The Last Leaf -- A Christmas Tradition

THE LAST LEAF
By O. Henry

In a little district west of Washington Square the streets have run crazy and broken themselves into small strips called "places." These "places" make strange angles and curves. One Street crosses itself a time or two. An artist once discovered a valuable possibility in this street. Suppose a collector with a bill for paints, paper and canvas should, in traversing this route, suddenly meet himself coming back, without a cent having been paid on account!

So, to quaint old Greenwich Village the art people soon came prowling, hunting for north windows and eighteenth-century gables and Dutch attics and low rents. Then they imported some pewter mugs and a chafing dish or two from Sixth Avenue, and became a "colony."

At the top of a squatty, three-story brick Sue and Johnsy had their studio. "Johnsy" was familiar for Joanna. One was from Maine; the other from California. They had met at the table d'hôte of an Eighth Street "Delmonico's," and found their tastes in art, chicory salad and bishop sleeves so congenial that the joint studio resulted.

That was in May. In November a cold, unseen stranger, whom the doctors called Pneumonia, stalked about the colony, touching one here and there with his icy fingers. Over on the east side this ravager strode boldly, smiting his victims by scores, but his feet trod slowly through the maze of the narrow and moss-grown "places."

Mr. Pneumonia was not what you would call a chivalric old gentleman. A mite of a little woman with blood thinned by California zephyrs was hardly fair game for the red-fisted, short-breathed old duffer. But Johnsy he smote; and she lay, scarcely moving, on her painted iron bedstead, looking through the small Dutch window-panes at the blank side of the next brick house.

One morning the busy doctor invited Sue into the hallway with a shaggy, gray eyebrow.

"She has one chance in - let us say, ten," he said, as he shook down the mercury in his clinical thermometer. " And that chance is for her to want to live. This way people have of lining-u on the side of the undertaker makes the entire pharmacopoeia look silly. Your little lady has made up her mind that she's not going to get well. Has she anything on her mind?"

"She - she wanted to paint the Bay of Naples some day." said Sue.

"Paint? - bosh! Has she anything on her mind worth thinking twice - a man for instance?"

"A man?" said Sue, with a jew's-harp twang in her voice. "Is a man worth - but, no, doctor; there is nothing of the kind."

"Well, it is the weakness, then," said the doctor. "I will do all that science, so far as it may filter through my efforts, can accomplish. But whenever my patient begins to count the carriages in her funeral procession I subtract 50 per cent from the curative power of medicines. If you will get her to ask one question about the new winter styles in cloak sleeves I will promise you a one-in-five chance for her, instead of one in ten."

After the doctor had gone Sue went into the workroom and cried a Japanese napkin to a pulp. Then she swaggered into Johnsy's room with her drawing board, whistling ragtime.

Johnsy lay, scarcely making a ripple under the bedclothes, with her face toward the window. Sue stopped whistling, thinking she was asleep.

She arranged her board and began a pen-and-ink drawing to illustrate a magazine story. Young artists must pave their way to Art by drawing pictures for magazine stories that young authors write to pave their way to Literature.

As Sue was sketching a pair of elegant horseshow riding trousers and a monocle of the figure of the hero, an Idaho cowboy, she heard a low sound, several times repeated. She went quickly to the bedside.

Johnsy's eyes were open wide. She was looking out the window and counting - counting backward.

"Twelve," she said, and little later "eleven"; and then "ten," and "nine"; and then "eight" and "seven", almost together.

Sue look solicitously out of the window. What was there to count? There was only a bare, dreary yard to be seen, and the blank side of the brick house twenty feet away. An old, old ivy vine, gnarled and decayed at the roots, climbed half way up the brick wall. The cold breath of autumn had stricken its leaves from the vine until its skeleton branches clung, almost bare, to the crumbling bricks.

"What is it, dear?" asked Sue.

"Six," said Johnsy, in almost a whisper. "They're falling faster now. Three days ago there were almost a hundred. It made my head ache to count them. But now it's easy. There goes another one. There are only five left now."

"Five what, dear? Tell your Sudie."

"Leaves. On the ivy vine. When the last one falls I must go, too. I've known that for three days. Didn't the doctor tell you?"

"Oh, I never heard of such nonsense," complained Sue, with magnificent scorn. "What have old ivy leaves to do with your getting well? And you used to love that vine so, you naughty girl. Don't be a goosey. Why, the doctor told me this morning that your chances for getting well real soon were - let's see exactly what he said - he said the chances were ten to one! Why, that's almost as good a chance as we have in New York when we ride on the street cars or walk past a new building. Try to take some broth now, and let Sudie go back to her drawing, so she can sell the editor man with it, and buy port wine for her sick child, and pork chops for her greedy self."

"You needn't get any more wine," said Johnsy, keeping her eyes fixed out the window. "There goes another. No, I don't want any broth. That leaves just four. I want to see the last one fall before it gets dark. Then I'll go, too."

"Johnsy, dear," said Sue, bending over her, "will you promise me to keep your eyes closed, and not look out the window until I am done working? I must hand those drawings in by to-morrow. I need the light, or I would draw the shade down."

"Couldn't you draw in the other room?" asked Johnsy, coldly.

"I'd rather be here by you," said Sue. "Beside, I don't want you to keep looking at those silly ivy leaves."

"Tell me as soon as you have finished," said Johnsy, closing her eyes, and lying white and still as fallen statue, "because I want to see the last one fall. I'm tired of waiting. I'm tired of thinking. I want to turn loose my hold on everything, and go sailing down, down, just like one of those poor, tired leaves."

"Try to sleep," said Sue. "I must call Behrman up to be my model for the old hermit miner. I'll not be gone a minute. Don't try to move 'til I come back."

Old Behrman was a painter who lived on the ground floor beneath them. He was past sixty and had a Michael Angelo's Moses beard curling down from the head of a satyr along with the body of an imp. Behrman was a failure in art. Forty years he had wielded the brush without getting near enough to touch the hem of his Mistress's robe. He had been always about to paint a masterpiece, but had never yet begun it. For several years he had painted nothing except now and then a daub in the line of commerce or advertising. He earned a little by serving as a model to those young artists in the colony who could not pay the price of a professional. He drank gin to excess, and still talked of his coming masterpiece. For the rest he was a fierce little old man, who scoffed terribly at softness in any one, and who regarded himself as especial mastiff-in-waiting to protect the two young artists in the studio above.

Sue found Behrman smelling strongly of juniper berries in his dimly lighted den below. In one corner was a blank canvas on an easel that had been waiting there for twenty-five years to receive the first line of the masterpiece. She told him of Johnsy's fancy, and how she feared she would, indeed, light and fragile as a leaf herself, float away, when her slight hold upon the world grew weaker.

Old Behrman, with his red eyes plainly streaming, shouted his contempt and derision for such idiotic imaginings.

"Vass!" he cried. "Is dere people in de world mit der foolishness to die because leafs dey drop off from a confounded vine? I haf not heard of such a thing. No, I will not bose as a model for your fool hermit-dunderhead. Vy do you allow dot silly pusiness to come in der brain of her? Ach, dot poor leetle Miss Yohnsy."

