Front page Archive Why Arlen? Arlen is the TV home of "King of the Hill." It's a small conservative town that is threatened with ruination on a regular basis by twig boys, enviro wackos, diversity nuts, "PC" police and other ivory tower liberals. I like to think of Arlen as a metaphor for this here great nation of ours.

Wednesday, February 22, 2006 Posted 5:44 AM by Hank PUBLIC SCHOOL CAVES TO RELIGIOUS FANATICS ST. PAUL, MINN--A publicly funded charter school is changing its art curriculum to avoid offending the religious sensibilities of its Muslim students. The St. Paul Pioneer Press reports that "ArtStart," a St. Paul-based nonprofit organization that provides art classes to the school changed its classes because of Muslim law: [S]ome Muslims ...refrain from producing images of ordinary human beings and animals, citing Islamic teaching. [As a result] parents were...upset that their children were drawing figures [and] some pulled their children out of art class altogether. [Executive Director Bill Wilson] then sat down with teacher and parent liaison Abdirahman Sheikh Omar Ahmad, who also is the imam at an Islamic center in Minneapolis, to work with ArtStart in determining how to meet state standards without running afoul of Muslim doctrine. As a result of those meetings, the paper reports, the curriculum was revamped: Out the window right away went masks, puppets and that classic of elementary school art class, the self-portrait, said Sara Langworthy, an artist with ArtStart. Revamping the curriculum "definitely requires stepping outside of the normal instincts that you fall back on," she said. In their place came nature scenes and geometric forms and patterns..... This week, the class was cutting out shapes to make into cardboard pouches. Another project involved taking photographs and mapping the neighborhood around the school. The conversation about what is appropriate is still open. Langworthy said she and fellow teacher Katie Tuma don't police what the students draw, but they do have conversations with students who are drawing figures to make sure it's really OK. Second-grader Hawi Muhammed said her parents don't mind if she draws people once in a while, but "God doesn't like people to draw a lot," she said. The curriculum applies to all elementary students regardless of religion. It is unclear at this time whether the American Civil Liberties Union, which normally opposes the mixing of "church and state," will weigh in on the matter. However, in regard to schools teaching Judeo-Christian religionn, the ACLU has previously stated: While people have a right to teach their religious beliefs to others in churches, mosques, synagogues and private schools, public schools should not be used by people to teach their personal religious beliefs to other people's children. One art teacher at the school called the new curriculum "narrowing." "But then within that, you can find the depth," she added. Posted 5:44 AM by Hank CAMPUS LIBERAL COMMITS A "HATE CRIME"? ITHACA—A contributor to Cornell University’s “premier liberal voice” has been charged with stabbing a black student on the university’s campus after using “racial epithets” in front of his victim. According to the Cornell Daily Sun, Nathan Poffenbarger, Class of '08, a regular contributor to the campus magazine, “Turn Left” was charged with second-degree assault, a class "D" felony, after allegedly stabbing a visiting student on West Campus during an altercation on Saturday (February 18). Police said the attack stemmed from a racial incident. “Witnesses told police Poffenbarger was yelling racial remarks at someone else, when the victim, a black male student, stepped in to stop him. The victim's name has not been released,” News10 reported. According to the Ithaca Journal, Poffenbarger is white. Capt. Kathy Zoner of the Cornell Police Department, told the Sun that the current charges could be elevated to class "C" under hate-crime statutes "if racial motivations are proven." Wayne Huang , the former editor-in-chief of "Turn Left," confirmed that Poffenbarger was a regular contributor to the magazine. Huang and "Turn Left" staff member Josh Perlman both said they were “shocked” to learn Poffenbarger had been arrested in this matter: "He had written a lot of good news pieces for us," said [Perlman]. "I had spoken to him earlier that day about a new article he was going to be doing. He didn't seem weird or anything when I spoke to him, just enthusiastic to be writing as he usually was. I was extremely shocked to hear about all this. This seems really out of character." According to "Turn Left’s" website, its mission statement is to “uphold and maintain tolerant and respectful political dialogue on the campus, promote and practice an ideology rooted in the belief of equality and freedom." Emergency workers took the victim to Arnot Ogden Medical Center in Elmira where he is in stable condition, the Sun reported. Wednesday, February 15, 2006 Posted 1:16 PM by Hank HILLARY, KENNEDY LAUGH OVER