A draft report by the president’s National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform calls for, among other items, eliminating a division of the Education Department run by one of the most controversial appointees in the Obama administration: Kevin Jennings, the safe schools czar.
The draft report, which will be finalized by Dec. 1 if 14 of the 18 members agree, calls for eliminating the Office of Safe and Drug Free Schools, which would save taxpayers an estimated $1.8 billion.
What Jennings has been doing for the year and half since he was appointed is anyone’s guess (my head hurts just thinking about it), but he hasn’t shown any appreciable results in the area of “school safety”.
“Further, the results hoped for in creation of the Office of Safe and Drug Free Schools have not been demonstrated,” states the report.
For a decade, Jennings ran the organization Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN), of which he was also a founding member. The organization advocated gay-straight alliance clubs in public high schools.
Because of his role in promoting homosexuality in public schools, 52 House Republicans signed a letter to President Barack Obama in October 2009 calling for Jennings to be removed from the safe schools post.
Capt. George Vujnovich
95 years old from Queens, New York
66 years after he was instrumental in the rescue of almost 500 bomber pilots who had been shot down over Nazi-occupied Yugoslavia, Capt. George Vujnovich was finally awarded the Bronze Star in October.
You can read the rest of Capt. George Vujnovich’s story here.
These brave men and women sacrifice so much in their lives so that others may enjoy the freedoms we get to enjoy everyday. For that, I am proud to call them Hero. We Should Not Only Mourn These Men And Women Who Died, We Should Also Thank God That Such People Lived
This post is part of the Wednesday Hero Blogroll. For more information about Wednesday Hero, or if you would like to post it on your site, you can go here.
Women are the victims of systematic discrimination in Saudi Arabia. Domestic violence and rape are widespread problems, and women have no redress when victimized by such crimes. Nor can women travel, be admitted to a hospital, or drive a car without their husbands’ permission. Buses are segregated, and women must sit in the rear. Women not wearing an abaya (a black garment covering the entire body) and covering their faces and hair are harassed by the Mutawwa’in.
Saudi women are discriminated against as well by laws governing property ownership, testimony in court, inheritance, and child custody in cases of divorce. Comprising only five percent of the nation’s work force, Saudi women find it nearly impossible to find employment in any but the lowest-level jobs. Also, female genital mutilation is practiced legally in some parts of Saudi Arabia.
Atlas Shrugs listed off some specific examples of abuse:
Why yes to Saudi Arabia and no to Iran is anyone’s guess, but Atlas’ animated gif perhaps offers a clue.
Somehow, to the geniuses at the UN, allowing representatives from this unbelievably oppressive regime to sit on their Women’s Rights panel makes sense. I think that the liberal thinking is that if oppressive regimes are given this wonderful privilege, they will strive to be nicer.
As Bani Dugal, a member of Gender Equality Architecture Reform, said before the vote:
…board membership could encourage Saudi Arabia and Iran to repeal restrictive and discriminatory laws against women.
Hey, why not give each country a big trophy and a coupon for a free pizza at Pizza Hut, too?
The Hill reports that the the presumptive Speaker-elect of the House, will not use a private jet as Speaker for trips back and forth to his home district, unlike the high-flying Pelosi:
“Over the last 20 years, I have flown back and forth to my district on commercial aircraft, and I’m going to continue to do that,” Boehner told reporters at a press conference.
The statement signals the first time since 2001 that a House Speaker has traveled commerically between Washington and their home district.
Whether or not Boehner is the best man for the job of Speaker, I’ll let others decide, but I do have a humongous soft spot for that man.
Boehner: Pledge to America “Is Our Plan” to Address The People’s Priorities GOP Leader Also Says He Will Continue to Use Commercial Aircraft to Fly Back and Forth to His District
Washington (Nov 10):House Republican Leader John Boehner (R-OH) and Majority Transition Chairman Greg Walden (R-OR) held a media availability today to discuss the transition effort and Republicans’ commitment to fighting for the priorities addressed in the Pledge to America, a governing agenda focused on creating jobs, cutting spending, and reforming Congress, built by listening to the American people. Boehner noted that the Pledge calls for permanently stopping all the looming tax hikes, and said that’s what Republicans will fight to do. Responding to a reporter’s question about his travel arrangements should he become Speaker of the House, Boehner said he will continue to use commercial aircraft to fly back and forth to his district.
