90 Year-Old Veteran Of THREE Wars and Medal Of Honor Recipient Forced To Remove His Nation's Flag From His Lawn

Fox News - A Medal of Honor recipient in a dispute over his right to fly the American flag in his yard will have another week before D-Day -- when he'll be forced to take down the Stars and Stripes or face legal action.

Ninety-year-old Col. Van T. Barfoot, a veteran of three wars, initially was given a 5 p.m. Friday deadline to dismantle his flagpole or face a legal battle over violating an order from his townhouse community association in Henrico County, Va.

Barfoot, who fought in World War II, the Korean War and Vietnam, was told in July that he could not put up his freestanding flagpole in his Sussex Square neighborhood — but he installed it anyway.

On Tuesday, he says, he got a letter from the homeowners' association telling him the 21-foot pole he erected in September violates the community's aesthetic guidelines.

Read Entire Story

Instead of a "thank you for faithful service in your call to duty (3 times)" a home owners association is telling the 90 year-old Medal of Honor recipient that his flag pole, in which he has proudly displayed his allegiance to the U.S., violates the association's aesthetic guidelines. Retired Army Col. Van T. Barfoot, distinguished service member did more in one battle than most soldiers do in their entire military careers. Read his Medal of Honor Citation for yourself. He is a highly decorated retired veteran of more than thirty years and three wars.

First of all, I HATE HOA's. Always have, always will. Their very existence is Socialistic in concept. HOA's do not pay a home owner's mortgage and/or their property taxes and therefore should NOT be allowed to tell a home owner what he/she can and cannot do on his/her property. No one bats an eye anymore at giving up the liberties that people like this notable American hero fought so selflessly to protect.

Right off the back, I can guarantee the argument that no one is forced to purchase a home in any community is going to come up. This is true and I can’t argue against it, but some things in this country ought to be sacred and the right to place a flag pole in your yard and proudly display your country’s flag should be one of them; especially when you take such good care to follow proper flag etiquette by raising the banner and lowering the banner at the proper times each day for more than thirty years. A flag pole with your nation’s flag on it isn't going to lower property values, the very thing HOA’s were charted to protect.

This is unpatriotic anytime, but particularly at a time when our soldiers are off fighting for our national interests. This HOA and any others with similar restrictions should be ashamed of themselves for spitting in the face of their motherland and all the fighting men and women who have answered the call to serve their countries interests. I’m pleased to see that U.S. Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va has taken up the cause of this patriot (although, I’m a bit surprised to find out that he is a Democrat, but I digress).

Even if you support the right of the HOA to disparage a person’s right to demonstrate their patriotism, exceptions can be made to any rule and if you can’t make an exception for a man who single handily destroyed two machine gun nests, stared down an enemy tank with a bazooka and destroyed it and captured 17 enemy combatants, and carried 2 fellow soldiers 1700 yards to safety all in one day, who can you make an exception for.

This HOA is a classic example of everything that is wrong with America and the decay that is eroding what makes America the greatest nation on earth. This isn’t a simple case of complying with the restrictions in the HOA guidelines. This is much much bigger and if you can’t see that, then perhaps you should go serve on the front lines for a period of time.

Oklahoma Trooper Defends Use of Force in Report

In June, I brought to your attention the unprofessional conduct of an Oklahoma State Trooper that should have resulted in the loss of his job. Trooper Daniel Martin is back in the news again for yet another incident involving his inability to control his temper. How many more times will this loose canon be allowed to disparage his profession and the entire public service arena?



The AP story of Trooper Daniel Martin's abusive behavior. -

An Oklahoma Highway Patrol trooper defends his use of a baton in a second case involving claims he used excessive force.

The patrol released Trooper Daniel Martin's report Friday on the latest incident after an open records request by The Associated Press.

Martin says 28-year-old Kristopher Douglas disobeyed four requests to move back from a traffic stop Oct. 3 in Holdenville. He says he struck Douglas' left thigh once.

Douglas says he was trying to enter a friend's house when troopers arrived. He is charged with obstructing an officer.

Martin and another trooper remain on administrative leave pending an investigation.

In July, Martin was suspended without pay after scuffling with a paramedic during a traffic stop involving an ambulance.

Holdenville is 75 miles southeast of Oklahoma City.

