The quality of the stream and the sound of the music was amazing. I thought for sure they’d have technical issues with so many people tuning in for a STREAMING broadcast. But it was flawless! I was witness to something special tonight. Now they’re rebroadcasting and I’m going to have to force myself to go to bed. Five o’clock comes too early!! So much for getting to bed early tonight. It was worth it! They better come to Salt Lake City on their second North American leg of the tour!

Similar Posts:

• Utah's Brett Banford Representin' on “So You Think You Can Dance”  May 28, 2008
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The membership of the PTA are strong supporters of parent involvement, as much as any organization out there if not the most!  We’re also strong proponents of local control.  We also believe in working with our legislators so that the laws that are passed are in the best interest of all children.  It was with great effort that members of the Utah PTA Board met with Senator Bramble to work out a compromise.  Based on the compromise (which took out the anti-PTA language) the voting members cast their vote to support the substitute bill.  The very next day Senator Bramble paraded the PTA leadership on the Senate floor and praised them for their efforts to come to a compromise.

A week went by and we met again as we do on a weekly basis during the Legislative session.  We review the positions we have taken on various bills where the children of Utah are at stake and we discussed SB 199 again.  During the time between the compromise and the next meeting we began to understand some unintended consequences of the bill, even in its new form that we had previously agreed upon.  There was much debate as we discussed the ramifications of changing positions on a bill that we had previously taken a position on.  There were several consequences to consider, including 1) we had worked with legislators and come to an agreement.  2) Legislators were working on “good faith” assumptions. and 3) there were many political reasons why we shouldn’t change our position, despite the unintended consequences of the bill.  But when it came down to it, the voting members of LAC stood up for what was right, regardless of the consequences that might follow. Understanding that if the bill passed and became law, it would be bad law even with good intention (and I have some reservations about the original intent of the bill, especially since it contained “kill-the-PTA” language) because of the position it would put district superintendents and school principals in.  To fully understand the unintended consequences please read the talking points written by Holly Langton, Alison Walker, Sue Carey and other dedicated PTA Officers and Commissioners.

The original bill, SB 199, was opposed by Utah PTA.  PTA members mounted a great lobbying effort to have changes made to the bill.  The result of that effort was 1st Substitute SB 199.  There were still some concerns with portions of the bill, but Utah PTA was supportive of the fact that parental involvement is essential in every child’s education to support student success.  Therefore, Utah PTA took a position of support on the substitute bill.  Since that vote, additional input and information has been received from our attorneys and PTA members, and we have become convinced that 1st Sub SB 199 will not accomplish the goal of increasing parental involvement in our schools and may even have the potential to decrease involvement.

On March 4, Utah PTA’s Legislative Action Committee voted to change the position to on 1st Sub SB 199 to “Support the Concept.”  We appreciate Senator Bramble’s efforts to increase parental involvement in the schools, and we thank him for including Utah PTA in his efforts.  Utah PTA reaffirms its intention of working with all public school groups in an effort to serve the best interests of all children and youth.   However, the overarching concern is that much of the language in the bill takes away the authority of the “School.”  The administrator needs to make decisions based on the best interest of the school and its students.  The language of this bill puts administrators between “a rock and a hard place,”  forced into the position of deciding what is in the best interest of the parent groups, rather than keeping the focus on the students (lines 44-46).  For example, if a school permits a parent group to sponsor an assembly on a specific issue, then the school must allow other parent groups to sponsor an assembly on the issue.  If the administrator feels that one assembly on that topic is all that is necessary or can be justified in taking up class time, then the only recourse for the administrator is to not allow any parent group to sponsor the assembly.  If this becomes a recurring situation for an administrator, it could seriously hamper parental involvement or activities sponsored by parent groups in a school.

Concerns with the bill language:

What is required to be a “legally organized parent or parent/teacher group, association or organization” (lines 29-30)?

What are “patrons of the school” (line 31)?

Why are employees and officers of the entities included in the definition of the “School” (line 35)? Does this language preclude them from joining a group, because they would be seen as endorsing, supporting, sanctioning, or giving approval to one group over another (lines 53-54)?  Can a teacher be assigned to assist only one group and not be seen as endorsing?  Many employees who are parents of children in the school where they work might not be allowed to join one parent group without joining them all.

