Revising History

Found this story over at OpiniPundit. The Boston Globe reports in a column by Brian McGrory that the Provincetown, Mass. selectmen have voted to remove a painting that has hung in the chambers for years.

Selectwoman Sarah Peake spun her chair around near the end of the Nov. 14 meeting, gazed up at an oversized oil painting depicting the Pilgrims voting on the Mayflower Compact when they first landed in Provincetown, and declared that she wanted it removed. Mind you, it's not that she didn't like the look or the colors or the style. It's not that she thought it was too big or too small for the Judge Welsh Hearing Room. It's not that it clashed with anything around it. No, what Peake didn't like was that the painting didn't include any women. That and the fact that the painting's only Indian -- Native American, I'd better call him -- wasn't holding a ballot like everyone else.

The vote was 3 to 1 to remove the painting. The one, lone, voice of reason, Cheryl Andrews, Chairman of the Board of Selectmen said,

'There's this lovely oil painting. The thing is huge. It's been up there since forever. It was painted by Max Bohm, who's considered quite something in local art circles. And Sarah Peake turns around and faces it, and it's government. They're voting. She says, 'I'd like to talk about this painting. I find this painting disturbing.' That's a quote. She said it's disturbing to her because there are no women in the painting and the only one not holding a ballot is the Native American Indian. And I thought, 'Here we go.'

My dear Ms. Peake (and the other two members of the Board of Selectmen who voted to remove the painting), It is a fact that only men voted at the time depicted in the painting. It is a fact that a Native American Indian would not have any kind of voting privileges with the colonists. It is now a fact that any American Citizen may vote (with very few exceptions, such as convicted felons). At the time the painting depicts, there were no American citizens. There was no United States of America. As much as some people would like to rewrite and revise history, this country was founded by a bunch of (now)dead, white, Christian, men. They wrote our constitution to give us the greatest freedoms. Freedoms to eventually write laws to allow women, Native American Indians, Blacks, and others the right to vote. Freedom to worship (or not) as each of us pleases. Sure, mistakes have been made, they will continue to be made for we have the freedom to make mistakes as well. We also have the freedom to recognize and learn from those mistakes and remedy them. We can't ignore our history. Our history, the mistakes and all, have made us who we are today. It's time to recognize your mistake and put that painting back up on the wall. Welcome Anchoress Readers! Please look around... News & Politics dhimmitude

Hobby Lobby Says Merry Christmas

I went to Hobby Lobby last night to pick up a crochet booklet, some yarn, and a package of crochet hooks so I can teach my ten-year-old niece how to crochet. At the checkout, I said "Merry Christmas" to the clerk. She replied with a hearty, "Merry Christmas to you!" I was at Wal-Mart on Friday to pick up a couple of things. I said "Merry Christmas" to the greeter and she said, "to you too." The checkout clerk replied to my "Merry Christmas" with a "same to you." Last year I was out shopping with my mother and she said "Merry Christmas" to a clerk. The clerk seemed slightly taken aback at first, then said "Merry Christmas to you too". After Mom and I left the store, we concluded that with all the "can't say Christmas" going on, she was shocked that we had wished her a Merry Christmas. Then she was happy that we had and wished us one as well. Merry Christmas!

Fatal Kiss

Fifteen year old Christina Deforges died Wednesday, November 23rd in a Quebec hospital of respiratory failure. Christina went into anaphylactic shock after kissing her boyfriend on Sunday, November 20. Christina was highly allergic to peanuts and her boyfriend had recently eaten peanut butter. She was given an injection of adrenaline immediately, as is standard procedure with a highly allergic person when exposed to the allergen, but it apparently wasn't enough. About 100 people die of food allergies every year in the United States. We pray for her family and especially the boyfriend who must be feeling awful right now. New York Post Story Edmonton Sun Story Montreal Gazette Allergies Health & Wellness

They Painted the Playpen

Saddam went back to court today, was defiant, and the proceedings were delayed until next Monday. Between his first visit to the special courtroom and today, they have painted the "playpen" that Saddam sits in. It's now painted brown. It used to be white. Any thoughts on why?
	Saddam complained about having to walk up four flights of stairs in shackles and under foriegn guard. He tried to take control of the courtroom. The delays were a result of the defense team needing to replace two deceased attorneys and one who fled the country. The judge agreed to give them a week. (source)

Law

Carnival of True Civil Liberties

The Carnival of True Civil Liberties is being held this week at Gribbit's Word. We will be hosting the Carnival next Monday, December 5, 2005. It's okay Jay, really. ACLU

Happy Thanksgiving

Today we'll be going to my sister's house for the family Thanksgiving gathering. Because there are so many people there (and because it's at someone else's house) there won't be any leftovers. My personal tradition is to cook a "Leftover Thanksgiving Dinner" on the Friday after Thanksgiving. Today, my sister will do the cooking, tomorrow it will be me. mmmmm skin.....

