Seattle's Racist School Administrators

The Supreme Court will soon be hearing a case regarding Seattle's race-based admissions plans for its public schools.

Seattle's school district has some rather disturbing ideas regarding race. As George Will describes: "Until June, the school district's Web site declared that 'cultural racism' includes 'emphasizing individualism as opposed to a more collective ideology,' 'having a future time orientation' (planning ahead) and 'defining one form of English as standard.' The site also asserted that only whites can be racists, and disparaged assimilation as the 'giving up' of one's culture...the district's intention is to avoid 'unsuccessful concepts such as a melting pot or colorblind mentality.'"

It will be interesting to see whether the Supreme Court allows Seattle to continue to assign children to schools based on the color of their skin.

No Need for Parents?

Spunky Homeschool points out a new education initiative for England's schools, announced by Prime Minister Tony Blair: graduates should not just know the "3 R's" but have "life skills" which include being able to "cook a meal...enjoy the theatre and use the internet."

She responds to this government nannyism with the pithy comment "...why don't they just keep kids in school full-time and parents can check them out like library books when they want to play with them."

That about says it all.

Reminds me of a story I linked to over a year ago, in which a pro "universal preschool" teacher said, "Since schools are doing so much of the education, nurturing and socialization of kids these days, it's better to get them in earlier..."

These attitudes are really quite a sad reflection on modern society and the increasing desire of those in the employ of the government to step into what traditionally have been parental roles. We all know there are some sad situations out there where parents are uninvolved and do a poor job, but that doesn't justify the government stepping into the role of parenting everyone's children.

When my children were still in our local public schools I found myself constantly having to "push back" against the schools to maintain the proper school/parent roles; for example, the school was conducting onsite scoliosis exams without first obtaining parental consent. I was told that was too cumbersome a process as the children couldn't be depended on to take home permission slips or letters; and since the school was doing a good thing, what parent would object? No one disputes that preventing scoliosis is a noble goal, but I'm sorry, you don't have my child disrobe and examine her without consulting me -- the parent -- first. I could give several similar examples.

I had some successes on a couple of like issues after contacting the school district's attorney, but eventually the "battles" wore me out. It's no fun being a squeaky wheel. And I wondered why none of the other parents raised the same kinds of questions...is it easier for most parents to "go along to get along"?

Unfortunately, for a variety of reasons I think in years to come we are going to see our nanny state schools encroaching further and further into "parenting" our children, and based on my past experiences, I suspect not too many parents will quibble.

A Bit More on the Imams

The story of the six imams kicked off a flight in Minnesota a few days ago continues to intrigue, in part because their behavior makes one wonder what the terrorists in our midst may be up to. An eyewitness account reported at Pajamas Media is interesting reading. (Hat tip: Michelle Malkin.)

Earlier today Power Line had a report on tall tales told to the press by the imams' leader.

Tonight's Movie: Frontier Marshal (1939)

FRONTIER MARSHAL, starring Randolph Scott as Wyatt Earp, holds an interesting niche in film history. It was the second film 20th Century-Fox based on Stuart Lake's book WYATT EARP: FRONTIER MARSHAL. Just a few years later FRONTIER MARSHAL would be remade yet again...as John Ford's MY DARLING CLEMENTINE (1946), which was reviewed here last May.

Directed by Allan Dwan, this film also stars Cesar Romero in an interesting performance as Doc Holliday (spelled Halliday here). The "good" and "bad" women in Holliday's life, played by Cathy Downs and Linda Darnell in the Ford version, are played in this film by Nancy Kelly and Binnie Barnes. Scott, always at home in Westerns, is fine as the calm, confident Earp. Ward Bond, who played Wyatt Earp's brother Morgan in CLEMENTINE, appears in another role early in this movie.

While not on a par with CLEMENTINE's visual poetry, FRONTIER MARSHAL is quite an enjoyable film in its own right. The movies are different in many respects, but they also share a number of similar scenes and characters. Moments such as the saloon girl being tossed in a horse trough, the girl from Doc's past looking at a photo in his room, an actor performing in the saloon, or Doc having to do emergency surgery will be quickly recognized by those more familiar with MY DARLING CLEMENTINE.

