Theodore's World

Whitemoor Prison, Cambridgeshire is a maximum security prison

The Sun
MUSLIM prisoners at a top security jail were bought £3,500 worth of takeaway curries, it emerged last night.
Prison officers drove 40 miles to a restaurant after inmates moaned jail meals were not tasty enough.
And the curries were not checked for smuggled weapons on the way into prison in case they got COLD, sources said.
More than 150 prisoners and 50 staff tucked into the beef madras and lamb rogan josh meals worth £18 each from the Roti Food Bar in Peterborough, Cambs. They were to celebrate Eid — the end of the Ramadan month of fasting.

A non-Muslim ex-inmate at Whitemoor jail said: “They tried to do the curries in-house but the prison chefs couldn’t meet the budget of £1.80 per prisoner — and the Muslim inmates complained that it tasted rubbish.

“The smell of it wafting was torture for the rest of us.”

A third of the jail’s 458 inmates are Muslim — the highest level in the country. Yesterday prison bosses denied claims Al-Qaeda prisoners had “hijacked” the jail.

Tory MP Malcolm Moss, who visited recently, said: “They are a law unto themselves. There is a fear in the prison about what al-Qaeda can do.

“There are threats made to people to make them convert.” Governor Steve Rodford denied Mr Moss’s claims.

Last night Justice Security Jack Straw launched a probe into the curry scandal.

A prison service spokesman said: “One of the key challenges at Whitemoor is improving cultural understanding between staff and prisoners.”

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Wardens at Whitemoor Prison living in fear of Muslim inmates
Mirror UK
Wardens at a jail that houses some of our most dangerous prisoners are living in fear of Muslim inmates, says a leaked government report.
Muslims make up one in four of the 500-strong population at top security Whitemoor Prison – and they make some staff “anxious and apprehensive”.
It means warders fight shy of challenging bad behaviour by prisoners in case they spark unrest.

The internal Prison Service review adds: “This leads to a general feeling of lack of control and shifting the power dynamic towards prisoners.

“Staff appeared reluctant to challenge inappropriate behaviour, in particular among black and minority ethnic prisoners, for fear of doing the wrong thing. There is a danger of this leading to hostility and Islamophobia if it is not addressed.”

The report also highlights fears of a loss of discipline among staff and claims long-serving prison officers thought that standards had fallen.

Wild Thing’s comment……..
I sure hope we do not follow in the UK’s footsteps with our prisons. When a person gives in to these Muslims it never gets better it just keeps getting worse and their demands just continue.

Sgt. 1st Class Timothy Nein, 39, with the Kentucky National Guard’s 223rd Military Police Company, at Camp Taji, Iraq, on Oct. 18, 2008. Nein was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross for his actions as a squad leader with the 617th Military Police Company during an ambush on March 20, 2005, during his second deployment. He is now serving on his third deployment. “I probably didn’t have to be here this time, but I don’t think that I would have missed it,” Nein said. “We’re helping transform the Iraqi police to be a more relevant force and a professional force.”

Distinguished Service Cross Recipient Chooses a Third Iraq Deployment
By Army Staff Sgt. Jim Greenhill
CAMP TAJI, Iraq
He served in Iraq twice before. He was awarded a Distinguished Service Cross for his actions as a squad leader here. He didn’t have to come back.
But Sgt. 1st Class Timothy Nein is back, on his third deployment in Iraq, his fourth overseas this decade. The first was in Bosnia and Herzegovina in 2001.
Only the Medal of Honor trumps the DSC among awards for valor in battle. Nein was the first Guard member to receive the award and only the fourth service member during the Operation Iraqi Freedom.
The DSC was an upgrade from the Silver Star Medal that Nein was originally awarded for his actions as a squad leader with the Kentucky National Guard’s 617th Military Police Company during a March 20, 2005, ambush.
Nein and the National Guard’s Sgt. Leigh Ann Hester – the first woman awarded the Silver Star for direct combat action against an enemy – led a counterattack that saw 27 insurgents killed, seven captured and no deaths in their unit. Two Soldiers were wounded.
Nein still leads in Iraq, where he’s now serving with the Kentucky National Guard’s 223rd Military Police Company.
Five years of change

“I probably didn’t have to be here this time, but I don’t think that I would have missed it,” Nein said. “I feel honored to be a part of this.”

This time, he is a platoon sergeant providing escorts for the 18th Military Police Brigade’s Iraqi Police Transitional Team.
Nein has seen five years of change firsthand. He first deployed here with the initial liberation force in 2003. He was back in 2005.

“I’ve seen a huge difference from 2005 to where we are now,” he said. “I can remember thinking in 2005, looking back at 2003, how much different it was.

“I can’t believe we’ve come as far as we have as far as getting their economy going. The violence is down greatly. It’s unbelievable how much different it is. They have come in five years in the democracy that they have what took us 232 years to get to.

