Declaring there should be “no excuse for mediocrity” in public schools, President Obama on Wednesday pledged to push for recruitment of better teachers, better pay for those who succeed and dismissal of those who let their students down.

When principals are trying to determine which teachers are doing well, he said, they should be able to consider student performance as part of the evaluation.

For instance, whether the little darlings can all carry a tune and stay on key.

Obama will fuck over India soon…

Here are some Repub jackasses who need things ‘splained to ‘em.

NASHVILLE - Supporters of blocking public access to the names and addresses of Tennesseans with handgun carry permits appear to have a hard time keeping their hands off the records. Records obtained and reviewed by The Associated Press show that copies of the state’s database of more than 257,000 handgun permit holders were recently requested by the state Republican Party and a direct mail contractor that has done extensive work for the GOP’s legislative caucus.

Asked about those requests Monday, House Republican Caucus chairman Glen Casada said he opposes using the database for political purposes such as fundraising or get-out-the-vote efforts. “I know they’re going to use it for campaigns, but there’s people that would use it to break into homes and steal guns,” said Casada of Franklin. “And I just wish we could keep personal information like that private.”

The latest effort to close the records came after The Commercial Appeal posted the full database on its Web site last year. No Republican opposed closing the records to the public last session. The bill - which would have closed the records for all uses, including campaign purposes - failed to pass by just one vote in June. State Republican Party chairman Chris Devaney said the party doesn’t take a position on whether the records should be open. ...

Time to find out what’s bein’ done locally.

Oh, yeah, good gun-law stuff’s goin’ on today in Canadia, too.

A powerful subcommittee chairman working on financial regulations didn’t appreciate Rahm Emanuel’s role in trying to change his bill — and he pointedly reminded members of his panel that President Barack Obama’s chief of staff isn’t in the House anymore.
Rep. Paul Kanjorski sounded annoyed when freshman New Jersey Democrat John Adler invoked Emanuel’s name while pushing a controversial amendment to Kanjorski’s investor protection bill.
“What seat does he occupy here?” Kanjorski demanded about freshman Rep. John Adler (D-N.J.), pointing around the half-empty Financial Services Committee room.

Kanjorski is chairman of the capital markets subcommittee, and he didn’t like the idea that the president’s chief of staff was a guiding hand on an amendment Kanjorski didn’t like.

“I’m just letting you know that other people … support this position,” Adler replied. He said he met with Emanuel three times to discuss the amendment.

A section of Highway 529 between Everett and Marysville is being designated as a Yellow Ribbon Highway to honor military personnel.

A dedication ceremony is scheduled at 10:30 a.m. Thursday at the Inn at Port Gardner in Everett with military and Transportation Department officials and local leaders.

The Transportation Commission approved a resolution in July to place Yellow Ribbon Highway signs along an eight-mile stretch of the highway. The resolution was proposed by Everett resident Nathan Olson to honor his older brother.

Sen. David Vitter (R-La.) on Wednesday suggested that controversial groups such as ACORN and Planned Parenthood could play a role in enrolling individuals in the national health insurance exchange.

Vitter pointed to language in the House’s version of healthcare reform legislation that allows for “appropriate entities” to assist with outreach efforts to “inform and educate individuals and employers about the Health Insurance Exchange and Exchange-participating health benefits plan options.”

Though the language mentions no organizations specifically, Vitter surmises that organizations opposed by conservatives could participate.

“ACORN and Planned Parenthood in health care bill? Nothing says they can’t be. Pg 183 lets ‘appropriate entities’ help in ‘outreach,’” Vitter said on his campaign Twitter feed.

Seems as though the hymns of praise to the Dear Leader thing has gotten out of hand.
I’m afraid to ask about the “Pledge of Allegiance” in these classrooms.
So, I’ve created my own fun little ditty for kids to sing in class (BTF).
Perhaps you have one you’d like to contribute.

oh for christ’s sake. marriage is a civil and human right. keep your religion out of it.

