On Wednesday May 30, 2012 I woke to a hectic day with a lot to accomplish in a rather short period of time. I had a late morning flight to catch. We decided to attempt to look at houses on the way to the airport. We calculated we could get at least one viewing in before I had to make my flight. Our tight schedule seemed to open up when all appointments were made for later evenings. We got even more wiggle room when I received a phone call informing me that my flights were delayed due to weather outside of Dallas. Now we had some time to play with.
With now 155 minutes of surplus time in the budget, my lovely lady and I spent 45 minutes of quality time at her place then set out to have breakfast on the way to the airport. We thought we had enough time before I had to be at my gate and she had to be at work. My poor fiancee ended up with an even worse morning when she caught a nail in her tire after dropping me at the airport, making her end up late for work by 45 minutes. I made my delayed flight just barely, arriving at the gate 3 minutes prior to boarding.
For breakfast, I prefer IHoP to Denny's, especially if we're on a tight schedule. In my experience, the worst service I've had at an IHoP has been better than the best service I've had at any Denny's. That is until yesterday. Instead of going to the IHoP closest to her apartment, we chose one closer to the airport. You would assume that IHoP #1466 would be used to airport traffic and customers on a tight schedule. So, when we said we had a flight to catch, we expected to be expedited. We expected to be seated, at least, in the order we checked in. However, one couple that came in after us was seated prior to us.
There was no hostess or host. The manager was handling both the cashier station and the host station. You would think that, if busy, he'd accept help at one of those. No, he chased away the one motivated waiter who offered to help. The restaurant has three dining areas. Two of them were closed during this "rush" period. That alone was a very poor business call demonstrating this guy's ineptitude. He had a line of people wanting to pay and leave. I also saw no less than three empty tables in the one dining area that was open at any given time. Yet, nobody was being seated promptly. To top it off, this manager was more interested in gabbing on his personal smart-phone on personal calls than doing his job. He was not only failing to manage his staff, he was failing to do the other two functions he took upon himself. He was doing nothing efficiently or effectively.
That same manager lied to us. He informed us it would be 7-10 minutes to be seated. It took 40 minutes. After being seated, our orders were taken within 3 minutes. We knew what we wanted before we sat down. 30 minutes after we were seated and ordered, we were informed our orders had still not been sent to the kitchen due to some computer glitch. That manager should have been on top of situations such as these. Instead, he was taking personal phone calls, failing to seat people in a timely manner, and paying cursory attention to people attempting to pay their bills.
That same motivated young waiter had his tables taken care of. He was jumping in and trying to help out the rest of the staff, who were moving slow and making excuses. He jumped in and took our order straight to the kitchen and got it expedited. We weren't in his station. He would not get credited with any tip we left. He also still slipped in and sat people, still getting dirty looks and negative comments from the manager while doing so. He just wanted to do his job. This kid should be in charge of the place. I did slap a $5 in his hand and told him to keep his mouth shut so he wouldn't have to give the tip he earned to those who didn't earn it, such as our assigned waitress or that incompetent manager.
To see the place is failing due to poor management is easy for anybody with some small amount of business sense or leadership ability. Any private in the US Army would recognize it and do better. The staff, minus that one young man, was unmotivated. They did not care if orders were wrong or late. They didn't check on the patrons or take notice if a food order that should have taken no more than 10 minutes was still not ready 30 minutes later. They seemed more relieved that seats were empty despite a full waiting room. That doesn't make sense if you are counting on tips as part of your income. The poor allocation of resources with two empty dinning areas was also a glaring indicator.
The servers seemed to have only 3 tables each. Still, their attentiveness was severely lacking. One would think that three tables at a time would increase wait staff performance. However, they were lazy and not interested in doing their jobs. If each expanded to five or six tables and kept them full, the shift would have seen a nice morning for all involved. If the manager had been on his game and made sure the staff was working, this would have been the case.
Making the lack of leadership and management ability present during the shift worse was when one employee informed me that many quit recently. Those that quit were among the better staff, leaving the lazier, less motivated employees running the shop. There was a huge "Employment Opportunities -- Inquire Within" sign outside. If I were seeking employment and saw the way this place was managed/operating, I'd avoid applying there as well. A strict manager that helps me make money is better than one who counts on the one good employee on a shift to do more than he is being paid to do. The manager there even did the "union organizer" labor management task of telling that one good employee to not do the work that needed to be done.
We had to almost inhale our food (less than 5 minutes after it arrived) in order to have hopes of making our timeline. I made my flight, as stated, by 3 minutes. If it had not been for her flat tire, my fiancee would have been to work a little early, which she had hoped to do. Her favored dealership did take care of the car in a very quick manner, confirming her loyalty to good service. IHoP #1466 needs to take a few lessons from that Toyota dealership.
A note to my readers -- avoid IHoP #1466 in San Antonio, TX at near the US 281 and Anderson Loop (1604) interchange. The service is lousy. Until they change management and get the employees motivated or replaced, it has the lowest rating of any restaurant I have been to in the past 20 years. That includes the Denny's in Sierra Vista, AZ, which is proud of their low service rating.
How does this relate to socialist systems and bureaucracy?
Take a strong look. First you have a "manager" on a salary who will be paid regardless of how many customers get served. His job is to regulate production. He took on roles to further control that production by slowing that production and artificially creating an increased demand by not seating people in a timely manner. Now imagine that very same method applied to the healthcare industry such as the PPACA wishes to do.
Next, he restricted the capital employed from available resources, creating an artificial decrease in supply. This is the same thing the EPA is doing with domestic petroleum drilling and coal mining. The resources are there. However, the "manager" won't let them be used. It then appears there is a shortage of supply. Again, this is also a problem with "Obamacare". Yes, there are finite resources in the healthcare industry. However, they seek to restrict those resources even further, telling people to "make due" with less than they could actually afford.
The human capital decreased due to poor management. Why work if you aren't going to be allowed to make any money due to no tables being filled? Those who were willing to make those tips found the management to be counterproductive. Those who just wanted to do the minimum and collect the bare base hourly wage remained behind. These people are symbolic of those on government subsidies. Why do more when they get money for doing less (or nothing)? That's what happens when the government takes over private industries and lets unions run things, then dishes out subsidies to the unproductive. Only the bureaucrats and union organizers make the big bucks. It is counterproductive for actual workers to work. This adds to the artificial supply shortage by creating an actual shortage. The private citizens, the capitalists, cannot produce enough to make it worthwhile to operate.
To better explain this to those who failed economics, let's use the example of kite production. Let's say you make kites for local kids to fly. You open a business to make kites. Due to discounts on raw materials, the capital cost is $8 per kite. You can make 10 per hour and sell them at $10 each. that is $2 profit each, or $20 per hour that you spend making kites. Now, let's say you hire somebody to help you and pay them $0.75 per kite sold. They make 10 and hour, you make 10 an hour. You are now taking in $40 an hour and the employee is making $15 an hour (you are making $25). Now some union goon gets his government buddies to reduce your production to 8 per hour per person, and increases the minimum wage to $0.80 per kite sold. Supply is reduced to 16 per hour. The employee now makes $12.50 an hour, minus $2.50 an hour in union dues (netting $10.00 and hour before payroll taxes). You make $32 an hour gross, now netting $19.50. Both you and the employees are now earning less. Now add a $2 per kite "air usage tax" to the price, making the capital cost now $10 each. You are now operating at a loss. You try to raise the price by that $2 increase and the bureaucrats tell you that you cannot charge more than $11 per kite. You are now making $16 an hour, gross, $3.50 an hour net. It is cheaper, now, to get rid of the employee or just shut down the business. Of course, this is before the government instills an artificial shortage in the rattan you use for the kites, causing the costs to increase. Now you are paying money to have a business instead of making money. Would you still make those kites? Now what if the government bureaucrats mandated that you had to keep the business open?
Limiting what each worker is allowed to produce adds another artificial supply shortage. What happens when one capitalist tries to produce and improve the "system"? He is chastised for trying to do the right thing. He's interfering in the system that keeps the oligarchs content and the other workers "in their place" (with restricted productivity and wages down at just the mandated "handout" for "being on the clock").
Just apply all of this to Obamacare. Pay is going to be restricted. So why would health care professionals do more? What's the motivation? Those who are better and worth more will just quit and do something else. This will bring a shortage of healthcare workers. The taxes, regulatory fees, etc. will make it not worth the effort to provide care. They will collect their restricted paychecks for doing the bare minimums. Who will benefit? The government bureaucrats hired to regulate and monitor the "system" and the union thugs extorting dues from those who remain in the system. Who will suffer? Everybody who needs a doctor for anything from a physical exam to removal of a tumor before it becomes inoperable.
In the meantime, DineEquity, Inc. needs to fire the current management team at IHoP location #1466 in San Antonio, TX and promote that one young lad to a position closer to what he deserves.
Thursday, May 31, 2012
Tuesday, May 29, 2012
A Run At The Numbers
I am not a mathematician. I know how to read, digest, and make sense of numbers, values, and statistics. I understand the metrics. However, I leave the actual computations to those who have degrees in them, like a young man who blogs (and posts to Twitter) under the moniker "Political Math".
I won't post his video here, but I'll provide this link to a great video about spending, the national debt, and a family trip with the presidents.
That does not mean I am incapable of looking at numerical facts and statistics and knowing what meets the "common sense" rule.
Take the U3 numbers that came out for the month of April. They claimed that unemployment was down to 8.1%. First of all, 8.1% means that approximately one out every 12 people you know is unemployed. That is not great news. Great news is 1 in 20, a 5% rate. What makes that number look even more dismal is the fact that, at the same time the 8.1% unemployment rate came out, so did the workforce participation index. The workforce participation index measures how many people of age and capability are actively employed or actively seeking employment. That has dropped from roughly 67% to 63.6%. Prior to 2009, over 2/3 of those capable of working were in the workforce. Now, less than 2/3 of the population capable of working is bothering to try.
Another number that should raise eyebrows is that 43% of our population was on some form of government subsidy in 2008. Last October, when the Occupy Movement began their 99% rhetoric, 47% of the population received subsidies and did not pay income or capital gains taxes. Now, in 2012, that percentage of hand-out junkies is up to 49%.
Among that 49% are those whose 99 weeks of unemployment "insurance" expired. Many of them sought Social Security Disability "Insurance", gaining ratings allowing them to receive as much as $1111.10 a month in handouts for some form of disability. The most claimed disabilities have been severe anxiety and depression, supposedly so bad that people cannot work. Of course, the major cause has been the economy and being out of work for 99 weeks. The problem is, once in the system, it is almost impossible to get out of it. If those people decide to return to work once the economy returns, by law, they are restricted how many hours per week they can work and how much they can earn. So, their employment and production are limited by the government. I do not understand how or why somebody would be willing to let the government tell them how prosperous they are allowed to be. If you don't see this as socialism and counterproductive, you haven't been paying attention.
You take all of these dismal numbers since Obama's inauguration and add the following numbers:
U3 unemployed (what the mainstream media wants you to think): 12.55 MILLION
Real unemployment: 22.27 MILLION
What is with the 10 million difference? Those are the people whose 99 weeks of unemployment ran out and are not counted as "unemployed" despite not having a job.
As of the minute this article was written, US National Debt is over $15.745 TRILLION dollars.
Amount of the National Debt owed to other countries (not to US citizens): $5.14 TRILLION
$0.40 = amount of each dollar the US owes that it owes to China
The last two budgets proposed by President Obama received 0 votes in the Senate. The last one lost 99-0 against. Even his own party opposes his proposals.
