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33 militants killed in Khyber Agency
Today's Headlines
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-Short Attention Span Theater-
Injured Thug Who Beat Ken Gladney Asks For Workman's Comp From the SEIU For His "Work" Injury
Posted by: Beavis || 09/07/2009 10:08 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1  If his shop steward told him to do it.....
Posted by: Cornsilk Blondie || 09/07/2009 12:55 Comments || Top||

#2  I hope he gets it. Makes Kevin Gladney's law suit against the union so much easier.
Posted by: Richard of Oregon || 09/07/2009 14:49 Comments || Top||


Naked woman brings Hotel Indonesia traffic to a halt
An elderly foreign woman brought traffic around the Hotel Indonesia traffic circle to a halt Sunday when she stripped off all her clothes.
"My eyes!"
[SCREECH!]
[CRASH!]
"Put it back on!"

The woman had reportedly been walking around the fountain since morning, but motorists slowed down to watch when she began taking off her clothes until she was completely naked, kompas.com reported.
"Don't look!"
"I can't look!"
[SMASH! CRUNCH!]
"I looked."

Two female police officers then approached her and covered her in a blanket, before taking her to the nearby police post. The woman had no ID on her, but police reached the brilliant conclusion that she was French. "She was muttering something, it was unclear, but I guess it was French," one officer said.
I s'pose it's reasonable to assume that a naked old woman muttering unintelligibly would be of the Napoleonic persuasion.
Posted by: Fred || 09/07/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1  So did the males all start by checking out her big jubblies within 0.2s?
Posted by: gorb || 09/07/2009 0:52 Comments || Top||

#2  Sounds like she was either senile or French. Take your pick.
Posted by: Richard of Oregon || 09/07/2009 10:21 Comments || Top||

#3  #2 Sounds like she was either senile or French. Take your pick.
Posted by: Richard of Oregon 2009-09-07 10:21

Richard, I thought senility (loss of cognitive ability) and being French were synonymous.
Posted by: WolfDog || 09/07/2009 10:45 Comments || Top||

#4  Jeeze... some people would do anything to get on the cover of the Rantburg Defender-Scimitar and Times-Picayune. I don't think that is quite what 'nekkid as an egg' means....
Posted by: CrazyFool || 09/07/2009 11:18 Comments || Top||

#5  Funny how one word -- "elderly" -- shriveled my interest in this article.
Posted by: regular joe || 09/07/2009 11:31 Comments || Top||

#6  Never forget this universal rule: The people you would most like to see running around nekkid in public rarely do.
Posted by: Cornsilk Blondie || 09/07/2009 18:43 Comments || Top||


-Signs, Portents, and the Weather-
'Massive' ancient wall uncovered in Jerusalem
Posted by: anonymous5089 || 09/07/2009 09:28 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Lemba people? Sabaeans?
Posted by: Besoeker || 09/07/2009 9:58 Comments || Top||

#2  Martians.
Posted by: DarthVader || 09/07/2009 10:21 Comments || Top||

#3  Caananite, according to the article. Predating the Israelites, which comports with the Old Testament -- the Israelites conquered the pre-existing city.
Posted by: trailing wife || 09/07/2009 13:05 Comments || Top||

#4  (enable sarcasm)
It will still be the 1,245,875,986th holiest place in Islam... (disable sarcasm)
Posted by: Sgt. Mom || 09/07/2009 13:39 Comments || Top||

#5  A young King David and his band of Mighty Men stealthily entered and took the ancient city by crawling through a tunnel built to bring spring water into the city's fortified walls. Silwan is also in the correct direction, according to the text, as eastern but outside Bethlehem. This spring was supposedly known to a young shepherd boy partial to the water there. Any Canaanites remaining there enjoyed the privileges living in peace among the subsequent Jewish residents of the kingdoms of David and Solomon, submitting to their rule, it should be noted.
Posted by: Danielle || 09/07/2009 14:07 Comments || Top||

#6  Thank you, Danielle. You do know all sorts of useful and interesting things. :-)
Posted by: trailing wife || 09/07/2009 14:56 Comments || Top||

#7  I readed that in deh Tell jimmuah Minschner is know everything.
Posted by: .5MT || 09/07/2009 19:25 Comments || Top||


Caribbean-Latin America
Mexican legislative candidate, family killed
A legislative candidate was killed, along with his wife and two children, bringing campaigns for statewide offices in the southeastern state of Tabasco to a halt, the state-run news agency Notimex reported.

The bodies of Jose Francisco Fuentes Esperon, his wife and two young sons were found inside their home in the capital of Villahermosa on Saturday.

According to local reports, Fuentes' wife was shot in the head, and the boys, ages 10 and 13, had been asphyxiated. Less clear was the candidate's fate. Some reports said that his body had signs of torture and had a wound on his neck, which may have been from a gunshot.

