Hmmm...

Look at the county-by-county returns, and Clinton runs away with the rural votes in PA... Obama only does well in the big city vote. You can't say it is a poverty vote, because some of these rural counties here in PA are dirt poor, and still ran with Clinton. I'd say it is far more likely to be a vote of frustration at the urban level... an indicator of just how screwed up cities like Philly really are.

Say what you will, though... PA is a HUGE 2nd Amendment state. The HIGHEST per capita NRA membership in the nation, and that includes MS, AL, NV AND TX. Neither of these two will win the general here, though... not without a miracle.

I'm waiting for the final numbers, though... when I was at the polls, they were saying that this primary had beaten all other primary turn-outs in the first two hours of voting (at least in my precinct). That's a lot of interest in this primary, if you ask me. John might not have an easy run of this....

Voted...

Yes, I made my stop at the township hall to cast my vote.

I voted Clinton, but mostly was focused on the more local and state races... they matter to me more than this primary race.

I'm on quota-time tonight, so I'll have to finish this later...

Voting in the big PA...

Well, at least the commercials will be over after today Titus ... I was curious as to if you voted in the primary. I realize that due to cultural, defense, and even economic reasons you are once again voting Republican in the general but I assume you have maintained your DNC registration in the hopes of being able to one day again admit to it without embarrassment (caused by the party, not yourself of course).

So, this means you may very well go and cast your vote today. In that vein let me offer this advice, and believe me, I never thought I'd write these words. I'd prefer (however unlikely this is rapidly becoming) a Clinton win - for the nomination, not just PA. And for this reason: Although I believe that Mac will give a good ol' Navy squadron back hand to whomever the Dems throw up (dual meanings there I assure you), there is at least a "chance" the Democrat nominee will win the presidency. Were that to occur I would rather a scheming, political, word parsing, legacy seeking, Boss Tweed channeling, children devouring Hillary in office then a true believer like Obama. At least I can count on the "Clinton-eogne" mafia to do what will make them popular/what polls indicate people want (i.e. Bill signing welfare reform), & I trust the American people to make the right thing "popular" when polled. Whereas Obama has a grand remaking of America into his preferred image in mind - and that ain't a pretty image. Not to mention in terms of foreign policy at the very least Hillary hasn't pledged to "talk" to Ahmedadenajd, the Taliban, Satan, etc as Obama has. And its likely (if history is to guide us) that the Dems will pick up 5 or so more seats in the Senate and maintain control of the House, and not one of them (& some Republicans I can think of) will have the "PC guts" to deny "Barry" his desired legislation. So vote Hillary (also words I thought would never be uttered by me)....

****

Israel? I had to do a literal double take. Israel? This ought to get the whack-job conspiracy sites going (and certain Churches on the West side of Chicago ... ahem) who think "the Jews" were behind 9/11 and all the evils of the world. One Mr. Kadish, whom you can read about here: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24256527/ , a US and Israeli citizen employed by a military facility in New Jersey for over 20 years is the first American charged with espionage on behalf of Israel in 16 years (the last was a Navy man named Polland who worked at the Pentegon). Allegedly between 1979 and 1985 he slipped an Israeli contact at the consulate (the SAME contact that is suspected to have handled Polland no less) classified documents on nuclear weapons and the Patriot missile system. Now, it gets even more interesting ... in looking for this story on the web I stumbled onto a FOX NEWS four part report on Israeli spies within the US from December, 2001 (the report that is), which included inferences that these spies, whose duties include spying on Arab terrorists within the US, knew of the plot for 9/11 and that Mossad even warned our government of an impending attack (days before) but in vauge ways so as not to risk revealing their "in-house" sources, thus rendering the warning inactionable for us. This is something I'd expect to see on Maher, or read on some Move-on blog (or perhaps from the mouth of a certain drunken movie star once pulled over), but it is a report by Brit Hume (& Tony Snow lastly) featuring Carl Cameron and one which I NEVER heard before. You have GOT to read this... the video is no longer up (that's the reference about it no longer being displayed by FOX), but the transcript is there at the bottom, just click on the subsequent 3 parts near the top of the page.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article7545.htm

Now, I've never heard of this web site. I did note that they source cited FOX NEWS and noted their copyright, etc. I assume it's a legit story, although at the bottom of page four there is evidence this site is wacky, but just because they profile it doesn't mean this story isn't accurate... in fact I just further researched it and have found the same story from numerous more well known sites, although curiously enough many of them describe it as a "banned FOX NEWS story", in that FOX itself took it off the air, did zero follow ups, and in fact the FOX website will take you to the stories page if you Google it, but the page says "THIS STORY IS NO LONGER AVAILABLE." You can view part 1 on You Tube, but I didn't find the other 3 video segments there, maybe you can.