I am late in reporting on an explosive story that has rocked the right-wing blogosphere since yesterday afternoon…(I was away from my computer for much of the day, yesterday). Believe you me, if I had been online, I would have been on the leading edge of this shocking, shocking story, which is still developing as we speak:
I have just received a memo from me informing me that I have suspended myself without pay, for alleged violations of the Iowahawk Code of Ethics:
Dear Me:
Effective 8 am this morning, you have been relieved from your duties as Chief Executive Senior Anchor at Iowahawk. The Iowahawk Code of Ethics clearly states (Section 3c[11.05]) that:
Employees of Iowahawk shall, during critical election seasons, remain at their assigned posts and think of cheap blog stunts to suck in the big internet traffic. During the seven days immediately preceding and seven days immediately following a national election, prohibited employee activities include, but are not limited to:
1. Partying with Tim Blair. 2. Driving about aimlessly in a hot rod. 3. Flying to the coast and getting drunk. 4. Moonlighting as a fire insurance ‘consultant’
It has been brought to my attention that during the recent election season you were engaged in at least three of these prohibited activities. Therefore I have no other recourse but to suspend me indefinitely pending my thorough investigation and review into this matter.
Sincerely, Me
As a strong supporter of the First Amendment I will not take this suspension lying down, and neither should you. Get the word out – write to me in the comments section and demand that I reinstate myself immediately. Enlist your friends and neighbors in the Free Iowahawk campaign. Organize boycotts of Iowahawk advertisers and non-advertisers. Together we can defend our precious rights of Free Speech and premium ad rates.
I will post frequent updates as this constitutional crisis unfolds. Until then… Good Night, and Good Luck.
Check out all the updates at IowaHawk, especially the stunning allegations of treason related to that mysterious missile launch off the coast of California, which took place the very same day IowaHawk hastily departed the state.
Now he has suspended himself indefinitely, and we are all supposed to believe it’s just a coincidence? I’m sorry, but where there’s smoke there’s fire….I can’t jump on the Free Iowahawkbandwagon until more information becomes available. As it stands, I can support neither IowaHawk, nor IowaHawk.
UPDATE!
This photo, just sent to me from an anonymous source, blows the lid of of this case:
I think IowaHawk can expect a visit from the Defense Dept. in short order.
As I noted last week, 88 pro life activists (known as the ND88) are still facing charges of “trespassing” for their peaceful protest on Notre Dame grounds in May of 2009. For their crimes of praying the rosary, and holding up pro-life signs, they were targeted by ND campus police, handcuffed and hauled off to jail. See The Thomas More Society for information about their ongoing case.
In the most recent developments in these prosecutions, the trial judge rejected the University’s effort to block defense counsel from examining a recently dismissed high administration officer, William Kirk, and also denied the University’s request to cross-examine Mr. Kirk (cf., Former Notre Dame Vice-President Grilled and Notre Dame 88 get green light). Mr. Kirk’s deposition has been taken, but the testimony is not publicly available. We have recently recounted the troublesome circumstances surrounding the abrupt dismissal of this long-time officer.
(It appears that defense counsel wanted to find out from Mr. Kirk more about whether these pro-life demonstrators were singled out for arrest and prosecution in contrast to pro-Obama supporters during Commencement and in contrast to pro-gay and anti-military demonstrators in the recent past.)
The prosecution’s attempt to consolidate the cases for trial also failed, so that the prospect is for an extended succession of highly publicized jury trials. Trial dates have not yet been set.
This recently released video is from the annual Sycamore Trust breakfast, last June, but the entire thing is well worth watching, especially if you’ve been following the ND88 controversy.
A professor, a priest, and counsel denounce as discriminatory and discreditable Notre Dame’s pressing criminal charges against pro-life demonstrators:
The Justice Dept’s Inspector General, Glenn fine is charging that New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie engaged in a pattern of abuse when he was U.S. attorney by billing taxpayers to stay at luxury hotels, he said in a report Monday.
