Virginia allows government to conceal concealed gun permits

MoonHowler
Conceal us! Conceal us!Don't tell anyone!
Conceal us! Conceal us!
Don’t tell anyone!

Washingtonpost.com:

The Virginia General Assembly on Thursday passed legislation that would seal the records of all concealed handgun permits, handing a victory to gun owners who said the  measure would ensure their privacy and perhaps their safety from criminals who might use such information to target them.

“We’ve been wanting this for years,” said Philip Van Cleave, president of the Virginia Citizens Defense League. “It wasn’t as much about guns as it was about privacy.”

The bill – which began in the evenly divided Senate as a measure that would shield only the identities of permit holders who also had protective orders – was later amended in the GOP-led House to prohibit disclosure of information on anyone with a concealed handgun permit.

The House’s version carried by a 76 to 23 vote. On Thursday, the Senate passed the amended bill by a vote of 31 to 9. It now heads to the governor’s desk.

Read More

Stand and Fight? LaPierre goes for the fear factor

MoonHowler

Wayne LaPierre issued a statement to the Daily Caller in the form of an essay:

(excerpt)

Before I tell you how the NRA and our members are going to Stand And Fight  politically and in the courts, let’s acknowledge that all over this country,  tens of millions of Americans are already preparing to Stand And Fight to  protect their families and homes.

These good Americans are prudently getting ready to protect themselves.

It has always been sensible for good citizens to own and carry firearms for  lawful protection against violent criminals who prey on decent people.

Read More

McDonnell proposes amendments to restrict Virginians’ access to abortion

MoonHowler

gov ultrasound

From NARAL Pro-Choice Virginia:

Gov. Bob McDonnell has stayed quiet on reproductive rights issues so far this legislative session, but now his anti-choice agenda is back in action with proposed amendments to restrict Virginians’ access to abortion.

Gov. McDonnell is working behind the scenes in Richmond to push for a ban on health-insurance coverage for abortion care in plans participating in the new health- insurance exchange. It’s an unacceptable attempt to further restrict abortion access by meddling in the coverage private insurance plans can offer.
The House of Delegates and state Senate are considering bills to get Virginia ready to implement the new health-insurance exchange system set out under the federal Affordable Care Act. Gov. McDonnell is pushing for amendments on these bills that would ban abortion care from being covered by any plans sold in the exchange.

Read More

Nugent and Sheila Jackson Lee–NOT soul mates

MoonHowler

I thought Rep. Jackson-Lee was going to hurl. However, she was very gracious.
Nugent was oily, put his hands on her when not invited to do so, and was oh so full of himself, but other than those tings, was polite, engaging and yes, braggiose.  He kept his opinion of Hillary to himself.

He did suck up and try to entice her by with his remarks about black musicians in the early days of Rock n Roll which predated even Nugent. However the dig about Peter, Paul and Mary was just stupid. They were an entirely different genre of music.

So to all those who asked “Where’s the Nuge?” I hope I have answered your question. He really should have worn a tie. That’s just what you do. Hell, he could have even worn a bolo tie. A bolo would have allowed him to keep his Texas cred.

Court Watch: Antonin Scalia says State Of The Union Is A ‘Childish Spectacle’

MoonHowler

scalia

Justice Scalia is probably right. He also hasn’t been to the SOTU Address for the past 16 years, regardless of who is president. Scalia says he doesn’t want to give dignity to the event. Salia further adds that the justices can’t clap for much of anything other than when the president says, America is a great country. The rest of the time, they keep their eyes on the Chief Justice to see when clapping is appropriate.

Justice Scalia also told tales out of school.  He revealed that on a hunting trip, Justice Elena Kagan is turning into quite the hunter.  She dropped a white tail doe with one shot while some of them were on a hunting trip in Wyoming.  .  She had no hunting experience before joining the court.  Scalia quipped that even though they had a license for shooting mule deer and antelope, they never saw any.  He said Kagan could have shot the white tail in his driveway without having to go to Wyoming.  (yea, Tony, but was it doe season?)

Read More

Indiana high school kids petition for ‘traditional prom’

MoonHowler

Kids who attend Sullivan High School in Indiana are petitioning to have a ‘traditional prom.’   Just what do they mean by ‘traditional?’  They want gays banned from attending.

Huffingtonpost.com:

A group of Indiana-based parents, teens and even a teacher is fighting for a separate “traditional” prom that would ban gay students.

As NBC 2/My Wabash Valley is reporting, special education teacher Diana Medley is defending a group of Sullivan High School students who are arguing in favor of the alternate prom.
Read More

State of the Union Address and Ted Nugent

MoonHowler

nugent 3

Rep. Steve Stockman, who recently threatened President Obama with impeachment over his executive orders regarding guns,  is allowed to bring one guest to the State of the Union Address.  He plans on bringing Ted Nugent who sits on the Board of Directors at the NRA.   That would be fine except for the fact that the Secret Service had to pay Mr. Nugent a little visit about a year and a half ago over his mouth flashing at an NRA convention.  Mr. Nugent told a crowd  that  he will “either be dead or in jail by this time next year” if Obama is re-elected.