Now, my point in all of this is "ally spying." How much of it occurs, how much do we do, our allies do etc. Now I know we can't fully answer that here, but I always assumed that the "spying" was more like tab-keeping on our allies for information that might be useful in combating actual enemies or for the simpler reason so that the CIC isn't publicly politically blindsided by a foreign ally's unexpected move. And because "being in the know" of our allies activities, is by definition a function of our Intel services.

As to this story, you'll find no bigger fan of Israel then me - in fact it was one of Titus's and my first arguments at the end of pit 4 - the Irael/Palestinian debate (although in retrospect I suspect he was in agreeance with me even during the argument but wanted to test me in order to determine if I was operating on a level worth his time - this being 7 years later I clearly "passed"). And in fact I would AGREE that the circumstances which have defined the experience of the Israeli State justifiably compels it to seek out the most advanced weaponry and Intel, that's what happens when you're surrounded by a billion people who'd like to push you into the Red Sea ... HOWEVER, compromises in our communication system, especially high priority systems such as the DEA, FBI, CIA, NSA etc, can not be tolerated, even if it's by our greatest ally.

Pat down the hackles... please...

Okay... understood. Nothing you said in your last conflicts with my points, and anything I may have assumed was done so because I wasn't privy to all the facts concerning your specific case.

All I would ask further is, Who is the PRIMARY educator for your sons? The answer is obviously YOU and your wife. Who is the primary disciplinarian of your sons? Same answer. The role of the district is to ensure fair, uniform and safe enviroments for the classroom learning that the law requires. There is nothing in the school district program that you can't add to or correct with the right tools in your own home, if you should feel the need. And, of course, there is always home-schooling if you simply want to wash your hands of the entire public school experience.

Obviously, 5 students taking up 50% of the discipline is a bad thing, and something the principal will have to address. I meant no offense, and am not suggesting that the entire grade or school suffer so that the "system" can pander to one or two problem children. What I am asking (still, because it wasn't answered) is what YOU would do differently, given the opportunities that the principal has now.

Smokin' in the boys room ...

First, this child has been on "counseling suspension" for up to two weeks before. This is an excused absence allowed on the condition that the parents seek behavioral counseling, and document it, for their child. This latest incident is his proverbial "last strike", and by no means an overreaction... nor was he abandoned over a single event.

Furthermore the Principal informed me that out of 864 students in that student body about 5 take up 50% of his disciplinary time. Is it fair that the other 859 suffer from class disruptions throughout the school year? I think not, thus three to four incidents for elementary students (5 for Jr. high & high schoolers) in our county of Nevada constitutes a "Habitual Disciplinary Status." These "incidents" must be on the level of completely disrupting the education process, i.e. class. And those arriving at that status are deemed eligible for expulsion. Whether it be for that, or weapons (which is automatic, no incident record or status needed), etc, certain criteria must be in place that state "here and no further." And I find that the only reasonable approach to take for several reasons:

One, it's the reality of life - there ARE unreachable kids, whether nurtured to be that way or nature - "born bad." There are going to be a certain percentage that can not adapt to the social norms of a class room setting and there MUST be triggers in place that deal with them, and one of those MUST be the option of expulsion.

Also ... you wrote ... It may not be the PRIMARY role of the school district to discipline our children, but it is their primary role to assist the parents of these children in raising happy, healthy, well-adjusted citizens.

I disagree. Their function is not one of rearing or raising or happiness quotients. It is education. Proper education does indeed entail a certain level of discipline in order to facilitate the educating of young minds, but their primary role is to impart information in a healthy environment - PERIOD. I will do the raising, moral teaching, happiness, etc. I want them to teach, and refrain those student who interfere in that - PERIOD.

You also mentioned my concern (or lack thereof) for that child and the plight that he will just become somebody else's problem - you may not know how correct you are. On the middle and high school level out here there exists "alternative schools" with instructors that specialize in anti-social children. This is where the expelled students go. And this difference is critical - they are expelled from that specific school, not the school system. Thus they are not abandoned to roam the streets, they are simply "reassigned." However, on the grades 1-6 level there is no alternative education facility. The expelled student is simply placed in a different "normal" public school within the school's district. An imperfect system to say the least. My point here is two fold. 1.) The child is not "abandoned", he still receives an education. 2.) Harsh as as is to say, my responsibility is to MY CHILD. My duty is to make sure he is not in a classroom nor school for which that child attends. The offending child and the new classmates he may put in danger in another school are not my immediate duty. It may sound harsh but it is the reality of parenting. Needles to say I am not a fan of "it takes a village."