Individual employees, especially in secondary schools, may have a vested interest in a specific parent group.  For example, the band teacher would want to be involved with the band booster group but not necessarily the basketball parent group.  Would they be required to join all those parent groups in order to support the band group and not favor one over the other (lines 35 and 53-54)?

Would schools now be responsible to ensure that parent groups complete their annual IRS filings and have written fiscal management procedures, conflict of interest policies, and record-retention policies (lines 55-59)?  A school cannot be responsible for all the “applicable laws, rules, regulations, and policies” with which a parent group should comply.  This would take time and energy away from the students.

I couldn’t explain all the complexities of the unintended consequences any better than that.  Unfortunately there are other consequences that we’ll now have to deal with, but they won’t affect the children of Utah nearly as much as this bad law would.  I’m proud to be a member of an organization that will stand up for the children and stay true to their word, first and foremost, that they act in the best interest of all children.  What a noble and great act!  I would be ashamed if they took any other action.  They did the right thing!  No matter how mad Senator Bramble and Representative Lockhart are about the change in course, no matter how badly radio and newspapers spin it, the Utah PTA can be proud that they did the right thing.  Read their mission statement and ask yourself how they could possibly do anything different:

The Mission of the PTA is three-fold:

• To support and speak on behalf of children and youth in the schools, in the community, and before governmental bodies and other organizations that make decisions affecting children;
• To assist parents in developing the skills they need to raise and protect their children; and
• To encourage parent and public involvement in the public schools of this nation.

I rest my case…but you haven’t heard the last of me yet!Similar Posts:

• PTA Parents Know Best – New Referendum 1 Ad  October 23, 2007
• Partisan State School Board discussed at Education Interim Committee meeting.  November 24, 2007
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• Utah School Vouchers- D. Sirmize's Take  September 17, 2007
• Responsible decisions being made in Tooele  January 28, 2009

One comment Heather made during the interview that didn’t go live was about her trust in the board members that we elected to make decisions on our behalf.  I would like to echo that sentiment and thank the Tooele County School Board and Administration for making some really tough decisions about the future of our children.  I have no doubt that they deliberated hard and long and thought about the impact that their judgment would have on our children.   I hope that despite tough times, public school funding will continue as more difficult decisions are made in the 2009 Legislative session.

While it may be prudent to tighten the proverbial belt in uncertain times, it would be irresponsible if we didn’t continue to make education a priority.  It’s the same type of decision that we all make in our own families when the budget is tight.   A responsible family doesn’t spend a lot of money on vacations if they’re not going to have enough money to pay their bills.  If that still doesn’t cut it, a responsible family cancels their cable TV and they figure out other ways they can save money, even when it means  a little discomfort on the part of the parents.  The very last person to suffer (if at all) is the child.

Parents sacrifice a lot to make sure their children are happy, and it shouldn’t be too much different when it comes to our schools.  We all want the best for our children and  Tooele County School District is making the same types of decisions that fall right in line with the decisions a  responsible family would be making.  Of course, with tough decisions comes some tough criticism.  As long as it is constructive and not hostile, I’m sure the Board would love to hear from you.  They meet again on February 3 at 6:30 p.m. at the District Office.

Video Courtesy of KSL.com
(Begins with a short commercial)Similar Posts:

• Tooele County School Board Says Farewell to Superintendent  May 20, 2008
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• PTA Stands Up For Children, Regardless of Consequences  March 6, 2009
• PTA Parents Know Best – New Referendum 1 Ad  October 23, 2007

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In the meantime, I thought I’d make one observation about the conservative vs. liberal personality- at least when it comes to Internet media.

I’ll be perfectly honest- when it comes to the blogosphere, the Left all but has the market cornered. For every decent conservative blog in cyberspace, there are several hard-hitting liberal blogs. Lately I’ve filled my spare time commenting on a host of them (because let’s face it, it’s much more convenient to react to somebody’s content than create your own- plus stirring up pots in the Left wing of the blogosphere fills my soul with delight).