“That’s what I don’t think people see – the great life that we live in the United States.

People look at that and think that it’s always been that way. It wasn’t. Forty, 50 years ago we were still fighting the civil rights movement. We have fought for 232 years to get to where we’re at. Yet in five years [Iraqis] have gone from a dictatorship to the ability to vote for who they want.”
Essential

Nein said the National Guard has played an essential role in Iraq’s transformation. One example is his own unit’s mission. “We’re helping transform the Iraqi police to be a more relevant force and a more professional force,” he said. “We’re out there every day evaluating their leaders, evaluating their recruits, evaluating their police stations to make sure that they’re up to par so that we can hand this mission over to them and they can take control.”

From Clark County, Ind., Nein enlisted in the National Guard in 1996. “I wanted to give something back to the people that have given me so much,” he said.

He has strong feelings about the Guard. “It’s one of the best assets the United States Army has,” he said. “It’s a relevant and ready force. We have gone in the last five years from a great force to an outstanding force. We can pick up and be anywhere in the world and accomplish a mission just like any other unit in the United States and perform to the equivalent level. I can’t say enough about the Guard.”

Despite Nein’s intense Guard pride, he sees all servicemembers here as a joint team. “I don’t see National Guard,” he said. “I don’t see Reserve Soldiers, and I don’t see active-duty Soldiers, because we’re all doing the same mission and we’re keeping up the great professionalism … meeting every bit of the same standards across the board.”

But Nein said the National Guard is unique because the Citizen-Soldier or -Airman who balances family, a civilian career and the Guard is unique.

Unique

“We’ve got Soldiers that just aren’t Soldiers – this isn’t all they’ve ever done,” Nein said. “We might have guys that have been in the National Guard for 20 years and have three and four deployments and have a lot of world experience, but they also have other careers that they’re able to expand on in the Guard.”

Nein sees the benefit of those civilian-acquired skills in his own unit. “I’ve got guys that are in law enforcement. I’ve got welders. I’ve got college students.”

Nein’s unit includes some stop-loss Soldiers. “They didn’t complain one bit,” he said. “They said, ‘This is my job, and this is what I’m going to go do.’ And that’s the heart of a U.S. Soldier, and that’s the heart of the United States citizen.”

When Nein looks at his own unit, he sees a microcosm of the Guard, a mosaic built from different life experiences and shared Soldier skills that gives the unit an ability to adapt to change.

“I see the best of the best,” he said. “I see the typical U.S. citizen who stands up to come here and leaves – just like with an active duty Soldier – their homeland to come and make a better place in the world without a complaint.”

Before this latest deployment, Nein took a leave of absence from the paper products company where he’s worked two decades to go full time with the Guard as a training NCO.
Continuous improvement

Here on the ground, after-action reviews are a key part of how Nein leads, seeking ways for himself and his Soldiers to improve. “Even if it’s just a standard escort mission that we do a thousand times while we’re here, every day’s going to be different, and every day we’ve got to try and make it better, and that’s how I look at every mission,” he said.

Out on escort missions, Nein thinks like his enemy. “I’m looking for how, if I was a bad guy, how I would kill me, the entire time out there,” he said. “I’m looking for where I would put an improvised explosive device; where I would set up an ambush; how I would do it if I was the bad guy.”

He passes that mentality along to his Soldiers as they scan for threats. “Don’t look at the actual object,” he tells them, referring to IED placement. “Look past it. Look at how you would set it up in the area – and you’ll see it way before you would ever if you were just looking for an inanimate object.”

He hopes other Soldiers will look at the day his unit was ambushed for lessons. “What did we do right?” he said. “Why were we able to survive something that we shouldn’t have been able to survive?

“I didn’t make up any of the tactics that we used. We took everything that the Army taught and that Soldiers before me had used and we developed it and we implemented it from Day 1. Anytime that a technique, tactic and procedure could have been better, we worked on it.

“It’s not what I did that made the day go right. It’s what the people before me did, that taught me and mentored me on battle tactics and TTPs and just doing the right thing each and every day. Because if you do that – the right training, the right leadership and the right equipment – there’s nothing that we can’t accomplish.”

Nein has been married for 19 years. The couple has two children.

“If it wasn’t for a good support channel, as far as my family being able to support me to allow me to go do these things, then I wouldn’t be able to do it,” Nein said. “My ability to do my job and not worry about what’s going on at home is because I have a great family and a great wife.”

March 20, 2005, might have ended differently for Nein and his squad, who were outnumbered five to one. Every day he serves here, Nein still faces risk.

“This is my job,” he said. “This is what I chose to do, and it’s what I’ll continue to strive to do. I love what I do.”

Wild Thing’s comment………
Thank you Sgt. 1st Class Timothy Nein I hope and pray you know how much your service means to all of us.