Pigs not welcome at the Capitol

U.S. Capitol Police have rejected PETA’s plan to bring live pigs to the Capitol because of swine flu fears.

In an Oct. 23 letter to the animal-rights group obtained by The Hill, Capitol Police cited a recommendation from the D.C. Health Department and said it was rejecting PETA’s request “due to significant health concerns about the possible spread of the H1N1 virus.”

The letter also cited “nuisance concerns” with the plan by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) to bring a group of pigs and gallons of swine urine and tons of manure to Capitol Hill.

~
PETA said it wanted to use giant fans to spread the smells from the animals and their waste across Capitol Hill as a way to draw attention to swine flu and the mistreatment of the animals.

Bill “Bix” Bischel, S.J., 81, of Tacoma, Washington; Susan Crane, 65, of Baltimore MD; Lynne Greenwald, 60, of Bremerton Washington; Steve Kelly, S.J., 60, of Oakland, CA.; Anne Montgomery RSCJ, 83, of New York, New York, were arrested on Naval Base Kitsap- Bangor. They entered the Base in the early morning hours of November 2, 2009, All Souls Day, with the intention calling attention to the illegality and immorality of the existence of the Trident weapons system. They entered thru the perimeter fence, made their way to the Strategic Weapons Facility – Pacific ( SWFPAC) where they were able to cut thru the first chainlink fence surrounding SWF-PAC, walked to and cut the next double layered fence, which was both chain link and barbed wire, onto the grounds of SWFPAC. As they walked onto the grounds, they held a banner saying…… “Disarm Now Plowshares : Trident: Illegal + Immoral”, left a trail of blood and hammered on the roadway (Trigger Ave and Sturgeon) that are essential to the working of the Trident weapons system, hammered on the fences around SWFPAC and scattered sunflower seeds throughout the base. They were then thrown to the ground face down, handcuffed and hooded and held there for 4 hours on the wet cold ground. They were taken, hooded and carried out thru the very holes in the fence that they had made, for questioning by Base security, FBI and NCIS. They refused to give any information except their names, and were cited as of now, for trespass and destruction of government property, given a ban and bar letter and released.

In a joint statement, the group stated that “The manufacture and deployment of Trident II missiles, weapons of mass destruction, is immoral and criminal under International Law and, therefore, under United States law. As U.S. citizens we are responsible under the Nuremberg Principles for this threat of first-strike terrorism hanging over the community of nations, rich and poor. Moreover, such planning, preparation, and deployment is a blasphemy against the Creator of life, imaged in each human being. “

There have been approximately 100 Plowshares Nuclear Resistance Actions worldwide since 1980. Plowshares actions are taken from Isaiah 2:4 in Old Testament (Hebrew) scripture of the Christian Bible, “God will judge between the nations and will settle disputes for many people. And they shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. And nations will not take up swords against nations, nor will they train for war anymore.”

The Trident submarine base at Bangor, just 20 miles from Seattle, is home to the largest single stockpile of nuclear warheads in the U.S. arsenal, housing more than 2000 nuclear warheads. In November 2006, the Natural Resources Defense Council declared that the 2,364 nuclear warheads at Bangor are approximately 24 percent of the entire U.S. arsenal. The Bangor base houses more nuclear warheads than China, France, Israel, India, North Korea and Pakistan combined.

The base has been rebuilt for the deployment of the larger and more accurate Trident D-5 missile system. Each of the 24 D-5 missiles on a Trident submarine is capable of carrying eight of the larger 455 kiloton W-88 warheads (each warhead is about 30 times the explosive force as the Hiroshima bomb.) The D-5 missile can also be armed with the 100 kiloton W-76 warhead. The Trident fleet at Bangor deploys both the 455 kiloton W-88 warhead and the 100 kiloton W-76 warhead.

