"'White power' chanted during immigration discussion at school" reads the headline for Colorado's 9news.com.

So, if a student has aspirations to do business in Central or South America, one could certainly agree that at some point in his or her academic career, Spanish language training would be a "need." Or, if this story was about a Sunday school class considering "missionary" opportunities within the community or in a foreign country, it could be said they would have a "need" to learn Spanish. Otherwise, the fact of the matter would remain that learning a second language is most certainly valuable, but perhaps not a need.

But, then again, perhaps I am playing with semantics. I'm not saying this specific classroom case has anything to do with politics, but as a citizen of Hispanic heritage, I have to say that socialist and liberal leaning "Latinos" are starting to wear me thin by all their whining. From demanding legalization for illegal immigrants, or more "representation", to demanding more "rights" for this or that -- its all the same Liberal mantra -- "give the government more power to fix everything." Which of course we all know doesn't work that way.

But I digress...the real important question America needs to be asking our invited guests from all around the world is, "Why do you need to learn English?" Of course, as an American, I have always been extremely proud of my language. So much so, I my friend's thought me to be "stuck up" when I was growing up as a Missionary Kid in Honduras. I probably was stuck up, not because of my English, but just because I was... But I can tell you that among all my childhood friends still living in the various Central American countries I lived in, those that mastered English at an early age are now much more financially successful overall. It's just a practical thing.

Now, going back to those language numbers...perhaps we should start including Mandarin education at early grades. At one point, all of America's manufacturing and other service providers in China might start demanding we meet with them at their language. Will all the safety concerns going on, perhaps its time American's starting taking a closer look at their Chinese operations. Of course, having a mastery of Mandarin might be helpful...of course, most business men all over the world tend to speak English (unscientific observation...feel free to correct me with the facts if I am wrong).

In short, I don't think an America's children have a "need" to learn Spanish.

Because my wife's Spanish language skills are basic, chances are our kids won't be picking up Spanish at home. They might get some from Grandma and Grandpa on my side of the family (...its more like a horrible mix of Spanish and English often called "Spanglish"). I certainly intend to encourage them to learn Spanish, or another second language. Because we will be home schooling, I might even require a second language. I also intend to encourage my children to be open to a Missionary calling (in our community or in the foreign mission field)--knowing Spanish would be valuable.

The fact is that considering the wealth of educational resources, the diverse nature of our population, and the globalization of our economy, I could certainly see a LOT of value in America's children learning Spanish. But more important than their language skills, I intend to educate my children to love their country and heritage.

HT: Drudge Report

I'm sure many of you have noticed some problems with the blog editing tool (the word processor like interface). Our engineers are aware of the problem, and are working hard to find a resolution. At this point, I don't have a timeline, but I wanted to assure everyone its being worked on.

My engineers tell me that in the meantime, sometimes it helps to restart your web browser. Just close all browser windows, and restart it. Then, reload the Townhall.com "Create New Post" page. Also, sometimes what I do is hold the Cntrl Key while then hitting the "refresh" button on the web browser. Usually (but not always) the page reloads correctly.

 Hopefully this problem won't be a problem for much longer...I'm really sorry for the blogging interruption this has caused all of you and for your continued patience. 
~ Josué Sierra
Online Community Manager
Townhall.com

P.S.
If you have any other symptoms or temporary solution that has worked for you, feel free to share it in the comments below.

I wanted to report a recent update that was completed on the Townhall Blogatorium Top Ten list. You will notice over the next few days some readjustments in the blog placement as a result of a bug fix implemented today.

We discovered a bug in the code that was causing blog link trackbacks to be counted as page views in the Top Ten counting functionality. As a result, bloggers that linked back to their own archives or posts would receive an incorrect larger number of "page views" that in fact where not actual reader page views. We have re-rendered the page view calculations with a fix in place, so the new Top Ten rankings should more accurately reflect the current running average of each blog's readership page views.

We apologize to all of our active and hard working bloggers for the mistake and thank you for your ongoing contributions to the great Townhall.com Blogatorium.

Townhall community blogger, BrianR celebrated Christmas a little early this year, and played Santa Clause. I got the following in the mail Thanks to Brain for remembering my Cuban heritage and for his expressions of gratitude for all the work we do around here.

Thanks Brian! :-D All my co-workers are jealous!