We gather together to ask the Lord's blessing; he chastens and hastens his will to make known; the wicked oppressing now cease from distressing: sing praise to his Name, he forgets not his own. Beside us to guide us, our God with us joining, ordaining, maintaining his kingdom divine; so from the beginning the fight we were winning: thou, Lord, wast at our side: all glory be thine! We all do extol thee, thou leader triumphant, and pray that thou still our defender wilt be. Let thy congregation escape tribulation: thy Name be ever praised! O Lord, make us free!

Words: Nederlandtsche Gedenckclanck, 1626; trans. Theodore Baker, 1894. Music: Kremser Family & Friends

Deck-O-Blogger's Spades Voting Closed

Voting for Spades is over, the top vote-getters are as follows: Raw vote totals, without bonuses: 255 — Regime Change Iran — 20% 174 — Anti Idiotarian Rottweiler — 14% 159 — Babalublog — 13% 79 — Jihadwatch — 6% 69 — Resistance is Futile — 6% 65 — The Queen of All Evil — 5% 52 — Stop the ACLU — 4% 46 — Riding Sun — 4% 39 — Little Green Footballs — 3% 32 — A Nation of Riflemen — 3% 28 — Peace Like A River — 2% 19 — The Middle Ground — 2% We garnered 3 votes (but as we said before, it is an honor just to be nominated) Final Hearts standings: Michelle Malkin –Ace of Hearts The Anchoress –Queen of Hearts Atlas Shrugs — 10 of Hearts SarahK — 9 of Hearts Lorie Byrd — 8 of Hearts Ann Althouse — 7 of Hearts Soldier’s Angel — 6 of Hearts SondraK — 5 of Hearts Sister Toldjah — 4 of Hearts Blonde Sagacity — 3 of Hearts Karol at Alarming News — 2 of Hearts The Jack and King of Hearts have been reserved for male bloggers and the voting for them will be later. Congratulations Ladies!

Carnival of True Civil Liberties

The Carnival of True Civil Liberties is up at Stop the ACLU. We will be hosting the next Carnival of True Civil Liberties, here, Monday, November 28, 2005. The deadline for submissions is 9 pm (EST), Friday, November 25, 2005. You can use the Carnival Submission Form at Conservative Cat.

Deck-O-Blogger's Spades Voting Open

The voting is open for Spades in Aaron's Deck O' Bloggers and we've been nominated for a place in the deck. Vote here! And, we must say, it is an honor just to be nominated!

Remember Why

Jeanette answers the question For Those Who Don't Know Why. Go read it. You will not be sorry.

2005 Weblog Awards

The nominations are now open here Nominations close Saturday, November 26, 2005. We would be eligible for (not that I think we'll win) Shameless plug though - please nominate us!: Best Blog Best Group Blog Best Conservative Blog Best of the Top 251-500 blogs The Anchoress and Oh How I Love Jesus have been nominated for Best Religious Blog

