But can he teach them English?

The North Lamar High School coach was recently quoted in The Paris News regarding UIL realignments: "Some of the blogs seem to feel like us and Paris could go East, but you never know . . ." What an embarrassment! Maybe him could go have a few tutoring sessions with the English teacher.

"UIL to release district realignments Monday." The Paris News; January 31, 2010; p. 1C.

It sounds good, but it's a lie.

After Massachusetts voters sent their message to the Democrats, the newspaper headline read "Obama to seek spending freeze." But it's an outright lie. The freeze would take effect in October. However, when you read the article, you see that what Obama calls a freeze is not what you and I call a freeze. "Administration officials . . . are working with Congress on roughly $150 billion in additional stimulus spending . . ." And how much is he predicting his "freeze" to save? $15 billion. If my elementary math is correct, that puts us $135 billion further into the hole. Mr. Essie May wouldn't let me get away with that kind of spending freeze!

"Obama to seek spending freeze." The Dallas Morning News; January 26, 2010; p. 2A.

It works!

Guess what? We have a study that shows that abstinence based sex education works better than handing out condoms. The study showed that only one-third of 6th and 7th graders in abstinence based education had sex in the following two years compared to half of the students who learned how to use condoms and other contraceptives.

"I think we've written off abstinence-only education without looking closely at the nature of the evidence," said John B. Jemmott III, who headed the study. Of course it's been written off -- it's not politically correct to teach morals in this country.

"Abstinence approach works, study finds." The Dallas Morning News; February 2, 2010; p. 4A.

Subliminal message? You decide.

I like to play golf solitaire on the Pogo game site. If you're not familiar with Pogo, it's a website with dozens of computer games that you can play for free.

Golf solitaire is a card game. It has the sound effects of a golf course -- you can hear the birds singing, the golf balls being hit, yells of "Fore," and people talking in the background. As I was playing one day, I thought to myself, "That voice sounds like Obama's." I didn't pay too much more attention until I heard the voice say, "Listen to Obama." At least that's what I think it's saying. It's kind of muffled, and I can't be sure. I mentioned this to a couple of family members, and they agreed with me.

I'd like to know what you think. Go to www.pogo.com and play a couple of games. You may have to play awhile before the sound effects roll around to this voice. Am I paranoid, or is Pogo sending subliminal messages?

The gods must be crazy!

Census Bureau officials are encouraging people who live in the colonias to make sure they are counted in the census. The only problem I see with that is that most of the people in the colonias are illegals. That will skew congressional representation, state school fund distribution, and a whole host of other things.

When the Bureau Director visited the San Carlos Colonia on Monday to reassure the residents that "you can trust us," one of the residents said, "When they saw the uniforms of the Sheriff's Department? Some got scared." Why did they get scared? Because they're illegal!

According to the newspaper, that anxiety is to blame for these people refusing to participate in the census. They should be participating in the Mexican census -- not the U.S. census! Doesn't anyone around here have any sense?

Representative Henry Cuellar said his district lost more then $55 million because the last census was undercounted. If he means by illegals, I don't consider that undercounting. Why should we spend $55 million on people who shouldn't even be here? He assured the colonia residents that citizenship status was not a question on the census form. Well it darn well should be! "This is where the greatest needs are," Cuellar said. But they're ILLEGAL!

"U.S. to poor: Stand up, be counted." The Dallas Morning News; February 2, 2010; p. 3A.

Kudos to Madeline!

Sitting in the doctor's office one day, I picked up the proverbial ancient magazine. It was four or five years old. There was an article in it that really struck me.

Madeline Smith was 11 years old at the printing date of the magazine. She lived in Austin, Texas. That year, she had made -- yes, made -- ten coats to be distributed by the Coats for Kids charity in Austin. Her mother says that she had taken sewing lessons when they lived in Houston. When the family moved to Austin, she asked Madeline if there was anything she needed. "A sewing teacher," was Madeline's reply. So they found one. The teacher was involved in Coats for Kids, and when Madeline saw her making a coat, she asked if she could make one, too. And the teacher showed her how to do it.

