My very first blog post occurred ten years ago, today. The oldest archives are no longer attached to this blog, but can be found at http://web.archive.org/web/20020923154740/http://thehomelessguy.blogspot.com/ The world has changed a lot since then, and so have I.
When I first got into blogging, very few people knew what a blog was, and even fewer were actually blogging. Blogs, (the word being a shortened form of "web log") were first created for the purpose of creating reference lists to things found on the internet. They were a device used mostly by journalists (news reporters), and most of them worked in print media. The first bloggers had to build their blogs from scratch, requiring them to have extensive knowledge of HTML, the computer code used for building web sites.
There was no small amount of confusion generated by my blog, as the author, (me), made claims to being homeless. People could not bring themselves to believe that a homeless person would have knowledge of such cutting edge technology, and they assumed that anyone who did know HTML would certainly have the capacity for maintaining an income and a home. Even more so, people could not comprehend the idea of a homeless person having a computer and access to the internet.
What most people were unaware of was a new tech company that was providing web space and an extremely user friendly interface for the purpose of blogging. The name of the company was Pyra, (one of the people involved with Pyra was Biz Stone, the creator of Twitter). This service was called Blogger, and the domain name was Blogspot.com. All that was required of an author to use Blogger was to provide a title, write the text, and then post it to the internet by clicking on the "publish" button. Pretty simple stuff. Still, people were crediting me with computer skills I didn't have.
Prya was taking blogs in a new direction, seeing a potential for blogs beyond that of logging one's internet finds on a web page. The idea had come to them that blogs could be a type of internet venue where people could express themselves, and with bloggers interacting with each other, conversations could take place, and community could develop. (which is pretty much the same idea that launched Twitter.)
As with many homeless people, I was a frequent patron of the downtown library, and it was there that I first gained access to the internet. It started for me in 1998. At that point the library had a total of two computers for patron use. On those computers I stumbled onto Yahoo's Geocities and with that created my first web pages, learning the basics of HTML as I went along. Some time later, with a grant from Bill Gates, the library opened a bank of some 12 computers.
During that time, I started getting into online discussion groups. Of particular interest was the discussion board for Sarah Mason, a contemporary Christian singer/songwriter who had reached a certain level of popularity. It just happened that Sarah also was a member of the Downtown Presbyterian Church, a church I attended, mostly because of their Wednesday lunch for the homeless.
In 2001 a brand new downtown library opened, sporting some 100 computers dedicated to patron use. When this new library opened I spent most every day there, spending nearly every hour on the internet. Early on, most people were unaware that those computers were available, so getting access to them was not a problem.As per usual, I was having a difficult time socializing with people on these discussion boards. People were often saying things I disagreed with, and I could not resist responding with my own opinion, often irately so. For some reason, I often found other people's opinions to be irritating - an irritation that I could not suppress.
Eventually it was suggested to me, by the people on Sarah's discussion board, that I should try blogging as perhaps a better venue for expressing myself. At first I was hesitant, as my experiences with Geocities had me believing that blogging would be mostly an exercise in self indulgence. After a short time, and some discussion with people on the discussion boards about blogging, I opened my blogger account. After some time familiarizing myself with blogger and how it worked, I made my first post.
13 Ekim 2012 Cumartesi
In The Beginning
The Down Side Of Beliefs
Beliefs are taught perspectives of life, the world, everything. Perspectives are a way of looking at and perceiving things in a particular way.
There is the classic example of perspective, a line drawing of a set of stairs. Depending on how you look at it, you could just as easily think the stairs are leading down as leading up. There is no correct answer, both perspectives are equally valid.But, with beliefs, a choice is made between two or more views. One view, or perspective, is labeled good and the others are labeled bad. This labeling is enforced and reenforced by the dominating culture.
Given people's propensity for conformity, for desiring to belong to the group, (however you define "group") people will adapt their personal perspectives/beliefs to that of the group.
If the group says that the perspective of the stairs going up is good, then that perspective eventually becomes the definition of good, for you and everyone else under the influence of that group. All other perspectives, especially the perspective of the stairs going down, conversely, will be considered bad.
History has proven time and again that the desire to belong to a group will cause people to adjust their perspective, and thus how they think about any particular subject, so to be in alignment with the group. People will even go so far as to deny logic and physics and other common sense thinking so to conform to the group.
Americans in particular have been subject to this phenomenon. Even though many people admitted that slavery was wrong, they still participated in it because society dictated that slavery was the accepted form of labor. Once people have conformed their own thinking to that of the group, or society, it seems that their conscience is no longer plagued with doubts or insecurities about their actions as members of the group. In the photo above we see Nazis who work at Auschwitz having a good time, seemingly unaffected by the wholesale slaughter of human beings for which they are responsible. They are doing what they have been told is the right thing to do, and they have received approval and acceptance from the group in which they belong.For people who are removed from the situation so that we can see things more objectively, and are not influenced by that society, we have no desire to belong to it, we can see clearly the actions of the Nazis as spectacularly terrible.Be careful then, of the groups you wish to belong to, that you allow to persuade you, to influence your perspective of the world. Be brave enough to question your own beliefs, and remember there is a down side to every perspective.
In Four Months
In four months I plan to be out of this apartment. I have developed a plan. Hopefully it will work. If not, I'm still leaving, even if it means going back to the streets. Don't worry. It may not come to that. Just know that me going to back to the streets will worry you more than me. With 14 years of experience living homeless on the streets of Nashville, I can deal with it. But lets not even think of it in those terms. That's just the default situation if nothing else works out.In the next four months I will be dedicating myself to two projects; spending as much time as I can selling the street paper, hopefully building up a savings, and writing as much as possible for publication on Kindle, which of course will eventually mean publishing for any e-reader. Technology is coming along that will make such publications available across all platforms. The one caveat about publications is that it takes 90 days to receive payment for my writing. Anything bought today would not show up in my bank account (via direct deposit) until December. Anything bought next month will not show up until January. Therefore I'll have to focus more of my energy on selling the street paper.With whatever money I'm made by the end of December, I'll go looking for a room to rent.I now have two subscribers to my blog via Kindle.
Fluff: It's What's for Dinner
Here's one for all you foodies.
It's summer, a time for goofing off, hitting the pool, the beach. Drinking margaritas, mojitos, and other refreshing adult beverages brought to us frigid New England bitches* from warmer climates. Instead, I am trying really hard to graduate in May, and part of gittin' er done means two four week classes. While I'm working 20 hours a week at my work-study job, writing crazy letters to the editor, make it to the beach, and fulfill many wedding-related obligations. Oh, and the Bachelorette. I'm bummed Ames is gone, but I'm really starting to root for JP. What? She's from the County. Gotta keep it real.
Let me break it down for you. Each semester is 15 weeks. So taking one class during a four-week session is the roughly the equivalent of taking three. Taking two is like taking six, which is eighteen credits. A normal student takes between 12 and 15 credits. Over 18 is considered "an overload." That's what I'm doing now. During summer. But I guess it's technically finals week and I'm able to write this blog... so....
