Lacking Conviction? Not Standing Up Against Racism? NOT YET ...

"Let's take a moment to understand what we've seen over the past several days."

Good idea. 

The BIGGEST lesson we can take from the "past several days" (in particular: 'tea party' v NAACP; the Sharrod charade) is the necessity to just step back, and digest the WHOLE story AND ALL OF ITS CONTENT, and ignore the triping tribbling knee-jerking reactionists who ultimately come out smelling like SHIT (and lots of shit: it's in their face, their hair, their mouth and throat; they're covered in it and because they took the bait and dove in face first).

So, based on what we have already seen from our leader in the White House: President Obama isn't waiting for the 'eye' of the shitstorm, he is waiting for the storm to pass. THEN we will hear from him, and I have every confidence that he will be graciously - yet firmly - profound. As always.

At the root of all this partisanship is something that deeply disturbs all Americans. We hear it underneath all the reactions from both sides. We all know that "united we stand, divided we fall." We know this old saying, and we know that the ever-increasing chasm between right and left is eroding our patriotic souls.

Any enemy of these United States is laughing out loud (LOL) at our slow - but sure - disintegration. And we are doing it to ourselves.Our president is extremely aware of this 'patriotic poisoning.' He is also aware of the role the media AND the government have in our population's perceptions. President Obama will respond accordingly, and will somehow attempt to soothe rather than irritate, extinguish rather than ignite, the growing flames of incivility between two polarized camps of patriotic persuasion. We are all united; we have lost focus and find ourselves pointing at each other rather than our true enemy.

Just step back and look at ourselves. It would be funny if it wasn't so damn destructive. Both sides (L <--> R) are motivated by the same flag! Both sides have America at the Heart of their arguments. Meanwhile, the media machine grinds out vitriol that can start a fire with the smallest of headlines. They point us at each other and say "There's the enemy!" Point in fact: now some have gone so far as to edit video that deliberately misleads everybody, including the White House. So: who is the enemy?!

If the White House has to apologize, then Breitbart (the not so bright blogger) and Faux Views (Fox News) have to pay. They should pay really big money. They should pay without argument or objection. They should pay fully and completely. They should empty their pockets. They should pay and pay and pay until we can no longer smell the shit on their collective breath.

Not just to Sharrod, but payment to the White House as well, and to me. And to you. And to every other American who has been pulled into this idiocy, to everybody who has wasted their precious time, emotion, and blood pressure, listening to this crime unfold. The 'tea party' v NAACP event was bad enough; but this Sharrod charade is scandalous, inexcusable, and vile to the core.

PAY UP and SHUT UP.
Period.

What happened to the First Amendment? What happened to learning from Scripture?

This IS an alarming headline, except for one thing. When writing "while standing on the Oval Plaza of the Court steps, the group began to pray quietly," I have to ask.

Were they praying quietly, or were they praying silently?

The word 'quietly' is - unfortunately - a subjective one. I have a neighbor who plays his radio so quietly, when he outside on his deck I have to close windows to attenuate his quietness.

There is scripture that scolds those who pray out loud in public (no matter how quietly they may be).

Matthew 6:5: "And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full."

Think about it. Pray about it (in private).

"DOUBLESPEAK" Federal court agrees with Connecticut's lawsuit YET Dismisses

This lawsuit presented by Connecticut -- and the subsequent decisions to dismiss the case-- needs to go all the way to the Supreme Court.

""Although the state is correct that the secretary's interpretation of the Unfunded
Mandates Provision is clear and that the parties have a concrete dispute about its meaning and constitutionality, the District Court did not err in concluding it would benefit from a more developed administrative record and that therefore this case is not yet fit for review," said the opinion by U.S. Circuit Judge Barrington D. Parker."

If Connecticut - one of our nation's most affluent education states - can't hold the federal government accountable, then it should be easy to guess how the poor states of the nation are 'getting along' with NCLB compliance. In fact, you don't have to guess. Just look around at various states' data, and their annual trends since NCLB's inception. Trends will show states are making progress, at least in the areas of state-wide testing and data collection (the only real conclusions the data reveals ... at best; some states know how to skew ...). These are commendable, considering they have been left to fend for themselves. But this isn't good enough, as many states fall short of NCLB's annual expectations.

Since the federal government cannot - will not - be accountable and fund the provisions set forth by the NCLB law, then states who cannot achieve success should be not be held accountable either.

"DoubleSpeak" is alive and well at the federal level of public education.

High School --> College: An unanswered Achievement Gap

This falls in the "no shit" category (i.e., this is NOT new information).

This [need for alignment] has been obvious since the advent of NCLB, and our nation's high schools subsequent scramblings for achievement (approval and funding hinge on this) at the lowest possible denominator.

Glenn Beck: an irrational national

Unlike Palin (who's simply an idiot), Beck's rants/raves are becoming more and more offensive (less and less rational, much less logical) simply because his ratings are worse than ever. Even his old standup supporters are scratching heads (and ballsacks).

This latest attempt to get attention is proof of his desperate state. He needs to be ostracized, shunned, and ignored. His thoughtlessly selfish broadcasts will end if nobody pays him attention anymore (because then nobody will pay him).

US Gvnmt to review measures for control of space-based weapons

What do mean: "do we have enough"?!
How many do we have?!
The linked article (Christian Science Monitor) is actually about surveillance of space-junk BUT the implications (and ambiguities) beg the question.
Do we - as American citizens - have the right to KNOW (1) how many "space-based weapons" are already in orbit and (2) who/what/where are they pointed?