Since congress has passed an annual budget: 1128 days. (The last budget was passed in 2008 for the FY09 Budget).
Those should scare every single American. The conservative-dominated house of representatives has passed budgets. They seem to fail in the socialist-dominated Senate. Most of those that seemed they could pass the Senate were shot down after a presidential threat to veto. This should lead one to wonder if Obama even wants a budget. Technically, you can't be overspending if you have no limits of a budget restricting that spending.
Now we have so-called financial analysts (on the left) claiming that Obama is the most thrifty president we have had in decades.
I'll let you stop laughing. To help you out, read the results of some fact-checking on the subject.
Here is the story, by my understanding. The stimulus was under the FY09 budget, technically signed by Bush even though the stimulus bill was signed and spent by Obama. According to some analysts, it falls under Bush's watch. Also, there were funds that Bush was not going to spend. Obama signed a bill releasing those funds that had been saved or cut and spent them. Bush had the bill on his desk and was going to pocket-veto it. Instead, Obama signed it. Then there were other funds that Bush was not going to release. He was hoping to save the government some money. Obama had his eyes on these funds from the National Park fund. So, as a courtesy, Bush released those funds so Obama could waste them upon coming into office. Yes, it was Obama who begged Bush to open those funds. The total amount of funding that Bush had saved or not spent that Obama turned around and wasted: $1.2 TRILLION.
Just think, had Bush said "no" and stuck to his guns, the National Debt would be $1.2T lower.
Our Current Gross Domestic Product is $14.6T. If Obama had not spent that $1.2T, the national debt would be $14.5T, a billion dollars lower than our GDP instead of $1.1T higher. Yes, our country owes more than it is making. Any high school student that passed the budgeting portion of Home Economics knows that is a BAD idea.
Now I hear Obama's speech on Hannity where he states that conservatives ran up the debt for him to clean up. The numbers indicate he is not just misleading with his rhetoric and some inaccurate numbers. He is lying.
If you recall that "common sense rule" I stated before and what the plain facts indicate it appears that Obama is trying to destroy our economy and spend us into oblivion. Anybody who wants 4 more years of that must hate our country, hate their kids, hate their parents, hate themselves, and just plain hate. Common sense should dictate that, despite your political leanings (pro-US Constitution or Pro-Communist Manifesto), we demand truth, accountability, and responsibility. We haven't had it from our government since Newt Gingrich was the Speaker of the House.
I won't post his video here, but I'll provide this link to a great video about spending, the national debt, and a family trip with the presidents.
That does not mean I am incapable of looking at numerical facts and statistics and knowing what meets the "common sense" rule.
Take the U3 numbers that came out for the month of April. They claimed that unemployment was down to 8.1%. First of all, 8.1% means that approximately one out every 12 people you know is unemployed. That is not great news. Great news is 1 in 20, a 5% rate. What makes that number look even more dismal is the fact that, at the same time the 8.1% unemployment rate came out, so did the workforce participation index. The workforce participation index measures how many people of age and capability are actively employed or actively seeking employment. That has dropped from roughly 67% to 63.6%. Prior to 2009, over 2/3 of those capable of working were in the workforce. Now, less than 2/3 of the population capable of working is bothering to try.
Another number that should raise eyebrows is that 43% of our population was on some form of government subsidy in 2008. Last October, when the Occupy Movement began their 99% rhetoric, 47% of the population received subsidies and did not pay income or capital gains taxes. Now, in 2012, that percentage of hand-out junkies is up to 49%.
Among that 49% are those whose 99 weeks of unemployment "insurance" expired. Many of them sought Social Security Disability "Insurance", gaining ratings allowing them to receive as much as $1111.10 a month in handouts for some form of disability. The most claimed disabilities have been severe anxiety and depression, supposedly so bad that people cannot work. Of course, the major cause has been the economy and being out of work for 99 weeks. The problem is, once in the system, it is almost impossible to get out of it. If those people decide to return to work once the economy returns, by law, they are restricted how many hours per week they can work and how much they can earn. So, their employment and production are limited by the government. I do not understand how or why somebody would be willing to let the government tell them how prosperous they are allowed to be. If you don't see this as socialism and counterproductive, you haven't been paying attention.
You take all of these dismal numbers since Obama's inauguration and add the following numbers:
U3 unemployed (what the mainstream media wants you to think): 12.55 MILLION
Real unemployment: 22.27 MILLION
What is with the 10 million difference? Those are the people whose 99 weeks of unemployment ran out and are not counted as "unemployed" despite not having a job.
As of the minute this article was written, US National Debt is over $15.745 TRILLION dollars.
Amount of the National Debt owed to other countries (not to US citizens): $5.14 TRILLION
$0.40 = amount of each dollar the US owes that it owes to China
The last two budgets proposed by President Obama received 0 votes in the Senate. The last one lost 99-0 against. Even his own party opposes his proposals.
Since congress has passed an annual budget: 1128 days. (The last budget was passed in 2008 for the FY09 Budget).
Those should scare every single American. The conservative-dominated house of representatives has passed budgets. They seem to fail in the socialist-dominated Senate. Most of those that seemed they could pass the Senate were shot down after a presidential threat to veto. This should lead one to wonder if Obama even wants a budget. Technically, you can't be overspending if you have no limits of a budget restricting that spending.
Now we have so-called financial analysts (on the left) claiming that Obama is the most thrifty president we have had in decades.
I'll let you stop laughing. To help you out, read the results of some fact-checking on the subject.
Here is the story, by my understanding. The stimulus was under the FY09 budget, technically signed by Bush even though the stimulus bill was signed and spent by Obama. According to some analysts, it falls under Bush's watch. Also, there were funds that Bush was not going to spend. Obama signed a bill releasing those funds that had been saved or cut and spent them. Bush had the bill on his desk and was going to pocket-veto it. Instead, Obama signed it. Then there were other funds that Bush was not going to release. He was hoping to save the government some money. Obama had his eyes on these funds from the National Park fund. So, as a courtesy, Bush released those funds so Obama could waste them upon coming into office. Yes, it was Obama who begged Bush to open those funds. The total amount of funding that Bush had saved or not spent that Obama turned around and wasted: $1.2 TRILLION.
Just think, had Bush said "no" and stuck to his guns, the National Debt would be $1.2T lower.
Our Current Gross Domestic Product is $14.6T. If Obama had not spent that $1.2T, the national debt would be $14.5T, a billion dollars lower than our GDP instead of $1.1T higher. Yes, our country owes more than it is making. Any high school student that passed the budgeting portion of Home Economics knows that is a BAD idea.
Now I hear Obama's speech on Hannity where he states that conservatives ran up the debt for him to clean up. The numbers indicate he is not just misleading with his rhetoric and some inaccurate numbers. He is lying.
If you recall that "common sense rule" I stated before and what the plain facts indicate it appears that Obama is trying to destroy our economy and spend us into oblivion. Anybody who wants 4 more years of that must hate our country, hate their kids, hate their parents, hate themselves, and just plain hate. Common sense should dictate that, despite your political leanings (pro-US Constitution or Pro-Communist Manifesto), we demand truth, accountability, and responsibility. We haven't had it from our government since Newt Gingrich was the Speaker of the House.
Friday, May 25, 2012
War Veterans Know The Meaning Of Memorial Day
This weekend normally signifies the unofficial start of the summer season. Many schools have completed their scholastic year or are enjoying their last long weekend before the year ends within the next week or two.
It's mid-spring and the weather is warmer and milder. Many people enjoy a three-day or four-day weekend, taking trips, holding outdoor parties, hitting the theme parks, and enjoying sales at Khol's, Walmart, Office Max, Sears, Famous Footwear, or Best Buy.
However, among many veterans such as myself, the day holds a much different meaning. the original purpose of the day invokes different desires in how we spend the day. Instead of beaches and theme parks, we flock to military cemeteries and war memorials. Those memorials are where the name for the holiday derives. While veterans' day is a day to honor those who served and/or are still serving in the forces that defend our great nation, the US Constitution, and our way of life; Memorial day is a day set aside to pay respects to our honored fallen. It is a day to thank those who made that ultimate sacrifice to preserve the ideals most of us hold so dear.
Since I retired, I have become more openly vocal about my conservative and libertarian ideals. Those morals were planted and took root under the careful upbringing my Marine Vietnam veteran father instilled. But they blossomed and came into their own, fully formed in my individual, free-thinking mind during my 24 years of military service. There is this great document we in military service give a sacred oath to support and defend against all enemies: The US Constitution. I find it rather irresponsible to take such an oath without knowing what we swear to support an defend. So, I have read that document at least once a week since 1987 when I first took that oath. Now, there are those in our country who work to destroy the very foundation of that document and attempt to dismiss the writings it was based upon: The Federalist Papers and the writings of philosophers Paine, Locke, Montesquieu, and Aristotle (among others). They prefer tyrannic oligarchies or totalitarian governments such as those depicted in Plato's Republic, Moore's Utopia, etc.
We, the war veterans, believe in the founding principles of the US Constitution so strongly that we were willing to fight for them. War is a last resort. However, once it comes to that last resort, it is necessary. Unfortunately, it means some end up paying that ultimate sacrifice. I have lost many friends and acquaintances in conflicts over the years. I have also lost heroes such as Shugart and Gordon, whom I wrote about in what has become my most read article.
My hair gets up when people speak ill of our heroes. That was the primary reason I refused to support Ron Paul, even more than his incompetence in international relations. During one of the debates, he referred to the wars as "useless" and "wasted". That means that those who fought did so in vain. That means that those who paid that ultimate sacrifice were "cheap lives" and "worthless". I find that unforgivable. My life is not worthless. The lives of my friends were not in vain. They were in defense of our country and our way of life. they were sacrificed for the greater good of overthrowing tyrants and kicking the wolf at the gates back into his den, then kicking it again. They were far from "useless" or "wasted".
I urge everybody to take an hour or two out from your revelry and visit a war memorial or a military cemetery. I urge you to say prayers for our fallen, their families, and our country they fought to the death to protect. Go lay a wreath, plant a flag, or put flowers on a grave. Write a blog or a poem. Show them they are not forgotten. Let the world know these brave men and women are appreciated and still loved.
In the process, read my earlier blogs about our fallen and the great men and women I knew. There were hundreds I knew. So here is a very, very short list to start:
Chris Seifert
Yari Mokri
Derek Dobogai
Schuyler Haynes
It's mid-spring and the weather is warmer and milder. Many people enjoy a three-day or four-day weekend, taking trips, holding outdoor parties, hitting the theme parks, and enjoying sales at Khol's, Walmart, Office Max, Sears, Famous Footwear, or Best Buy.
However, among many veterans such as myself, the day holds a much different meaning. the original purpose of the day invokes different desires in how we spend the day. Instead of beaches and theme parks, we flock to military cemeteries and war memorials. Those memorials are where the name for the holiday derives. While veterans' day is a day to honor those who served and/or are still serving in the forces that defend our great nation, the US Constitution, and our way of life; Memorial day is a day set aside to pay respects to our honored fallen. It is a day to thank those who made that ultimate sacrifice to preserve the ideals most of us hold so dear.