Terry McAuliffe on Fox News

Bill Hemmer just interviewed Terry McAuliffe on Fox News Live... (all emphasis mine) {Rep Murtha's name has been corrected} Ian (that wonderful young man) has posted the video at Political Teen. Hemmer: Former Democratic National Committee Chairman Terry McAuliffe is my guest here now in D.C. and we welcome you, Terry, here. Welcome to Washington. McAuliffe: Very good to see you. Hemmer: It is downright nasty in this town. McAuliffe: Well... Hemmer: Is this just the precursor for what we're seeing in midterm elections, 12 months from now, in November of 2006? McAuliffe: I think, Bill, people are very upset. We've lost over 2,000 troops, we've spent 200 billion dollars, we have a mess on our hands in Iraq today. And it's not, you know they're trying to blame the democrats, I remind you that two days ago they voted in the United States Senate, bipartisan, 79 to 19 a no confidence vote in George Bush and Dick Cheney. And you saw Senator Hagel the other day come out against the Republicans saying it would be unpatriotic not to ask these kind of questions. {A "No Confidence" vote? Is that what that was? I'm sure McAuliffe wishes that the United States had a Parliment. Then, an actual no confidence vote would result in new elections, almost immediately. Too bad for him we don't have a Parliment. We have regularly scheduled elections and McAuliffe is stuck with President Bush and Vice President Cheney until noon on January 20, 2009.} Hemmer: Senator Joseph Lieberman, a Democrat from Connecticut saying exactly the opposite. He's saying the partisanship right now that's entering into this argument, is bad for the country, and it's bad for the U.S. men and women serving in Iraq today. McAuliffe: I think we want accountability and I think we want a timetable for our troops. I think our troops deserve it. They want to know what's going on over here in this country. We, as I say, we've lost over 2,000 troops today and there is no plan for George Bush what to do after, you know, the major assault operations were over. We're less safe today Bill. {We aren't any safer? All the attacks by Al Qaeda since 9/11/2001 have been in countries other than the United States. They have also all become smaller since then.} Hemmer: You say you want a timetable. Senator Barbara Boxer was on the air with me yesterday and she was emphatic saying that there is no timetable that Democrats are looking for it's benchmarks. Now is that how we define the difference between a benchmark and a timeline? Is it just a merging of the words right now that's throwing us into a gray area? Is it not true that Democrats really want a timeline to say when troops will leave Iraq? McAuliffe: We want accountability, we want to have progress reports, and that's what they did in the Senate the other day. George Bush's plan of just, keep continuing to go along. The American public as you know, 53 percent in the USA Today poll out today, say that the President is not honest or trustworthy. And much of that goes to, I believe, the war in Iraq. They keep telling you things are going great and people watching the news and they know that things aren't going great today. {Of course the media only tells us what's going "wrong" or "badly". The media is working hand in hand with Democrats like McAuliffe. They don't tell us what is going good, like the fact that the road to the Baghdad Airport is safer than it was when Saddam Hussein is in power. They don't tell us what a success the election in January was, what a success the passing of the constitution was, and they won't tell us what a success the elections next month will be either.} Hemmer: So, if you and other Democrats like you and John MurphyMurtha (D-PA){updated to reflect proper spelling} who was on the hill today saying immediate withdrawal of U.S. forces, if you've got way, say within six months right now, and in seven months from now you've got another bombing in Amman, Jordan, or in London, England, or here in the U.S. Wouldn't the Democrats be proved wrong about the War on Terror at that point? McAuliffe: Let me just say this again, it was bipartisan, 79 to 19, many Republicans joined with the Democrats the other day to say, "No confidence in George Bush's war on Iraq." Let's be clear on that. I will make the argument that we are less safe in the world today. There are more insurgents, they are inflamed today because of what we have done in Iraq. George Bush has made our nation less safe, not more safe. Iraq is a mess, terrorists are coming across borders all over in the middle east today. You talk to, I just got back from traveling all over the mid-east. You talk to many of the leadership over there. They will tell you they have a mess on their hands today because of George Bush and Dick Cheney's policies. {Perhaps, Mr. McAuliffe, the insurgents are inflamed because we are keeping them from taking over Iraq. Perhaps they are inflamed because we are winning this war. "Many of the leadership over there". I think that's like "sources say" and "experts say". No actual quotes and no actual "leadership" named.} Hemmer: We have to run and my list is very long, we'll do it again. Terry McAuliffe, thank you. Welcome Oh How I Love Jesus, Gateway Pundit, A Lady's Ruminations, Anchoress , Political Teen and Memeorandum readers! Please look around...

Cats & Dogs...Living Together...

This is Raven (left) and Bitsy (right). Bitsy likes to cuddle, so she cuddled with Raven last night, and Raven let her for a while.

ICANN Still Can

Although the headline at Fox News (story by Associated [De]Press[ed]) is U.N. Summit Lets U.S. Keep Control of Internet Domain Names (emphasis mine). As if the U.N. Summit can give us permission or something...

A U.N. technology summit opened Wednesday after an 11th-hour agreement that leaves the United States with ultimate oversight of the main computers that direct the Internet's flow of information, commerce and dissent.

...

"If the Internet had been developed in Australia, I don't think we would have had so much heat on this discussion," ICANN chief Paul Twomey, an Australian, remarked of the tension surrounding the U.S. control of the Internet.

The U.S. not only invented the internet, it performs its oversight duties exceedingly well.

First Snow

It's snowing here in Northern Illinois. A little more than flurries really, not much, but it is snowing. I don't think we'll get any real coverage, but the Shih Tzu leaves tiny pawprints in what's sticking to the porch. The Siberian, on the other hand, is in his element.

What LoTR Race Are You?

Found this through Lady Jane at A Lady's Ruminations.
Elvish

To which race of Middle Earth do you belong?
brought to you by Quizilla The Elves were always my favorites.