Probably not since the days of the Pharaohs or the more ludicrous Roman Emperors has an US attorney traveled in such pomp and expensive grandeur as the Republican governor, who recently killed the construction of a new rail line to New York under the Hudson River,
While lesser mortals – the Pope, Queen Elizabeth and so on – are usually happy to let their hosts handle most of the security and transport arrangements when they venture beyond their homes, NJ’s Chief Federal Prosecutor created a mini-New Jersey for himself, wherever he went, ensuring that nothing was left to chance.
The amount of money involved in the review of the Republican fat-cat’s travel vouchers is small, $2,176, a whopping $200 million a day*, but the IG’s report comes at a time when Christie’s political star is rising as he focuses on reducing the cost of government.
The U.S. attorney “provided insufficient, inaccurate or no justification” for 14 of the 15 trips, the report added.
Christie’s press secretary, Michael Drewniak, said Monday that “the governor thoroughly addressed this issue during the campaign, and I would refer you to his remarks then.”
During the campaign, Christie said he stayed in more expensive hotels only when cheaper ones weren’t available. “We always went for government rates first,” he said. “I don’t think there were a lot of stays in five-star hotels over seven years.”
The inspector general only examined travel back through 2007.
During that case, Christie “addressed the companies, their boards and senior management numerous times on their obligations and compliance with the deferred prosecution agreements,” Drewniak said in an e-mail.
In one instance related to the case, the inspector general wrote, the U.S. attorney traveled to India for meetings with representatives of a defendant company at the Nine Zero Hotel at a cost of $449 per night and booked the entire Taj Mahal Palace Hotel in Mumbai, the city’s most luxurious. — more than double the government rate of $220 per night in Boston, (and then some). It is not uncommon for the grander US attorneys to reserve a floor or two, but a whole hotel is unprecedented.
In the report, by Inspector General Glenn Fine, a footnote on transportation costs said the U.S. attorney took a prearranged car service ‘The Beast’, a gigantic, ‘pimped-up’ General Motors Cadillac which security experts say is, short of an actual battle tank, probably the safest road vehicle on the planet, on a four-mile trip to and from the Boston airport costing $236 round trip lots and lots.
“In another example of excessive transportation costs, his car service private jumbo jet, boasting double beds and suites, fitted out more like a luxury yacht, flew from a London airport to his hotel in central London cost $562 round trip, at a cost around $50,000 (£31,000) an hour to operate.
Christie is the first Republican elected New Jersey governor in a dozen years. He was a sought-after guest on the GOP campaign trail during the midterm elections.
Christie has left the door open for a 2016 presidential run. On Sunday, he said on NBC’s “Meet the Press” that he was “going to need a job” after 2013. He added: “So maybe it will be that. Who knows?”
Well, he can forget about running for anything but dog catcher after this story gets out. Jeez, I hope they throw the book at him.
Just wondering…it seems a little weird that he would be singling out Communists the way he reportedly has, on more than one occasion during his trip to India:
“I am glad to meet an Indian communist. I am told that communists have been part of the (Indian) political mainstream,” Obama told CPM Politburo member Sitaram Yechury at the Rashtrapati Bhawan banquet as they were introduced and both shook hands.
Yechury told Obama that the Indian communists have been in the political mainstream “throughout”.
Marking a departure from their past practice, leaders and MPs of the CPM and CPI, known for their anti-US stance, had attended Obama’s speech in Parliament last evening.
Wow, they know a fellow traveler when they see one, huh?
The high table had the PM, Gursharan Kaur, the Obamas and Congress chief Sonia Gandhi and son Rahul Gandhi. The only other person at the table was UPA-2’s chief trouble shooter Pranab Mukherjee whose presence only cements his status of being more than a few notches above the rest of his ministerial colleagues.
