How Fairfax County teaches young people about 9/11

The New Neo Posted on by

Don’t dare blame Islam!

Here’s the story:

A wealthy Washington, D.C., suburb’s public school district is advising teachers not to link 9/11 with radical Islam and to be sure to create “safe spaces” for Muslim students as the nation somberly marks the 25th anniversary of the terror attacks that killed nearly 3,000 Americans.

The guardrails in a six-page instructional guide, “25th Anniversary and Commemoration of 9/11” and distributed to teachers, has prompted critics to accuse Fairfax County (Virginia) Public School’s liberal leaders of coddling post-9/11 sensitivities rather than teaching history.

But of course. Some people did something.

That’s what education in blue areas has come to – and although blue states and counties and cities are the worst in that respect, the phenomenon is not limited to them.

A murder most foul in Austin

The New Neo Posted on by

Andrew Wimsatt, aged 62, was murdered in Austin, Texas, last Monday:

Wimsatt was sitting on a park bench at 10:55 a.m. Monday in the 2400 block of Chandler Creek Road when [Benedict Ogbodiegwu, 26] began attacking him with a knife about three minutes later, the document said.

Ogbodiegwu wrapped his left arm around Wimsatt, the affidavit said. It said Wimsatt tried to push him off but failed. Ogbodiegwu stabbed Wimsatt several times before Wimsatt fell to the ground, where Ogbodiegwu continued to stab him, according to the affidavit.

According to the document, Ogbodiegwu then put his knee on the victim’s chest and started sawing the knife across Wimsatt’s neck before running away toward the park’s pool area.

Winsatt never had a chance. By all accounts – and there are many, because Winsatt was known by many people online – the victim was “a gentle and generous soul.” For example, from David Burge (“Iowahawk”):

Andrew was a well respected civil engineer who worked in highway design and transportation research, a bit of a gentle avuncular Southern gentleman who was at the same time an afficionado of punk rock, pop surrealism art, and Midcentury Modern. He lived in Cambridge Towers, a 1965 landmark MCM condominium building near the Texas Capitol in Austin.

He was also a supporter of libertarian causes, particularly free speech on campus, and was a superfriend of @wethefifth and
@TheFIREorg. Supernice as they come, never an angry word about anyone, which makes this all the more incomprehensible.

Last time I saw Andrew was when my son played a show at the 29th Street Ballroom in Austin a few months ago. I didn’t even know he was aware of the kid, but apparently had previously ordered a few signed copies of his debut vinyl LP and was there to see him play live.

Hawkspawn, Mrs B, and I had a nice chat with him after the show. I called Hawkspawn to let him know and he, like me, was a bit shook by the news.

RIP and Godspeed, Busty.

What an outrageous and horrible and utterly cowardly deed. And yet of a type with which we’ve because all too familiar. RIP.

The suspect has a history of arrest for theft; see this. I’m sure the authorities know a great deal more about him, but so far no information has been released.

9/11: 25 years later

The New Neo Posted on by

What has happened since 9/11? Twenty-five years have happened.

It doesn’t seem possible. And yet I know it’s true. For me, 9/11 marked the beginning of a several-years-long process that led to the creation of this blog and a life I never had envisioned at the time. On 9/11 itself, the events were profoundly shocking and horrific, and I couldn’t even begin to understand them.

To go back to that day is to go back to a world that seems far more than twenty-five years distant – to another mindset, one with trouble imagining that the things we saw and heard that day were possible in anything but an action/horror movie. Now it all seems highly possible, perhaps even inevitable. But that’s only in retrospect.

I’ve watched many documentary videos recently about 9/11. I’ve watched many in the past, too. The stories are of heartbreaking tragedy and loss, of errors, of tremendous bravery, of inspiring survival, of selfless people helping people, of last loving words, of horror and evil. What does it all mean now to those too young to remember, too young to know a world where 9/11 hadn’t yet happened on a beautiful September day with a surpassingly clear blue sky? As with all history, the time will come when more and more people alive will not remember, and their views will be shaped by later events we cannot quite imagine.

