Why is U.S. Park Service propagandizing for Islam?

Todd Starnes writing for Townhall provides an excellent exposé of the bizarre endorsement of Islam by the National Park Service. Read “National Park Service Promotes Islamic Videos.”

There are three videos included in his article.  They depict students at Muslim schools attempting to elicit empathy about their beliefs — down playing the Muslim connection to the horrors of 9/11 and saying non-Muslims are “ignorant” about them and treat them badly.

We include one portraying Islam as a “religion of peace” here:

Smokey Bear, wearing a park ranger cap, has been the iconic symbol of the Park Service since 1944.  His familiar fire prevention warnings, “Only YOU can prevent forest fires,” have now been replaced by this outrageous Islamic propaganda and videos of a mute, guy-hugging Smokey. If you can stand that, here’s another.

The New York Times reports that Smokey’s appearance is being changed because the ad agency brass handling the campaign, “…want to leverage the icon. The hugs are part of the decision to turn Smokey into a character who is depicted as “rewarding people,” rather than “entreating them or admonishing them to take personal responsibility. It’s moving the tone away from sober, which doesn’t resonate with young people, while maintaining the seriousness of the issue.”

How much longer before these cool ad guys who disdain sober messaging about the deadly serious issue of forest fires, will feature a drag version of Smokey wearing a hajab or burqa?

Sedona AZ declares “love is love”

Here comes the whaever

The Harmonic Convergence village of Sedona has joined the artsy burgs of Bisbee and Jerome along with the People’s Republic of Tucson to become the fourth Arizona city to recognize same-sex civil unions.

Sedona Mayor Rob Adams says the City Council’s 5 – 2 approval of the civil union ordinance “sends a message that love is love, regardless if it’s two people of the same sex or not.”

The Sedona council’s site is loaded with puffy personal bios but, disappointingly, no record of the meeting minutes or which council member cast which vote.

We’re waiting for Tucson’s northern annexes of Tempe and Flagstaff to join in the pseudo marital gaiety. Tucson News Now is already heralding the news and the San Francisco Chronicle joins in the jovial coverage.

In August 1987, the Age of Aquarius’ enthralled, candle burning woo-woos of Sedona hosted the Harmonic Convergence — billed as the first globally synchronized meditation — to celebrate the “exceptional alignment” of planets in our solar system.  That was before Pluto was downgraded to a mere star and same sex couples asserted sodomy-based equality.

At the time, the convergence devotees claimed the event “corresponded with a great shift in the earth’s energy from warlike to peaceful,” ushering in a five-year period of “cleansing,” where many of the planet’s “false structures of separation” would collapse.

Were they predicting the collapse of the ordained family strengthening marriage between one man and one woman?

Gov. Brewer, AZ SPI Huppenthal, partner on education deceit

Common Core deceptively rebranded “Arizona’s College and Career Ready Standards”

Shocking and intentionally misleading double-talk is the order of the day in Arizona when it comes to the Obama education standards known as Common Core.

First we have this Sept. 20, 2013 press release from Governor Jan Brewer touting her issuance of an Executive Order regarding the contrived federal takeover of our schools, Common Core.

But wait a minute! Nowhere do the words, “Common Core” actually find their way into her order, which is cunningly crafted into a “Reaffirmation of Arizona’s authority to set [its] own education policy.”

Be aware that what she refers to as “Arizona’s College and Career Ready Standards,” is nothing short of the renaming of the rotten to the core Common Core curriculum so despised by alarmed parents and concerned teachers.

Keep your eye on the ball, folks. Today, Arizona Superintendent of Public Instruction (SPI) John Huppenthal, Gov. Brewer’s ally in this education deception, is given ample space on the editorial page of the far-left Arizona Republic. His “My Turn” column titled: “Why we dropped Common Core name on reforms,” actually acknowledges the deceptive rebranding. The online version carries the handle, “Why Common Core needs a new name.”

Last week when speaking before the Rodel Foundation, a liberal think tank, Huppenthal said he was changing the name but keeping the materials provided by Common Core. In today’s editorial, he dances that back.

If every Arizona student must take this national test to pass, then the state has to write standards that align with the federal mandates. Say goodbye to local control of education.