My Favorite quote – Wild Thing

“”Freedom! No word was ever spoken that held out greater hope, demanded greater sacrifice, needed more to be nurtured, blessed more the giver, cursed more its destroyer, or came closer to being God’s will on earth. And I think that’s worth fighting for.” General Omar Bradley

Government to Unveil Consumer Credit Facility
FOX news
Washington–The government is working on a new loan facility to help companies that issue credit cards, make student loans and finance car purchases.
The Treasury Department and the Federal Reserve will unveil the program Tuesday, according to people familar with the plan. They spoke on condition of anonymity because a formal announcement has yet to be made.
Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson has said he plans to use a “relatively modest share” of the $700 billion financial bailout money to pay for the new program.
It’s the latest effort by the government to break through a dangerous credit clog that has badly hurt the economy.

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And there is also this…………
Fed throws fresh lifeline to U.S. financial system (800 Bln)
WASHINGTON
Reuters
The Federal Reserve threw a massive life-line to consumers on Tuesday with two new programs aimed at making it easier for them to obtain loans for homes, cars and on credit cards.
Under the new mortgage program, the Fed will buy up to $100 billion of debt issued by government-sponsored mortgage enterprises Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and the Federal Home Loan Banks. It will also buy up to $500 billion of mortgage securities backed by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and Ginnie Mae.
The central bank also launched a $200 billion facility to support consumer finance, including student, auto, and credit card loans and loans backed by the federal Small Business Administration. This will lend to investors who hold securities backed by this debt.
The launch of the two programs lifted investor spirits and drove up the blue chip Dow Jones industrial average more than 100 points, or about 1.3 percent, within minutes of its open.

“One of the big problems we have is that there has been a lack of demand for debt. You have seen the market for securitized debt such as credit cards or student loans dry up completely,” said Scott Brown, chief economist at Raymond James & Associates in St. Petersburg, Florida.

“Here is the Fed taking a bunch of debt out of the market,” he said. “It should help unblock the credit markets.”

The new mortgage-support facility was intended to strike at the collapsed housing market, the core of the United States’ economic woes.

“This action is being taken to reduce the cost and increase the availability of credit for the purchase of houses, which in turn should support housing markets and foster improved financial conditions more generally,” the Fed said.

Wild Thing’s comment…….
More control of private sector at our fingertips.
The government causes the problem, and then more government is proposed to “fix” it.
Wow. How much more money is going to be thrown at all these problems? You can’t stop a train wreck by throwing money at the tracks. Steps such as these will only slow down and lengthen the inevitable crunch.
Great, now instead of just issuing mortgages to people who can’t afford it and backed by the taxpayers they want to issue credit cards to the same people.
Barney Franks is probably drooling over the idea of taxpayer backed credit cards for losers.

A Marine sniper attached to Task Force 2d Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment, Special Purpose Marine Air Ground Task Force Afghanistan, fires at targets on a range on Camp Barber, Afghanistan. The marksmanship skills of the Marines proved far superior during the Battle of Shewan, enabling the Marines to reduce the enemy force that was more than eight times the size of their own. (Photo by Sgt. Steven R. Cushman.)

Smoke billows from a 500-pound bomb dropped during the intense battle for the city of Shewan. During the battle, Marine snipers attached to Task Force 2d Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment, Special Purpose Marine Air Ground Task Force Afghanistan, killed more than 50 insurgents and wounded several more. (Photo by Sgt. Steven R. Cushman.)

Marine Makes Insurgents Pay the Price
Military.com
Marine Corps News
Cpl. James M. Mercure
FARAH PROVINCE, Afghanistan
In the city of Shewan, approximately 250 insurgents ambushed 30 Marines and paid a heavy price for it.
Shewan has historically been a safe haven for insurgents, who used to plan and stage attacks against Coalition Forces in the Bala Baluk district.
The city is home to several major insurgent leaders. Reports indicate that more than 250 full time fighters reside in the city and in the surrounding villages.
Shewan had been a thorn in the side of Task Force 2d Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment, Special Purpose Marine Air Ground Task Force Afghanistan throughout the Marines’ deployment here in support of Operation Enduring Freedom, because it controls an important supply route into the Bala Baluk district. Opening the route was key to continuing combat operations in the area.

“The day started out with a 10-kilometer patrol with elements mounted and dismounted, so by the time we got to Shewan, we were pretty beat,” said a designated marksman who requested to remain unidentified. “Our vehicles came under a barrage of enemy RPGs (rocket propelled grenades) and machine gun fire. One of our ‘humvees’ was disabled from RPG fire, and the Marines inside dismounted and laid down suppression fire so they could evacuate a Marine who was knocked unconscious from the blast.”