Obama is learn’t to have asked Mukherjee about the entry of communists in India into the parliamentary system in India. Mukherjee is understood to have pointed out that Indian communists were part of the mainstream and like social democrats. Sonia sat next to the PM while Obama was seated beside her. Next was Michelle and then Rahul while Mukherjee completed the circle. The conversation did not flag with Rahul proving to be a keen listener and nodding frequently to what Obama and the PM had to say.
Well, that’s apparently where he heard about the success of Communists entering the mainstream in India, which he seems to have taken a keen interest in.
Sorry, I have to do this again…my computer is running slow because I have too many tabs open, and some of these stories I really want to get out there.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid looked like toast a few days before the Nov. 2 election, trailing his Republican challenger Sharron Angle by three or more points in the campaign’s concluding polls, according to RealClearPolitics. But when ballots were counted, Reid had somehow converted that deficit to a nearly six-point margin of victory. Most observers attributed the phenomenal success of Reid’s last-ditch comeback to the Nevada Democratic Party’s highly polished get-out-the-vote “ground game.” But an internal e-mail from a Reid campaign operative to a Harrah’s executive strongly suggests the Reid ground game depended at least in part on breaking the law.
As former Federal Election Commissioner Hans A. von Spakovsky explained Friday in The Examiner, federal law makes it illegal for officials with a Senate campaign to coordinate with corporate or union officials: “Both the Reid campaign and Harrah’s may have violated federal campaign finance law that prohibits in-kind corporate and union contributions to, and coordination with, political campaigns. Corporations and unions may spend money to run ads in support of or opposing a candidate, but they are not allowed to make direct or in-kind contributions to federal candidates. Federal criminal law also prohibits intimidation and coercion of a person exercising his or her right to vote (or not to vote).”
The Justice Department is reviewing a complaint from failed Republican Nevada Senate candidate Sharron Angle after allegations that Sen. Harry Reid’s campaign engaged in voter intimidation and broke campaign finance law in his re-election campaign.
Laura Sweeney, a spokeswoman for the Justice Department, told FoxNews.com on Friday that the department is reviewing the complaint filed by an attorney for Angle that followed a National Review report about internal e-mails among Harrah’s casino executives and a campaign staffer for Reid. The e-mails appear to show the group orchestrating an effort to push Harrah employees to get out and vote for Reid.
Sweeney would not comment further on the status of the review.
So I guess we’ll see where that goes. I can’t imagine it going anywhere given the political nature of Holder’s Dept. of Justice.
Listen up, California. The other 48 states—your cousin New York excluded—are sick of your bratty arrogance. You’re the Lindsay Lohan of states: a prima donna who once showed some talent but is now too wasted to do anything with it.
After enjoying ephemeral highs and spending binges, you suffer crashes that culminate in brief, unsuccessful stints in rehab. This cycle repeats itself every five to 10 years, as the rest of the country looks on with a mixture of horror and amusement. We’d feel sorry for you if you didn’t constantly flip us the bird.
Instead, we’re making bets on how long it will be before your next meltdown. Oh, wait—you’re already melting down.
You’ve racked up nearly $70 billion in general obligation debt, and that doesn’t include your $500 billion unfunded pension liability. Your own analysts predict you’ll face a hole of at least $80 billion over the next four years.
Your government’s run by a brothel of environmentalists, lawyers, public-sector unions and legislative bums. When they’re not taxing or spending, they’re creating regulations and commissions like the Board of Barbering and Cosmetology and the California Blueberry Commission. Many businesses would leave if it weren’t for your sunny climate.
Which may explain why you’re so obsessed with climate change. If your climate changes, no one, including your Hollywood friends, would tolerate you anymore. So you’ve created a law to tax carbon emissions—no matter that it will kill jobs.
We’ve tried to help you, California. Some spent millions on campaigns to entice you to change your reckless behavior. And you told them to kick rocks.
So here’s our final warning: When you inevitably crash and burn, don’t count on us to bail you out.
