Attempt to strip Byrd name from middle school

MoonHowler

byrd

Washingtonpost.com:

A Virginia school board is studying whether to rename a middle school that is named after one of the architects of Massive Resistance, a set of policies that aggressively pushed back against court-ordered integration of public schools in the 1950s and 1960s.

Parents and students supporting the name change at Harry F. Byrd Middle School in Henrico County, just outside Richmond, are confounded that their school could be named for a man who fought to keep black and white students from attending school together. The school’s population is now about evenly split between white students and minorities; about 20 percent of its students are black.

 

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Millennial commitment to fighting ISIS reverses with personal involvement

MoonHowler

Boots on the Ground

NPR.org:

In the wake of the Paris attacks, a majority of young Americans support sending U.S. ground troops to fight ISIS, according to a wide-ranging new poll from the Harvard Institute of Politics.

The institute has asked millennials about the idea of American boots on the ground at three different times this year, and the survey results have fluctuated somewhat, but there seems to be a “hardening of support.”

In this most recent survey, 60 percent of the 18- to 29-year-olds polled say they support committing U.S. combat troops to fight ISIS. But an almost equal number (62 percent) say they wouldn’t want to personally join the fight, even if the U.S. needed additional troops.

The disconnect in joining the fight comes down to how millennials feel about the government writ large, according to Harvard IOP Polling Director John Della Volpe.

“I’m reminded of the significant degree of distrust that this generation has about all things related to government,” said Della Volpe. “And I believe if young people had a better relationship with government … they’d be more open to serving.”

Yesterday, Wolve slapped down information on this subject–that millennials by about a 60-40  spread wanted the US to commit troops to combatting ISIS.  That seemed strange coming from young people.   Millennials make up more than 1 in 3 workers in the US work force and are defined as having ages ranging from 18 to 34 in 2015.

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Colbert “Trumps up” Jon Stewart over Zadroga Act

MoonHowler

 

Crooksandliars.com:

Stewart made an appearance on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert and continued to push Congress to do the right thing, and pass a permanent extension of the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act.

Colbert opened his show by having a bit of fun at Donald Trump’s expense and treating his audience to some footage of Trump having a some trouble with a bald eagle in a photo shoot (which we discussed here) and was interrupted by Stewart who explained he was there to draw attention to the cause of the 9-11 first responders and to get Congress to vote yes to extend their health benefits.
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Justice Scalia: When does spoken bigotry end?

MoonHowler
Cartoon by Rob Tornoe
Cartoon by Rob Tornoe

Huffingtonpost.com:

WASHINGTON — Do black students matter to Justice Antonin Scalia?

During oral arguments on Wednesday in Fisher v. University of Texas, a contentious affirmative action case, the conservative justice seemed to call their abilities into question.

“There are those who contend that it does not benefit African-Americans to get them into the University of Texas, where they do not do well,” Scalia said, “as opposed to having them go to a less-advanced school … a slower-track school where they do well.”

Scalia was engaging former U.S. Solicitor General Gregory Garre, who is now representing the University of Texas at Austin as the school defends its ongoing consideration of race as one of many factors in its admissions program.

Pointing to a brief the court received before oral arguments, Scalia noted “most of the black scientists in this country don’t come from schools like the University of Texas.”

Garre tried to interject, but the justice continued. “They come from lesser schools where they do not feel that … they’re being pushed ahead­­ in classes that are too fast for them,” Scalia said.

 

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The Trump consensus

MoonHowler

Something odd is happening on this blog.  It snuck up on me, through my haze of scotch.  (self confession is good for the soul)  Has anyone noticed that we had full consensus on Trump?  From Cargo to Ed….Trump has no supporters on this blog.

That must mean that Trump is a really bad candidate.

Let me throw this one out…what if Trump wins the Republican nomination.  what will party Republicans do?

I used to sit on the Democratic committee in Gainesville.   I stopped because I wanted to be able to vote for whom I wanted.  Real party people are expected to vote for whomever is that party’s nominee.  Some people just vote across party lines.  I do.  I don’t really care.