As of Sunday, authorities had not released a motive for the crime, though speculation of a drug cartel hit or a robbery circulated in Tabasco.
I'll take the former for $100, Alex.
Fuentes' party, the Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI, immediately announced a campaign moratorium for all of its candidates for the state's October 18 elections. Other political parties followed suit.

"The PRI is scared $hitless cannot go out at this moment and ask citizens for their vote when it finds itself deleting any mention of anti-drug references in its platform with a broken heart because of the homicide of its candidate," Tabasco PRI director Adrian Hernandez Balboa said, according to Notimex.

In response, the Tabasco state government offered all political candidates protection during their campaigns if they requested it, a statement from the office of Gov. Andres Granier Melo said.
Horse. Barn door. Some assembly required.
Mexican President Felipe Calderon called Granier to offer his condolences and show his support for the "investigation", the statement said.

The weekend slaying was not the first time an entire family has been killed in Tabasco.

In February, a Tabasco police official who had arrested a drug trafficker a week earlier was killed together with his mother, wife, children and nieces and nephews. His brother, also a state police officer, was wounded, as were two others.

The day before Fuentes and his family were killed, unknown gunmen fatally shot two state police officers in Villahermosa and injured two others.
Let me guess: Drug related?

If it were me, it would be payback time. Have an entourage follow you around with yet no respectable source of income? Time for a little satellite surveillance and maybe a reciprocal favor in kind. Or ten.
Posted by: gorb || 09/07/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  had a wound on his neck

Understatement of the day!

(see below)
Posted by: Frank G || 09/07/2009 9:47 Comments || Top||


Mexican politician beheaded, wife killed
A local politician and his wife and two sons have been brutally killed in the southeastern Mexican state of Tabasco.

Jose Francisco Fuentes, 43, was beheaded, his sons aged eight and 10 were suffocated and his wife was shot in the head, local news media said on Sunday, citing police sources.

State officials confirmed that Fuentes, 43, a candidate for state legislature with the powerful Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) who lived in the state capital Villahermosa, was killed along with his wife and children but provided no other details.

Beheadings and suffocations, often with plastic bags taped over the victim's heads, are the grisly trademark of criminals involved in Mexico's drug cartels.

Fuentes had nearly 40 per cent support against 21 per cent for his closest rival for the October 18 election, Tabasco media reported.

Posted by: Fred || 09/07/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  You suffocated the kids?
Posted by: newc || 09/07/2009 6:44 Comments || Top||

#2  They were probably suffocated while the parents watched.
Posted by: lotp || 09/07/2009 7:56 Comments || Top||

#3  You sure have delightful southern neighbours. How is that Friendship Fence going? You might want to build it taller, perhaps.
Posted by: anonymous5089 || 09/07/2009 8:24 Comments || Top||

#4  Were the beheading knives smuggled in from the United States?
Posted by: Besoeker || 09/07/2009 8:41 Comments || Top||

#5  Assault Knives™ bought at a Kitchen Gun Show without a background check
Posted by: Frank G || 09/07/2009 9:48 Comments || Top||

#6  The culprit has been found. Per the AP:

A sixteen year old neighbor, the gated community security guard, and a third young man confessed to police they intended to rob the house and rape the wife, but seem to have got carried away.
Posted by: trailing wife || 09/07/2009 19:29 Comments || Top||

#7  hopefully the authorities will decide to "nick them a bit" with hollowpoints, but get "carried away"?
Posted by: Frank G || 09/07/2009 19:33 Comments || Top||


China-Japan-Koreas
Ryugyong Hotel Gets A Facelift
Posted by: Grunter || 09/07/2009 00:12 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  It gets my vote for 'worst building in history of mankind,' all right.
Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 || 09/07/2009 9:10 Comments || Top||

#2  I heard the buffet still sucks, though.
Posted by: Cornsilk Blondie || 09/07/2009 9:39 Comments || Top||

#3  facade of shiny glass windows affixed to one side of the concrete monolith

don't walk too close to the edge of the other three sides, though...
Posted by: Frank G || 09/07/2009 9:50 Comments || Top||

#4  Don't walk under the side with the glass either. Particularly on a windy day.
Posted by: DMFD || 09/07/2009 12:29 Comments || Top||

#5  Looks like part of some giant Tesla ray machine...
Posted by: 3dc || 09/07/2009 12:39 Comments || Top||


Down Under
Allies join forces: United for city brawl
Posted by: tipper || 09/07/2009 00:45 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1  It was there the blokes allegedly attacked them - sparking the brawl.

Bonus! Urban combat training.
Posted by: Woozle Uneter9007 || 09/07/2009 1:11 Comments || Top||

#2  FTA: Lt Col. Allen said some 1500 US and Australian defense members had been together for Exercise Talisman Sabre - a combined training activity to help improve both countries' combat readiness and ability to work together.