Oklahoma Trooper Interferes With Patient Care and Assaults EMT

I was astounded to catch a report of this story on Fox News this evening. Let me set this up for you. The ambulance has a sick patient in the back that they are transporting without lights and without sirens to a local hospital.

The trooper in the video is attempting to respond to a separate emergency. The trooper approaches the ambulance at a high rate of speed with only his warning lights on and rides the bumper of the ambulance. This is equivalent to being on the bumper of a semi. The ambulance is box shaped and that is why every fire truck and ambulance says stay back 100 feet, because we can't see what's going on directly behind us.

The driver of the ambulance does not see or hear the trooper behind him, which apparently works to enrage this trooper. When the driver finally realizes the trooper is behind him, he pulls over. As the trooper passes he comments rudely on the radio' "try checking your rear views," or something to that effect, and the driver responds with a gesture of surprise, which the trooper would later claim he thought was an obscene gesture.

The trooper then comes back and stops the ambulance. The paramedic, thinking that there must be some kind of medical emergency accounting for the erratic behavior and driving of the trooper, gets out and attempts to determine what the problem is and help. The paramedic explains that they have a patient and pleads with the trooper to follow them to the hospital and deal with the situation after patient care has been transferred. The trooper then tries to forcefully arrest the paramedic, who resists (as I believe he should have) because the patient is under his care. The trooper places the paramedic in a choke hold, which is against police procedure. The trooper eventually relents and the patient is transported.

Attorney Gary Jones, representing Trooper Martin, stated that Trooper Martin was within his legal authority to stop the ambulance because the ambulance was not running with its lights or sirens on. James also said the paramedic escalated the situation by challenging the trooper. While it is true that the Trooper was within his legal right to stop the ambulance, that does not excuse the fact that he did or the fact that he needlessly assaulted the paramedic and tried to force him to abandon his patient.

The trooper's only defense is that the paramedic made matters worse by getting out of the back of the ambulance. Points to ponder here...the treating paramedic is the one in charge of that ambulance. The responsibility for the patient's care and everything that happens in the course of that call falls squarely on the shoulders of that paramedic. This wasn't like a typical traffic stop where an officer would have to worry about a perp getting out of a vehicle that he was stopping. I maintain, that this course of defense for the officer is absolutely absurd.

This whole matter was instigated by an out of control police officer. I encourage you to read the paramedic's written report of the incident. I hope that this trooper loses his job. The unprofessional conduct of this officer, coupled with his inability to maintain control, his flagrant disregard for the well-being of the patient being cared for, his reckless driving, and his apparent lack of knowledge of the law concerning Paramedic's in the line of duty make him a danger to the community at large and a disgrace to his community and profession.

I'm happy to say, that in general, emergency public agencies enjoy a high level of professional courtesy both on and off duty. Very rarely does a police officer act against an EMT or Firefighter, very much like they provide the same courtesy to fellow police officers. Stories like this paint a mostly false picture of public service cooperation that distorts the professions we chose to serve in.

In the end, the D.A. opted not to prosecute either side of this scuffle. The D.A. would have been in a worse case scenario. While the officer was with in his right to stop the ambulance, he also committed a felony when he assaulted the paramedic and interfered with the medical treatment of his patient.

For more detail on this story visit KOTV's website.

Resident's of New Orleans Should Reimburse U.S.

When I read the following headline on Fox News I was dumbfounded. Trial Starts Monday in Suit Against Army Corps of Engineers for Katrina Flooding. I think the Corps should receive a medal for keeping the residents of a "disaster waiting to happen" city safe for as long as they have. This isn't rocket science people, when you build a metropolitan area below sea level in the middle of the swamp it is eventually going to flood, no matter what you do to prevent it. Those people who are rebuilding in this location are complete idiots!

The article quotes residents arguing "the corps' poor maintenance of the Mississippi River-Gulf Outlet, a shipping channel dug in the 1960s as a short-cut between the Gulf of Mexico and New Orleans, led to the wipeout of St. Bernard Parish and the city's Lower Ninth Ward when Katrina struck in August 2005." Come on, seriously? What do you think is going to happen when you’re an Oceanside city built below sea level surrounded by swamp?

