[by Dennis Prager]

If every school principal gave this speech at the beginning of the next school year, America would be a better place.

To the students and faculty of our high school:

I am your new principal, and honored to be so. There is no greater calling than to teach young people.

I would like to apprise you of some important changes coming to our school. I am making these changes because I am convinced that most of the ideas that have dominated public education in America have worked against you, against your teachers and against our country.

First, this school will no longer honor race or ethnicity. I could not care less if your racial makeup is black, brown, red, yellow or white. I could not care less if your origins are African, Latin American, Asian or European, or if your ancestors arrived here on the Mayflower or on slave ships.

The only identity I care about, the only one this school will recognize, is your individual identity — your character, your scholarship, your humanity. And the only national identity this school will care about is American. This is an American public school, and American public schools were created to make better Americans.

If you wish to affirm an ethnic, racial or religious identity through school, you will have to go elsewhere. We will end all ethnicity-, race- and non-American nationality-based celebrations. They undermine the motto of America, one of its three central values — e pluribus unum, “from many, one.” And this school will be guided by America’s values.

This includes all after-school clubs. I will not authorize clubs that divide students based on any identities. This includes race, language, religion, sexual orientation or whatever else may become in vogue in a society divided by political correctness.

Your clubs will be based on interests and passions, not blood, ethnic, racial or other physically defined ties. Those clubs just cultivate narcissism — an unhealthy preoccupation with the self — while the purpose of education is to get you to think beyond yourself. So we will have clubs that transport you to the wonders and glories of art, music, astronomy, languages you do not already speak, carpentry and more. If the only extracurricular activities you can imagine being interesting in are those based on ethnic, racial or sexual identity, that means that little outside of yourself really interests you.

Second, I am uninterested in whether English is your native language. My only interest in terms of language is that you leave this school speaking and writing English as fluently as possible. The English language has united America’s citizens for over 200 years, and it will unite us at this school. It is one of the indispensable reasons this country of immigrants has always come to be one country. And if you leave this school without excellent English language skills, I would be remiss in my duty to ensure that you will be prepared to successfully compete in the American job market. We will learn other languages here — it is deplorable that most Americans only speak English — but if you want classes taught in your native language rather than in English, this is not your school.

Third, because I regard learning as a sacred endeavor, everything in this school will reflect learning’s elevated status. This means, among other things, that you and your teachers will dress accordingly. Many people in our society dress more formally for Hollywood events than for church or school. These people have their priorities backward. Therefore, there will be a formal dress code at this school.

Fourth, no obscene language will be tolerated anywhere on this school’s property — whether in class, in the hallways or at athletic events. If you can’t speak without using the f-word, you can’t speak. By obscene language I mean the words banned by the Federal Communications Commission, plus epithets such as “Nigger,” even when used by one black student to address another black, or “bitch,” even when addressed by a girl to a girlfriend. It is my intent that by the time you leave this school, you will be among the few your age to instinctively distinguish between the elevated and the degraded, the holy and the obscene.

Fifth, we will end all self-esteem programs. In this school, self-esteem will be attained in only one way — the way people attained it until decided otherwise a generation ago — by earning it. One immediate consequence is that there will be one valedictorian, not eight.

Sixth, and last, I am reorienting the school toward academics and away from politics and propaganda. No more time will devoted to scaring you about smoking and caffeine, or terrifying you about sexual harassment or global warming. No more semesters will be devoted to condom wearing and teaching you to regard sexual relations as only or primarily a health issue. There will be no more attempts to convince you that you are a victim because you are not white, or not male, or not heterosexual or not Christian. We will have failed if any one of you graduates this school and does not consider him or herself inordinately lucky — to be alive and to be an American.

Now, please stand and join me in the Pledge of Allegiance to the flag of our country. As many of you do not know the words, your teachers will hand them out to you.

www.hydeparkbaseball.com

Comment: I am President of Hyde Park Babe Ruth Baseball/Softball. We attended the City Council meeting on 3/31 to show support for the proposal regarding the upgrade to the local little league facilities. Here are the my remarks I read to the city council at that meeting.

Good evening Mr. Mayor and Niagara Falls City Council. I’d like to thank you for this opportunity to speak on behalf of roughly 200 families in the city of Niagara Falls. My name is Jeff Cafarella and I am president of Hyde Park Babe Ruth. This is my first year as league president, but overall this is my 30th year involved in the league which consisted as a player, coach, manager & 13yr Board Member.

