Conservative Kids: Make English Official Language

To bad Newt is the only potential Presidential hopeful who is has strong convictions and is not afraid to voice them.

Newt Gingrich Decries 'Ghetto' Nature of Bilingual Education

Saturday, March 31, 2007

WASHINGTON — Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich equated bilingual education Saturday with "the language of living in a ghetto" and mocked requirements that ballots be printed in multiple languages.

"The government should quit mandating that various documents be printed in any one of 700 languages depending on who randomly shows up" to vote, said Gingrich, who is considering seeking the Republican presidential nomination in 2008. He made the comments in a speech to the National Federation of Rebulican Women.

"The American people believe English should be the official language of the government. ... We should replace bilingual education with immersion in English so people learn the common language of the country and they learn the language of prosperity, not the language of living in a ghetto," Gingrich said to cheers from the crowd of more than 100.

"Citizenship requires passing a test on American history in English. If that's true, then we do not have to create ballots in any language except English," he said. nd="5" style="font-size:85%;">In the past, Gingrich has supported making English the nation's official language. He has also said all American children should learn English and that other languages should be secondary in schools.

In 1995, for example, he said bilingualism poses "long term dangers to the fabric of our nation" and that "allowing bilingualism to continue to grow is very dangerous."

Bilingual programs teach students reading, arithmetic and other basic skills in their native language so they do not fall behind while mastering English.

On voting, federal law requires districts with large populations of non-English speakers to print ballots in multiple languages.

No Chairs in Conservative Kids Classroom

Presidential hopeful Huckabee gave a speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference earlier this month. Among his rambling speech he told a story that fits the theme of this blog for raising conservative kids.

Since a politician told this story, I am not sure how true it is, but the message is good.

I have a friend who's a schoolteacher at the Robinson High School in Little Rock, Arkansas. Her name is Martha Cothren. She's a social studies teacher and a coach on the side. Back in September of 2005, on the first day of school, Martha Cothren did something that I'll never forget. Martha, on the first day of school, with permission of the school superintendent, the principal and the building supervisor, took all of the desks out of the classroom.

The kids came into first period, they walked in, there were no desks. They obviously looked around and said, "Ms. Cothren, where's our desk?" And she said, "You can't have a desk until you tell me how you earn them."

They thought, "Well, maybe it's our grades."

"No," she said.

"Maybe it's our behavior."

And she told them, "No, it's not even your behavior."

And so they came and went in the first period, still no desks in the classroom. Second period, same thing. Third period. By early afternoon television news crews had gathered in Ms. Cothren's class to find out about this crazy teacher who had taken all the desks out of the classroom. The last period of the day, Martha Cothren gathered her class. They were at this time sitting on the floor around the sides of the room. And she says, "Throughout the day no one has really understood how you earn the desks that sit in this classroom ordinarily." She said, "Now I'm going to tell you."

Martha Cothren went over to the door of her classroom and opened it, and as she did 27 U.S. veterans, wearing their uniforms, walked into that classroom, each one carrying a school desk. And they placed those school desks in rows, and then they stood along the wall. And by the time they had finished placing those desks, those kids for the first time I think perhaps in their lives understood how they earned those desks.

Martha said, "You don't have to earn those desks. These guys did it for you. They put them out there for you, but it's up to you to sit here responsibly to learn, to be good students and good citizens, because they paid a price for you to have that desk, and don't ever forget it."

My friend, I think sometimes we forget that the freedoms that we have are freedoms not because of celebrities. The freedoms are because of ordinary people who did extraordinary things, who loved this country more than life itself, and who not only earned a school desk for a kid at the Robinson High School in Little Rock, but who earned a seat for you and me to enjoy this great land we call home, this wonderful nation that we better love enough to protect and preserve with the kind of conservative, solid values and principles that made us a great nation.

An Incontinent Truth

Chinese Researchers look to use fiber rich panda poop to make paper. (Panda poop paper) The Thai make paper out of elephant dung.



It turns out that Al Gore's An Inconvienient Truth was printed on Bull Shit paper.

Conservative kids do not believe everything they read.

Famous People with ADHD Provide Hope

My hardworking grandfather worked the fields of the farm he owned from 5:30am to 1:30p. Then he jumped on a bus headed to Philadelphia to go to his job in a book bindery to work a shift there. I am not sure how he did it.

I was a city boy according to grandfather. But every summer, I would work on the farm for a week or two. The pay was terrible, the days were long and it was completely voluntary. I imposed this self torture to be with the grandparents I loved so very much. My parents and my friends thought I was crazy. I did it every summer from age 12 to age 17.