"It's really something the people of St. Bernard and the Lower 9th Ward, and New Orleans East, everybody in that area, have needed for a long time. What happened there should not happen in the United States of America," said plaintiffs' attorney John Andry. "It's the largest preventable catastrophe in American history." Yeah, because the United States of America is exempt from the wrath of Mother Nature and the laws of physics. The only way this catastrophe could have been prevented, is if the city had never been located there to begin with. You can't cheat the odds and the odds were, are, and always will be that New Orleans is going to flood for reasons already mentioned in this blog.

I was all about getting them the immediate help they needed to survive, but I am not sympathetic to their claims of victimization. The blame for the loss of life, the damage to property and the lack of preparation lie squarely on the shoulders of the people dumb enough to live there to begin with.

Renegade Judges, Attack on the Family, and False Perception of Home Schooling Part 1

A Wake County, North Carolina judge has ordered three children to attend public schools this fall because the homeschooling their mother has provided over the last four years needs to be "challenged."

The children, however, have tested above their grade levels – by as much as two years.

The decision is raising eyebrows among homeschooling families, and one friend of the mother has launched a website to publicize the issue.

The ruling was made by Judge Ned Mangum of Wake County, who was handling a divorce proceeding for Thomas and Venessa Mills.

A statement released by a publicist working for the mother, whose children now are 10, 11 and 12, said Mangum stripped her of her right to decide what is best for her children's education.

The judge, when contacted by WND, explained his goal in ordering the children to register and attend a public school was to make sure they have a "more well-rounded education."

"I thought Ms. Mills had done a good job [in homeschooling]," he said. "It was great for them to have that access, and [I had] no problems with homeschooling. I said public schooling would be a good complement."

The judge said the husband has not been supportive of his wife's homeschooling, and "it accomplished its purposes. It now was appropriate to have them back in public school."

Mangum said he made the determination on his guiding principle, "What's in the best interest of the minor children," and conceded it was putting his judgment in place of the mother's.

Adam Cothes, a spokesman for the mother, said the children routinely had been testing at up to two years above their grade level, were involved in swim team and other activities and events outside their home and had taken leadership roles in history club events.

According to Williams' website, the judge also ordered a mental health evaluation for the mother – but not the father – as part of the divorce proceedings, in what Williams described as an attack on the "mother's conservative Christian beliefs."

According to a proposed but as-yet unsigned order submitted by the father's lawyer to Mangum, "The children have thrived in homeschool for the past four years, but need the broader focus and socialization available to them in public school. The Court finds that it is in the children's best interest to continue their homeschooling through the end of the current school year, but to begin attending public school at the beginning of the 2009-2010 instructional year."

The order proposed by the father's lawyer also conceded the reason for the divorce was the father's "adultery," but it specifically said the father would not pay for homeschooling expenses for his children.

The order also stated, "Defendant believes that plaintiff is a nurturing mother who loves the children. Defendant believes that plaintiff has done a good job with the homeschooling of the children, although he does not believe that continued homeschooling is in the best interest of the children."

The website said the judge also said public school would "prepare these kids for the real world and college" and allow them "socialization."

Williams said the mother originally moved into a homeschool schedule because the children were not doing as well as she hoped at the local public schools.

Reported by World Net Daily
By Bob Unruh
Reported 03/11/2009

Renegade Judges, Attack on the Family, and False Perception of Home Schooling Part II

I have several problems with this. First of all, everyone involved in this believe that the children are thriving and excelling in their education via homeschool. The judge even admitted that they were, the father admitted it too.

The judge cites “socialization” and the “real world” as motivators for his decision. Obviously, this lunatic has no idea what he is talking about. Allow me to elaborate a bit on socialization.

Socialization is knowing how to act appropriately in various situations and is best taught by adults who care about the child. Socialization is not the same as having a social life. Remember this when you hear the dreaded ‘S’ word from others. Your homeschooled kids will have as many friends and activities as they want and you allow (and likely more time than their PS peers to enjoy them).

They will be socialized by their parents and other caring people who will help them learn appropriate behavior in different situations- at home, in public, in informal and formal activities. They will have many opportunities to learn and practice social skills as they will be interacting with the real world on a regular basis.” (www.about.com)

Let’s remember what the article said about these socialized lacking children, “…the children routinely had been testing at up to two years above their grade level, were involved in swim team and other activities and events outside their home and had taken leadership roles in history club events.” It sounds like they have been anti-social to me, not!