Whereas MY DARLING CLEMENTINE was shot in Monument Valley, portions of FRONTIER MARSHAL were shot in the striking, easily recognizable Alabama Hills outside Lone Pine, California.

Nancy Kelly, who is lovely as the woman from Doc's past, deserves a footnote. In 1939, when she was a leading lady at 20th in films such as this and JESSE JAMES, her little brother Jack was a child actor in two notable films at the same studio, THE STORY OF ALEXANDER GRAHAM BELL and John Ford's YOUNG MR. LINCOLN. Nearly two decades later, Jack Kelly starred with James Garner in my all-time favorite TV series, MAVERICK (currently airing Thursday nights on American Life Channel). While most people seem to prefer Garner's better-known Bret Maverick, Kelly's brother Bart was always my favorite. :) Later in life Jack was the mayor of nearby Huntington Beach, California, and I was privileged to meet him on a couple of occasions. He was a friendly, gracious man.

The original 1939 New York Times review of FRONTIER MARSHAL can be found here.

FRONTIER MARSHAL runs a brief 71 minutes and was shot in black and white. The film does not appear to be currently available on either VHS or DVD. I viewed it on a borrowed video. Hopefully it will turn up on DVD at some point. It's an entertaining Western which is well worth seeing.

2007 Update: FRONTIER MARSHAL is now available as an extra in the Ford at Fox: Essential John Ford DVD Collection.

2012 Update: FRONTIER MARSHAL is now available on DVD-R in the Fox Cinema Archives Collection.

October 2015 Update: I had the wonderful chance to see this film at the Lone Pine Film Festival -- followed a few days later by seeing MY DARLING CLEMENTINE (1946) at UCLA.

2018 Update: I wrote more about this movie for Classic Movie Hub.

George Will Slams James Webb

George Will in the Washington Post on James Webb's lack of class: "Webb certainly has conveyed what he is: a boor. Never mind the patent disrespect for the presidency. Webb's more gross offense was calculated rudeness toward another human being -- one who, disregarding many hard things Webb had said about him during the campaign, asked a civil and caring question, as one parent to another...

"...he might consider this: In a republic, people decline to be led by leaders who are insufferably full of themselves."

Webb: Not Enough Class, Too Much Anger

Incoming Virginia Senator James Webb appears not have have even the slightest respect for the office of the Presidency, as evidenced by this exchange with President Bush, reported by The Washington Post via MSNBC:

"'How's your boy?'" Bush asked, referring to Webb's son, a Marine serving in Iraq.

"'I'd like to get them out of Iraq, Mr. President,' Webb responded, echoing a campaign theme.

"'That's not what I asked you,' Bush said. 'How's your boy?'

"'That's between me and my boy, Mr. President,' Webb said coldly..."

According to NRO's The Corner and NewsMax, Webb told someone this exchange made him so angry he wanted to "slug" the President.

It seems Senator Webb is not only graceless, he's got anger management problems. Just what we need in the United States Senate.

Marshals: Don't Give in to Political Correctness

A federal air marshal: "If [crew and passengers] are afraid of reporting suspicious individuals out of fear of being labeled a racist or bigot, then terrorists will certainly use those fears to their advantage in future aviation attacks... Instilling politically correct fears into the minds of airline passengers is nothing less than psychological terrorism."

I'm still waiting for some "moderate" Muslims to decry the imams' tactics and emphasize the importance of everyone cooperating and behaving in a responsible manner when traveling. Unfortunately, that's not likely to happen. I suspect that moderate or peace-loving Muslims are cowed by the radicals and terrorists and don't dare speak out.

According to the Washington Times, "The imams say they were removed from the Phoenix-bound flight because they were praying quietly in the concourse."

Gee, I've prayed quietly in an airline concourse on many occasions, and I'm sure I'm not the only one. Yet somehow I've managed to avoid being kicked off an airplane. It seems increasingly clear that the six men were up to no good and, indeed, intent on "psychological terrorism."

My husband is flying on business this week. I pray that other airlines will show the same good sense as U.S. Airways if there are further such incidents, and not be afraid of bad press...not only for my husband's sake, for the sake of every person who flies on an airplane.

As I wrote last week, there is simply no room for political correctness when it comes to dealing with potential terrorists.

Hastings Out as New Intelligence Chairman?

