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Crook County Health Officials Say He Was Bitten by Sick CatCrook County health officials said Monday they are investigating a probable case of human plague involving a man in his 50s who is being treated at a local hospital. Contacts with the individual have been notified and are receiving preventive antibiotics, officials said. The man reported contact with a sick cat in his neighborhood, they added. Crook County officials did not identify the man, citing patient confidentiality regulations, but a family member contacted NewsChannel 21, which then learned the Prineville-area man remained in critical condition Tuesday at St. Charles Medical...

A radical organization known as the Pacific Educational Group (PEG) is actively promoting Derrick Bell’s Critical Race Theory in public elementary and high schools nationwide, with an intense focus on what PEG calls “Systemic Racism.” With the approval of the Obama administration, and under the guise of closing achievement gaps between black and white students, PEG is promoting teaching methods that discourage “black and brown” students from conforming to an inherently “white” -- and therefore racist -- curriculum. PEG also encourages teachers to conform to the presumed cultural backgrounds of students, rather than focusing on norms of assessment and accountability....

It is difficult to find a simple review of Critical Race Theory, the mantra and thought-child of Professor Derrick Bell, because CRT is a scholarly theory usually discussed by academics who communicate using scholar-speak. The Breitbart release of the video showing then-student Barack Obama embracing Bell both philosophically and physically is the news item of the day. The question being debated is whether the content of this video is a political bombshell or a yawner. The only way to answer that particular question is to have a working understanding of Critical Race Theory. You have to know what Obama was...

So, what does CRT believe? In their primer, Critical Race Theory, Richard Delgado (one of the movement’s founders) and Jean Stefancic set out some basic principles: 1. “Racism is ordinary, not aberrational”; 2. “Our system of white-over-color ascendancy serves important purposes, both psychic and material.” When taken together, these principles have serious ramifications. First, they suggest that legal rules that stand for equal treatment under law – i.e. the 14th Amendment – can remedy “only the most blatant forms of discrimination.” The system is too corrupted, too based on the notion of white supremacy, for equal protection of the laws...

The back-and-forth between CNN’s Soledad O’Brien and Breitbart.com Chief Editor Joel Pollak continued on this morning’s Starting Point, as O’Brien sought to dispel misinformation about the late Professor Derrick Bell and Critical Race Theory, which have been the subject of smears by the Big sites. After a tough interview with O’Brien last week, Pollak’s Big sites went on a vengeful tirade against the CNN anchor, posting a flurry of articles seeking to discredit her, and promoting their warped vision of Prof. Bell. Last week, Breitbart.com released one of the “bombshell” videos that the late Andrew Breitbart promised at this years...

Via Dan Riehl and Ace, this almost too good to check. Go read Rebel Pundit’s post for an explanation, then skip to 2:00 below. (If you missed Ed’s post this morning, by all means watch the whole thing.) After sneering at Joel Pollak for supposedly mischaracterizing the discipline and then refusing to define it herself, she finally demonstrates her grasp of Critical Race Theory by uncorking a definition that’s curiously similar to … the opening of Wikipedia’s intro on CRT, replete with the noncolloquial use of “intersection” to describe an interdisciplinary study. Could be a coincidence — the definition she...

Whenever Fox News host Glenn Beck speaks critically of billionaire George Soros, someone accuses him of anti-Semitism. But when Soros uses similar imagery, those same viewers keep quiet. According to a post by Alana Goodman for Commentary magazine’s blog Contentions, the group Jewish Funds for Justice has refused to condemn Soros, after publicizing a public letter last month calling for Fox News to sanction Glenn Beck for making Holocaust references on his program. “The group told me that Soros’s comments were misinterpreted, and he did not, in fact, claim that Fox News was using Nazi tactics during his interview. Instead,...

President Obama yields to no one, bows his knee to nothing and when criticized, typically rebounds by sending detractors an undeniable communiqué. In fact, Obama oftentimes reacts to public disapproval by wresting control back from what cannot be controlled through defiant words or actions. According to Democrat pollster Doug Schoen, the upcoming midterm election is an obvious referendum on President Obama's abysmal job performance. The poll Schoen cites indicates "56 percent say [Obama] does not deserve to be re-elected." If accurate, Barack is about to receive a major pummeling at the ballot box, but plans to reestablish his supremacy by...

KABUL, Afghanistan (July 8) - ISAF forces concluded a small-scale, rapid-response aerial delivery test last week, validating a new way to get mission-critical supplies to Afghan and ISAF forces on the ground. The U.S. Third Marine Aircraft Wing (Forward) and 1st Marine Logistics Group (Forward) spent two weeks planning and evaluating the most effective way to get supplies on the ground safely when landing an aircraft is not practical. "We are exploiting a niche in aerial delivery tactics in order to resupply Marines under all conditions," said Maj. Sam Schoolfield. The Marines pushed more than 1,300 bottles of water bundled...

WASHINGTON, June 3, 2010 – As some 1,500 Afghan leaders participate in President Hamid Karzai’s peace council to discuss how to reconcile with insurgents, the commander of NATO’s Regional Command East said today he has seen increasing evidence that former fighters want to put down their arms and rejoin Afghan society. Army Maj. Gen. Curtis M. Scaparrotti, who also commands Combined Joint Task Force 82, said virtually all 14 provinces within his area of responsibility are experiencing a common phenomenon. Increasing numbers of Taliban fighters “have made contact and want to come back to their community,” he said. “And we’ve...