Would you wear a coat sewn by an 11-year-old girl? If they were sewn by Madeline, I certainly would. Some of her creations were pictured in the magazine, and this little girl is one talented seamstress! How refreshing to hear about a child who isn't glued to the computer, the cellphone, and the television. Madeline says she wants to study fashion design in college and design her own line of clothes. I just bet she'll do it!

What's the Difference?

Jacquielynn Floyd wrote a column about the Haiti earthquake. She brought up that Royal Caribbean Cruise Line, only a week or so after the disaster, had resumed bringing its passengers to its beach on the northern side of the island. "How do you snooze in a rope hammock while, on the far side of those emerald mountains, tens of thousands of desperate human beings are still trying to extract their dead from wreckage?"

I have a bit of a different take on it. Are those people snoozing in hammocks in Haiti any less heartless than she for snoozing comfortably in front of her warm fireplace? Would they be better people if they stayed on the ship? And what about those Haitians who work on that beach? They make a fair amount of money from these heartless tourists. Why should we make their suffering worse by drying up their source of income? It appears to me that these tourists are helping in some small way by taking their business there.

It's like this -- unless you've made some great sacrifice to help the Haitians, don't judge other people for what they've done or not done for them.

"Cruise ship stops in Haiti bring bad PR, good deeds." The Dallas Morning News; January 22, 1010; p. 1A.

The hills are alive . . . .

Let's head to Broadway! Have you heard about the new musical? It's entitled Hope -- the Obama Musical Story. It debuted in Germany last month. It includes love songs by the president to Michelle and duets with Hillary Clinton.

Honestly, when I first read this I thought it was a joke. It's an indication of how far we've fallen that it's not.

"Obama musical set to debut in Germany." The Dallas Morning News; January 14, 2010; p. 10A.

Don't do your job, Sheriff Joe!

Sheriff Joe Arpaio believes people who break the law should be arrested. Most of us agree with him. However, a group of 10,000 protesters recently marched against him because he does just that. They don't think he should arrest illegal aliens.

Shouting "Joe must go," protesters started throwing bottles at officers toward the end of the march. Some of them wore shirts saying, "Who would Jesus deport?" I can answer that one -- Jesus taught that we should follow the law. So we can assume that He would agree that illegals should be deported.

My big question is where were immigration enforcement officials during this march? We could probably have deported about 9,999 if they had shown up and asked for credentials. I say 9,999, because one of the protesters was Linda Ronstadt, and I assume she's legal.

"Jail march targets sheriff." The Dallas Morning News; January 17, 2010; p. 3A.

MLK's legacy could cost you!

Gerald Britt, Jr. says we need to continue MLK's legacy. He says the way to do this is to:

1) triple the earned income tax credit -- in case you don't know, this is the device people use to get back a whole lot more in taxes than they paid in.

2) create funding for short-term "stepping stone jobs" for people involved in living-wage job training or adult education programs designed to retrain and prepare participants for long-term employment -- I think that means a bunch of make-work jobs. "Create funding" means tax those of us who actually work.

3) increase the number of housing vouchers to deal with homelessness -- putting more drug addicts and mental cases in your neighborhood

4) continue to increase the minimum wage to at least $9 an hour -- forcing the small business owner to cut his workforce and throw more people into joblessness

5) improve accessibility to food stamps, extending the amount of time people can receive them and increasing the food stamp limit -- make more generations dependent on the dole

I don't know about you, but I don't like MLK's "legacy."

"Unrealized dream." The Dallas Morning News; January 18, 2010; p. 15A.

Coincidence?

Experts say there was a larger rise in terrorism in 2009 than in any year since 2001. Bruce Hoffman, a terrorism expert at Georgetown University, called it "an extraordinary year, across the board."

Let's see, what was the major difference in the year 2009 over the eight previous years? OH -- we had a different President! Coincidence?

"Terror cases hit high in '09." The Dallas Morning News; January 18, 2010; p. 4A.

Where is the outrage?

In recent weeks, at least eight churches in east Texas have been set on fire. I can only assume that these are predominantly white congregations; otherwise, we would be hearing "hate crime" all over the news.

