Marc Deal Talks About Challenges at Halima

Marc Deal explains several challenges presented by the Nevada State Board of Education in running Halima Academy Charter School.

UPDATE: by Chuck Muth

HALIMA LIVES TO FIGHT ANOTHER DAY


Sometimes David DOES beat Goliath.

Late this afternoon, Washoe County Judge Jerry Polaha ruled that his "stay" keeping the doors open at the Halima Academy charter school in Reno was to remain in place until the end of the school year.a HUGE victory for the kids and parents who testified on Halima's behalf during this three-day hearing.

But the war is far from over.

The Board of Education still wants to close the school down and keep it from re-opening next fall. Although a big win today, the legal battle continues. More tomorrow...

Siadah Pires Explains Why She Started Halima Academy

The administration, faculty and students of the Halima Academy Charter School, really need your help and support.

Halima Academy Charter School in Court Round 2

Today from about 9:30 am until 5:00 pm the directors of Halima Academy Charter School fought for survival in the second round of the court hearing. In the first two video clips below, Siadah Pires, the executive director of Halima Academy explains what was expected and what actually has happened in the last few days in court.

State Trying to Close Halima Academy

I the Reno Court House today the Nevada Board of Education did its best to close down the Halima Academy Charter School. Mr. Marc Deal is a director of Halima and testified that the school should remain open. Mr. Deal was grilled by Deputy Attorney General James E. Irvin who represented the Nevada State Board of Education.

In the featured video clip, Mr. Deal shows his reaction to what seems to be the State's effort to nitpick Halima Academy into closing its doors despite the impact that will have on the students. UPDATE: Click here for more detailed information.

Joe Enge head of EdWatch Nevada has more here.

Next round at the court house is 9:30 am Friday March 31, 2006.

Disney Endorsed by NICPAC

The Nevada Idependent Conservative Political Action Committee has endorsed conservative candidate Richard Disney for Nevada State Assembly District 26. See video of Disney thanking NICPAC for the endorsement and help in his campaign.

NOTE: VIDEO is dark because of poor lighting at the venue but audio is clear.

18 Ways to be a Good Liberal

Thanks to Pamela aka Atlas for this post that gave me a grin.

18 WAYS TO BE A GOOD LIBERAL

1. You have to be against capital punishment, but support abortion on demand

2. You have to believe that businesses create oppression and governments create prosperity.

3. You have to believe that guns in the hands of law-abiding citizens are more of a threat than U.S. nuclear weapons technology in the hands of Chinese and North Korean communists.

4. You have to believe that there was no art before federal funding.

5. You have to believe that global temperatures are less affected by cyclical changes in the earth's climate and more affected by soccer moms driving SUV's.

6. You have to believe that gender roles are artificial, but being homosexual is natural.

7. You have to believe that the AIDS virus is spread by a lack of federal funding.

8. You have to believe that the same teacher who can't teach 4th- graders how to read is somehow qualified to teach those same kids about sex.

9. You have to believe that hunters don't care about nature, but PETA activists do.

10. You have to believe that self-esteem is more important than actually doing something to earn it.

11. You have to believe that Mel Gibson spent $25 million of his own money to make "The Passion of the Christ" for financial gain only.

12. You have to believe the NRA is bad because it supports certain parts of the Constitution, while the ACLU is good because it supports certain parts of the Constitution.

13. You have to believe that taxes are too low, but ATM fees are too high.

14. You have to believe that Margaret Sanger and Gloria Steinem are more important to American history than Thomas Jefferson, Gen. Robert E. Lee, and Thomas Edison.

15. You have to believe that standardized tests are racist, but racial quotas and set-asides are not.

16. You have to believe that the only reason socialism hasn't worked anywhere it's been tried is because the right people haven't been in charge.

17. You have to believe that homosexual parades displaying drag queens and transvestites should be constitutionally protected, and manger scenes at Christmas should be illegal.