SACRAMENTO (CBS 5 / AP) ― Meg Whitman, the Republican front-runner in the California gubernatorial primary, said Tuesday that Arizona is taking the wrong approach to illegal immigration with its tough new law. The former eBay chief executive said there are more effective approaches than requiring law enforcement officers to question people about their status if they suspect they are in the country illegally. "I think there's just better ways to solve this problem," Whitman said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press. "I'm a big believer in, 'What are the two or three things that will make the...

BAGHDAD – U.S. Soldiers and Iraqi Security Forces conducted an exercise here at Contingency Operating Station Falcon, April 15, incorporating an array of techniques the ISF can utilize in future situations.The Soldiers, from 5th Squadron, 7th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Advise and Assist Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division, and members of the 2nd Iraqi Federal Police Division, demonstrated their ability to assault an objective, perform first aid, evacuate casualties by either air or ground and perform riot control procedures. "Today we had a capabilities exercise demonstration where we brought together all the partners from 2nd [FP]," said Maj. Michael Sullivan, operations officer...

WASHINGTON, April 2, 2010 – The massive amount of equipment and supplies being sent to support troops in Afghanistan is a historic logistical effort critical to mission success there, the Defense Department’s undersecretary for acquisition, technology and logistics said today. “I think it’s fair to say that there’s never been, like in these months that we’re witnessing right now, as dramatic a logistics effort as we see in Afghanistan,” Ashton B. Carter said during a conference on defense logistics modernization at The Center for Strategic and International Studies here. From the ramp up of airlifts, sealifts and ground supply lines,...

KIRKUK, Iraq, Dec. 11, 2009 – The U.S. military role remains critical to preserving gains made in Iraq and helping to prevent sectarian violence in the roll-up to Iraq’s national elections, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates told about 300 soldiers and airmen at a town hall session today at Forward Operating Base Warrior. “Whether you are just rotating in, or rotating out, you may have noticed that this theater has largely disappeared from the headlines,” Gates said, calling it the result of tremendous contributions U.S. servicemembers have made. “That doesn’t mean that this theater is not important,” Gates told the...

WASHINGTON, Nov. 19, 2009 – The director of a Muslim veterans organization said he welcomes Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates’ announcement today of a Pentagon probe into the attacks at Fort Hood, Texas, calling it a matter of national security. Qaseem Ali Uqdah, executive director of the American Muslim Armed Forces and Veterans Affairs Council, and a retired Marine gunnery sergeant, credits military leaders with establishing a climate that’s prevented any backlash against Muslims servicemembers since the Nov. 5 shooting. Gates announced a sweeping review today that will look into events leading up to the rampage that left 13 people...

CONDITION IS CRITICAL: LIBS August 18, 2009 WASHINGTON -- Liberal supporters of President Obama were up in arms yesterday over signs from the White House that it was ready to pull the plug on a key aspect of its health-reform plan -- creation of a government-run insurance program. "You really can't do health reform" without the so-called public option, said Howard Dean, former chairman of the Democratic National Committee and a medical doctor. In a statement that cited strong House support for a government-run plan, Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said, "A public option is the best option to lower costs,...

BAGHDAD — Maya road, the major access road just outside the Victory Base Complex (VBC) here, opened to traffic, Aug 1. For the past three months, the formerly pothole-plagued dirt path underwent a complete overhaul. It is now a smooth concrete means of travel for both military and Iraqi civilian traffic. One of the greatest achievements of this construction project is that it will now reduce the footprint of Coalition forces in line with the June 30 Security Agreement. "It is not only an easier means of travel, it also keeps military traffic out of the cities," said Capt. Steven...

WASHINGTON, June 25, 2009 – Active and reserve Army chaplains are playing a critical and strategic role in Iraq, a chaplain serving with Multinational Security Transition Command Iraq said this week. “Our troops are working tirelessly and selflessly to create a trusted and viable security force,” Army Chaplain (Maj.) William Steen said during a “DoDLive” bloggers roundtable June 23. “However, the work, family separation and the long hours all take their toll on our troops.” Steen discussed how the military is helping soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines cope with the physical, mental and emotional stress while deployed in Iraq. Chaplains...

WASHINGTON, June 19, 2009 – The next 18 months will be crucial in Afghanistan, the new commander of NATO and U.S. forces there said today. “I think that the next 18 months are probably a period in which this effort will be decided,” Army Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal told Tom Bowman in a National Public Radio interview. “I don't think it will be over. But I think that not only the American people, I think the Afghan people are looking and deciding which way this will go.” McChrystal took command of coalition and U.S. efforts in Afghanistan on June 15....

And now, again, we wait. This wait, though, is different. This time, Minnesota's U.S. Senate race is in the hands of five state Supreme Court justices. The state has grown uncomfortably accustomed to waiting in the nearly seven months since voters went to the polls. And voters, who have been represented by just one senator since January, still don't know for sure if Democrat Al Franken or Republican Norm Coleman will walk those hallowed Senate halls. But in a race that has lasted weeks past its expected expiration date, Monday was a big day.