We are here tonight in support of councilman Choolokian’s proposal for the upgrade to the facilities at all local little leagues within the city. We are here in support of our youth and we are here to support change to a negative reputation this city has regarding things to do for children 4-18 years old.

The reason why we support this proposal is simple. We want our children to have a safe and modernized complex they can all be proud of. Not only will our local youth benefit from such improvements but so will our local economy.

Just this past month we we were asked by Babe Ruth State commissioners if Hyde Park would be interested in hosting a 12yr old State Tournament which would draw the top 8-12 Teams (in that age group) from all over NY STATE. Unfortunately because our complex cannot meet mandated requirements set forth by Babe Ruth Baseball we are unable to accept the invitation. The requirements we fail to meet are considered “Basic” necessities within the game of baseball. Those necessities are home run fences and the ability to have two games playing simultaneously within a close proximity. Even if we put up temporary fencing on one diamond, our next closet diamond does not have the proper distance needed to set up a 2nd temporary fence because it would interfere with the spectators on the first diamond.

If Hyde Park were able to host this tournament, there would be an influx of approximately 500 people coming to nf for up to four days. Our local hotels, restaurants & businesses could benefit from such tournaments.

Just a few short years ago, HP was famous for hosting our annual 4th of July Tournament. It consisted of 30 teams from all over WNY, Jamestown, leagues as far west as Ohio and even our neighbors to the north sent teams for the 4 day holiday weekend tournament. Unfortunately due to the worsening conditions of our grounds, the lack of those basic necessities mentioned before, the tournament has since faded away and now our friends at the Lewiston Baseball League have been the local organization where teams looks to come play because of their modernized complex and playing fields.

We understand people will question who will maintain these facilities after they have been built, but allow me to remind you that little league baseball survives on the hardworking volunteers that dedicate their own time to allow our youth to succeed in a safe & structured environment. The leagues would still maintain the shelters & diamond upkeep as well as everyday maintenance. There would be no NEW additional costs to the city following completion of the complexes.

When driving around the city you might notice some other sporting facilities which have been recently upgraded such as the new million dollar hockey arena, the creation of Legends Park and complete renovation to The Bocce Courts just a few years back. Those renovations were desperately needed and now provide the safe & modernized facilities that are needed in their respected sports. We are now here standing united asking you to provide the 3,000 children who participate in baseball/softball those same needed upgrades to their respective complexes.

Little league baseball has existed and provided a service to the youth of this city for over 50 years. It has survived while many false promises have come and gone into this city with verbal financial support from previous city leaders. With the cities latest financial gain, NOW is the time to financially support our youth for the next 50 years.

There is a new movement in all the local little leagues within the city and we are all working together to better the lives of all our children and to change the stereo type of little leaguers from Niagara Falls. Without these desperately needed renovations to our facilities, we’ll be fighting an uphill battle with spinning tires.

In closing, we are simply asking for safe diamonds which meet playing requirements, a shelter to serve as concession stand/field house with working bathrooms and if possible a lighted diamond to enhance the overall experience. To some it may seem like a lot to ask for, but for many in other local close cities & townships, this is the standard.

I stand here tonight asking you not to look at this as a financial investment, but as an investment in our youth for generations to come.

Finally, I will leave you with a quote that we are all familiar with…..If you build it, they will come.

[Submitted by Jeff Cafarella]

NIMCH

American Acronym: Not In My City Hall

People in Washington DC got together some time ago and produced a traffic gridlock, protesting and resisting city proposals to take away their properties to build roads to ease the traffic in and around their neighborhoods.

They mounted a campaign, NIMBY viz. Not In My Back Yard, much like former Council member Jimmie Stuart did when he resisted the truck route proposed to use the Whirlpool /Rapids Bridge, which would have congested the north town and left the area buzzing with lorries galore.

Well, since I spoke to the City Council on Tuesday Jan 21, 2014, I have had to wait a long time to present the information I acquired by requesting FOILs to back up my accusations, as I stated, “The corruption that exists between the Mayor’s Office and the Inspections’ Departments.” Bear with me and I shall present this information to you so you may determine the veracity of my claim.

I saw how Tom DeSantis reacted to what I spoke. It was very interesting.