Scroll through the Rodel Board of Directors and read their bios. The listing includes such liberal notables as Obama pal Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton, and Louis A. (Chip) Weil III, retired chairman, president and CEO of Central Newspapers, Inc. — more commonly known as the Arizona Republic.  What a surprise.

But there is honor among the ranks of Republican governors. Today, the Miami Herald reports Florida Gov. Rick Scott directed the state Education Board to withdraw from the national consortium creating tests to accompany the new Common Core State Standards — known as PARCC (Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers.) Read Gov. Scott’s news release here.

These are previous SRAZ posts on this topic which are worth reviewing:

Huppenthal con job: Pushes renaming Common Core, Sept. 19, 2013

Common Core deception: In AZ it starts with Huppenthal, Sept. 22, 2013

Ted Cruz’ proud moment: John McCain “hates” him

Self-styled maverick John McCain, who knows a thing or two about grandstanding, outlandishly describes Republican senator Ted Cruz as a “grandstander.” An aide to the senior senator goes even further, saying “McCain (expletive) hates Cruz.”

Cruz, for his part, is “embarrassed to have supported McCain in 2008” — a sentiment many conservative Republicans can readily appreciate. McCain, a frequent visitor to the White House where he acknowledges strategizing with Obama, centers his ire on Cruz’ outspoken rejection of any spending bills that include funding for Obamacare.

Earlier this year, the senior senator took potshots at two of his senate colleagues, calling Cruz and Rand Paul “wacko birds.”

McCain’s name calling and salty speech — the refuge of the crass and ignorant — is nothing new. During his failed presidential bid, he reportedly even called his heiress wife Cindy despicable female slurs within earshot of reporters.

Then over the weekend, grandstanding McCain indignantly referred to the Los Angeles Dodgers’ jubilant jump into the Chase Field swimming pool as a “no-class act by a bunch of overpaid, immature, arrogant, spoiled brats!” The celebrating team had just clinched the NL West title in Phoenix.

McCain’s odd and derisive comment is nothing short of what Arizonans have come to expect. His less than merit-based wins in recent years have come at a high price. Running as if his life depended on it in 2010, he brutalized a worthy opponent, outspending his challenger by about 10 to one. McCain even resorted to lying during that senate campaign debate — unashamedly insulting the viewers. The architect of “Comprehensive Immigration Reform,” correctly known as amnesty, actually declared, “By the way, I never was for amnesty,” 

No wonder he can’t comprehend the sheer joy of the Dodgers, who actually earned their victory.

Vile Dem official exemplifies depth of hatred for GOP

CA Party spokesman Allan Brauer fired for “appalling and inexcusable” comments

This horrific death wish, “May your children all die from debilitating, painful and incurable diseases,” was tweeted by Sacramento County Democrat Party communications chair Allan Brauer in response to Republican speechwriter Amanda Carpenter’s tweet about defunding Obamacare. Carpenter works for U.S. Senator Ted Cruz.

And did this contemptible liberal personification of evil have any regrets after sending out his hideous message? Not a chance. He compounded it with this follow-up claiming he‘d been victimized:  “I’m being attacked on Twitter for wishing one of Ted Cruz’s pubic lice to experience the pain her boss is inflicting on Americans.”

Brauer, described on the Democrat Party website as a “longtime activist in the LGBT equality movement” officially stepped down from his elected post Friday after the party chairman called for and accepted his resignation. The Sacramento County Dems removed his bio from its website, but the New York Daily News captured it.

The Blaze has Brauer’s entire Twitter spew.

Common Core deception: In AZ it starts with Huppenthal

Today’s “Weekend Reading Guaranteed to Make You Smarter” deserves its own headline

Conservative syndicated columnist Michelle Malkin’s recent post titled “Jeb Bush’s latest Common Core snit fit,” is a must read. Additionally, it dovetails well with our Thursday post “Huppenthal’s con job: Pushes renaming Common Core,” revealing the underhanded tactics being used by John Huppenthal, Arizona’s Superintendent of Public Instruction.

The Republican turned Obamacrat, is facing opposition from openly defiant parents over what he misconstrues as simply a “politically charged name.” Thinking Arizona voters can be easily duped, Huppenthal’s dishonest solution as he faces knowledgeable conservative challenger Diane Douglas, is to simply rebrand the liberal scheme. Presto!  “Common Core” will become “Arizona College and Career Ready Standards,” if he is able to slip this grotesque deception through. He admits that nothing other than the name will change in his Obama-influenced vision for Arizona classrooms.