One time, I also found myself taking 15 credits and working a part time job. I was probably as poor then as I am now, though back then I was under 21 and still a non-drinker. At Montserrat College of Art, somehow, I didn't understand financial aid, credit hours, or the fact that I was moving away to go to college at a place that didn't have a fucking cafeteria. WTF, Montserrat? It was kind of insane, now that I think about it. Probably more work than I've ever done in my life. Drawing and painting homework has the propensity to take way, way longer than writing a paper or reading a book. Trust me. I've never stayed up until 3:00 a.m. because I felt like an essay wasn't done. Or because I wouldn't have the right light to finish the essay in the morning.
But because I'd never lived away from home and therefore had never really prepared any of my own meals, let alone gone shopping for them, my food became like, abstract art or something. Here's a recipe for something I ate all the time.
Prep time:
5 min
Ingredients:
2 slices Pepperidge Farm Cinnamon Swirl Raisin Bread
1/3 cucumber, peeled and sliced thin.
1 tbsp Marshmallow Fluff
1 slice cheddar cheese
Directions:
Carefully slather Fluff unto both slices of bread. Arrange cucumbers on one slice, cover with cheese, then the other slice. Firmly press the sandwich down with your clean hand, as Fluff and cucumbers are slippery. Enjoy!
I'm not kidding. Pepperidge Farm was like, a luxury that I didn't know I could afford myself. We bought local at my house, sort of. Country Kitchen all the way.
It's hard to say whether I could ingest this marvelous concoction today. I'll let you know if I decide to try.
*a genuine Southern gentleman said that to me once, about women here; instead of comforting him, I laughed and said it was true.
At Caiola's: Party of One
Back when I was waiting tables, which seems like a lifetime ago at this point, I’d often hang out at bars, by myself for two reasons: 1) I got free meals at work and was too lazy to cook the rest myself, and 2) What is at one moment a quiet, thoughtful afternoon of solitude can become an afternoon filled with bemusing stories of camaraderie. 100% of the time if I’m dining alone I will take a seat at the bar instead of a table for one. It’s so much more entertaining. Which is part of the reason why this woman dining alone at Caiola’s was so fascinating to me. Her back to the room, facing the window, she almost mocked me and my need for togetherness.
I took Mandy out to Caoila’s for her birthday. She’d never been, and I decided I’d rather spend an evening enjoying outstanding food and drink rather than take a chance on a gift that she’d feign excitement over and consign a respectable 12 months later. We had an amazing time! The food was decadent and complex, but not so complex that I couldn’t understand the menu, if you get my drift.
It was a Wednesday night, and we were in the back room, through the kitchen. Being the sous chef that has to stand near that door must be the worst. There was a group of three respectable upper-middle-aged guys in the corner to my left, one had a Southern accent and I heard them talking about Marketing, television, and the Bangor Daily News. (Hmmm). Behind Mandy was a younger couple who left shortly after we arrived. Then a woman, about 62ish, waltzed in and sat at a two top against the wall diagonal from us, facing the window. The waitress only put down a single place setting, water glass and menu. Table for one.
I knew almost immediately that I wanted to be her. She had a black cardigan, a simple canary-red blouse underneath, with a mid-calf ivory colored a-line skirt that had, like, ribbing or piping instead of stripes throughout. It was a beautiful skirt- hip, yet age appropriate. Her ballet flats, undoubtedly leather, matched her blouse as though they came together. Perhaps they were in fact ordered from the J.Crew catalogue at the same time. Dark framed reading (?) glasses hung low on her face, probably Michael Kors or Kate Spade or some designer brand. My favorite part about her was the bag she carried. It was my dream bag. A caramel leather tote whose sides slouched in around the handles the same way my canvas bags do. It was my dream bag. I think if Diane from Cheers was a real person and lived to be 62, this woman is what she would be like.
Out of the bag she pulled a pristine hardcover book, and inevitably tuned out everyone except for the waitress, who was forced to break into her line of vision when she brought yet another Grey Goose martini with a twist. Or maybe this woman opted into the Buy Local movement and ordered a Cold River martini. I liked that she didn’t like it dirty. I tried a dirty martini once, it was like salty... salty... it was like drinking the ocean if the ocean was made out of olives.
Occasionally she’d pull out a legal sized pad and take notes. On what, I’m not sure. By the way, I wasn’t trying to stare. She was directly in my line of vision.
I imagine after her iceburg salad, steak or bacon wrapped scallops and three martinis she probably pulled out of the parking lot in her 1992 Volvo Station wagon. Although her 3,000 square foot home with its commercial-grade kitchen was only 1/6 of a mile away, you know she didn’t drive because you never see fancy women like that just walking around the West End. Her youngest daughter usually uses the Volvo but she’s WOOFing in France now. It had better visibility than the Mercedes anyway, plus she liked the sentimental value of driving it. Yeah, she was a little tipsy but it was a very short drive if cops are going to venture into the West End, they don’t make it past Brackett, Spring, and the hospital respectively.
One thousand feet later, she pulled into the secret road between Carroll and Vaughn Streets in the West End that connects all of the garage/back entrance/guest houses and settled in for one more cognac in her fucking jacuzzi tub.
Or maybe she was just too exhausted from running her law firm all day to prepare herself a meal. Maybe she didn’t want to sit at the bar because she wanted some peace and quiet for a change. Maybe she was supposed to meet up with the Oshers and they’re still in San Francisco, or the Hagges, but they were at a fundraising dinner and this was her back up plan. All I know is while she was sitting alone at that table, with the dim lighting, Amelie soundtrack and blowing $65 before tip on a meal for one person, I wanted to be her. Minus her imagined kids.
12 Ekim 2012 Cuma
Vol 6 No 16 The Contributor
The newest edition of The Contributor was distributed to the vendors this afternoon. The meeting started at 2pm. It was 4:15pm before I was able to collect my copies of the paper.
Usually I just wait until the morning to start selling, but today I went out for an hour - straight from the meeting to my vending spot. I sold 4 papers and made 16 dollars. If only that rate maintained itself through the week, I'd be making a real living. The truth is, some hours, well, many hours, I sell two papers and make 2 dollars. If there is any rhyme or reason for why people buy when they do, and tip as they do, I don't know it. I would certainly be able to maximize my profits if I did.
Jesse Call is a name that should be familiar to fans of The Contributor. He writes many of the featured articles in the paper. I don't know if he's experienced homelessness before, but he has been working with homelessness related causes since graduating college 5 years ago. His articles are always well written and well researched. He writes the way I wish I did.