First of all to speak out against public officials it is not easy, nor is there any pleasant emotional thrill to bring out the truth in these claims. However when considering the deceitful actions used by particular members of their departments and the Mayor, and their underhanded and continual criminal attempt to cover up illegal activity; that of actually ignoring an illegal rooming house to accommodate foreign student women, being deceitfully exploited by the Holiday Inn, is in the proverbial sense, unforgivable.

Besides these facts, an actual felony was committed in producing forged documents to a Niagara County Health Sanitarian on two occasions. The list of offenses does not stop there, they continue. And what of the uncovered illicit deals? We shall perhaps never learn of those deals that went on far behind the scenes in shady deals as have been so, so characteristic of former Niagara Falls administrations.

It is about time things change! Not change such as politicians speak of, i.e. political change, it is not expressly cared for in a Federal republic bound to checks and balances, but when most people think of checks and balances they think of their own check book and pine at how difficult it is to balance it!

Is it beneficial for our working people to be replaced by student workers? No. Is it beneficial to deny foreign students seeking a summer opportunity to visit the United States and partake of the program which has strict guidelines that mandate they be awarded an American Experience? Absolutely not!

Ms Sharon Hauser, General Manager of the Holiday Inn has been accommodating foreign students in Mr. Fisal Merani’s house at 154 Buffalo Ave, Niagara Falls, NY 14303 during the last three tourist seasons, 2011, 2012, and 2013.

According to department of State Guidelines, such students are to be protected by their sponsoring agencies who are supposed to help place them in suitable accommodations and preferably with American families to demonstrate American hospitable cultural values.

What a sad experience they learned here!

On at least three occasions I told the city council of the incident in the summer 2012 when eight foreign student women, four from Jamica, and four from the Eastern European Balkans were accommodated at Merani’s house. It was extremely fortunate for them when my sewer backed up whereupon I complained to the city inspections dept. about the Holiday Inn’s illegal boarding house. The inspectors came and what did they find?

They found that there was “ no sewer backup” which means the sewer line did not permit the flow of waste to the city sanitary sewer system. Instead of the toilet on the second floor flushed into the sewer line upstairs, discharging in between the walls, there it flowed, going down into the basement where it pooled. The maintenance workers had the cellar door locked so no one could get down the cellar stairs.

It was during this period when there was also an electrical fire in their stove. The girls, who were friendly with my son rushed over one evening, calling out frantically for help. Their electric stove was on fire. My son, having studied electronics discovered immediately that it was an electrical fire, whereupon he attempted to get to the fuse box in the basement to shut off the source of energy producing the fire.

Can you imagine what would have happened if he had run down the stairs into the basement? The hotel maintenance staff did however put out the fire, but, they never did call the fire department!

I read a letter from the Niagara County Health Dept. Director Scott Ecker which addressed to Ms Sharon Hauser. He stated the Holiday Inn, of which she is general manager was operating an illegal rooming house, Fisal Merani’s house. I read it before the new 2014 city council of which I consider to have, a majority of ONE.

Walker, Cholikian, Grandeniti, and Robinson all heard me speaking of these matters for years, and Paul Dyster, whom I informed personally of these matters twice, face to face in the summer of 2013, and face to face at Maple Ave School in 2011, all did… NOTHING!

By:

Gerald Skrlin

Caretaker Lavinia E. Porter House
Historic Museum
Niagara Falls, New York, USA

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“What’s your deal?” That question helped to spark one of the newest, most intense rivalries in sports. 

In 2009, USC was favored over Stanford by 23.  USC, a national powerhouse led by Pete Carroll, had no reason to circle this game on the calendar.  All indications pointed towards this being a sizable victory.  Jim Harbaugh, first year coach at Stanford, would do his best to make Carroll circle Stanford the next time around.   Despite the point spread, the disparity in ranking (Stanford # 64/ USC #4), USC was defeated 55-21.  Adding insult to injury, Harbaugh continued to pour it on with the game well at hand.  Stanford actually went for a two point conversion to reach 55.

The handshake between coaches at midfield was anything but cordial.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WeS3VeluAmg  Instantly, Stanford-USC became must see TV.  Carroll, however, would bolt the collegiate ranks and take the Seahawks head coaching position the following year.  USC would be crushed with violations, sanctions due to recruiting issues, specifically giving Reggie Bush too much stuff to hide.  Harbaugh stayed another year, building Stanford into a National contender while grooming prize quarterback Andrew Luck. San Francisco would coax the maniacal coach away from Stanford in 2011.  Harbaugh and Carroll were again interdivisional foes. 

