocratical government only that requires ignorance for its support." --Thomas Paine, Rights of Man, part 2, 1792

Fri. 6/25.
"The dons, the bashaws, the grandees, the patricians, the sachems, the nabobs, call them by what names you please, sigh and groan and fret, and sometimes stamp and foam and curse, but all in vain. The decree is gone forth, and it cannot be recalled, that a more equal liberty than has prevailed in other parts of the earth must be established in America." --John Adams, letter to Patrick Henry, 1776

Sounds as though they're still doing this!

Essay by Mark Alexander: The 'Tea Party' Movement.

Source: Patriot Post.us.

May you walk with the LORD always, and when you cannot take another step, may He carry you the rest of the way until you can walk along side Him again.

Founders' Daily Quote(s): 6/14-18/10

Monday, June 14, 2010.
"The Army (considering the irritable state it is in, its suffering and composition) is a dangerous instrument to play with." --George Washington, letter to Alexander Hamilton, 1783

Tue. 6/15.
"Laws for the liberal education of the youth, especially of the lower class of the people, are so extremely wise and useful, that, to a humane and generous mind, no expense for this purpose would be thought extravagant." --John Adams, Thoughts on Government, 1776

Oh really? You didn't have to deal with unions in your day!

Wed. 6/16.
"Wisdom and knowledge, as well as virtue, diffused generally among the body of the people, being necessary for the preservation of their rights and liberties, and as these depend on spreading the opportunities and advantages of education in the various parts of the country, and among the different orders of people, it shall be the duty of legislators and magistrates ... to cherish the interest of literature and the sciences, and all seminaries of them." --John Adams, Thoughts on Government, 1776

Thu. 6/17.
"Liberty cannot be preserved without a general knowledge among the people, who have a right, from the frame of their nature, to knowledge, as their great Creator, who does nothing in vain, has given them understandings, and a desire to know; but besides this, they have a right, an indisputable, unalienable, indefeasible, divine right to that most dreaded and envied kind of knowledge; I mean, of the characters and conduct of their rulers." --John Adams, Dissertation on Canon and Feudal Law, 1765

Fri. 6/18.
"A fine genius in his own country is like gold in the mine." --Benjamin Franklin, Poor Richard's Almanack, 1733

Essay by Mark Alexander: The Centennial of Father's Day. And a case study in the fate of the fatherless Barack Obama
.

Source: Patriot Post.us.

May you walk with the LORD always, and when you cannot take another step, may He carry you the rest of the way until you can walk along side Him again.

Founders' Daily Quote(s): 6/7-11/10

Monday, June 7, 2010.
"No people will tamely surrender their Liberties, nor can any be easily subdued, when knowledge is diffusd and Virtue is preservd. On the Contrary, when People are universally ignorant, and debauchd in their Manners, they will sink under their own weight without the Aid of foreign Invaders." --Samuel Adams, letter to James Warren, 1775

Straight out of the Bible. Would you like to try and argue with me once again how our Founders were pagans?

Tue. 6/8.
"The good Education of Youth has been esteemed by wise Men in all Ages, as the surest Foundation of the Happiness both of private Families and of Common-wealths. Almost all Governments have therefore made it a principal Object of their Attention, to establish and endow with proper Revenues, such Seminaries of Learning, as might supply the succeeding Age with Men qualified to serve the Publick with Honour to themselves, and to their Country." --Benjamin Franklin, Proposals Relating to the Education of Youth in Pennsylvania, 1749

Wed. 6/9.
"[W]e ought to deprecate the hazard attending ardent and susceptible minds, from being too strongly, and too early prepossessed in favor of other political systems, before they are capable of appreciating their own." --George Washington, letter to the Commissioners of the District of Columbia, 1795

Thu. 6/10.
"To give to every citizen the information he needs for the transaction of his own business; To enable him to calculate for himself, and to express and preserve his ideas, his contracts and accounts, in writing; To improve, by reading, his morals and faculties; To understand his duties to his neighbors and country, and to discharge with competence the functions confided to him by either; To know his rights; to exercise with order and justice those he retains; to choose with discretion the fiduciary of those he delegates; and to notice their conduct with diligence, with candor, and judgment; And, in general, to observe with intelligence and faithfulness all the social relations under which he shall be placed." --Thomas Jefferson, Report of the Commissioners for the University of Virginia, 1818

Fri. 6/11.
"Cherish, therefore, the spirit of our people, and keep alive their attention. Do not be too severe upon their errors, but reclaim them by enlightening them. If once they become inattentive to the public affairs, you and I, and Congress, and Assemblies, Judges, and Governors, shall all become wolves." --Thomas Jefferson, letter to Edward Carrington, 1787

Essay by Mark Alexander: 'In God is Our Trust'.

Source: Patriot Post.us.

May you walk with the LORD always, and when you cannot take another step, may He carry you the rest of the way until you can walk along side Him again.

Founders' Daily Quote(s):5/31/10-6/4/10

Monday, May 31, 2010.
"Our own Country's Honor, all call upon us for a vigorous and manly exertion, and if we now shamefully fail, we shall become infamous to the whole world. Let us therefore rely upon the goodness of the Cause, and the aid of the supreme Being, in whose hands Victory is, to animate and encourage us to great and noble Actions - The Eyes of all our Countrymen are now upon us, and we shall have their blessings, and praises, if happily we are the instruments of saving them from the Tyranny mediated against them. Let us therefore animate and encourage each other, and shew the whole world, that a Freeman contending for Liberty on his own ground is superior to any slavish mercenary on earth." --George Washington, General Orders, 1776

This is so correct, and we now once again have our eyes ye. Do well, or else...

Tuesday, June 1, 2010.
"It is an object of vast magnitude that systems of education should be adopted and pursued which may not only diffuse a knowledge of the sciences but may implant in the minds of the American youth the principles of virtue and of liberty and inspire them with just and liberal ideas of government and with an inviolable attachment to their own country." --Noah Webster, On Education of Youth in America, 1790

Did you intend for the Supreme Court to kick God out of our classrooms? No, I did not think so. Where else from hence virtue flows?