Since I retired, I have become more openly vocal about my conservative and libertarian ideals. Those morals were planted and took root under the careful upbringing my Marine Vietnam veteran father instilled. But they blossomed and came into their own, fully formed in my individual, free-thinking mind during my 24 years of military service. There is this great document we in military service give a sacred oath to support and defend against all enemies: The US Constitution. I find it rather irresponsible to take such an oath without knowing what we swear to support an defend. So, I have read that document at least once a week since 1987 when I first took that oath. Now, there are those in our country who work to destroy the very foundation of that document and attempt to dismiss the writings it was based upon: The Federalist Papers and the writings of philosophers Paine, Locke, Montesquieu, and Aristotle (among others). They prefer tyrannic oligarchies or totalitarian governments such as those depicted in Plato's Republic, Moore's Utopia, etc.
We, the war veterans, believe in the founding principles of the US Constitution so strongly that we were willing to fight for them. War is a last resort. However, once it comes to that last resort, it is necessary. Unfortunately, it means some end up paying that ultimate sacrifice. I have lost many friends and acquaintances in conflicts over the years. I have also lost heroes such as Shugart and Gordon, whom I wrote about in what has become my most read article.
My hair gets up when people speak ill of our heroes. That was the primary reason I refused to support Ron Paul, even more than his incompetence in international relations. During one of the debates, he referred to the wars as "useless" and "wasted". That means that those who fought did so in vain. That means that those who paid that ultimate sacrifice were "cheap lives" and "worthless". I find that unforgivable. My life is not worthless. The lives of my friends were not in vain. They were in defense of our country and our way of life. they were sacrificed for the greater good of overthrowing tyrants and kicking the wolf at the gates back into his den, then kicking it again. They were far from "useless" or "wasted".
I urge everybody to take an hour or two out from your revelry and visit a war memorial or a military cemetery. I urge you to say prayers for our fallen, their families, and our country they fought to the death to protect. Go lay a wreath, plant a flag, or put flowers on a grave. Write a blog or a poem. Show them they are not forgotten. Let the world know these brave men and women are appreciated and still loved.
In the process, read my earlier blogs about our fallen and the great men and women I knew. There were hundreds I knew. So here is a very, very short list to start:
Chris Seifert
Yari Mokri
Derek Dobogai
Schuyler Haynes
Convicted Speedway Bomber Now Attacking Conservatives
I was only 10 years old in 1978 when Brett Kimberlin engaged in his rein of terror on the town of Speedway, Indiana. However, as a kid growing up in Chicago, it was hard to avoid that news, even at such a young age. In 1978 he planted eight bombs around the town including one that severely maimed on man. The injuries dealt to that man were directly attributed as the main cause of his eventual suicide.
In addition to the bombings, Brett is also an alleged drug dealer, child molester, and forger. He has also been convicted of perjury. He is not a nice guy.
Brett Kimberlin was convicted to 50 years for his crimes.
He was paroled in 1994. By 1997, he was incarcerated, again, for parole violations stemming from his refusal to pay punitive damages to the widow of the man his bomb maimed.
Judging from the timing of his attacks in 1978 and his socialist-leaning ideology, should it be discovered that Brett Kimberlin idolized the Weather Underground terrorist such as Bill Ayers, it would come as no surprise.
Brett is currently involved in several fringe leftist groups including the 501(c)(3) organization called Velvet Revolution. The group supports many of the same ideologies (and actions) of left-wing domestic terrorists from the 1960s and 70s such as The Weather Underground.
Since 2010, Brett has resumed his attacks on legitimate government activities and conservatives. He now bombs the courts. He does not use explosive devices. Instead he floods the system with torts and law suits. He engages in questionable activities including contacting and allegedly threatening the spouses of conservative bloggers such as Stacy "RS" McCain and Aaron Worthing (AKA Aaron Walker). The attacks extend to Andrew Breitbart and several of the journalists who work for the deceased mogul's website, to include Patterico and Mandy Nagy. The antics, many of which are legally questionable, have led to Stacy McCain and his family to move from their home. Stacy has many blogs about his ordeal at the hands of Kimberlin and his cronies.
At a court case where Kimberlin was attempting the courts to compel the real identity of Aaron Worthing, Aaron Walker (who once blogged under the pseudonym) revealed his identity. After the court appearance, Kimberlin accosted Walker with his tablet computer, taking a picture as he shoved the tablet violently into Walker's face. Walker snagged the tablet from Kimberlin. Kimberlin then lied about the whole incident claiming Walker attacked him, punched him, shoved him, and had to be restrained by the police. Walker has the courthouse video which corroborates Walker's description of the events.
Kimberlin's tactics include harassing family members of outspoken conservatives, then filing harassment charges when the conservatives contact him to tell him to stop, as the law requires. He hits the courts with motions requesting SLAPP orders and libel suits against anybody who brings up his well-publicized past that is documented in public records. Kimberlin is well funded.Allegedly his NPOs are possibly receiving funding from such individuals as Barbara Streisand and Mr. "5 phase plan to take over the world" George Soros.
Over the past week, the internet has seen a deluge of articles and reports about Brett Kimberlin and his pals (Ron Brynaert, Brad Freidman, Neal Rauhauser, etc.) . Glen Beck's publication, The Blaze, is covering the stories, as is PJ Media. Even Michele Malkin has been moved to write about Kimberlin's activities. One of the most recent posts concerning Brett Kimberlin is a site for a fund established to defray legal costs for victims of Kimberlin's recent activities. If you support free speech and citizen-journalism that present news, facts, and commentary the mainstream media often ignore, you may want to donate a couple of dollars to the fund.
Brett Kimberlin is trying to silence us. It is not a stretch to suspect Kimberlin and Rauhauser to be behind the spam-block abuse on Twitter designed to suspend or revoke the Twitter Accounts of conservatives. Rauhauser and Charles Johnson are linked via Twitter. Johnson has bragged about getting the account of Chris Loesch, husband of Dana Loesch, and other conservatives' accounts suspended. Rauhauser runs a gang of individuals with banks of anonymous accounts called "the bean dogs" who harass and intimidate conservatives on Twitter for the sole purpose of inciting frustrated and aggravated individuals to over-react to the assaults thereby violate the TOS in defending themselves. In addition, three individuals identified by the Twitter handles of @Taunia_Adams, @NicoleGennette, and @stlactivisthub engage and berate conservatives to include Dana Loesch and Madeleine McAulay in an attempt to choose one of their supports as a target to spam-block abuse. Brett Kimberlin's possible involvement (or leadership) of these activities is worth investigating. If such a connection is found, it would unravel a socialist conspiracy to effectively eliminate the first amendment.
In addition to the bombings, Brett is also an alleged drug dealer, child molester, and forger. He has also been convicted of perjury. He is not a nice guy.
Brett Kimberlin was convicted to 50 years for his crimes.
He was paroled in 1994. By 1997, he was incarcerated, again, for parole violations stemming from his refusal to pay punitive damages to the widow of the man his bomb maimed.
Judging from the timing of his attacks in 1978 and his socialist-leaning ideology, should it be discovered that Brett Kimberlin idolized the Weather Underground terrorist such as Bill Ayers, it would come as no surprise.
Brett is currently involved in several fringe leftist groups including the 501(c)(3) organization called Velvet Revolution. The group supports many of the same ideologies (and actions) of left-wing domestic terrorists from the 1960s and 70s such as The Weather Underground.
Since 2010, Brett has resumed his attacks on legitimate government activities and conservatives. He now bombs the courts. He does not use explosive devices. Instead he floods the system with torts and law suits. He engages in questionable activities including contacting and allegedly threatening the spouses of conservative bloggers such as Stacy "RS" McCain and Aaron Worthing (AKA Aaron Walker). The attacks extend to Andrew Breitbart and several of the journalists who work for the deceased mogul's website, to include Patterico and Mandy Nagy. The antics, many of which are legally questionable, have led to Stacy McCain and his family to move from their home. Stacy has many blogs about his ordeal at the hands of Kimberlin and his cronies.
At a court case where Kimberlin was attempting the courts to compel the real identity of Aaron Worthing, Aaron Walker (who once blogged under the pseudonym) revealed his identity. After the court appearance, Kimberlin accosted Walker with his tablet computer, taking a picture as he shoved the tablet violently into Walker's face. Walker snagged the tablet from Kimberlin. Kimberlin then lied about the whole incident claiming Walker attacked him, punched him, shoved him, and had to be restrained by the police. Walker has the courthouse video which corroborates Walker's description of the events.
Kimberlin's tactics include harassing family members of outspoken conservatives, then filing harassment charges when the conservatives contact him to tell him to stop, as the law requires. He hits the courts with motions requesting SLAPP orders and libel suits against anybody who brings up his well-publicized past that is documented in public records. Kimberlin is well funded.Allegedly his NPOs are possibly receiving funding from such individuals as Barbara Streisand and Mr. "5 phase plan to take over the world" George Soros.
Over the past week, the internet has seen a deluge of articles and reports about Brett Kimberlin and his pals (Ron Brynaert, Brad Freidman, Neal Rauhauser, etc.) . Glen Beck's publication, The Blaze, is covering the stories, as is PJ Media. Even Michele Malkin has been moved to write about Kimberlin's activities. One of the most recent posts concerning Brett Kimberlin is a site for a fund established to defray legal costs for victims of Kimberlin's recent activities. If you support free speech and citizen-journalism that present news, facts, and commentary the mainstream media often ignore, you may want to donate a couple of dollars to the fund.
Brett Kimberlin is trying to silence us. It is not a stretch to suspect Kimberlin and Rauhauser to be behind the spam-block abuse on Twitter designed to suspend or revoke the Twitter Accounts of conservatives. Rauhauser and Charles Johnson are linked via Twitter. Johnson has bragged about getting the account of Chris Loesch, husband of Dana Loesch, and other conservatives' accounts suspended. Rauhauser runs a gang of individuals with banks of anonymous accounts called "the bean dogs" who harass and intimidate conservatives on Twitter for the sole purpose of inciting frustrated and aggravated individuals to over-react to the assaults thereby violate the TOS in defending themselves. In addition, three individuals identified by the Twitter handles of @Taunia_Adams, @NicoleGennette, and @stlactivisthub engage and berate conservatives to include Dana Loesch and Madeleine McAulay in an attempt to choose one of their supports as a target to spam-block abuse. Brett Kimberlin's possible involvement (or leadership) of these activities is worth investigating. If such a connection is found, it would unravel a socialist conspiracy to effectively eliminate the first amendment.
Wednesday, May 23, 2012
Public School Nurse Serves The Politburo Not The Kids
Day by day, the incidents seem to pile up around the country. In the past week you have the case of Hunter whose socialist indoctrination (social studies) teacher spent the past year berating any student who would not accept her views. Then we have the press release from the US DoHHS and US DoEd dictating that high schools demagogue the PPACA.
Let that one sink in for a second. They are pushing for Obama's banner "achievement" that supposedly reforms the health care industry by pigeon-holing it into a government-controlled system. Of course, this is because the socialist bureaucracies with their union stooges care so much about the people and our children, right?
They care so much that they will let your child suffocate in an asthma attack, at least if your child is in a government school in Deltona, FL. Michael Rudi, a student at Deltona Public High School, sat gasping for air in the hallway. The school confiscated his Albuterol last Friday because his mother's signature on some bureaucratic release form was out of date.
As Murphy's Law dictates, young Michael had an asthma attack. His confiscated inhaler was locked up in the school nurse's office. The nurse refused to give him the inhaler. The boy was on the ground gasping for breath and in a life-threatening state of distress. The nurse didn't render first aid. She didn't administer the life-saving medication from the inhaler. No, she called Michael's mother, Susan. The nurse stood by and watched and waited.