"She is very ill and weak," said Sue, "and the fever has left her mind morbid and full of strange fancies. Very well, Mr. Behrman, if you do not care to pose for me, you needn't. But I think you are a horrid old - old flibbertigibbet."

"You are just like a woman!" yelled Behrman. "Who said I will not bose? Go on. I come mit you. For half an hour I haf peen trying to say dot I am ready to bose. Gott! dis is not any blace in which one so goot as Miss Yohnsy shall lie sick. Some day I vill baint a masterpiece, and ve shall all go away. Gott! yes."

Johnsy was sleeping when they went upstairs. Sue pulled the shade down to the window-sill, and motioned Behrman into the other room. In there they peered out the window fearfully at the ivy vine. Then they looked at each other for a moment without speaking. A persistent, cold rain was falling, mingled with snow. Behrman, in his old blue shirt, took his seat as the hermit miner on an upturned kettle for a rock.

When Sue awoke from an hour's sleep the next morning she found Johnsy with dull, wide-open eyes staring at the drawn green shade.

"Pull it up; I want to see," she ordered, in a whisper.

Wearily Sue obeyed.

But, lo! after the beating rain and fierce gusts of wind that had endured through the livelong night, there yet stood out against the brick wall one ivy leaf. It was the last one on the vine. Still dark green near its stem, with its serrated edges tinted with the yellow of dissolution and decay, it hung bravely from the branch some twenty feet above the ground.

"It is the last one," said Johnsy. "I thought it would surely fall during the night. I heard the wind. It will fall to-day, and I shall die at the same time."

"Dear, dear!" said Sue, leaning her worn face down to the pillow, "think of me, if you won't think of yourself. What would I do?"

But Johnsy did not answer. The lonesomest thing in all the world is a soul when it is making ready to go on its mysterious, far journey. The fancy seemed to possess her more strongly as one by one the ties that bound her to friendship and to earth were loosed.

The day wore away, and even through the twilight they could see the lone ivy leaf clinging to its stem against the wall. And then, with the coming of the night the north wind was again loosed, while the rain still beat against the windows and pattered down from the low Dutch eaves.

When it was light enough Johnsy, the merciless, commanded that the shade be raised.

The ivy leaf was still there.

Johnsy lay for a long time looking at it. And then she called to Sue, who was stirring her chicken broth over the gas stove.

"I've been a bad girl, Sudie," said Johnsy. "Something has made that last leaf stay there to show me how wicked I was. It is a sin to want to die. You may bring a me a little broth now, and some milk with a little port in it, and - no; bring me a hand-mirror first, and then pack some pillows about me, and I will sit up and watch you cook."

And hour later she said:

"Sudie, some day I hope to paint the Bay of Naples."

The doctor came in the afternoon, and Sue had an excuse to go into the hallway as he left.

"Even chances," said the doctor, taking Sue's thin, shaking hand in his. "With good nursing you'll win." And now I must see another case I have downstairs. Behrman, his name is - some kind of an artist, I believe. Pneumonia, too. He is an old, weak man, and the attack is acute. There is no hope for him; but he goes to the hospital to-day to be made more comfortable."

The next day the doctor said to Sue: "She's out of danger. You won. Nutrition and care now - that's all."

And that afternoon Sue came to the bed where Johnsy lay, contentedly knitting a very blue and very useless woollen shoulder scarf, and put one arm around her, pillows and all.

"I have something to tell you, white mouse," she said. "Mr. Behrman died of pneumonia to-day in the hospital. He was ill only two days. The janitor found him the morning of the first day in his room downstairs helpless with pain. His shoes and clothing were wet through and icy cold. They couldn't imagine where he had been on such a dreadful night. And then they found a lantern, still lighted, and a ladder that had been dragged from its place, and some scattered brushes, and a palette with green and yellow colors mixed on it, and - look out the window, dear, at the last ivy leaf on the wall. Didn't you wonder why it never fluttered or moved when the wind blew? Ah, darling, it's Behrman's masterpiece - he painted it there the night that the last leaf fell."

THE END

"The Last Leaf" is a short story by O. Henry, a pen name for William Sydney Porter, and was published in 1907 in his collection The Trimmed Lamp and Other Stories. The story is set in Greenwich Village, and it depicts characters typical of other O. Henry works. I hope you enjoy this short story and its message of hope.

Since a few readers have written to ask about my Christmas traditions, I decided to post this story of hope. While like many of you, I have family traditions, I also have a couple of personal things that I do each year just for myself. 

My biggest tradition for myself started in 1976 when I was a young Marine far from home during Christmas. That was the year that I was given a book of O. Henry's short stories. I read this story and that, but a couple really struck my fancy. 

Since then, almost every year, I have alternated between O. Henry's "The Last Leaf" and "The Gift of the Magi". Besides those two short stories, I will read the response by the Editor of The New York Sun which is now simply known as "Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus." It was published on September 21st, 1897, and has endured. 

Remember, those with hope have everything. 

So, from my family to yours, Merry Christmas!
May God Bless you and yours!

Tom Correa

Harvard's Placemat Propaganda -- Giving Students Liberal Tabletop Talking-Points

Democrat Propaganda 101 -- What To Do When You Can't Think For Yourself? Read Your Placemat!

Today, Fox News reported that Harvard University hands out placemats with Liberal talking-points as "Social Justice Flow Charts."

Harvard administrators decided to get students ready for the holidays by handing out pointers to help them debate their tuition-paying grownups.

Imagine that for a moment? The school doesn't trust their students to stand on what they have been taught in the ultra-Leftist Political classes, so they actually provided them with Liberal cheat-sheets that seems to be taken right from the Democrat Party's Occupy Handbook.

The once venerable school's Office for Equity, Diversity and Inclusion and the Freshman Dean's Office printed up and handed out laminated placemats described as "guides for holiday discussions on race and justice with loved ones." No kidding!

The table-setting talking points are designed to help student combat, or attack, pesky parents, aunts and uncles, when asked about what they are learning for the big bucks. The belief is that Harvard students will be able to put others "in their place" on such subjects as race, diversity and even the Syrian refugee crisis.

"Why are black students complaining? Shouldn’t they be happy to be in college?" reads one question anticipated on the "Holiday Placemat for Social Justice."

Harvard wants their students to respond by quoting the table settings, by saying, "When I hear students expressing their experiences on campus I don't hear complaining."

Placemat Propaganda Used As Passive Programming

Democrat Propaganda 101 -- Need Liberal Passive Programming? Read Your Placemat!

In the center of the placemats, which are in school dining halls, are "tips for talking to families," with propaganda instructions telling students to act interested, to act as though they are listening mindfully.

While most mature people know that politics and religion are subjects that really should be avoided at mixed gatherings, even family gatherings where not everyone is on the same page, Jasmine Waddell, a freshman resident dean, said the placemats give first-year students "strategies" for discussing issues with their families. Imagine that? She needs "placemat strategies" for discussing today's issues with her family.