Wed. 6/2.
"The best service that can be rendered to a Country, next to that of giving it liberty, is in diffusing the mental improvement equally essential to the preservation, and the enjoyment of the blessing." --James Madison, letter to Littleton Dennis Teackle, 1826

I'm positive he was referring to opportunity and NOT socialism.

Thu. 6/3.
"A popular Government, without popular information, or the means of acquiring it, is but a Prologue to a Farce or a Tragedy; or, perhaps both. Knowledge will forever govern ignorance: And a people who mean to be their own Governors, must arm themselves with the power which knowledge gives." --James Madison, letter to W.T. Barry, 1822

Ah, this reminds me of the saying, "The pen is mightier than the sword." Yet this part about ignorance is so ever growing in our media. If a Democrat tells them something, they write it down as if they did research. If they ask a question of a Republican (Conservative) who gives them a straight answer and the place where they can look up the information, they consider this an afront! Nothing a Consevative has to say can persuade the media, but do not hesitate to speak the truth anyway. People who know the truth will read what they write and question it to the point of taking their money elsewhere! This is what I call the free market. :)

Fri. 6/4.
"What spectacle can be more edifying or more seasonable, than that of Liberty and Learning, each leaning on the other for their mutual & surest support?" --James Madison, letter to W.T. Barry, 1822

TEACH AMERICAN HISTORY AS IT REALLY WAS, NOT THE WAY YOU WANT TO THINK OF IT.

Essay by Mark Williams: 'There is a Time to Fight'.

Source: Patriot Post.us.

May you walk with the LORD always, and when you cannot take another step, may He carry you the rest of the way until you can walk along side Him again.

Founders' Daily Quote(s): 5/24-28/10

Monday, May 24, 2010.
"To all of which is added a selection from the elementary schools of subjects of the most promising genius, whose parents are too poor to give them further education, to be carried at the public expense through the college and university. The object is to bring into action that mass of talents which lies buried in poverty in every country, for want of the means of development, and thus give activity to a mass of mind, which, in proportion to our population, shall be double or treble of what it is in most countries." --Thomas Jefferson, letter to Jose Correa de Serra, 1817

Tue. 5/25.
?

Wed. 5/26.
"Knowledge is, in every country, the surest basis of public happiness." --George Washington, First Annual Message, 1790

Thu. 5/27.
"Law and liberty cannot rationally become the objects of our love, unless they first become the objects of our knowledge." --James Wilson, Of the Study of the Law in the United States, 1790

Fri. 5/28.
"It should be your care, therefore, and mine, to elevate the minds of our children and exalt their courage; to accelerate and animate their industry and activity; to excite in them an habitual contempt of meanness, abhorrence of injustice and inhumanity, and an ambition to excel in every capacity, faculty, and virtue. If we suffer their minds to grovel and creep in infancy, they will grovel all their lives." --John Adams, Dissertation on the Canon and Feudal Law, 1756

You mean you did NOT want a welfare state? Well what do you know!

Source: Patriot Post.us - Subscribe.

May you walk with the LORD always, and when you cannot take another step, may He carry you the rest of the way until you can walk along side Him again.

Arizona's Classrooms

Today I have several links for you to educate yourselves about what is happening in Arizona. Whether or not you agree with Arizona (I agree), you should at least take the time to educate yourself so you don't sound like wingnut without a scrap of evidence like our govt has sounded recently.

Arizona Legislatures just passed House HB 2288 - Prohibits a school district or charter school from including courses or classes that either promote the overthrow of the United States government or promote resentment toward a race or class of people.

Arizona Curbs Ethnic Study Classes.

Article Discusses California, Arizona, and the New Classroom Law.

In Other News.

GOP Activists Boost Outsiders in Colorado (Mentions Tea Party and 912 Groups)

Thousands Of Non-Profits May Lose Tax Exempt Status.

Hat tip: Janna.

May you walk with the LORD always, and when you cannot take another step, may He carry you the rest of the way until you can walk along side Him again. Digg!

Dr's Are Suggesting CCR

Below you will find a video which describes just what is CCR and when and how to use it. They do not, however, suggest we should not learn CPR. They are just describing in which circumstances you may want to use CCR instead.

In case the video does not work, here is the link.

Educational wouldn't you say? I was glad to have watched it. Thank you for sending this to me, Steve M. A big hat tip. :)

May you walk with the LORD always, and when you cannot take another step, may He carry you the rest of the way until you can walk along side Him again. Digg!

Myths And Facts 10/28/09

Eli E. Hertz has sent this email which I find so revealing. It is amazing as to how much we choose to forget and how much others choose to cherry pick the words the need to fit their own agenda.

Today, fifteen years after signing the Israel-Jordan Peace Treaty and 14 years after his tragic death, Yitzhak Rabin was lauded by President Barack Obama as a man of peace and courage, who "demonstrated that a commitment to communication, cooperation, and genuine reconciliation can help change the course of history."

The following excerpts from Rabin's last public speech to the Knesset just days before he was murdered reveal Rabin's true realistic vision:

The Knesset (Parliament) October 5, 1995

"Here, in the land of Israel, we returned and built a nation. Here, in the land of Israel, we established a state. The land of the prophets, which bequeathed to the world the values of morality, law and justice, was, after two thousand years, restored to its lawful owners - the members of the Jewish people. On its land, we have built an exceptional national home and state.

"We view the permanent solution in the framework of [the] State of Israel which will include most of the area of the Land of Israel as it was under the rule of the British Mandate, and alongside it a Palestinian entity which will be a home to most of the Palestinian residents living in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.

"We will not return to the 4 June 1967 lines.

"First and foremost, united Jerusalem ... as the capital of Israel, under Israeli sovereignty.