Imagine if this had been a diabetic going into insulin shock? If this were a child with an automated insulin injector, would they have confiscated that as well? Based upon their bureaucratic policies, yes. Perhaps the nurse would have made a different choice in that case, and chosen her oath as a medical professional over the poor policies of the school.
Excerpts from the Hippocratic Oath (emphasis mine) :
I'm not sure if the nurse ever took this oath. If she did, she violated it. To top it off, the school and the Volusia County Health Services Office are standing by the unethical and dangerous policies and inaction of the nurse, all over a bureaucratic batch of red tape and intrusive forms.
That's a government-run health care system. It is what happens when it is coupled by another government-run program at an indoctrination center (some call them "public schools"). Let's not even discuss the EPA getting involved with health care (or education). They want to ban medical inhalers altogether.
Let that one sink in for a second. They are pushing for Obama's banner "achievement" that supposedly reforms the health care industry by pigeon-holing it into a government-controlled system. Of course, this is because the socialist bureaucracies with their union stooges care so much about the people and our children, right?
They care so much that they will let your child suffocate in an asthma attack, at least if your child is in a government school in Deltona, FL. Michael Rudi, a student at Deltona Public High School, sat gasping for air in the hallway. The school confiscated his Albuterol last Friday because his mother's signature on some bureaucratic release form was out of date.
As Murphy's Law dictates, young Michael had an asthma attack. His confiscated inhaler was locked up in the school nurse's office. The nurse refused to give him the inhaler. The boy was on the ground gasping for breath and in a life-threatening state of distress. The nurse didn't render first aid. She didn't administer the life-saving medication from the inhaler. No, she called Michael's mother, Susan. The nurse stood by and watched and waited.
Imagine if this had been a diabetic going into insulin shock? If this were a child with an automated insulin injector, would they have confiscated that as well? Based upon their bureaucratic policies, yes. Perhaps the nurse would have made a different choice in that case, and chosen her oath as a medical professional over the poor policies of the school.
Excerpts from the Hippocratic Oath (emphasis mine) :
"I will apply, for the benefit of the sick, all measures [that] are required, avoiding those twin traps of over-treatment and therapeutic nihilism. I will remember that there is art to medicine as well as science, and that warmth, sympathy, and understanding may outweigh the surgeon's knife or the chemist's drug. I will not be ashamed to say "I know not," nor will I fail to call in my colleagues when the skills of another are needed for a patient's recovery. I will respect the privacy of my patients, for their problems are not disclosed to me that the world may know. Most especially must I tread with care in matters of life and death. If it is given me to save a life, all thanks. But it may also be within my power to take a life; this awesome responsibility must be faced with great humbleness and awareness of my own frailty. Above all, I must not play at God. I will remember that I do not treat a fever chart, a cancerous growth, but a sick human being, whose illness may affect the person's family and economic stability. My responsibility includes these related problems, if I am to care adequately for the sick."
I'm not sure if the nurse ever took this oath. If she did, she violated it. To top it off, the school and the Volusia County Health Services Office are standing by the unethical and dangerous policies and inaction of the nurse, all over a bureaucratic batch of red tape and intrusive forms.
That's a government-run health care system. It is what happens when it is coupled by another government-run program at an indoctrination center (some call them "public schools"). Let's not even discuss the EPA getting involved with health care (or education). They want to ban medical inhalers altogether.
Tuesday, May 22, 2012
Another Battle? (War vs. Indoctrination Update)
Yesterday, I published an article about the battle for our kid's minds, free wills, and abilities to think freely and make up their own minds.
It is clear that senior administrators in the so-called public education field are really just comprachicos directing the indoctrination of your children into socialism.
Ironically, yesterday, the US Department of Health & Human Services and the US Department of Education released a statement calling for High Schools to push the falsely named Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), which has been nicknamed "Obamacare". That is right. They directed that classes still in session push the "value" of the legislation and convince students it is a "good thing" without arming the students with the actual facts. I am willing to bet that none of those involved have even read the 2,801 page assault on our paychecks, liberty, and right to our own bodies.
In an official press release, Education Secretary Arne Duncan and Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius called for mention of the PPACA be added to commencement speeches. They offer "special banners" to be added to college websites. If this travesty is "so good", why do they feel the need to employ the "hard sell" tactics? Why do they omit the CBO reports and GAO reports that outline the costs? The answer is simple. They do not want these kids to know the truth. They want them to be mindless zombies falling into lockstep with Marxist and Marcuse-ian socialism.
This is the latest tax-funded (tax money wasted) propaganda campaign for the PPACA. Senator Ron Portman (R-OH) is still waiting for details on one $20M contract the HHS issued to a PR/Advertising firm to promote the largely disliked bill that most Americans want repealed.
Ben Shapiro at Breitbart.com makes a great point. What do good little indoctrinated, socialist zombies just graduating from high school do? Well, depending on the state, high school seniors and/or college freshman starting in the fall term will be over 18. So, they vote. In this case, they will be lied to and duped into voting for Obama because he pushed for Obamacare.
I think it's time to put these kids into summer classes at the school of reality. Tell them to try to find a job. If they have difficulty, remind them who's policies have led to over 3 years of over 8% unemployment (by the U3 scale, even higher by the U6 scale). Make them research the CBO and GAO reports. Tell them to get both sides of the issue and make up their own minds. And a great little exercise is to go to the Library of Congress site, use the THOMAS database, and read that 2,801 page set of shackles the socialists want to impose upon them.
It is clear that senior administrators in the so-called public education field are really just comprachicos directing the indoctrination of your children into socialism.
Ironically, yesterday, the US Department of Health & Human Services and the US Department of Education released a statement calling for High Schools to push the falsely named Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), which has been nicknamed "Obamacare". That is right. They directed that classes still in session push the "value" of the legislation and convince students it is a "good thing" without arming the students with the actual facts. I am willing to bet that none of those involved have even read the 2,801 page assault on our paychecks, liberty, and right to our own bodies.
In an official press release, Education Secretary Arne Duncan and Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius called for mention of the PPACA be added to commencement speeches. They offer "special banners" to be added to college websites. If this travesty is "so good", why do they feel the need to employ the "hard sell" tactics? Why do they omit the CBO reports and GAO reports that outline the costs? The answer is simple. They do not want these kids to know the truth. They want them to be mindless zombies falling into lockstep with Marxist and Marcuse-ian socialism.
This is the latest tax-funded (tax money wasted) propaganda campaign for the PPACA. Senator Ron Portman (R-OH) is still waiting for details on one $20M contract the HHS issued to a PR/Advertising firm to promote the largely disliked bill that most Americans want repealed.
Ben Shapiro at Breitbart.com makes a great point. What do good little indoctrinated, socialist zombies just graduating from high school do? Well, depending on the state, high school seniors and/or college freshman starting in the fall term will be over 18. So, they vote. In this case, they will be lied to and duped into voting for Obama because he pushed for Obamacare.
I think it's time to put these kids into summer classes at the school of reality. Tell them to try to find a job. If they have difficulty, remind them who's policies have led to over 3 years of over 8% unemployment (by the U3 scale, even higher by the U6 scale). Make them research the CBO and GAO reports. Tell them to get both sides of the issue and make up their own minds. And a great little exercise is to go to the Library of Congress site, use the THOMAS database, and read that 2,801 page set of shackles the socialists want to impose upon them.
Monday, May 21, 2012
The War On Indoctrination (Saving Your Kids)
This weekend, several new media sources released a video displaying one incident demonstrating the indoctrination occurring in the government school systems.
First, let's dissect this video. Some older conservatives have remarked that this sort of exchange would not have happened when they were in school. That is mostly true. Education theories have changed. In high schools, the theories called "The Adult Learning Models" are replacing traditional formats. In upperclassmen courses, this method can be very effective if done properly. However, this teacher obviously failed to learn the model. Why? The model hinges on the tenets of the Critical Thinking Model. That model is designed to encourage discussions among students as facilitated by the educator. It is designed to start from a foundation of facts, definitions, and understanding. From that foundation, the method uses Socratic Method and other facilitation methods to enable students to share other facts and assessments from their personal experiences and independent research in order to increase the exposure of all involved to subjects that are less cut and dry.
When the student asked a serious question that should have prompted such a discussion, the comprachico was offended that a student would ask a question that would provoke such thought. Why? It was a point of view, based upon facts, that she didn't agree with. She chose to ignore the facts and to lie to the students concerning the protections of the First Amendment. She turned it into a (poor) campaign speech in favor of her chosen candidate.
Allegedly, the student had a friend record that video (to get the audio) to demonstrate to his parents and the school administrators that the "teacher" was doing these sorts of things and was biased against students with conservative ideals. In a recent update, it has been announced that the teacher in question has been suspended. Parents have a say in their local public education systems. School administrators will try to tell you otherwise. The bottom-line fact is that these administrators and "teachers" work for you. They are paid by your tax dollars. They are your employees, not the union's and not the school board's. Don't be afraid to assert your authority over how your kids are taught.
This is the problem with CTM & ALM. Both theories (which work in conjunction) require base understanding of definitions and an ability to employ empirical data (facts) into the discussion of the problem. They both require an intimate knowledge of Bloom's Revised Taxonomy. For those uninitiated in the Taxonomy, it is simply a method of bringing competency on a subject from its foundation to mastery through a two-dimensional approach. Using the dimensions of Knowledge (from factual basis and definition to meta-cognitive knowledge "outside the box") and Cognitive Process (From remembering the foundation to understanding, applying, analyzing, evaluating, to the end goal of creating), the Taxonomy assists educators to determine the progress of a student and establish gateways towards that next step. Those ALM/CTM methods only work in the higher spectrum of those scales. If the foundations aren't first met, ALM & CTM are ineffective.
CTM and ALM are starting to be used in elementary schools. This is a violation of the Taxonomy as students are denied that basis. The first rule is that you cannot create your own definitions or facts. However, kids are taught to do so. The "facts" they are given are often teacher's personal opinions, key political talking points from the unions, or unverified statements.
Judging from the somewhat open-forum discussion these students, in the video, attempted to engage in; these kids must be accustomed to ALM style classes in this "social[ist] studies" class. The comprachico quickly switched to the base-level factual-remembering aspect of the spectrum. Why did she revert there? For one purpose only: to lie to the students and indoctrinate/re-educate them when they presented facts and questions that opposed her personal views. I guess that ALM and CTM are all fine only when the students obey like good little puppets, according to this (and many other) teachers in government schools.
Recently, I asked Amelia Hamilton a question for her weekly "Ask AmHam" column at Misfit Politics. I know Amelia. She is the author of a great children's book, One Nation Under God, that helps kids learn to count while learning facts about US Civics. On Twitter, she can be quite "snarky" like her compatriots at Misfit Politics. The question was actually my second submitted for her column. The first was "Why does Amelia hate me so much?". I already knew the answer, she doesn't. The second was on the subject of combating the indoctrination in the government school system. Her normally tongue-in-cheek responses took a pause as she answered that question. She summarized many of the same things I have discussed before.
The years from preschool through high school are the years to build our children's foundations and defenses against the onslaught of indoctrination they may face in college. A recent University of California study indicates that in some fields of study, the Frankfurt School Indoctrinators to Conservative Educators ratio is as high as 21 to 1.
How do we defend our children in this battle for their minds? As parents, we want our kids to learn morals, values, and basic definitions. We want them armed with facts so they can go forward and be independent, free-thinking adults. Comprachicos will tell parents we are stupid and that they know better. That is not true. However, teachers and administrators will tell your kids this. So, we have to be prepared to take an active role in our kids' education. we have to start at birth and continue through high school.