Jesse authored both of the articles on the front page of the new issue. The first one deals with the difficulty of leaving poverty, even with a full time job - being that so many jobs, especially entry level jobs pay little more than minimum wage. He backs up this article with information from MIT. And you just can't argue with what MIT says. The second article is about a local church that has been allowing some homeless people to camp on their property. It looks like the city is trying to shut down this ministry to the homeless. Why is it that the only methods that city governments allow for such ministries are the most difficult and most expensive to maintain. Being that everyone wants homelessness to end, one would think that people, especially government officials, would bend over backwards to help facilitate such services to the homeless. Oh well.
In the News Briefs we find that the Nashville Metropolitan Homelessness Commission is looking for a new director. If you have experience with such programs, you should look into it. The founder of Room In The Inn, father Charlie Strobel, will be honored at the ACLU of Tennessee's annual fundraiser. And, in San Luis Obispo, California, a judge recently ruled that a law banning sleeping in cars is unconstitutional. Still, I don't expect cops will leave people in peace as they snooze.
Also in the paper, Edwin Learnard's NFL Preview gives us a rundown of the coming season. Jeremy Blankenship gives his top 10 list of homeless rules to live by. Ray Ponce de Leon ruminates on the history of America and the "Old Country".
Also included in this issue are the center page poems by homeless people, the sudoku puzzle (that I make), and chess puzzle (courtesy of Chess.com), the ever popular Hoboscope. And much more.
The Contributor is worth reading. Pick up a copy or two.
Positive Versus Negative
Every once in a while it's a good idea for me to reassess my current life situation, and then consider what I can do to improve it.
I'm not wallowing in self pity, as some may claim, when I talk about how screwed up my life has been, especially the early years of my life. Our early years define us in many ways, and affect how we interact with life for the remainder of our years. Just as no one is born a racist yet by being raised by racists, one become a racist, no one is born with overwhelming negative thoughts about life and about themselves, and yet here I am, negative as can be.
The people who raised me were negative people, (I no longer refer to them as my family). Not only were they of a general negative disposition, their interaction with me included an extra helping of negativity. Even after I moved away from home, all they could see were the negative aspects of whatever did, and they never hesitated to tell me what they thought. Because of this, negativity dominated my life. I grew up thinking in completely negative terms, I saw only the bad in things, viewed myself in only negative terms. No wonder I was just a lump of a human being, no friends, no self esteem. For the first few decades of my life, thoughts of suicide were prominent in my head.
Oh, there were some few moments when things got better, and could have changed my life, but they never lasted. The influence of my parents negativity was that strong. When I was actually experiencing and thinking in positive terms the few non-family people around me usually noticed and mentioned the change.
"You've been walking home from school with your head up, usually you're just looking at the ground," a neighbor once said. it was said with my mother standing next to me. It didn't phase her. It didn't make her pause and think for the moment about my overall state of mind. My mother was too rapped up in herself to notice such things.
Fast forward to today. It's been about a decade since I last spoke to my parents. I've been in therapy for a while. I've been working to overcome my problems, first by making myself aware of what my problems were, then finding ways in which to fix them.
One of the things that helps me realize just how negative I can be is to witness truly positive people as they live their lives. Seeing what they have as a good thing, I've tried to engage them, make friends with them, join in with their group of friends. What happens, though, is that my negativity eventually comes out. It becomes more than these positive people want to deal with, and so these friendships, or attempts as friendship, don't last very long. I imagine their view of me is much like the SNL character "Debbie Downer". And I soon revert back to being a lonely, friendless, lump of negativity.
Sure, this is all very sad. But my life is not a complete loss at this point. Actually, things are a lot better today. Yeah, I'm still struggling with life, but there is hope. As has become apparent at this point, every good thing that has come my way, has had a positive affect on me and my life, has come to me by way of the Internet. It is near impossible for me to interact with people face to face, without there eventually becoming a problem. But on the internet, I can experience people, and life in a safety zone of sorts. Yes, I have lost friends via the internet as well. But on the internet I am comfortable enough to continue experiencing and learning about life - something I just can't do in the "real world."
For about a year and a half I have been watching videos on youtube.com, made by a guy known as Shay Carl. Every day he posts a new video, about his family. There's really nothing special about how the videos are made. They are just family videos, they usually last about 15 minutes.
The thing about Shay Carl's videos is that he and his family are the most genuinely positive people I've ever seen. They are happy people and it comes across in the videos so that watching them being happy makes the viewer happy too. Their positive attitude about everything is contagious. I can't help but feel better after watching them. These people are not fake, are not trying to be something other than themselves, they have the same general family difficulties as any other. Yet, whatever the problem, they respond to each other, not with angry words and hateful thoughts, but with showering love on each other. The four children are well behaved, not because they fear the wrath of their parents but because they are so loved by their parents that they purposely honor their parents by being good. (Children who are well loved by their parents will honor their parents.)
So, for about 18 months now, every single day, I watch one or more of Shay Carl's videos. And seeing the love and happiness and overall positive attitudes of that family is having a positive affect on me. Environment means so much. I was raised in a negative environment and so I ended up being a negative person. Now I surround myself with as much positiveness as I can, and for this I am becoming more positive - I am becoming happy.
Shay has also become aware of the positive impact he is having on his fans, and has recently started another youtube.com show that he uses to help motivate others. About a year ago, Shay was overweight, and he became motivated to lose his "excess Shay". He has since lost over 100 lbs. He even inspired some of his fans to lose weight too. Since then, Shay has been working to help inspire people to do things to improve their lives, in whatever area of their life they want to improve.
He has set this month, September, as a goal setting month. He has motivated several hundred people, including myself, to set goals for this month, losing weight, saving money, or whatever. And every day this month he's making a video, talking about our goals, how to achieve them, how to stay positive about them, encouraging everyone along the way to achieving their goals - and even encouraging people to network amongst themselves, those who have similar goals, to be each other's support and inspiration.
I have set some goals, including exercising more, and working to get my blog converted into book form, for kindle. So far, I'm still on track. Right now I can only do 5 push ups, and it kills me to do them. But I am working towards the goal of being able to do 20 push ups by the end of the month. I'm also transposing at least 5000 words a day from my blog. By the end of the month I should have a 400 page book completed.
Being able to complete these goals will go a long way in helping me build my self esteem, which will make my happier, and thus more positive in life. Wish me luck.
Eddie
Eddie was the very first homeless person I met who actually left me with a positive impression - so few have over the years.
Eddie was always happy and always eager to make friends. In fact, that was kind of his trade mark thing. Whenever he was drunk, which was most of the time, he asked everyone who passed by him, or looked in his direction, "Are you my friend?" His voice was a high pitched and lilting southern accent.
Steve Martin said that a sad song just cannot be played on a banjo. Eddie's voice was like that, the tone was too friendly and upbeat to believe he ever spoke a mean word and meant it.He loved country music and if he was drunk enough, he'd be singing, and taking requests. His favorite seemed to be the Bellamy Brothers' "If I said you had a beautiful body, would you hold it against me?" And, usually when singing that line he was also giving a telephone poll a bear hug and dry humping it. He was funny too.