CHENEY SHOOTING WASHINGTON--Senators Hillary Rodham Clinton and Ted Kennedy publicly mocked Vice President Cheney's hunting accident, the same day that the shooting victim suffered a mild heart attack brought on by the incident. According to New York Newsday: Clinton stopped by the Senate Armed Services Committee ...to listen to ...Kennedy...ask questions about Humvee safety. During the session, both shared a public chuckle at Cheney's expense. When one general used the expression "shooting ourselves in the gut," Kennedy interrupted to say, "I'm not sure that's a good analogy today." Clinton threw back her head and laughed so heartily it echoed through the cavernous committee room. Kennedy and Clinton's comments came the same day that Cheney's friend and hunting partner, Harry M. Whittington, age 78, suffered a minor heart attack caused by birdshot lodged in his heart. According to the the New York Times: Whittington, was moved back into the intensive care unit at Christus Spohn Hospital in Corpus Christi, Tex., to be monitored for up to a week in case the birdshot shifted or additional pellets in his body moved into other organs Neither Clinton nor Kennedy are strangers to gun-related tragedies. Kennedy's brothers, President John F. Kennedy and Senator Robert F. Kennedy, were both assassinated in the 1960s. And Clinton's good friend and co-worker Vince Foster allegedly took his own life while working for the Clinton White House. The press reports today that Cheney's friend is expected to make a full recovery. Monday, February 13, 2006 Posted 8:19 AM by Hank AL "GORES" THE U.S. With Muslims rioting throughout the world over a cartoon, insurgents still attacking us in Iraq, and Iran getting ever closer to having nuclear weapons, you would think the last thing any sane American would want to do would be to go to the Middle East and stir up more anti-American sentiment. Unfortunately, the man who claims to have invented the internet has probably not been sane since at least the 2000 elections. As a result, we have former Vice President Al Gore over in Saudi Arabia, making trouble: Former Vice President Al Gore told a mainly Saudi audience yesterday that the U.S. government committed "terrible abuses" against Arabs after 9/11.... Gore also accused the Bush administration of playing into al Qaeda's hands by "thoughtlessly" blocking visas for Saudis. Fifteen of the 19 hijackers on 9/11 were Saudis who got visas under a visa "express" program. It was ended after 9/11, and Saudis are now subject to tougher scrutiny. So, apparently, Gore thinks that, post-9/11, we do not have enough potential terrorists entering the United States? It would be easy to dismiss Gore's comments as the ravings of a "sore loser." Unfortunately, the former Vice President is still a figure of prominence in the Democratic Party. In fact, an unscientific "presidential primary poll" at Democrats.com has him the party's frontrunner for 2008. Therefore, his comments both reflect his party and send a message to our enemies, and our allies, that terror against the U.S. is justified. Once again, the leadership of the Democratic party is putting its politics ahead of the American people Saturday, February 11, 2006 Posted 8:37 AM by Hank THE DEMOCRATS' "WAR" The Los Angeles Times reports on the predictable Democratic reaction to President Bush's speech this week, in which he described how the government foiled an al Qaeda plot to fly hijacked planes into L.A.'s Library Tower The details did little to counter skepticism from Democrats and some law enforcement officials who have questioned whether the reported scheme had ever been put into operation before it was thwarted. Rep. Brad Sherman (D-Sherman Oaks) described Bush's speech as a political stunt...Sen. John D. Rockefeller IV of West Virginia, the senior Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, said he "didn't find [Bush's comments] very helpful . . . from a professional point of view." Let's look at what, basically, these democrats are saying. The same Democratic leadership that constantly whine that the President should have somehow "prevented" 9/11 are downplaying the fact he did, in fact, prevent a similar event. In fact, they almost act as if it would have been better, or at least more believable, for the President to have waited for the terror plot to progress further before stopping it. Similarly, the same Democratic leadership that constantly demands public hearings about our intelligence programs and defends leaking top secret information about the programs is now taking umbrage that the President, after the fact, revealed an incident where those intelligence programs worked, on the premise that information about the programs "isn't helpful." It seems as if, to the Democratic leadership, information about the programs is only helpful when it makes the President look bad. This is just one more example of how the Democratic leadership isn't fighting the war on terror. They're fighting a war on the President. Home