Congrats to Madeline's Dad for a year of great blogging! I got my t-shirt and here's the picture. You can check out the blog right here in Townhall at wherearemykeys.townhall.com

BrianR has the story.

On the subject of the Islamics in their community it would seem Australia’s Prime Minister has a rather blunt and laudable prescription for dealing with those who don’t care to assimilate into the Australian culture.

Make sure to check out the discussion, which I'm sure will be lively.

The word in DC is "surprise." I guess everyone was expecting him to hang in there to the bitter end. The Washington Post has a story.

An administration official said that Gonzales had told President Bush of his decision on Friday, but the announcement was withheld until the two met face to face on Sunday at Bush's ranch in Crawford. Bush planned to make a statement shortly before noon from Waco, Tex.

Gonzales took no questions from the press as he announced his plans, but he said that even his "worst days" as attorney general were "better than my father's best days" as a migrant worker in Texas.

Townhall blogger Greg England posted the following comments and links back to the Guardian articles from back in 2006 gushing with praises for Chavez.

Funny how some people can't seem to see the truth... even professional journalists. Nauseous indeed!

The "drive-by" media
Here's some words of gushing praise from Ken Livingston (UK's London Mayor) ... in May 2006

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree
/story/0,,1774918,00.html

"It therefore deserves the unequivocal support of not only every supporter of social progress but every genuine believer in democracy in the world."

I hope those words come back to haunt him, but I doubt that they will.

Fast-forward to February 2007, and the Guardian still had gushing praise for Chavez, this time from a journalist called Richard Gott:

http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/
richard_gott/2007/02/gottvenezuela.html


Now fast-forward to the present day, when it is becoming increasingly clear that a dictatorship is on the horizon:

http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/
open_thread/2007/08/john_pilger_online.html

Nah! They're still at it, wringing their hands. Here's a quote from the article:

"It's too early to assess what Chavez's intentions are. This of course is what Franklin D Roosevelt did during the extraordinary years of the Depression and war."

And of course, this quote:

"The question above all surely is: what is democracy? What is fascinating about developments in Latin America is that the old preserve of the western liberal elite of the concept of democracy belonging to them, and them only is being challenged. Rousseau wrote about popular sovereignty; these days we call it participation. In western democracies, especially Britain and the US, there is a crisis of participation"

I can't read any more of this stuff - it makes me feel nauseous!

Related:
Chavez Power Grab: Venezuelan Constitutional Changes Approved

This week's Economist had a short blurb  in the "The World This Week" section on how the Venezuelan National Assembly -- all Chavez cronies -- unanimously approved the constitutional change that removes term limits on Chavez. How surprising! And all it took them was 6 hours of debate. Hugo Chavez and his enablers indeed! An Aug 16th article also on the Economist had more details on the Venezuelan Constitutional changes.

The plan to abolish presidential term limits is part of a bundle of constitutional changes unveiled by Mr. Chávez on August 15th. These would remove the last remaining checks and balances to presidential power in Venezuela. They would strip the Central Bank of all autonomy, allowing the government to spend the country's foreign reserves. The government would be given power to expropriate private property by decree, and to promote co-operatives and state enterprise.

The president remains popular, thanks to a bond with many poorer Venezuelans reinforced by quantities of oil money for social programmes. But there is much polling evidence that a large majority oppose socialism and value democracy.

My mother used to say, "tell me who you hang around with, and I'll tell you who you are." Less America forget about who exactly is Hugo Chavez, I'll let Michael C. Moynihan tell you about the sort of man he is.

...he is also the man who has declared his eternal friendship with Libya's Col. Gaddafi, Belorussian dictator Alexander Lukashenko, Iranian leader Ahmadinejad, Zimbabwean tyrant Robert Mugabe, Sandinista commandante Daniel Ortega, imprisoned terrorist Carlos the Jackal, Saddam Hussein and, of course, Fidel Castro. Amongst the gringo masses, this side of Chávez is rather less well-known.

Make sure to check out Moynihan's entire piece at Reason.com.

It's sad news and a dark time for Venezuela.

Update: It seems there where just rumors and nothing was announced. This is not to say that he isn't dead--just that the Cuban government has not announced anything.

Fausta has a must-read perspective:

The reality of the situation is its unreality.

Is Castro dead? Until the Cuban government makes an official announcement, there is no way of knowing for sure.

