The Front Page Cover
2016 The truth will set you free
Featuring:
Requiem for a VA Victim
Michelle Malkin
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The Decline and Fall of Common Core?
To the understandable relief of countless children and even more parents, Common Core may not remain so common. The grand scheme of centralized education that hijacked classrooms nationwide to align instruction and ideology with Big Brother isn't passing the test. And while reports of Common Core's demise might be premature — government programs are the closest things to eternal life on earth — America's short-lived love affair with the program is quickly coming to an end.
One year before Common Core State Standards (CCSS) were finalized in 2010, 46 states formally endorsed the effort. Not because they thought the still-unknown national standards would lead to an educational rebirth but because billions in Race to the Top Bottom federal grant money was tied to states' willingness to comply with Washington's agenda.
Fast forward a few years, and states began to tell Washington bureaucrats exactly where they could put their standards. In 2014, Indiana, one of the earliest to sign on to Common Core, became the first state to ditch the standards. All told, dozens of states have either pulled out completely or scaled back participation. After Massachusetts abandoned the standardized tests late last year, even The New York Times admitted that "what was once bipartisan consensus around national standards has collapsed into acrimony."
And it's little wonder. As The Federalist's Joy Pullman notes, "Common Core has by now not only failed academically, it has failed operationally." For one thing, it seems nObamaCare isn't the only government fiasco plagued by computer glitches. Last year, major glitches across states wreaked havoc on CCSS testing.
Then there's academic achievement — or the lack thereof. The federal government promised CCSS would improve educational outcomes. Former Secretary of Education Arne Duncan said in 2010, "millions of U.S. schoolchildren, parents, and teachers will know, for the first time, if students truly are on-track for colleges and careers." Then, again, if you want to keep your doctor...
Well, as Pullman writes, a recent report from the Brookings Institution found "American children are receiving objectively worse academic instruction because of Common Core," and "Common Core has done nothing to help children learn more overall." Specifically, the National Assessment of Education Progress (NAEP), which is widely accepted as the measurement of student achievement over time, has not shown any significant impact from Common Core over the past six years. Imagine that. Another government program failing. Unthinkable.
Furthermore, Ze'ev Wurman, former U.S. Department of Education Senior Policy Advisor under George W. Bush, notes, "[A]ll the data we have — from ACT/SAT, through AP course taking, through early enrollment in algebra that was the hallmark of U.S. improvement in the last two decades, and to the NAEP scores — all point one way: down. I couldn't find a single piece of objective educational data that looks improved or at least hopeful."
Any teacher who has tried to tell a child why 7+7=14 but only by way of 10 would agree.
Maybe that's why this year, just 20 states plus Washington, DC, plan to use Common Core standardized tests — a far cry from the 46 that signed on with such enthusiasm.
And even in states still drinking the CCSS Kool-Aid, not all parents and students are on board. In New York, for example, last year approximately 20% of students opted out of the standardized tests. This year, the number may be even higher. In Allendale Elementary School outside of Buffalo, a whopping 87% opted out. On Long Island, nearly 50% of students said no to the tests.
Parents and students aren't the only ones fed up with Common Core. Teachers have also had enough. One teacher even posted an apology to students for the harm Common Core inflicts.
If there is one bright spot, it's that Common Core is so disastrous that it's inspired many parents to reclaim control over their children's education. More and more parents are turning to homeschooling, and many cite Common Core as the reason.