One day we were talking about past jobs, and he revealed that he used to be a machinist, and worked on some big equipment. He then proceeded to take off his shirt and flexed his biceps. Everyone gathered was astonished at his atlas build, not an ounce of fat on him and he even sported a decent 6pack. Not bad for a an guy who was at least in his 50's if not older and who had been an alcoholic for several years.
Sometimes he would get so drunk that he couldn't stand up. He could barely move from where he laid, his body partially propped up against the outer wall of the rescue mission. All the more he would prompt people to answer his question, which at times like these sounded more like begging, "Are you my friend?"
Not only did he wish to be friends with the world, being that he was so big hearted, but there also seemed a bit of fear in his voice. He knew he was vulnerable in that drunken state and for his own protection spent what little energy he had befriending people so that they wouldn't roll him instead. (If you're not familiar, "Getting rolled" is a mugging that usually happens to drunks down alleys.Eddie was a tough guy, and I'm sure he could handle a beat down better than most people. I"m sure he experienced his share.
After my first experience of homelessness, I joined the Navy and was gone from Nashville for a couple years. When I returned, Eddie was no longer around. I never heard what happened to him.
Define Homeless
Defining "homeless" or "homelessness" is not so easy to do, especially if you want to be accurate. In the Wikipedia entry for "Homelessness" there is this statement, "Defining "homelessness" is a complex and difficult thing to do." The Wikipedia page on homelessness has undergone some recent changes for which I am glad. I recommend giving it a read.
Mostly, the problem has to do with the laziness of the general citizen who throws around terms about homelessness interchangeably, as if they are only variations on the theme. (kinda like people accusing President Obama of being a Socialist and a Communist and a Nazi and a Muslim all at the same time) "Street People" are not necessarily homeless. Conversely, not all homeless people spend all their time living on the streets. If a person is couch surfing, they are not living on the street, but the home in which they reside is not theirs, and the arrangements made, so to sleep on someone's couch for a period of time are tentative at best.
Does living day to day at a rescue mission constitute a "home"?I have lived in the same place for over 4 years now. But I got this place by being in a program for the homeless. My case manager says I'm no longer homeless, but does this program make me not homeless? Or, is this just a homeless shelter with better amenities? When I lived in a halfway house for the homeless. It was a house owned and operated by a church that took in half a dozen homeless men. My residing there was conditional on my fulfilling certain requirements of the church. Did living there make me not homeless? Is there any difference between the house owned by the church, and the housing I have now - created by a government entity?
Paying rent doesn't seem to be an absolute definition of being homed, either. Most Salvation Army shelters charge the homeless for the right to spend the night there - about 10 dollars each night. Other shelters charge rent as well. Is having to work, do chores, etc., the same as paying rent?
Personally, I think the main consideration that should be made, as to whether a person is homeless or not, should be regarding societies reaction to a person's living situation. A person is not homeless when society accepts and allows for the situation in which people are living. If society gives its o.k., if the police do not harass the resident, if laws are not created so to discourage or inconvenience the person within their living arrangement, then I'd say the person was not homeless. This does not mean that a rescue mission or a shelter is a home. The administration and employees of such places work to get you out of those places as much as possible. So, shelters cannot be considered a home. Neither can living in a motor home, as there is no permanent place for a person to set their motor home. Most camping sites limit how long people can stay at the camps, usually only a couple months.
Only when society allows and accepts a person's living situation, free from any harassment, can that person be considered no longer homeless.
Shadows On The Wall
If I've learned anything from being homeless, and my struggles against it, is that most people, nearly all people, don't understand homelessness. Moreover, they don't WANT to understand homelessness.
Even if they explore homelessness, their own ideas, own prejudices and bigotry, filter out much of the reality that is homelessness. People just don't seem to want to know. Perhaps it's all just too uncomfortable for them.
On a brighter note, I do think that compassion for homeless people is on the rise, and that is a good thing. But again, that compassion is being hampered by a certain willful ignorance. It's a bit disheartening to be in a kitchen where lunch is being prepared for the homeless, only to hear the cook and other volunteers speaking disparagingly about homeless people. (I have seen such things happen, and more than once.)
When a homeless person is able to improve his life, so that he makes a concerted effort to fix his appearance - to shower and get a hair cut and to wear clean clothes in good repair - to then have people deny him help because he doesn't "look homeless" is very disconcerting.
For the vendors of the homeless newspaper in Nashville, it's a delicate balance. If they look too disheveled, people will not buy papers from them. On the other hand, if they look too well kept, so that they no longer look impoverished, people will not buy papers from them either. When a vendor makes enough money to buy himself some new clothes, it's best that he does not wear them while selling the paper, other wise it will adversely affect his business. Only when people (the general population) educate themselves to the realities of homelessness, and deal with the homeless forthrightly, will things ever really change for the homeless.
11 Ekim 2012 Perşembe
'The Hope and the Change' - Movie Trailer for Dissillusioned 2008 Obama Voters
'The Hope and the Change' is a documentary profiling a number of independants and Democrats who voted for President Obama in 2008 and are disillusioned over his Presidency, what he promised and what was actually delivered.
It looks like a powerful movie. Interestingly enough, it will be shown on TV during the next couple of weeks.
Keep in mind, this is a President, along with his fellow Democrats, who Hate Your Job, who could have created 9,000 millionaires with the stimulus money, who very well might have gotten Osama despite his team working against him and whose Obamacare legislation did nothing to improve healthcare in America and in the process used such accounting trickery to make the numbers 'work' that if it was done in a publicly traded company probably would have landed people in jail.
I do not think the documentary has anything to do with the issues I pointed out above. It appears to deal on a more basic level, where the President made some simple promises and failed to keep even them.
And while we are at it, don't forget the 'Fast and Furious' gun running to criminals fiasco. I stand by my prediction that people are going to jail for this. However it will probably require a change in leadership for any read investigation to determine who will have to pay for the dead people this program left in its wake.
'Pro-Business' US State Dept's Absurd New Hours
The US State Department's Office of Authentications recently changed their operating hours. Or dare I say their operating hour. Until recently, the office of Authentications at the US State Department was open until 11AM. As long as you made it in the door by 11AM they would service you as you waited. Now they have reduced their hours to one hour a day, from 8 until 9AM. And only to accept documents, not to actually process them. For that, you'll have to come back.
Starting September 17, 2012, Authentications staff will meet customers by appointment 10:00 a.m to 2:30 p.m. Monday - Friday (except Federal Holidays).Beginning Monday, September 17, the Office of Authentications will perform document review by accepting document drop-offs 8-9 AM, Monday - Friday (except Federal Holidays). - LinkNow you can forget about making an appointment, appointments are reserved for Government business and for 'life and dead' emergencies. The joke is, to get an appointment, you still have to show up between 8 and 9.
This might not matter to most people, but the service this office provides, the legalization of documents for presentation in other countries is important when conducting business overseas, including import and export. Often times, in order to conduct business overseas, business documents are required to be legalized, including a stop at the US State Department.