However, I think we have a sufficient number of people on this blog who couldn’t vote Democratic if you held a gun to their head.  Am I that far off?

 

 

Fox analyst banned for calling Obama a “pussy”

MoonHowler

TheHill.com:

A Fox News strategic analyst lashed out at President Obama Monday for his Oval Office address on fighting the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS).

“Look, Mr. President, we’re not afraid, we’re angry, we’re pissed off, we’re furious! We want you to react, we want you to do something!” retired Lt. Col. Ralph Peters said on Fox Business’s “Varney & Co.”

“You’re afraid!” Peters continued. “I mean, this guy is such a total pussy, it’s stunning.”
Host Stuart Varney rebuked Peters after the rant, saying, “I asked you what your reaction was, but … you can’t use language like that on the program.”
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Trump proposal: Ban all Muslims from entering the US

MoonHowler

Washingtonpost.com:

Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump called Monday for a “total and complete” ban on Muslims entering the United States, barring followers of the world’s fastest-growing religion because he considers the faith rooted in hatred and violence.

The proposal — which was quickly denounced by other candidates from both parties — marks the latest escalation of the virulent anti-Muslim and ­anti-immigrant rhetoric that has fueled his unlikely candidacy. It also came less than 24 hours after President Obama urged tolerance in an Oval Office address, saying the fight against terrorists should not “be defined as a war between America and Islam.”

But at a rally Monday night in South Carolina, Trump received a boisterous standing ovation as he shared the idea, telling the crowd that a ban is “common sense” and that his Muslim friends agree with him.

“We have no choice,” he said to cheers. “We have no choice. We have no choice.”

I suppose the fact that this move would be illegal and unconstitutional is OK with Trump supporters?

It’s actually frightening that his campaign has gotten as far as it has gotten.  He plays on fears and proposes what the ignorant want to hear, not what is actually possible.

The mainstream Republicans had better decide what they are going to do about him.  Can they disavow his rhetoric?  Can they distance themselves?  Can they simply tell him he can’t be a Republican?

How does Trump propose to tell if people are Muslim?  How would they be marked?  What would he do about American citizen Muslims who wanted to return home from visiting overseas?  What about American service personnel who just happened to be Muslim?

Do people have any idea how un-American  this kind of talk sounds?  No wonder some of them hate us.

 

A date that will live in infamy: Remembering Pearl Harbor

MoonHowler

 

74 years ago today.  On the east coast, people were just kicking back, relaxing on a Sunday afternoon.

I once asked my mother what she thought when she heard it. She told me that most of them didn’t know anything about Pearl Harbor. She also said she had no idea that Sunday afternoon on December 7, 1941, how drastically all their lives would be affected.

That date will live in infamy, as long as one person who knew someone of that era lives. After that, who knows. At the time, the attack was seen as a dastardly, cowardly act. It was and should still be seen that way.

Most of those who fought at Pearl Harbor that day are dead or they are very old men. However, a tremendous rallying call went out that day that called millions of young men to come serve their country and defeat the “Japs.” (forgive me, that was the expression for the enemy in those days)

Pearl Harbor is where it all began and it had a life altering affect on all of us who came afterwards. Pearl Harbor etched its mark in what it really means to be an American.

Your thoughts on this day?

New York Times Editorial : End the Gun Epidemic in America

MoonHowler

The following New York Times opinion piece by the editorial board  appeared on the front page of the newspaper on Saturday, December 5.  It is the first time an opinion has appeared on page 1 since 1920.

End the Gun Epidemic in America

It is a moral outrage and national disgrace that civilians can legally purchase weapons designed to kill people with brutal speed and efficiency.

All decent people feel sorrow and righteous fury about the latest slaughter of innocents, in California. Law enforcement and intelligence agencies are searching for motivations, including the vital question of how the murderers might have been connected to international terrorism. That is right and proper.

But motives do not matter to the dead in California, nor did they in Colorado, Oregon, South Carolina, Virginia, Connecticut and far too many other places. The attention and anger of Americans should also be directed at the elected leaders whose job is to keep us safe but who place a higher premium on the money and political power of an industry dedicated to profiting from the unfettered spread of ever more powerful firearms.