Why is it that when an arsonist hits a black church, the immediate outcry is that there are racists running rampant; it must be the KKK; it's a hate crime; call in the feds? But when a whole bunch of white churches are torched, there is no one calling out that it must be blacks with hatred for whites or the Black Panthers at it again or that the federal government must step in. Where is the outrage?

"Fire hits Tyler churches; 5 others investigated." The Dallas Morning News; January 18, 2010; p. 7B.

I'd separate my kid!

This diversity thing is getting ridiculous. At Smith Middle School in Sinton, Texas, teachers were "encouraged" to separate students according to eye color. Students with green or blue eyes were not allowed to participate in PE class. Students with brown eyes were. Somehow, this was supposed to tell them a lot about MLK -- it was done the day after they took a day off to honor the plagiarizer.

This was not about race says Superintendent Steven VanMatre. Sure it was -- why didn't they separate the students into a groups of brown/blue and green/other colors? Because they knew that in the blue/green category, all the kids would probably be white. It was not discrimination says the superintendent. Well maybe I'm wrong, but wasn't their whole point to show the kids what discrimination was? That being the case, it most certainly was discrimination. You can't have it both ways, Mr. VanMatre. That being said, if I'd had a child in that school, she would be "separated" for sure -- I'd take her to another district!

And speaking of MLK, aren't you sick of people reverencing him like some kind of God? Princeton University scholar Cornel West delivered the keynote address at the Ebenezer Baptist Church to commemorate what would have been King's 81st birthday. He said, "I don't know about you, but I don't even mention his name without shivering and shuddering." Me, too, Cornel - me, too!

"Sinton parents upset over separation exercise for MLK day." The Paris News; January 24, 2010; p. 9A.

"Events focus on King's call to serve." The Dallas Morning News; January 19, 2010; p. 2A.

Kwanzaa -- peace, unity, and values. HAHA!

Ask Claire Cross of Dallas what she thinks about the values Kwanzaa instills. She and her husband were on their way to an opera. Their car windows were smashed in and the side of their car damaged by a bunch of hooligans leaving the Kwanzaa festival at Fair Park. Yeah, looks like Kwanzaa teaches them a lot.

"Hardly 'acting up'." The Dallas Morning News; January 20, 2010; p. 16A.

The Poor Child

I've written before about the little boy in Mesquite who was not allowed to attend regular kindergarten class because his hair violated the dress code. His stupid, stubborn parents refused to cut the mess off or even to compromise by braiding it. The parents insisted the child did not want to cut his hair or wear braids.

They finally settled on French braids, and the child was allowed to return to school. The mother said, ". . .but when I saw his face when they said he could go to class." What a telling statement. This was a parent thing -- not what the child wanted. He obviously just wanted to be a little boy and go to class.

To further illustrate how goofy these parents are, the mother said, "He looks a little like Princess Leia. He's awfully cute." What parent wants her male child to look like a princess? Talk about confusing your child on his gender! The mother goes on to say that the dress code is discriminatory. "You can't judge between girls and boys," she said. What about restrooms? Does she think they should all go to the same restrooms? They're still pursuing this thing. "I don't want this to happen to another child," she said. Well, it won't if other children have parents with any sense!

On another note, media bias is evident again. In one of the stories on this non-story, reporter Karel Holloway said, "Before noon, the Mesquite school district had received about 80 e-mails, more than a third of which criticized the school district." Hmmm -- doesn't that mean that about two-thirds supported the school district? Don't you think the majority opinion would be the one stated rather than the minority one?

"Boy's new do is cool for school." The Dallas Morning News; January 20, 2010; p. 1B.
"Long-haired boy appears headed for suspension." The Dallas Morning News; January 13, 2010; p. 1A.

We better guard our 1st Amendment rights!

Geert Wilders of the Netherlands is in trouble. If he is convicted, he will face a possible two-year prison sentence. What did he do? He compared the Quran to Hitler's Mein Kampf. He suggested that the Dutch government should tax clothing commonly worn by Muslims because it "pollutes" the Dutch landscape. He made a film which juxtaposed verses from the Quran with images of terrorism perpetrated by Muslims. He objects to the wave of Muslim immigrants western European countries have experienced.