To borrow a phrase from the 1987 classic "Princess Bride," Common Core may still only be "mostly dead," but in this case, there's no true love around to revive it. -The Patriot Post
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OPINION IN BRIEF
Cal Thomas: "Moral relativism has contributed to a host of societal and relational problems few wish to acknowledge. To do so would force people to admit their 'standard,' which in reality is no standard at all, isn't working. And such an acknowledgement could lead to what theologians call repentance, a turning away from the old and embracing the new, which is not new, but old, tried and proven best. President nObama may be the most pro-abortion president America has ever had. He has done little to reduce their number, which near 60 million in the U.S. since 1973. By what standard is his position 'moral'? The president used to be against same-sex marriage, now he's for it. Was he moral when he opposed it, or is he moral now that he supports it? And what is his standard, because these positions are contradictory? Is the president being moral when he allows mostly Muslim refugees from Syria into the country, but permits few Syrian Christians to enter? He says he's a Christian. Wouldn't it make more sense for him to protect Christians first, since they are the ones being targeted by Islamic fundamentalists for death, forced marriages and sexual slavery? ... Who will rescue us from this moral quagmire? It won't be anyone running for president. These things bubble up from the human heart; they do not trickle down from Washington." -The Patriot Post
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hanoi-Kerry, in Bahrain, Mentions Possibility
of ‘New Arrangement’ With Iran
Patrick Goodenough
Patrick Goodenough
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{cnsnews.com} ~ Secretary of State John hanoi- Kerry appealed to Iran on Thursday to work constructively to help end the conflicts in Syria and Yemen... holding out the prospect of some form of new regional security “arrangement” should Tehran choose to cooperate. In separate appearances in Manama with his Saudi and Bahraini counterparts, hanoi- Kerry referred – without elaborating – to the possibility of such an arrangement. Alongside Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir, hanoi-Kerry referred to Iran’s role in Syria and Yemen – the U.S. Navy recently interdicted an Iranian arms shipment believed destined to the Houthi rebels – and to its ballistic missile activity... http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/patrick-goodenough/kerry-bahrain-mentions-possibility-new-arrangement-iran
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FAKE! Reince rigging voting machines
so slump-Trump gets below 50%
Renee Nal
Renee Nal
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{trevorloudon.com} ~ “It is interesting to me that in every primary or caucus where Ted Cruz won, we have certified, proven, sworn evidence of massive voter fraud.” – slump-Trump surrogate Roger Stone blatantly lying about voter fraud... Stone is calling for massive demonstrations at the Republican convention in Cleveland in July. Stone also threatened to disclose hotel names and room numbers of pro-Cruz delegates. Donald slump-Trump warned that his supporters would respond with “riots” if he fails to secure the nomination at July’s convention in Cleveland. “I think you’d have riots, I think you’d have riots. I’m representing a tremendous many, many millions of people.” Donald slump-Trump, March 17, 2016. There is a rumor circulating on social media that chairman of the Republican National Committee Reince Priebus is rigging electronic voting machines in New York, ensuring that presidential candidate Donald slump-Trump will get below 50% during the April 19 primary. The lie is so incredibly moronic that one would think it would not gain legs, but it inexplicably has been shared numerous times on social media so we will address it here...
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Gitmo bill would end transfers for remainder
of nObama's term
Jacqueline Klimas.
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{washingtonexaminer.com} ~ Sen. Kelly Ayotte introduced legislation Tuesday that would prohibit any transfers from Guantanamo Bay through September 2017, several months past the end of President nObama's term... The Detaining Terrorists to Protect Americans Act of 2016 would also permanently ban any transfers of detainees to the U.S., and prohibit the closure of the detention center in Cuba. "Unfortunately, this administration seems more interested in releasing terrorists and bringing the remainder to the United States in order to close Guantanamo and fulfill a misguided and dangerous campaign promise," Ayotte, R-N.H., said in a statement. "My legislation would suspend the administration's dangerous releases that have allowed terrorists to return to the battlefield and permanently prevent the administration from bringing Guantanamo terrorists to the United States."... http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/gitmo-bill-would-end-transfers-for-remainder-of-obamas-term/article/2587733
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nObama warns GOP of retaliation if Supreme
Court nominee not confirmed
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{gopusa.com} ~ During a visit to Chicago, President Barack nObama again called for the confirmation of his Supreme Court nominee choice, Merrick Garland, saying political bickering threatens the integrity of the high court... nObama, speaking at the University of Chicago Law School where he taught for a decade, said the Republican attempt to block Garland could turn into gridlock that “would be a disaster for the courts,” indicating a slippery slope for future nominees. If a Republican wins the White House and makes a nomination, Democrats would rebuff the choice. In his campaign to confirm Garland, nObama told the crowd of nearly 300 students, faculty and judges it would be a breakdown that would destroy the integrity and legitimacy of the federal judiciary... http://www.gopusa.com/?p=8396?omhide=true
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Iran Strengthening Precision and Destructiveness of Warheads With New Octogen Explosives Plant
Lea Speyer
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Iran’s defense minister, Brigadier general Hossein Dehghan
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{algemeiner.com} ~ Iran’s Defense Ministry announced a new initiative on Wednesday that will supposedly increase the penetration, destructiveness and precision of its missile payloads, the country’s semi-official state news agency Fars reported... Iranian Defense Minister Brigadier General Hossein Dehqan revealed the plans during a speech at a ceremony inaugurating a new Octogen (HMX) explosives production plant in Tehran. “Concurrently with its efforts to increase the precision-striking power of its weapons systems, the defense ministry has also paid attention to boosting the destructive and penetration power of different weapons’ warheads and has put on its agenda the acquisition of the technical know-how to produce Octogen explosive materials and Octogen-based weapons,” he was quoted as saying by Fars. HMX, the report notes, “is used exclusively for military purposes to implode fissionable…as a component of rocket propellant, and as a high explosive buster charge.” Because of its high molecular weight, it is one of the most potent chemical explosives manufactured. It is mainly utilized in different missiles and weaponry to enhance efficiency and effectiveness... https://www.algemeiner.com/2016/04/08/iran-strengthening-precision-and-destructiveness-of-warheads-with-new-octogen-explosives-plant/#
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North Korea: A Forgotten Threat?