According to L.M. Rudner, he discovered that nearly 25% of homeschooled students were enrolled one or more grades above those of the same age enrolled in traditional schools. Even with a conservative analysis of the data, the achievement levels of the home school students in the study were exceptional. By the time home school students are in 8th grade, they are typically four years ahead of their public/private school counterparts.

Cloud also discovered that homeschoolers also did quite well in 1998 on the ACT and SAT college entrance examinations: “They had an average ACT composite score of 22.8, which is .38 standard deviations above the national ACT average of 21.0. This places the average home school student in the 65th percentile of all ACT test takers. The average SAT score for homeschoolers in 2000 was 1100, compared with 1019 for the general population”

Another argument in favor of homeschooling is that most children learn at different paces. A child who is a quick study can easily become bored by the lesson plan that accounts for the rest of the classroom in the student body. This boredom can be perceived as manifestations of behavioral issues and children who really do not need to be on medications end up on them. My friend Rachel homeschools her children for this very reason. Ethan was reading well ahead of all other children his age. His speed of learning would have resulted in his boredom and so she decided it best to educate him from home, where he has subsequently excelled in academics.

Personally, I feel a very strong need as a parent to protect and shelter my children from influences that I find contrary to our belief and value systems. I realize that as they grow and mature, they will have to come face to face with questionable situations. It is my hope, however, that, by sheltering them or, at the very least, educating them that they will be better equipped to function properly when confronted with the situation.

According to Dr. Gordon Neufeld, a leading developmental psychologist, “traditional schooled peer interaction has become more of a problem than an asset. Instead of peer interaction facilitating the process of socialization, it is now more likely to lead to the premature replacement of adults by peers in the life of a child. Such children become peer-oriented rather than adult-oriented and are more difficult to parent and teach. Furthermore, peer-oriented children fail to mature psychologically and their integration into adult society is compromised” (Neufeld). A parent who is truly interested in his child's education and not just kicking against the system, can easily find ways to give his child the socialization skills that will make him a better member of society.

In 1992, Stough’s research looked particularly at socialization, comparing 30 home-schooling families and 32 conventionally schooling families, families with children 7-14 years of age.

The researcher found no difference in the self-concept of children in the two groups. “According to the findings, children who were schooled at home ‘gained the necessary skills, knowledge, and attitudes needed to function in society...at a rate similar to that of conventionally schooled children.’ Stough maintains that ‘insofar as self-concept is a reflector of socialization, it would appear that few home-schooled children are socially deprived, and that there may be sufficient evidence to indicate that some home-schooled children have a higher self concept than conventionally schooled children”

Taylor, in 1987, did a similar study employing what many consider today as being “the most validated self-concept scales available” (Taylor). Taylor randomly sampled 45,000 home-schooled children and found “that half of these children scored at or above the 91st percentile—47% higher than the average, conventionally schooled child” (Taylor). His conclusion? “Since self concept is considered to be a basic dynamic of positive sociability, this answers the often heard skepticism suggesting that homeschoolers are inferior in socialization”

Homeschooled children have most all of the same socialization opportunities available to the traditionally schooled child and perhaps with a lot less peer pressure. Home economics is a class taught by schools, which would seemingly not be necessary for the homeschooled student since they spend the largest portion of their day with the mother at home (usually). Communities often have sports opportunities available through parks departments. Clubs abound, and some include Boy/Girl Scouts of America, Explorers, Civil Air Patrol, ROTC, 4-H, community choruses and bands, etc. Many communities have various different homeschooling associations and plan field trips and play dates.

Webb, who is one of only a few researchers to have examined aspects of the adult lives of homeschooled people “found that all who had attempted higher education were successful and that their socialization was often better than that of their schooled peers”

Colleges are beginning to seek out homeschoolers. One such school is Kennesaw State University in Georgia (Cloud). Smith and Skikkink discovered that “parents who homeschool their children are more likely to vote, contribute money to political causes, contact elected officials about their views, attend public meetings or rallies, or join community and volunteer associations” (Smith, Christian, and Sikkink).