Liberals pride themselves on their influence and organization when it comes to the Web. I’ll hand it to them, they’ve utilized the Web very wisely in recent years. But outside the arena of ideas (where we eat their lunch every day), the huge difference between liberals and conservatives on the Web is the former’s utter inability to laugh at themselves and the latter’s irreverent sense of humor (this is also true in the world of stand-up comedy. Other than Mark Marin, I can’t think of a single liberal comedian that’s ever truly made me laugh). The fact that we can laugh at both ourselves and them is a long-term advantage.

What sparked this post was a comment Obama made the other day at a speech in Beaverton, Oregon:

“Over the last 15 months, we’ve traveled to every corner of the United States. I’ve now been in 57 states? I think one left to go. Alaska and Hawaii, I was not allowed to go to even though I really wanted to visit, but my staff would not justify it.”

57 states, huh? Impressive indeed!

Now of course I give the guy a break. He’s got to be exhausted, and when all you do is talk all day you’re bound to say something dumb.

But don’t throw conservatives a softball and expect them not to hit it out of the park.

Suitably Flip has produced and is now selling the official Barack Obama 57 state lapel pin!

This pin is even funnier now that Barack has apparently started wearing a U.S. Flag lapel pin, after dismissing the practice earlier in the campaign as “a substitute for true patriotism.”

The more I learn about Barack Obama, the more I’m convinced that Hillary would make a much better president. But one thing’s for sure, conservatives in cyberspace will have just as much fun flaming him as we’ve had flaming her.Similar Posts:

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• My Favorite Political Blogs  May 15, 2006

• New Blog Emerges in Blogosphere  April 26, 2007
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Do you know who Che Guevara is? Probably not. But you know what he looks like. You know, the t-shirt. The one you see at night clubs, college campuses, and leftist protests across the country. The famous posterized image was even recently spotted on the streets of Baghdad. But I’m willing to bet 300 carbon offsets that outside of Latin America, nobody knows anything about the guy gracing their $30 t-shirts. I’m not going to waste space on the guy. Google him if you care. Better yet, Wikipedia him.

The only thing that bugs me worse than political stupidity is fads. The Atkins diet, beanie babies, Survivor. They hit the pop culture scene, drive hordes to obsession, then disappear as quickly as they came. Ok, so Survivor hasn’t yet been voted off the island, but when was the last time you heard “Sorry, I can’t tonight. Survivor’s on.”

Today it’s myspace, organic food, and “going green.” Of course if I were smart and would have been the guy who invented these things, I’d be on sitting on some beach counting my stacks of green.

Today’s Che Guevara is Al Gore. Who’da thought? Some turds just don’t flush. Seven years ago I would never have believed that Al Gore would lead pop culture’s pantheon of idols. Of course Gore would be nothing if his pet cause hadn’t taken the world by storm. Al Gore has become the face of Global Warming. And he’s recruited quite a cabinet of indoctrination pros- Hollywood, national news media, academia, and education. Musicians like Pearl Jam croon about green living while distinguished climate experts like Sheryl Crow and Leonardo DiCaprio preach about conserving toilet paper and living “carbon neutral” lifestyles. Network news reporters poo-poo even the most intellectual challenges to Global Warming theory and college professors teach it as gospel. Even red state elementary schools have made “An Inconvenient Truth” a curriculum staple (never mind that the premise of this Gore flick is shaky and packed with exaggerations and stretched truths).

Global warming will go down in history as the super fad of modern times. I’m constantly amazed at how it has gripped the country. I recently attended a large educational conference whose keynote speaker was Bill Nye (the Science Guy). The subject of his speech, as stated in the conference program, was “promoting educational technology.” After a few self-serving stories about his various inventions, the lovable geek we all grew up watching on PBS launched a tirade on Global Warming (known nowadays by it’s current fad name, “climate change”). Nye told the several thousand educators present that their main goal should be to raise awareness of the dangers of global warming. He ended with the following:

“We are facing a serious business here on Earth; we are facing a very serious future unless we get on it,” he warned. “This is where we, as educators, must change the world.”

I think I was the only one that didn’t give him a standing ovation. So much for educational technology. Can I get a refund?