I can tell you from first-hand experience that the legalization process it expensive and time consuming. Having a courier call you to tell you that the hours have been cut back to one a day is just one more anti-business decision made by our Government.Thankfully, our operations are local. I was told that there were many pissed off people from Phili and even New York who made the trip to DC just to get documents legalized only to be confronted with an office that was already closed for the day.
'Hope' Is no Way to Protect American Embassies
With each passing day it seems that the Obama Administration is looking more and more responsible for the success of the terrorist attack against the US Consulate in Benghazi, Libya. Take the following developments since the initial news of the attack:
- The Obama Administration initially blamed the attack on protests against some crudely made internet video
- Prior to the terrorist attack, there were no protests outside the Consulate. The attack started at 9:40 PM.
- The Administration claimed to have no intelligence information suggesting any impending attacks, however they were informed both internally and from foreign sources.
- The attack happened on 9/11
- The Administration, including the President, met during the attack and decided to take a 'wait-and-see' posture, deciding against sending forces to defend the consulate.
- The Ambassador himself alerted the State Department regarding threats to his life.
- The Ambassador had repeatedly requesting additional security.
- The requests were denied.
- the requests and the denials were kept from the public.
- The State Department even told the Ambassador to stop asking for additional support.
- It took weeks before the Consulate was investigated by the FBI. To this day, there is no evidence that the State Department did anything to secure the site or any confidential information still remaining in the Consulate.
All I can say to that is that letting those who hate America destroy our Embassies and kill Americans is not going to extinguish the hate. All it will do is make America look weak and fan the flames of more hate.
This is just one more reason to elect Mitt Romney as the next President. The haters around the world will hate us no matter who is President. We can however minimize the threat by having a strong a proud President at the helm.
This is just the latest example of how much of a failure President Obama's soft stance against terrorism is. Hugging terrorists does not reform them. It never will. The Obama Administration will never understand this. The only 'extremists' they can recognize are members of the 'Tea Party.'
UPDATE 10 October 2012
Above I had mentioned the possibility that persons in the State Department might have been criminally negligent. Well, take a look at this Congressional hearing questioning Charlene R. Lamb, the Deputy Assistant Secretary for International Programs. Here is a summary of what she is responsible for:
Diplomatic Security Senior Leadership » Lamb, Charlene R - Assistant Director for International ProgramsBiographyOther ReleasesBureau of Diplomatic SecurityWashington, DCShare on facebookShare on google_plusoneShareCharlene R. LambDeputy Assistant Secretary for International ProgramsAs the Deputy Assistant Secretary for International Programs, Ms. Lamb is a key member of the DS management team, responsible for providing strategic planning, management support, and establishing budget priorities to senior DS management. Ms. Lamb manages more than $1.2 billion in security assets and programs and thousands of personnel dedicated to that purpose. She is also responsible for the safety and security of over 285 overseas Embassies and Consulates and oversees the 550 special agent/security professionals posted at those locations. - US State Department
That is a pretty impressive set os responsibilities. You know what else is impressive, her past history. Go ahead and read the rest of her bio which includes postings in a number of hot spots. It sounds like this is exactly the kind of person you would want overseeing embassy safety and security. Which makes this testimony all the more bizarre and I dare say damning. How on earth did she come to the conclusion that security in the consulate was anywhere near acceptable, especially considering that embassies in peaceful countries have much better security.
Found here.
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Chris Rock on Gun Control
| Everybody is talking about gun control. Got to control guns. Fuck that . . . I think we need bullet control. I think every bullet should cost five thousand dollars. Five thousand dollars for a bullet. Know why? 'Cause if a bullet cost five thousand dollars . . . people would think before they shot some. "Man, I would blow your fucking head off, if I could afford it. I'm gonna get me a second job, start saving up, and you a dead man." - Chris Rock |
10 Ekim 2012 Çarşamba
Obama's 'Gutsy Call' - Not Even At The Table
President Obama is once again using the killing of Osama Bin Laden as a prop in his reelection campaign. I have no problem with the President point to this as one of the accomplishments of his Presidency. After all, it is one of the few actual accomplishments that most Americans give him credit for. However, for some reason, the President's campaign staff are now suggesting that Presidential candidate Mitt Romney would not have given the go-ahead to kill Bin Laden, distorting a comment of his as their evidence. Mitt Romney's comment is so taken out of context as his actual statement is that killing any one terrorist is not not a strategy, but a starting point. Basically he is advocating a much stronger response than the assassination of one man.
Lets not forget that the President's 'Gutsy Call' was given only after sleeping on it, a full 16 hours after being asked. Now maybe Mitt Romney would have said no, but I seriously doubt he's take a nap first. (Mitt Romney in response to the Obama Campaign allegation notes that even Carter would have made the call to take out Osama.)
The Obama campaign's outright lying of the facts reminded me of the photo of President Obama in the Situation room observing the mission as it happened. For making such a 'Gutsy Call', the President does not even have a seat at the table. Why exactly is that? How many other White House photos have you seen where the President does not have a prominent place at the table? Any table? I am no fan of the President, but if I had him over for dinner, I'd give him the honor of my place at the table, if for no reason than one of respect.
Now take the following story that appeared on the internet shortly after this photo appeared that comments on the situation leading up to the photo, keeping in mind that there is nothing to back up the allegations made in the story:
I have been told by more than one source that Leon Panetta was directing the operation with both his own CIA operatives, as well as direct contacts with military – both entities were reporting to Panetta only at this point, and not the President of the United States. There was not going to be another delay as had happened 24 hour earlier. The operation was at this time effectively unknown to President Barack Obama or Valerie Jarrett and it remained that way until AFTER it had already been initiated. President Obama was literally pulled from a golf outing and escorted back to the White House to be informed of the mission. Upon his arrival there was a briefing held which included Bill Daley, John Brennan, and a high ranking member of the military. When Obama emerged from the briefing, he was described as looking “very confused and uncertain.” The president was then placed in the situation room where several of the players in this event had already been watching the operation unfold. Another interesting tidbit regarding this is that the Vice President was already “up to speed” on the operation. A source indicated they believe Hillary Clinton had personally made certain the Vice President was made aware of that day’s events before the president was. The now famous photo released shows the particulars of that of that room and its occupants. What that photo does not communicate directly is that the military personnel present in that room during the operation unfolding, deferred to either Hillary Clinton or Robert Gates. The president’s role was minimal, including their acknowledging of his presence in the room. - Socyberty (White House Insider: Obama Hesitated – Panetta Issued Order to Kill Osama Bin Laden)Go read the entire article which notes how much of an obstacle Valerie Jarrett was on behalf of the President and how those interested in actually fighting a war on terrorism managed to work around the President. Providing that there is any truth to this story.
Interestingly enough, the recent Times article on the raid, provides a copy of the mission order Leon Panetta issued (At least his note of it). This part of the official story just happens to fit into the storyline above.