"The security border of the State of Israel will be located in the Jordan Valley ... The establishment of blocs of settlements in Judea and Samaria, like the one in Gush Katif.

"We had to choose between the whole of the land of Israel ... and a state with less territory, but which would be a Jewish state. We chose to be a Jewish state.

"We ... committed ourselves before the Knesset, not to uproot a single settlement in the framework of the interim agreement, and not to hinder building for natural growth.

"We are aware of the fact that the Palestinian Authority has not - up until now - [E.H., and never thereafter] honored its commitment to change the Palestinian Covenant, and that all of the promises on this matter have not been kept. I would like to bring it to the attention of the members of the house that I view these changes as a supreme test of the Palestinian Authority's willingness and ability, and the changes required will be an important and serious touchstone vis-a'-vis the continued implementation of the agreement as a whole."

Rabin's vision essentially incorporated the principles of Israel as both a Jewish state, and as a state living in "Peace within secure and recognized boundaries" as stated in UN Security Council Resolution 242.

May you walk with the LORD always, and when you cannot take another step, may He carry you the rest of the way until you can walk along side Him again.

Videos: Reason Magazine

The reason I subscribe to Reason Magazine is because they speak plainly. You know, common sense. The way you and I speak. Reaon Magazine's Matt Welch was interviewed on Fox News today about the budget disaster in California, and the rest of the USA is following lock, stock and barrel except for a few states. Texas being one of those states who knows better. Where is Former President George W. Bush from? (I couldn't resist.)

If the video is not working, try this link.

Do you remember the discussions (arguements) we had over the DC voucher system? Reason Editor in Chief Matt Welch on DC Opportunity Scholarship Program. What's up with that, President Obama?

While I was checking for these links, I happened upon this song. Just to give you a little boost and a taste of nostalgia, may I present the RightBrothers.

The link for this song is above in their name.

May you walk with the LORD always, and when you cannot take another step, may He carry you the rest of the way until you can walk along side Him again.

Cross-posted @ Rosemary's News and Ideas. Digg!

ACLU Hates Disabled Children

Margaret Sanger would be proud of the Arizona Supreme Court decision on Wednesday, March 23, 2009. If you are disabled or have children with disabilities, the ACLU, the Perverts for the Amerikan Way (to hell), and all other children haters have won a case Against disabled children getting a proper education, because these children's parents chose to use their vouchers to go to a Christian school.

John and Dina Phipps and Brendan and Susan Fay, founders of Father’s Heart Christian School for the disabled, removed their developmentally and physically challenged children from the Arizona public school system because of the inadequate education they received there. Two of the children suffer from autism and the other from learning and physical challenges.

Upon receiving the customized instruction they needed at Father’s Heart, their behavior and participation improved remarkably and their academic performance rose several grade levels in just one year after leaving the government school system. The children receive vouchers through the Arizona Scholarships for Pupils with Disabilities program to attend Father’s Heart, but Wednesday’s decision from the Arizona Supreme Court effectively kills the program.

Lovely. What these 'people' would prefer you do, since you embarrass them and should not exist in the first place, is to shut up and take it. Don't you know you are inferior? You should have been aborted! Well, that's how scum think when the only thing you value is self.

Do you believe this is a religious battle? Maybe, but only against Christians and Jews.

Meanwhile your tax money is paying to install footbaths for Muslims in a public school somewhere and the ACLU remain silent. Somewhere CAIR is teaching school children about Islam, and the ACLU remains silent. However, they won’t sit idly by and allow autistic children to receive a better education. Absolutely not if it involves attending a Christian school. [Continue reading.]

Do these idiots know it was the CHRISTIANS who started this whole schooling thing when they came here so that children and adults could learn how to read the BIBLE? I don't rightly know, but I have my suspicions. What say you?

Hat tip: John from Stop the ACLU.

May you walk with the LORD always, and when you cannot take another step, may He carry you the rest of the way until you can walk along side Him again.

Cross-posted @ TCU, SGP and Rosemary's News and Ideas. Digg!

Gifted Girls Enjoy New School

by Sgt. Rodney Foliente
4th Infantry Division

CAMP ECHO, Iraq (March 9, 2009) — Some of Diwaniya’s brightest female students happily participated in their new school’s opening, Feb. 26. The Irshad Secondary School for Girls, which enrolls some of the brightest teen girls in the city, was built by the Army Corps of Engineers working with the local government, contractors and laborers.

“With my partners, the Iraqi engineers, and with diligent effort, we were able to provide for you this beautiful school,” said Lt. Col. Dwight Davies, with the Corps of Engineers. “It is a great joy and privilege to provide an opportunity for such gifted young ladies to learn and evolve and support the future of Iraq.”

The students of this school are among the top 20 percent of young female students from within and around the city.“We are happy for this school. It is very nice,” said a young student in English. She then showed off and said it in French and Arabic.

“Our old school was too small and not ours. We borrowed it, shared it with others,” she said, describing the crowded situations and sometimes being unable to have a full day of school.

The size of the school provides a better environment for teaching these girls, said Shuhad, an English-speaking teacher.“I have girls of my own,” she said, explaining why she wanted to teach young girls. Shuhad said she enjoys teaching and is happy for the new school. “I can participate in helping small girls in building their personalities and to be good people and good members of society to build the future of Iraq,” said Shuhad.

“I have three kids, so for me it’s pretty inspiring and pleasant to see [students] with so much energy and enthusiasm. I was so impressed,” said Mike Klecheski, Provincial Reconstruction Team leader for Diwaniya province.

“This country is making a lot of progress and to the extent that we can be partners in this progress is wonderful,” said Klecheski. He stressed the importance of the partnership with the Government of Iraq. “We work very closely with them,” he said. “Construction of a school like this is really a partnership, in every sense of the word.”He said efforts such as the opening of the school help[s] strengthen the bond between the two countries and develops a greater working relationship to benefit the sovereignty of Iraq.