It looks as though incoming Speaker Nancy Pelosi has finally realized that she really can't put a former judge who was impeached and convicted in a bribery scandal in charge of the House Intelligence Committee.

Captain's Quarters has links and further info.

More Looney Judicial Legislation

A district judge has ruled our nation's paper currency discriminates against the blind because it's all the same size and the blind can't distinguish the differences, so the federal government has been ordered by the judge to make changes.

I can't believe I'm not making this up.

How did our country ever survive without judges to babysit us and decide such minutia? And how is it we have invested a single person, a judge, with the power to tell so many other people what to do?

New on DVD: Superman II (1980)

Today sees the release of several SUPERMAN DVDs, the most interesting of which are a new two-disc Special Edition of SUPERMAN II and SUPERMAN II: THE RICHARD DONNER CUT.

As described by the L.A. Times (see subject link), director Richard Donner, who had shot much of SUPERMAN II simultaneously with the original SUPERMAN (1978), was fired from the project before its completion. We now have the best of both worlds available: SUPERMAN II as it was originally released in theaters, and SUPERMAN II as Richard Donner originally envisioned it, including the restoration of Marlon Brando's scenes as Jor-El. Together these DVDs comprise a very interesting piece of film history.

Bill Hunt of The Digital Bits explains the differences between the two films in great detail in his review.

(Spoiler alert: it is impossible to explain the changes without going into significant plot detail; both the Times and the Hunt review contain many spoilers, if you would rather be surprised.)

The Director's Cut disc sounds fascinating. For instance, in order to include a scene between Clark and Lois which was never actually shot for the film, Donner edited together the sequence from Christopher Reeve and Margot Kidder's screen tests.

Donner told the L.A. Times: "Something was taken away from me and then I got a chance to go back and make it right, to make it the way I wanted it to be the first time around. How often does that happen in life? It's amazing."

I own the previous release of SUPERMAN: THE MOVIE. It had nice extras, including a commentary, so I don't plan to upgrade to the new four-disc Special Edition. Both new releases of SUPERMAN II, however, will soon be on our shelves.

Unbelievable

The Democrats are already indicating they're not going to be serious about national security.

Per Captain's Quarters: "The incoming chair of the House Homeland Security Committee, Bernie Thompson, has sent a letter to a major industrial uniform provider warning it not to terminate hundreds of employees who gave invalid Social Security numbers when hired."

Rep. Bennie Thompson's letter warned the employer, Cintas, not to fire its illegal employees, as this would be "potentially discriminatory action."

That's right, the real problem here is discrimination. The same thing that the suspicious Muslim imams are complaining about.

It seems that some on the left are going to work right along with terrorists and use a new weapon in the war on terror: threatening those who wish to take reasonable steps to protect our country with legal action.

Thompson also told Cintas it could be charged with "illegal activities in violation of state and federal law" if it fires those employees with illegal social security numbers.

Sometimes this is such a crazy Alice in Wonderland world I'm nearly speechless. The employees broke the law, and so when the employer discovers it and attempts to comply with U.S. law, it's the employer who is threatened with criminal charges?

Update: Paul Mirengoff at Power Line: "Alcee Hastings has lost his chance to run the House Intelligence Committee. But when it comes to sketchy, clueless liberals to run important congressional committees, the Democrats have a deep bench."

Radiation Poisoning: Terror Implications?

As the story has developed of the Russian spy who was poisoned with nuclear materials -- possibly via a spray -- the thing that keeps nagging at me is what does this mean in terms of future terrorism?

Someone got this material into England without detection.

What is stopping this from being used in the future as a weapon of mass destruction?

Taking the Oath of Office

A thought-provoking article by Dennis Prager, who says that Muslim Keith Ellison should not be allowed to take his oath of office as a U.S. Representative on the Koran.

Prager, a Jew, writes that America, not Ellison, decides how its representatives should take their oath, and that Ellison is undermining American civilization:

"...for all of American history, Jews elected to public office have taken their oath on the Bible, even though they do not believe in the New Testament, and the many secular elected officials have not believed in the Old Testament either... Nor has one Mormon official demanded to put his hand on the Book of Mormon. And it is hard to imagine a scientologist being allowed to take his oath of office on a copy of 'Dianetics' by L. Ron Hubbard."

