The Truth About Our National Debt

I've been away working. I read with not much interest in the usual cut and paste plagiarizing by Professor William "Willy" Yelverton stating that Obama is actually an economic genius (in Willy's mind) and that President Ronald Reagan ( a daily self inducing colonic to Willy) had increased the national debt by 400% making him a moron. Typical stuff from wee Willy. He reads sites that are so full of crap they make his eyes brown. As usual wee Willy is cutting and pasting lies .

Here is his "comment":

Guest 
2/3 of the National Debt now incurred is the result of Reagan and the Bush Presidencies -   FACT.  
 
Looking at the debt as a percentage, Reagan/GHW Bush more than quadrupled the debt.  ($930 billion to over $4 trillion) - 400%  
 
By Comparison, Obama has increased the debt by $3 Trillion (12 Trillion to 15 trillion) or by about 25%  
 
400% vs 25%  
 
Fact

Willy's use of the cap key is well known to those that have the time and patience to read him as well as those that have him as a crab infestation. He must feel it gives him gravitas. The same way he plucks harder on a string to give emphasis to a particular flamingo guitar piece. Actually, just like slamming the dinner table with an open hand slap when grandma doesn't toe the correct line.

Below is a chart that shows actual increases:

The length of time a President served also matters when assigning debt and making comparisons. This chart measures debt increases by Presidential term—i.e., four-year increments. President Reagan saw a 14.8 percent increase in the debt as a share of GDP over his eight years: 10.6 percent in his first term and 4.2 percent in his second. President Clinton enjoyed a nearly 17 percent decrease over the same number of years, first dipping 3.4 percent and then 13.4 percent in his second term when the economy was booming. George H. W. Bush’s record stands at 8.7 percent over four years.

As a percentage of GDP, debt increased by 4.4 percent during President George W. Bush’s first term and by nearly 17 percent in his second. At first glance, he and President Obama appear neck-and-neck at 21 percent and 23 percent, respectively. But there is one catch: Obama will have served for half the time. By 2013, President Obama will have increased debt by 23 percent after just four years—more than President Bush’s total eight-year increase of 21 percent and well more than either of the two Bush terms.

The future doesn’t look any brighter if the Obama Administration’s tax-and-spend policies remain the norm. Under these same policies, a second Obama term would see an increase of another 10 percent by 2017 for a two-term total of nearly 34 percent.

Why do I mention Willy? Simply because he chooses to descend on my blog like mindless locusts looking to do their mindless work. As they, he really has no purpose, just a genetic inclination to do. For some reason it makes him feel good whether it is twice a day, three times a day, five times a day and many days even more using different names, masked IP addresses and other duplicitous methods of commenting. He has stated that he must use these dishonest methods because conservatives worldwide block, ban and delete his cut and paste lies because they are scared of his truths. I have never blocked him even when he has been a reprehensible boar. I mention Willy because he is so much like his heroes in that he represents a method of political discourse which is made of lies. Lies that he and his ilk hope will become truth. Their politics is a Potemkin Village of lies.

Maybe, just maybe, if Willy wants to think for himself for a second or two he might realize his brand of progressive socialism has experienced its high water mark and no amount of lies will further its movement. The American people hate losers, especially those losers who steal from them, and are wise to their stealing ways and days.

I wish Willy good, but his daily missives of cut and past lies do get tiresome because his "truths" have no truth within them. They are lies.

Glenn Harlan Reynolds Talks About An Education Bubble, But Who Will Talk About Bubble Headed Education?

Here's just one from the Glenn, but the stories about teachers, education officials and administrators pushing their liberal/progressive agenda just keep coming. And? They just keep going away and nothing gets changed.

Lawsuit: CPS pushing Democrats

Full disclosure: I know Tom Brinkman and I like Tom Brinkman. Plus I had a political science professor named Pinkly. No, really.

Also, in the No, Really catagory, the students were given sample ballots listing only Democrat candidates. Really. Sounds kinda pinkly, doesn't it.

Crafternoon Revolution For Laura Mitchell At UCD

My, how does one have time to actually find time for a quality education while attending UCD even if one is a 5th year student?

Let's look at just the beginning of the 5th year in the life of Laura Mitchell, Women's Studies major, revolutionary and leader/spokeswomyn/generally busy student.



We are excited to announce that the LGBTRC is planning its first Queer Leadership Retreat to take place from January 22-24th 2010! Some of the objectives of the Queer Leadership Retreat include:

- Empowering LGBTIQ students
- Building community
- Providing a safe space for students to develop leadership skills
- Developing strategies for consciousness-raising within
our various communities
- Setting community goals
- Educating ourselves and raising awareness about issues
w/in the community

The retreat will include workshops and team-building activities, as well as academic resources and an alumni panel. The retreat will provide a unique opportunity for students to network, learn, and share their own knowledge and experiences. We hope that you can take part in planning the retreat and/or by attending either as a facilitator or participant.

Bisexual Awareness Week

Beyond the Binary is an LGBT Resource Center annual awareness week dedicated to educating about and celebrating non-monosexual, and many other intersecting, identities. Events during this week include a social visibility kickoff, keynote speaker, panels and workshops, Safe-Zone training, and a Bi Visibility Project closed non-monosexual discussion. For more information, please contact Laura Mitchell at lmitchell@ucdavis.edu.

Beyond the Binary 2010
 Schedule of Events:

Monday, January 25th
• Bi 101: 12-1PM @ The LGBTRC
This workshop will go over the basics of bisexuality and nonmonosexuality and will include a review of terms, an overview of basic issues, and a facilitated discussion. This will be a safe space for getting those questions answered!