Looks like the training was successful.
Posted by: tipover || 09/07/2009 3:02 Comments || Top||

#3  They were approached by a group who began giving them stick, so they moved to another establishment.
The group kept following them, until eventually the soldiers decided to leave and went to the taxi rank.
It was there the blokes allegedly attacked them - sparking the brawl.


Lower primate behavior. Dogs nipping at the feet of their supposed prey. Someone should write a book about it.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 09/07/2009 8:04 Comments || Top||

#4  I hope it makes it to youtube!
Posted by: Bill Elmins2500 || 09/07/2009 8:52 Comments || Top||

#5  Not enough detail. Is there a special ethnic make-up of the "group" or is group some other social structure.

Second, what sort of idiot starts a fight with Marines?
Posted by: 3dc || 09/07/2009 12:38 Comments || Top||

#6  ...My Dad was in the USMC in the 50s, and he was trained by men who had taken part in the Battle Of Melbourne - Marines just back from Guadalcanal versus Aussies just back from (IIRC) New Guinea. Hilarity ensued. Glad to see though everyone is working together these days.

Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski || 09/07/2009 12:56 Comments || Top||

#7  Mike was he with the First Division?
It was in Melbourne that the division adopted the Australian folk song "Waltzing Matilda" as its marching song. To this day, 1st Division Marines still ship out to this song

I was talking to an old Digger many moons ago and he told me about a major brawl during the war that lasted a few days. Both sides would break for a few hours and go to the pub and then it would be on again.
Posted by: tipper || 09/07/2009 13:13 Comments || Top||

#8  Tipper -

He sure was. I had my facts slightly out of whack, BTW - the Aussies were going to New Guinea, not from.

Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski || 09/07/2009 18:58 Comments || Top||

#9  Sounds like the Battle of Brisbane.
Posted by: Grunter || 09/07/2009 19:10 Comments || Top||

#10  Sounds like the Battle of Queen Street in Auckland.
Posted by: .5MT || 09/07/2009 19:28 Comments || Top||

#11  Ahem, ahem, dare to presume that the central subject [female] in the VOGUE.COM.AU SIDE ADZ was the bone of contention???

You just know "JAG" + "NCIS" TV Shows are in there somewherez.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 09/07/2009 22:04 Comments || Top||


Economy
Free Republic & abc: 2 out of 5 are jobless in California
2 out of 5 are jobless in California
Associated Press ^ | September 06, 2009

Posted on Mon 07 Sep 2009 04:31:34 PM EDT by george76

two of five working-age Californians do not have a job, underscoring the challenges in one of the toughest job markets in decades.

"The recession has been so severe that California now has approximately the same number of jobs as it did nine years ago, when the state was home to 3.3 million fewer working-age individuals,"

Jean Ross, executive director of the California Budget Project, recommended Congress adopt a second extension of unemployment insurance benefits.

Ross also urged California lawmakers not to make deeper budget cuts that could exacerbate the recession. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's administration has projected the state will face a $7 billion to $8 billion deficit for the 2010-11 budget, but analysts have projected that it could be double that amount.

Asked to explain the difference between her unemployment figure and the government's, Ross said the government's official jobless rate does not factor in working-age Californians who stay out of the work force by choice, such as stay-at-home parents, or those who have simply given up searching for work.

Taking those people into account, she said, translates to a 57.5 percent employment rate for the state...

(Excerpt) Read more at abclocal.go.com ...
Posted by: 3dc || 09/07/2009 16:40 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I know several qualified smart people who just cannot find work here. Luckily (*knocks on wood*) I and my family are employed. This is the worst unemployment since I got out of college mid '83 - there were no jobs then, either
Posted by: Frank G || 09/07/2009 17:03 Comments || Top||

#2  Can't they just give everyone on job on the State payroll? Oh, and raise the minimum wage.
Posted by: SteveS || 09/07/2009 17:10 Comments || Top||

#3  Which means in the small minds of the legislatures in Sacramento that since there are fewer employed those must pick up a bigger portion of the tax bill, while they increase the size of government and government programs.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 09/07/2009 17:16 Comments || Top||

#4  I just had a discussion with a leftist friend who said the rich (he's recently laid off so I assume he means anybody with more than him) should pay %99 in taxes and everything on the internet should be taxed.

BTW... he was an exec with CNA insurance a problem company.
Posted by: 3dc || 09/07/2009 17:32 Comments || Top||

#5  at City of SD, our Development Services (building permits/inspection/planning) is about to lay off up to 90 people....
Posted by: Frank G || 09/07/2009 17:41 Comments || Top||

#6  "I just had a discussion with a leftist friend who said the rich ... should pay %99 in taxes.... he was an exec"

If he was executive, 3dc, then obviously he was rich (as least before he was laid off). Next time you see him, ask him if he paid 99% of his income in taxes, and if not, why not. Stand back, though, in case his head explodes....
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut || 09/07/2009 18:16 Comments || Top||

#7  Importantly, this means several things not mentioned in the article.