The Cuban government, however, has very little to gain and a lot to lose if and when they make an official announcement.

***
Via Val Prieto at Babalublog.com:

Various sources inform that an announcement will come within the next few minutes from the Cuban government on Cuban TV and media.

Val says he has sources that are saying there will be a 3 PM announcement on Cuban TV.

The JawaReport is also reporting an increase in "email chatter."


Ninosca on Radio Mambi (spanish language), one of the most-listened Spanish radio among the Cuban community in Miami is affirming that there are no official reports, and reminds her listeners that until the Cuban government wants it known, it won't be truly known. She is taking phone calls on her show, and inviting the South Florida community to share what they will do to celebrate once castro's death is confirmed.

Keep your eye on this one -- Val is staying on top of the rumors and reports.

Becuase some people forget common courtesy when interacting with others online, I will post this up again as a reminder. Note: We get thousands of comments each day. When a comment is removed, or an account is blacklisted, we are simply not able to notify. If you keep your emotions under control, and follow common courtesy when interacting with others, I assure you that you will have no problems.

***

I think its good time to remind everyone, conservative or liberal, of the standards we are trying to achieve here at Townhall.com.

Our moderation policy is rather simple.

1) No personal attacks, no name calling.

2) No use of foul or sexual language, no attempts to circumvent our language filters. No inappropriate references to bodily functions.

3) No overt commercial advertising.

4) No advocating of illegal activities or violence.

5) No abusively repetitive, off-topic, or overtly disruptive posts.

6) No full reprinting of articles or content in its entirety by other authors or content under copyright without prior written approval from the original author or copyright holder.

These are enforced according according to the discretion of the moderator, and no notice will be served. We welcome all points of views--liberal included.  I realize that in the heat of a debate on issues of great importance, it is easy to lose one's temper, but we are managing a large community with thousands of comments each day.

Help us out -- Be courteous and self-controlled.

We know you support certain candidates of your choice, so feel free to promote them and their views. But excessive, repetitive and abusive posts promoting an issue or candidate may be removed at the moderator's discretion. Take efforts to be respectful when making arguments against other's point of views or candidates of choice.
We are really working hard to maintain a respectful and decorous tone in the comments area so individuals of all perspectives and opinions can engage in constructive conversation.

Feel free to post your questions for me below. (Be nice...)

Update: I have added point #6. It is pretty common sense, so I had not even thought it be necesary, but for those that want it written down, there it is. The idea is basic--respect other writer's creative content. This is a common courtesy, as well as a legal issue. If you have permission to reprint an article or post by another author, just make sure to note it somewhere in the post (and perhaps link back to the original site).

Update: Here is a picture I quickly snapped during my last visit at NPR's Tell Me More with Michelle Martin.


I just got out of the NPR studios in DC where I was with host Michelle Martin discussing Obama's Miami Herald op-ed on the Cuba embargo, the South Florida Cuban American vote, and other political subjects.

You can listen to the audio clip of the segment of Tell Me More.


On the subject of Obama's Miami Herald op-ed and the Cuba embargo, check out Babalublog.com for real good analysis of the South Florida community and voting trends. I pretty much voiced Henry Gomez's perspective on Obama's op-ed ( I learn from the masters on the subject, since I haven't lived in Miami for quite a few years now).


Henry is predicting that Hillary has the campaign in the bag. I'm not a political science expert, but it does seem that way to me as well.


Matt Lewis thought this was a gaff by Obama, but reading Henry's perspective, as well as today's The New York Sun's op-ed in response to Obama, I would have to disagree. I don't think its going to help him in South Florida, but it certainly was better than nothing and certainly not a slip up. At the very least, it will get him a few more Democrat votes and it certainly got him some airtime and attention.


Henry broke down the numbers on a recent FIU poll of Cuban-American voting trends. You can read the post here.


He has more here as well.


"El Conductor" said it best.

Today the homeschool movement has lost one of its best  supporter and advocate.

Mr. Moore was instrumental in developing the modern homeschool movement. Without his early involvement, it’s likely that homeschooling would not be as popular as it is today.

A home-based education or a small community school was the norm in America until the Industrial Revolution. A burgeoning immigrant population, a desire among the people to assimilate the newcomers and the perceived needs of big business gave momentum to the development of institutionalized schools, which became almost totally dominant by the 1950s.