I can’t speak for them. I can only speak for myself, and to a certain extent for my generation. For many of us, it was a watershed experience. Today is a solemn day and a solemn remembrance. RIP.

NOTE: Douglas Murray captures an interesting perspective here:

And here are links to some previous posts of mine about 9/11. I particularly call your attention to this post, which was part of my “change” series, as well as this one.

News roundup

The New Neo Posted on by

(1) Suddenly we see a host of doomsday warnings about AI. Is it real or is it orchestrated propaganda? Only AI knows.

The dangers posed by self-improving AI may be entirely real. So, too, however, are the enormous financial and political interests competing to shape the rules governing it. Before Congress hands a new federal agency the power to halt technological development, destroy “non-compliant” systems, and imprison their creators, lawmakers should determine whether this sudden chorus of doomsday warnings was orchestrated by those hoping to write the rules and secure seats at the regulatory table.

(2) Guess what? You’ll never guess; more ballot fraud.

In California:

James Brass, 47, of Victorville, was arrested today on a federal indictment charging him with paying people on Skid Row in downtown Los Angeles to sign petitions using stolen identities of registered voters to qualify initiatives on ballots in California elections.

Brass is expected to make his initial appearance this afternoon in United States District Court in Riverside.

Also charged in the two-count indictment are two petition circulators who worked for Brass: Courtney Price, 49, of Jacksonville, Florida, and Jateisha Herron, 33, of Boron, California.

(3) John Fetterman does a modified Zell Miller. Here’s how it happened:

Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., delivered a surprise video message at the GOP midterm convention Wednesday night, praising President Donald Trump and Republican Sen. Dave McCormick while rejecting what he described as the Democratic Party’s “extremes and socialism.”

“I’m a commonsense Democrat. I’m always going to stand with America,” Fetterman said. “I’m always going to reject the extremes and socialism and that anti-American way of life.”

Fetterman introduced McCormick, who is seeking re-election to the Senate, as “the kind of senator that gets the job done” and someone who will “fight for Pennsylvania.”

Standing in front of an iconic U.S. steel mill, Fetterman said he was proud to work with McCormick and Trump to defend Pennsylvania’s steel industry, which remains a central part of the state’s economic and political identity.

This is not only a breath of fresh air, but I don’t think it will hurt Fetterman (and may in fact help him) if and when he runs for re-election.

(4) There are many essays in recognition of the 25th anniversary of 9/11, which is tomorrow. I plan to write a few things tomorrow, but here are some things you might want to look at today:

By Michael Oren.

By Aayan Hirsi Ali

By Danielle Pletka.

(5) Iran is on the ropes.

But I’ll believe it when it happens.

I’m tired of propaganda on both sides

The New Neo Posted on by

Is there more of it on left versus right? Yes – if only because the left controls most of the press, the schools, and the entertainment world. But I find it just as annoying when it’s on the right, and what caught my eye recently was some on the right.

What I’m referring to is this tweet:

Here’s the accompanying photo:

The underlying premise of the tweet is correct: that women and “people of color” – unless they’re Asian or Jewish – have been favored over white men for decades in so many fields.

But as soon as I saw that photo I knew it featured a small portion of what is the much larger group of Harvard Medical School graduates. I became curious to see the entire group, and it turns out there were about 156 graduates this past year, and this is their photo:

I hope you are able to enlarge it enough to see the people in more detail. I certainly see plenty of white men. I didn’t do a count, but the little photo in the tweet is not representative of the class as a whole. However, in order to suspect that, you have to know that Harvard is a very big school.

This is hardly the worst offense of propagandists. Not at all. And you may think it’s okay to fight fire with fire, or that it’s even necessary to do so. I prefer the truth, if I can find it; most of the time it’s bad enough, and it has the advantage of being true.