To start with, unemployed people "use stored fat" for a while, that is using savings, investments, the selling of their assets, credit, and what their relatives will give them. But if they do not get jobs when they run out, they are much more destitute.

And because of the insidious Bankruptcy Act of 2005 (BAPCPA), many people will not be allowed to set aside their debts, even if they are barely hanging on.

Since they can no longer live in California, the big question becomes where will they go? The California legislature will support illegal aliens to the bitter end, even at the cost of citizens.
Posted by: Anonymoose || 09/07/2009 18:25 Comments || Top||

#8  Los Angles Police - They Shall Not Pass!
Posted by: 3dc || 09/07/2009 18:42 Comments || Top||


Europe
As school year opens, France on alert to spot forced marriages
Posted by: tipper || 09/07/2009 00:09 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1  But former victims and activists, many of them second- or third-generation immigrants working in FranceÂ’s multicultural suburbs, said such moves were unlikely to help women married off abroad, or scared into silence.

Car-b-que time!



Posted by: Woozle Uneter9007 || 09/07/2009 0:48 Comments || Top||

#2  We used to have forced marriages here in Oregon when I was a kid. Girls got in a family way and boys went to a shot gun wedding, but I guess that's different.
Posted by: Richard of Oregon || 09/07/2009 10:26 Comments || Top||


International-UN-NGOs
mike moore calls on Italians to "get rid" of PM
Posted by: anonymous5089 || 09/07/2009 14:17 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Michael Moore: 'Americans now think more like me'
However, he insisted that there remained more work to do before his vision of America can be realised. "The people can revolt in good ways, in non-violent ways, for what they believe is right," he said. "That revolt has already begun. But one man – Barack Obama – cannot make that happen. Obama will rise or fall based on what we all do to support him because democracy is a participatory sport."

Mikey, don't believe them when they tell you to keep a low profile. Your base need you ...please.
Those beads of sweat on the Jokers brow and look of horror on his face, means he wants you to help him.
Posted by: tipper || 09/07/2009 15:08 Comments || Top||

#2  What makes a fat, ugly, arrogant, lazy American think that any Italian has any interest in doing what he wants in their own damn country?
Posted by: DarthVader || 09/07/2009 16:57 Comments || Top||

#3  ...oh, as much as we welcomed the interference from every foreigner in our own election process last year. Have those untraceable prepaid small denomination credit cards ready?
Posted by: Procopius2k || 09/07/2009 17:20 Comments || Top||

#4  OK, so the leader of the country (italy) owns 90% of the media outlets in his country (italy) and then censors his critics, sounds like our buddy Chavez in an Armani suit, just sayin.......
Posted by: 746 || 09/07/2009 17:36 Comments || Top||


UN wants new global currency to replace dollar
In a radical report, the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) has said the system of currencies and capital rules which binds the world economy is not working properly, and was largely responsible for the financial and economic crises.
It seems to me that people being venal and stupid caused the current crisis. But admittedly my understanding of matters financial and economic is quite, quite limited.
It added that the present system, under which the dollar acts as the world's reserve currency, should be subject to a wholesale reconsideration.

Although a number of countries, including China and Russia, have suggested replacing the dollar as the world's reserve currency, the UNCTAD report is the first time a major multinational institution has posited such a suggestion.

In essence, the report calls for a new Bretton Woods-style system of managed international exchange rates, meaning central banks would be forced to intervene and either support or push down their currencies depending on how the rest of the world economy is behaving.

The proposals would also imply that surplus nations such as China and Germany should stimulate their economies further in order to cut their own imbalances, rather than, as in the present system, deficit nations such as the UK and US having to take the main burden of readjustment.

"Replacing the dollar with an artificial currency would solve some of the problems related to the potential of countries running large deficits and would help stability," said Detlef Kotte, one of the report's authors. "But you will also need a system of managed exchange rates. Countries should keep real exchange rates [adjusted for inflation] stable. Central banks would have to intervene and if not they would have to be told to do so by a multilateral institution such as the International Monetary Fund."

The proposals, included in UNCTAD's annual Trade and Development Report, amount to the most radical suggestions for redesigning the global monetary system.

Although many economists have pointed out that the economic crisis owed more to the malfunctioning of the post-Bretton Woods system, until now no major institution, including the G20 , has come up with an alternative.
Let me just wish y'all luck with that. Because if it really were the best answer, all those clever people in the various major financial companies and national treasuries would already be doing it.
Posted by: tipper || 09/07/2009 14:08 || Comments || Link || [8 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Now that Obama's in office we finally are getting the full support of the international community. Feel the love!
Posted by: DMFD || 09/07/2009 14:56 Comments || Top||

#2  Oh great, another bill for counterfeiters to play with.
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 09/07/2009 16:49 Comments || Top||

#3  the UN should print their own money. We'll withdraw our contributions and they can see just how accepted as currency their pieces of paper are
Posted by: Frank G || 09/07/2009 17:00 Comments || Top||

#4  Seriously, I thought that is what the Euro was supposed to do.
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 09/07/2009 17:02 Comments || Top||

#5  ...and a pony too.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 09/07/2009 17:20 Comments || Top||

#6  But, but, but I thought the UN was busy creating programs about masterbation for 5 year olds!
Posted by: Besoeker || 09/07/2009 17:39 Comments || Top||

#7  Only competing currencies will bring financial stability to the world economy.