Prager concludes: "Ellison's doing so will embolden Islamic extremists and make new ones, as Islamists, rightly or wrongly, see the first sign of the realization of their greatest goal -- the Islamicization of America.

"When all elected officials take their oaths of office with their hands on the very same book, they all affirm that some unifying value system underlies American civilization. If Keith Ellison is allowed to change that, he will be doing more damage to the unity of America and to the value system that has formed this country than the terrorists of 9-11. It is hard to believe that this is the legacy most Muslim Americans want to bequeath to America. But if it is, it is not only Europe that is in trouble."

I have to admit that when I first read recently about Ellison's plan for the oath, I didn't care for the idea but didn't think much more about it, assuming it was the norm for elected officials to choose how they swear the oath of office. Prager's article, putting Ellison's actions in historic context, gave me a lot to think about.

Particularly given how cowed Europe is becoming in dealing with Muslims, I think Prager is on to something. The Koran has become rather symbolic of a large group of people who wish to suppress everything America stands for, and peaceful Muslims aren't raising their voices to stop it.

In Ellison we have a man who rejects a unifying symbol, the Bible, previously accepted by those of all faiths for swearing their oaths, and instead demands his own way...while simultaneously agitating to undermine national security.

Hmmmm.

A postscript, Free Republic has an interesting thread developing discussing whether Prager is historically accurate.

The Imams: A "Security Probe"?

Tuesday's Washington Times: "Muslim religious leaders removed from a Minneapolis flight last week exhibited behavior associated with a security probe by terrorists and were not merely engaged in prayers, according to witnesses, police reports and aviation security officials."

The men did several things that in combination raised suspicions, including not sitting in their assigned seats and instead spreading throughout the cabin. It has been previously reported that the men were not obese but requested seat belt extensions. We now learn that a flight attendant says when the men received the extensions, they did not snap them into position, but placed them on the cabin floor.

A pilot is quoted as saying "Someone at US Airways made a notably good decision." I'll say. I'd be happy to fly with them in future given how seriously this crew took the odd behavior they witnessed.

Saturday Scott Johnson of Power Line wrote about the attempt by the imams and newly elected Minnesota Representative Keith Ellison, a Muslim, to scream "racism" in what might be a deliberate attempt to weaken security in future: "I'm afraid that it's time to scream bloody murder before the flying imams and their friends in high places turn the incident into the means by which citizens are disabled from taking reasonable action to defend themselves from apparent danger."

Christmas Music Revisited

'Tis the season for one of my favorite things...Christmas music!

I hope all my readers had a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend. As we begin to gear up for the Advent season, I thought I'd re-post links to my blogging of last December on Christmas music. There are many musical gems linked in these posts.

I started off last November 29th writing about one of my all-time favorite Christmas albums, THE GLORIOUS SOUND OF CHRISTMAS with Eugene Ormandy conducting the Philadelphia Orchestra (see subject link). If you own only a couple of Christmas albums, this should be one of them.

Bing Crosby was next on my list, and then Dean Martin. Links to what I consider to be their best Christmas albums are included in each post.

Amy Grant's wonderful albums were described December 10th, and I closed out the season on December 23rd with a post on some of last year's new additions to our collection, including CDs by LeAnn Rimes, Patty Loveless, Johnny Cash, and Bobby Darin.

Last December 26th I picked up a number of new titles in Tower Records' annual half-price Christmas music sale, which I'll be listening to for the first time over the next month. (Alas, there is not likely to be a Christmas sale this year, as Tower Records will soon shut its doors forever.) Among the new-to-me albums on my play list are Diana Krall, the Glenn Miller Orchestra, the Oak Ridge Boys, and the Trapp Family Singers -- an eclectic group!

I also recently picked up Dianne Reeves' Christmas album after hearing her sing in GOOD NIGHT, AND GOOD LUCK.

Enjoy a wonderful Advent and Christmas season!

Beat the Irish! Fight On!

I've never been a football fan -- baseball, NASCAR, and a little basketball are my sports interests -- but since my daughter is a freshman at USC, I've been learning quickly. Last week I learned the mysteries of a "safety." :)

I'm just back from dropping off our daughter, who has been home on Thanksgiving break, on campus for the game. There was a sea of cardinal red and gold swarming towards the Coliseum, with batches of green thrown in.