• Art Reception: 3-7PM @ The King Lounge (MU)
This exhibit will bring together artists from across the community to celebrate our many experiences in a provoking and empowering collection of perspectives. Artists will be present during the reception to discuss their work and food & drinks will be provided.

Tuesday, January 26th
• Safe Zone: 12-3PM @ The Mee Room (MU)
Safe Zone is a three-hour training designed to raise awareness and discuss ways to make the spaces we live and work in more welcoming and safe for LGBTQ people. After completing the training, you have the option of receiving a sign to designate your space as a Safe Zone.
To register e-mail slatkinson@ucdavis.edu or call 530.752.2452.

• Keynote Speaker, Sonia-Melitta Diaz Montoya: 6-7:30PM @ The King Lounge (MU)
Sonia-Melitta Montoya is a proud bi queer femme womyn of color, fierce Xicana womynist, first generation/transfer college graduate, daughter/granddaughter of mine-mill smelter & farm workers' and labor union organizers, and a survivor. She will give a talk on her intersections of identity and how her experiences have shaped her love, passion, and commitment working with underrepresented/marginalized communities to dismantle all forms of oppressions.

Wednesday, January 27th
• Biphobia Makes me Blue: 11AM-12PM @ The Garrison Room (MU)
This workshop will start with an introductory group discussion, then will divide into two groups: nonmonosexuals and allies. The nonmonosexual group will focus on understanding and challenging internalized biphobia. The allies will further discuss what it means to be an ally to nonmonosexual people.

• That’s So Bleep: 1-2PM @ The LGBTRC
This program is designed to raise awareness of the relationship between hate speech, prejudice, and oppression. The program analyzes the roots of hate speech and strives to dissolve the bigotry evident in the 21st century in order to unify and rebuild communities through words and actions.

• What It Is That We Do: 4PM-5PM @ Garrison Room
Looking "beyond the binary" gives us a chance to learn about other forms of sexuality. For many people, BDSM - bondage, discipline, dominance/submission, and sadomasochism - offers a different and compelling way to express love, lust and affection. Through consciously and carefully playing with power, control, and even pain, some lovers find themselves closer and more fulfilled. Come learn about the practices, language, hearts and minds of happily self-proclaimed "perverts" and see if you find out something surprising!

Thursday, January 28th
• BIPOC (Bi People of Color) Workshop: 11AM-12PM @ The Moss Room (MU)
Come and join us for a workshop full of celebration, affirmation, and appreciation of bisexual people of color! This workshop will include a facilitated discussion about the issues that effect bisexual, nonmonosexual, queer communities of color.

• Non-Traditional Relationship/Family Structure: 4-5PM @ The Garrison Room (MU)
Just like homo- and heterosexuality are only two of a vast number of sexual orientations, so also are "coupled" and "single" only two of a vast number of ways to relate to loved ones. Monogamy doesn't work for everyone, and many people have chosen to negotiate different kinds of commitments with their loved ones, including open (non-monogamous) relationships and polyamory (being openly, consensually in love with more than one partner at the same time). Please join us for a discussion about the many ways that people come together and make families of every kind imaginable!

• Student Performance Night: 7-9PM @ The King Lounge (MU)
Enjoy a combination of student and professional performances celebrating bi identity! Performance art will be embraced as a form of resistance and resilience. Expect a range of artistic forms, such as music, dance, theater, literature, and the visual arts. Food & drinks will be provided.

Friday, January 29th
• Crafternoon: 3-5PM @ The LGBTRC
This week’s Crafternoon will look beyond the binary system of the family tree to create art that acknowledges the many diverse forms of family and the families we build around us. Crafternoons is a weekly social and crafting event; new craft projects are taught each week and all supplies are provided.

• BiVis Closed Meeting: 5-7PM in the Righteous Babes Lounge (WRRC)
This discussion is a safe space for people who identify with nonmonosexual identities such as pansexual, bisexual, omnisexual, fluid, or questioning to share our experiences and thoughts. We have been meeting for two years! What do we want the next year to look like?

Intersex Awareness Week

Intersex Awareness Week is one of the four educational weeks the LGBT Resource Center plans annually. If you have any questions or would like more information, please contact Maribel Gomez at buggomez@ucdavis.edu. See below for the schedule of events for Intersex Awareness Week 2010.

Monday, February 22nd
Intersex 101 - East Conference Room (MU), 5:30-6:30PM
A basic introduction to the history and importance of intersex issues. Answers to frequently asked questions regarding the intersex community. No background knowledge is necessary - everyone is welcome.

Tuesday, February 23rd
"XXY" Film Screening - Young 198, 6-8PM
Alex is a 15-year-old intersex person form Buenos Aires who lives secluded with her parents in a fishing village in Uruguay. At birth, her parents decided not to have her operated on in order for her to choose her own gender, meanwhile raiser her as a girl. Her parents keep her hidden away at a coastal town amongst the dunes of the shoreline, buying time before they must decide on a life-threatening operation. Refreshments provided.

Wednesday, February 24th
That's So Bleep - LGBTRC (University House Annex), 12-1 PM
This program is designed to raise awareness of the relationship between hate speech, prejudice, and oppression. The program analyzes the roots of hate speech and strives to dissolve the bigotry evident in the 21st century in order to unify and rebuild communities through words and actions.