“Not only are we dealing with Iraqis, but we’re dealing with the future generation of leaders and elites,” said Klecheski. “It was a great day and a lot of fun.” Klecheski continued. “It’s days like this that really make this a fantastic job because you really feel like you’re directly contributing. This is a culmination of a lot of work and it’s nice to be able to celebrate that. We are so happy that Iraq is making such great progress.”

Students at the Irshad Secondary School for Girls wave flags and display flowers as they sing and chant during the opening ceremony of the school, Feb. 26. The school enrolls the top 20th percentile of girls aged 13-15 from Diwaniya and surrounding areas.

Source: CENTCOM.

Iraqi Girls Reclaim Attack Site As 'Fort Of Science'

by Sgt. 1st Class Christina Bhatti
MND-B PAO

CAMP TAJI, Iraq, Jan. 8, 2009 – Some 300 girls in blue jumpers and white head scarves stood in formation on the school’s courtyard. The chill in the morning air rose in puffs as they chatted, happily anticipating the formal opening of their new school. “Today is a good day,” said Saeed Jassim Hameed al-Mashhadani, a tribal sheik in Tarmiyah, Iraq. “This day marks a beginning of education for these girls.”

The Huda Girls’ School in Tarmiyah, northwest of Baghdad, officially reopened its doors Jan. 5 in a ceremony that featured speeches, poems and songs. The school provides education to about 950 girls who attend classes at various times throughout the day.

Built in 1982, the building first was used as dormitory, but transformed into a school for agriculture in 1995. Since then, it has transformed again into primary and high schools specializing in the sciences. “This is really something big for the people. This is a fort of science,” Muhamad Ibrihim Jassim, administrative supervisor for the Ministry of Education in Tarmiyah, said about the school’s reopening. “This is the largest school in the area.”

The Ministry of Education had long recognized the school for its excellence. That was until 2003, when it became the scene of violence during major combat operations and slowly ceased to function, said Malcom Phelps, a senior education advisor for the coalition’s embedded provincial reconstruction team attached in Multinatioonal Division Baghdad to the 25th Infantry Division’s 2nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team.

The school, located near a joint security station, was the launching point of ambushes, homemade-bomb attacks and sniper fire against coalition forces and the then-nascent Iraqi security forces. After a cautious stability was reached in the area in 2006, soldiers from the 1st Cavalry Division began projects to rebuild the badly war-damaged school.

During the process, a major terror plan was thwarted. Soldiers discovered a command wire leading from the school’s outer perimeter to one of the rooms. Inside the room, the troops discovered five artillery shell explosives. The planned insurgent attack also included two large explosive-filled propane tanks buried under the school’s floor and numerous projectiles planted under electrical conduits in front of each classroom.

“This was a major setback,” said Army 1st Lt. Erik Peterson, a civil-military affairs officer assigned to the 25th Infantry Division’s Company A, 1st Battalion, 14th Infantry Regiment. “If they went off, not only would the building have been destroyed, many lives would have been lost.”

More damage was caused by removing the explosives, Peterson said. Engineer crews had to pull up the floor and take down walls brick by brick to ensure there was no longer a threat built into the structure. Eventually, those involved in the plot were captured or killed by U.S. and Iraqi forces. “Even though this was a setback, we had to try again,” Peterson said. “This is the only secondary school in the city. If it wasn’t rebuilt, there would be no place for these girls to go to school and get a good education.”

About $300,000 of Iraqi and U.S. funds were spent to rebuild and refurbish the school, which contains 18 classrooms, science labs, an administration suite and an auditorium. Now that the school is open, it faces many of the same issues plaguing the entire education system of Iraq. “We have so many students,” Jassim said, adding that the girls now go to school in shifts to help alleviate the overcrowding. “We need more buildings so we can effectively teach these students.” Peterson said more school projects are in the works, and that he hopes more schools will open soon.

More teachers also are needed, but Jassim said he is confident that problem will be solved in the coming years. “All of the teachers we currently have graduated from this school,” he said. “They belong to this area. Some of these girls will do the same thing, and we will continue to prosper like we did before the fighting.” Jassim said he is sure the area is safe now. “There is nothing more to be scared of,” he said. “These girls can come to school in peace.”

Despite the peace and stability in the area, a symbol of violence still looms in the background. Clearly visible from inside the school’s compound is the brightly colored dome of the Ghalani Mosque. This mosque is a known safe haven for terror and frequently broadcasts anti-coalition and Iraqi security messages. But Jassim said this will not deter his efforts and those of his teachers to give the students the education they deserve. “It is our duty to provide the best education possible,” he said. “We have been charged with that duty – and we will prevail.”

About 300 girls stand in formation in the courtyard of the Huda Girls School in Tarmiyah, northwest of Baghdad, during the official reopening Jan. 5. The school was under renovation since 2006. A foiled terror plot set back the opening by almost a year.

Source: CENTCOM.

Cross-posted @ Rosemary's News and Ideas. Digg!

Al Kareme School Opens In Baghdad

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
RELEASE No. 20081211-09
Dec. 11, 2008

Al Kareme School opens in Baghdad

CAMP LIBERTY, Iraq – The Iskan community of Baghdad witnessed a good day when its largest intermediate school reopened Dec. 4 after an extensive renovation project. Only a decade old, the heavy neglect and abuse of the Al Kareme schoolhouse had left it unusable. Under these conditions, students attending the schoolhouse had to be transported to another location.“The school was so bad that they couldn’t study there, so they transferred 1,200 students to another school,” said Nima Alsiegh, a civil engineer and overseer of the renovation. “There was [sic] no doors, no electricity, no bathrooms, no water and no desks. There was nothing in the school, so they left for obvious reasons.”

Many of Baghdad’s schools are in poor condition – the Al Kareme schoolhouse being one of them. The reconstruction effort of the Coalition forces and Iraqi contractors focused their attention not only on the rebuilding of the school but an added benefit of providing a sense of normalcy and opportunity for local nationals in the area.