This blog has video of a neat USC tradition: after the third quarter Traveler, the white horse, appears, and the Trojan riding him points his sword at the Coliseum's Olympic torch, which blazes to life for the final quarter. Although it's hard to make out on the video, my daughter tells me the William Tell Overture is playing when this happens.

Some movie-related USC trivia: The Trojans' famous "Conquest" march was originally written by Alfred Newman for the 20th Century-Fox film CAPTAIN FROM CASTILE (1947). Newman was a USC alum; there is an Alfred Newman Recital Hall on the campus.

Captain Ed is at the big game, but unfortunately he's rooting for the wrong team.

The Irish Trojan is sure to have lots of coverage as the day goes on. He's even got a clock on his blog counting down the minutes until kickoff.

Fight on!

Update: Final score: USC Trojans 44, Notre Dame Fighting Irish 24.

Here's a link to the Conquest march posted by the Irish Trojan. It's a wonderful part of USC football lore, along with their other fight songs.

A photo gallery is here.

Musical Great Betty Comden Dies at 89

When I was 16 I was fortunate to see A PARTY WITH BETTY COMDEN AND ADOLPH GREEN. That experience was quite a thrill for someone who was a huge fan of MGM musicals.

Comden and Green, a creative team for over six decades, wrote the screenplays for two of the greatest musicals ever made, SINGIN' IN THE RAIN and THE BAND WAGON, and also worked on the film adaptation of their Broadway musical ON THE TOWN.

Some of their other MGM musical screenplay credits include GOOD NEWS, THE BARKLEYS OF BROADWAY, and IT'S ALWAYS FAIR WEATHER.

Adolph Green passed away in 2002.

Another obituary can be found at CBS.

Musical fans owe Comden and Green a great debt for many, many hours of wonderful entertainment.

Tonight's Movie: Cars (2006)

One of our traditions is that we gift the family with a new DVD on Thanksgiving, which we all sit down together to watch after dinner.

Tonight's movie was the Disney/Pixar animated film CARS (2006), which the rest of the family saw last summer but which was new to me.

I enjoyed it very much. As a NASCAR fan I got a particular kick out of the race sequences, including appearances by "Darrell Cartrip" and "Junior." 

I also loved the depiction of Route 66. The souvenir store in Radiator Springs was very much like the store we stopped in in Barstow on our way to the Grand Canyon a couple years ago! The concept of a world in which everything -- even bugs -- is some form of car was unique.

The film has an impressive voice cast, especially Paul Newman as Doc, the long-retired racing car. Did his role and performance remind anyone else a bit of Burt Lancaster in FIELD OF DREAMS (1989)?

Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, and Billy Crystal even recorded new "car-based" TOY STORY (1995) and MONSTERS, INC. (2001), sequences for the end credits tribute to John Ratzenberger, the only actor to have appeared in every Pixar film. Be sure not to skip the end credits when you watch. :)

CARS runs 116 minutes. It was directed by John Lasseter and Joe Ranft.

It's available on DVD.

If, like me, you are late to seeing CARS for the first time, I recommend it. A good time was had by all.

Update: Here's a review of CARS 3 (2017).

2026 Update: I reposted this review with a couple new images and comments after seeing a special 20th anniversary release.

"As God is My Witness, I Thought Turkeys Could Fly"

WKRP IN CINCINNATI isn't on DVD yet, largely due to expensive music rights issues, but thanks to YouTube you can watch highlights from the funniest Thanksgiving episode in television history.

Click at the subject link, and enjoy the funny trip down memory lane.

(Hat tip: Holy Coast.)

Strait Hallmark Christmas Album Goes Platinum

George Strait's new Hallmark Christmas album, FRESH CUT CHRISTMAS, went Platinum in just a week, despite being sold only at Hallmark stores.

As a Christmas music aficionado, I own many Hallmark Christmas albums, but this was the first one that I've purchased since 2001's Amy Grant/Vince Gill CD. Hallmark obviously made a choice this year which appealed to a great many people, myself included.

Strait's previous Christmas albums are MERRY CHRISTMAS, WHEREVER YOU ARE and MERRY CHRISTMAS STRAIT TO YOU. Both are very enjoyable.