Thursday, February 25th
Re-defining Body Image for All Genders, LGBTRC, 12-1PM
- A collaboration of both Intersex Awareness Week and Celebrate your Body Week -
Bring your lunch and join us for an informal discussion, co-facilitated by Jezzie Fulmen and Lindsey Brooks from CAPS. Together, we will redefine the historical definition of body image by discussing what body image means for you and celebrating the diversity of body types.

"Yellow is for Hermaphrodites: Mani's Story" Film Screening LGBTRC, 4-6PM

A documentary film that traces the life of the intersex activist Mani Mitchell. Frances Grant wrote in the New Zealand Herald: "The documentary's strength comes from the fact that it is nearly all told in Mani's own words. Strong and articulate, she traces the momentous changes in her life that led to self-acceptance and lack of fear in drawing attention to her ambiguous appearance...[it] is a courageous and unsentimental account of a person who has confronted and overcome extraordinary pressures and exclusion." Refreshments provided.

Safe Zone, 7-10PM (please register for location details)
Safe Zone is a three-hour training designed to raise awareness and discuss ways to make the spaces we live and work in more welcoming and safe for LGBTQ people. After completing the training, you have the option of receiving a sign to designate your space as a Safe Zone. To register email slatkinson@ucdavis.edu or call 530.752.2452.

February 4 -
Repost Press Release: Study-In Students Set Library Agenda, Chancellor Forced to Follow

February 24 - 26 -Joe Goode Performance Group - 29 Effeminate Gestures

Friday, February 26th - Students Reclaim UC Davis Library By Holding Teach-Ins, Lectures, Film Screenings In Weekend-Long Protest

Every Friday - Crafternoons, LGBTRC, 3-5PM
This week's Crafternoon we will have an affirmation and decorating activity using eggs! Crafternoons is a weekly crafting and social event on Friday afternoons from 3-5pm at the LGBTRC; supplies and abundant crafting knowledge provided, you bring the creativity. New craft projects taught each week, everyone is welcome!

Closed Session, Righteous Babes Lounge, WRRC, North Hall 5:30PM-6:30PM
A safe space for intersex-identified people to have discussion and find support.

Ongoing student activities:

Internship Program
Interested in joining the LGBT Resource Center Staff?

Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender (LGBT) Resource Center Community Intern Job Description
2010-2011 (Academic Year)


Job Description

• Serve as a community liaison for the diverse Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Intersex, Queer, Questioning (LGBTIQQ) community.

• Work to create an open, safe, inclusive space and community that promotes learning, discovery, and scholarship about gender and sexual identities.

• Work collaboratively with other community centers (WRRC, SRRC, CCC, etc).

• Serve as liaison to students, student organizations, faculty, Ethnic Studies Departments, administrators, and staff to maintain communication and flow of information.

• Work with various campus student interns and leaders (ie: Culture Day Interns, ASUCD, Gender and Sexuality Commission, SRRC Interns, PAC’s, MIP Interns, etc.).

• Serve as a representative to promote the mission and goals of the LGBT Resource Center.

• Outreach to campus and community groups through tabling, planning programs, conducting training, etc.

• Assess, address, educate about, and advocate for the issues and needs of underrepresented and underserved communities.

• Implement and deliver programs on various community issues and topics that support the mission and goals of the LGBT Resource Center and promote retention of LGBT students.

• Write reports on programs and activities.

• Work with the career staff, other interns, and volunteers in planning, implementation, publicity, and evaluation of LGBT Resource Center programs.

• Opportunities to attend national, regional, and state-wide conferences/meetings.

Crafternoons

Crafternoons is a weekly social and crafting event that runs from 2:30 – 5:00 p.m. on Fridays. New craft projects are taught each week, and all supplies are provided. We encourage folks to stop in and check out the event. Crafternoons are a great way to meet people and de-stress at the end of the week! For more information, contact Laura Mitchell.

March 1 - LGBT Resource Center Vandalization press conference
center intern Laura Mitchell came to the lectern and announced that some students present, possibly closeted gays and lesbians, were uncomfortable with the news cameras, which were rolling as she said, "The media needs to leave – right now," Mitchell said. "We're respectfully asking you to pack up and go."





March 4 - Get arrested




How does she find the time to get a quality education in Women's Studies?

UPDATE: Webutante has a post that dovetails nicely.

Sheila Patterson: 'Not Like Us' Get Out Of Our School

"Our Founding Fathers ... drafted a charter to assure the rule of law and the rights of man" President Obama, Jan 20, 2009

Maybe it was the heady notion that those of a different color would finally be put in their place. Maybe it was just the pure arrogance of one finally feeling empowered. Probably it was a typical school board member shoving their beliefs down the throats of those that disagree.

Whatever it is, Sheila Patterson doesn't understand democracy as practiced in our Republic. She also slapped her new president in the face with her directive to those that disagree with her.

I am just very very disappointed.

Jackson Public Schools board member to teachers who did not show inauguration: Go home
Jackson Public Schools board member Sheila Patterson had a strong message Tuesday for some teachers who did not "feel it was important" to show the inauguration of President Barack Obama during class.

"They don't belong in this school district -- not the type of district we have here," Patterson said at Tuesday's board meeting.

Patterson was speaking of the 43 percent minority student population, and that the inauguration of the first black president was an historic event no matter what political viewpoint one has.

"I am just very very disappointed," she said.

Sheila Patterson
Age: 39
Family: Single
Occupation: Health, safety and environmental coordinator at Consumers Energy
Education: Masters in business administration, Spring Arbor University; bachelor's in liberal arts, Spring Arbor College; driver education certificate, Central Michigan University
Community/public service: Vice president of Jackson Public Schools board, Jackson Community College Board of Trustees, Consumers Energy's Community-Minded Services Club, executive committee for the NAACP Jackson chapter

If this represents the thinking of our school boards it is really disappointing. No wonder students graduate without the ability to fill out job applications, but remember the nuances of social re-education.