18. You have to believe that this message is a part of a vast, right- wing conspiracy.

http://www.typepad.com/t/trackback/4541216

We Need Immigration Reform

When I looked at Drudge this morning and saw the linked article on MSNBC/Newsweek referring to Colorado Congressman Tom Tancredo, I read an interesting quote from the article, [bold entered by me]

"As the House and Senate debate the nation's immigration and border-security laws, the four-term Coloradan has positioned himself as the loudest, angriest voice against the estimated 11 million illegal aliens now living in the United States."

Wow, MSNBC/Newsweek referring to "illegal aliens". The outrage of the American people about our unsecure borders must actually be getting to the Main Stream Media!

Seeing the pictures of the estimated hundreds of thousands of people protesting the passage of HR4437 has prompted me to write a letter in support of HR4437 to our congressman Jim Gibbons. The throngs of people protesting the immigration reform bill is proof to me that the bill should be passed into law.

I have some perspective on this issue. My wife Patricia immigrated legally from Peru to the United States, speaks perfect English and has been a U.S. citizen since 1995. I think that legal immigration helps the United States, but illegal aliens put strains on our economy that far outweigh the benefits to a few employers of cheap labor. Imagine just showing up in Mexico with your entire family and demanding free medical care with English speaking medical staff and free education for all of your children in English. The Mexican government would laugh at you.

Our porous borders also offer an entrance to terrorists which threatens our national security. With an estimated 11 MILLION illegals in the United States today, immigration reform is overdue. I think we should beware of amnesty programs because everytime an amnesty program is even proposed, the number of people illegally crossing our border increases dramatically. I also think that a "guest worker" program IS an amnesty program.

Richard Disney served as a captain in the U.S. Army and is now running for Nevada Assembly District 26.

My Daughter Lauren

We are trying to teach our daughter Lauren as many languages as possible while she is very young. Here my wife Patricia is teaching Lauren some Spanish and it is pretty funny.

WARNING! Lauren is a cute child. This is very different from my usual military posts.

I am having a great time with my daughter and she is teaching me a lot about life.

Secure the Present...Ensure the Future

I can't believe that Liberals say we can't win the Global War on Terror (GWOT). People don't build statues for skeptics.

Check out this video demonstration of new fielded technology and technology that exists and will be fielded in the near future.

Soldiers + Technology = Victory

Victory Rally in Reno

We had a great time and made a statement at the Federal Building in downtown Reno on Sunday March 19th. To see more photos from the event go to the great blog Liberty Just in Case.

I will say that although there were some passionate discussions, all sides were civil and peaceful. It was an enjoyable event all around.

Short VIDEO now up.

Pacifist Demonstration is Against Victory

There is a big demonstration planned in Reno for this coming weekend. I have no problem with people expressing their point of view in a peaceful manner but I and anyone else has the right to criticize a position when that position is dangerous to our country and everyone who lives in it. I think that the only reason good people sleep safely in their beds is because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf. The pacifist position is dangerous when there are forces in this world sworn to kill as many Americans as possible.

I participated in a debate with people that are members of one of the key groups in sponsoring this weekend's demonstration. If the demonstration were being conducted by Reno locals it would be much better than the large group of out-of-towners which have been reported to be "pumping up the numbers" to give the impression that Reno residents are against victory in the Global War on Terror.

I agree with Ralph Peters when he said in his New York Post article that the way to lose a war is to simply give up. think that the easiest way to lose a war is to give up and surrender. Surrender is what pacifists advocate. I am convinced that if we pull our troops out of the Middle East that terrorists will follow our troops home through our too porous borders and start blowing themselves up on our streets taking many American civilians including women and children with them.

I will be out there this weekend engaging these pacifists in peaceful discussion. I have found that most of the time when pacifists have their argument defeated through reasonable discussion, they become far less passive. I encourage everyone who values what Reno really stands for to show up downtown to peacefully show these out of town demonstrators how Reno stands behind our troops.

Go Wolf Pack! Beat Montana!

Game scheduled to start today at 12:00 noon according to the Wolf Pack website.

Rice: Iran "terror's central bank"

I participated in a taped debate on Channel 16 Sierra Nevada Community Access Television (SNCAT) last Thursday, March 9th. My opponents in the debate were members of the Reno Anti-War Coalition here in Reno, NV.