Given that the President's campaign is all interested in discussing the raid on Bin Laden, perhaps they would like to explain why the President is sitting in the corner during one of the most important meetings of his Presidency. Perhaps, this was to give him easy access for the door in case the raid did not end so well. I wonder, are there any photos of this meeting where the President is not seated in the room...
I suspect that we will be returning to this photo before November's Election.
'No Child Left Behind Stupidity' - English Proficiency
My oldest is finishing up her last day of First Grade this week. This is also the time that I am completing papers for my youngest to start kindergarten in the fall.
One form that we had to complete for each of them contained questions on whether they could speak a foreign language and whether there were any foreign language speakers in the house. The form noted that if you answered 'yes' to these questions that your child would automatically be labeled a non-native English speaker (or something similar to this. I forget the exact designation).
I was hesitant to mention any foreign language skill for my daughter, simply because she was also a fluent native English speaker. After all, she was born here and basically her entire foreign language proficiency was the result of my wife being an army of one in teaching our daughter her native language. I was afraid that she would end up in some special treatment intended for actual foreign language speakers with limited English proficiency. However, since we did not want to lie on the form, we told the truth.
So our daughter was tested in Kindergarten on a 1 to 6 scale in her English proficiency and received a score of 4. The test results came with a two page explanation of the results. However the explanation was totally useless in determining how our daughter did in the exam because nowhere in the paper did it explain that 4 was the highest score a Kindergarten student can receive because at that level they do not test reading comprehension. Leave it to the Government to design a test where a child can get the highest grade while leaving the parents completely confused as to how their child could do so poorly on the test.
Upon learning the news that our daughter is doing fine, I wanted to remove her from this program. Her teacher noted that there was no harm in her participation and she was losing no time from the classroom. My wife agreed and I relented. Eventually, the testing will remove a student based on the result. However, the letter from the school noting that my daughter is now proficient in English, also declares her as 'formerly limited English Proficient (FLEP)'
So there you have it. The Government had classified my child as LIMITED ENGLISH PROFICIENT solely based on our declaration that she had the ability to speak another language and was in a household where at least one parent also spoke a foreign language. There was no testing done to ever determine if there was any limitation to her English proficiency. She had spent two years in pre-school. Never was there any comment concerning any problems with her language skills. This is all due to idiotic Government Regulations.
Worse, I have no doubt that my daughter is now a stat supporting how great the school is in successfully turning children with limited English proficiency into proficient students. A stat that will now reduce how badly the number that fail to achieve that goal. Don't get me wrong, our local elementary school is great. However, they did nothing to improve her proficiency in relation to other native English-speaking classmates as she was a native speaker to begin with.
Well, I have learned my lesson. During the completion of the enrollment forms for my son, I have included a letter refusing to permit my son's participation in this program. Apparently the form produced a bit of consternation at the school, but it also resulted in discovery of a form that excludes my son's participation in this program. While my daughter is all good with participating in any sort of project or test, My son is a little more stubborn and the last thing I need is for him to notice that he is being testing when others are not. Because he will not take their exam or create some problem where there is none. I do believe in testing, but I am against senseless testing. And this program is needlessly creating students in need that don't exist.
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'The Hope and the Change' - Movie Trailer for Dissillusioned 2008 Obama Voters
'The Hope and the Change' is a documentary profiling a number of independants and Democrats who voted for President Obama in 2008 and are disillusioned over his Presidency, what he promised and what was actually delivered.
It looks like a powerful movie. Interestingly enough, it will be shown on TV during the next couple of weeks.
Keep in mind, this is a President, along with his fellow Democrats, who Hate Your Job, who could have created 9,000 millionaires with the stimulus money, who very well might have gotten Osama despite his team working against him and whose Obamacare legislation did nothing to improve healthcare in America and in the process used such accounting trickery to make the numbers 'work' that if it was done in a publicly traded company probably would have landed people in jail.
I do not think the documentary has anything to do with the issues I pointed out above. It appears to deal on a more basic level, where the President made some simple promises and failed to keep even them.
And while we are at it, don't forget the 'Fast and Furious' gun running to criminals fiasco. I stand by my prediction that people are going to jail for this. However it will probably require a change in leadership for any read investigation to determine who will have to pay for the dead people this program left in its wake.
'Pro-Business' US State Dept's Absurd New Hours
The US State Department's Office of Authentications recently changed their operating hours. Or dare I say their operating hour. Until recently, the office of Authentications at the US State Department was open until 11AM. As long as you made it in the door by 11AM they would service you as you waited. Now they have reduced their hours to one hour a day, from 8 until 9AM. And only to accept documents, not to actually process them. For that, you'll have to come back.
Starting September 17, 2012, Authentications staff will meet customers by appointment 10:00 a.m to 2:30 p.m. Monday - Friday (except Federal Holidays).Beginning Monday, September 17, the Office of Authentications will perform document review by accepting document drop-offs 8-9 AM, Monday - Friday (except Federal Holidays). - LinkNow you can forget about making an appointment, appointments are reserved for Government business and for 'life and dead' emergencies. The joke is, to get an appointment, you still have to show up between 8 and 9.
This might not matter to most people, but the service this office provides, the legalization of documents for presentation in other countries is important when conducting business overseas, including import and export. Often times, in order to conduct business overseas, business documents are required to be legalized, including a stop at the US State Department.
I can tell you from first-hand experience that the legalization process it expensive and time consuming. Having a courier call you to tell you that the hours have been cut back to one a day is just one more anti-business decision made by our Government.Thankfully, our operations are local. I was told that there were many pissed off people from Phili and even New York who made the trip to DC just to get documents legalized only to be confronted with an office that was already closed for the day.
'Hope' Is no Way to Protect American Embassies
With each passing day it seems that the Obama Administration is looking more and more responsible for the success of the terrorist attack against the US Consulate in Benghazi, Libya. Take the following developments since the initial news of the attack:
- The Obama Administration initially blamed the attack on protests against some crudely made internet video
- Prior to the terrorist attack, there were no protests outside the Consulate. The attack started at 9:40 PM.
- The Administration claimed to have no intelligence information suggesting any impending attacks, however they were informed both internally and from foreign sources.
- The attack happened on 9/11
- The Administration, including the President, met during the attack and decided to take a 'wait-and-see' posture, deciding against sending forces to defend the consulate.
- The Ambassador himself alerted the State Department regarding threats to his life.
- The Ambassador had repeatedly requesting additional security.
- The requests were denied.
- the requests and the denials were kept from the public.
- The State Department even told the Ambassador to stop asking for additional support.
- It took weeks before the Consulate was investigated by the FBI. To this day, there is no evidence that the State Department did anything to secure the site or any confidential information still remaining in the Consulate.
All I can say to that is that letting those who hate America destroy our Embassies and kill Americans is not going to extinguish the hate. All it will do is make America look weak and fan the flames of more hate.
This is just one more reason to elect Mitt Romney as the next President. The haters around the world will hate us no matter who is President. We can however minimize the threat by having a strong a proud President at the helm.