The days I worked the farm were the most exhausting days of my life. I would get up at 5:30a to cut, wash and pack squash. After a quick breakfast break, we would go out into the fields and pick peppers and tomatoes and cut eggplant and butternut squash. Then we would load the truck for market. We would typically end the day at 5:30p. Eat dinner. Play in the yard and be sleeping by 8:30p so we could do it again the next day.

I remember on brutally hot day. My cousin Tony and I were in a butternut squash field slaving away. We decided that we needed a quick break after working for 2 straight hours. Wouldn't you know that that is when my grandfather came to check on us. He yelled and called us good for nothing, lazy bastards before he drove off mad in a cloud of dust.

I was so mad, but not at him. I was mad at myself for letting the man I admired down. Not long after, at the farmers market, I was unloading the truck when I overheard my grandfather talking to his farming buddies. He was talking with pride about his hardworking city boy grandson. The next time he called me a lazy good for nothing. I just smiled to myself.

My son has ADD/ADHD. Many kids with ADD / ADHD are label as stupid and lazy. I tried every trick in the book to motivate him. Money. Stickers. Hugs. All with no results. I admittedly and repeatedly have tried my grandfathers method and called my son out as a lazy good for nothing. This does not work either. Nothing seems to motivate my son. I told to lower my expectations. I was told that you do not have to be a hard working rich man to be happy. I was told to just let him be what he is going to be. I was going to take this advice until I had a chance meeting with a man who is an expert in ADD/ADHD

This man has ADD/ADHD. This man had a mother who 30 years ago realized that her son needed different learning strategies to succeed. He is now a successful businessman on the verge of making it really big with an i-learning product develop for ADD/ADHD kids. This man is teaching my that my son is not stupid and lazy and to not give up on him.

He told me that my son has a gift, the gift to think differently. He then went on to tell me that many famous people in the world had ADD/ADHD. Winston Churchill failed 6th grade. Thomas Edison's teachers said he was too stupid to learn anything. Tolstoy failed out of college. Einstein did not talk until four and did not read until seven. Lincoln and Kennedy had ADD/ADHD. He also told me that 40% of people in jail have ADD / ADHD.

Kids with ADHD have low self-esteem and do not feel like they fit into the world. This list of people shows that kids with ADD/ADHD can not only fit in, but can also define the world. Parents just need to steer them in the right direction.

I admire so many people on the list. I would love to admire my son one day.

Three Pigs and a Puppy Die

In Britain, a school decided to change the 150-year-old Three Little Pigs story to something less offensive to Muslims. (Story) The Koran states that Muslims cannot eat or touch pigs. In their infinite wisdom the school district replaced the three pigs with three puppies. Here was their first attempt.

Once upon a time, there were three little puppies living with their mum (this is Britain). They decided to leave their mum to make it in the big world. The youngest was full of hate toward Jews, Christians Hindus, Buddhists, atheists, Americans, capitalists, pigs and other Muslims that did not share his radical puppy beliefs.

This young puppy did not have much optimism, self-esteem or drive so he built a modest medieval doghouse made of mud and straw. His brothers opted for more substantial housing further from home in mountain caves in the tribal territories of Pakistan.

One day a big bad wolf came to the mud and straw house of the youngest puppy and knocked on the door. "Let me in," the wolf yelled, “or I will huff and puff and I will blow your house down.” The radical puppy opened the door and said praise Allah and blew up himself and the wolf. The End.

There is a war going on against our culture. The enemies are radical Islam, the ACLU, secular progressives and good people who are paralyzed by political correctness.

Victims in the war include Christmas, George Washington and Abe Lincoln, the Ten Commandments, and now the three pigs. Rest in peace.

We need to fight this to preserve our great nation for our Conservative Kids.

Actually, to be fair, Islamic leaders in the British community condemned the politically correct move to change pigs to puppies as misguided and said decisions like this were turning Muslims into 'misfits' in society.

I hate to tell you Mr. British spineless Islamic leader - The radical faction of your religion is turning Muslims into misfits. Denounce radical Islam, not scared Christians who think that they need to appease the aggressor by changing our culture.

Bill Frist Heard Conservative Kids Calling for Fred

After Washington Whispers / Zogby concluded Hillary was the most Reaganesque - I started blogging about Fred Thompson. That was on January 22, 2007.