The program is titled "RAWC: Iraq, Three Years Later" and will air on the following schedule on Channel 16:

Monday, Mar 20th at 1pm PST
Wednesday, Mar 22nd at 6pm PST
Thursday, Mar 23rd at 8pm PST
Friday, Mar 24th at 5pm PST

I brought up the fact that Iran is and has been the biggest state sponsor of terrorism since the 1970's when the Ayatolla took over after the fall of the Shah.

I was interested to see U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice make a similar statement in Australia today.

I am supposed to find out when my debate will be aired tomorrow. We were going to announce the debate with an air time on a press release as soon as we obtained the information but I just couldn't wait to post the "echo" at the international level.

1st Armored Division Patrols in Iraq

Soldiers from my old unit the 1st Armored Division "Old Ironsides" on patrol in Iraq. An interesting side note about the name of the "Old Ironsides" Division is that it is the only Army Division names after a Navy ship...the USS Constitution which originally had the nickname Old Ironsides.

Handing Out School Supplies

This photo of a U.S. Army Sergeant is posted on the U.S. Navy website.

Baghdad, Iraq (March 5, 2006) - U.S. Army Sgt. Kendrick Gibson, assigned to “Hammerhead” Headquarters Battery 4-320th Field Artillery Regiment, 506th Regimental Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (AASLT), hands out school supplies, donated by children from Medora Elementary School in Jefferson County, Ky., to a class of Iraqi school children.

A Tale of Two Educators

There is something which occurred in a time not so long ago in a school district far away from Nevada upon which I would like to comment. I think the case of a school principal passing explicit pornography to school staffers using a school computer and school network all paid for by taxpayers has relevance to events occurring recently in the Carson City School District.

It has come to my attention from the Blogging Man 2007 blog that a school principal in Georgia passed explicit photos on taxpayer funded computers and networks to other school staffers. Not only do I think the principal's actions wrong but I want to bring to everyone's attention to what the teachers union did about it. The teachers union is continuing to defend the school principal's actions saying that the principal has freedom of speech and should not be fired or censured. To me this is not even an issue of free speech; it is an issue of ethical lapse and bad judgment on the part of Georgia Principal Ed Rohrbaugh.

Let's contrast this with the case that just culminated in Carson City about a week ago. In Carson City a high school history teacher named Joe Enge spoke out that the Carson City High School for some period of time was not teaching American History earlier than the Civil War period. The teachers union in Joe Enge's case hung him out to dry and did nothing to slow or stop Mr. Enge's separation from the school district based on petty complaints that the Fulbright winning teacher was unsatisfactory.

Now what did the Carson City School Board do in relation to Joe Enge's case? The school board defended the methods of the sitting Superintendent and the sitting Principal who had permitted a curriculum during their watch that omitted the formation of our country, the founding fathers and the U.S. Constitution. Joe Enge would have been separated quietly if the light of truth was not shown on the whole episode that in fact what Mr. Enge said was correct.

My point in comparing these two cases, one local and one on the other side of the country is that any institution that is unaccountable is irresponsible. Something must change about our educational establishment for the better. The educational administrations nationwide have become entrenched and seem only to want education to be measured subjectively.

My point in juxtaposing these two seemingly unrelated cases is to demonstrate how the teachers union and educational establishment will defend and aid an educator who is passing porn on school computers but will abandon an educator who merely communicates a deficiency in a school curriculum.

Gunner, Sabot, Tank!

That is the call of a tank commander of an M1 Abrams American tank to the gunner of the tank to load a sabot round and for the gunner to engage an enemy tank. I came across this picture of the sabot round at the point it is discarding the sabot to expose the metal fin-stableized "spear" which penetrates any known tank armor. An amazing picture and it is even more amazing that the "spear" penetrates and destroys an enemy tank without an explosive warhead. The ultra high velocity punches through a tank hull and causes tremendous overpressure destroying the enemy tank.

I served with the tankers of Task Force 2-68 Armor "Silver Lions" lead by Lieutenant Colonel Oscar R. Anderson. I learned a lot from those tankers and remember fondly my service with them.

Richard Disney served as a captain in the U.S. Army and is now running for Nevada Assembly District 26.