Come on, you say. Climate change isn’t a fad. It’s science. Al Gore says so. Well there’s plenty about this “science” that doesn’t sit right with me, which I’ll discuss in subsequent posts. Even if the science is sound and humans are indeed affecting global climate, today’s climate change chic is still a fad. And like all other fads, most of the people wearing the t-shirts don’t have a clue what’s behind the graphic. And also like all other fads, it will be gone once the hype dries up.

Now I consider myself an environmentalist. I love nature and I contribute annually to several conservation organizations. I drive a fuel efficient vehicle, recycle, and actively oppose unwise land development in my county. I believe humans should be good and wise stewards of the earth. Climate change I can believe, but I’m not so quick to believe the change is caused by humans. But even if any of the hype pans out, there are a few things about the hysteria that bug the hell out of me:

1. Al Gore. Ok, you must realize by now that I think Al Gore is a lying, hypocritical, steaming pile. I couldn’t stand him during the Clinton years and I can’t stand him now. The man has no credibility and I’ve never understood his appeal. The best way to convince me of something’s falsity is to have Al Gore promote it.

2. Celebrity activists. First of all, to think your average celebrity has any sense of reality is ridiculous. How much in common with the everyday Joe do actors and musicians have? And they’re telling me how to live my life? Shut up and sing.

3. Carbon offsets. Nothing like buying off guilt.

4. Indoctrination. Despite what Al Gore and Bill Nye say, global warming science is not set in stone. There is a difference between scientific hypothesis and scientific law. I’m no scientist but I’ve read enough to know that there are many, many climate experts who seriously doubt the theory of human-caused global warming. But you’ll never hear them on the news and your kids will never read their side of the story in school. On the other hand, Gore’s “An Inconvenient Truth” is required viewing in many American schools. It is widely shown in elementary schools. Some students have reported seeing the movie several times in several classes. I do not pay thousands of dollars in taxes for the government to ram these things down my kids’ throat.

5. Purging dissidents. Scientists who have doubts about Global Warming theory face a modern-day witch hunt. Just ask Oregon state climatologist George Taylor, who faces possible removal by Governor Ted Kulongoski because his views aren’t in line with “the consensus.” John Christie, Alabama state climatologist, told Cybercast News Service “It seems if scientists don’t express the views of the political establishment, they will be threatened and that is a discomforting thought.” Read the New York Times or watch a network newscast. Anybody skeptical of man-made global warming is painted as a marginal hack funded by Big Oil, while the fact that global warming alarmists are openly paid by environmentalist groups and far-left foundations goes unscrutinized. I’m no expert on Democracy, but since when was silencing critics a democratic value?

Global warming alarmists may be able to indoctrinate a sizable portion of our kids, but as long as they promote their agenda by fad, they’ll never reach adults with half a brain. I anxiously await the day when celebrities and scientists alike will lament the fact that they tarnished their names with the global warming fad- like an old lady regrets getting that huge tatoo on her back in her younger, more ignorant days. Environmental problems can only be tackled with true open debate, exhaustive peer review, and politics-free analysis.

Thanks to Glenn Beck for the awesome Al Gorevara graphic! Somebody should put that on a t-shirt…
Similar Posts:

• Al Gore and the Profitable Politics of Global Warming  March 15, 2007
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My Pal Rocky’s at it again, bravely leading the charge to impeach President Bush, and Tyler and I were there to snap some pictures. The crowd was notably smaller than at Rocky’s last protest and it seemed not quite as peppy as last year’s party. But it was amusing nonetheless. We recognized the troubled youth bucket brigade from last time, but no sign of the paper mache Bush. There was a nice flag-draped homemade coffin that really impressed. And what would a good left-wing protest be without an abundance of Mercedes Benz peace signs? Enjoy.

al Quaida?

Not to mention the many mixed messages that were shared through various conflicting or misspelled signs; some beautifully decorated (such as another Mercedes Benz peace sign), others a mere scribbling.

I’ve said before that I think protests are just plain stupid. I wonder what a protest rally would be like, sans the press. It seems the only people there are the speakers, the sign-holders, and people like Tyler and I who are simply there for the entertainment value. Then there are the press, who seem to flock to the City-County Building like paparazzi every time Rocky passes gas. Today’s rally will be followed up with a silent candlelight march this evening. Won’t that be special!