Alice Greene
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{punchingbagpost.com} ~ North Korea’s nuclear potential is the biggest threat facing the Asia Pacific region today. While the country may have agreed to abandon all nuclear research 10 years ago, its recent missile tests show that it is no longer interested in denuclearization... We now face unsteady, untrustworthy leadership coupled with a habit of broken promises and the intent to develop weapons capable of reaching the United States - not to mention the dangers posed to our friends in South Korea. While the nObama Administration has remained focused on the Middle East, we must not forget about North Korea. Kim Jong-un’s rogue regime isn’t just a threat for the Republic of Korea to figure out; nor does it affect only the US and China – what North Korea aims to do with a combination of intercontinental ballistic missiles and nuclear weapons could endanger the entire world... http://punchingbagpost.com/north-korea-a-forgotten-threat
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Panama Papers Reveal Clinton’s Kremlin Connection
John R. Schindler
John R. Schindler
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{observer.com} ~ The revelations of the so-called Panama Papers that are roiling the world’s political and financial elites this week include important facts about Team Clinton... This unprecedented trove of documents purloined from a shady Panama law firm that arranged tax havens, and perhaps money laundering, for the globe’s super-rich includes juicy insights into how Russia’s elite hides its ill-gotten wealth. Almost lost among the many revelations is the fact that Russia’s biggest bank uses The Podesta Group as its lobbyist in Washington, D.C. Though hardly a household name, this firm is well known inside the Beltway, not least because its CEO is Tony Podesta, one of the best-connected Democratic machers in the country. He founded the firm in 1998 with his brother John, formerly chief of staff to President Bill Clinton, then counselor to President Barack nObama, Mr. Podesta is the very definition of a Democratic insider. Outsiders engage the Podestas and their well-connected lobbying firm to improve their image and get access to Democratic bigwigs. Which is exactly what Sberbank, Russia’s biggest financial institution, did this spring. As reported at the end of March, the Podesta Group registered with the U.S. Government as a lobbyist for Sberbank, as required by law, naming three Podesta Group staffers: Tony Podesta plus Stephen Rademaker and David Adams, the last two former assistant secretaries of state. It should be noted that Tony Podesta is a big-money bundler for the Hilly Clinton presidential campaign while his brother John is the chairman of that campaign, the chief architect of her plans to take the White House this November... http://observer.com/2016/04/panama-papers-reveal-clintons-kremlin-connection/
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Puerto Rico Activists Crash Federal
Reserve Panel With Creative Protest
Daniel Marans & Ben Walsh
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{huffingtonpost.com} ~ Over a dozen activists descended on a building where Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen and her three living predecessors were speaking on Thursday to demand that the Fed bail out Puerto Rico’s cash-strapped government... The demonstrators, who are affiliated with the progressive Fed Up coalition, distributed Puerto Rican flags and empanadas as Puerto Rican music played outside Manhattan’s International House, a student residence. The fight over whether to help Puerto Rico has reached the bottom rung of American discourse — cable news ads paid for by undisclosed donors. The ad, which ran on CNN and was paid for by the Center for Individual Freedom, urges Congress to “stop the Washington bailout of Puerto Rico.” The Virginia-based conservative group does not disclose its donors. It was founded in 1998 to combat government restrictions on smoking... http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/puerto-rico-activists-federal-reserve_us_5706cb81e4b0a506064eae19
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Sen Jeff Sessions Confirms Obama’s Anti-White, Anti-Christian “Ethnic Cleansing” Of US
Rick Wells
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{rickwells.us} ~ Long ago Hussein nObama proclaimed his intentions of fundamentally transforming the United States. We have witnessed him methodically carry out that goal since he’s been in office and we must assume it will continue... One of his favorite non-recreational pastimes is social engineering the United States into a composition that is more to his liking and that means less white. This is evident in light of his efforts in the deliberate dilution and destruction of our national heritage in the supposed interest of “diversity,” a euphemism for non-whiteness. It is also obvious in his flooding of America with illegals from Latin America and green lighting the State Department with the reckless importation of legal immigrants from Islamic countries. Any efforts at caution or restraint are immediately criticized as being racist in nature when it is in fact the racism of Hussein nObama and key members of the White House staff that is at work as one of many motivations for their efforts at our national destruction. America used to be a primarily white nation but the nObamas, Holder, Johnson and Jarrett and many others simply don’t like white folks. Therefore we are now on track towards a diverse, non-white composition spawned and perpetuated by those anti-white racists. Additionally, there is a strong anti-Christian, pro-Muslim characteristic to the trends. It’s reflective of the supposed Christian in the White House, who was raised a Muslim in his home country of Indonesia’s preference of Muslims over Christians... http://rickwells.us/archives/28256