One year ago today Charlie Kirk was assassinated

The New Neo Posted on by

And what a shock it was, and what a year it’s been.

Instead of uniting the right, it seems to have divided it. Perhaps Kirk was the glue holding it together, and his absence allowed divisive forces on the right (or forces pretending to be on the right) to come forward with the aim of splitting the right and gaining more power for themselves. Makes sense to me.

A sad event with a sad sequel.

RIP.

Another update on my ex

The New Neo Posted on by

The roller coaster ride continues.

I never liked roller coaster rides very much.

This morning the hospital called saying my ex had a big respiratory crisis and the doctor started asking me a bunch of end-of-life questions. I raced over to the hospital but by the time I arrived the crisis had abated, and he was back to merely being extremely sick.

So here I am, pecking this out on my cellphone. He is sleeping now, which is good, so I may try to crank out some posts and/or polish a draft. Forgive typos and errors- it’s much harder to proofread on a phone.

An update on my ex

The New Neo Posted on by

There’s still no predicting whether my ex-husband will survive or not, although in the past few days he seems to have stabilized and appears to be a bit better. Maybe even significantly better, although the doomy-gloomy “hospitalist” doesn’t deal in optimism. But my ex’s voice sounds stronger and he needs less supplemental oxygen, for example.

However, the insult to his lungs that occurred during the surgery was profound, and he’s not a young man and has several co-morbidities. The doctors and nurses and respiratory therapists make no long-term predictions.

A great many relatives have come to visit, which has been pleasant for him but exhausting. Now there’s a lull.

In order to protect his privacy, I’m not going to go into much medical detail. But I plan to post periodic updates. I deeply thank all of you for your good wishes and prayers.

News roundup

The New Neo Posted on by

(1) This:

U.S. Attorney Jeanine Ferris Pirro, together with major federal law enforcement and interagency partners, announced actions taken by the Department of Justice’s Scam Center Strike Force to secure America against Southeast Asian cryptocurrency-related fraud and scams. The Strike Force and the Department of the Treasury took coordinated actions against Xinbi Guarantee (“Xinbi”), an illicit marketplace for scam services, and the Strike Force deployed to Madagascar to assist in the taking down of 13 Chinese-run scam compounds.

Is there no end to the fraud?

(2) The left twists Trump’s words to make it sound like he falsely claimed he was pulled from the World Trade Center rubble on 9/11. When I saw the headline I knew it was fake. But I’m not their target. They know how to hit the mark with those who are receptive.

Here’s what I’m talking about:

And let me say this real quick because I’m already seeing liberals and media outlets clipping Trump’s speech today honoring 9/11 first responders and LYING that he said he was pulled from the rubble at the World Trade Center.

That’s NOT what he said.

He was talking about the U.S. Steel Building—and he specifically emphasized that. The building was creaking, they thought it was coming down, and two firefighters grabbed him and got him out of there.

Not the Twin Towers. Not the rubble.

Here’s the full clip and photos, since these little dumb influencers like @atrupar love chopping up his words and manufacturing another hoax. That’s all they’ve got.

(3) Why would the 9/11 families want Mamdani to address the assemblage on the 25th anniversary? They wouldn’t, for the most part:

New York City Council Member Vickie Paladino and the families plan to deliver a petition with over 100,000 signatures against Mamdani’s appearance before the Friday service.

Giovanni Galante, who lost his wife in the terrorist attack, organized the petition, which “asks that the sacred anniversary remain a solemn, distraction-free day of mourning rather than a backdrop for political presence.”

“We don’t believe in what he believes in, and we really want us to be left alone,” explained Galante. “This 25th anniversary is for victims and survivors to blend in and pray that day for all the families — not have a circus around us.”