It is a moral outrage and a national disgrace that civilians can legally purchase weapons designed specifically to kill people with brutal speed and efficiency. These are weapons of war, barely modified and deliberately marketed as tools of macho vigilantism and even insurrection. America’s elected leaders offer prayers for gun victims and then, callously and without fear of consequence, reject the most basic restrictions on weapons of mass killing, as they did on Thursday. They distract us with arguments about the word terrorism. Let’s be clear: These spree killings are all, in their own ways, acts of terrorism.

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If you are too dangerous to fly….you are too dangerous to buy a gun

MoonHowler

jet

Washingtonpost.com:

While campaigning, Clinton focused in part on barring people on the government’s no-fly list from being able to purchase weapons, as they can now.

“If you are too dangerous to fly in America, you are too dangerous to buy a gun in America,” she said.

But House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) cast it as a Second Amendment issue.
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All combat jobs opened to women: GI Jane approved for real

MoonHowler

women-in-combat-williams-620x414

Washingtonpost.com:

Defense Secretary Ashton B. Carter said Thursday that he is opening all jobs in combat units to women, a landmark decision that would for the first time allow female service members to join the country’s most elite military forces.

Women will now be eligible to join the Navy SEALs, Army Special Forces and other Special Operations Units. It also opens the Marine Corps infantry, a battle-hardened force that many service officials had openly advocated keeping closed to female service members.

“There will be no exceptions,” Carter said. “This means that, as long as they qualify and meet the standards, women will now be able to contribute to our mission in ways they could not before.”

Carter’s announcement caps three years of experimentation at the Pentagon and breakthroughs for women in the armed services. Earlier this year, two female soldiers became the first women to ever graduate from the Army’s grueling Ranger School. But the Pentagon’s project also set off a bitter debate about how women should be integrated.

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Terrorism: What is it really?

MoonHowler

Washingtonpost.com:

Syed Rizwan Farook was looking for a wife. On at least two online sites, he posted details for prospective brides. “Religious but modern,” he apparently wrote on one. He made a point of noting his American citizenship on another.

How he ultimately made contact with Pakistan-born Tashfeen Malik remains unclear. But family members said Farook traveled to Saudi Arabia, where Malik was living, and that they returned to Southern California as a couple and began a life in quiet Redlands, an area of ranch houses and once lush lawns now browned by drought.

Wednesday morning, they dropped off their 6-month-old daughter with Farook’s mother, according to family members. Sometime around midday, police say they donned masks and armed themselves with assault rifles and handguns before storming a holiday party hosted by the county health agency where Farook worked. At least 14 people died. Hours later, 28-year-old Farook and 27-year-old Malik were dead by police gunfire just two miles from the massacre site.

It certainly sounds like Farook was radicalized.  That sure didn’t take long.  He wanted a woman who was religious but modern.  I struggle to understand why someone wants us dead because of Allah.   It makes no sense.Read More

County CXO Melissa Peacor announces retirement

MoonHowler

Moonhowlings blog wishes CXO Melissa Peacor a very heartfelt batch of good wishes for a most joyous retirement.  There is just nothing like facing the holidays knowing that very soon, you can hang  it up, get up in the morning, enjoy that cup of coffee, and it is all someone else’s problem.

Yes, I can relate, first hand. I look back fondly on my own retirement from PWC.  I took it to a  level that involved lunch a couple times a week at City Tavern in addition to that cup of coffee at the window watching the birds..   Sweet!

Back to reality…It’s also no secret that Ms. Peacor had 30 years of service and was planning on retiring around the holidays.  If one is known to keep one’s mouth shut, you find out a lot.  Ms. Peacor’s exit was planned well in advance.  Good for her and I wish her all the best.   VRS cuts a sweet pay check, especially at her level.

I also thank her for her years of service to Prince William County.   She has overseen Prince William County’s transition  from a one horse town to a large suburban county with a population of over 400,000 and a triple A bond rating.

Congratulations, Melissa Peacor.