She said the Freshman Dean’s Office opted not to email the placemats directly to students, instead leaving them in dining halls as "Passive Programming."

Placemat Propaganda Confirms How Anti-Conservative Harvard Really Is, Or How Their Students Can't Think For Themselves?

No, it is not a surprise that Harvard has put out such propaganda. Harvard has a well earned legacy of disregarding the viewpoints of Conservatives on their campus. A few years ago, Harvard University actually came out to tell Conservative students that they were not welcome there.

It's true, in 2013, The Harvard Crimson actually published an editorial urging Conservatives not to apply to Harvard. The editorial, titled "Warning: Do Not Enroll" denigrated famous Conservatives who graduated from Harvard.

While that editorial already confirmed Harvard's ultra-Liberal hostility toward Conservatives, the Democrat Party talking-point placemats are just more evidence that one of America's most prestigious universities is nothing more than a place where students are programmed in Liberal ideology. This confirms Harvard does not encourage students to think for themselves.

Whether Harvard students can or can't think for themselves, there is no getting away from the fact that having the door-opening name HARVARD on one's diploma is still seen as a positive.

While I believe that universities like Harvard would better serve students as "on-line schools" so that students can concentrate on core content, that will never happen. Wouldn't it be great if students were able to simply skip the Leftist-brainwashing by way of all of the standard Liberal, Socialist, Communist rhetoric coming from over-paid American hating faculty members?  Yes, but that will never happen.

You see, while those Leftist, Liberal, Socialist, Communist over-paid American hating faculty members spew their hate, they are very much Capitalist when it comes to making sure they keep getting their big paychecks and corporate contracts. And no, as much as they hate America, they love money and will never give up positions that bring them hundreds of thousands of dollars a year salaries!

Lastly, to be fair, not all Harvard students are happy with the "placemat programming." Some are even insisting that they can think for themselves.

But whether that is true or not, with this latest example of Liberal programming, one can't help but see this as just more proof that Harvard, like many Liberal universities, has students who mindlessly follow the Democrat Party line of thought. And frankly, after hearing about this, it shouldn't surprise anyone if people ask if Harvard is really producing graduates who can't think for themselves or just programmed dummies?

Are Harvard students so dumb that they really need cue-cards, teleprompters, tabletop talking-points, and other forms of cheat-sheets to hold a conversation? It does make you wonder.

And yes, that's just the way I see it.
Tom Correa


. 

Schools Of Indoctrination

By Terry McGahey
Associate Writer/Historian

By now I am sure everyone has heard about the school systems who charge kids as young as five and six years old with sexual harassment because one kissed another on the cheek or some such idiocy.

The police have even been called in some of these incidences and kids this young are even being handcuffed and taken out of school.

What ever happened to sending kids to the principals office then notifying the parents? This is absolutely ridicules and out of hand. Why? Indoctrination into Socialism in the manner of doing what you are told or else, that's why!

No longer is the public school system the place to send our children for an education. Schools today teach and preach things which are politically correct instead of just teaching reading, writing, arithmetic, and other courses of true study.

If people don't believe the schools are indoctrinating our children then why is Common Core being implemented? Why are kids at very young ages being taught about sex education in graphic forms?

Why are kids getting in trouble because they may talk about the bible or flat be told they can't even bring their bible to school, yet the schools allow teachers to speak to them about Islam. One school in New York even had the children recite the Pledge of Allegiance in Arabic.

Parents need to wake up to the fact that kids today are even being taught to spy on their parents without them even realizing it. Common Core for example, questions put to our children are such as, Does your mom and dad hit you? Does your mom and dad fight? Which way does your family vote, Democrat or Republican? Do they own guns?

Common Core opens the door to ask all of these personal questions that are none of the school boards or governments business. Then there is the environmental issues, or the "greenie" movement as many of us refer to it.

Kids are now being trained in school to watch their parents, watch them in the manner of doing something considered environmentally incorrect and then to correct the parents on the issue. If people don't believe that then just pay attention to the kids and you will find this to be true.

Then they are teaching them that same sex couples are to be accepted no matter if you agree with it or not. Personally, I don't care how you live your life but I don't want other life styles forced upon me if I don't believe in it -- and the whole point of this article is to point out that our school systems should be teaching and not preaching or pushing indoctrination of politically motivated subjects to our children.

If what I am saying isn't true, then how come many of our college kids can't read at more than a sixth or seventh grade level? If not true, then how come many of these kids can't even count back change in a store without a computer telling them the amounts to return to the customer? If not true, then why is it kids today know very little about our Founding Fathers, Constitution, and Bill of Rights?

How about history? Ask your children or grandchildren what they know about the Civil War, World War One, World War Two, Korea, or Vietnam? Ask them why those wars were fought?

I guarantee you they cannot answer those questions unless you have taught them yourself. If they do not know the history of our country and why these things took place, they cannot understand what this country stands for and how easily we could loose our freedoms in the future due to Socialism which is running rampant with the Progressives in Washington D.C..

Parents, Grandparents, it's time to start teaching our children this countries history and let them know that many of the things they are being taught in school is wrong!

If we don't do it, no one will! And think about what kind of a country our children will be living in, if they don't know right from wrong or how this country is supposed to be run.

Please, take a little time to research what your children and grandchildren are being taught. It's important for us to know so we can stop the Political Correctness and Socialist indoctrination.

Democrats Conveniently Forget Their Racist History

In the days running up to the 2012 Presidential Election, Conservative author Ann Coulter was on ABC's The View. Because she is a Conservative writer, it wasn't surprising that it was a heated meeting.

She was supposedly there to talk about he latest book Mugged: Racial Demagoguery from the Seventies to Obama.

But instead, Ann Coulter got into a heated argument with all of the co-hosts, with the exception of Conservative Elisabeth Hasselbeck. Of course, ultra-left ardent Obama supporter Whoopi Goldberg took the most offense to Anne Coulter being there.

And yes, it started out bad as Coulter began to describe her thesis that "race-mongering has been very bad for America." She went on to say how white "liberals use it to promote causes that have nothing to do with blacks and, in fact, harm blacks,"

Goldberg angrily interrupted telling her, "Please stop, please stop. If you’re going to talk about race, at least know what you’re talking about!"

Ann Coulter replied, "I write about the things I know."

That was when Whoopi Goldberg said, "Tell me how much you know about being black?"

Seeing that Goldberg simply was not capable of understanding what Coulter was saying, Coulter corrected Goldberg by telling her, "This isn’t about being black."

Goldberg then tried to spin what just happened to her advantage by saying, "You just made all these statements about how black people feel."

But Coulter wouldn't let her, stood her ground and said, "No, I didn’t."

Goldberg then shot back, "Yeah, you did."

But again, Ann Coulter stood her ground and wasn't going to bow down to the very wrong Goldberg, telling her, "This isn’t a book about black people. It’s a book about white liberals."

Have you ever see that look on somebody's face after they just attacked someone who they obviously don't like on a person level -- and their attack frizzled? Well that was Whoopi Goldberg as she tried again to steer the discussion away from her screw up, saying, "your facts are a little shaky".