As we previously noted, Huppenthal claimed conservative credentials as a candidate, but is now cozying up to Obama’s education point man Arne Duncan as the duo recently made the rounds of the state. Now, rather than protecting Arizona’s Constitutional requirement for local control of our district schools, Huppenthal is shamefully pushing policies intended to cede control of every facet of our education system to federal bureaucrats.

Scroll down through Malkin’s Jeb Bush article to click on the myriad exposés of Common Core. This critical topic is one that conservative Malkin pledged to devote considerable energies to illuminating, and she has remained true to her word with her “Rotten to the Core“ series.

Then watch this shocking video of a father merely questioning the implementation of Common Core getting hauled out of the meeting by security — and arrested!  Malkin’s accompanying post is chilling:  “Parents, you need to question these people!:” Shock video of dad arrested at school meeting after challenging Common Core. The left is in this for the long haul and will go to any lengths to silence dissent.

Common Core is serious business and America‘s children are the pawns in the alarming game of federal overreach. As happens too frequently, those we trusted are attempting to hoodwink us with catchy jargon and glib name changes. Now as a worried candidate facing angry parents, Huppenthal is hard at work — reconstructing the name but keeping the rotten core of Common Core. 

 Our education house is made of cards. It’s time to rebuild with a solid foundation

.

Linda Valdez’ slurs, lies, hasten AZ Republic’s demise

If you’ve ever wondered why the increasingly anorexic Periódico de la República de Arizona (Arizona Republic) is in its death throes after 123 years of publication, take a gander at the newspaper’s columnists. The far left is roundly represented by Laurie Roberts and E. J. Montini — neither above engaging in fabrication in order to make their skewed points. But it’s Linda Valdez who slides off the left side of the page with her slippery rants and irrationality, spitefully contrived to agitate. Even as the daily’s pulse weakens, these purveyors of agenda remain contemptuously unconcerned about insulting the remaining readers who value truth and Constitutional principles.

Here’s an example, titled “GOP’s mean-spirited food stamp victory.”  There’s no trick to spotting a Valdez piece. A committed liberal and open borders proponent, she extols radical leftists and Alinsky disciples, Reps. Kyrsten Sinema and Raul Grijalva.

Valdez’s unconcealed abhorrence of Republicans jumps off the page. In Valdezese, these “mean spirited” monsters are responsible for starving children, polluting the planet, over-consuming,  denying health care to the ailing, sunlight to those in the shadows and pushing granny off a cliff.

Corporate America is a behemoth that must be curtailed, since providing jobs is not nearly as humane as providing cradle-to-grave handouts — paid for by American citizen taxpayers, many now underemployed or working two jobs since Obama’s destruction of the economy.

Implausibly Valdez ends her effort with, “Today’s GOP House delights in taking food away from the hungry and blocking access to medical care. Astonishing. But true.”

We think it’s astonishing this lightweight still has a job at the rapidly deteriorating newspaper, hit with growing circulation losses and declining advertising revenue. The next round of layoffs should include Valdez, freeing her up to travel those failed socialist countries she so highly esteems and desires to have the U.S. emulate.

Defunding Obamacare doesn’t risk gov’t shutdown

Within a day of liberal doyenne Nancy Pelosi rapturously declaring Barack Obama “a brilliant, eloquent…strategic thinker…who knows how to get something done,” the “eloquent” president took a swipe at House Republicans for passing legislation today that would keep the government funded past October 1 but would also defund Obamacare. The GOP House members are planning another vote next week intending to link a one-year delay in the health care law to raising the debt ceiling.

An agitated and ego-centric Obama berated Congress for being “focused on trying to mess with me.” (Video link)

Today’s roll call vote (Dems are italicized) was mostly along party lines, but two Democrats in the 435 member U.S. House of Representatives boldly joined Republicans. Rep. Jim Matheson (Utah-CD 4) and Rep. Mike McIntyre (NC-CD 7) tipped the scales a bit more in the 230-189 vote. Read McIntyre’s statement explaining his vote here.

Thirteen members did not vote.