The vicious attack that left the humvee destroyed and several of the Marines pinned down in the kill zone sparked an intense eight-hour battle as the platoon desperately fought to recover their comrades. After recovering the Marines trapped in the kill zone, another platoon sergeant personally led numerous attacks on enemy fortified positions while the platoon fought house to house and trench to trench in order to clear through the enemy ambush site.

“The biggest thing to take from that day is what Marines can accomplish when they’re given the opportunity to fight,” the sniper said. “A small group of Marines met a numerically superior force and embarrassed them in their own backyard. The insurgents told the townspeople that they were stronger than the Americans, and that day we showed them they were wrong.”

During the battle, the designated marksman single handedly thwarted a company-sized enemy RPG and machinegun ambush by reportedly killing 20 enemy fighters with his devastatingly accurate precision fire. He selflessly exposed himself time and again to intense enemy fire during a critical point in the eight-hour battle for Shewan in order to kill any enemy combatants who attempted to engage or maneuver on the Marines in the kill zone. What made his actions even more impressive was the fact that he didn’t miss any shots, despite the enemies’ rounds impacting within a foot of his fighting position.

“I was in my own little world,” the young corporal said. “I wasn’t even aware of a lot of the rounds impacting near my position, because I was concentrating so hard on making sure my rounds were on target.”

After calling for close-air support, the small group of Marines pushed forward and broke the enemies’ spirit as many of them dropped their weapons and fled the battlefield. At the end of the battle, the Marines had reduced an enemy stronghold, killed more than 50 insurgents and wounded several more.

“I didn’t realize how many bad guys there were until we had broken through the enemies’ lines and forced them to retreat. It was roughly 250 insurgents against 30 of us,” the corporal said. “It was a good day for the Marine Corps. We killed a lot of bad guys, and none of our guys were seriously injured.”

Wild Thing’s comment………
During the battle, the designated marksman single handedly thwarted a company-sized enemy RPG and machinegun ambush by reportedly killing 20 enemy fighters with his devastatingly accurate precision fire.
Aimed precise shots beat a company of rag heads with RPGs.
In the city of Shewan, approximately 250 insurgents ambushed 30 Marines and paid a heavy price for it.
250 terrorists vs. 30 Marines? The terrorists were outnumbered. HOO RAH!
“The biggest thing to take from that day is what Marines can accomplish when they’re given the opportunity to fight,” the sniper said.
Let’s hope “Great Leader” doesn’t take those opportunities away from our Forces. Or else, they might have opportunities to fight over HERE in a few years!
Semper Fi Marine!

……Thank you RAC for sending this to me.
RAC has a website that is awesome. 336th Assault Helicopter Company
13th Combat Aviation Battalion – 1st Aviation Brigade – Soc Trang, Republic of Vietnam

As I came out of the supermarket that sunny day, pushing my cart of groceries towards my car, I saw an old man with the hood of his car up and a lady sitting inside the car, with the door open.
The old man was looking at the engine. I put my groceries away in my car and continued to watch the old gentleman from about twenty five feet away.
I saw a young man in his early twenties with a grocery bag in his arm, walking towards the old man. The old gentleman saw him coming too and took a few steps towards him. I saw the old gentleman point to his open hood and say something.
The young man put his grocery bag into what looked like a brand new Cadillac Escalade and then turn back to the old man and I heard him yell at the old gentleman saying, “You shouldn’t even be allowed to drive a car at your age.” And then with a wave of his hand, he got in his car and peeled rubber out of the parking lot.
I saw the old gentleman pull out his handkerchief and mop his brow as he went back to his car and again looked at the engine. He then went to his wife and spoke with her and appeared to tell her it would be okay. I had seen enough and I approached the old man. He saw me coming and stood straight and as I got near him I said, “Looks like you’re having a problem.”
He smiled sheepishly and quietly nodded his head. I looked under the hood myself and knew that whatever the problem was, it was beyond me. Looking around I saw a gas station up the road and told the old man that I would be right back. I drove to the station and went inside and saw three attendants working on cars. I approached one of them and related the problem the old man had with his car and offered to pay them if they could follow me back down and help him.
The old man had pushed the heavy car under the shade of a tree and appeared to be comforting his wife. When he saw us he straightened up and thanked me for my help. As the mechanics diagnosed the problem (overheated engine) I spoke with the old gentleman.
When I shook hands with him earlier he had noticed my Marine Corps ring and had commented about it, telling me that he had been a Marine too. I nodded and asked the usual question, “What outfit did you serve with?”
He had mentioned that he served with the first Marine Division at Tarawa, Saipan, Iwo Jima and Guadalcanal. He had hit all the big ones and retired from the Corps after the war was over. As we talked we heard the car engine come on and saw the mechanics lower the hood. They came over to us as the old man reached for his wallet, but was stopped by me and I told him I would just put the bill on my AAA card.
He still reached for the wallet and handed me a card that I assumed had his name and address on it and I stuck it in my pocket. We all shook hands all round again and I said my goodbye’s to his wife.
I then told the two mechanics that I would follow them back up to the station. Once at the station I told them that they had interrupted their own jobs to come along with me and help the old man. I said I wanted to pay for the help, but they refused to charge me. One of them pulled out a card from his pocket looking exactly like the card the old man had given to me. Both of the men told me then, that they were Marine Corps Reserves. Once again we shook hands all around and as I was leaving, one of them told me I should look at the card the old man had given to me. I said I would and drove off.
For some reason I had gone about two blocks when I pulled over and took the card out of my pocket and looked at it for a long, long time. The name of the old gentleman was on the card in golden leaf and under his name…….. “Congressional Medal of Honor Society.”
I sat there motionless looking at the card and reading it over and over. I looked up from the card and smiled to no one but myself and marveled that on this day, four Marines had all come together, because one of us needed help. He was an old man all right, but it felt good to have stood next to greatness and courage and an honor to have been in his presence.
God Bless America, our Veterans and Troops.