“You’d be surprised at how quickly a school can get run down if no one is picking up after the kids,” said Capt. Kelly Lanphere, 4th Squadron, 10th Cavalry Regiment, 4th Infantry Division, attached to 4th Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division, Multi-National Division – Baghdad. “Imagine no one taking out the trash and not cleaning up the bathrooms. ‘Where does the trash go?’ They just chuck it outside of the front gate. The school quickly becomes full of trash everywhere, blowing trash, the smell of sewage all over the place from the bathrooms getting plugged up.”

After an evaluation of the dilapidated building, the project took off – three months and $168,000 later, a beautiful school was handed back over to the people of Iskan. The funding came from the Commanders Emergency Relief Program. “We did an assessment, and then the contractors started to work and everything has changed 100 percent,” said Alseigh.

The rebuilding of the schoolhouse also included a large conference theater room. “There is a big theater room for conferences; they changed the doors and glass, rebuilt the bathrooms, put in lights, new paint, a new generator, new flooring, fans and a new sewage system. You name it, they restored it.”

Success like the reopening of the Al Kareme School has made it possible for the CF to maintain security throughout Baghdad. The continuing effort to maintain security and evolving improvements are the defining cause of a greater sense of normalcy and improvement of life.

Source: MNF-Iraq.

May you walk with the LORD always, and when you cannot take another step, may He carry you the rest of the way until you can walk along side Him again.

Cross-posted @ Rosemary's News and Ideas. Trackback URI. Digg!

From Wilderness To Womanhood

This post is written by Karl's 18 year old daughter, and it is beautifully written. She is intelligent, articulate, and witty. Weren't we all at 18? *heh* Karl is very proud of his daughter, and I can see why. I have decided to use the end of her of post to share with you, but I recommend you go to Leaning Staight Up and read it from the beginning.

***************************

I have paid close attention to the reactions of Liberal Obama supporters when bloggers and such responded to the election with their own opinions. What I saw was a disgusting combination of oppression and childish insults hurled daringly at the poor person who didn’t support Obama. What I have seen is finger pointing, accusations of being nutty right-wings.

“You nutty right wingers can go gibber in the corner about stupid rumors like this; just get out of our way.” - Jftp (LSU Commentor)

What kind of American attitude is that? What happened to our country’s firm beliefs in escaping persecution, in allowing ourselves to believe in something different? What will these next four years do to us? Will we be further banned from expression our religion, our politics, our views, everything, for fear of ‘insulting’ someone or ‘offending’ someone? Will we be so forced to be open-minded that we are forced to quell any form of personality we had left?

I am a young woman, with a higher then normal intellect. I participate in musical activities, and am proficient in the viola and violin, as well as the piano when I put my mind to it. I play video games, and I openly admit to my World of Warcraft love. I am of a minority religion that I fear to speak of on a daily basis because of the way people have reacted in the past. I do not judge others by their skin or the way they speak. I love theatre and worked on the stage as an actress and as a technical worker. I sketch and draw, and I am currently working on a book series that I hope to someday have published. I have been working at my job for over a year, and already, I am being nominated for one of the national workers who have done beyond-outstanding in their and other work centers. I have two piercings in my ears, and love dressing up punkish and gothic for a good concert. I go to the mall and laugh and shop with my friends. I kiss my boyfriend and hold hands with him. I’m not shy of swearing. I accept other people’s religions, and at least one-third of my friends are gay, lesbian, or at least bisexual. I hold myself to a moral code that would make my grandparents proud. I’m patient with those I have to teach, and willingly offer to help those around me, whether at work, at home, or at play. I wear glasses, and I read paperbacks and hardbacks that are thicker then my forearm, especially David Eddings and Robert Jordan.

I am no different then any other person out there. In fact, I’m probably quite better then many people out there.

So then, readers of LSU…

Why do I feel so oppressed by whats to come?

Once more… I am an eighteen year old young woman who looks upon those around her, her peers and those who are older, and shakes her head in disgust… and sorrow at what consumes these people’s minds.

**************************

Well done, young lady. Welcome to adulthood. I know it doesn't appear to be all you may have expected right now, but it can be anything you make it. There is nothing that can stand in your way unless you allow it to do so. God bless your journey.

Ah, I almost forgot to explain the title. From Wilderness...We all remember High School, yes? Those awkward years, the hormone changes, the uncertainty, the new challenges, and everything that got us into trouble or at least tried? Ah, yes. The good old days! NOT! lol. Then at that magic age of 18 we are all of a sudden adults. Why was I not an adult yesterday again, the day before my birthday? I will never get an answer that is acceptable to me to that question, so I will just carry on from here. One more of those adult answers that a 17 year old will never understand...lol.

Everyone, have a nice day.

May you walk with the LORD always, and when you cannot take another step, may He carry you the rest of the way until you can walk along side Him again.

Hat tip: Leaning Straight Up.

Cross-posted @ Rosemary's News and Ideas. Digg!

US, Iraqi Leaders Discuss Sadr City Rehab

by Jim Garamone
American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, Oct. 19, 2008 – Noting that increasing employment, rebuilding infrastructure and providing basic services are tactics in the war on terror, Coalition and Iraqi officials discussed the pace of civil-military rebuilding in Baghdad’s Sadr City district Sunday. Iraqi spokesman Tahseen al-Sheikhly said the government has been putting billions of dinars into reconstructing the Shiite section of the Iraqi capital.

Sadr City, once named Saddam City, holds about 3 million of Baghdad’s citizens. Virtually ignored under the former regime, the area has severe infrastructure problems and a very high unemployment rate. The city was the scene of heavy fighting in April 2004 and earlier this year. Now, the security situation in the area has improved, and Iraqi and coalition projects are being built.