So, what weapons do we have available in this war?
Several states now have programs and laws to assist. Indiana has a great voucher program. Parents get tax rebates if they send their kids to private schools. They also encourage P3 education programs (charter schools). Indiana goes anther step for home-schooled kids or kids that work and achieve ahead of their peers. If your child completes high school early, the state of Indiana will pay those taxes that would have gone to your child's remaining years in high school and add them towards tuition at a state university.
Georgia just expanded their charter school program. Given the dismal performance of many of their public schools, they enhanced the charter program. That has a two-fold effect on the state's education programs. First, it gives parents an affordable alternative to government indoctrination centers. It rewards the more successful charter schools with continued contracts, etc. So the schools have an incentive to do better than the public schools. They also, then present competition to the public schools, giving them a reason to improve.
Arizona just passed a new law (AZ HB 2622). There was a pilot program called "Education Savings Accounts" tested in the state. The success met with a bill signed by Governor Brewer on May 14, 2012. The law won't go into full effect until the 2013-14 school year. But it opens up these ESAs to "disadvantaged children". The original plan, currently in place for 150 families, included only "special needs" children. It has now been expanded to include children in schools that have poor performance ratings from the state, military children, adopted children, and children in foster care programs.
Arizona's new law was proposed by the Goldwater Institute in 2005 and sponsored by Rep. Debbie Lesko (R-Glendale). Since the pilot program in Arizona went into effect in 2011, Utah, Florida, and Iowa have enacted similar legislation.
1) Private Schools. With these, the parents can choose a school that fits their desires, goals, and needs. If the school fails to deliver, you fire them. (You go someplace else).
2) Charter Schools. These are great P3 (private-public-partnership) programs. Again, if you don't like their methods or what they tell your kids, you can fire them. (You go someplace else).
3) Employ tutors. Yes, there are several companies out there that offer tutors for just about any subject you desire. You get to interview them and pick one that will fill in those gaps in your kids' learning that the schools fail to fill. these are far more cost-effective than a private school.
4) Home-school. I know several home-school students. Talking with parents, this option does not require parents to have advanced degrees in anything. What it requires is the parents to buy textbooks (they choose) and read them ahead of the students. There are several online programs that assist, provide sample tests, and contain sample curricula for parents. The great part about homeschooling is that it moves at your child's pace. So, your child is not reigned-in by the slower students in a class. On the flip side, your kids are not passed by on a subject they just don't understand. Most home-schooled students are actually ahead of government school students of similar age and demographics. It is proven to work. How much of the parents' time does it require? From those I have spoken with, the average is about four hours a day of active "class time". However, routine household activities such as playtime, shopping, or cooking can easily segue into alternative teaching methods. (Think of the fractions used in cooking! The math in shopping and keeping to a budget! and basic lessons in inertia in playing with matchbox cars!). If you want examples of home-school success: Abraham Lincoln, Timothy Tebow, Madeleine McAulay.
Several states now have programs and laws to assist. Indiana has a great voucher program. Parents get tax rebates if they send their kids to private schools. They also encourage P3 education programs (charter schools). Indiana goes anther step for home-schooled kids or kids that work and achieve ahead of their peers. If your child completes high school early, the state of Indiana will pay those taxes that would have gone to your child's remaining years in high school and add them towards tuition at a state university.
Georgia just expanded their charter school program. Given the dismal performance of many of their public schools, they enhanced the charter program. That has a two-fold effect on the state's education programs. First, it gives parents an affordable alternative to government indoctrination centers. It rewards the more successful charter schools with continued contracts, etc. So the schools have an incentive to do better than the public schools. They also, then present competition to the public schools, giving them a reason to improve.
Arizona just passed a new law (AZ HB 2622). There was a pilot program called "Education Savings Accounts" tested in the state. The success met with a bill signed by Governor Brewer on May 14, 2012. The law won't go into full effect until the 2013-14 school year. But it opens up these ESAs to "disadvantaged children". The original plan, currently in place for 150 families, included only "special needs" children. It has now been expanded to include children in schools that have poor performance ratings from the state, military children, adopted children, and children in foster care programs.
Arizona's new law was proposed by the Goldwater Institute in 2005 and sponsored by Rep. Debbie Lesko (R-Glendale). Since the pilot program in Arizona went into effect in 2011, Utah, Florida, and Iowa have enacted similar legislation. Read the Goldwater Institute's Press Release for more information.
Real-life demands sometimes make the above options not viable. If both parents need to work 8-10 hours a day outside the home to make ends meet, home-schooling may not be a good option. In the struggling economy, tutors or private schools may not be an option. there may not be a charter school program where you live. So, what now?
Take two hours a day and five hours a weekend and devote it to your kids. That concept may seem alien to some parents. they may say "I spend two hours screaming at my kid each day. I don't have time to tutor them on top of that!". Screaming matches and disciplining your kids will not go away. However, your kids want to spend time with you. They want to show off and make you proud. Take advantage of that. Look at their schoolwork. Review their homework. Read their textbooks. That is the start.
Next, you need to see what your child is not learning. Textbooks are not the end. They are summaries. Some of them are poor summaries, especially if a history book written by H. Zinn. So, now it is time to get a great little card called a library card. Go to the library and assign your kid books on those subjects. Pick two types of subjects. First, pick the ones your child does well on in school and is proud of. Encourage them to further pursue those subjects. the second set are those your child is doing poor on. I will make one little caution on this. If your kids did well on a history exam and you do some simple Google fact-checking and find out if your kids were taught the facts you find important. The teacher may be failing your child or lying to her (or him).
Quiz your kids on what they learned. Do this while they tell you about what they learned in school that day. Take that hour to review their homework. Take an hour to go beyond the school's curricula. That hour can be "reading hour". It can be "let's analyze the news" hour. It can be "let's take this recipe for 4 and make it for 3" hour. You can ask them to write a paper explaining things to you after they read a book outside of the textbook. (This makes you seem cool because it sounds like they know more. Who knows, on that subject, you may learn something!).
Three books you should invest in, however, are a good dictionary, like Websters II New College Dictionary, Hardbound, a good thesaurus, and a grammar guide. The reasons are simple. Knowing something is fine and dandy. If your kid doesn't learn how to express that knowledge or those thoughts in a coherent manner, it is worthless. The rules for expressing understanding, knowledge, and ideas are the laws of grammar. Words have specific meanings. Spelling is important. of note, my step-daughter came home with a spelling test. She got one wrong on it. The teacher wrote in the "correction". Using a dictionary as proof, I demonstrated that the teacher was incorrect and also misspelled the word in her "correction".
As far as alternate methods go, for example, I will bet your kid is curious how fast they can run, bike, roller skate, etc. Teach them basic physics. V(elocity) = D(istance) / T(ime) expressed as a vector (direction). So, time them from a measured start line to finish line. Then teach them how to take that measured distance and divide it by time (from a stopwatch). Teach them how to convert that into miles / hour (mph). You can then teach them how acceleration is change in velocity (speed and/or direction) by doing split times along the course. Then teach them to compare those to a speeds of other things. If you want to get fancy, you can look up friction coefficients and factor in the forces of gravity, etc, and turn that into a lesson on calculating "work".
In any way, shape, or form, your kids love three things: making you proud of them (showing off), spending time with you, and learning things they find "fun". When these things are lacking, they migrate and become entrenched in things such as video games, television, and mischief. Who do you want to raise your kids and show them what love and success look like: Street Fighter IV On a PS3, "Jersey Shore", Unionized Puppet-masters (government "educators") or YOU?
First, let's dissect this video. Some older conservatives have remarked that this sort of exchange would not have happened when they were in school. That is mostly true. Education theories have changed. In high schools, the theories called "The Adult Learning Models" are replacing traditional formats. In upperclassmen courses, this method can be very effective if done properly. However, this teacher obviously failed to learn the model. Why? The model hinges on the tenets of the Critical Thinking Model. That model is designed to encourage discussions among students as facilitated by the educator. It is designed to start from a foundation of facts, definitions, and understanding. From that foundation, the method uses Socratic Method and other facilitation methods to enable students to share other facts and assessments from their personal experiences and independent research in order to increase the exposure of all involved to subjects that are less cut and dry.
When the student asked a serious question that should have prompted such a discussion, the comprachico was offended that a student would ask a question that would provoke such thought. Why? It was a point of view, based upon facts, that she didn't agree with. She chose to ignore the facts and to lie to the students concerning the protections of the First Amendment. She turned it into a (poor) campaign speech in favor of her chosen candidate.
Allegedly, the student had a friend record that video (to get the audio) to demonstrate to his parents and the school administrators that the "teacher" was doing these sorts of things and was biased against students with conservative ideals. In a recent update, it has been announced that the teacher in question has been suspended. Parents have a say in their local public education systems. School administrators will try to tell you otherwise. The bottom-line fact is that these administrators and "teachers" work for you. They are paid by your tax dollars. They are your employees, not the union's and not the school board's. Don't be afraid to assert your authority over how your kids are taught.
This is the problem with CTM & ALM. Both theories (which work in conjunction) require base understanding of definitions and an ability to employ empirical data (facts) into the discussion of the problem. They both require an intimate knowledge of Bloom's Revised Taxonomy. For those uninitiated in the Taxonomy, it is simply a method of bringing competency on a subject from its foundation to mastery through a two-dimensional approach. Using the dimensions of Knowledge (from factual basis and definition to meta-cognitive knowledge "outside the box") and Cognitive Process (From remembering the foundation to understanding, applying, analyzing, evaluating, to the end goal of creating), the Taxonomy assists educators to determine the progress of a student and establish gateways towards that next step. Those ALM/CTM methods only work in the higher spectrum of those scales. If the foundations aren't first met, ALM & CTM are ineffective.
CTM and ALM are starting to be used in elementary schools. This is a violation of the Taxonomy as students are denied that basis. The first rule is that you cannot create your own definitions or facts. However, kids are taught to do so. The "facts" they are given are often teacher's personal opinions, key political talking points from the unions, or unverified statements.
Judging from the somewhat open-forum discussion these students, in the video, attempted to engage in; these kids must be accustomed to ALM style classes in this "social[ist] studies" class. The comprachico quickly switched to the base-level factual-remembering aspect of the spectrum. Why did she revert there? For one purpose only: to lie to the students and indoctrinate/re-educate them when they presented facts and questions that opposed her personal views. I guess that ALM and CTM are all fine only when the students obey like good little puppets, according to this (and many other) teachers in government schools.
Recently, I asked Amelia Hamilton a question for her weekly "Ask AmHam" column at Misfit Politics. I know Amelia. She is the author of a great children's book, One Nation Under God, that helps kids learn to count while learning facts about US Civics. On Twitter, she can be quite "snarky" like her compatriots at Misfit Politics. The question was actually my second submitted for her column. The first was "Why does Amelia hate me so much?". I already knew the answer, she doesn't. The second was on the subject of combating the indoctrination in the government school system. Her normally tongue-in-cheek responses took a pause as she answered that question. She summarized many of the same things I have discussed before.
The years from preschool through high school are the years to build our children's foundations and defenses against the onslaught of indoctrination they may face in college. A recent University of California study indicates that in some fields of study, the Frankfurt School Indoctrinators to Conservative Educators ratio is as high as 21 to 1.
How do we defend our children in this battle for their minds? As parents, we want our kids to learn morals, values, and basic definitions. We want them armed with facts so they can go forward and be independent, free-thinking adults. Comprachicos will tell parents we are stupid and that they know better. That is not true. However, teachers and administrators will tell your kids this. So, we have to be prepared to take an active role in our kids' education. we have to start at birth and continue through high school.