Screw The Holidays & Don't Dare Mention Jesus

How much more of this are we going to take?

Ho, ho, nope! FGCU to limit holiday decor
Christmas is just 30 days away, but Santa Claus won't be stopping by Florida Gulf Coast University this holiday.

He's not allowed on campus.

FGCU administration has banned all holiday decorations from common spaces on campus and canceled a popular greeting card design contest, which is being replaced by an ugly sweater competition. In Griffin Hall, the university's giving tree for needy preschoolers has been transformed into a "giving garden."

The moves boil down to political correctness.

"Public institutions, including FGCU, often struggle with how best to observe the season in ways that honor and respect all traditions," President Wilson Bradshaw wrote in a memo to faculty and staff Thursday. "This is a challenging issue each year at FGCU, and 2008 is no exception. While it may appear at times that a vocal majority of opinion is the only view that is held, this is not always the case."

How's this for honoring and respecting? And these clowns are "educating" our young adults. They can't read, do math or think for themselves, but they'll be able to pontificate on how evil America and Christians are.

El Presidente Bradshaw is correct about one thing, there is a vocal majority and they are being terrorized by a minority of haters.

Obama Does Bush

Who will be Obama's veep? I'm not thinking Hillary. Nor little Johnnie Edwards. Please sweet Lord, no talk of Gore or Kerry again.

Barack needs depth. Hell, he needs width, height and everything else. Outside of a great impersonation of MLK and others, Barack needs a ton of help starting with basic math and history.

He' have the MSM wing of the Democrat Party helping him. That's a plus, even in today's world of MSM jokes. He'll have the unions bagging money and effort for him. They've got no other place to go since the Socialist Party thing didn't pan out.

Barack will also have the entire education union establishment working every class, every lecture and every coffee klatch to lecture on his behalf. They'll belittle Republicans on campus, naming them as Nazis, but only in the name of free speech and truth to justice which requires a liberal victory.

About Michelle, well one man's wife is another's ......

Well, there will always be pluses and minuses for the Obamaman, but why worry. He's got the lock on the nomination and the election which wipes out any problems.

He pulls a Bush and names one of his nominating committee members as veep.

Hidden millions. Weeping babies. Swooning couples. The MSM in perpetual orgasm running similarities, photos and outright lies 24/7.

Enter Caroline Kennedy. Instant Camelot. Instant success, but it won't be Wright. That's something. I guess.

Rebels Can't Attend Own Graduation

"We are very clear that the Confederate flag is a symbol of hatred, bigotry and racism," said Rick Kaufman, the Executive Director of Community Relations at Bloomington Kennedy High School.

Huh? It is?

First of all, it is NOT the Confederate flag. It IS the Confederate battle flag. It is the flag of an army and its soldiers, not the flag of a government.

Second, it is ignorance that keeps hatred, bigotry and racism not only alive, but institutionalized in our schools and our governance.

So, Rick, looks like the ball's in your court.

CT Skittles Scoundrels To Skedaddle

When will school officials teach themselves common sense? Instead of a district wellness policy why don't these state sponsored health nazis stick to their jobs and teach children what they need to support themselves and their future families. Then, maybe then, these children can go on to help others without the need for a feel good government policy sledgehammer. Oh, and maybe teach government to stay the hell out of our lives.

School clears kids in contraband candy caper
School officials have decided to go light on an eighth-grader caught with contraband candy in New Haven, Connecticut.

Michael Sheridan originally was suspended and loss his class vice president post after buying a bag of candy.

Michael Sheridan, an eighth-grade honors student who was suspended for a day, barred from attending an honors dinner and stripped of his title as class vice president after he was caught with a bag of Skittles candy in school will get his student council post back, school officials said.
Superintendent Reginald Mayo said in a statement late Wednesday that he and principal Eleanor Turner met with student Michael's parents and that Turner decided to clear the boy's record and restore him to his student council post.

Michael was disciplined after he was caught buying a bag of Skittles from a classmate. The classmate's suspension also will be expunged, school officials said. The New Haven school system banned candy sales in 2003 as part of a districtwide school wellness policy, school spokeswoman Catherine Sullivan-DeCarlo said.


Previous post:
Dealer, Student Suspended For Bag Buy In CT

Dealer, Student Suspended For Bag Buy In CT

These people aren't educators, they're fascist bullies and they ought to be lined up for swats at the next PTA meeting, given ten Saturdays of study hall to study the Constitution, logic and the history of Socialism. Then fired for harming children.

Student suspended for buying candy in school
An eighth-grade honors student at a New Haven school has been suspended for buying a bag of candy at school.

Now, if the schools could teach basics as well as they are trying to dictate teach eating habits the students may not have to create candy speakeasies to circumvent the rules.

Gene Nichol Brought Down By A Wren & Sex Work With William & Mary

Gene Nichol made some really poor choices which he compounded with poor decisions, but he's taking his toys home to pout all because of the censorship. Sounds to me like Gene is confusing immature behavior with passionate activism. Either way it will suit him well as a teacher of the law.

Nichol resigns as William & Mary president

Former UNC-Chapel Hill law dean Gene Nichol, a forceful liberal voice and an occasional lightning rod, resigned abruptly today as president of the College of William & Mary in Virginia.

In a letter to William & Mary supporters, Nichol said he was informed Sunday by college leaders that his contract would not be renewed in July. He then decided to step down immediately, and, in a parting shot, said he refused an offer of "substantial economic incentives" to remain quiet about the reasons for his departure.