“It is clear to the Iraqi citizens that there is a very big movement in the Iraqi services sector,” Sheikhly said through a translator during a news conference in Baghdad. “This movement has been targeted by the citizens directly.” The Iraqi people will see “touchable” results from projects under way or scheduled, Sheikhly said. The plans will address “the bad situations in the area and rescue the citizens from the gangs,” he added.

Reconstruction planning and execution has increased because the improved security is “fostering political and economic development, and all are encouraged by the growing return to normalcy,” coalition spokesman Army Brig. Gen. Dave Perkins said. In Sadr City, civil-military projects are important part of the work coalition forces do in partnership with the government of Iraq, the general said. Coalition forces have a civil-military budget of $56 million for the area.

“We have more than 200 ongoing projects that positively affect the residents in Sadr City,” he said. “The purpose of these projects is to improve everyday life in these neighborhoods.” Local citizens perform the work, and Iraqi contractors are bidding on contracts. A key part of reconstruction in Sadr City is a district advisory council that meets on a regular basis with members of the Iraqi government, Iraqi police officials, local community leaders and military officials from Multinational Division Baghdad to prioritize the projects.

The civil-military projects have pumped $12 million through the Iraqi Assistance Center, which includes micro-grants to local businessmen, which have helped to jump-start the local economy, Perkins said.

School rehabilitation is an important part of the effort. Illegal militias took over many of the schools during the fighting earlier this year. Even as the fighting was dying down in May, experts were in the neighborhoods seeing what needed to be done. More than 22 schools have been rehabilitated, and students are in classes. The Iraqi government is buying 10,000 computers for the schools in the area.

Economically, the Jamilah Market – the largest market in Baghdad – is a lynchpin for the city. “The market employs 30 percent of the citizens of Sadr City,” Perkins said. “This market area continues to improve daily because of the micro-loans provided through the assistance and reconstruction office located at the Joint Security Station Sadr City.” In addition, Iraq’s Electricity Ministry is installing generators that will provide the Jamilah neighborhood four megawatts of electricity.

The Iraqi government also is moving forward with projects, Sheikhly said. Billions of dinars are going to establish a housing community near Sadr City. The government spokesman said this should alleviate much of the overcrowding in the area. The government also has projects to rehabilitate the Sadr General Hospital, establish dental clinics and build a blood bank for the area. The local councils are getting money to pave the streets, build parks and establish sports clubs.

All told, the Iraqi government is providing 183 billion Iraqi dinars, about $156 million, to the effort.

“We have similar actions going on in Diyala, Ninevah and other provinces in Iraq,” Sheikhly said. Reconstruction was once limited to certain areas in Baghdad, but “now it is everywhere – major projects going on everywhere,” Sheikhly said. “We hope it will succeed and the right path and serve the citizens of Baghdad and Iraq in general.”

Children watch in July as U.S. Army and Iraqi engineers conduct assessments in the Thawra 1 neighborhoods of Sadr City District. Coalition and Iraqi leaders are discussing the pace of civil-military reconstruction efforts in the area.

Source: CENTCOM.

May you walk with the LORD always, and when you cannot take another step, may He carry you the rest of the way until you can walk along side Him again.

Cross-posted @ Rosemary's News and Ideas. Digg!

Neither Francis nor I shall be silenced by the media

Alright. So I said I would no longer use emails as posts. This is one email that I believe you will be interested in reading. Francis is a woman who I contacted in some research. She did not seek me out. That means I receive her emails because I want to.

Francis is very well educated woman who is very kind and very generous with her wisdom and time. She answered all of my questions, and she did not feel put upon. Not like most people in her position. She even answered my emails in a timely fashion! I find this amazing, since most busy people send out 'form letters', so to speak.

The media is Sarasota, Florida (I think) is trying to disgrace and humiliate her. I WILL NOT STAND BY AND ALLOW THIS MEDIA ATROCITY. Don't pick on my friends. You never know what kind of horse manure you have just stepped in!

PRESS RELEASE

For information contact: Frances Rice at 1-866-905-6701.

As one pundit said: "Dogs don't bark at parked cars". A New York Times Company newspaper, the Sarasota Herald-Tribune (SHT), has struck again and published a second a hit piece on me, this time with our grassroots organization, the National Black Republican Association (NBRA) also in the crosshairs.

The first time the SHT attacked me was during the 2004 election. SHT editors worked in concert with the MoveOn.org crowd, operatives for the John Kerry for president campaign and leaders of the Sarasota County Democratic Party to deny me my freedom of speech and have my name removed from the "Vote in Honor of a Vet" program instituted by the Sarasota Supervisor of Elections. An investigation by the Sarasota Veterans Commissions concluded on August 3, 2004 that my freedom of speech had been denied due to "pressure placed on the Supervisor of Elections by the Herald-Tribune and others with a stated political agenda" when my statement in response to a question on the application to participate in the program was removed. The question was: "Why do you think it is important for young people to register to vote?" My response was: "The future of our country depends upon our young people being involved politically as well-informed voters. Our youth must be prepared to evaluate candidates by the content of their policies, not merely the label of their party. This is the only way we can be assured that all of our future elected leaders will embody the values that have made this nation great – lower taxes, limited government, strong national defense, faith in God, and equal opportunities for all."

In this most recent assault on me by the SHT, the reporters had the temerity to demonstrate that the real motivation for trying to denigrate me and the NBRA is a fear that our efforts will "foil the nomination of the first black presidential candidate, Barack Obama…" By their fawning coverage of Obama, the liberal press is functioning as a de facto 527 organization for Obama.