Are you fucking kidding me????????????????????????????????
Are you FUCKING kidding me???????????????????????

Maine voters repealed a state law Tuesday that would have allowed same-sex couples to wed, dealing the gay rights movement a heartbreaking defeat in New England, the corner of the country most supportive of gay marriage.

Gay marriage has now lost in every single state — 31 in all — in which it has been put to a popular vote. Gay-rights activists had hoped to buck that trend in Maine — known for its moderate, independent-minded electorate — and mounted an energetic, well-financed campaign.

With 87 percent of the precincts reporting, gay-marriage foes had 53 percent of the votes.

“Maine must have HUGE Mormon population”...

uhm hmm

“He’s not watching returns,” [WH Doughboy] Gibbs said.

Mmm… mmm… mmm.

A Bay Area agency slated to receive Federal Recovery Act dollars has been deemed high risk and may owe the State over half a million dollars in unacceptable expenditures.

“The State’s Department of Community Services Department (CSD), as well as the County and City of San Francisco, have done an exemplary job in identifying serious problems with the Economic Opportunity Council of San Francisco (EOCSF),” said California Inspector General Laura Chick who was appointed by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger to oversee the spending of the state’s stimulus funds.

The Economic Opportunity Council was due to receive $159,000 is stimulus dollars to perform weatherization projects in the community.

“The CSD has deemed the EOCSF high risk and has taken immediate action to stop the impending transfer of stimulus dollars,” continued Chick. “However, this issue now rests with the Federal Government to determine if the State is required to not only continue to fund this agency, but also to give it Recovery dollars. As we saw on Wall Street, there needs to be a line in the sand when it comes to inappropriately spending taxpayer dollars.”

In designating the EOCSF high risk, the CSD found the following areas of concern:

-- As much as $542,478.47 in disallowed expenditures including co-mingling funds, board of directors retreats at a luxury casino, coffee services, drinking water and flowers

-- Financial management deficiencies with no feasible plan to bring the agency into compliance

-- Ability to complete weatherization work is in doubt

“President Obama and Governor Schwarzenegger have made it clear that the Recovery Act dollars must be maximized for the public benefit and be spent wisely and well. Funding an agency that time and again has been unable to bring itself out of problematic conditions is not in line with this mandate from the President and Governor,” said Chick.

I must admit that, knowing our city’s track record for electing do-nothing politicians, I initially had my doubts about Laura Chick‘s capabilities as L.A. City Controller.

However, when it comes to exposing waste and fraud, installing Chick as our new state Inspector General was one of the best decisions Schwarzenegger ever made.

Laura Chick is proof that not all Democrats are hard party-liners and bleeding-heart socialists.

In years to come Historians will make note of the fact that National ‘Democracy’ took its last breath on 3rd November 2009 in the UK and Europe.

“What we’re trying to do is make them (taxes and premiums) go up less.... Nobody’s ever said we’re going to bring the costs down.”

Well...that certainly makes it all better now doesn’t it.

I am now officially a well-informed voter. My trust in ObamaCare has been restored.

Good job, Congressman Yarmuth.

The House ethics committee is currently investigating seven African-American lawmakers — more than 15 percent of the total in the House. And an eighth black member, Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. (D-Ill.), would be under investigation if the Justice Department hadn’t asked the committee to stand down.

Not a single white lawmaker is currently the subject of a full-scale ethics committee probe.

~ * ~

A document leaked to The Washington Post last week showed that nearly three dozen lawmakers have come under scrutiny this year by either the House ethics committee or the Office of Congressional Ethics, an independent watchdog created in 2008 at the insistence of Pelosi…

New post title: Two jihadis walk into a bear.
The first Muslim says, “Achmed, you want some pudding? Achmed? Achmed?”
Bats fly past.
[insert ominous music here]

A bear killed two militants after discovering them in its den..., police say.
...
The militants had assault rifles but were taken by surprise - police found the remains of pudding they had made to eat when the bear attacked.