What's the charge? Inciting hate. We already have hate crimes -- this can't be far behind.

"Hate speech or free speech." The Dallas Morning News; January 21, 2010; p. 10A.

Hey -- who's in charge here?

Dennis Blair is the National Intelligence Director. When he was questioned by a senate panel on the circumstances that allowed Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab to board a plane with a bomb in his underpants, Blair said the High-Value Detainee Interrogation Group, also known as HIG, should have questioned the suspect before any decisions were made on whether to place him in the civilian court system.

There's just one little problem with that. The HIG unit doesn't exist yet according to FBI Director Robert Mueller. Blair's office says his remarks were "misconstrued." Yeah, right. It seems to me we need someone with some actual intelligence to be our National Intelligence Director.

"Errors conceded in terrorism inquiry." The Dallas Morning News; January 21, 2010; p. 7A.

Wish I'd said that.

Joan McGeachy of Dallas wrote a letter to the editor recently. It made such a good point, and I couldn't state it any better than she did, so I'm just going to share her letter with you verbatim.

"Watching the Today Show interview with Michelle Obama recently, I saw the First Lady gush about how her husband was usually at home by 6:30 p.m. for dinner.

She also talked about how they were able to make the children's games and events. Good for them.

But isn't her husband supposed to be running the country? My husband runs a company. In today's economy, he works constantly. His children rarely see him. But we all understand his responsibility to his employees and stockholders, especially right now. Where is the president's sense of urgency and work ethic? I hope President Barack Obama enjoys the Super Bowl this weekend -- my husband will be working."

"Obama's down time." The Dallas Morning News; February 7, 2010; p. 2P.

Your tax dollars at work.

The people need to rise up and say, "No more government programs." They're all rife with fraud and abuse. Take the first-time home buyer credit.

Nearly 1,000 people in Texas who filed for the $8,000 credit didn't use a good old U.S. of A. social security number. They used a special taxpayer identification number primarily used by illegal aliens. My first question here is why does an illegal alien get any kind of a number? When they apply, shouldn't they be deported because they are -- duh -- illegal?

At any rate, there were 3,200 of these things filed by illegals nationwide costing us $20.8 million. In addition to all the illegals, there were 74,000 claims submitted by people who already owned a home or never bought one. We also paid for some 4-year-olds to buy houses.

And we want these people to run our health care!

"Feds cite dubious tax credit claims." The Dallas Morning News; January 26, 2010; p. 1A.

Just pop my check in the mail.

Despite the fact that Obama's stimulus has done nothing to improve the economy, he has included in his new budget an additional $282 billion for "temporary recovery measures." That equates to roughly $950 for every man, woman, and child in the U.S. Just pop my check in the mail, please.

"Obama blueprint pushes jobs, holds record deficit." The Dallas Morning News; February 2, 2010; p. 1a.

Religious tolerance or idolatry?

Did you know that the United States Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs has set up an outdoor worship area for followers of Wicca, Druidism and "other Earth-centered religions"? It's a double circle of stones atop a hill. Our forefathers are certainly spinning in their graves!

According to the Associated Press, Academy superintendent Michael Gould has made religious tolerance a priority. I think we need to make replacing Michael Gould and a commander-in-chief who allows such a blasphemy a priority.

"Worship spot set up for Earth-centered faiths." The Dallas Morning News; February 2, 2010; p. 4A.

PETA wants to downsize Phil!

Remember PETA's campaign to rename fish "sea kittens"? Did you hear what they're up to now? They want to downsize Punxutawney Phil. They want to replace him with a robot. They say Phil's working conditions aren't fair. My guess is he's probably one pampered groundhog! After all, the little town of Punxutawney makes a lot of money off Phil. It's to their advantage to make sure he's a healthy happy critter.

And let's face it, a robot has no emotions. It wouldn't be afraid whether it saw a shadow or not. And there goes another tradition down the drain! Let's just send PETA down the drain instead. They can hang out with the sea kittens.

"PETA proposes robotic groundhog for Pa. festival." The Paris News; January 27, 2010; p. 5.

Hablas espanol?