Janet Napolitano’s new bungalow rates zero local press

If you’re looking for news about Janet Napolitano’s opulent new living style in California, don’t expect to find it in the pages of the Arizona República.  Stories abound of the onetime Arizona governor and Obama’s former Homeland Security chieftain being hired on as the University of California president. But nary a word about her lavish new digs — a mansion being restored by the nearly bankrupt state of California at a cost estimated up to $6 million. In 2008 the costly renovation was ditched when the estimates came in at $8 to $9 million. The historic Blake House has been home to university presidents for decades and the now vacant property — which sits on 10 acres of Mediterranean gardens —  is in need of updating.  In UC lingo, the showplace is needed to “accommodate essential entertainment functions.”

The deluxe residence overlooking the bay, is quite a leap from the more humble walk-up condo at Renaissance Square in downtown Phoenix where Napolitano previously hung her hat. The never married Napolitano will presumably be rattling around the grand expanses solo.

While the renovation is underway, she will reside in a 3,500 square foot rental in Oakland with a mere $10,000 monthly price tag — thoughtfully provided by the university system.

Since Napolitano’s base annual salary is reportedly $570,000, plus an additional $142,500 in moving expenses. It seems she could kick in a buck or two toward the rental.

The University of California is hardly in a position to gush such generosity since budget cuts have caused student tuition fees to double and teachers to be sacked. Yet despite the reductions, The San Francisco Chronicle reports that the UC regents’ buildings and grounds committee voted unanimously Tuesday to begin the renovations to the three-bedroom, seven-bath residence. Plans include adding a laundry, kitchen and upgraded bathrooms, along with roof repairs to the 4,300-square-foot private living quarters in the 13,269-square-foot mansion. 

Even the UK’s Daily Mail’ has a complete report including photos, which can be read here. The República’s report? Don’t hold your breath.

H/T to SRAZ reader and commenter Saguaro Sam

Huppenthal’s con job: Pushes renaming Common Core

AZ Education Superintendent tries to fool parents and voters

John Huppenthal, Arizona’s Superintendent of Public Instruction, is doing a first-rate imitation of Punxsutawney Phil.  According to tradition, each February 2 groundhog Phil emerges from his burrow. A cloudy day welcomes an early spring. But if the sun is shining brightly and Phil sees his shadow, six more weeks of icy winter is in store.

Unfortunately for Arizona, Huppenthal’s recent emergence from the education abyss will not give him six weeks of winter. Instead the devious policies he is advocating will bring decades of a barren winter landscape for Arizona students.

Alarmed by the voices of angry voters, parents dedicated to protecting their children and facing Diane Douglas, a knowledgeable conservative challenger in the 2014 election, John Huppenthal has decided the most advantageous scheme is to try to dupe the public by slickly changing the name from “Common Core” to “Arizona College and Career Ready Standards.”  He acknowledges the term has become “politically charged.” It has also become difficult to sell the leftist standards — long in multiculturalism, self esteem and social justice and short on actual education — to the groups he is addressing. “Unwavering“ in his commitment to Common Core, Huppenthal admits outside of the rebranding, nothing will actually change in his Obama-influenced vision for Arizona classrooms. 

Instead of protecting Arizona’s Constitutional requirement for local control of our district schools, Huppenthal is pushing policies that will cede control of every facet of our education system to federal bureaucrats. Conservative syndicated columnist Michelle Malkin has written extensively about what she calls “Rotten to the Core.”  “Obama’s War on Academic Standards,” is an excellent place to begin.

This shocking video shows a teacher’s training session on Common Core math. The trainer explains how getting the wrong answer is perfectly acceptable. FrontPage Mag exposes the shocking Common Core ‘Exemplars’ and the Daily Caller reveals graphic sex and the praising of Communist Castro. Opponents of such garbage are being categorized as part of the tin foil hat contingent. Read some of this and make your own judgments.

Huppenthal’s transformation is confounding. Here is a man who claimed conservative credentials as a candidate, now cozying up to Obama’s education point man Arne Duncan as the duo recently made the rounds of the state.

The biggest irony, however, is the fact that Huppenthal was the author and prime sponsor of Senate Bill 1038 in 2005. This bill dramatically lowered graduation standards for Arizona students. Now, eight years later, the same John Huppenthal is using the scare tactics that our state standards are too low as the reason for embracing Obama’s Common Core.

At 29 years of age Huppenthal began an unbroken 30-year record of feeding at the public trough. During those years he has become a recognized establishment hack. It’s time to retire him.