The United States embargo against Cuba, has been in force since 1958 due to an armed conflict in Cuba pitting rebels against the Batista government. When Cuba aligned themselves with the Soviet Union during the cold war, President John F. Kennedy, widened the trade restrictions in 1962. A former aide of Kennedy’s was asked to purchase 1,000 cuban cigars before the embargo took effect. The aide purchased 1,200 cigars for Kennedy (maybe he should have stuck with an American brand like Black and Mild cigars.
It is still illegal for US residents to purchase or import Cuban cigars. US citizens are not allowed to purchase cigars in Canada or Mexico, even though they are readily available. Cuban cigars smuggled into the US are demand high prices. Most cigars that claim to be Cubans are actually counterfeit.
While most high school and middle school students are focused on the best way to get rid of blackheads, schools in North Carolina are wondering if resegregation is going to be the wave of the future. In 2000, Wake County, NC, decided to base busing routes on socio-economic status instead of race. This policy had the same effect has race based busing policies since lower income families in North Carolina tend to be black. However, many middle class families are balking at having their kids bused to distance schools.
There is some disagreement on how much integration helps both higher income and lower income children. But, as has been seen in Detroit, New York and Philadelphia, schools that are not integrated face much bigger problems.
Unfortunately, many of the problems with the schools have nothing to do with the education system but instead with family life, educational value in the home and neighborhood and economic status. Until these core problems are address, the schools will always have the same issues to deal with.
I have just added former Massachusetts Governor and Presidential candidate Mitt Romney’s new book No Apology: The Case For American Greatness to my reading list. The book address such problems as the deficit, military weakness, global competitiveness, health care and education. Romney doesn’t just single out the Democratic Party, but places blame on both sides of the aisle. Romney states:
This is a book about what I believe should be our primary national objective: to keep America strong and to preserve its place as the world’s leading nation. And it describes the course I believe we must take to strengthen the nation in order to remain prosperous, secure, and free.
If you want to read what Mitt Romney has to say about this book, you can find an article written by him at Newsmax.com.
It is hard to know whether Monday was a very bad day or a very good day for Lance Cpl. Andrew Koenig.
On the one hand, he was shot in the head. On the other, the bullet bounced off him.
In one of those rare battlefield miracles, an insurgent sniper hit Lance Cpl. Koenig dead on in the front of his helmet, and he walked away from it with a smile on his face.
“I don’t think I could be any luckier than this,” Lance Cpl. Koenig said two hours after the shooting.
You can read the rest of Lance Cpl. Koenig’s story here.
These brave men and women sacrifice so much in their lives so that others may enjoy the freedoms we get to enjoy everyday. For that, I am proud to call them Hero.
We Should Not Only Mourn These Men And Women Who Died, We Should Also Thank God That Such People Lived
This post is part of the Wednesday Hero Blogroll. For more information about Wednesday Hero, or if you would like to post it on your site, you can go here.
While thinking about things that need to be cut out of education, I can think of a few.
Driver’s Education – when did this become the responsibility of the school?
Health – can’t this be combined with science classes? When was teaching about herpes simplex type 2 part of reading and writing?
Thinking that every student can complete the same requirements. There are students that want to go to college and there are others that should be trained for a profession.
Things that shouldn’t be cut:
Sports and Physical Education classes – sports provide an physical outlet. These days, with the increasing obesity in children, it is a good idea to keep.
This is not my mantra, but the mantra of the New Jersey Education Association (NJEA). Now that New Jersey has a new governor, we find that the state has a 2.2 billion dollar budget shortfall for this year. Governor Chrisite is determined to make the necessary cuts to balance the budget, but the NJEA wants nothing cut from education. Instead they suggest that taxes be raised.
While high school students are worried about getting rid of blackheads or their next date, administrators should be worried about basic education not about funding a range of specialists that are not teachers and just add bloat to the system.
For instance, Newark school district has 40 curriculum specialist that make over $100,000 a year each. And yet this is a failing school district. My suggestion. Cut all of them and use a curriculum that is already established in a good school. Why are we reinventing the wheel with curriculum specialists in each district when the education requirements are the same throughout the state?
We are already barraged with ads from the NJEA telling us how terrible it is going to be if Chrisite cuts education, yet they are unwilling to help cut the costs.
Capt. Ferris W. Butler, former platoon leader with D Company, 214th Infantry Regiment, 10th Mountain, 2nd Brigade Combat Team out of Fort Drum, N.Y., talks to the Soldiers at Morale, Welfare and Recreation east Feb. 5 at Joint Base Balad, Iraq. Butler, a Port Tobacco, Mass., native, participated in Operation Proper Exit, which brings Veterans who were injured in Iraq back to the country to revisit the area and share their stories.
These brave men and women sacrifice so much in their lives so that others may enjoy the freedoms we get to enjoy everyday. For that, I am proud to call them Hero.
We Should Not Only Mourn These Men And Women Who Died, We Should Also Thank God That Such People Lived
This post is part of the Wednesday Hero Blogroll. For more information about Wednesday Hero, or if you would like to post it on your site, you can go here.
I have given up watching most political speeches. They are better than sleeping pills for me. I would rather read the transcripts later and make my own opinion. Take for instance, Obama’s State of the Union address. It was constantly interrupted by clapping and standing and fawning, uggh!
The Constitution does require the President to give a State of the Union report to Congress from time to time. There is no set time table. And, it does not have to be a speech either. Thomas Jefferson preferred to give his State of the Union to Congress in written form. Bless you Thomas Jefferson!
Scott Baio, who posted this picture of Michelle Obama on his Twitter account, is taking the heat from liberals. While Baio didn’t claim that Michelle needed eye creams, he did post “WOW He wakes up to this every morning.”
Baio, who is being portrayed as a racist, has had death threats against him, his wife and infant child, posted on message boards. Yet, at the same time, Jennifer Lopez is allowed to call Sarah Palin a “crazy b*tch” during her appearance on the George Lopez show.
Mitt Romeny, whose fresh face image has no need for acne face wash, recently commented:
“President Obama, Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid and their team have failed the American people, and that is why their majority will be out the door.”
Romney, who was speaking at the Conservative Political Action Conference, also told the group that Obama failed to re-ignite the failed economy. While Obama claims to have saved or created millions of jobs, the evidence speaks otherwise.
Romney, who ran for President in 2008, will likely run again in 2012.