The SHT was so intent on trashing me and the NBRA that they did not even bother to get the basic facts straight. For instance, the SHT wrote that our "Martin Luther King, Jr. was a Republican" billboard in South Carolina was put up in 2006. In fact, our first MLK billboard was put up in Orangeburg, South Carolina on March 20, 2008. The SHT wrote that the Palm Beach County Republican Party donated $20,000 to the NBRA. In fact, the Palm Beach County Republican Party has donated no money to the NBRA. The SHT wrote that the initial NBRA board was only eight members and that all board members, except three of us, resigned. In fact, there were 13 initial, interim board members, and only six resigned for a variety of reasons, including one who resigned due to family problems. The SHT depicts the NBRA as being operated with no support and no respect for differing opinions. In fact, our Executive Committee, in recognition of the differences of opinions of our NBRA leaders around the country, established our NBRA State Delegate program that provides autonomy for our 53-member grassroots board of advisors. All of the NBRA State Delegates are listed on our website and participate in teleconferences with our Executive Committee. We have over 18,000 E-mail addresses of our members, donors and supporters in our E-mail data base who receive our E-Newsletter and provide daily feedback on our educational campaign. The SHT could not even get my height correct. I am 5 feet 6 inches tall, not "just over 5 feet tall."

In a sad attempt to cast our grassroots effort as somehow "illegal", the newspaper failed to mention that our application to the IRS included a clear statement of our intent to provide educational materials for economic and political empowerment of the people in our community. The IRS approved our request and granted 501(c) (4) status to the NBRA as a political educational organization that, according to IRS rules, may advocate "a particular position or point of view." A 2007 decision by the US Supreme Court has affirmed that groups, such as the NBRA, have the right to exercise our freedom of speech (see docket number 06-969).

Our fundraising efforts have followed two tracks. From our beginning in 2005 until today, we have raised money for the NBRA with direct appeals to our supporters. This effort led to our obtaining over 1,000 NBRA members from 2005 until 2007. Since the start of our MLK billboard campaign in Mach 2008, we have increased our membership to over 2,500. Our donor and member lists are maintained separately.

In 2006, we began raising money for our affiliated 527 with the idea in mind of assisting black Republicans with getting elected to political office. We engaged the services of BMW Direct, but that fundraising effort proved to be more expensive and less productive than we had believed, so we terminated that fundraising campaign.

Donations directly to the NBRA have been used wisely to accomplish the following in just three years. We sponsored two Grassroots Campaign Training sessions conducted by professional trainers, one in Orlando, Florida and one in Washington, DC. We were co-sponsors of three CPAC Conferences in DC, the largest gathering of conservatives in the nation. This is the first time that any black Republican organization has been CPAC co-sponsors and helped to set the national agenda for the conservative movement. We hosted two Awards Banquets where we paid homage to our grassroots activists who toil in the political trenches with little or no recognition. We published four editions of our magazine, The Black Republican, and distributed the magazines to average black Americans around the country. Our magazine includes not only facts about the history of civil rights, but also practical advice on how to become economically successful. We have produced and aired multiple video and radio ads designed to enlighten our fellow community members about issues of importance to black Americans so that they may make informed choices when they go to the polls to vote. We maintain our website that is proving to be very popular. For instance, in 2006, we received over one million hits on our website. In 2007, we again received over one million hits on our website. In just the first six months of 2008 alone, we have had nearly two million hits on our website. Our forthcoming Annual Black Republican Forum in New York City will address the issues that affect the lives of average black Americans and will be televised around the country. Not bad for an all-volunteer, three-year old grassroots group.

Incredibly, in the same article, the SHT presented two contradictory positions by two professors about Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. who was a Republican as was affirmed by his niece, Dr. Alveda C. King, in an article and a video that are posted on our website home page.

The question becomes, if the NBRA is so ineffective, why did the SHT spend so much time and effort to destroy us? "Dogs do not bark at parked cars."

Oh, by the way, my mother said to tell everyone hello, and she is still a Republican. She also sent us another donation and encourages all of our supporters to donate to the NBRA!

Frances Rice
Chairman

Click Here To Donate To The NBRA.

Click here for more information about the National Black Republican Association.

Click here to see the SHT story: Leader of black Republicans sparks a backlash.

I have added this particular post that deals with the docket number 06-969. I looked it up, because I was curious as to what it was. It is that case in Wisconsin in which a pro-life group wanted to use their ads, but of course the ACLU and the Democrats did not want the truth to come out about them. THAT IS MY OPINION. It just happens to also be the truth. ;)

Francis also has her own site called BLACK REPUBLICAN. I suggest you read it if would like to learn a little bit our history. You may be shocked. You may be thrilled. If nothing else, you will be educated. Which is always a good thing. ;)

PS. I am having an open trackback today over at Rosemary's News and Ideas. I would prefer it if you would trackback over there, but if you really don't feel like going over there you may trackback here. Just remember to link this post to your site first. Thanks.

Cross-posted @ Rosemary's News and Ideas.
Digg!
May you walk with the LORD always, and when you cannot take another step, may He carry you the rest of the way until you can walk along side Him again.

Konar, Afghanistan: 'Almost' Poppy Free

I have found this article, written by Navy Lt. Neil Myers Special to American Forces Press Service, at DVIDSHub. It is amazing to me that we do not hear more of these stories from Afghanistan, but the media wants us to believe this is the forgotten war. Forgotten by who? Not you. Not me. Maybe them? Anyway, who needs them?

The UN has a special office named, "United Nations Office of Drugs and Crime", and apparently they reward people for cleaning up their drug problem. Let's take a look first at what has occurred in past few years. In the years 2006 and 2007, this province was nearly poppy free.

U.N. Agency Declares Afghan Province 'Nearly Poppy-Free'.

During a July 6 trip to the province, Afghanistan's minister for counternarcotics, Gen. Khodaidad, announced that Konar has qualified for two monetary awards totaling $750,000 from the Counternarcotics Trust Fund.

Konar Gov. Sayed Fazlullah Wahidi and his provincial council decided to use $420,000 of that money to upgrade the Konar Teacher Training College with a 60-room dormitory, dining facility and meeting hall. A lack of dormitories requires students of either to commute or to rent local accommodations while attending school.