So, what weapons do we have available in this war?
Several states now have programs and laws to assist. Indiana has a great voucher program. Parents get tax rebates if they send their kids to private schools. They also encourage P3 education programs (charter schools). Indiana goes anther step for home-schooled kids or kids that work and achieve ahead of their peers. If your child completes high school early, the state of Indiana will pay those taxes that would have gone to your child's remaining years in high school and add them towards tuition at a state university.
Georgia just expanded their charter school program. Given the dismal performance of many of their public schools, they enhanced the charter program. That has a two-fold effect on the state's education programs. First, it gives parents an affordable alternative to government indoctrination centers. It rewards the more successful charter schools with continued contracts, etc. So the schools have an incentive to do better than the public schools. They also, then present competition to the public schools, giving them a reason to improve.
Arizona just passed a new law (AZ HB 2622). There was a pilot program called "Education Savings Accounts" tested in the state. The success met with a bill signed by Governor Brewer on May 14, 2012. The law won't go into full effect until the 2013-14 school year. But it opens up these ESAs to "disadvantaged children". The original plan, currently in place for 150 families, included only "special needs" children. It has now been expanded to include children in schools that have poor performance ratings from the state, military children, adopted children, and children in foster care programs.
Arizona's new law was proposed by the Goldwater Institute in 2005 and sponsored by Rep. Debbie Lesko (R-Glendale). Since the pilot program in Arizona went into effect in 2011, Utah, Florida, and Iowa have enacted similar legislation.
1) Private Schools. With these, the parents can choose a school that fits their desires, goals, and needs. If the school fails to deliver, you fire them. (You go someplace else).
2) Charter Schools. These are great P3 (private-public-partnership) programs. Again, if you don't like their methods or what they tell your kids, you can fire them. (You go someplace else).
3) Employ tutors. Yes, there are several companies out there that offer tutors for just about any subject you desire. You get to interview them and pick one that will fill in those gaps in your kids' learning that the schools fail to fill. these are far more cost-effective than a private school.
4) Home-school. I know several home-school students. Talking with parents, this option does not require parents to have advanced degrees in anything. What it requires is the parents to buy textbooks (they choose) and read them ahead of the students. There are several online programs that assist, provide sample tests, and contain sample curricula for parents. The great part about homeschooling is that it moves at your child's pace. So, your child is not reigned-in by the slower students in a class. On the flip side, your kids are not passed by on a subject they just don't understand. Most home-schooled students are actually ahead of government school students of similar age and demographics. It is proven to work. How much of the parents' time does it require? From those I have spoken with, the average is about four hours a day of active "class time". However, routine household activities such as playtime, shopping, or cooking can easily segue into alternative teaching methods. (Think of the fractions used in cooking! The math in shopping and keeping to a budget! and basic lessons in inertia in playing with matchbox cars!). If you want examples of home-school success: Abraham Lincoln, Timothy Tebow, Madeleine McAulay.
Several states now have programs and laws to assist. Indiana has a great voucher program. Parents get tax rebates if they send their kids to private schools. They also encourage P3 education programs (charter schools). Indiana goes anther step for home-schooled kids or kids that work and achieve ahead of their peers. If your child completes high school early, the state of Indiana will pay those taxes that would have gone to your child's remaining years in high school and add them towards tuition at a state university.
Georgia just expanded their charter school program. Given the dismal performance of many of their public schools, they enhanced the charter program. That has a two-fold effect on the state's education programs. First, it gives parents an affordable alternative to government indoctrination centers. It rewards the more successful charter schools with continued contracts, etc. So the schools have an incentive to do better than the public schools. They also, then present competition to the public schools, giving them a reason to improve.
Arizona just passed a new law (AZ HB 2622). There was a pilot program called "Education Savings Accounts" tested in the state. The success met with a bill signed by Governor Brewer on May 14, 2012. The law won't go into full effect until the 2013-14 school year. But it opens up these ESAs to "disadvantaged children". The original plan, currently in place for 150 families, included only "special needs" children. It has now been expanded to include children in schools that have poor performance ratings from the state, military children, adopted children, and children in foster care programs.
Arizona's new law was proposed by the Goldwater Institute in 2005 and sponsored by Rep. Debbie Lesko (R-Glendale). Since the pilot program in Arizona went into effect in 2011, Utah, Florida, and Iowa have enacted similar legislation. Read the Goldwater Institute's Press Release for more information.
Real-life demands sometimes make the above options not viable. If both parents need to work 8-10 hours a day outside the home to make ends meet, home-schooling may not be a good option. In the struggling economy, tutors or private schools may not be an option. there may not be a charter school program where you live. So, what now?
Take two hours a day and five hours a weekend and devote it to your kids. That concept may seem alien to some parents. they may say "I spend two hours screaming at my kid each day. I don't have time to tutor them on top of that!". Screaming matches and disciplining your kids will not go away. However, your kids want to spend time with you. They want to show off and make you proud. Take advantage of that. Look at their schoolwork. Review their homework. Read their textbooks. That is the start.
Next, you need to see what your child is not learning. Textbooks are not the end. They are summaries. Some of them are poor summaries, especially if a history book written by H. Zinn. So, now it is time to get a great little card called a library card. Go to the library and assign your kid books on those subjects. Pick two types of subjects. First, pick the ones your child does well on in school and is proud of. Encourage them to further pursue those subjects. the second set are those your child is doing poor on. I will make one little caution on this. If your kids did well on a history exam and you do some simple Google fact-checking and find out if your kids were taught the facts you find important. The teacher may be failing your child or lying to her (or him).
Quiz your kids on what they learned. Do this while they tell you about what they learned in school that day. Take that hour to review their homework. Take an hour to go beyond the school's curricula. That hour can be "reading hour". It can be "let's analyze the news" hour. It can be "let's take this recipe for 4 and make it for 3" hour. You can ask them to write a paper explaining things to you after they read a book outside of the textbook. (This makes you seem cool because it sounds like they know more. Who knows, on that subject, you may learn something!).
Three books you should invest in, however, are a good dictionary, like Websters II New College Dictionary, Hardbound, a good thesaurus, and a grammar guide. The reasons are simple. Knowing something is fine and dandy. If your kid doesn't learn how to express that knowledge or those thoughts in a coherent manner, it is worthless. The rules for expressing understanding, knowledge, and ideas are the laws of grammar. Words have specific meanings. Spelling is important. of note, my step-daughter came home with a spelling test. She got one wrong on it. The teacher wrote in the "correction". Using a dictionary as proof, I demonstrated that the teacher was incorrect and also misspelled the word in her "correction".
As far as alternate methods go, for example, I will bet your kid is curious how fast they can run, bike, roller skate, etc. Teach them basic physics. V(elocity) = D(istance) / T(ime) expressed as a vector (direction). So, time them from a measured start line to finish line. Then teach them how to take that measured distance and divide it by time (from a stopwatch). Teach them how to convert that into miles / hour (mph). You can then teach them how acceleration is change in velocity (speed and/or direction) by doing split times along the course. Then teach them to compare those to a speeds of other things. If you want to get fancy, you can look up friction coefficients and factor in the forces of gravity, etc, and turn that into a lesson on calculating "work".
In any way, shape, or form, your kids love three things: making you proud of them (showing off), spending time with you, and learning things they find "fun". When these things are lacking, they migrate and become entrenched in things such as video games, television, and mischief. Who do you want to raise your kids and show them what love and success look like: Street Fighter IV On a PS3, "Jersey Shore", Unionized Puppet-masters (government "educators") or YOU?
Saturday, May 19, 2012
How Critical is AZ-CD-8?
On January 8, 2011, Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, former (D-AZ) reporesentative of Congressional District 8, was shot by a left-wing extremist. Though MSNBC and CNN originally tried to paint the shooter as a TEA Party member, his ideology was quickly revealed as formulated by left-wing writings to include Marx, Hitler, and Marcuse. In his schooling, he was a devotee of H. Zinn, who is known to write history "text books" with a decisive left-wing and anti-American slant.
Though a Democrat who supported many left-wing ideas and agenda to include Obamacare, Giffords also held to some core tenets such as Second Amendment rights. In those aspects, she is a typical Arizonan, and rather "moderate" on the current national scale of most members of the Democratic Party.
In Arizona Congressional District 8 (AZ-CD-8) campaigns, grassroots organizations, and voters are scrambling to conduct the special election to fill the seat left vacant by Giffords, who retired in order to concentrate on her long, brave recovery. The primaries for the election are past complete. The general election is just weeks away.
Since the major party candidates were announced, Jesse Kelly, the Republican nominee, requested three debates with the Democratic candidate, Ron Barber. Two debates were agreed upon, with issues limited to only those Mr. Barber would agree upon. The first debate was on the May 17 with the second scheduled on the 23rd. The winner of the debate on the 17th is held in high contention. Those who agree that the government has the obligation to confiscate more funds from hard-working, down-to-earth Arizonans and Americans in order to divide those funds among those not working favored Barber, stating his arguments were solid. Those who support Locke's ideals of individual, natural rights of life, liberty and property and the idea that one should keep what one earns to dispense with as he or she desires stated Jesse Kelly won hands down. In the topics debated, the reality is that the debate demonstrated a clear partisan division between the beliefs of our nation's forefathers and those of the "progressive" socialist left.
Despite Arizona's historically libertarian base of individual liberties, responsibilities, and merits, there is a growing segment within the population that seeks to create small cabals of divisive, collectivist activism. Though that statement may seem self-contradictory, it isn't. The idea is to collect, group, and brand different segments of the population based upon "needs" that each group is assigned as a "special interest". Then the next step is to lobby on behalf of special rules, protections, laws, tax breaks, and treatments for these groups. A look of Barber's campaign site is indicative of this divisive ideology with attempts to appeal to these cookie-cutter groups and their "unique" issues. He, of course, wishes to fight for the special medical rights of women. He thinks that it is perfectly fine to take money from a hard-working single man and give that hard-earned pay to groups like Planned Parenthood. Last I checked, strong, independent women didn't need the nanny-state to give them any special treatment. The last I checked, women's liberation was about being equal to men, not gaining special favors because of their gender. So, Barber's stance, when deconstructed, is actually an affront to women, claiming they are unable to make it on their own without the government stealing from the pockets of others to take care of them. There is a word for that type of thought in Webster's Dictionary: Hypocrisy.
In these divisive, collectivist, socialist ideals, Ron Barber joins the ranks of other socialists. US Congressman from Arizona's Yuma district, Raul Grijalva is a former member of the racist group MEChA and community organizer for the Mexican Supremacist group, La Raza. In addition, there are several yet unproven allegations that Grijalva has connections to drug cartels and human traffickers. Running for the congressional seat in AZ-CD-9 is Kyrsten Sinema. Sinema is another stauch supporter of the oppressive PPACA (Obamacare) legislation. Her associations include members of several left-wing extremists to include Lynne Stewart. Sinema is even attributed to having made statements advocating violence and property destruction as part of socialist protests, stating that it would be foolish to even suggest to the groups not to entertain urging against such actions.
Now Barber's real number one selling point is that he once worked as a senior staffer for Gabrielle Giffords. He is using that point to campaign mostly on the platform that he is her best replacement. He would be if we really wanted more of the same socialism stealing our individual liberties as Obamacare and the tyrannic regulations of the EPA dictating how we live our lives while stealing our livelihoods.