The current system is a cartel run for the benefit of rent-seekers.
Posted by: Bright Pebbles || 09/07/2009 19:58 Comments || Top||

#8  If implemented this will cause the most damage to the economy you can possibly imagine.

Now I won't be able to sleep.
Posted by: Bright Pebbles || 09/07/2009 20:01 Comments || Top||

#9  Currencies are all about trust. It used to be trust that they would be converted to gold on request. These days its trust that they won't be debased.

The US admisnistration is debasing the USD by running unsustainable deficits.

The Euro is to a degree a replacement. People trust the Germans, but the Italians, Greeks, Spanish would happily debase the currency.

And good luck to anyone who trusts Russia, China and the UN.

BTW, the world doesn't need a reserve currency. but without one international trade will be reduced. And some people would see less international trade = more self-sufficient national economies as a good thing.
Posted by: Phil_B || 09/07/2009 21:19 Comments || Top||


Science & Technology
Pictures Of LCS 2 (to be) USS Independence - Strange Ship
USS Independence (LCS-2), the class prototype for the Independence-class littoral combat ship, will be the sixth ship of the United States Navy to be named for the concept of independence. It is the design competitor produced by the General Dynamics consortium, in competition with the Lockheed Martin-designed USS Freedom, the prototype for the Freedom-class littoral combat ship.

It is intended as a small assault transport with a variety of capabilities depending on the mission module installed. The ship is a trimaran design capable of over 40 knots (74 km/h; 46 mph), and will probably be delivered to the US Navy in September 2009.
Posted by: Anonymoose || 09/07/2009 11:41 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1  What a cool ship...
Posted by: 49 Pan || 09/07/2009 12:24 Comments || Top||

#2  Biggest Jet Ski in th world.
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 09/07/2009 12:54 Comments || Top||


Home Front: Culture Wars
Raw Text: Obama's Speech to American School Children
Believing that every parent should read this, especially ones in the the school districts that are insisting their students will watch "live," and making sure Rantburg parents have access, here it is

2435 number of words
67 number of times use of the word I
42 paragraphs
145 sentences

3.4 average sentence per paragraph
16.7 average words per sentence
4.2 average characters per word

Grade level readability for your children?
6.6 grade


Prepared Remarks of President Barack Obama Back to School Event
Arlington, Virginia September 8, 2009

The President: Hello everyone - how's everybody doing today? I'm here with students at Wakefield High School in Arlington, Virginia. And we've got students tuning in from all across America, kindergarten through twelfth grade. I'm glad you all could join us today.

I know that for many of you, today is the first day of school. And for those of you in kindergarten, or starting middle or high school, it's your first day in a new school, so it's understandable if you're a little nervous. I imagine there are some seniors out there who are feeling pretty good right now, with just one more year to go. And no matter what grade you're in, some of you are probably wishing it were still summer, and you could've stayed in bed just a little longer this morning.

I know that feeling. When I was young, my family lived in Indonesia for a few years, and my mother didn't have the money to send me where all the American kids went to school. So she decided to teach me extra lessons herself, Monday through Friday - at 4:30 in the morning. Now I wasn't too happy about getting up that early. A lot of times, I'd fall asleep right there at the kitchen table. But whenever I'd complain, my mother would just give me one of those looks and say, "This is no picnic for me either, buster."

So I know some of you are still adjusting to being back at school. But I'm here today because I have something important to discuss with you. I'm here because I want to talk with you about your education and what's expected of all of you in this new school year.

Now I've given a lot of speeches about education. And I've talked a lot about responsibility.

I've talked about your teachers' responsibility for inspiring you, and pushing you to learn. I've talked about your parents' responsibility for making sure you stay on track, and get your homework done, and don't spend every waking hour in front of the TV or with that Xbox.
Kids don't watch TV nowadays. They go on Facebook instead. But President Obama's kids are probably not tuned in to that yet.
I've talked a lot about your government's responsibility for setting high standards, supporting teachers and principals, and turning around schools that aren't working where students aren't getting the opportunities they deserve.
But at the end of the day, we can have the most dedicated teachers, the most supportive parents, and the best schools in the world - and none of it will matter unless all of you fulfill your responsibilities.

Unless you show up to those schools; pay attention to those teachers; listen to your parents, grandparents and other adults; and put in the hard work it takes to succeed.

And that's what I want to focus on today: the responsibility each of you has for your education. I want to start with the responsibility you have to yourself.
Every single one of you has something you're good at. Every single one of you has something to offer. And you have a responsibility to yourself to discover what that is. That's the opportunity an education can provide.

