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| Fifth Column |
| Msukegon Teachers Equate Home Schoolers With Terrorists |
| 2004-09-23 |
| Terrorists will strike a busload of students in the Whitehall area on Tuesday, killing more than a half-dozen and sending dozens more to hospitals. It's not a crystal ball that allows such a disaster to be foreseen. It's all in the plans -- disaster preparedness plans, that is. The disaster won't be real, but it will look real, and the participants -- including students, emergency room personnel and firefighters -- will act as if it's real. It looked read in the paper, too. Lots of fake blood. The exercise, one that is becoming familiar in the post 9/11 era, is part of attempts by emergency responders and Muskegon County school districts to prepare for the worst. The exercise, which will involve the aftermath of a supposed explosion on a school bus at 9:30 a.m. at Durham and Holton-Whitehall roads in Whitehall Township, is being funded by homeland security grants awarded to several area school districts and Muskegon County. Local school district transportation directors instigated the exercise because they wanted to test their abilities to respond to emergencies, said Tom Spoelman, transportation consultant for the Muskegon Area Intermediate School District. They eventually hooked up with Muskegon County Emergency Services, and planning for the event has been under way for about a year, Spoelman said. The exercise will test not only school transportation directors, but also the Muskegon County Emergency Operations Plan, which involves many agencies throughout the county. About 60 middle and high school students from Reeths-Puffer and Whitehall public schools will be part of the exercise, according to Kristin Tank, public information coordinator for the MAISD. Local law enforcement agencies, fire departments, human service agencies, transportation services and medical services will participate. Students from Muskegon Community College and Reeths-Puffer will assist in applying makeup to add to the reality of the gruesome scene. Between 200 and 300 people will observe the exercise, including school bus drivers, school administrators, emergency personnel and evaluators from agencies across the state who will provide feedback. This all sounds fine, right? We can all see from what has happened in Russia that a little bit of planning is a good thing. BUT WAIT FOR IT.... The exercise will simulate an attack by a fictitious radical group called Wackos Against Schools and Education who believe everyone should be homeschooled. Under the scenario, a bomb is placed on the bus and is detonated while the bus is traveling on Durham, causing the bus to land on its side and fill with smoke. The exercise will begin with the bus -- an out-of-service vehicle donated by Ravenna Public Schools -- on its side, having been placed there by Dale's 24 Hour Towing Service, which is donating its time and resources. Fire departments will respond and test their abilities to get at victims inside a mangled bus. WTF!!!??? Welcome my friends to the wonderful world of our LLL public schools. The Teachers Union has an important message for all you parents out there: it isn't Fundamentalist Muslims who are committing violent atrocities against children around the globe. Nope, its those vicious violent nutjob homeschooling fanatics who we have to look out for because.... uh, they're not properly socialized. Or something. From the National Education Association's post-Sept. 11 curriculum suggestions for teachers and parents: "Do not suggest that any group is responsible for terrorist attacks." Unless, I suppose, you can work an anti-homeschooling hate angle into the lesson. |
| Posted by:Secret Master |
| #8 SM, It's one reason the military sticks with Blue Force, Orange Force, etc. Yeah, you can read the scenario and figure out that Orange Nation is Iran, but it's so less politically stressful. BTW without the Internet would we have ever found about this idiocy? No, because in the minds of the Dan Rathers of the MSM, Homeschooler= Christian Nutjob= Taliban= Terrorist. |
| Posted by: Dreadnought 2004-09-24 1:27:36 PM |
| #7 SM - well said! |
| Posted by: 2B 2004-09-23 10:04:46 PM |