Now, the inevitable question arises, what if you have a particularly bad child and he goes through all the elementary schools in the district, what then? Restart at the top of the batting order? Well clearly an alternative school, where specialists in juvenile anti-social behavior, as exists on the upper school levels, is needed. Short of that a behavioral specialist/educator, as exists for children with "special needs" needs to be assigned to each elementary, or even half would cover it if the ratio on average is 5 out of 800. In the same way they march the elementary age mentally handicapped students into my son's school each day, after the rest are in their class,with specialist instructors directing and teaching them, they need one for the anti-social among them. A more isolated, controlled environment with special precautions taken for safety (bag checks, no sharp art instruments etc).

Clearly this county has not addressed this situation on the elementary level. Their answer is to simply ship the offending student from school to school until he reaches middle school and can be sent to a designated alternative school, with everyone hoping he doesn't slit a throat with a box cutter in the mean time. I would address it (as a superintendent or governor, mayors are really out of the loop on this policy) in the way I described above. There is already a highly functioning special needs program within the elementary school system, add an "anti-social behaviorists education professional" to that roster, and give him or her a room. In lieu of those educators and politicians becoming a smart as I, I have to take the only options available to me taking into consideration my first responsibility - protect my offspring ... and unfortunately for that student (and the classmates of his next school) that means expelling him.

Expulsion

I completely understand your concerns, I do. My biggest issue here in NEPA is with the "No Child Left Behind" Act, which seems to be slowly but surely destroying the education system of this nation by forcing districts to teach to one, standardized test, rather than to a curriculum.

However, I would ask this one question of you:

Not knowing the laws of the State of Nevada, what would YOU do if it was your child that was facing the prospect of expulsion? I'm not defending the behavior you described from the offending child, but there is the possibility that the child was acting in a singular, not general, pattern. Is it fair that the child be expelled from the general education system of your district because of this? Could it be that the principal and vice principal might have been able to provide some kind of professional help for the child, or perhaps a specialized education plan that is better equipped to assist a child showing singular pattern aberrant behavior?

I am quite serious here, and would love to discuss how this could be addressed. Think of it as a "plank" in your future Presidential platform. How will candidate Moore address issues of education to the American public? In a society where Wii and Cartoon Network fill the roll of the more dated and traditional "nanny" in so many homes, is it not surprising that socially acceptable behavior is harder and harder to find?

I, too, find myself in a tough spot. My future son has just completed an "in-school" suspension for referring to a fellow classmate of Hispanic origins in a very un-flattering term. This, obviously, led to several conferences with his guidance councilors and a vice principal... all of which stated very clearly that WE (meaning the parents and the student) were in violation of the District's policies concerning discrimination. What if this behavior had led to the prospect of expulsion? The boy didn't even know what the words meant, he only knew they were nasty and he wanted to say something mean. Should he be expelled for that? Removed from the classmates and atmosphere that he has been surrounded by since kindergarten?

It may not be the PRIMARY role of the school district to discipline our children, but it is their primary role to assist the parents of these children in raising happy, healthy, well-adjusted citizens. Is this role best filled by simply expelling those that don't comply? That don't conform to the national yardstick?

The child in your son's class... the 9-year-old. As bad as the behavior was... do you really think that the 9 year old in question is beyond help? Three, perhaps four, incidents of bad behavior from a fourth grader constitutes "public enemy number one"? My point is simply that expulsion as a blanket answer to every single episode of aberrant behavior does nothing to address to problem, it only spreads the symptoms of the problem over a wider portion of the school district. While this may solve YOUR problem in the short term, does it make you feel any better about the values and moral judgement of the people educating your sons?

Hi class, my name is Mr. Ryan, and I'm a Mormon ...

"Hi Ryan", the class would reply ... it would almost sound as if I'm admitting to alcoholism, he,he.

Well, I can't tell you how flattered I am that you would entrust your class to me Jambo ... to impart on them the lesson plan you had in mind. I assume you'd give me a moment or two to look over it myself prior to Sunday ...he,he. It would be nice if the Bund was less scattered, no question there ... perhaps one of us will get a job in the future ... in D,C. perhaps ... that requires a well paid staff, hmmmm ... then perhaps we will arrange for a more congenial geographical disbursement of the Bund.

****

There is no greater evidence that the far-left of the liberal movement is absolutely as bereft of brains as they are bereft of morals than Bill Maher.