UPDATE:  Couldn’t resist popping over for the candlelight march.  There were maybe 50 people in all marching from the Federal Building to City Creek Park.  A lot less yelling, but more colorful protestors.  I snapped a few shots with my phone.

See also: Death to Israel Rally in Salt Lake City, Let’s Talk Some Smack, Shall We?Similar Posts:

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I’m absolutely amazed at the Utah media’s reaction to Monday’s shooting rampage. To be fair, there have appropriately been many tributes to the off-duty Ogden police officer who led the charge that ended the violence. I believe he was inspired 1) to be there that night, and 2) to have brought his firearm, which he didn’t originally plan to do. Perhaps if Officer Hammond had not been the soul person in that complex with a gun, the fatality count might have even been lower, but that’s a rant for a different post.

In the days following, Utah and national media have attempted to whitewash the incident by ignoring the Muslim connection and painting Sulejman Talovic as a victim.

The LDS-owned Deseret News leads today’s paper with an arguably sympathetic article:

The atrocities of war and “ethnic cleansing,” and the pressures of daily life in a new country after he immigrated to the United States, could have created immense pressure on Talovic, according to Greg Jurkovic, a psychology professor at Georgia State University who has studied Bosnian teenagers in both Atlanta and Sarajevo.

“What we’re finding is that so many of these kids are suffering from PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder),” he said. “What seems to be most important is what they were exposed to, their war exposure.” Jurkovic said it is not being a victim of violence that automatically causes some people to perpetrate it. Instead, he said it is the constant “everyday stressors” — including poverty and the effects of losing ties to family back home in Bosnia-Herzegovina.

Now I’m all about getting to the roots of a problem, and I don’t doubt Malovic’s traumatic childhood played a role in his actions Monday. What bothers me about the Deseret News’ reporting is that it borders on rationalizing the rampage. The News follows this article with an editorial (formatted as a news article) decrying anybody even daring to wonder if Malovic’s religion was a factor.

On ultraconservative Web sites like littlegreenfootballs.com, the story of Monday’s shooting rampage at Trolley Square has been reduced to one fact: “Salt Lake City Killer Was a Muslim.”

There is no record that Talovic attended any of the mosques in the Salt Lake area, according to both Tarek Nosseir, a spokesman for the Islamic Society of Greater Salt Lake, or Bobby Darvish of Muslim Forum. Nosseir noted that many Bosnian Muslims are more secular than religious.

The authors of the article then utterly destroy their credibility by quoting CAIR, Islamofacism’s PR arm here in the U.S.

“Welcome to my world,” said Ibrahim Hopper (sic), communications director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations in Washington, D.C., about the angry e-mails. “I get tons of it every day.”

Had the Deseret News not been so eager to dismiss any religious influence on Malovic’s killing spree, they might have discovered that Mr. Hooper is no stranger to radical Islam. They might have also spelled his name correctly in the article.

While I’m sure many reasonable people sent reasonably-worded emails scolding the News for avoiding reporting Malovic’s religion, the authors focus only on the most vitriolic. Nobody reasonable is outright accusing Malovic of killing people under the banner of Islam. But what floors me is the widespread effort to unequivocally deny that his Muslim faith played any role in the motive.

All week, SLPD has claimed they know very little about Malovic. And if SLPD knows very little about him, rest assured the public knows even less. Yet KSL, the Deseret News, and Rocky Anderson know without doubt that Malovic’s religion had nothing to do with it.

To use a Glenn Beckism, blood’s about ready to shoot out of my eyes.

What’s worse is a staggering effort to turn any discussion of Islam into a racist issue. Keith Roderick has an excellent piece in Tuesday’s American Thinker that addresses this point:

“Islamophobia,” coined as a term to describe prejudice and fear against Muslims and Islam, has gained institutional legitimacy. It is now used to fend off criticism of anything negative arising from Muslims or Islam. Less a psychological state of irrational fear, it creates a pseudo-racial classification for Muslims and Islam that allows criticism of, or opposition to it, to be defined as racist.