Okay….psssst. Come-ere …… Closer…*looks around* Not sure I should be mentioning this, but……..many of you are probably already following these “White House insider” reports from “Ulsterman”… The Dem insider is anonymous, as is the blogger, Ulsterman, (who claims to be acquainted with the WH insider). Whether these reports are true, or just a figment of Ulsterman’s overactive imagination, they make for very entertaining reading, and they. all. ring. true….Here’s the latest:
How about some feedback on the midterms? Last time we talked you said the Democrats were going to lose up to 60 seats. It was more than that. A pretty tough night for Democrats? Do you think? Christ, it was about as bad a night as it could possibly be. Yes, I said we would lose up to 60 seats. I think at last count it was…65? That is almost too much to comprehend. I knew things were going to be bad for us, but…this was…deplorable. The party is in such a mess right now. My god…it’s just so bad. So incredibly bad.
Deplorable? Deplorable that the Democrats lost or that the Republicans won? Both! It didn’t have to be like this – that is what is so sickening about it all. Roll it back to early 2009. We had such an opportunity. With just a little bit more legislative moderation, a more unified tone, some damn common sense – we…the Democratic Party just pissed it all away. Flushed it gone. The president strutted around like some political peacock, the Congressional leadership basically told the opposition to go to hell – numerous times. Attack after attack on the business community…did they really think the American people were going to allow them to get away with mistake after mistake after mistake? Yeah, it’s deplorable the Republicans won so decisively, and it’s deplorable the Democrats made it so easy for them to do so.
Ulsterman’s interviews with the WH insider have supposedly been taking place since September. A full review, here. Again, all of it should be taken with a grain of salt, because it could well be that Ulsterman is just a traffic whore. Or not. Smug alert: Rachel Maddow is saying stupid things, again…video at iOWNTHEWORLD.
A cautionary tale for conservative bloggers who see vexing comments from leftists in their comment sections that don’t much pertain to their posts …if it looks like spam, acts like spam, smells like spam…guess what? It’s probably a A Focused, Non-Terminal Repeating Troll. I would know, this particular “Class Five Full Roaming Vapor Leftist” has been gracing my comment sections for two days, now. More about the class five leftist, sadly, an associate professor of communications studies,here.
Okay, whew, I hope this does the trick, I don’t feel like rebooting.
He’s said it before, and we would do well to take him at his word, which, unlikesome people’s,is actually worth something. Chris Christie is a man who says what he means, and means what he says. I don’t see a flip flop in his near future.
Here he is on Meet the Depressed with David Gregory, discussing his future in politics.
Compare that to:
♦Obama in 2004: Doesn’t see himself running for President in 2008: “If I were to seriously consider running on a national ticket…I would essentially have to start now…before having served a day in the Senate. Now there might be some people who would have no problem doing that, but ah…I’m not one of them“.
He said in 2006 that he would “absolutely” serve out his Senate term, which ends in 2011, and that the idea of him running for president this cycle was “silly” and hype “that’s been a little overblown”.
In an appearanceon Meet the Press with Tim Russert, January 22nd, 2006:
Russert: “When we talked back in November of ’04 after your election, I said, ‘There’s been enormous speculation about your political future. Will you serve your six-year term as United States senator from Illinois?’”
Obama: “I will serve out my full six-year term. You know, Tim, if you get asked enough, sooner or later you get weary and you start looking for new ways of saying things. But my thinking has not changed.”
Russert: “So you will not run for president or vice president in 2008?”
Obama: “I will not.”
If you believe he was sincere in any of that, I have a nice bridge to sell you….
He told reporters this weekend that he has a lot on his plate right now, but he will be making some key decisions in January.
“Well let me say we’ve been very humbled by the encouragement that we’ve received to seek higher office, from people back in Indiana and around the country. But now that I’ve set aside my duties in the Republican conference, we’re going to take the next several months to prayerfully consider what might be next for our little family,” said Pence.
Phil Griffin apparently believes that Olbermann has been sufficiently punished for his defiance of MSNBC rules. MSNBC’s journalistic integrity has been suitably demonstrated for all to see. What a ridiculous farce:
MSNBC President Phil Griffin made the announcement late today that Olbermann would be allowed to return to “Countdown,” the cable channel’s most popular program.
“After several days of deliberation and discussion, I have determined that suspending Keith through and including Monday night’s program is an appropriate punishment for his violation of our policy,” Griffin said in a brief statement. “We look forward to having him back on the air Tuesday night.”