Wild Thing’s comment……..
When I read this I cried, it is such a special story about America’s Heroes!!!!
Thank you to all our Veterans and our troops today.

….Thank you Mark for sending this to me.

According to Fox’s Cavuto, Obama — standing behind his psychotic “Office of the President Elect” sign — is ready to promise a delay on the insane tax hike on “The Rich” IF Congress will quickly approve an additional $700B – $1T “stimulus package” to be aimed at causes and business of which he personally approves.

Monday: President-elect Barack Obama introduces members of his economic team, including Timothy Geithner and Christina Romer (AP Photo).

Is it just me or is it weird how Barack Hussein Obama has a thing for signs announcing who he is.
Another photo………..Monday: President-elect Barack Obama introduces members of his economic team, including Timothy Geithner and Christina Romer (AP Photo).

close up of Obama and his sign

Obama Proposes Big Stimulus Package, Tax Increases on Wealthy
Fox news
President-elect Barack Obama unveiled key elements of his blueprint for turning around the economy — and the team tasked with making it work — including a massive stimulus package and tax cuts for a “vast majority” of Americans paid for by the nation’s “wealthiest.”
Against a backdrop of increasing calls for him to establish a viable economic rescue plan well before he takes office on Jan. 20, Obama said reforms in Washington will be needed to create a “sustainable economy,” including larger contributions from taxpayers earning more than $250,000 per year.

“We’ve got to restore some balance to our tax code and the Bush tax cuts were disproportionately targeted to the very wealthiest Americans — those who were making more than a quarter million dollars a year can afford to pay a little more,” the president-elect said.

“And it is important if we’re going to help pay for some of these expenditures that are absolutely necessary to get our economy back on track that those who are in a position to pay a little more do so. Whether that’s done through repeal or whether that’s done because the Bush tax cuts are not renewed is something that my economic team will be providing me a recommendation on,” he said.

Some economists have endorsed spending up to $600 billion to revive the economy. Sen. Charles Schumer, a New York Democrat, and former labor Secretary Robert Reich, a member of Obama’s economic advisory board, both suggested $500 billion to $700 billion.
Obama said his economic team’s first job will be to work with Congress to pass an economic stimulus package.

“Not only do I want the stimulus package to deal with the immediate crisis, I want it also to lay the groundwork for long-term sustained economic growth,” he said.

Wild Thing’s comment……..
I really resent this guy being allowed to proceed as if he is now the president. He is not the president until after inauguration. We have a president and his name is not Obama!!!
And the RIDICULOUS seal , that his psychotic “Office of the President Elect” sign he has to have in front of him when he speaks is INSANE! And his freaking office of the President elect he has to remind of us, say to us every time he opens his mouth. I swear I never heard anyone else do this before.
The arrogance of this man makes me despise him even more than I thought possible.
And when the heck does all this money stuff stop! Every day we hear about another amount again in the hundreds of billions they need.

This photo is from LAST year’s Thanksgiving celebration, a four-decade-old Claremont school district tradition.

Claremont parents clash over kindergarten Thanksgiving costumes
Some say having students dress up as pilgrims and Native Americans is ‘demeaning.’ Their opponents say they are elitists injecting politics into a simple children’s celebration.
Los Angeles Times
For decades, Claremont kindergartners have celebrated Thanksgiving by dressing up as pilgrims and Native Americans and sharing a feast. But on Tuesday, when the youngsters meet for their turkey and songs, they won’t be wearing their hand-made bonnets, headdresses and fringed vests.
Parents in this quiet university town are sharply divided over what these construction-paper symbols represent: A simple child’s depiction of the traditional (if not wholly accurate) tale of two factions setting aside their differences to give thanks over a shared meal? Or a cartoonish stereotype that would never be allowed of other racial, ethnic or religious groups?