For those unaware, when "Cap and Trade" failed on the congressional floor, the EPA stepped in and started creating its own laws, without legislation, under the guise of regulations and executive orders. For examples, you need look no farther than the attempt to force people to replace incandescent light bulbs with the more toxic "low-watt" fluorescent alternatives. They didn't do this by making it illegal to purchase these bulbs, but by making it against EPA regulations to manufacture or sell them after a certain date. Luckily, the EPA mandate was shot down as unconstitutional. Another example was the EPA's attempt to restrict farming and ranching due to "farm dust" and livestock's methane emissions (from intestinal gas, otherwise known as flatulence). Considering the number of ranches, vineyards, and orchards in Southern Arizona, these regulations and executive orders would further cripple the state's economy.
Ron Barber supports "Cap and Trade". He also supports increasing special subsidies and grants to renewable energy projects such as the failed Solyndra company or the Cococino County wind farms. These projects are throwing good money after bad in an attempt to use technology that is inefficient and incapable of meeting the required energy needs of Arizona and CD 8.
Jesse Kelly supports tax breaks for oil, coal, and natural gas production. While these seem to be "special interest" breaks, they are not. Oil, coal, and natural gas production already face special industry taxes and regulatory fees that so-called "green energy" projects do not have applied to them. In addition, those "green energy" projects not only get stimulus funding and other government subsidies, they receive special tax breaks and incentives. Those incentives and subsidies are intended to keep the prices artificially lower that the laws of supply and demand, production costs and overhead, and basic economics dictate in a free-market environment. The taxes and fees imposed upon coal, oil, and natural gas are intended to restrict free-market trade and artificially decrease the gap in supply costs (and pricing due to the laws of supply and demand). It is a form of fascism. Ron Barber support the fascism while Jesse Kelly supports energy production to be closer to free-market capitalism.
One item of note is that the government makes more on taxes and levies, per gallon of gasoline, than the oil companies do. Oil companies make approximately 5 cents on every gallon in profit, while taxes and levies imposed by the federal government alone, throughout the stages of production, takes 68 cents on the gallon.
The estimated costs, per household, for the Cap and Trade legislation and un-legislated executive orders and regulation imposed by the EPA for Arizonans are about $1000 a year. That doesn't seem like much unless you are a household consisting of two retired, disabled war veterans. You average SSDI monthly handout is $1100. So, this proposal will take away a month's worth of handouts to one of those special collectives that Barber claims to support for acquiring special rights. Again, a word from the dictionary applies: Hypocrisy.
Another cost, in days when workforce participation is shrinking towards an all-time low and unemployment remains above 8% on the misleading U3 scale (closer to 16% on the more accurate U6 scale), is 40,000 jobs for Arizonans. While this number may seem insignificant to over-populated metropolises such as New York City, Chicago, or Los Angeles, the numbers are huge considering CD-8 is a largely rural area.
Though a Democrat who supported many left-wing ideas and agenda to include Obamacare, Giffords also held to some core tenets such as Second Amendment rights. In those aspects, she is a typical Arizonan, and rather "moderate" on the current national scale of most members of the Democratic Party.
In Arizona Congressional District 8 (AZ-CD-8) campaigns, grassroots organizations, and voters are scrambling to conduct the special election to fill the seat left vacant by Giffords, who retired in order to concentrate on her long, brave recovery. The primaries for the election are past complete. The general election is just weeks away.
Since the major party candidates were announced, Jesse Kelly, the Republican nominee, requested three debates with the Democratic candidate, Ron Barber. Two debates were agreed upon, with issues limited to only those Mr. Barber would agree upon. The first debate was on the May 17 with the second scheduled on the 23rd. The winner of the debate on the 17th is held in high contention. Those who agree that the government has the obligation to confiscate more funds from hard-working, down-to-earth Arizonans and Americans in order to divide those funds among those not working favored Barber, stating his arguments were solid. Those who support Locke's ideals of individual, natural rights of life, liberty and property and the idea that one should keep what one earns to dispense with as he or she desires stated Jesse Kelly won hands down. In the topics debated, the reality is that the debate demonstrated a clear partisan division between the beliefs of our nation's forefathers and those of the "progressive" socialist left.
Despite Arizona's historically libertarian base of individual liberties, responsibilities, and merits, there is a growing segment within the population that seeks to create small cabals of divisive, collectivist activism. Though that statement may seem self-contradictory, it isn't. The idea is to collect, group, and brand different segments of the population based upon "needs" that each group is assigned as a "special interest". Then the next step is to lobby on behalf of special rules, protections, laws, tax breaks, and treatments for these groups. A look of Barber's campaign site is indicative of this divisive ideology with attempts to appeal to these cookie-cutter groups and their "unique" issues. He, of course, wishes to fight for the special medical rights of women. He thinks that it is perfectly fine to take money from a hard-working single man and give that hard-earned pay to groups like Planned Parenthood. Last I checked, strong, independent women didn't need the nanny-state to give them any special treatment. The last I checked, women's liberation was about being equal to men, not gaining special favors because of their gender. So, Barber's stance, when deconstructed, is actually an affront to women, claiming they are unable to make it on their own without the government stealing from the pockets of others to take care of them. There is a word for that type of thought in Webster's Dictionary: Hypocrisy.
In these divisive, collectivist, socialist ideals, Ron Barber joins the ranks of other socialists. US Congressman from Arizona's Yuma district, Raul Grijalva is a former member of the racist group MEChA and community organizer for the Mexican Supremacist group, La Raza. In addition, there are several yet unproven allegations that Grijalva has connections to drug cartels and human traffickers. Running for the congressional seat in AZ-CD-9 is Kyrsten Sinema. Sinema is another stauch supporter of the oppressive PPACA (Obamacare) legislation. Her associations include members of several left-wing extremists to include Lynne Stewart. Sinema is even attributed to having made statements advocating violence and property destruction as part of socialist protests, stating that it would be foolish to even suggest to the groups not to entertain urging against such actions.
Now Barber's real number one selling point is that he once worked as a senior staffer for Gabrielle Giffords. He is using that point to campaign mostly on the platform that he is her best replacement. He would be if we really wanted more of the same socialism stealing our individual liberties as Obamacare and the tyrannic regulations of the EPA dictating how we live our lives while stealing our livelihoods.
For those unaware, when "Cap and Trade" failed on the congressional floor, the EPA stepped in and started creating its own laws, without legislation, under the guise of regulations and executive orders. For examples, you need look no farther than the attempt to force people to replace incandescent light bulbs with the more toxic "low-watt" fluorescent alternatives. They didn't do this by making it illegal to purchase these bulbs, but by making it against EPA regulations to manufacture or sell them after a certain date. Luckily, the EPA mandate was shot down as unconstitutional. Another example was the EPA's attempt to restrict farming and ranching due to "farm dust" and livestock's methane emissions (from intestinal gas, otherwise known as flatulence). Considering the number of ranches, vineyards, and orchards in Southern Arizona, these regulations and executive orders would further cripple the state's economy.
Ron Barber supports "Cap and Trade". He also supports increasing special subsidies and grants to renewable energy projects such as the failed Solyndra company or the Cococino County wind farms. These projects are throwing good money after bad in an attempt to use technology that is inefficient and incapable of meeting the required energy needs of Arizona and CD 8.
Jesse Kelly supports tax breaks for oil, coal, and natural gas production. While these seem to be "special interest" breaks, they are not. Oil, coal, and natural gas production already face special industry taxes and regulatory fees that so-called "green energy" projects do not have applied to them. In addition, those "green energy" projects not only get stimulus funding and other government subsidies, they receive special tax breaks and incentives. Those incentives and subsidies are intended to keep the prices artificially lower that the laws of supply and demand, production costs and overhead, and basic economics dictate in a free-market environment. The taxes and fees imposed upon coal, oil, and natural gas are intended to restrict free-market trade and artificially decrease the gap in supply costs (and pricing due to the laws of supply and demand). It is a form of fascism. Ron Barber support the fascism while Jesse Kelly supports energy production to be closer to free-market capitalism.
One item of note is that the government makes more on taxes and levies, per gallon of gasoline, than the oil companies do. Oil companies make approximately 5 cents on every gallon in profit, while taxes and levies imposed by the federal government alone, throughout the stages of production, takes 68 cents on the gallon.
The estimated costs, per household, for the Cap and Trade legislation and un-legislated executive orders and regulation imposed by the EPA for Arizonans are about $1000 a year. That doesn't seem like much unless you are a household consisting of two retired, disabled war veterans. You average SSDI monthly handout is $1100. So, this proposal will take away a month's worth of handouts to one of those special collectives that Barber claims to support for acquiring special rights. Again, a word from the dictionary applies: Hypocrisy.
Another cost, in days when workforce participation is shrinking towards an all-time low and unemployment remains above 8% on the misleading U3 scale (closer to 16% on the more accurate U6 scale), is 40,000 jobs for Arizonans. While this number may seem insignificant to over-populated metropolises such as New York City, Chicago, or Los Angeles, the numbers are huge considering CD-8 is a largely rural area.
Friday, May 18, 2012
The Five Phase Plan
Several pundits and investigative journalists have, over the past few years, exposed George Soros's alleged five-phase plan to take over a country. Let's examine the state of the world and some facts as viewed through this plan.
I am not too quick to join any conspiracy theories. I tend to lean towards a stance of empirical skepticism, waiting for facts to come to light. As each new batch of facts joins the data-set, I assess the data as a whole. I tend not to filter out too much of the data. Doing so is to go through life accepting only facts that support a single hypothesis. To do so is to intentionally allow yourself to remain ignorant of the truth. For example, once upon a time, biologists stood firm on the belief that there was no such thing as a "black swan". A few years ago, one such creature was discovered in Australia. One hundred years ago, the concept of receiving many newspapers and magazines on a single plastic gadget was considered impossible. Today, many of us do so on an Amazon Kindle 3G or a Barnes & Nobles Nook.
So, as you examine these facts through this filter, understand that it is just one perspective. As more evidence comes to light, the theories concerning this plan, its existence, and its effectiveness (if it is true) can be assessed.
Step 1: Form a shadow government, a hidden oligarchy, a sort of Illuminati to guide the country towards its "new direction".
We have those dedicated to Frankfurt School and Marcuse-ian thinking that currently have large lobbying and financing influence in state and federal government. These include "owning" influential people in various bureaucratic departments of the executive branch.
At the end of the 70s, many of the more militant socialist activists embedded themselves within the so-called "green" movement. Members of the Weather Underground have become "environmental activists", for example.
Others have embedded themselves into public and higher education, in an effort to train and indoctrinate the newest batch of "useful idiots". Bill Ayers himself was a professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago (AKA "Circle Campus"). The Marcuse-ians and Frankfurt School acolytes already had a base there dating back before the 1950s. They gave birth to the Students for a Democratic Society (SDS), an organization that worked towards undermining capitalism and our Constitutional Republic under the guise of opposition to the Vietnam War.
There are several rather wealthy businessmen and organizations who support these ideals, seeking to be among the elites once the plan is complete. Among them are people such as George Soros and William Buffet. You can further see this influence within the SEIU and NEA. Those organizations tend to push socialist ideology and strongly financially support the more socialist-leaning bureaucrats, candidates, and elected officials within the Democratic Party.
Step 2: Take over the mainstream media -- control the newspapers and television news sources, and control the narrative.