Olbermann, who was suspended Friday after it was revealed that he contributed to the campaigns of three Democratic candidates, took to the web earlier today to update and thank supporters.
“Greetings From Exile! A quick, overwhelmed, stunned THANK YOU for support that feels like a global hug & obviously left me tweetless XO.”
I imagine MSNBC is hoping for big ratings Tuesday night as the Edward R. Murrow of our time returns to his post. Je refuse! to watch the revolting spectacle on MSNBC. I’ll catch the trainwreck on YouTube.
The ranking member of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee promised Sunday that he would launch a number of investigations as chairman in the next Congress, but that he would do so in a “less partisan way.”
“The most important thing my committee can do is seek the truth,” Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) said on “Fox News Sunday.”
“I’m going to go after a lot of things and I’m going to do a lot of investigating,” he said.
Issa said that one issue to be tackled would be administration earmarks in the form of competitive grants. He was asked if the Justice Department would be probed in the New Black Panthers voter intimidation case, but said that would fall under the purview of Rep. Lamar Smith (R-Texas) at the Judiciary Committee.
I’ve often wondered what active military folks must think when the American electorate elect and re-elect anti-military leftists into positions of power. Do they take it personally, I wonder, or do these warriors just shrug it off?
Well, for lieutenant colonel Mike Banzet, the foolishness got to be too much. He explains why he quit the Air Force after 22 years in a letter to the editor of Montana’s Dailer Inter-Lake:
I had chosen, freely, to place my life between those that would do harm to the U.S. and those whom I would protect: her citizens. I had always believed in the best of America and the people of her lands; that despite occasional missteps there was a general “rightness” to our way. I lived that belief for 22 years, leading and following warriors into combat. I’m certainly no war hero; my brothers in arms have seen far more combat, more intense and personal than I. But I have become acquainted with death in a way that I hope you never do. My last tour, on the ground in Iraq was where my heart started to be hardened towards you, the electorate, and culminated in this letter, written two days before our elections. And here’s why.
You’ve elected officials who, for partisan points, spoke openly that the “…war is lost.” I happened to be in a dining facility in Baghdad that day, filled with the (mostly) young faces of (mostly) Army men and women. CNN was on the TVs, and things got very quiet when this elected official continued on, railing that the mission that some of these very people were here to do, had “…failed.” Yet, they would be donning their body armor, strapping on med kits and weapons, mounting HMMVs or MRAPs and heading outside the wire, ensuring that the newborn democracy in Iraq, purchased with so many lives, would be safe another night. The newly re-invigorated insurgents would be waiting, teeth bared back in a hateful smile, gripping the IED detonator, the RPG launcher, or the AK-47s to ply their trade with new energy, because the Senate Majority Leader had said they were winning.
You elected officials who continually defame and berate military members, whether it is the observation that if you’re not too bright, you’ll get “…stuck in Iraq” (this from a guy who has two Purple Hearts for self-inflicted wounds, and known for throwing someone else’s medals away in protest), or the calling of combat Marines cold-blooded killers (in a war; before trial).
You’ve elected officials in the role of commander-in-chief who “loathe” the military, while using ROTC deferments and special treatment to avoid military service that the less “connected” take as a responsibility.
On the basis of “change,” you elected someone who had close, ongoing associations with people who were part of an organization that tried to kill us [U.S. military] on our own soil.
You elected officials that promised to take property from some Americans, and give it to you, merely because they had more than you did. Those Americans that these officials have labeled as the “rich” are your neighbors, who provide jobs and pay far more in taxes than you ever will. That means they are already subsidizing your lifestyle choices; you just want more of their property without the responsibility of risking your wealth and labor to get it. You would rather hire someone to take it from them. And you have.
Yet these same officials from this same party are the wealthiest group of people in both the House and Senate. They have offshore accounts, forbid unions in their businesses and use every tax loophole they can find with their armies of accountants. But you keep sending them back to those jobs, because they promise to steal from some Americans and give to you.
Image via Moonbattery.