This is just the latest example of how much of a failure President Obama's soft stance against terrorism is. Hugging terrorists does not reform them. It never will. The Obama Administration will never understand this. The only 'extremists' they can recognize are members of the 'Tea Party.'
9 Ekim 2012 Salı
Zagreb, fish and Nirvana
With a couple of hours to kill until our room was ready we headed out into Zagreb to explore, armed with the Lonely Planet and a keen sense of direction.After a restorative CocaCola Zero and coffee overlooking the Market we sought out Amfora - a recommended restaurant - pushing our way through the chain smoking market traders drinking beer at the entrance we entered the bar that smelled like a fish mongers and were ushered upstairs. We looked around for menus but instead were presented with a platter of raw fish - all still with faces!
Through the medium of mime and pigeon English we managed to order fish soup and giant whitebait (for Hywel) and fish risotto (for Sarah and I). I commented on how unexpected it was that this hole in the wall was playing such great music - Nirvana followed by Garbage, then Dusty Springfield launched into Son of a Preacher Man, at this point I realised the iPhone in my pocket was in iPod mode and playing a Genius playlist...
The food arrived - the risotto was a bit tasteless, but this was more than compensated for by the half a kilo of salt that had been added to the giant bowl of tomatoes that accompanied it. The whitebait was more successful.
Dinner at Agava was altogether more successful - Dalmatian ham, Pag cheese, truffle sauce and Dalmatian stuffed beef!
The following day we hit Zagreb hard - culture in the morning at the modern art museum, a picnic in the botanical gardens (procured from Croatia's grumpiest market traders), afternoon nap in the park and a trip to the cinema in the evening before heading to the station for our night of luxury aboard the night sleeper to Split....
The long commute
The major downside to living in Brighton is days like today, in order to get to Manchester for 9.30am I have to set my alarm for 4.30am and catch the 5.23am, then lots of waiting around because the trains are less frequent.To get through the Brighton - Victoria leg, I upgrade to a large skinny latte, for the Euston - Manchester leg, another skinny latte, on arrival at Piccadilly - another skinny latte, then finally for the journey home a skinny latte.
Far too much caffeine.
Far too much milk.
Kindling
Well it's now one month and five days since my Kindle purchase and I love it!
So what have I read to date?
A Guest at the Feast, by Colm TóibÃn
The Stranger's Child, by Alan Hollinghurst
The Happiness Project, by Gretchen Rubin
The Skeleton in the Closet, by MC Beaton
Locked In, by Kerry Wilkinson
The Etymologicon, by Mark Forsyth
A whole edition of Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine
At the same time I have finished off a paperback copy of He Kills Coppers, by Jake Arnott that I was part way through.
I'm about halfway through Brooklyn, by Colm TóibÃn, which I started this morning.
Ok - so I had two weeks in the 'States with train journeys of eight and five hours; and flights of one and ten hours; oh and a six hour lay-over so perhaps not a typical month...
What do I love about it?
It's light - sounds obvious, but really makes a difference when carrying it around or reading one handed on the tube.
It's small - also obvious, but it fits in my coat pocket and can be gripped in the same hand as a bag when moving between train and tube.
It allows for mood changes - choose which book you fancy based on how tired you are, rather than which one you remembered to bring.
When you don't have to worry about saving your place, you're more likely to keep reading right up to your stop or when stood waiting to board a train - those extra pages soon add up!
So any gripes?
Not every book has chapters or sections marked on the bottom of the page - as someone who likes to flick ahead to count how many pages to the end if the chapter, this is a shame.
And... I genuinely can't think if anything else!
So what about the books themselves? More on that in a future blog!
Redwood coffee shop
I've not been to Redwood for a while and had forgotten how laid back and friendly it is.
I love the fact you can order your flat white Aussie style (short, strong, authentic) or Pommie style (bigger, weaker, not authentic). I dare you to order it Pommie style from the Aussie barista!
Service is chirpy and attentive, but expect a 10 minute wait whilst your coffee is individually crafted for you - reassuringly the wait is exactly the same whether the shop is full or empty...
The decor is in the 70s vintage style - Danish sideboard and low slung tan coloured sofas - but not overdone, chalkboard style signage stays the cool side of whimsical.
Music tends to be whole albums played beginning to end - pre-digital style. Today's album is the Pulp Fiction soundtrack, on previous visits it's ranged from specialist concept albums to late period Beatles.
Food - the usual range of cakes and pastries and fantastic toasties made with Real Patisserie bread, or simple toast and marmite or jam.
The clientele is a mix of mature Mac users and studious kids from the local FE college, whose campus is just behind the shop. Naturally I fit into the former group.
Dinner, by Heston
You know it's going to be good when reservations are only released in limited numbers and need to made six weeks in advance as soon as the phone line opens.
Dinner by Heston Blumenthal at the Mandarin Oriental is a grand affair in a grand old hotel - red liveried doormen, a maze of wood panelled corridors and marbled stairs etc. The backdrop for the bar is a backlit display of spirits behind frosted glass, with bustling staff in simple apron style black wrap dresses.
You enter the dining room basically through the wine cellar - or rather a glass corridor through it (look don't touch!). In the middle of the dining room is the kitchen in a glass cube and beyond are views into Hyde Park. The decor is a mix of panelled walls,tweed clad booths and translucent china jelly mould inspired light fittings - very Britain through the ages - like the menu.
The waiting staff all wore beautifully tailored grey suits (the men) and grey suit trousers and waistcoats (the women) - service was attentive and relaxed, with just the right amount of banter
To begin...
Savoury Porridge (1660)
Roast cod palette, beetroot, garlic, parsley and fennel
The porridge was wonderful, a vibrant green colour covered with a cloud of fennel leaf with a square of cod and chunks of heritage beetroot in red and gold.
Others had
Hay smoked mackerel (1730)
Meat fruit (1500)
Followed by...
Spiced Pigeon (1780)
Ale and artichokes
The pigeon was beautifully tender and pink, about five chunky pieces of breast tossed with wedges of fennel.
Others had
Blackfoot pork chop (1860)
Hereford ribeye (1830)
Finally...
Poached rhubarb (1600)
Strips of poached rhubarb, with a perfect egg of rhubarb sorbet an decorated with freeze dried rhubarb shavings.
Others had:
Chocolate bar (1730)
Baked lemon suet pudding (1630)
Taffety tart (1660)
And then finally finally...
Chocolate ganache with caraway biscuit
8 Ekim 2012 Pazartesi
Banning Child Labor on Farms - To Benefit Illegal Aliens?
You have probably seen the news that the Obama Administration is planning to pass new rules that will effectively ban children from working on farms, even if they waork on their own family farm:
A proposal from the Obama administration to prevent children from doing farm chores has drawn plenty of criticism from rural-district members of Congress. But now it’s attracting barbs from farm kids themselves.The Department of Labor is poised to put the finishing touches on a rule that would apply child-labor laws to children working on family farms, prohibiting them from performing a list of jobs on their own families’ land. - Daily CallerThere seems to be no legitimate explanation for this change in the rules, especially given that this same proposed rule will stop the 4-H and FFA from conducting farm training, to be replaced with Government training.