Harbaugh’s immediate NFL success crushed the learning curve for first time NFL coaches.  GM’s began looking at their (3) year plans, (5) year plans and in Buffalo’s case (15) year plans differently.  GM’s started to want (1) year plans.  Who could blame them? 

San Francisco came within inches of winning last year’s Super Bowl.  Harbaugh had become a begrudging rock star.  His success had earned a lot of admiration and his antiques are subsequently swallowed as quirks.  Recently, his wardrobe made news in that he spends eight bucks on Dockers.

Harbaugh also brought the post game douchery to the NFL.  His sweeping handshake and back thumping of fellow meathead Jim Schwartz told everyone in the league: you better be on your toes when you come shake my hand. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uzfTC1XW_yQ  The 49ers finished year one under Harbaugh 13-3 (following a 6-10 season under knuckle-dragging Mike Singletary), they went to the NFC championship game and were a few Kyle Williams fumbles from advancing to the Super Bowl. 

Here’s the guy Harbaugh replaced… http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EB5-yJM3vJc  Harbaugh is tough, player friendly and progressive.  He’s unafraid to be contrary and has made a practice not to look back.  Perhaps his most difficult decision was to move on from Alex Smith to Colin Kaepernick.  Smith, fresh off taking the 49ers to the NFC championship lost his job after being concussed and sidelined.  Kaepernick filled in for Smith and when Alex became healthy, Harbaugh made the controversial decision to stay with the 2^nd year QB. 

Carroll on the other hand, was likely closer to unemployment than a rivalry with Harbaugh a few years into his deal.  His record was around .500 and his team seemed an oddly assembled collection of mediocrity.  Carroll’s saving grace? Russell Wilson in the third round, a slick trade for Marshawn Lynch and feeding his defensive unit massive amounts of PEDs (or as they are referred to by the Seahawks – “Adderrall.”) https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=14&cad=rja&ved=0CDYQFjADOAo&url=http%3A%2F%2Fen.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FList_of_players_and_coaches_suspended_by_the_NFL&ei=5mzZUuCCMJChsAT4kYDwDQ&usg=AFQjCNErr0tAFgs4xdv4C4-n8tTIaLP7rw&bvm=bv.59568121,d.cWc  Seattle quickly jettisoned to the NFC elite.  The two matches with the 49ers became must see TV. Carroll’s style differs from that of Harbaugh.  Carroll is more outgoing, media friendly and a little more Ra-Ra on the sideline.  Pete could easily be mistaken for a Hollywood director and is about as charismatic as they come. 

Carroll made an equally bold move at quarterback by inserting Wilson in the starting lineup over free agent acquisition, and guy who made more money off one good start than Rob Johnson, Matt Flynn.  Hindsight blinds us from the fact that in the moment, starting an undersized, untested rookie took a lot of courage from a coach already on the hot seat. 

The juxtaposition of personality style from the coaches has emboldened the rivalry.  Each teams respective fan bases are also at odds with one another.  There contentious relationship feels a bit like an eighties movie storyline.  Harbaugh, the lead with your chest out bully and Carroll the enthusiastic hipster make for a nice dichotomy.  Harbaugh is played in this scene by the “douche bag from Karate Kid 3”…while the spirit of Carroll is represented in (4) skiers loudly coming down the hill.  Harbaugh would not be a fan of ski-shenanigans on his mountain.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fOZR9SvKNuc

Seattle and San Fran have split regular season games over the past two years, with each team winning their home games.  Seattle however, has destroyed San Fran in two contests in Seattle by a combined 71-16.  This Sunday figures to be different given the trajectory of the teams since their last meeting.  San Fran has gotten hot and healthy; Seattle has won ugly of late and comes into the game without offensive weapon Percy Harvin. 

In my opinion, San Fran is the better team.  The home crowd which is typically worth 3 points by Las Vegas standards, is likely worth 4 in Seattle.  The stadium architecturally designed to keep the noise within, has twice seen the record for sound broken this season.   Members of media have been in unison about the advantage; there seems to be no way to simulate or prepare for the noise.  My inclination in this game leans towards the 49ers in a close game.