Did you know that if you own a business in the United States, you could get into trouble for requiring your employees to speak English? According to the EEOC, businesses are "allowed" to enact an English-only policy if it is "needed to promote the safe or efficient operation of their business." A group of nursing homes in California and Texas learned it the hard way -- they are required to pay up to $450,000 to employees who said they suffered discrimination for speaking Spanish at work. And a casino in Colorado is out $1.5 million for requiring its housekeepers to speak English.

The latest is a bookstore/cafe near Yale University. The owner of the store enacted an English only policy for employees who interact with customers. Tim Stewart-Winter, a bleeding heart professor from Yale, says he is appalled! "I think diversity is a strength of this country." Well how great is diversity when you don't know what in the heck your waiter is saying, and he doesn't know what in the heck you're saying? Another case where the little sound bites make you look good, but when you analyze them, they translate to stupidity in any language!

"Lost in translation." The Dallas Morning News; January 23, 2010; p. 6A.

Where do you shop, Eileen?

Eileen Garcia thinks we don't spend enough on food stamps. Incidentally, we don't call them welfare cases anymore -- the new pc term is "food-insecure households." Don't you just love it?

Anyway, Eileen says "food-insecure" families often resort to cheap junk food. Most of the junk food we buy is pretty darn high! I'd like to know where Eileen and these "food-insecure" people are shopping!

"Junk food becomes cheap option." The Dallas Morning News; November 28, 2009; p. 22A.

What does it take to be a real threat?

Jack Brumbelow of Plano is upset with the FBI and their investigation of Hosam Smadi, the terrorist who thought he was detonating a car bomb in downtown Dallas last fall. He says that "The feds spent probably incalculable resources on their investigation instead of applying those resources to real threats." Hmmmm -- a radical islamist dials a cellphone to set off a bomb in a crowded metropolitan area, and Jack doesn't think he's a real threat? Wonder what he does consider a real threat. He says he wonders when common sense will raise its head. We could say the same about you, Jack!

"Smadi probe a waste." The Dallas Morning News; November 28, 2009; p. 22A.

Does this make sense to you?

The company I work for received its new unemployment insurance tax rate from TWC. It is triple what it was in 2009, yet our company hasn't let anyone go and has had no claims filed.

Now I realize that the reason given for the increase is the recession, but then I saw in the newspaper where a local daycare received a $10,000 grant from TWC to buy toys. And another daycare says they also received "a huge grant for equipment." Does it make sense to be buying stuffed animals when the business owner is already overtaxed? Does it make sense to tax him for tricycles and swings when that just might be the tipping point where he has to let someone go and the recession gets worse? Doesn't make sense to me.

"Reaching for the stars." The Paris News; January 4, 2010; p. 1A.

Was He, now?

Lynn Wolfe of Plano says that she's willing to be the first Democrat to ask WWJD regarding abortion. She says He was a tolerant, liberal, forgiving man who wouldn't judge it.

Oh, really now? About the only thing she got right there was "forgiving." Abortion is like any other sin -- there is forgiveness and Jesus remembers it no more when it's covered in His blood. However, He is NOT tolerant. Remember the money-changers in the Temple? He is NOT a "liberal." Jesus purposely distanced Himself from politics. Any commands to take care of the poor were to the individual -- not the government. Jesus would never advocate stealing from the rich to give to the poor. Stealing is a sin, despite what that goofball Church of England guy said a few weeks ago. And judging? Has Lynn never heard of the judgment seat of Christ where all the deeds done in the body will be judged?

So, Lynn, you might do a little research next time before you spout off about someone you obviously know very little about.

"More on Jesus' abortion views." The Dallas Morning News; January 7, 2010; p. 12A.

I feel much better now!

Guess who's going to be in charge of distributing drugs and medical aid should we be hit with a biological weapon such as anthrax. The U.S. Postal Service! The same U.S. Postal Service that recently took 21 days to get a letter from Tampa, Florida, to my home in Texas. In issuing this executive order, Obama cited "the agency's capacity for rapid residential delivery." I feel so much better now!

"Medical aid would go through Postal Service." The Dallas Morning News; December 31, 2009; p. 7A.