| #6 I sent Ms. Tank the following email: I was alarmed to see that the most recent exercise performed by your organization featured an imaginary group named Wackos Against Schools and Education, an organization of radical home schooling terrorists who, apparently, take time out from their already taxing schedules to murder other people's children. Setting aside for a moment the too blatantly obvious (if politically incorrect) fact that a majority of terrorist child-slaughtering in the world is committed by Fundamentalist Muslims, does your organization really feel comfortable targeting this particular group of parents with hate speech? I believe that if you and your agency take some time out to reflect diligently upon the controversies surrounding the public vs. home schooling question you might, in the future, refrain from using such inflammatory language when creating entirely imaginary terrorist organizations for your exercises. Thank you for your time. If you wish you may comment upon enclosed email at http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.asp?D=9/23/2004&ID=44046&HC=2, where the matter of your organization's unfortunate choice of words is currently being discussed. To be honest, at the moment it's being discussed all over the web. |
| Posted by: Secret Master 2004-09-23 6:31:52 PM |
| #5 How about Daniel Stout Get yo' ass out 'Cause we don't want to find Any more of your kind |
| Posted by: BigEd 2004-09-23 6:22:14 PM |
| #4 From Michelle's Malkin's entry on this subject: This is the clown who came up with this: From: Daniel Stout: (231) 724-6341 stoutda@co.muskegon.mi.us In the world today Homeland security is very a important issue. The training of our nation to respond to the many threats we face is of utmost importance. As part of a full scale homeland security exercise on September 21, 2004 in Muskegon, I wrote about a fictional group and fictional scenario for the exercise. This fictional group and scenario made reference to fictional people who are against schools. This fictional group and scenario was not meant to offend any home school students. It has nothing to do with any home school population. Home school students and former students are a very important part of our nation. This scenario will not be used again. Daniel Stout Muskegon County Emergency Services --- Here is a statement from the school district Statement from the MAISD Superintendent Michael H. Bozym, Ph.D. September 21, 2004 Contact: Kristin Tank, Public Information Coordinator, MAISD, (231) 767-7263 The Muskegon Area Intermediate School District (MAISD) shared the disappointment of others when we learned the September 21, 2004, emergency preparedness drill referenced home schoolers as the fictitious group responsible for a mock disaster. We apologize. The MAISD and local districts were not aware of the scenario, and it was not shared with students or parents who took part in the exercise. According to Dan Stout, Chief Deputy, Emergency Services of Muskegon County, this scenario was constructed in his office. A sample scenario as required in order to receive the necessary funding to stage the event. The Muskegon Area Intermediate School District and our local schools did not construct the scenario, but participated with other county agencies, hospitals, and emergency responders in conducting the drill. This exercise was meant to sharpen the skills and response time of our emergency services personnel, but was unfortunately clouded by the choice of this fictional group. We believe this exercise had everything to do with testing emergency response time and the protection of our children. It had nothing to do with the home school population. As educators, we believe that the first and most important teacher is the parent, whether in home schools, public schools, or non-public schools. We all work together to ensure a safe and secure environment for our children to live and grow. We sincerely regret offending home school educators. We believe that all parents are educators and do important work at home with their children. # # # Please forward all additional questions and comments to the Public Information Coordinator at the Muskegon Area Intermediate School District at ktank@remc4.k12.mi.us or (231) 767-7263. |
| Posted by: CrazyFool 2004-09-23 6:17:42 PM |
| #3 How about carrying recall petitions to the next school board meeting , and tell the members, YOU ARE OUT! Might be instructive! |
| Posted by: BigEd 2004-09-23 6:08:54 PM |
| #2 Lex: Why not go to the MAISD feedback website and share your thoughts with them care of Kristin Tank, their Public Information coordinator? I just did. http://www.muskegon-isd.k12.mi.us/feedback.htm |
| Posted by: Secret Master 2004-09-23 5:56:41 PM |
| #1 The exercise will simulate an attack by a fictitious radical group called Wackos Against Schools and Education who believe everyone should be homeschooled. Does one laugh or cry at this? Do the public schools still attract people with good brains and a fair grasp of reality? Who the f*** are these idiots? |
| Posted by: lex 2004-09-23 5:23:56 PM |