MEMO:

TO: William & Mary

RE: Fleas and dogs

FROM: Alumni, citizens of Virginia and supporters

Your looking flea bitten. Stop laying with dogs and sex workers.

We Actually Pay For Intellectual Stupidity Everyday

Smokers and the obese cheaper to care for, study shows

Preventing obesity and smoking can save lives, but it does not save money, according to a new report.

It costs more to care for healthy people who live years longer, according to a Dutch study that counters the common perception that preventing obesity would save governments millions of dollars.

"It was a small surprise," said Pieter van Baal, an economist at the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment in the Netherlands, who led the study. "But it also makes sense. If you live longer, then you cost the health system more."

In a paper published online Monday in the Public Library of Science Medicine journal, Dutch researchers found that the health costs of thin and healthy people in adulthood are more expensive than those of either fat people or smokers.

Only Nichol's Genes Are Reluctant To Allow That He Might Be With Them

Poor, poor Gene had no such quandary over his decision concerning the crucifix in W&M's chapel though he was reluctant to discuss it. Maybe Gene can reluctantly have "fellatio as art" demonstrations in the chapel, you know reluctantly. Demonstrations of first amendment rights are so hard for educators not to be involved with.

Reluctant Nichol allows sex-workers show at W&M

College of William and Mary President Gene Nichol gave students the go-ahead this morning to hold the controversial Sex Workers' Art Show on campus next month.

In a statement, Nichol said he tried to work with students to hold the event at a venue off the Williamsburg campus.

Students were unable to find an off-campus venue, however, and Nichol said the First Amendment and "defining traditions of openness that sustain universities" required he permit the show be held at the college.

"My views and the views of others in the community about the worth or offensiveness of the program can provide no basis for censoring it," he said.

What right does a community have to judge what is proper in their community? I bet Nichol would censor a discussion of whether community standards are really community standards or an all out assault on the 1st Amendment.

This academic clown should be the current deacon and president of Parsons University, complete with the shark in sun glasses and holding a beer can hanging on the wall behind his Formica desk and glowing statuette of George Washington's father, Plato.

Reluctant? Yeah, enjoy the spinning pasties, Gene. Wouldn't be right to censor those puppies, eh?

The Protest Movement Is A Lie

We have protesters that on a daily basis decry the inhuman policies of the United States against those that only want to work and be good citizens even though they are here illegally. Why have the protesters and their propaganda experts not protested against the government of Mexico and those in Central and South America for abandoning their people?

This is only one example of the protest movement as a lie. What kind of government forces their people to pick lettuce in America instead of near their homes in their native country? A government that cares little of its people.

Below is an article from Pajama Media that is about Europe. Here, we only need to look at major cities and universities across our country to see a Lie Movement that ignores political reality because it is much more comfortable to have a comfy coffee shop nearby to relax in after one's protest against our system that allows them to protest conveniently.

Portrait of the Artist as a Dhimmified Man

Similarly, in October 2006 London’s Whitechapel Art Gallery removed erotic works by the surrealist Hans Bellmer. According to the curator, “the motive was simply to not shock the population of the Whitechapel neighborhood, which is partly Muslim.” The pictures were pulled merely one week after a Berlin opera house had cancelled — then sheepishly reinstated — performances of Mozart’s Idomeneo, in which the title character grandstands with the severed heads of Poseidon, Buddha, Jesus, and Mohammed. Needless to say, the severed heads of Poseidon, Buddha, and Jesus were never an issue.

Amir Taheri has compiled other disturbing cases from across the continent: German carnivals prohibiting costumes that might look “Islamic,” Spanish towns canceling traditional festivals marking the victory over the Moors, the blacklisting of books deemed critical of Islam, and the removal from public view of illuminated manuscripts that feature images of Mohammed.

To those that protest, a few questions that all have a different answer than a simple, United States.

Why are there:

No protests against a government that has forgotten them
No protest against a government that tortures
No protest against a government that kills its own citizens
No protest against a government that lies to the people
No protest against a government that legalizes rape
No protest against a government that, as policy, uses mass murder
No protest against a government that sends its people to their death
No protest against a government that purposely impoverishes the people
No protest against a government that plans the subjugation of its people and other nations
No protest against a government that has racism as an international policy
No protest against a government that funds lies by artists and educators

Comparing President Bush to Hitler is not only childish, but politically, morally and historically ignorant.

Columbia University Throws Down The Limp Wrist

Columbia University Faculty Action Committee Statement of Concern
We speak for a growing number of faculty members at Columbia
University who believe that President Bollinger has failed to make
a vigorous defense of the core principles on which the university is founded,
especially academic freedom. Academic freedom lies at the heart of what we do as faculty members: teach, generate new knowledge, and sustain the critical
capacities of the society at large. It encompasses, among other values, the
autonomy of the University in the face of outside threats and pressures, a
determining role for faculty in the governance of the University and especially
in the shaping of its research and teaching programs, the insulation of tenure
and promotion decisions from outside interests, and the creation of an
environment that enables the fullest and freest exchange of ideas. The events of
the past few years have created a crisis of confidence in the central
administration's willingness to defend these principles.

We note, in particular, the following issues:

1) In the face of considerable efforts by outside groups over the past few years to vilify members of the faculty and determine how controversial issues are taught on campus, the administration has failed to make unequivocally clear that such interventions will not be tolerated. When outside groups attempted to sway tenure decisions, the President of Barnard issued a forthright statement rejecting such efforts; the President of Columbia has failed to do so.