But then, out of the blue Goldberg admits that she doesn’t understand exactly what Coulter’s point is. That's right, Goldberg was arguing about something that she has not read. She really knew nothing about Coulter's book.

Of course, the show blew up when Ann Coulter tried to explain to Goldberg and the others, saying, "I don’t think liberals ever cared about black people. Five minutes after the Civil Rights Act of ’64 passed, they start calling everything that has nothing to do with black people a ‘Civil Rights issue.’”

That set off another round of attacks with all five co-hosts talking over one another. At one point, ABC bleeped out Goldberg as she called Coulter's thesis "bullshit" on the air.

So what was that all about? 

Well, it was called political theater. And yes, I believe that Whoopi Goldberg was arrogant and condescending just so she can brag to her liberal pals that she took on Conservative Ann Coulter. She attacked Coulter because Coulter is a Republican, white, and for no other reason.

That seems to be the new plan of attack from the political left these days: Attack Republicans for being white, racists and wealthy elites.

Of course the whole idea that we Republicans are wealthy elites is strange considering Obama has raised more money than Mitt Romney through huge million dollar fund-raisers.

And as for the idea that we Republicans are all racists, well that's like saying all blacks are thugs. But more importantly, Democrats should look to their own history and find out who the real racist are in American History.

As for Whoopi Goldberg  talking a bunch of shit to Ann Coulter?  Well, the gal should understand that you don't have to be black to know something about racism and segregation in America.

As for legislative segregation, it is dead in America. But racism is not, and I'm sorry to say that racism has more than is more than just a black thing.

A few years back Senator Harry Reid privately described Barack Obama during the presidential campaign as a black candidate who could be successful thanks in part to his “light-skinned” appearance and speaking patterns “with no Negro dialect, unless he wanted to have one.”

What in tarnation is “Negro dialect?”

Bill Clinton said of Obama, “A few years ago this guy would have been getting us coffee.” And yes. Liberals hails him as one of the country’s most popular presidents ever.

Today, blacks like Whoopi Goldberg, Oprah Winfrey, John Lewis and Malik Zulu Shabazz are the face of black racism.

When Rep. John Lewis used his convention speech to argue that a Republican victory in November will send African-Americans back to when he and other Africans-Americans were forcibly denied access to restaurants, public transportation, restrooms, and the ballot box.

He tried to set race against race for political gain, and that is a form of racism.

When he went on and on describing his activism in the Southern states in the 1950 and 1960s, Lewis claimed, “I’ve seen this before, I lived this before!" - he was in fact trying to divid Ameirca with lies that he knowns damn well are lies.

The Democrat delegates went crazy, then Lewis said, "We were met by an angry mob that beat us and left us lying in a pool of blood. Brothers and sisters, do you want to go back?"

He openly lied to the people that night. If he didn't lie, than he is ignorant of history that he had supposedly lived.

He could have mentioned the Republican role in the passage of the Civil Rights Bills over the years. He could have been honest and said how hard Republicans worked for Civil Rights.

Republicans were the minority and Democrats were the majority - especially in the Southern States where they were called "Dixiecrats".

And yes, southern Democrats did not want to end segregation. Democrats held the power to keep whites and blacks apart and they used their power the same way Democrats owned slaves in the South before the Civil War.

Strange how Representative Lewis failed to mention that Democrats were Slave Owners while Republicans were Anti-Slavery. I guess he must have forgotten who fought to free Blacks in America.

Strange how Lewis didn't mention the very first Republican Civil Rights Acts in the 1870's which would have given blacks the right to vote and stop segregation almost 100 years before the 1964 Bill.

Its strange how he couldn't find the cojones to mention men like Republican Everett Dirksen of Illinois who worked both in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1933 to 1949, and the U.S. Senate from 1951 to 1969, to ensure black civil rights.

As Senate Minority Leader for over a decade, Everett Dirksen played a highly visible and key role in the politics of the 1960s, including authoring, writing, and passing the Civil Rights Act of 1964 - and the Open Housing Act of 1968, both landmarks of civil rights legislation.

Everett Dirksen’s role in helping to pass the bill was highly controversial among Democrats. But like the Radical Republicans of years ago, Dirksen was also controversial in his own party with Liberal Republicans.

Republicans are always having to defend what they say and do. It is a shame that even anti-segregationist like Republican Everett Dirksen had to defend his position by saying, “When it comes to the rights of others, I don’t play politics. It is the right thing to do.”

It's a shame that today's Democrats like Rep John Lewis feels they have to lie to cover-up the truth of what their own political party has done in the past. It is a shame really that lies are what they now resort to.

John Lewis should apologize for saying that "segregation would return under Mitt Romney" - it was as shameless a statement as could have possibly been made by anyone there.

Republicans have worked too hard fighting Democrats to end segregation. Lewis and others want to spread the lie that it has been the other way around when in fact it hasn't been.

And yes, I agree with what some say today in that if segregation would return that it will be under the guise of the Democrat's idea that we should observe something called "diversity" - which I see as devisive as segregation itself.

I believe that if some form of segregation did return, it will be the Democrats who will bring it back.

Maybe they have some sort of nostalgic love for the old days when they had all the political power and they forced blacks to live sparate but unequal lives. I can only pray that we will be able to stop them as we did in 1964.

And by the way, just for the record, this is for Democrat Rep. John Lewis who said he was "met by an angry mob that beat us and left us lying in a pool of blood."

I'm sorry to have to inform you that you were beaten up by Democrats.

Tom Correa

Obama's Agenda -- Hold Muslim Classes While Banning Christian Holidays

On December 13th, 2015, Fox News reported that Non-Muslim high school girls were made to wear Muslim hijab to promote acceptance of Islamic beliefs.

As ridiculous as it sounds, more than a dozen non-Muslim girls at a Chicago high school were made to wear a traditional Islamic head scarf on Wednesday as part of “Walk a Mile in Her Hijab.”

The event, organized by the school's Muslim Student Association, featured 17 non-Muslims wearing the garment and speaking with other students about the meaning of the hijab.

Vernon Hills High School principal Jon Guillaume told the Daily Herald. "I think this is an opportunity for our kids to embrace the Muslim community within the school."

"You can’t really understand or judge a person and their beliefs until you understand why they do it and what it’s like for them to do what they're doing," said senior Yasmeen Abdallah, the president of the Muslim Students Association.

So is this a part of a cultural Jihad? It has been reported that the Muslim Students Association is affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood and was a proxy named an un-indicted co-conspirator in the largest terrorist funding trial in our nation's history. 

While there was no word on whether the kids made to wear the hijab were Christians or Jews, the Muslim Students Association sponsored the "wear a hijab to school" event at Vernon Hills High School in Chicago in order to "provide a better understanding of the Muslim faith." 

I can't help but wonder how it would have went down if the school told Muslims to wear a cross around their necks or a yarmulke on their heads to "provide a better understanding" of those faiths? I don't think that would have ever happened, thus the double standard.