Understandably, Salt Lake City officials are looking to avoid a backlash against the estimated 10,000 Bosnians living here. But SLPD Chief Chris Burbank’s comments this morning on KNRS AM make Roderick’s point precisely:

“I really hate to see some of the rhetoric that’s going around and the bias and the prejudice and really, outright hatred towards another race, towards another group of people, based solely on an individual’s actions.”

Ok, hold it right there, Chief. I eat, sleep, and breathe Salt Lake City and I haven’t heard so much as a word against Bosnians or their race. But let’s assume for a moment that you really don’t mean to equate suspicions about Malovic’s religion with discrimination against Bosnians. If you are detecting an anti-Muslim prejudice, it’s not based solely on one individual’s actions, sir. Who’s responsible for most mass slayings these days? Sure, “every religion has its extremists.” But then again you don’t read a lot of news stories about scientologists mowing down innocents in crowded marketplaces these days, do you?

Of course it must be noted that Chief Burbank was personally chosen for his position by uber-liberal Mayor Rocky Anderson. While Burbank (and Rocky for that matter) should be praised for SLPD’s flawless response to the incident, the man is drunk with Rocky’s PC Kool-Aid. It’s a bit alarming when the chief of police rules out any religious connection before the evidence comes in.

So who is more unreasonable here- those of us who refuse to rule Islam out as a potential factor until the evidence is in, or those who are already just certain it wasn’t?

I’ll reiterate what I say on a daily basis- the road to America’s downfall is paved with political correctness. Especially as it relates to radical Islam. Political correctness originates in the former Soviet Union, where citizens who dared voice a disagreement with communism were sent away to re-education camps until those views were corrected. In an America where anybody who questions Islam’s “peaceful” role in the world is condemned as a racist bigot, one wonders if our collective ideology is closer to that of Washington’s or Lenin’s.

UPDATE: One more thing about the media’s hypocrisy in not mentioning Malovic’s religion. Newsbusters’ Warner Todd Huston remembers:

Remember how Timothy McVeigh was immediately called a Christian, a White Separatist, or that he was part of a militia, etc.? There was little waiting for facts to emerge with McVeigh.

Yep, but Christianity and Judaism have always been exempt from the graces afforded by political correctness. Sucks to be us, huh?Similar Posts:

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• Utah's Brett Banford Representin' on “So You Think You Can Dance”  May 28, 2008

A teenage gunman opens fire in a crowded mall full of families buying Valentine gifts and enjoying Family Night.  It hits close to home.  Literally.  Reports started streaming in as soon as I got home, and I’ve been glued to the TV/Internet/AM radio waiting to find out how this could have happened here.

So far, nobody seems to have a clue what the killer’s motive was.  Not a clue.  But of the 24+ hours of continuous coverage so far, there is one minor detail absent in any of the reports- the fact that Sulejmen Talovic is a Muslim.  KNRS AM’s Bob Lonsberry opines in his daily column (emphasis mine):

He was an 18-year-old Muslim. A high school dropout who lived with his mother and brought two guns, a bandoleer and a backpack full of ammo. He got up and went to work on Monday, completely normal, and then he drove over to the mall and killed two people before he was 10 feet from his car.

Is it relevant that he is Muslim? Absolutely. Is it a factor in his crime? It’s too early to tell. But in this day and age, when a young man named for a Muslim sultan who delighted in killing Christians ends up killing some Christians of his own, it’s not out of line to ask.

Why is his religion relevant?  First, had he been a Mormon, the headlines would have read “Mormon Madmen on Killing Spree,” or “Mormon Shoots Nine- More Trouble for Mitt Romney?”  If he were LDS, his religion would have been front and center.  And since his religion has been conveniently ignored, the rest of the nation who saw the headline on Drudge last night probably assumed it was ”just another crazy Mormon.”

But young Sulejmen was a Muslim.  Which means the news media walks on eggshells.  Just like the reports of “youths” torching cars in France and the UNC “student” gone wild, no mention has yet been made about his religion.  It’s just too politically dangerous to do so.  The PC media won’t touch the M-word with a 40 foot pole.  I’m not saying his religion played a role in the terror he wrought in my backyard last night.  But I’ll go ahead and stick my neck out and say what everybody else is thinking-

You have to wonder, don’t you?Similar Posts:

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