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Government Will Owe More Money Than
Entire Economy Produces
Ali Meyer
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{freebeacon.com} ~ An auditor for the Government Accountability Office told lawmakers Wednesday that in the next few years the federal government will owe more than our entire economy produces... Gene Dodaro, the comptroller general for the Government Accountability Office, testified at the Senate Budget Committee to provide the results of its audit on the government’s financial books. “We’re very heavily leveraged in debt,” Dodaro said. “The historical average post-World War II of how much debt we held as a percent of gross domestic product was 43 percent on average; right now we’re at 74 percent.” Dodaro says that under current law, debt held by the public will hit a historic high... http://freebeacon.com/issues/government-owe-money-entire-economy/?utm_source=Freedom+Mail&utm_campaign=cef73db602-WFB_Morning_Beacon_04_08_164_7_2016&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_b5e6e0e9ea-cef73db602-45611665
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Requiem for a VA Victim
Michelle Malkin
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{freedomsback.com} ~ What does a suffering military veteran have to do to force an unresponsive government to change its ways?
How about self-immolating in front of his VA clinic? Hello, paper-pushers and desk jockeys? Are you there? Would the heat, the smoke and the smell of burning flesh rouse you in the least?
Nope. Apparently, even this horror is not enough to move the inert bureaucrats at the Department of Veterans Affairs -- let alone the indifferent tango dancer-in-chief.
While President nObama sashayed in Buenos Aires two weeks ago, proud Navy veteran Charles Richard Ingram III, 51, made his last life's journey. He walked nine miles from his home in Egg Harbor Township, N.J., to the curb in front of the Northfield, N.J., VA clinic on New Road.
With a large blue wooden cross looming on the side of a chapel in the background, Ingram stood on the lawn, poured gas all over his body and lit a match. A firefighter told The Daily Beast that the retired chief petty officer, known as "Rich" to family and friends, was "100 percent burned." A bystander had rushed to his side with blankets to snuff out the flames and first responders arrived within minutes.
But it was too late.
CPO Ingram leaves behind a grieving wife, two young children ages 3 and 5, and a charred patch of brown and blackened grass 75 feet from the entrance of the VA's Atlantic County Community Based Outpatient Clinic.
The bloated VA system now employs nearly 400,000 people to carry out its purported "mission of caring." The CBOCs were established to "to more efficiently and effectively serve eligible veterans and provide care in the most appropriate setting," according to the feds. But nobody from Ingram's CBOC -- one of 800 such offices run by the VA, which boasts a record $150 billion budget -- was there to help on that Saturday when Ingram perished.
Why not? Because the facility is closed on weekends. Its daytime, weekday hours (8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.) serve the convenience of the government employees, not of the men and women who put their lives on the line for their country.
Area veterans' advocates and local officials in both political parties have pushed for years to address chronic understaffing and Soviet-era wait times. The Atlantic City Press reports that there is just one lone psychologist to provide therapy to 200 veterans on any given day.
"To make matters worse," local Democratic state senator Jeff Van Drew who worked in the VA system as a dentist pointed out last week, "there are no Veterans Affairs hospitals in the region, so even if a veteran is able to schedule a timely appointment at the nearest VA hospital, he or she would have to travel hours to Philadelphia, Penn., northern New Jersey or Delaware to receive care."
Would it have been too much to ask the VA's employees to open for just one day of weekend appointments and one weekday of late-night appointments? Apparently, that was too much of a sacrifice for the 8-to-4:30-ers. Vets' groups petitioned for extended hours for years. Nothing happened.
How about a pilot program to free the VA's hostages and allow vets to receive health care from personal doctors and local hospitals, as Rep. Frank LoBiondo, R-N.J., has long proposed? There must be no escape hatches, anti-privatization special interests have decreed. All must suffer for the Greater Good.