Besides the double standard, I have to ask if perhaps teaching the students why the Muslims see anyone who is not a Muslim as an enemy would be a way to better serve their education of the Muslim faith? 

How about dressing the girl students in traditional Muslim hijab and then taking away their rights? How about those girls find out how easy they can become candidates to be stoned? 

How about they dress as Yezidi slaves at a Muslim slave auction, or dress them as suicide bombers so they know how it feels to walk the walk of a faith that kills women and children? Would this also give them a better understanding of the Muslim faith? I think it certainly would.

While the Muslim Students Association has made a point of saying that the event was planned last May (2015) and was not a response to Islamic terror attacks in Paris on November 13th, or to the massacre in San Bernardino on December 2nd, both it and Chicago school did not make any effort to cancel the event out of respect for those slaughtered by people of the Muslim faith who see terrorist attacks as justifiable. 

Maybe the students there should have been asked if they condone those attacks?  If so, then the indoctrination may be working as planned. Maybe a better understanding of the Muslim faith means understanding their barbarism?

Of course, besides the school only giving the kids only a "good" taste of the so-called "religion of peace", the big questions are:

With the separation of church and state, why is this Muslim indoctrination class was seen as OK by those in charge at the school and city levels? Why was this class permitted in a public school when Christian indoctrination would not be OK? Is there a concerted effort by city and school officials to endorse Islam over other religions like say Christianity or Judaism? Why haven't the people responsible for putting this on been terminated instead of being allowed to stay and do this again? Will that high school give equal time to Christians and Jews in the future? I doubt it!

PS 169 Principal Eujin Jaela Kim

These are legitimate questions since a public school in New York has seen fit to ban Christian celebrations and American traditions including Thanksgiving and Christmas, the Pledge of Allegiance because of the reference to a Christian God, and banning Santa Claus.

Yes, the principal of Public School (PS) 169 in Brooklyn has banned Santa Claus, banned the Pledge of Allegiance, replaced Thanksgiving with the term "Harvest festival," and has replaced Christmas with the term "Winter Celebration." 

The school's new principal, a woman by the name of Eujin Jaela Kim, age 33, has given the Sunset Park, Brooklyn, school a Politically Correctness cleansing befitting some Communist commissar. 

In contrast to the Muslim indoctrination courses going on in some public schools around the nation, in Brooklyn at PS 169, PTA president Mimi Ferrer said administrators there told her, "We definitely can’t say Christmas, nothing with Christmas on it, nothing with Santa. No angels. We can’t even have a star because it can represent a religious system, like the Star of David."

Though 95% of the 1,600 kids at PS 169 are Asian or Hispanic and Christian, it was reported that a memo last month urged the school staff to "be sensitive of the diversity of our families. Not all children celebrate the same holidays." Yes, in other words, "Don't offend Muslims!"

Although a recent directive to all schools, the city's Department of Education stated it permits holiday symbols including Christmas trees, kinaras (candleholders for Kwanzaa), dreidels, Hanukkah menorahs and the Islamic star-and- crescent. But, displays that "depict images of deities, religious figures or religious texts" are prohibited. That doesn't seem to matter.

In a memo to staff this month added, "In case you are wondering about grey areas: Santa Claus is considered an 'other religious figure.'"

If power corrupts, this school's principal Kim is a prefect example of just how insane with power one person can become. Soon after joining PS 169 in May of 2014, her first time as a principal was to order the faculty to clear their classrooms of "clutter." 

Yes, she ordered hundreds of new text and other books and loads of supplies to be moved into the gym. Once there, she allowed parents and other community members to take what they wanted. The rest was tossed in the trash. She then had people paint over and remove historic murals there.

And with school dollars said to be tight, principal Eujin Jaela Kim dumped boxes of newly purchased reading books in the trash or moved to the the basement. Instead of books, she spent scarce school funds on seven 70-to-80-inch Sharp flat-screen smart TVs, which retail at about $3,000 each. The TVs have been mounted in the auditorium, three over the stage and two on each side. And yes, the TVs have never been used.  

​​So yes, while this principal dismantles core instruction, American tradition, and history at that school, make no mistake that Kim is behind the Politically Correctness cleansing and all out assault on the Pledge of Allegiance, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and even Santa Claus. 

Sounds familiar? Yes, it sounds like what the Communist tried to do to eliminate Christianity and Russian history after the October 1917 Communist Revolution. And yes, it sure sounds a lot like what ISIS is doing when they are destroying Middle Eastern history and attacking Christians over there. 

The reader who sent me this article asked, "Could she be a Communist or a Muslim? Or, could she be an ISIS sympathizer like President Obama?" 

Her atrocious policies of eliminating American traditions and attacking Christian celebrations are a great deal like Obama's policies since taking office. As with Obama and the Democrat Party only caring about keeping the nation divided, does she care that she's robbing her school's children of their nation's heritage and ability to assimilate into American society? Does she care that this will hurt the kids at her school? Frankly, I really believe, it doesn't mater to those with such agendas.

Is she helping to prepare that school for Muslim indoctrination? Does she, like President Obama, see nothing wrong with attacking Christian traditions to fundamentally change America into some Socialist/Communist model state? I don't know. But yes, either is very possible. 

There are more folks than just me who see the approval of Muslim indoctrination classes and the attacks on Christians in America as a Liberal agenda to undermine America as the biggest Christian nation in the world. I know that I'm not the only one who thinks that Democrats, Liberals, so-called Progressives see Christian values as a threat and in direct opposition to Socialism/Communism ideals which sees the "state as being god-like." 

And frankly I'm not the only American who now believes that Obama and his White House is actively prosecuting Christians who spread the word of Jesus Christ while looking the other way as local, state, and federal government entities sponsor the spread of the Muslim faith.

Their efforts have become very obvious. By sponsoring Muslims, the Obama White House is actively trying to change the demographics of the United States.

By changing the demographics, the makeup, of the United States, he can destroy America's overwhelming belief in Christian morality. And with that, Obama truly succeeds in fundamentally changing America for the worse.

    

And yes, that's just the way I see things.

Tom Correa

Strange But True Odds & Ends -- Part Three

Bicycles built for two apparently were not catchy enough, so why not make a tandem tricycle! That was the attitude of the Columbia Tricycle Company when they mass produced their product during the fad of the 1880s.

They claimed that they insured “absolute freedom from danger of accident.” They were more stable as they had three wheels and more support.

So what is the most magical place on earth?

Disneyland Employee Cafeteria in 1961

How about the employee cafeteria at Disneyland? Yes, indeed, seeing Snow White, Goofy, and a Native American all dining elbow to elbow must have been an interesting sight.

What at first appears to be a scene out of an old Sci-Fi flick, it is in reality London during WWII. Brits feared that the Nazi's would turn their poison gas attacks on civilians, and they protected themselves accordingly -- including their children with gas masks.

Jackie Mitchell was the only woman to ever strike out Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig. In the picture above, she shakes their hand in 1931.