The Secret Service and probably the Capitol Police  should deny admission to Ted Nugent.  His comments were taken seriously enough that the Secret Service paid him a visit.  He can just sit out the State of the Union Address.  There are too many important people all under one roof to allow someone who has shown as little good judgement as Nugent to have access.

Read More

Lindsay Graham to block Hagel, Brennan confirmation until he gets information

MoonHowler

Senator Lindsay Graham says he will stall the votes to confirm Hager or Brennan for their respective posts until he gets the information he wants on Benghazi. Specifically he wants to know what the President was doing the night of September 11, 2012.

He is claiming complete “system failure” that night.

Graham is full of accusations and says he will not back down.

Why is he holding up 2 administrative appointments over some other issue? Graham needs to stop his childish games, quit playing politics, and get on with the senate confirmation. These are critical posts and eat nominee deserves an up or down vote.

2009 Teacher of the Year: Teachers Should be Seen and Not Heard

MoonHowler
Teachers should be seen but not heard
Teachers should be seen but not heard

The 2009  National Teacher of the Year Anthony Mullen’s famous blog post, “Teachers Should Be Seen and Not Heard” is a must-read for everyone who has children or who remotely has anything to do with education, including hiring recent graduates.   After listening to noneducators bloviate about schools and teaching without once asking for his opinion, he was finally asked what he thought. He offered the following opinion:

I am a fly on the wall sitting at a table.

 

Seated at a round table are three state governors, one state senator, a Harvard professor and author, and a strange little man who assumes the role of group moderator. The strange little man asks the group to talk about their experiences at the education conference. The ex governor from the South begins to talk about how the traditional school model is not working and the problem of too many teachers who do not understand what they teach. Teachers, he complains, are not prepared to teach in 21st century classrooms because they possess, in his words, “only 20th century skills.” He does not provide specific examples or elaborate upon his theory but the other guests at the table nod their heads in agreement.

Read More

McDonnell should get an F

MoonHowler

Governor McDonnell’s Grade

F report card

Yes, we have discussed this topic before.  However, it is getting very close to becoming a reality.  Most educators are horrified.  The politicians all love it.  Parent opinion is mixed.  Just wait until their kid’s school doesn’t get an A.  Then there will be a hue and cry.  NCLB looked good on paper also.  Don’t judge a book by its cover.

Washington Post:

The House of Delegates passed legislation Monday that would assign letter grades to public schools in Virginia just as teachers grade students from A to F.

The bill, a conspicuous piece of Gov. Bob McDonnell’s education reforms, won final House passage on a bipartisan 54-40 vote with six delegates not voting.

Egging McDonnell on was Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal who said that this plan helped improve his state’s schools.  For starters, Virginia isn’t Louisiana.  The two states have very different demographics.

Read More

Westboro in the news….again

MoonHowler

phelps

This time Westboro is in the news over something good, because something bad happened to them.

Huh?   Important people left the cult.

Washingtonpost.com:

Westboro’s back in the news this week, but not for its usual hate-filled protests at the funerals of soldiers or victims of mass shootings. No, the organization, which has fewer than 100 members, is down two more now that Megan Phelps-Roper and her sister Grace, granddaughters of Westboro founder Fred Phelps, have publicly announced their departure. Megan was well-known as the “face” of the organization, using social media to spread the group’s message.

Read More

Clifton Republican women draw criticism because of Hijab lecture

MoonHowler

Laurie Jaghlit, Share the Quran project

Washingtonpost.com:

The notice in the Fairfax Station Patch on Tuesday was brief, but to Laurie Jaghlit it felt like a punch in the gut.

At the next meeting of Republican Women of Clifton, a guest speaker would discuss “the treatment of women in Islamic society and how she believes the Hijab is a catalyst for Islamic terrorism.” The Feb. 20 meeting would take place at Fairview Elementary School, five miles from Jaghlit’s house.

Jaghlit, a 52-year-old grandmother who raised nine children in Fairfax Station and Herndon, wears the hijab, or Islamic head covering. She had heard about talks like this in other parts of the country but had never confronted the issue so close to home.

Read More

School system staves off book banning attempt in Fairfax

MoonHowler

wickedwitch

Washington Post:

The book Laura Murphy wants removed from Fairfax County classrooms is considered a modern American classic. It is a Pulitzer Prize winner and a masterpiece of fiction whose author’s 1993 Nobel Prize in literature citation said that she, “in novels characterized by visionary force and poetic import, gives life to an essential aspect of American reality.”

But Toni Morrison’s “Beloved,” Murphy said, depicts scenes of bestiality, gang rape and an infant’s gruesome murder, content she believes could be too intense for teenage readers.

“It’s not about the author or the awards,” said Murphy, a mother of four whose eldest son had nightmares after reading “Beloved” for his senior-year Advanced Placement English class. “It’s about the content.”

Read More