Homeschooling no longer holds the social stigma it once did. All of the evidence overwhelmingly proves that homeschooled children not only excel, but also do so exponentially. If we are to believe the data, than it is no longer feasible to argue that children who are homeschooled are socially inept.

So, I've demonstrated via the scientific research that has been done, that in fact colleges seek out homeschooled students. That students who are homeschooled excel exponentially in every category including socialization and we've determined that the kids in this particular case are doing exceptionally as well.

That makes it very clear then that this is really an attack on the mother and homeschooling and religion by a renegade judge. The father, who is responsible for breaking up this family because of his extramarital affair, has even stated that the kids are doing superior. Despite all of the judges reasoning and the evidence to the contrary, this judge has acted against the will of the mother and her best judgment for the children and removed her rights. A mother the judge, himself, has said Ms. Mills had done a good job [in homeschooling]," he said. "It was great for them to have that access, and [I had] no problems with homeschooling."

Why order this mother, who everyone agrees is a good mother, to undergo a psychiatric exam? Did she commit adultery and break up this family? I would think that the one with the deviant behavior should undergo the scrutiny of mental health examinations.

Get ready people. With Obama and the Liberals at the helm, there is much more of this non-sense to come. Christian's, pro-family, pro-moral and value programs, individual liberty to live their faith out loud is going to come under fire more and more.

My Hometown School System Under Attack by ACLU

One student's parent is about to jeopradize 55-years worth of voluntary religious education in elemenatry schools where I was raised. This is a program that generations of local families have enjoyed. For many families, this is the only exposure to issues of faith and morals they may ever experience. The seed that is planted at the elementary age is something that is often generously harvested later in life.

I'm asking all of my readers to please pray for this legal battle. Pray for all the parties involved and for the judge that will be presiding over this attack. This is a program that I participated in as a child and one I'd love for my children to be able to go through in our current city.

Below is a link to a story detailing this attack that made national news on WorldNetDaily.com.

FAITH UNDER FIRE
ACLU to churches: Not on school grounds, you don't
Mom sues district for allowing 'Back to the Book' classes on campus

The American Civil Liberties Union, on behalf of an offended parent, is suing an elementary school district for allowing its students to attend a non-taxpayer-funded religious education program that meets on campus.

For the past 55 years, the Huntington County Community School Corporation of rural Indiana has permitted students in its eight elementary schools to attend religious study groups through a "released time" program.

The program, coordinated by an area church association, enables students with parental permission to be released from classes one hour during the school day to receive religious instruction that cannot be otherwise offered by the public school.

And while a 1952 U.S. Supreme Court ruling permits "released time" religious instruction, the ACLU is alleging that since Huntington County's programs are housed in trailers on school property, they violate the First Amendment's Establishment Clause.

Rest of the Story

Another Major Victory in 'Right To Die' Case

HELENA, Montana — A Montana judge has ruled that doctor-assisted suicides are legal in the state, a decision likely to be appealed as the state argues that the Legislature, not the court, should decide whether terminally ill patients have the right to take their own life.

Judge Dorothy McCarter issued the ruling late Friday in the case of a Billings man with terminal cancer, who had sued the state with four physicians that treat terminally ill patients and a nonprofit patients' rights group.

"The Montana constitutional rights of individual privacy and human dignity, taken together, encompass the right of a competent terminally (ill) patient to die with dignity," McCarter said in the ruling.

It also said that those patients had the right to obtain self-administered medications to hasten death if they find their suffering to be unbearable, and that physicians can prescribe such medication without fear of prosecution.

"The patient's right to die with dignity includes protection of the patient's physician from liability under the state's homicide statutes," the judge wrote.

Read Article

I'm certainly no proponent of rogue judges making law from the bench, but if this judge is interpreting existing law correctly then this is a major victory for terminally ill patients.

As a staunch pro-life supporter, I am often taken to task on my support of end of life decision making and capital punishment. Capital punishment is a discussion for a different time. In so much as the decision to die was made by the person who will die, my pro-life stance ends there. There is no innocent person being killed, like an unborn baby. I am a Christian, having spent most of my Christian life in a Southern Baptist setting. Southern Baptists and many other denominations do not share their support of a right to die mentality. Their case is made in explaining how God will call us home when it's our time and until then our life could be ministering to someone (that's the really dumbed down version of it).