“It’s demeaning,” Michelle Raheja, the mother of a kindergartner at Condit Elementary School, wrote to her daughter’s teacher. “I’m sure you can appreciate the inappropriateness of asking children to dress up like slaves (and kind slave masters), or Jews (and friendly Nazis), or members of any other racial minority group who has struggled in our nation’s history.”

Raheja, whose mother is a Seneca, wrote the letter upon hearing of a four-decade district tradition, where kindergartners at Condit and Mountain View elementary schools take annual turns dressing up and visiting the other school for a Thanksgiving feast. This year, the Mountain View children would have dressed as Native Americans and walked to Condit, whose students would have dressed as Pilgrims.
Raheja, an English professor at UC Riverside who specializes in Native American literature, said she met with teachers and administrators in hopes that the district could hold a public forum to discuss alternatives that celebrate thankfulness without “dehumanizing” her daughter’s ancestry.

“There is nothing to be served by dressing up as a racist stereotype,” she said.

Last week, rumors began to circulate on both campuses that the district was planning to cancel the event, and infuriated parents argued over the matter at a heated school board meeting Thursday. District Supt. David Cash announced at the end of the meeting that the two schools had tentatively decided to hold the event without the costumes, and sent a memo to parents Friday confirming the decision.
Cash and the principals of Condit and Mountain View did not respond to interview requests.
But many parents, who are convinced the decision was made before the board meeting, accused administrators of bowing to political correctness.
Kathleen Lucas, a Condit parent who is of Choctaw heritage, said her son — now a first-grader — still wears the vest and feathered headband he made last year to celebrate the holiday.

“My son was so proud,” she said. “In his eyes, he thinks that’s what it looks like to be Indian.”

Among the costume supporters, there is a vein of suspicion that casts Raheja and others opposed to the costumes as agenda-driven elitists. Of the handful of others who spoke with Raheja against the costumes at the board meeting, one teaches at the University of Redlands, one is an instructor at Riverside Community College, and one is a former Pitzer College professor.

Raheja is “using those children as a political platform for herself and her ideas,” Constance Garabedian said as her 5-year-old Mountain View kindergartner happily practiced a song about Native Americans in the background. “I’m not a professor and I’m not a historian, but I can put the dots together.”

The debate is far from over. Some parents plan to send their children to school in costume Tuesday — doubting that administrators will force them to take them off. The following day, some plan to keep their children home, costing the district attendance funds to punish them for modifying the event.

“She’s not going to tell us what we can and cannot wear,” said Dena Murphy, whose 5-year-old son attends Mountain View. “We’re tired of [district officials] cowing down to people. It’s not right.”

But others hoped that tempers would calm over the long holiday weekend, and the community could come together to have a fruitful discussion about Thanksgiving and its meaning.

“Its always a good thing to think about, critically, how we teach kids, even from very young ages, the message we want them to learn, and the respect for the diversity of the American experiences,” said Jennifer Tilton, an assistant professor of race and ethnic studies at the University of Redlands and a Claremont parent who opposes the costumes.

Wild Thing’s comment…….
We are a Nation that is imploding and with all this PC bull, it is destroying our history, our heroes and who they have been and our future!!!
Now LOOK at this, the GOOD Parents are fighting back and remember too this is in Californina. Yes there are a lot of conservatives there just outnumered is the problem. But this is a GREAT example of how fighting back makes a difference and how we should never have apathy.
NOV. 24TH UPDATE TO THIS STORY…
source is The Claremont Insider

Dena Murphy, a Mountain View parent, just gave an update on “The John and Ken Show” (KFI radio, 64.0). The parents at both Mountain View and Condit were hopping mad at the school board wimps. (The School District said the feast could go on, but not with the costumes).

Happily, the 98% of parents – at both schools – who support the kids in costume are staging a protest tomorrow. Yep, they’re sending their kids to school in their costumes no matter how much the school board objects. Wait, it gets better…and then they’re KEEPING THEM HOME FROM SCHOOL on Wednesday, so those schools won’t get a dime of “attendance money” from the state for that day.