Maybe you could be a good writer - maybe even good enough to write a book or articles in a newspaper - but you might not know it until you write a paper for your English class. Maybe you could be an innovator or an inventor - maybe even good enough to come up with the next iPhone or a new medicine or vaccine - but you might not know it until you do a project for your science class. Maybe you could be a mayor or a Senator or a Supreme Court Justice, but you might not know that until you join student government or the debate team.

And no matter what you want to do with your life - I guarantee that you'll need an education to do it. You want to be a doctor, or a teacher, or a police officer? You want to be a nurse or an architect, a lawyer or a member of our military? You're going to need a good education for every single one of those careers. You can't drop out of school and just drop into a good job. You've got to work for it and train for it and learn for it.
Wait -- even the military? But that's not what Senator John F. Kerry said...
And this isn't just important for your own life and your own future. What you make of your education will decide nothing less than the future of this country. What you're learning in school today will determine whether we as a nation can meet our greatest challenges in the future.

You'll need the knowledge and problem-solving skills you learn in science and math to cure diseases like cancer and AIDS, and to develop new energy technologies and protect our environment. You'll need the insights and critical thinking skills you gain in history and social studies to fight poverty and homelessness, crime and discrimination, and make our nation more fair and more free.

You'll need the creativity and ingenuity you develop in all your classes to build new companies that will create new jobs and boost our economy.

We need every single one of you to develop your talents, skills and intellect so you can help solve our most difficult problems. If you don't do that - if you quit on school - you're not just quitting on yourself, you're quitting on your country.

Now I know it's not always easy to do well in school. I know a lot of you have challenges in your lives right now that can make it hard to focus on your schoolwork.

I get it. I know what that's like. My father left my family when I was two years old, and I was raised by a single mother who struggled at times to pay the bills and wasn't always able to give us things the other kids had. There were times when I missed having a father in my life. There were times when I was lonely and felt like I didn't fit in.

So I wasn't always as focused as I should have been. I did some things I'm not proud of, and got in more trouble than I should have. And my life could have easily taken a turn for the worse.

But I was fortunate. I got a lot of second chances and had the opportunity to go to college, and law school, and follow my dreams. My wife, our First Lady Michelle Obama,
That there is an error. First Lady is a description, not a title, and only informally used. He ought just to have referred to his wife, Michelle.
has a similar story. Neither of her parents had gone to college, and they didn't have much. But they worked hard, and she worked hard, so that she could go to the best schools in this country.

Some of you might not have those advantages. Maybe you don't have adults in your life who give you the support that you need. Maybe someone in your family has lost their job, and there's not enough money to go around. Maybe you live in a neighborhood where you don't feel safe, or have friends who are pressuring you to do things you know aren't right.

But at the end of the day, the circumstances of your life - what you look like, where you come from, how much money you have, what you've got going on at home - that's no excuse for neglecting your homework or having a bad attitude. That's no excuse for talking back to your teacher, or cutting class, or dropping out of school. That's no excuse for not trying.

Where you are right now doesn't have to determine where you'll end up. No one's written your destiny for you. Here in America, you write your own destiny. You make your own future. That's what young people like you are doing every day, all across America.

Young people like Jazmin Perez, from Roma, Texas. Jazmin didn't speak English when she first started school. Hardly anyone in her hometown went to college, and neither of her parents had gone either. But she worked hard, earned good grades, got a scholarship to Brown University, and is now in graduate school, studying public health, on her way to being Dr. Jazmin Perez.

I'm thinking about Andoni Schultz, from Los Altos, California, who's fought brain cancer since he was three. He's endured all sorts of treatments and surgeries, one of which affected his memory, so it took him much longer - hundreds of extra hours - to do his schoolwork. But he never fell behind, and he's headed to college this fall.

And then there's Shantell Steve, from my hometown of Chicago, Illinois. Even when bouncing from foster home to foster home in the toughest neighborhoods, she managed to get a job at a local health center; start a program to keep young people out of gangs; and she's on track to graduate high school with honors and go on to college.

Jazmin, Andoni and Shantell aren't any different from any of you. They faced challenges in their lives just like you do. But they refused to give up. They chose to take responsibility for their education and set goals for themselves. And I expect all of you to do the same.

That's why today, I'm calling on each of you to set your own goals for your education - and to do everything you can to meet them. Your goal can be something as simple as doing all your homework, paying attention in class, or spending time each day reading a book.

Maybe you'll decide to get involved in an extracurricular activity, or volunteer in your community. Maybe you'll decide to stand up for kids who are being teased or bullied because of who they are or how they look, because you believe, like I do, that all kids deserve a safe environment to study and learn. Maybe you'll decide to take better care of yourself so you can be more ready to learn.

And along those lines, I hope you'll all wash your hands a lot, and stay home from school when you don't feel well, so we can keep people from getting the flu this fall and winter.