I am in and out of hospitals, skilled nursing facilities, and private residences regularly. I see firsthand the degradation of the quality of life, the unbearable pain, the humiliation of not being able to care for oneself, the misery of knowing the toll one is taking on ones family, and being trapped in a body that doesn't work and never will again. As a human-being, I never want to be alive under those conditions. I would beg my family, my doctors, my nurses and anyone else who would listen to end my suffering. Am I playing the role of God? Maybe!

I'm not advocating that anyone and everyone should be allowed to run out to clinics of suicide. I am advocating right to die laws for the terminally ill, the person who will be in a vegetative state (if they've declared their intent previously in a living will or other legal document), and/or people who have tragically had their lives forever altered into a state that requires others to care for them. To deny a person the right to die under these circumstances is to enact cruel and unusual punishment, even torture, and in a civilized society such as the United Socialist States of America we're above these types of punishments.

Kudos to Montana. I hope the rest of the country will follow suit.

Mormon Temple's Being Targeted by Hate-Filled Homosexuals

In the nearly four weeks since Election Day, gay activists and thousands of their supporters have rallied outside Mormon temples around the country, protesting the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints' support for California's Proposition 8, the ballot initiative to make same-sex marriage illegal in the Golden State.

There have been calls to boycott the annual Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah; some activists have called for a boycott of the entire state of Utah. Protesters have defaced some church buildings, and in Arapaho County, Colo., the Sheriff's Office is investigating a possible hate crime — the torcSo why is the Mormon Church the only target?

It's because of the money, says Evan Wolfe, executive director of Freedom to Marry, a New York-based group that supports same-sex marriage.

"The Mormon Church hierarchy led the way on this attack on gay families and the California constitution," Wolfe said. "They provided more than half of the funding. They provided the ground troops and were a major political force in a way that no other group was.

"It's not like there's one centralized voice telling everyone whom to protest. People have their own reactions to what they see with their own eyes, and what they saw here was a $40 million deceptive campaign to take away rights, led by the Mormon Church hierarchy."hing of the Book of Mormon on a church's doorstep.

Entire Article

My reaction to this is very simple. Where were these protester's hiding out when Obama and his minions of fraudulent organizing ACORN workers were trying to and succeeding in fraudulently electing Barrack Hussein Obama? Well, that kind of organizing is Okay to the groups who want to go against the majority balance of the American people and live a lifestyle that many consider deviant and would like to protect their young families from having to experience.

I know little about the Mormon, involvement supporting the proposition. There are many many things I disagree with the Mormon faith on, but this is not one of them. They did what any good Christian, Jewish, or most any other faith should have been more active in, and that is upholding the fundamentals of God's Law against such lifestyles or perversion. The majority has ruled by the taking of a secret ballot and the vore should be upheld.

The hypocrisy by which they try to advance their cause, at the risk of the damned damning persons of opposing opinions is telling and an act of desperation. Obama and the demon spawn of leadership in the House and Senate are probably the best friends the homosexuals have ever had in a position to really advance their pathetic cause. Now, more than ever before, it is important for Evangelicals, Catholics, and any other form of religion that speaks the absolute truth of God's Word on this subject be shouted from every corner and off of every roof top.

Obese Have Right to Two Airline Seats

OTTAWA (Reuters) – Obese people have the right to two seats for the price of one on flights within Canada, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled on Thursday.

The high court declined to hear an appeal by Canadian airlines of a decision by the Canadian Transportation Agency that people who are "functionally disabled by obesity" deserve to have two seats for one fare.

The airlines had lost an appeal at the Federal Court of Appeal in May and had sought to launch a fresh appeal at the Supreme Court. The court's decision not to hear a new appeal means the one-person-one-fare policy stands.

The appeal had been launched by Air Canada, Air Canada Jazz and WestJet.

This is a dangerous road we're embarking upon. Obese people are functionally disabled, so!? People with social phobia's are functionally disabled, so we should give them a whole plane to themselves, right? There are a whole host of things that make people functionally disabled, but giving people the bonus of two seats does nothing to help curve the obesity or other functional problems. I have no problem with a person buying an extra seat, or a whole row for that matter, but I do take issue with rewarding them for becoming obese to begin with. I am also not in favor of removing a person's right to most things and especially not because their obese, but rewarding them....come on!