It's just your average Las Vegas day in the 1950s. They might as well have had a viewing party to watch atomic bomb tests. No big deal, right? After all, Las Vegas used this to their advantage to boost tourism by promoting "atomic cocktails" served at "Dawn Bomb Parties." One casino owner remarked, "The best thing to happen to Vegas was the Atomic Bomb."

Ham was not your average astronaut when he flew the Mercury mission in 1961: he was a chimpanzee! His training included working with a neuroscientist to push a lever if he saw a blue light flash. Ham not only survived the mission, but lived out the rest of this 25 year life at the Asheboro Zoo in North Carolina.

Atabrine, a synthetic treatment for fighting malaria, was used in large quantities by he US military in the South Pacific during WWII. This sign was a reminder to the troops near a military hospital in New Guinea, where nearly two-thirds of our men fell ill with malaria.

It was not uncommon in the 20s for the beaches to be monitored for swimming suit length. Women whose suits were not long enough, and considered too revealing, were asked to change. While I'm sure it was difficult to find someone to do such a job, imagine something like this happening today!

Prohibition was not our country's brightest hour. You can take the booze out of the country, but, no wait, you can't. This flood was part of disposal of illegal alcohol being poured out of a Detroit building. It's proximity to Canada made it a key location for smuggling in spirits.

This Prohibition bust by the state police included arresting the local sheriff and the Mayor!

Ever wonder how Harley-Davidson motorcycles got started? Well. here you go! The picture above is of William Harley and Arthur Davidson in 1914.

And yes, this was compiled from multiple sources.
Tom Correa

Strange But True Odds & Ends -- Part Two

en.wikipedia.org and en.wikipedia.org

Bayer, the German pharmaceutical company that produces aspirin, commercialized heroin in the 1890s as a cough, cold, and pain remedy.

What’s really shocking, however, is that Bayer marketed heroin for use in children as late as 1912, years after reports began to surface that it could be a dangerous drug. In 1914, heroin was restricted to prescription-only use in the U.S. and eventually banned by the FDA altogether in 1924.

In a 2008 survey, 58% of British teens thought Sherlock Holmes was a real guy, while 20% thought Winston Churchill was not.

Did you know that the U.S. government paid the Zapruder family $16 million for the film of JFK's assassination in 1999? They did. Or should I say, we did.

Fredric Baur invented the Pringles can. When he passed away in 2008, his ashes were buried in one.

In the mid-1960s, Slumber Party Barbie came with a book called "How to Lose Weight." One of the tips was "Don’t eat."

When asked if he knew the speed of sound, Einstein said he "didn't carry such information in my mind since it's readily available in books."

The last time a Republican was elected president without a Nixon or Bush on the ticket was 1928. That Republican was Herbert Hoover who became the 31st president of the United States a mere eight months before the Stock Market Crash of 1929.

Sea otter couples hold hands when they sleep so they don't drift apart. Yes, it's true!

In 1973, Mao Zedong told Henry Kissinger that China had an excess of females and offered the U.S. 10 million Chinese women.

There are 9 million more women than men in Russia. In fact, it is said that Russia's population has fallen by 6.6 million since 1993.

Each Russian consumes 18 litres of alcohol per year on average, doubling what experts consider as dangerous. There are more than 500,000 alcohol related deaths each year in Russia And believe it or not, beer only started being classed as alcohol in Russia in 2013.

Talking about boozers, when fruit flies are infected with a parasite, they self-medicate with booze -- they seek out food with higher alcohol content.

The Code of Hammurabi decreed that bartenders who watered down beer would be executed. 

In 1493, Columbus thought he saw mermaids. They were "not as pretty as they are depicted, for somehow in the face they look like men." It was probably manatees.

When the Westboro Baptist Church protested a soldier's funeral in Oklahoma, their tires were slashed. People in town refused to repair them.

An early ATM was deemed a failure because its only users were "prostitutes and gamblers who didn’t want to deal with tellers face to face."

The American Psychiatric Association’s DSM-V handbook classifies caffeine withdrawal as a mental  heath disorder. 

On May 15th, 2014, it was reported that Dave Harrell of Edmond, Oklahoma, caught an "Alligator Snapping Turtle" on a rod and reel at Eufaula Lake in Oklahoma. It is the biggest he had ever seen.

It is typically the largest freshwater turtle in the world based on weight and can live to be 200 years old. The beast weighed over 100 pounds. And yes, they were just out fishing for catfish.

Columbus struck land in the Caribbean and also explored Central and South America, but he never set foot on North America. Nonetheless, the U.S. celebrates Columbus Day every year.

Also, thinkers as far back as Pythagoras, a Greek mathematician in the sixth century B.C., knew the world was round. Columbus even supposedly planned his trip using a copy of Ptolemy's "Geography," which included theories about the world's spherical shape.

President George Washington did have horrifically bad teeth. He even wore multiple sets of dentures throughout his life made of ivory, gold, and lead -- but not wood.

According to the organization that runs President Washington's famed estate, Mount Vernon, President Washington did love his Port wine though. The burgundy-colored drink may have stained his teeth, making them appear brown and grainy, like wood.

The Great Chicago Fire killed hundreds and burned more than 3 square miles in 1871. Contrary to popular myth, the blaze actually started in a small alley for unknown reasons.

The journalist who attributed the blaze to "Mrs. O' Leary's cow" knocking over a lit lantern admitted he lied and made up the story. Yes, we haven't been able to trust the news media for years.

And yes, this was compiled from multiple sources.
Tom Correa

Strange But True Odds & Ends -- Part One

This photo, taken in 1919, shows Goddard Squadron honoring their fallen member Freddy Jackson shortly after his funeral. 

If you look closely at the photograph, you can see a man in the background who was identified by other squadron members as, you guessed it, Freddy Jackson.

If you think that is amazing, in 1838, Edgar Allan Poe released a book called "The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket" which tells of the four crewmen of a whaling ship who had to draw lots to decide whom they would eat after days of hunger.

The lot fell on the cabin boy named Richard Parker. Forty-six years later, a disaster at sea caused legal furor because three crewmen ate their cabin boy named Richard Parker after drawing lots.

It you think that's strange then you will like the following:

The heart of a Blue Whale is so big, a human can swim through the arteries. An Octopus has three hearts. Armadillos nearly always give birth to identical quadruplets. Hippo milk is pink. And yes, the Unicorn is the National Animal of Scotland. 

Vending machines are twice as likely to kill you than a shark is.

Not once in the Humpty Dumpty nursery rhyme does it mention that he’s an egg.

All of the men who fought in World War II were born before sliced bread. Yes, they pre-dated the day when people started selling already sliced bread. 

Sliced bread is a loaf of bread that has been pre-sliced with a machine and packaged for convenience. So what did they say before the advent of sliced bread?

Well, sliced bread was first sold in 1928, and advertised as "the greatest forward step in the baking industry since bread was wrapped!" Now you know! 

Did you know that former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill's mother was born in Brooklyn. She was.

Call him Mr Lucky! Mr. Tsutomu Yamaguchi was in Hiroshima for work when the first A-bomb hit, and made it home to Nagasaki for the second. Though he was "nuked" twice, he lived to be 93.