Whatever you resolve to do, I want you to commit to it. I want you to really work at it.
"I'm going to commit to staying home when I don't feel perfect, Mommy, 'cause the president said so!"
I know that sometimes, you get the sense from TV that you can be rich and successful without any hard work -- that your ticket to success is through rapping or basketball or being a reality TV star, when chances are, you're not going to be any of those things.

But the truth is, being successful is hard. You won't love every subject you study. You won't click with every teacher. Not every homework assignment will seem completely relevant to your life right this minute. And you won't necessarily succeed at everything the first time you try.

That's OK. Some of the most successful people in the world are the ones who've had the most failures. JK Rowling's first Harry Potter book was rejected twelve times before it was finally published. Michael Jordan was cut from his high school basketball team, and he lost hundreds of games and missed thousands of shots during his career. But he once said, "I have failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed."

These people succeeded because they understand that you can't let your failures define you - you have to let them teach you. You have to let them show you what to do differently next time. If you get in trouble, that doesn't mean you're a troublemaker, it means you need to try harder to behave. If you get a bad grade, that doesn't mean you're stupid, it just means you need to spend more time studying.

No one's born being good at things, you become good at things through hard work. You're not a varsity athlete the first time you play a new sport. You don't hit every note the first time you sing a song. You've got to practice. It's the same with your schoolwork. You might have to do a math problem a few times before you get it right, or read something a few times before you understand it, or do a few drafts of a paper before it's good enough to hand in.

Don't be afraid to ask questions. Don't be afraid to ask for help when you need it. I do that every day. Asking for help isn't a sign of weakness, it's a sign of strength. It shows you have the courage to admit when you don't know something, and to learn something new. So find an adult you trust - a parent, grandparent or teacher; a coach or counselor - and ask them to help you stay on track to meet your goals.

And even when you're struggling, even when you're discouraged, and you feel like other people have given up on you - don't ever give up on yourself. Because when you give up on yourself, you give up on your country.

The story of America isn't about people who quit when things got tough. It's about people who kept going, who tried harder, who loved their country too much to do anything less than their best.

It's the story of students who sat where you sit 250 years ago, and went on to wage a revolution and found this nation. Students who sat where you sit 75 years ago who overcame a Depression and won a world war; who fought for civil rights and put a man on the moon. Students who sat where you sit 20 years ago who founded Google, Twitter and Facebook and changed the way we communicate with each other.

So today, I want to ask you, what's your contribution going to be? What problems are you going to solve? What discoveries will you make? What will a president who comes here in twenty or fifty or one hundred years say about what all of you did for this country? Your families, your teachers, and I are doing everything we can to make sure you have the education you need to answer these questions.

I'm working hard to fix up your classrooms and get you the books, equipment and computers you need to learn.
He is? Why is he interfering with the school board?
But you've got to do your part too.

So I expect you to get serious this year. I expect you to put your best effort into everything you do. I expect great things from each of you. So don't let us down - don't let your family or your country or yourself down. Make us all proud. I know you can do it.

Thank you, God bless you, and God bless America.
I do believe, this is the first time I've aware that he ends a speech like Bush always did, "God bless you, and God bless America."
His poll numbers continue their straight-line decline. Perhaps someone pointed out that voters self-describe as conservative in all fifty states.


This speech is going to fly right over the heads of those below sixth grade, who really will only remember that they have to stay home from school when they feel sick, or that even though he wasn't a good student he became president anyway, if they remember more than that the president talked to them. He concentrated on progressive reasons to work hard -- benefit the country, make America more fair -- and pretty much ignored the fact that people who graduate make more money,are less likely to lose their jobs, and have more control over their lives. But he has demonstrated repeatedly his inability to see that the other fellow might see things differently, let alone that other viewpoints might possibly have any validity whatsoever.
Posted by: Sherry || 09/07/2009 13:35 || Comments || Link || [7 views] Top|| File under:

#1  The speech isn't the problem (even with that sorta narcissistic third paragraph. Couldn't go to the rich schools....wah....).

The problem has always been with the suggested "lesson plan". Call me nuts, but I always thought my kid's job is to learn how to read, do math, and maybe pick out the US on a world map...not to think of ways he could help the President, or think of ways that the President can inspire him.
Posted by: Cornsilk Blondie || 09/07/2009 15:04 Comments || Top||

#2  Total agreement, Blonde -- It's not the first speech that is disturbing. It's the precedence it sets for the second, the third, the fourth, and however many more he deems needed to reach "his goal."

This is just one of many action steps in meeting his goals --- a Bill Ayers/Saul Alinsky type take over. (repeat post below)
Posted by: Sherry || 09/07/2009 15:30 Comments || Top||

#3  The problems are in both. But the problems in the lesson plan are more apparent because it's authors were no where near as clever and subtle as Obama and his team of propagandists speech writers.