Washington Whispers

By Paul Bedard

Posted 1/14/07

Hillary: Filling the Boots of the Gipper

It was one of those in-the-shower brainstorms for pollster John Zogby:Ronald Reagan, at 28 percent, FDR at 26 percent, JFK at 21 percent, Abraham Lincoln at 16 percent, and just 6 percent for George Washington. And who's viewed as most Reaganesque? Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton. She also grabs the FDR and Washington mantle but falls far short of upstart Sen. Barack Obama for the JFK title. Let's see which past A-list president voters wish they could put in the Oval Office to fix the nation and which of the major 2008 presidential hopefuls best matches that pick. Drumroll, please. In order:

Zogby says there are several messages from his just completed poll, provided exclusively to Whispers. Most obvious: If voters want a Reaganesque or Rooseveltian firm hand and vision in the White House, then Clinton looks like a good bet. But if they prefer the inspiration of JFK and Lincoln, then Obama's their guy. "It looks like youthful vigor has the best crossover appeal," says Zogby. It's not so clear on the GOP side. Only Rudy Giuliani scores well, seen as the most Lincoln-like and beating Sen. John McCain in every "most like" category. Ex-Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney ranks last in all but one. Zogby sees a biblical race between Jeremiah and Moses in how some major themes play out. "Moses had a plan to get to the Promised Land, and for Jeremiah the sky was falling." Who wins? "Hopefulness is the key."

Since that time, Fred Thompson has been the most popular topic on my site. It was a slow build but traffic with people looking for info on Fred Thompson has exploded ever since.

I linked to small bloggers who were talking about Fred. Those combined voices of small bloggers resonated very loud.

Bill Frist (VOLPAC) heard the call and he has Fred's ear.

I believe that future of Conservative Kids will be so much brighter with Fred Thompson as the leader. The ultra liberal Obama and the deceitful, cold, selfish power hungry politician Clinton will not lead this country in a positive direction.

Teacher Teaches Capitalism Burns at Stake.

My last post got me thinking about the most memorable teacher I ever had.

In sixth grade, I had Mrs. Steele. She taught the requisite broad spectrum of subjects like math, English, social studies, etc. But she also taught capitalism.

Mrs. Steele created a market economy in her class. She printed Steele dollars. She gave everyone a job and a base salary. She also gave us the opportunity to earn more dollars by providing a meaningful service to the class. This was strictly optional. Like any real world economy, some people worked harder than others and soon a social class structure emerged.

To earn extra money, I approached Mrs. Steele with an idea to start a class newspaper. She as delighted and was supportive. I got started right away. I covered the news of the class; Kickball highlights. The much anticipated announcement of the dodgeball MVP. I listed upcoming events. I acknowledged the personal achievements of class members. I had a horoscope. I listed birthdays.

Mrs. Steele helped me with story ideas and editing. She also gave me supplies - the mimeograph paper. It is easy to make money when the cost of goods is zero. She also strongly encouraged everyone to buy my paper. This endeavor added $1,000 per week to my salary.

I also made a lot of money tutoring kids in Math.

Every last Friday in the month was market day. Kids would bring in unwanted toys and Mrs. Steele would bring in candy, baseball cards and some other small things she bought. The stuff Mrs. Steele brought in was sold at a fixed price. All the other stuff went to auction and went to the highest bidder. It was always quite exciting.

I never bought anything. I set a goal to have $100,000 at the end of the school year. My buddy and I had a secret competition to be the richest kid in the class. I ended up exceeding my goal and winning. I'm still winning thanks to Mrs. Steele.

If Mrs Steele taught capitalism in school today, she would be burned at the stake. The liberals and Psychologists like Doctor Ablow (or Dr. AimLow as I like to call him) would go on the TODAY show and call Mrs. Steele out and tell her that she is hurting the self-esteem of poor Johnny.

Johnny was literally poor (in school). He was making the minimum salary and getting fined for missing homework. Johnny was also literally stupid. He went into Mrs. Steele's desk when we had a substitute and stole a wad of Steele Dollars. When Mrs. Steele returned, she questioned the class regarding the missing money. No one confessed. It was the top story in the newspaper.

A week later at Market Day, Johnny, flush with cash, went on a buying spree. Mrs. Steele knew Johnny's financial situation, so she took the cash back and reported the situation to the principal and Johnny's mom. I reported the capture of the thief in the newspaper. (Mrs. Steele would not let me report the name of the robber).

Liberals would say that the capitalism experiment caused Johnny to steal. I had known Johnny since kindergarten. He was a punk on the road to no where and even the great Mrs. Steele could not teach him the cause and effect of hard work. But she taught me.

Thank you Mrs. Steele.