2) Decisions on key issues like the "globalization" of the university,
the establishment of satellite campuses in other countries, the enlarged size of
the undergraduate student body, the reduction in the size of the graduate
student body, the hosting of controversial speakers, the relative diminution of
the humanities, and other issues at the heart of the university's mandate, are
made with no apparent consultation with faculty. We learn about these decisions
only when they are announced after the fact.

3) The president's address on the occasion of President
Ahmadinejad's visit has sullied the reputation of the University
with its strident tone, and has abetted a climate in which incendiary speech
prevails over open debate. The president's introductory remarks were not only
uncivil and bad pedagogy, they allied the University with the Bush
administration's war in Iraq, a position anathema to many in the University community.

4) In the name of the University, the president has publicly taken
partisan political positions concerning the politics of the Middle
East in particular, without apparent expertise in this area or
consultation with faculty who teach and undertake research in this area. His
conflation of his own political position with that of the University is
unacceptable.

We believe that the time has come for the faculty to reassert its
commitment to academic freedom and University autonomy, and for the President to make it clear that the administration will no longer compromise these principles or tolerate interference with them.

Signed:Nadia Abu El-Haj, Lila Abu-Lughod, Qais Al-Awqati, Paul Anderer, Mark
Anderson, Gil Anidjar, Zainab Bahrani, Akeel Bilgrami, Richard Billows, Elizabeth
Blackmar, Partha Chatterjee, Lewis Cole, Jonathan Cole, Elaine
Combs-Schilling, Susan Crane, Jonathan Crary, Julie Crawford, Hamid Dabashi, Patricia Dailey, Tom DiPrete, Brent Edwards, Eric Foner, Aaron Fox, Katherine Franke, Victoria de Grazia, Page Fortuna, Steven Gregory, William Harris, Andreas Huyssen, Rashid Khalidi, Alice Kessler-Harris, Marilyn Ivy, Brian Larkin, Lydia Liu, Sylvère Lotringer, Mahmood Mamdani, Peter Marcuse, Reinhold Martin, Mark Mazower, Mary McLeod, Brinkley Messick, Rosalind Morris, Keith Moxey, Frances Negron-Muntaner, Mae Ngai, Bob O'Meally, Neni Panourgia, John Pemberton, Richard Peña, Julie Peters, Pablo Piccato, Sheldon
Pollock, Elizabeth Povinelli, Wayne Proudfoot, Bruce Robbins, David Rosner, George Saliba, James Schamus, David Scott, Gayatri
Chakravorty Spivak, Mark Strand, Paul Strohm, Michael Taussig, Kendall
Thomas, Nadia Urbinati, Marc van de Mieroop, Karen van Dyck, Dorothea von Mücke, Gauri Viswanathan, Gwendolyn Wright

What the above really means:

Academic freedom - The right to teach what we want with the biases we want. The Hell with balance.

University autonomy - The right to remain in our bubble, never facing reality and to remain detached from the world in which we are charged to prepare our students. That world remains unwantable by any "educated" person anyway.

Will no longer compromise these principles or tolerate interference with them - Dear Mr. president, Screw with us and you'll be forced from your cushy job with all of its perks and you'll be lucky to find work at Parsons, if it ever reopens. Love, your lofty minded peers

P.S. Ever mention Bush again, even when speaking of the landscape, and we will purse our tiny blue lips until the breath of our intellect is no more.

Denison Univ. Finds Way To Stop 'Isms, Violence And Rape

Denison president wants dialogue to filter into life
Knobel says Denison needs to sustain awareness, continue diversifying
...
During Wednesday's forum, students asked the university to consider
tougher penalties for those who commit hate crimes and to revisit its decision
several years ago to cut women's, black and homosexual studies as required
courses.
...
He said he also holds students responsible for monitoring their own
behavior and that of their friends. "We have cross-cutting expectations," Knobel
said. "We need to remind ourselves of the responsibility we have. I would like
them to look one another in the eye and say those aren't the values we espouse
at Denison."

Required courses and "monitoring" others who fail the Denison code. Those that fail will face a jury of faculty, staff and students?

Another way of putting it would be to say - Submit or face a stacked jury.

GroupThink 101 will stop all 'Isms except Socialism and PCism.

UPDATE: Students have shaken up the old and false world and replaced it with a real world in which they now study, live and plan their and everyone else's future.

What have we learned?
We've shaken up the status quo on campus by picking up Denison and
turning it on its head.

Doane Administration Building can no longer sustain its safe haven
image it has exuded for so long, that quieted students by showing them
everything is okay.

We've extracted the administrators from behind their desks of Doane,
their ivory tower, and brought them down to eye-level at the flagpole. And we
told them what we want to see change.

For those of you students who still think that Denison is bubble - an
isolated, rural sanctuary of academia that will protect you from the omnipresent
evil in the "real world" - then we feel pity for you. For those of you who think
that Denison embraces a "Camp Denidoo" mentality and denies any real-life
experience by shoving you into a dorm, making you eat in a dining hall and never
having to see a consistent bill, we hope you are reading this: because if
there's one thing we can take away from this entire situation, even if you were
sitting in your room playing Halo for the past two weeks, it's that Denison is
the real world. There's no way around denying that you had any idea of what has
been going on for the last two weeks.

There are real, actual tangible human beings that have spoken out
against an institutionalized marginalization and now the healing process has
begun.

Let's see this process through and not let Thanksgiving break or the
winter breaks wear us down. Activism is a lifetime commitment, not a short-term
tactic to get what we want.