Of that there is no question. I am continually shocked at just how seething with hatred the Maher's of the world are for anything that represents "traditionalism." You can literaly hear it in their voice, see it on their face ... the only thing which gives me comfort is that SURELY these individuals are in the minority. For a fact I know that his ratings for an entire week are less then O'Reilly gets in a single night. And like or dislike the Limbaugh's, O'Reilly's, Hannity's etc (of which the last two are Catholics), they do defend a morally healthy, traditional ideology. The Maher's or Oberhmans seem to worship at the alter of bizzaro morals - up is down, day is night, Christians are evil and porn stars are role models.

That last bit was a reference to that train wreck of programming they call "The View." Unfortunately Ang has a sleeping habit of leaving the television on ABC. To change the volume or channel will break the hypnotic spell the orb box provides, thus awakening her. So, the practical affect is that I am subjected to - in a clear abridgment of my constitutional right not to be punished in cruel and unusual ways - The View as I get ready for work in the morning. One of the "gals", Joy Beyard (sp?) went on her own rant during the Pope's visit exclaiming how un-evolved the Church is (she claims she's a Catholic) when dealing with the Church abuse scandal - she wants female priests, she wants them to allow marriage for priests, etc. She also of course condemned the Pope for what she considered a "look the other way mentality." Now, in this SAME program they had a "profile in female courage" (my description). Their largest segment was dedicated to their female guest who was lauded with praise and support for having overcome depression, disease and divorce, and for holding her family (the children) together even as a working Mom. "Working" is the operative word there, for she was none other then Jenna Jameson the adult film mega star. That's right, in the same 60 minutes the panel bashed a sitting Pope and praised a "sitting" porn star ... like I said, up is down, day is night. And food for thought - did she ever consider that her marriage may have fell apart because, oh, I don't know - she's getting pounded by three guys and a monkey every day at work???! Sheeesh.

****

So, I live in a descent neighborhood, nice little gated community, nice, new school ... and Friday my son comes home with a printed "memo" to the parents of all in his individual class. Apparently a child sitting next to mine (whom has had anti-social leanings in the past), brandished a box cutter in class (9 years old mind you). The teacher was rapidly made aware of this and she demanded it from the child. He then - and they wrote exactly this in the note home - went to the front of the class, raised the blade from the handle and exclaimed, "Now I have something to kill someone with!" He then handed it over to the teacher. Class was suspended, statements were taken, the police called, the whole 9. So, the note didn't "note" on whether this student was expelled - obviously I didn't want him back in my son's class. So I walked into the school office this very morning and demand an immediate meeting with the principal. They note his busy schedule to which I responded - my child had to give a statement as a witness to a crime .. a STATEMENT ... I want to talk to the principal NOW. So 30 seconds later I find myself in a conference room with the principal and the vice principal. The Principal by the way is a PhD in education, and I found myself making certain unreassuring assumptions about his life philosophy regarding crime and punishment ... at any rate I cut right to the chase and explain that the minute that child is allowed to walk back into that class is the minute my son will walk out. By the way, this was not the offending child's first incident; the antisocial leanings I spoke of include throwing a chair in class at a little girl and throwing books and bottles of water at the teacher. At least 3 times he has disrupted the class this year and I was fed up as you might imagine - I mean these are the "warning signs" the news media speaks of officials having missed, after a student is killed of course. So I was conducting this meeting to be sure the staff concurred that a line had indeed been crossed and under the "zero tolerance" provision, the child had now been referred to the superintendent for expulsion.

Well, they assured me that they understood my concern, that they were taking the matter seriously, etc but only divulged that the child was currently "under suspension." I noted that this, by law, required expulsion - weapons fall under the zero tolerance provision as a Nevada state statute. He then explained that the responding officer didn't consider the box cutter a "weapon." I grew somewhat enraged and pointed out that there are families of 3,000 dead people in New York who would disagree!!! So I knew at that point the Principal thought the officers comments gave him proper cover to not request an expulsion. Unfortunately for them they were dealing with no average citizen. Rather "super citizen", printer of state statutes. I had with me two copies of the county's school district policies and procedures, pulled off their own website no less, which explained in great detail that not only does bringing the weapon on campus (weapon being "without limitation any type of knife or cutting device") give the Principal the right to request expulsion, but it COMPELS him to .. he has no option, no discretion in the matter. I pointed to the highlighted section on what I noted was henceforth his copy to keep, and explained that as we sit here now, he is in violation of NRS 392.466, not to mention his own school districts policies on reporting it to the superintendent. And, I noted, that no where in the document does it explain the criteria as one requiring a police officer to define the object as a weapon as a condition for the expulsion request! They looked at each other then the Principal looked back at me and said, "I'll file the request by the end of the day." And he gave me his direct line to follow up in the morning.

Amateurs ...