New research suggests that 15–20 million people were murdered or imprisoned by the Nazis during the Holocaust, much more than previously believed. All in the name of Socialism. 

Yes, Germany's Nazi Party were in fact Socialists.

Joseph Stalin, the dictator of the USSR from 1929–1953, is believed to have killed between 20-60 million people. All in the name of Communism.

In the 1970s, Cambodia's Pol Pot’s Communist regime brainwashed thousands of children into becoming soldiers who committed mass murders and other atrocities. They slaughtered millions of people. All in the name of Communism. 

Chairman Mao Zedong killed 45 million people during Communist China’s "Great Leap Forward" from 1958–1962. All in the name o f Communism.

In China, in recent years tens of thousands of baby girls were abandoned each year because of the country’s one-child policy. All in the name of Communism. 

A strawberry isn’t a berry but a banana is. And yes, so are avocados and watermelons. Peanuts are not nuts. They grow in the ground, so they are legumes.

Humans share 50% of their DNA with bananas. There is 10 times more bacteria in your body than actual body cells. And yes, 90% of the cells that make us up of aren’t human but mostly fungi and bacteria.

Before the mid-19th century dentures were commonly made with teeth pulled from the mouths of dead soldiers.

After Pope Gregory IX declared that cats were associated with devil worship, cats throughout Europe were exterminated in droves. This sudden lack of cats led to the spread of disease because infected rats ran free. The most devastating of these diseases, the Bubonic Plague, killed 100 million people.

The Aztecs made human sacrifices to the gods. In 1487, at the dedication of the temple in Tenochtitlan, 20,000 people were put to death. The Mayans also made sacrifices. The most common involved pulling a still-beating heart out of a victim’s chest. And imagine, today people try to say only the Europeans were cruel. 

People were buried alive so often in the 19th century that inventors patented safety coffins that would give the "dead" the ability to alert those above ground if they were still alive.

Approximately 750,000 men died in the Civil War, which was more than 2.5% of America’s population at the time.

The last time the Chicago Cubs won the baseball World Series, lollipops had not yet been invented, and women did not have the right to vote in the United States. 

In fact, the last time the Cubs won the world series, Alaska, Arizona, Hawaii, and New Mexico were not yet states, And yes, the Ottoman Empire still existed.

Speaking of the Ottoman Empire, its Sultan Ibrahim I had 280 of his concubines drowned in the ocean after one of them slept with another man.

In Medieval times people were put to death for being witches. One anthropologist conjectures as many as 600,000 “witches” lost their lives.

In Medieval times the accused often faced a “trial by ordeal,” where they were forced to stick their arm into a vat of boiling water. If their arm emerged unscathed, it was believed God protected them, thus proving their innocence. And yes, believe it or not, animals were put on trial in medieval times and routinely sentenced to death.

A thousand seconds is about 16 minutes, a million seconds is about 11 days. a billion seconds is about 32 years, and one trillion seconds is about 32,000 years. 

Honey never spoils. You can eat 32,000-year-old honey.

In 2006, an Australian man tried to sell New Zealand on eBay. The price rose to $3,000 before eBay shut it down.

Mexican General Santa Anna had an elaborate state funeral for his amputated leg.

Toy companies failed to duplicate the success of Theodore Roosevelt's teddy bear with William Taft's "Billy Possum."

Prairie dogs say hello with kisses.

New Mexico State's first graduating class in 1893 had only one student -- and he is said to have been was shot and killed before graduation.

If you think you always needed to make A's in school, there is one student who had a lot of satisfaction with his grade even though it wasn't an A. Our 50-star American flag was designed by an Ohio high school student for a class project. His teacher originally gave him a B–

Here’s something we’ll probably never see again in our own lifetime: the Hoover Dam without any water in it.

Last but not least, it might sound strange, but it is true that you can’t hum while holding your nose shut. Now you know you going to try it!

And yes, this was compiled from multiple sources.
Tom Correa

I Agree With Donald Trump

OK, so Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump said that he would stop Muslims from entering the United States -- that includes Muslim students, tourists, refugees, and of course potential terrorist.

Wait, did I say he wants to keep out potential terrorists? Yes, he does. Imagine that. That is quite a change in policy over the present policy of allowing anyone in -- even if they hate us.

While Trump's call for a complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States has drawn condemnation from Muslim groups, Democrats, and even Trump's Republican rivals, is anyone really surprised that they would not agree with Trump. 

Friends, Muslim groups such as and associated with the likes of CAIR, the Muslim Brotherhood, and the Nation of Islam want to kill Americans. Of course they don't want the door secured and the bad guys kept out. 

And as for so-called Republicans like Speaker of the House Paul Ryan who came out to say that Trump does not reflect the values of Republican Party, Paul Ryan does not reflect the values Republican Party.

When did it happen that stupid and reckless abandonment of security for our nation became values of the Republican Party? When did it take place that Republicans stopped caring about the safety of the American people just to appease United Nation refugee mandates and an administration that doesn't give a shit about our security? 

When is it that the Republican Party became the Democrats and want to be Politically Correct instead of sane and prudent? Since when has the Republican Party been hijacked by politicians who put their own wants and desires, themselves, ahead of America? 

This is not about some passage of a poem on the Statue of Liberty, or the Democrat idea that there should be no borders. This is about the security of our nation and the protection of our people. Yes, this is about the reason that our government was created in the first place. This is about providing for the common defense of the United States.

And guess what, limiting access is as old a basic principle of security as one can possible find. 

Security is the degree of resistance to, or protection from, harm. It applies to any vulnerable and valuable asset, such as a person or many people, homes, businesses, organizations, groups, events, gatherings, towns, cities, small communities and big, state and nation.

There are a number of security measure we take every day. We limit access to our bank accounts, our computers, our cars, homes, businesses and so on. When I was a young Marine, one of my first duties was to be assigned to the security of Nuclear Weapons.

As with most types of physical security, we are talking about security measures designed to deny unauthorized access to facilities, equipment and resources, and to protect personnel and property from damage or harm. In the case of store security, the primary threat is theft. In the case of Nuclear Security, the primary threats were espionage and sabotage. 

The primary threat involved with allowing un-screened or inept screening to take place is terrorist  attacks that result in the deaths of Americans. Yes, Americans which may include your family members. 

So, why do I support Donald Trump's call for a temporary halt to Muslims seeking to enter the United States -- including Muslim students, tourists, refugees, and of course potential terrorist?

It is simple, I treasure your life and the life of members of your family. I was a Security Consultant for years, and I can tell you that physical security involves the use of multiple layers of interdependent systems -- which include surveillance systems, security guards and the incorporation of patrol procedures, barricades, protective barriers, locks, and of course access control. Yes, access control.

Good security is about controlling access to those you want to keep safe. The first rule is to keep the bad guys out. How you do that means limiting who can come in. Screening protocols will establish who you allow in and who you try to keep out. 

This is not brain surgery. This is basic security, basic self protection when there are bad guys who want in to harm you and yours. 