Expressing our emotions and the need for sympathy have been very
important first steps but we need to realize that true change happens when we
engage in the issues on more than the surface.

That may mean something different for us all. It might mean joining one
of the many student activist groups, researching the issues in a scholarly
manner or thinking about your privilege and how can you best help other
people.

Denison Violence, Rape, Racism And "Hate Crimes" Coverup?

Read the previous post and timeline, Big Stink At Denison University Ain't Smelling Right .

UPDATE II: I find it deeply disturbing that many Denison students are stating that "hate crimes" on and off campus, violence and rapes are regularly occurring. Why haven't these assaults, beatings, rapes, "hate crimes" and vandalism been reported to the police? Especially since Denison decided to admit that their two on duty guards can't handle things? I have seen nothing of these allegations in the news, but people half way around the world know enough to be terrified to return to the scary world called Denison. People in Granville would be terrified if they only knew of the lawlessness and the dangerous threat to their community as vicious criminals roam the hilltop right over their townie heads.

Excerpt from eastern Europe:

This unease I experience which stems my experiences here, however, is
miniscule compared to my fear of returning to Denison. And do not get me
wrong, I miss my family and friends to the point of tears, but I must admit,
this semester has brought with it a generous dose of escapism. There has
been a sequence of terrible hate crimes going on at Denison. An email from a
close friend of mine reads as follows:

(Describing what is happening on campus) people being beat up behind
Swasey, people being called nigger as they walk through campus or Granville,
bottles being thrown, girls getting raped and faggot being graffitied on
people's doors… Today a swastika was put under black RA’a door. Under it saying "stop causing trouble". I just, didn’t believe it at first. That something like
this is going on at Denison, on this campus. This hate being perpetuated. Can
you imagine waking up to that? So many people , black white whatever feel unsafe and threatened on campus. Like a swastika...really? I mean the noose poster could and very well was an ignorant mistake but a deliberate printing out and distributing of hate toward another person just baffles my mind… So I don’t know what's going to happen now. I mean I just don’t know. no one knows who did it and so I don’t know.

And an excerpt from a letter from the president:
Over the last several weeks, a number of Denison students have reported experiences both recent and recurring over a longer period that interfere with
their ability to get the most out of their Denison education and that offend our
community values which respect the worth and dignity of all persons. In some
cases, these were affronts that had the effect of diminishing men and women on
account of their race. In other cases, they were affronts that had the effect of
diminishing persons on account of their sexual orientation. Still other students
have shared their discomfiture with continuing acts of vandalism that show
disrespect for the learning and living environments that all women and men on
campus should be able to enjoy.

Denison even got a shout out on the O’Reilly factor because of these
events, and is being discussed in regional publications. As a school of a little
more than 2,000 students, I am ashamed that this is what brings us into the
national spotlight.

At Denison I am the chair of the sexual harassment and rape program, an
active member of Women’s Emphasis, and the Student director of the Women’s
resource center (although I have a proxy currently serving). Additionally I am
the fellow of the Women’s studies and Sociology departments, the two directing
the most focus and energy toward these events. Last semester I had been holding
meetings attended by Denison student’s in leadership positions, faculty, and
staff, during which we addressed issues related to harassment, rape, and sexual
violence. It seemed that we were actually making progress through our
dialogue. I cannot help but feeling like I am jumping into boiling water
when I return to Denison. It is inevitable that many students and staff will
expect me to directly address these issues in a significant way. While I am
in love with Eastern Europe and the communities I am researching and
partnering with, maybe, just maybe, I am meant to return home because of the
very issues I dread confronting.

Shouldn't the National Guard, the F.B.I. and the local police all be called in to investigate and patrol the campus, not only to protect unaware Granville citizens, but also stop the violence?

I call on President Dale Knobel to immediately move to protect the citizens of central Ohio from a school out of control and from secret gangs of university hooligans roaming the campus at will, committing heinous crimes.

Finally, the citizens of Granville should demand that the village council immediately get answers from the university and investigate why this information has been withheld from the citizens of Granville. How long has the university been aware of these problems? Why haven’t citizens and families with children been made aware of the danger living within their community. If there has been a cover up, who orchestrated it and when?

OEA/NEA (Unions) Defy Law, Hide Teacher Wrongdoing

ABCs of Betrayal Contracts crafted to shield teachers

Many teachers' contracts are written to block Ohioans from learning about
misconduct, but such provisions often violate state law.
Some union contracts give teachers the right to create obstacles to public viewing of their personnel files, purge negative information and hide things in off-the-record files.

All defy Ohio's public-records law.
…

The contract for Clearview schools in Lorain County, for example, says that a teacher or union representative has the right to be present when a member of the public looks at his or her file.
…

Several union contracts allow discipline records to be purged after a period of
time.
…

Dayton's union president couldn't be reached, and the union doesn't allow its other officials to speak to news media.
…

Some districts still keep some information in secret files despite the state law that took effect in March.
…

Lieberman, the union expert, said some blame has to fall on school boards. They're the ones agreeing to the illegal secrecy and privacy clauses, as well as promises that the district won't discipline teachers for things that happen outside school or in their personal lives. (my emphasis)

See, it's all our school board's fault. The union put these things in the contracts just to point that out to us. We should thank them.

The time and reason for unions died long ago. We should especially fight their bad influence in education and all parts of government.

Big Stink At Denison University Ain't Smelling Right

You read and you decide. Something doesn't seem right to me.

This is a timeline of the "hate crimes" and protests, rally and an all-campus forum at Denison University in Ohio.