Flacks for the Wilmington, Delaware, VA Medical Services facility, which oversees Ingram's South Jersey clinic, downplayed appointment delays and vets' complaints after Ingram's sacrificial act. Instead, the bureaucrats blithely touted their "telehealth" services via computer, "group therapy" and "additional social workers." Nothing to see here, move along.
When Buddhist monk Thich Quang Duc burned himself to death on a Saigon street corner to protest abuses by the Diem government in 1963, the world took notice. The monk left behind his crystallized bones, intact heart and an inflamed movement to end repression against his people. American journalists played a key role in amplifying Duc's message and ensuring that his death wasn't in vain.
Where are the national media voices and advocates for U.S. Navy CPO Charles Ingram and the countless other martyrs victimized by the VA?
If a loyal veteran burns himself to the ground in a forest of government bureaucrats, will anybody hear him?
How about self-immolating in front of his VA clinic? Hello, paper-pushers and desk jockeys? Are you there? Would the heat, the smoke and the smell of burning flesh rouse you in the least?
Nope. Apparently, even this horror is not enough to move the inert bureaucrats at the Department of Veterans Affairs -- let alone the indifferent tango dancer-in-chief.
While President nObama sashayed in Buenos Aires two weeks ago, proud Navy veteran Charles Richard Ingram III, 51, made his last life's journey. He walked nine miles from his home in Egg Harbor Township, N.J., to the curb in front of the Northfield, N.J., VA clinic on New Road.
With a large blue wooden cross looming on the side of a chapel in the background, Ingram stood on the lawn, poured gas all over his body and lit a match. A firefighter told The Daily Beast that the retired chief petty officer, known as "Rich" to family and friends, was "100 percent burned." A bystander had rushed to his side with blankets to snuff out the flames and first responders arrived within minutes.
But it was too late.
CPO Ingram leaves behind a grieving wife, two young children ages 3 and 5, and a charred patch of brown and blackened grass 75 feet from the entrance of the VA's Atlantic County Community Based Outpatient Clinic.
The bloated VA system now employs nearly 400,000 people to carry out its purported "mission of caring." The CBOCs were established to "to more efficiently and effectively serve eligible veterans and provide care in the most appropriate setting," according to the feds. But nobody from Ingram's CBOC -- one of 800 such offices run by the VA, which boasts a record $150 billion budget -- was there to help on that Saturday when Ingram perished.
Why not? Because the facility is closed on weekends. Its daytime, weekday hours (8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.) serve the convenience of the government employees, not of the men and women who put their lives on the line for their country.
Area veterans' advocates and local officials in both political parties have pushed for years to address chronic understaffing and Soviet-era wait times. The Atlantic City Press reports that there is just one lone psychologist to provide therapy to 200 veterans on any given day.
"To make matters worse," local Democratic state senator Jeff Van Drew who worked in the VA system as a dentist pointed out last week, "there are no Veterans Affairs hospitals in the region, so even if a veteran is able to schedule a timely appointment at the nearest VA hospital, he or she would have to travel hours to Philadelphia, Penn., northern New Jersey or Delaware to receive care."
Would it have been too much to ask the VA's employees to open for just one day of weekend appointments and one weekday of late-night appointments? Apparently, that was too much of a sacrifice for the 8-to-4:30-ers. Vets' groups petitioned for extended hours for years. Nothing happened.
How about a pilot program to free the VA's hostages and allow vets to receive health care from personal doctors and local hospitals, as Rep. Frank LoBiondo, R-N.J., has long proposed? There must be no escape hatches, anti-privatization special interests have decreed. All must suffer for the Greater Good.
Flacks for the Wilmington, Delaware, VA Medical Services facility, which oversees Ingram's South Jersey clinic, downplayed appointment delays and vets' complaints after Ingram's sacrificial act. Instead, the bureaucrats blithely touted their "telehealth" services via computer, "group therapy" and "additional social workers." Nothing to see here, move along.
When Buddhist monk Thich Quang Duc burned himself to death on a Saigon street corner to protest abuses by the Diem government in 1963, the world took notice. The monk left behind his crystallized bones, intact heart and an inflamed movement to end repression against his people. American journalists played a key role in amplifying Duc's message and ensuring that his death wasn't in vain.
Where are the national media voices and advocates for U.S. Navy CPO Charles Ingram and the countless other martyrs victimized by the VA?
If a loyal veteran burns himself to the ground in a forest of government bureaucrats, will anybody hear him?
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