(4) Socialists are riding high:

Radical activists and organizers from across the U.S. and around the world descended on Chicago over Labor Day weekend to attend the Socialism 2026 Conference. The four-day summit was touted as a “place for both seasoned radicals and new activists to sharpen analysis, hone strategy, and build community.” …

Despite the false bravado of Democratic leaders such as Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries who persist in peddling the fiction of the party’s “big tent,” [UC Santa Barbara professor Dr. Butch Ware] was very clear: “The Democrats cannot be reasoned with. They must be destroyed.”

The audience loved it. …

[Ware added]:

“Y’all ain’t dreamed big enough yet. And also, some of these clickety-clack revolutionaries have never been in a f***ing gunfight. But some of us that grew up in the hood know what guns are like. Outcasts said it best, ‘N****s ranting and raving about gas. N****, they made them gas. They got some sh** that’ll blow out our backs.

“You are ready for a war in the streets? No, you ain’t. Y’all ain’t nowhere near ready for a war in the streets. You better get ready for both kinds of war.”

To anyone who lived during the 1960s, this is a highly familiar type of Tough Guy in Academia.

Another speaker said, “But make no mistake: It’s capitalism we’re after.”

What does Bruce Ware teach at UCSB? Why, history of course, but of a particular type:

I am a historian of Africa and Islam. I earned my Ph.D. in 2004 at the University of Pennsylvania where I trained in African History, African-American History, and Islamic Intellectual History. My research spans the last thousand years, centering on West Africa, while reaching into the Mediterranean lands of Islam and the Atlantic worlds of the African Diaspora.

This is a course he teaches:

This course is an interdisciplinary exploration of the relationship between spirituality and radical social change, especially—though not exclusively—among people of color.

Californians pay their hard-earned taxes for this guy’s salary. He’s also a politician, apparently trying to be the baddest leftist in town:

Butch Ware (Green Party) ran for election for Governor of California. He lost as a write-in in the primary on June 2, 2026.

Ware ran for vice president on a ticket with presidential candidate Jill Stein (G) in the 2024 presidential election. Stein selected Ware as her running mate on August 16, 2024.

That flew under my radar screen.

More:

Ware was born in Washington, D.C., and grew up in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Makes sense. And apparently he converted to Islam at age 15 after reading Malcolm X’s autobiography.

(5) The Amazon plane crash seems to have involved a number of rule violations:

Key take aways:

1. Pilots had little experience on type.
2. Speed brake not deployed. This dumps lift and makes braking more effective.
3. Reversers not used.
4. A decision to go around was made whilst on runway.
5. Above decision was reversed and sealed their fate.

RIP.

The New Hampshire primary and the continuing saga of Jeanne Shaheen

The New Neo Posted on by

Democrat Senator Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire isn’t running for re-election this year. The Republican and the Democrat nominees in the fight to take her place were decided yesterday in New Hampshire’s rather tardy primary. They are ex-senator John Sununu (not to be confused with his father John Sununu or his brother Chris Sununu, each of whom have been Republican governors of the state) and current House member Chris Pappas.

So Shaheen (who also is an ex-governor of the state) is going to be retiring and replaced by one or the other. But she’s not to be outdone in the family dynasty sweepstakes: her daughter Stefany Shaheen won the Democratic primary for House District 1 in New Hampshire, which is the district Pappas currently represents.

Shaheen the Elder was in the news, however, and the subject was her profound ignorance and/or duplicity:

I’ve written about Shaheen before; see this 2021 post in which I explain why she gets my goat:

Those of you who aren’t from New England may be unaware of Senator Jeanne Shaheen, Democrat of New Hampshire. It’s an ignorance for which you are hereby wholly forgiven, because she usually presents as the most bland and boring of moderates and hardly ever makes the news.

But she is not moderate, and never has been in her entire Senate tenure, although her profile has been exceedingly low. Beneath that kindly and smiling grandmotherly exterior, she has never mounted an objection, as far as I know, to a single part of the extreme leftist program of the current Democratic Party, dutifully voting for all that they propose with nary a discouraging word.

Shaheen is basically a phony moderate of a type that has become standard in the Democrat Party. Pappas – her possible replacement – is no better.