For example, aside from the blatant attack on homeschooling, our fore fathers, none of whom attended a public school, did not "wage a revolution." They demanded and fought for their right as freeborn Englishmen not to have taxes imposed on them by a legislature in which they had no representation. They set up a government modeled after the one under which they had formerly lived but with safe guards to prevent the re-imposition of such tyranny. Zero should consider this well.
Posted by: Nimble Spemble || 09/07/2009 16:03 Comments || Top||

#4  Very, very impressive:

I'm here with students
I'm glad
I know
I imagine
I know that feeling.
When I was young
my family
my mother didn't have
Now I wasn't too happy
I'd fall asleep
I'd complain
So I know
But I'm here today
I have something important
I'm here because
I want to talk with you
Now I've given
And I've talked a lot
I've talked about your teachers'
I've talked about your parents' responsibility
I've talked a lot about your government's
I want to focus on today
I want to start with
I guarantee that you'll need
Now I know it's not always easy
I get it.
I know what that's like
My father left my family
I was two years old
I was raised by a single mother
I wasn't always as focused
I should have been
I did some things I'm not proud of
got in more trouble than I should have.
And my life
I was fortunate. I got a lot of second chances
I'm thinking about
my hometown of Chicago
That's why today, I'm calling
So I expect you
I want you to commit to it
I want you to really work at it
because you believe, like I do
I do that every day
I'm working hard to fix up your classrooms
I know you can do it.




Posted by: Besoeker || 09/07/2009 16:08 Comments || Top||

#5  saw his speech to the Union Hacks in Ohio (via Foxnews) this AM - he's back in campaign mode. Unpresidential, yes, hackneyed crap for the koolaid drinkers, yes. Unexpected? Nooooo

He's back in Us vs Them™ mode to rile up the base before he sells them out to get any healthcare plan that he can. He smells like desperation
Posted by: Frank G || 09/07/2009 16:09 Comments || Top||

#6  If all he's going to do is to tell the kids to wash their hands and eat their peas, it isn't worth doing. The 'inspiration' the kids will receive is negligible -- "great, another adult telling us what to do."

I think you're right: it's the precedent for the next speech, and the next, pre-recorded and delivered with a lot less fanfare.
Posted by: Steve White || 09/07/2009 16:17 Comments || Top||

#7  Since his audience consists of students from kindergarten to grade 12, he should have mentioned that after his stay in Indonesia, he did this:

In 1971, he (Obama) returned to Honolulu to live with his maternal grandparents, Madelyn and Stanley Armour Dunham, and attended Punahou School, a private college preparatory school, from the fifth grade until his graduation from high school in 1979.

(Excerpted from this Wikipedia article.)


If he uses his own life history to make an argument, rather than promoting it in the abstract, leaving out his attendance at a private prep school is certainly disingenuous.

Also no mention of his college records, and what role Khalid Al-Mansour played.
Posted by: Whaviting Brown8159 || 09/07/2009 16:45 Comments || Top||

#8  Long-winded Bullshitter, isn't he.
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 09/07/2009 16:54 Comments || Top||

#9  Seems to me that Obama's first worshiper and highest devotee is Obama himself.

In order words Obama really does think he's the second coming and he can 'inspire the childin' simply by delivering a speech.
Posted by: CrazyFool || 09/07/2009 17:05 Comments || Top||

#10  Another piece for his third memoir: Songs in the Key of Me.
Posted by: eLarson || 09/07/2009 17:06 Comments || Top||

#11  as I remember, back in the day when I was in school, I would really want to listen to this pompous ass self-reflect and tell me to do sh*t I already knew. What a pr*ck. This will not endear him to anyone, and costs him cred and trust he was already shorting. Whoever brainstormed this should be out the door
Posted by: Frank G || 09/07/2009 17:09 Comments || Top||

#12  elarson - LOLOL!
Posted by: Frank G || 09/07/2009 17:09 Comments || Top||

#13  My kids will come home from school tomorrow and call or pres a jerk. Kids see through this crap. I cant wait to hear what they say.
Posted by: 49 Pan || 09/07/2009 17:30 Comments || Top||

#14  elarson wins the thread! :-D
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut || 09/07/2009 17:49 Comments || Top||

#15  BTW, eLarson, I am so stealing that. ;-p
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut || 09/07/2009 17:50 Comments || Top||

#16  Just about a couple of hours ago, I did a stand-up for a local TV station about this - outlining why the Tea Party was so upset about it, and I think I managed to get across that it wasn't the speech so much - as the totally creepy lesson plan to go along with it - and the terribly polarized political atmosphere. I think enough people here kicked up enough of a fuss that most of the school districts threw in the towel and put it on their websites.
What I think most people feared was having their kinds singled out by other pupils and by over-zealous teachers - and lawsuits have been made out of far, far less.
Posted by: Sgt. Mom || 09/07/2009 18:13 Comments || Top||



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