Mr. Moore came on the scene during the 1960s when the few homeschoolers remaining could be found mostly among missionary families.

Moore's work greatly influenced my parents, who decided to home school us (5 boys, 1 girl) from K through 12. I am immensely grateful for this, and count myself blessed by the quality of my education. My wife and I look forward to being personally involved in the education of my own children on a daily basis as a home school parent.

During his more than 50 years of active service to the homeschool community, Mr. Moore faithfully traveled to many court hearings to testify as an expert witness to the academic statistics and success of homeschooling. He also testified in many state legislatures when bills were introduced to legalize homeschooling. As a passionate advocate for home education, Mr. Moore stuck to his positions.

The Washington Times has an op-ed in Moore's honor, reprinted in the above HSLDA web site.

The AP headline this morning says, "Immigration Activist Deported to Mexico." It goes on to tell you what a brave cause she struggled for, and made sure to even give you the tear-jerker details on how she left her son behind.

Her 8-year-old son, Saul, is now living with Coleman's family. During a news conference in Los Angeles after Arellano's arrest, the boy hid behind the pastor's wife and wiped away tears.

As sad as that is, its not the real story. So, in case you lose sight of what the real story is, let me remind you...

Arellano, 32, arrived in Washington state illegally in 1997. She was deported to Mexico shortly afterward, but returned and moved to Illinois in 2000, taking a job cleaning planes at O'Hare International Airport.

She was arrested in 2002 at O'Hare and convicted of working under a false Social Security number. She was to surrender to authorities last August but instead sought refuge at the church on Aug. 15, 2006.

Did you catch those important details?

They include false Social Security number, breaking airport security, and evading arrest. I'm not saying this lady is a "dangerous" criminal. But, the fact remains she DID break the law, she DID circumvent our security protocols, and SHE did CHOOSE to enter this country illegally. She did so while aware that deportation could and would eventually happen.

Her story presents what is a clear and present danger to our country and highlights the critical nature of our broken immigration system and unsecured border. The fact that the Liberal puppet masters managed to get to her and use her -- yes, that's right: USE HER -- to promote their left-wing pro-illegal immigration cause is secondary to the real story.

She broke our immigration, security and labor laws. This story is not about America's lack of compassion--it is about avoiding anarchy. It's about living in safety under the rule of law.

 In my opinion, our country is in grave danger of seeing the "victim mentality" repeated among the Latino immigrant population that was propagated among the African American community since the 60's. The root of our social unrest is found in the manipulations of the socialist academics and left- wing activists that are using individuals like Elvira Arellano to tug at America's hearts with the help of the typical left-wing media manipulation.

Let's not forget about personal consequences. I'll be the first one to advocate for compassion, but not at the altar of false socialist ideals and certainly not by sacrificing personal consequences.

I am the first one to advocate for an improved legal immigration process, but when an individual chooses out of their own free will to put themselves outside the protection of the law, it is their choice that brings about consequences. Whether the boy stayed in the US with friends, or eventually leaves to be reunited with his mother is his mother's choice -- the government is not to blame in any way.

Arellano has repeatedly called for a stop to immigration raids that break up families with some members who are in the U.S. legally and others illegally.

Well, I'll call myself a "Legal Immigration Activist" and I'm calling on illegal immigrants to STOP the break-up of families in Mexico and Central America -- stay home with your families. I call on Latin American "activistis" to petition to your governments for better economic opportunities for yourself and your children, and respect the immigration laws of your neighbors. I call on Latin American voters to educate yourselves about the candidates that run for positions of power in your city, province and country, and demand integrity and transparency.

How about it Arellano? How about focusing all that "activist" energy at your government? Maybe then we can get some real change.

In the meantime, we'll do what we need to do to protect our citizens and yes, guests like Arellano. Activists like myself will continue to call on our government to build the border fence and to secure the border. We will continue to advocate for severe consequences for employers that intentionally seek to hire outside our nation's laws. We will continue to pressure our congress to provide an effective process through which ethical employer's can properly verify their applicants and effectively comply with our labor laws. And we will continue to call for our government to improve the legal immigration process so that those guests that wisely and legally choose to seek America's hospitality, can do so.

Here is a Power Point for a presentation I gave to a group of aspiring UK conservative politicos. You can also see it over at SlideShare.net and vote on it.