Bush pardons 14 and commutes 2 prison sentences
WASHINGTON
President George W. Bush has granted pardons to 14 individuals and commuted the prison sentences of two others convicted of misdeeds ranging from drug offenses to tax evasion, from wildlife violations to bank embezzlement, The Associated Press learned Monday.
The new round of White House pardons are Bush’s first since March and come less than two months before he will end his presidency. The crimes committed by those on the list also include offenses involving hazardous waste, food stamps, and the theft of government property.
Bush has been stingy during his time in office about handing out such reprieves.
Including these actions, he has granted a total of 171 and eight commutations. That’s less than half as many as Presidents Clinton or Reagan issued during their time in office. Both were two-term presidents.
On the latest pardon list were:
_Leslie Owen Collier of Charleston, Mo. She was convicted for unauthorized use of a pesticide and violating the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act.
_Milton Kirk Cordes of Rapid City, S.D. Cordes was convicted of conspiracy to violate the Lacey Act, which prohibits importation into the country of wildlife taken in violation of conservation laws.
_Richard Micheal Culpepper of Mahomet, Ill., who was convicted of making false statements to the federal government.
_Brenda Jean Dolenz-Helmer of Fort Worth, Texas, for reporting or helping cover up a crime.
_Andrew Foster Harley of Falls Church, Va. Harley was convicted of wrongful use and distribution of marijuana and cocaine.
_Obie Gene Helton of Rossville, Ga., whose offense was unauthorized acquisition of food stamps.
_Carey C. Hice Sr. of Travelers Rest, S.C., who was convicted of income tax evasion.
_Geneva Yvonne Hogg of Jacksonville, Fla., convicted of bank embezzlement.
_William Hoyle McCright Jr. of Midland, Texas, who was sentenced for making false entries, books, reports or statements to a bank.
_Paul Julian McCurdy of Sulphur, Okla., who was sentenced for misapplication of bank funds.
_Robert Earl Mohon Jr. of Grant, Ala., who was convicted of conspiracy to distribute marijuana.
_Ronald Alan Mohrhoff of Los Angeles, who was convicted for unlawful use of a telephone in a narcotics felony.
_Daniel Figh Pue III of Conroe, Texas, convicted of illegal treatment, storage and disposal of a hazardous waste without a permit.
_Orion Lynn Vick of White Hall, Ark., who was convicted of aiding and abetting the theft of government property.
Bush also commuted the prison sentences of John Edward Forte of North Brunswick, N.J., and James Russell Harris of Detroit, Mich. Both were convicted of cocaine offenses.
Under the Constitution, the president’s power to issue pardons is absolute and cannot be overruled.
Some high-profile individuals, such as Michael Milken, are seeking a pardon on securities fraud charges. Two politicians convicted of public corruption — former Rep. Randy “Duke” Cunningham, R-Calif., and four-term Democratic Louisiana Gov. Edwin W. Edwards — are asking Bush to shorten their prison terms.
One hot topic of discussion related to pardons is whether Bush might decide to issue pre-emptive pardons before he leaves office to government employees who authorized or engaged in harsh interrogations of suspected terrorists in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. Some constitutional scholars and human rights groups want the incoming administration of President-elect Barack Obama to investigate possible war crimes.
If Bush were to pardon anyone involved, it would provide protection against criminal charges, particularly for people who were following orders or trying to protect the nation with their actions. But it would also be highly controversial.
At the same time, Obama advisers say there is little — if any — chance that his administration would bring criminal charges.

Wild Thing’s comment………
I don’t see Compean & Ramos, the Border Patrol Agents on the list. I don’t know if this is just part of the list he will pardon. But I am not getting a good feeling from this at all. It sure looks like Bush will not be letting Compean & Ramos go. Bush an dhis buddy Sutton favoring the criminal, drug pusher illegal over two good men, it is maddness.

photo taken of Alan Colmes and Sean Hannity at FOX anniversary bash.

Breitbart
FOX News Channel’s (FNC) Alan Colmes will relinquish his role as co-host of Hannity & Colmes at the end of the year.

In announcing his decision, Colmes said, “I approached Bill Shine (FNC’s Senior Vice President of Programming) earlier this year about wanting to move on after 12 years to develop new and challenging ways to contribute to the growth of the network. Although it’s bittersweet to leave one of the longest marriages on cable news, I’m proud that both Sean (Hannity) and I remained unharmed after sitting side by side, night after night for so many years.”

Colmes will continue to have a presence on FNC as he will serve as a liberal commentator on a variety of FOX News programming, including Foxnews.com’s The Strategy Room and continue hosting his radio program, The Alan Colmes Show on FOX Talk, a division of FOX News Radio. He will also begin developing a weekend program.

Shine said, “We’re very sorry to see Alan reach this decision but we understand his desire to seek other creative challenges in his career. We value his incredible hard work in making Hannity & Colmes the most successful debate program on cable news and we’re going to miss him on the show. Thankfully, he will begin developing a weekend pilot for us.”

Wild Thing’s comment…….
They should just let Hannity have his own show. He could just have various guest hosts each weak, there are plenty to pick from.
LOL Maybe Alan knew he was not up to defending Obama for 4 years against Hannity or Ann Coulter when she comes on the show. heh heh

UN to Mourn 60 Years of Israel’s Existence
by Anne Bayefsky
Israpundit
Eye on the U.N.
NEW YORK
This Monday, November 24th, the UN will commemorate its annual International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People with a film depicting Jews as Nazi-equivalents and a public exhibit mourning the sixty years of Israel’s existence.

“The event is an annual reminder that the UN’s real agenda is to delegitimize the birth – and the perseverance – of the state of Israel,” said Anne Bayefsky, Editor of EYEontheUN.org.