Bummer, dudes!
[insert bear arms joke here]

15 year-old actress Dakota Fanning is also a celebrity in her high school. Fanning, a cheerleader at Campbell Hall Episcopal School in North Hollywood, was crowned homecoming princess at a football game on Friday.

Agent Bedhead, natch.

Close the book.

There are almost 2,000 pages to a Comprehensive Health Care Reform Bill introduced on the House floor by Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

If you dont want to read the document, and your a fan of Republican Congressman John Shimkus, he is reading it for you.  He says he’s doing that so his constituents can “have a life, like go to church or a sausage supper.”

“Constituents are really demanding that.  I think rightly so.  I wanted to use the new technology by tweeting.  I’ve had a lot of comments because people were following me” said

Congressman Shimkus is posting his comments about the package on his Twitter page.

He told KMOX’s Mark Reardon he’s not finished with his page-by-page effort.  “I’m half way through, at 1,042” He has over 800 pages to go. 

*clap*clap*clap*

Demonstrators march protesting against former President George W. Bush near Tokyo Dome where Bush is visiting to watch a Japan Series baseball game in Tokyo Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2009. The black banner at top reads: “Arrest Bush.”

In other news…

Voters for the first time are blaming President Obama nearly as much as President Bush for the country’s continuing economic problems.

A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 49% still blame the economic situation on the recession that began under Bush. But 45% now say the nation’s economic problems are caused more by Obama’s policies.

Bold.  Daring.  Edgy.

Roland Emmerich has admitted that he feared a fatwa would be placed on him if he filmed a scrapped scene for 2012.

The filmmaker is well known for decimating famed landmarks on movies including The Day After Tomorrow and Independence Day. He stated that while he decided to destroy the Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio de Janeiro because he is “against organised religion”, he was fearful of the Islamic religious decree for a sequence that was planned but not shot.

The 53-year-old wanted to demolish the Kaaba, which is a cube-shaped building at the heart of Mecca and is the centre of prayers and the Islamic Hajj pilgrimage.

And he’s absolutely correct.  He’d get his ass fatwa’d faster than Salman Rushdie in a Jewish brewery.  He openly and freely acknowledges that you can get away with dire insults to Christian symbolism that you just can’t even consider where the so-called “religion of peace” is concerned.

I think it’s safe to assume most of Hollywood and, indeed most of the Left, understands this.  They, who hold their creative freedoms above all other considerations, voluntarily rein them in where Islam is concerned.  And yet...and yet.  They still insist that Christianity and its proponents are the greater evil.

I’d write them off as chickenshits, but chickenshit is actually useful and I’ve got the garden to prove it.

If you’ve the time to read it, I recommend Instapunk’s take on another aspect of the Hollywood/Islam intersection.

WZ

stupid should hurt

Our safety net has become a drag net, catching up the stupid along with the deserving.

Half of American kids will live in households receiving food stamps before age 20 ... one in five children rely on food stamps for years.

Only about 67% of people who are eligible for food stamps actually receive them ...

Here’s a question for those collecting food stamps:  Do you have a cell fone / gym membership / cable/satellite TV / Sirius radio in your new Escalade / drink more than 1 Starbux a day week month?

[Robert Rector of the Heritage Foundation] “There’s no evidence that even consistent poverty in the U.S. produces a nutritional risk,” he says, noting that rich and poor children tend to have about the same intake of protein, vitamins and minerals.

Food stamp eligibility for a family of four:
-- Monthly gross income: $2,389 or less
--Cash resources, such as a bank account: $2,000

Just for the record; I believe it’s a Good Thing to help folks out if some horrific, sudden thing befalls them.  Churches and various non-profits do a grand job of it; but they often have requirements, like budgeting, job searching and generally not making stupid choices.  They do that out of respect for those who gave them the money to help others.  The gubbmint has no such respect for those “giving” the money because it was not given.  It was taken.