Whether all of the Republicans who just chastised Trump over this understand it or not, this is not about values of "who we are" but about losing American lives to people extremely determined to kill Americans. 

Pertaining to Donald Trump's comments, comments that I believe reflect the feelings of a great number of Americans, Jeb Bush tweeting that Trump "is unhinged". Carly Fiorina called the proposal an "overreaction [as] dangerous as President Obama's under-reaction." I just hope these two have the guts to tell that to the families of the victims of the next Muslim terrorist attack which could have been prevented if we halted Muslim entry until we have a better screening system. But believe me when I say, as with Paul Ryan, they won't.

Trump’s proposal has come five days after Muslim terrorists killed 14 people and injured 21 at a Christmas office party in San Bernardino, California, all while President Obama is determined to relocate tens of thousands of Syrian refugees in the United States. 

The head of the FBI stated that there is no question that Syrian refugees CANNOT be effectively screened. Because of what the head of the FBI says, I feel that Donald Trump has bravely stepped forward to take on the task of the first duties of president.

Trumps's proposal: "Until we are able to determine and understand this problem and the dangerous threat it poses, our country cannot be the victims of horrendous attacks by people that believe only in Jihad, and have no sense of reason or respect for human life."

Yes, the first duty of a president is not to worry about appeasing the United Nations or bowing to Muslims who want us dead. It is to protect us, our homeland, our nation, America.

It's not surprising that Muslim leaders expressed outrage at the idea. And really, who is really surprised when Hillary Clinton called the proposal "reprehensible, prejudiced and divisive."

And really, who is surprised that the openly avowed Socialist, a Democrat who has constantly demonstrated his hatred for the United States, Bernie Sanders said "Trump and others want us to hate all Muslims." 

And by the way, for you people out who agree with Hillary and Bernie, those of you who believe in Open Borders -- why don't you take the locks off the doors of your homes? Why don't you make the place where you live like the America you want?

Like the Democrats who are always bad mouthing the Police yet need them, or want guns banned yet called to borrow one during the Rodney King riots in Los Angeles, you should practice what they preach and leave the doors to your home open to all. Ask yourself if you are really OK with letting in the known and the unknown?

Would you open your doors and allow all to access your home? I wouldn't. Friends and family can get in if they want and need to, and no one else has the need without my permission.

Would you not concern yourself with who comes into your home? I am very concerned with who comes in my home. Yes, I care if their intentions are friendly or not.

Security is a big deal to me and maybe that's way I see this as being a big deal. That's the reason that I think Donald Trump is right. The people he is talking about keeping out, until we can truly determine their background and intentions, are among the Syrian refugees that Obama wants to bring here.

Trump is right because experts have already determined that ISIS members and sympathizers are among them. That is a fact not up for debate. And frankly, that makes Trump's proposal a good start to control access and safeguard the American people.

And frankly friends, why should we allow citizens to put all of us at risk because of some political agenda? Besides, since Trump is talking about a halt until a better system is in place, I'd really like to know why it's so important to politicians that the American government to act in hast?

Why is it so important that we allow would-be terrorists to enter America right now? What is wrong with getting a better system in place before moving forward?

We spend billions of taxpayer dollars on all sorts of fancy military hardware to protect us. We also spend billions of taxpayer dollars on government waste such as the scam called "Climate Control."

How about we funnel some of those funds to create protocols and a screening system that can keep us safe today by limiting access as to who comes in and who doesn't? America is our home, why are we not securing it in the same why that we do the homes we live in? We should.

UPDATE: I have received a lot of email over this telling me that I'm talking about taking away people's rights. First, I've read the Constitution a number of times and cannot find where we cannot keep out FOREIGNERS who are a threat. Second, no matter what Democrats and Liberals and RINOs say, FOREIGNERS do not have the rights of American CITIZENS. That is a fact, so keeping out FOREIGNERS because they pose a possible threat to our nation is well within the law.

And yes, that's just the way I see it.
Tom Correa

Islamic Group C.A.I.R Is A Sham

By Terry McGahey
Associate Writer/Historian

After the cowardly terrorist attack that took place in San Bernardino, California. The Council on American-Islamic Relations made their grandstand appearance on the news talking about how they feel badly for the victims. This act was done for no other reason than damage control, period!

The Islamic group CAIR was created by the Muslim Brotherhood which, as we all know, is a radical Islamic organization.

This group receives financial support from several foreign powers, some of these are the same powers which supported Osama Bin Laden, Al-Qaeda, and Hamas as well.

This group has not only received donations from convicted terrorists, but has also praised terrorists and has stated that suicide bombers are acting on behalf of Islam.

CAIR board members have also called for the overthrow of the United States Government and to impose Sharia law, which in reality means murder, the killing of anyone who criticizes Islam on the internet or anywhere else.

This is nothing but a Muslim Brotherhood organization which lies to the American people about their so called moderate Muslim approach. Even in the Koran, it is permissible for Muslims to lie to the infidels, or non believers if you will, to promote their agenda.

If CAIR truly was a moderate Islamic organization, if there really is such a thing, then why is it that they as well as others are not standing up in public in mass against radical Islam? Maybe it's because the so-called "moderates" are afraid of their own Islamic brothers, or is it because there is no such thing as "moderate" Muslims?

The so-called "moderate" Muslims read from the same Koran that the radicals do, and believe in the same words written within the Koran or they wouldn't be true Muslims.

As I have said before, there are over 100 passages within the Koran that promotes the killing of infidels which they consider the non believers. They call Muhammad their prophet.

Well, Warren Jeffs who led the child raping polygamist cult in Arizona City was also called a prophet. Jim Jones who planned the mass murder of his cult followers was also called a prophet by his dominion. Over these past many years, religious cults have called their leaders prophets and followed them with blind eyes, and even some like sheep to the slaughter house.

What amazes me about this so-called president of ours, who claims to be a Christian, is why he objects to calling attacks such as the Boston Marathon, Fort Hood killings, or now the massacre in San Bernardino, attacka by Islamic terrorists. Obama would rather call this work place violence and has tried to play that game even with this latest horrific event.

Even before the bodies of our citizens were cold, he announced the need for more gun control. There is no amount of gun control laws that would have stopped this terrorist action, nor will there be any gun control laws in the future that will stop an Islamic terrorist attack. The only thing more gun laws will do is to make it harder for the honest citizen to defend themselves.

Obama himself was raised as a Muslim up until the age of eleven years old that we know of, which are the formative years in a child's life, and his actions prove time and time again that if he truly is not a Muslim by belief, he leans more toward the Muslims than Christians.

My opinion, yes he is a Muslim and his actions, or should I say inaction, have proven this to me over the years. There is nothing about the Muslim belief system that works within our Constitution or the American way of life, not even a little bit.

Don't take my word for it, do some research yourself. If you do you will find that there is no room for Islamic beliefs within our governments structure. This being of fact, why has Obama appointed Muslims into his cabinet and why are a few of them associated with the Muslim Brotherhood?

As I close this article, I only want to leave you with this old saying. When it comes to CAIR and our so called president, "if it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it's a damn duck!"