Norman Podhoretz in Commentary

Read Who Is Lying About Iraq.

Among the many distortions, misrepresentations, and outright falsifications that have emerged from the debate over Iraq, one in particular stands out above all others. This is the charge that George W. Bush misled us into an immoral and/or unnecessary war in Iraq by telling a series of lies that have now been definitively exposed. What makes this charge so special is the amazing success it has enjoyed in getting itself established as a self-evident truth even though it has been refuted and discredited over and over again by evidence and argument alike. In this it resembles nothing so much as those animated cartoon characters who, after being flattened, blown up, or pushed over a cliff, always spring back to life with their bodies perfectly intact. Perhaps, like those cartoon characters, this allegation simply cannot be killed off, no matter what.

Go read the rest.

Veteran's Day

Happy Veterans Day! Last year, I linked to this post by Chris Lynch at A Large Regular. It's worth a read again. To all who have served and all who are now serving our country in America's Armed Forces: Thank you for your service. LaShawn Barber has a great Roundup of Veteran's Day Posts! Jeff has a Canadian Remembrance Day post just above. Here's my Dad circa 1954:

Mandatory Spanish Classes for 5- to 7-year-olds?

Florida Senate Bill 522 (.pdf here) will mandate Spanish language instruction for all kindergartners through second graders. Let's take a look at the bill:

Districtwide Spanish instruction in K through 2; requirements; funding.

The above sentence just describes what is to follow.

--By the 2007-2008 school year, each school district shall implement a districtwide foreign language program to provide students in kindergarten through grade 2 with instruction in the Spanish language which is designed to result in the student's communicating competently in Spanish at his or her grade level.

Senator Miller does state this is a foreign language. He wants 5- to 7-year-olds to be communicating competently in Spanish at his or her grade level. What about requiring students to communicate competently in English?

Each student in the program must be provided with a minimum of 20 to 45 minutes of instruction, 5 days a week, from a certified Spanish-language specialist.

A minimum of 20 minutes and a maximum of 45 minutes? This isn't really very clear. A minimum is the smallest acceptable. Senator Miller has specified a range. Also, this is a five day a week program. We need to mandate a five day a week program when subjects such as physical education (much more important to the physical well-being of a child) have been cut back to two or three days a week? Ah, here's the real reason... Jobs. The bill calls for a certified Spanish-language instructor. Let's just bloat the system fuller than it already is.

The Spanish instructor and the classroom teacher must collaborate during the periods of instruction.

Who will be "in charge"? The regular classroom teacher or the certified Spanish-language instructor? Will the regular lesson be incorporated into the Spanish lesson, or will the regular lesson just be shunted aside?

The school district may use grant funds or private funds, as well as state funding, to support the program.

In other words, you figure out how to fund this mandate. I understand that there are quite a few Spanish speakers in Florida. I understand that some children have parents/others in their household who speak only Spanish or speak only minimal English. But how does teaching all children Spanish help this? What about immigrants from Japan, Germany, France, Romania, India, etc? Why should Spanish be the mandated language in a country where most people speak English? This reminds me of the woman at Kindergarten screening who, when asked if she wanted a bilingual aide, said, "We speak English. We are from Romania." Amazing. I first learned of this from Lady Jane at A Lady's Ruminations. She got it from Drudge. They both quote this from NBC-2. I found two more articles pertaining to this as well as the above quoted bill text. Article one from the Tampa Tribune quotes Dorothy Carregal, superintendent of foreign languages for Hillsborough schools as saying, "And even if they give us the money, finding the teachers would be very difficult". An editorial in the Lakeland Ledger asks: "But where's the money?"

Praise the Lord!

I decided to wash some down pillows today. In the course of washing the pillows the washer went off balance, big time. The switch that gets pushed by the pin in the lid broke. I called the repairman to come by. He was able to come tonight. While he was here, I asked if he could look at the dryer, because I thought I had smelled that "burnt belt" kind of smell. He tried to start the dryer, but it wouldn't turn on. It had worked earlier in the day. He looked around the back and this is what he found: here's another shot: Praise the Lord that I decided to wash pillows today and the washer broke. If it hadn't, I might not have called the repairman. If I hadn't called the repairman, he wouldn't have found that. The circuit breaker did not trip. He removed the circuit breaker and capped the wires. He'll be back on Saturday with a new switch for the washer, a new breaker, new wiring, a new plug and a new outlet. Praise the Lord our house did not burn down as a result of this. Praise the Lord!