Prior to Oct 31 - There was a noose drawn on a Halloween poster advertising a concert on campus.

Wed Oct 31 - Students spontaneously "point to the noose as a common symbol of lynchings of blacks in American history".

Wed Oct 31 - Concert cancelled, discussion forum planned for Nov 2.

Fri Nov 2 - Denison's university president announces to the media that another forum will be held Nov 7.

Mon Nov 5 - Graffiti pertaining to the movie V as well as a message to "Remember...Nov 5" has been spray painted around campus.

Wed Nov 7 - Laforce Baker, who is black, wakes to find a flier that had been put under his door with a swastika and the message “Stop Causing Trouble” on it. He reports it to the police, but decides not to tell anybody else because he wants the forum that the university president announced to the media to stay focused on race and transgender issues.

Wed Nov 7 - 2,000 students, staff and faculty (student enrollment at Denison is about 2,000) have an all-campus forum and discussion "over intolerance issues, including those against gays and lesbians" for 2 hours starting at 11:30 AM, but continued until after 8:00 PM to allow all those that wished to speak to do so. The forum was held in the university field house with tables set up for group discussions, recording devices to capture student thoughts and ideas and a sound system.

Denison students talk tolerance

University President Dale Knobel said the campus has had a history of
intolerance.

Addressing the assembly, Knobel said the acts of intolerance have built
up throughout time to the point some minorities wonder whether they belong at
Denison. He said for too long students who haven't participated in such acts
have stood by silently. By their failure to stand up against the perpetrators,
they are complicit in the acts, he said.

A statement written by 10 faculty members that was disseminated at the assembly condemned acts of intimidation and discrimination and said it is the responsibility of not just the victims, but everyone, to remedy the problem.

Thu Nov 8 - As students and faculty hear of the flier, swastika and threat put under Laforce Baker's dorm room door 200 students gather on Denison's campus for a rally to protest racism, sexism, intolerance and fear of violence. Some teachers cancel classes.

Emotions fierce at Denison protest (7:00 p.m. update)

Nearly 200 Denison University students rallied on campus Thursday in
protest over news that a flier bearing a swastika had been placed under the door
of a black student Wednesday morning.

Students — some in tears, many angry and others admitting they’re
afraid — took turns with a microphone starting about noon to express their
outrage about the latest development in a two-week odyssey over racism and
intolerance on campus.

“What can you do but protest at a time like this,” Knobel said. “I
stand in solidarity with you, and I’m grateful so many of you have turned out
now.”

The seemingly concerted effort didn't stop there. Go read the comments in the news article and it becomes very clear that plants are contributing comments as well as faculty and staff.

Something just ain't right here in River City, my friends.

.

UPDATE: I have received info from DU students that say they don't believe any of it and felt forced to participate in the all-campus forum which they said was a joke.

.

Also see;
Denison Violence, Rape, Racism And "Hate Crimes" Coverup?

Faculty Dishonesty At The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

A conservative institute, paid for by donors, at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is acceptable as long as the faculty has the right to squash it and its beliefs. Of course the faculty is only concerned with the pureness of the university atmosphere. That Academia. It's also BS.

‘Fundamentally Inconsistent’ With University Values
Organizers of the Academy on Capitalism and Limited Government Fund hoped to turn their new program at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign into a Hoover Institution of the Midwest, a model for getting more free market ideals and ideological diversity into major research universities.

But when a faculty committee was able to get all the details of the
agreement that created the new center, it found provisions that were
“fundamentally inconsistent” with university values that are designed to ensure
a diversity of views. Specifically, the panel found that portions of the
agreement would have restricted funds to research designed to reflect certain
points of view, and that donors were given control over matters traditionally
left to academics.

The faculty panel — which was appointed by the chancellor — said it
was “deeply troublesome” that the agreement to accept the center was made
without faculty consultation and that many details were kept secret until
recently. The panel called for Chancellor Richard Herman to renegotiate the deal
for the academy and on Tuesday, a spokeswoman confirmed that he had pledged to do so.
...

“We’re open to working in a collaborative way with the donors,” Burbules said, as long as any arrangement shows “unambiguous” respect for academic principles.

I'd believe the collaborator part, but respect for academic principles? Come on, what academic principles? Most faculty members are mini Mao's regurgitating the teachings from their own Little Red Books.

Academic principles, indeed. At least I didn't have to pay tuition to get professorial chuckles delivered right into my home. Maybe U of I at Urbana-Champaign faculty could up the humor level and hire Ward Churchill as a spokesman. Hilarity will be had by all.

Too bad today's students have to suffer under regime-like indoctrination instead of getting an education.

The Inferiority Complex Of Liberal Racism

The Word "Racist" Is Racist

FIRE lifted one of these rocks by exposing a thought control program imposed in the dormitories at University of Delaware. As part of "Life Diversity Facilitation
Training," RAs are force-fed definitions like this:

A RACIST: A racist is one who is both privileged and socialized on
the basis of race by a white supremacist (racist) system. The term applies to
all white people (i.e., people of European descent) living in the United States,
regardless of class, gender, religion, culture or sexuality. By this definition,
people of color cannot be racists, because as peoples within the U.S. system,
they do not have the power to back up their prejudices, hostilities, or acts of
discrimination.

...

The word "racist," as used by liberals, is nothing more than a racial
epithet employed to denigrate Caucasians.

It is directly analogous to the word "nigger."

It is somewhat like men who call all men rapist so they can feel more like a man.

The University of Delaware should be thoroughly ashamed of this program and offer partial tuition refunds along with their apology to all students and parents.