Monday’s observance marks November 29, 1947 – the day that the UN voted to establish a Jewish and an Arab state in Palestine – a decision accepted by the Jews and rejected by the Arabs.
This year’s observance is being held a week early due to scheduling conflicts.
As in years past, there will be a formal meeting Monday morning of the Committee on the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People, a film, an afternoon meeting of the General Assembly on the “Question of Palestine,” and the opening of a public exhibit in the entrance to the UN’s New York headquarters.
Former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan referred to November 29th as “a day of mourning and a day of grief,” and the usual procedure is for UN member state after UN member state to use the opportunity to grieve for the suffering of the Palestinian people at Israeli hands.
The General Assembly is scheduled to adopt another six resolutions condemning only Israel for violations of human rights.
The total number of resolutions criticizing Israel expected to be adopted at this fall’s General Assembly is 20, as compared to only four resolutions critical of human rights records in any of the remaining 191 UN member nations.
The 2008 installment of what is in essence a repeat of the “Zionism = Racism” allegation, will be the public showing of the film “La Terre Parle Arabe” or “The Land Speaks Arabic.” The film draws parallels between the Nazis’ final solution and the alleged Zionist design for Palestinians. It is commonly billed with these words: “…the late-19th century Zionists…drew up plans, put them into practice, then…used… force, often brutal.”
Here is some of the script for the UN public’s edification:

“Christians and Muslims alike…unite in their hatred of Zionism…I preferred to die as a martyr rather than be governed by the Jews …We were against the Jews…The number of Jews increased constantly…The children cried …The Hagana had no mercy, no pity. Zionists! They were Zionists!… The Jews were shooting at us, they were facing us…The Jews yelled “turn around you bastards, you dogs.” They machine gunned us…They started killing people who were asleep…[We]…found a poor woman…pregnant. They had killed her and the baby came out of the womb. They started slaughtering them until morning.”

The exhibit to be opened at 6 p.m. on Monday in the UN lobby – the public entrance through which school children from across the United States and tourists from around the world pass every day – is entitled “The Palestinians: 60 years of struggle and enduring hope.” Bayefsky comments:

“The “sixty years” of struggle is telling. It puts a lie to the alleged root cause of the Arab-Israeli conflict as an “occupation” that began with the 1967 war. The real complaint is the alleged wrong of the creation of the State of Israel itself.” She adds: “The carefully selected word “struggle” also speaks volumes. What the UN glorifies as a struggle is a series of wars launched by Arabs to annihilate the state of Israel beginning in 1948, and the ongoing “struggle” of Palestinian and other Arab terrorists dedicated to the same end.”

Past UN Palestinian Solidarity Day observances have included:
1. The display of a map in Arabic with the State of Israel missing altogether
2. Flying only the flags of “Palestine” and the United Nations, and omitting the flag of the UN member state of Israel
3. Opening the day with a moment of silence commemorating the death, among others, of suicide bombers or “all those who have given their lives for the cause of the Palestinian people…”
4. Exhibits promoting terrorism and the alleged right of return while criticizing a host of non-violent efforts by Israel to prevent terrorism from checkpoints to a security fence – all of which are invariably presented as evil steps taken in a vacuum.

“Anyone hoping to see an Israeli flag flown in addition to a Palestinian one in celebration of the UN partition plan that approved a two-state solution, should not hold their breath,” said Anne Bayefsky, Editor of EYEontheUN.org. She continued, “the UN tradition of mourning the creation of the state of Israel continues.”

Wild Thing’s comment……..
This is so sick, I didn’t know about this and I sure as heck did not know it was a freaking annual event.
The second our country allowed for the UN to be on our soil was the day our country began to sell out to EVIL!!!
Looko at this it was mentioned in the article and I found in in Google.
Source

This is the prominent UN public display which was used to mark the commemoration of “International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People” on November 29, 2005. The Palestinian flag is on one side. The UN flag is on the other side. A map without the UN member state of Israel stands between them.
This map was prominently displayed by the UN on November 29, 2005 at a public gathering at UN Headquarters, in the presence of all top three UN officials, the Secretary General, and the Presidents of the UN Security Council and the General Assembly. It purports to be a “map of Palestine.” Israel, a UN member state for 56 years, is not on the map. Even the UN General Assembly partition lines of November 29, 1947 marking a Jewish and Arab state, which pre-date this 1948 map, do not appear.

As the “map of Palestine” without the state of Israel stands in the background, Secretary-General Kofi Annan addresses the public meeting at UN Headquarters. The anniversary of the UN partition vote that survivors of the concentration camps celebrated, has been described by Secretary-General Annan as “a day of mourning and a day of grief.” Palestinians, and Arab citizens more generally, refer to it as part of “Al-Nakba,” meaning the “catastrophe” of the creation of the state of Israel.