"This is a great day for Konar and Afghanistan", said Navy Cmdr. Daniel Dwyer, Konar Provincial Reconstruction Team commander. "When you see the government of Afghanistan, on its own, bringing projects to its people that provide for long-term jobs and economic growth, it shows everyone that progress is well on its way."

This is wonderful. This is good encouragement, by using other methods of working to achieve a good economy, and this is a way to show other provinces how to prosper without growing the poppies that are aiding the Taliban and AQ. Without this money, who knows? They may even have to get a job! LOL. Seriously though.

The governor of this province is not quite sure yet how spend the rest of the money, but he does have some ideas. He would like to build some irrigation canals, improve education, and then possible use the rest for either one big project or many smaller district projects. I vote for the smaller districts, but that's me.

He is very proud of the people in his province, especially the elders, as am I, because he knows this would not be possible without their support and efforts.

"The people of Konar deserve the credit for the poppy eradication," Wahidi said. "All the tribal elders and people of Konar are committed to putting an end to this [poppy] seed, because the smuggling, trafficking and growing of narcotics is forbidden by Islam."

I don't care much for the so-called religion, but I'm grateful to them for stopping the spread of heroin. Good job, you guys. Keep up the good work.

PS. I just want to add something that was not in this story but I know to be true. It was also done with 'a little help' by the US Military. HOOAH!

Source: DVIDS News.

May you walk with the LORD always, and when you cannot take another step, may He carry you the rest of the way until you can walk along side Him again.

Cross-posted @ Talon, Rosemary's News and Ideas and Adam's Blog.

Czech soldiers train Afghan police

by Capt. Sabina Introvicova
Czech Army Public Affairs

FOB SHANK, Afghanistan (July 10, 2008) — Czech soldiers mentored and trained Logar Police Academy cadets at an Afghan national police compound, here, recently. The Czech soldiers have an ongoing mission of training 36 cadets, who will become Afghan national police officers upon graduation from the academy, July 17. Coalition soldiers actively support the Afghan national security forces by training the ANP. The police academy, led by a U.S. Police Mentoring Training team, cooperates daily with Czech Provincial Reconstruction Team Logar soldiers at FOB Shank, Logar province.

These efforts focus on training the Afghanistan national auxiliary police to become members of the ANP. Currently, Czech and Afghan instructors are teaching the fourth group of cadets at the Academy. Each group attends a three-week cycle which includes first-aid treatment, tactics, patrolling, weapons training, vehicle-check-point procedures and many other police-related subjects. The practical part of the training also includes scenarios where cadets are ambushed by simulated oppositional forces.

“Just being able to react properly on the ambush is going to increase the probability of saving policemen’s lives,” said Warrant Officer Petr Furst, Czech PRT Logar 1st contingent military police instructor. The provision of mentoring and training ANP is a key task here, he explained. The ANP training prepares the Logar Police Academy cadets for the daily duty in their service to the Afghan nation.

Warrant Officer Petr Furst, Czech Provisional Reconstruction Team Logar 1st contingent military police, verifies the a Logar Police Academy cadets accuracy at a marksmanship class at an Afghan national police compound near Forward Operating Base Shank, Logar province, Afghanistan, June 29. In all, Czech soldiers are training 36 cadets in this class, which is slated to graduate July 17.

Source: CENTCOM.

Cross-posted @ Rosemary's News and Ideas.

Corpsmen teach medical skills to Iraqis

by Cpl. Tyler Barstow
1st Marine Logistics Group

CAMP TAQADDUM, Iraq (June 27, 2008) – Navy doctors and corpsmen at Camp Taqaddum are partnering with Iraqis to show them their medical know-how and teach them the uses of their new equipment. Five Iraqi army medical officers from Camp Habbaniyah visited Camp Taqaddum Surgical, 1st Supply Battalion (Reinforced), 1st Marine Logistics Group, June 20 to discuss a partnership and tour the building. A new hospital has been constructed at Camp Habbaniyah, but the facility needs a properly trained staff to operate in the new building with an understanding of the equipment they will use. “TQ Surgical is developing a training program to share our experience in treating combat casualties with Iraqis,” explained Lt. Cmdr. Frank Dos Santos, emergency medical physician with TQ Surgical, 1st Supply Bn. (Rein), 1st Marine Logistics Group.

The staff at TQ Surgical showed the five Iraqi officers various life saving techniques and demonstrated the proper use of the new equipment. Maj. Tahseen Muallah, a medical officer from Camp Habbaniyah, was impressed with the tour of the facility and the prospect of further training with the staff and equipment. “We’d be happy to take professional courses, and we’d be happy to push Iraqi patients to the Iraqi side,” Muallah said. “We’d (like) to take that responsibility.”

This training is to better prepare the Iraqi medical personnel to take care of their own by teaching them basic trauma skills. “They’re energetic and want to be here,” said Cmdr. Kevin D. Buckley, the officer in charge of the Shock Trauma Platoon. “Hopefully, they’ll be able to take back what they learned.”Buckley, from Livingston, N.J., demonstrated what TQ Surgical had to offer during the “Corpsman Olympics,” a friendly competition that provided training to the medical staff and gave the Iraqis a chance to see the staff and equipment in action.

Moving from different stations at twenty minute intervals, the staff checked for pulses with ultrasound technology, inserted IVs, drew blood and performed a variety of other medical tasks. The Iraqis observed the procedures and learned as much as they could before the time ran out. “There’s mutual excitement about the possibility of developing a medical partnership,” Dos Santos said.

With the experience and equipment TQ Surgical has, Dos Santos plans to work out a partnership with the Iraqis to train them so they can better provide emergency medical care for injured Iraqis in the future. “From what I saw today, they’re smart and excited about taking care of each other,” Dos Santos said.

Cmdr. Kevin D. Buckley demonstrates the use of a portable ultrasound device to visiting Iraqi medical officers from Camp Habbaniyah.

Source: CENTCOM.

May you walk with the LORD always, and when you cannot take another step, may He carry you the rest of the way until you can.