Lets face it, the family farmers are not the biggest Obama voting block, so perhaps this is a little payback from what is a very vindictive Administration. But that does not help them win reelection for their boss in November. However, if the children cannot do as much on the farm, perhaps they think the farmers will have to hire outside workers and perhaps even illegal aliens farm hands.
I would not be surprised at all if this rule is some half-assed Government plan to increase farm-based employment. No matter the reason, this is just one more reason to vote against Obama on Election day.
Obama's 'Gutsy Call' - Not Even At The Table
President Obama is once again using the killing of Osama Bin Laden as a prop in his reelection campaign. I have no problem with the President point to this as one of the accomplishments of his Presidency. After all, it is one of the few actual accomplishments that most Americans give him credit for. However, for some reason, the President's campaign staff are now suggesting that Presidential candidate Mitt Romney would not have given the go-ahead to kill Bin Laden, distorting a comment of his as their evidence. Mitt Romney's comment is so taken out of context as his actual statement is that killing any one terrorist is not not a strategy, but a starting point. Basically he is advocating a much stronger response than the assassination of one man.
Lets not forget that the President's 'Gutsy Call' was given only after sleeping on it, a full 16 hours after being asked. Now maybe Mitt Romney would have said no, but I seriously doubt he's take a nap first. (Mitt Romney in response to the Obama Campaign allegation notes that even Carter would have made the call to take out Osama.)
The Obama campaign's outright lying of the facts reminded me of the photo of President Obama in the Situation room observing the mission as it happened. For making such a 'Gutsy Call', the President does not even have a seat at the table. Why exactly is that? How many other White House photos have you seen where the President does not have a prominent place at the table? Any table? I am no fan of the President, but if I had him over for dinner, I'd give him the honor of my place at the table, if for no reason than one of respect.
Now take the following story that appeared on the internet shortly after this photo appeared that comments on the situation leading up to the photo, keeping in mind that there is nothing to back up the allegations made in the story:
I have been told by more than one source that Leon Panetta was directing the operation with both his own CIA operatives, as well as direct contacts with military – both entities were reporting to Panetta only at this point, and not the President of the United States. There was not going to be another delay as had happened 24 hour earlier. The operation was at this time effectively unknown to President Barack Obama or Valerie Jarrett and it remained that way until AFTER it had already been initiated. President Obama was literally pulled from a golf outing and escorted back to the White House to be informed of the mission. Upon his arrival there was a briefing held which included Bill Daley, John Brennan, and a high ranking member of the military. When Obama emerged from the briefing, he was described as looking “very confused and uncertain.” The president was then placed in the situation room where several of the players in this event had already been watching the operation unfold. Another interesting tidbit regarding this is that the Vice President was already “up to speed” on the operation. A source indicated they believe Hillary Clinton had personally made certain the Vice President was made aware of that day’s events before the president was. The now famous photo released shows the particulars of that of that room and its occupants. What that photo does not communicate directly is that the military personnel present in that room during the operation unfolding, deferred to either Hillary Clinton or Robert Gates. The president’s role was minimal, including their acknowledging of his presence in the room. - Socyberty (White House Insider: Obama Hesitated – Panetta Issued Order to Kill Osama Bin Laden)Go read the entire article which notes how much of an obstacle Valerie Jarrett was on behalf of the President and how those interested in actually fighting a war on terrorism managed to work around the President. Providing that there is any truth to this story.
Interestingly enough, the recent Times article on the raid, provides a copy of the mission order Leon Panetta issued (At least his note of it). This part of the official story just happens to fit into the storyline above.
Given that the President's campaign is all interested in discussing the raid on Bin Laden, perhaps they would like to explain why the President is sitting in the corner during one of the most important meetings of his Presidency. Perhaps, this was to give him easy access for the door in case the raid did not end so well. I wonder, are there any photos of this meeting where the President is not seated in the room...
I suspect that we will be returning to this photo before November's Election.
'No Child Left Behind Stupidity' - English Proficiency
My oldest is finishing up her last day of First Grade this week. This is also the time that I am completing papers for my youngest to start kindergarten in the fall.
One form that we had to complete for each of them contained questions on whether they could speak a foreign language and whether there were any foreign language speakers in the house. The form noted that if you answered 'yes' to these questions that your child would automatically be labeled a non-native English speaker (or something similar to this. I forget the exact designation).
I was hesitant to mention any foreign language skill for my daughter, simply because she was also a fluent native English speaker. After all, she was born here and basically her entire foreign language proficiency was the result of my wife being an army of one in teaching our daughter her native language. I was afraid that she would end up in some special treatment intended for actual foreign language speakers with limited English proficiency. However, since we did not want to lie on the form, we told the truth.
So our daughter was tested in Kindergarten on a 1 to 6 scale in her English proficiency and received a score of 4. The test results came with a two page explanation of the results. However the explanation was totally useless in determining how our daughter did in the exam because nowhere in the paper did it explain that 4 was the highest score a Kindergarten student can receive because at that level they do not test reading comprehension. Leave it to the Government to design a test where a child can get the highest grade while leaving the parents completely confused as to how their child could do so poorly on the test.
Upon learning the news that our daughter is doing fine, I wanted to remove her from this program. Her teacher noted that there was no harm in her participation and she was losing no time from the classroom. My wife agreed and I relented. Eventually, the testing will remove a student based on the result. However, the letter from the school noting that my daughter is now proficient in English, also declares her as 'formerly limited English Proficient (FLEP)'
So there you have it. The Government had classified my child as LIMITED ENGLISH PROFICIENT solely based on our declaration that she had the ability to speak another language and was in a household where at least one parent also spoke a foreign language. There was no testing done to ever determine if there was any limitation to her English proficiency. She had spent two years in pre-school. Never was there any comment concerning any problems with her language skills. This is all due to idiotic Government Regulations.
Worse, I have no doubt that my daughter is now a stat supporting how great the school is in successfully turning children with limited English proficiency into proficient students. A stat that will now reduce how badly the number that fail to achieve that goal. Don't get me wrong, our local elementary school is great. However, they did nothing to improve her proficiency in relation to other native English-speaking classmates as she was a native speaker to begin with.
Well, I have learned my lesson. During the completion of the enrollment forms for my son, I have included a letter refusing to permit my son's participation in this program. Apparently the form produced a bit of consternation at the school, but it also resulted in discovery of a form that excludes my son's participation in this program. While my daughter is all good with participating in any sort of project or test, My son is a little more stubborn and the last thing I need is for him to notice that he is being testing when others are not. Because he will not take their exam or create some problem where there is none. I do believe in testing, but I am against senseless testing. And this program is needlessly creating students in need that don't exist.
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