Here they employ the infamous Alinsky Tactics. You have to look no further than the socialist-leaning bias among the major news networks of CNN and MSNBC to see this in action. To increase their credibility, the organizations of MoveOn.org, Think Progress, and Media Matters for America who attempt to show only the facts they want Americans to know. When facts that contradict their spin come to light, they do their best to debunk them In recent years, their difficulty in doing so has increased do the the efforts of individuals in the so-called "new media".
MMfA was originally set up as a Non-Profit organization whose sole purpose was to fact-check stories presented by the less-left-leaning Fox News. Since Obama began his campaign for president in 2008, MMfA has allegedly gone beyond that fact-checking role and actually, according to some allegations, had regular meetings with Obama and those close to him in order to determine the key talking points the more left-leaning segments of the news media would push.
Step 3: Undermine the current system, cause economic instability, and civil unrest.
First, look at Greece and Europe. They are in far worse states than the US is these days. France is teetering on economic collapse. Greece has, for all intents and purposes, already collapsed. Unrest in Greece became a near daily story on the world news. The failings of the "capitalist remnants" of their economy were blamed as were so-called "austerity policies". The same recently influenced the presidential election in France.
Around the world, you have the so-called "Occupy Movement". Among the leaders and more vocal members of the movement are die-hard socialist activists. What is the major point of their narrative? "Capitalism is bad. We are the 99%." Look at their actions. They have physically attacked successful businesses and banks. Among the "1%" they detest are George Soros, Warren Buffet, Michael Moore, the more left-leaning "Hollywood Elites", the UAW, the SEIU heads, and the NEA heads. However, they deny that these people are part of that "despicable 1%" because, well, "they're on our side". Of course they are. They want to be part of that shadow oligarchy.
Causing unrest and division among moral and social issues you have the Westboro Baptist Church. Reverend Fred Phelps is a devout leftist with heavy national socialist and fascist ideals. Even some of the more ignorant among the "useful idiots" see this. What they are ignorant of is the fact that these ideals are base tenets of the left side of the political spectrum. You have divisive racist elements as well. the KKK is a huge supporter of the socialist-left. Next you add in the divisive race-baiting ideology of "Critical Race Theory" and its socialist, racist supporters in the "New Black Panther Party". Do not forget that Obama was a student and strong apostle of Derrick Bell's divisive theory.
Next, add the strong push for "green energy" and "green jobs". Include in this failed "green companies" such as Solyndra. Add in the known failure of wind farms such as those in Coconino County, Arizona. Look at the attempts to block hydraulic-fractured drilling ("Fracking") and the Keystone Pipeline. Proposed Cap and Trade laws supported by AZ-CD-8 candidate Ron Barber could cost each Arizona family $1000 more a year in energy costs alone. Let's not forget the hidden cost increases to groceries, transportation, education, and other necessities. This is all an effort to make people more dependent upon the government.
The more people kept out of private enterprise employment, the better. The more money wasted on failed projects, the better. The higher the US National Debt, the better. The higher the costs of energy, the better. Higher energy costs mean higher overhead for businesses, workers, and households. The intent is to further insert government control and influence on these things. the more unstable and expensive they currently look, the better they will appear later, once the plan completes.
Step 4: Influence elections, cause election chaos, invalidate the electoral process.
Many Americans would see this as impossible. After all, the US isn't Egypt who is undergoing a painful and often violent transition in their government. So how is this even possible in the US?
First, block any form of voter integrity law. Look at how hard the left's narrative has pushed that voter-ID laws are "racist". Look at the 2008 and 2010 US Congressional elections in Houston, TX. They are still collecting evidence and seeing patterns of fraud from those elections. Go back to the 2000 election. That had to be decided by the USSC. Investigators allege that many of those "hanging chad" ballots were created in voter fraud attempts to "stuff the ballot box". Allegedly, those ballots would not have had "hanging chads" if the ballots were punched individually. The theory is that stacks of them were mass-punched.
Next you have the "useful idiots" jumping in with the Velvet Revolution, Anonymous, and Occupy in attempts to invalidate electronic balloting. Assisting them, you have states with SEIU contracts for the maintenance on those machines. SEIU is a "heavy-hitter" donor to the more socialist elements of the Democratic Party. In 2010, the New Black Panthers employed some of its members to intimidate voters, election judges, and poll watchers at polling places. We can expect even more of this activity in the 2012 general election.
In France, they elected a new President. He's a devout socialist. He wants to raise taxes to a top marginal rate of 75%. Imagine if you work for $4 an hour only to take home $1 and hour. Now have your transportation costs at $4 a day to get to work. Now add in that the government and the chosen oligarchy get the majority of that $4. Your net earning is now $.50 an hour. Let's not even include minimum wage laws into this. At that point, the average worker would take home more, and the private companies either have to fire people (can't afford to pay the wage) or go bankrupt just from payroll and taxes, before even calculating the cost of materials, overhead, and resources.
In Greece, they also moved to a more socialist government. It is failing, waiting for that 5th step to occur. It will most likely happen soon.
Step 5: The shadow Oligarchy "saves the day" and takes over.
They are not the benevolent tyrant from Sir Thomas Moore's Utopia. Even that "benevolent king" was a tyrant. Those who didn't fall in line with his directives were sentenced to work camps, exiled, or killed. Nobody was allowed to speak out in dissent.
Under this oligarchy, the US Constitution would be scraped and considered a "failed experiment". Any dissent to this idea would be punishable under "The New Order". Countries with like ideals would combine into a one-world government. The UN would go from an advising and diplomatic body to the governing body of the world. The strongest oligarchy would take over, leading to one-world-leader. Many fundamentalist Christians could liken this to the "rise of the anti-Christ". I simply call it the "end of free will".
I do not claim that there is any single organization at work to accomplish this. I do, however, see the possibility of several, independent groups around the world who have this megalomaniac goal. I see them allying with each other or battling each other until one such alliance emerges as victor. But before any of them can even vie for this outcome, they must overthrow enough of the more right-wing governments on the planet.
As each domino like France, Greece, South Korea, Germany, the UK, etc. falls; the more an more vital the hold to the founding ideals, US Constitution, and our capitalist-based economy are looked to as a "last hope". If this plan is true, if it does exist, it truly is a danger to the world as we know it.
Wednesday, May 16, 2012
I Need To Get Permission From The Wind?
Yesterday, I put up my first YouTube video. It was rough, raw, and barely edited. I took care to make sure no trademarks were within the frame. The video was mostly a practice run of me just speaking my mind, unscripted, with a general idea of a topic. I will admit that it sucks.
This morning I received an email from YouTube. They claim that I need to get some sort of usage agreement or permission for the background music.
That "background music" is a set of wind chimes. I have two sets of wind chimes in my apartment. They calm me down. If I have the windows open and/or my ceiling fans running the chimes emit some nice tones, at least to my ears. The ones in my bedroom help me sleep and do assist with my PTSD.
I guess YouTube ascribes to that ridiculous meme that "the Earth is a Person".
I sent in a response to YouTube. I am waiting to see if common sense and reason will apply. I am not holding my breath.
I am wondering if any of the YouTube gurus out there know how to get permission of usage from the wind. If not, I may end up taking the post down within the next 24 hours.
This morning I received an email from YouTube. They claim that I need to get some sort of usage agreement or permission for the background music.
That "background music" is a set of wind chimes. I have two sets of wind chimes in my apartment. They calm me down. If I have the windows open and/or my ceiling fans running the chimes emit some nice tones, at least to my ears. The ones in my bedroom help me sleep and do assist with my PTSD.
I guess YouTube ascribes to that ridiculous meme that "the Earth is a Person".
I sent in a response to YouTube. I am waiting to see if common sense and reason will apply. I am not holding my breath.
I am wondering if any of the YouTube gurus out there know how to get permission of usage from the wind. If not, I may end up taking the post down within the next 24 hours.
My Place In History
Several days ago a few discerning citizens noticed that, on the White House site, somebody had inserted Barack Obama into the biographies of 13 of our past presidents. Following the example of his glorious majesty, Caesar Barackus Obamas, I have decided to place myself into several historical events. The difference is that I will attempt to not go back before the year of my birth in doing so.
I was part of the first moon landing. It's true, I was. We had an old black and white television. I sat there, on my parents laps, and watched the news coverage of those famous words uttered the day before my first birthday: "One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind". I was an almost one-year-old man. So I was part of that "mankind" that joined in that "giant leap". Throughout my life, I have had some strange attachment to the moon. Moon-bat astrologists will tell you it is because I am a Sun-Cancer and Moon-Leo. I blame my parents' for the early indoctrination.
I was part of the Watergate Scandal. I was a sentient almost four-year old in June 1972 when the break-in took place. My parents watched the news intently, turning the TV from Doctor Who, Star Trek re-runs, or whatever kids' show I watched and subjected me to the newscasts as the investigation played out on mass-media. I was part of Nixon's biography as I was a young man watching our president resigned. Hearing about Nixon's habit of recording conversations and keeping notes most likely helped form my general aversion to being photographed or recorded unless I am doing so myself. On the flip-side, I do have the means to record phone conversations. I also keep chat files from IRC, G-Chat, and other platforms archived and backed-up in several locations. Did I get this from Nixon?
I was part of the Ford Administration. July, the month of my birth, has always been special to me. It is also the month of the birth of our great nation. So, at almost 8 years old, I joined President Ford (and the rest of the nation) in celebrating our republic's 200th year. I marched in front of our suburban Chicago home with a flag waving high. I sang out the Star-Spangled Banner, My Country 'Tis of Thee, and God Bless America all day long, at the top of my little lungs. Oh, I also developed an interest in playing golf. (I still find it boring to watch, on TV.)
I was part of the Carter Administration. In 1976, when he was running against Gerald Ford, I was quick to start "peanut jokes". I was also one of the first to point out that Carter was nowhere near as intelligent or handsome as George Washington Carver who did so much work and research on the benefits of the peanut. Shortly after his inauguration, I developed a strong dislike for peanut-butter and jelly sandwiches. To this day I cannot stand the combination. I blame President Carter.
I also remember this as my first Presidential Race where I was somewhat active. I asked my parents to vote for Ford. It is where I first learned about voting against the greater "evil" as they explained that they were doing so not to be "For Ford" but "Against Carter". I was determined to support the individual right to not have to eat peanut-butter and jelly mixed together.
I also decided that Ford was better than Chrysler during that time. I wasn't "for Ford". I was "against Chrysler". (A couple of years later, this was further strengthened. The catalytic converter and medieval computer caused my mother's 1979 Cordoba to spend more time not working than being driven.)
Later in his administration, I would turn on the news, despite my parents' desires, and keep abreast of those people held hostage in Tehran. I watched the newscasts of the failed rescue attempt. I started digging into why the mission failed, as far as my young mind and limited research outlets allowed. I was angry about the drastic cuts to the military budget and saw them as one of the major causes of the failed rescue attempt.
I also saw the rise in gasoline prices to well over $1 a gallon for the first time in history. Even gasoline with an increased ethanol content was expensive. I remember the problems it caused my father's car. I also remember that trips to see my grandparents became a little less frequent. The bonus was that they increased in duration. I also remember the prices of automobiles increasing, causing my father to seek more used cars than new cars for several years. The main reason was that "regular gasoline" was cheaper than "unleaded".
In 1980, I read my first economics books. I was 12. So, there was a lot of terminology and math that was a little over my head. But it appeared to me that the price-caps and consumer or demand-side Keynesian economics employed by, first Nixon then further exacerbated by Carter, were failures. Listening to debates, it clicked to me. It made sense to me that one is less likely to produce if they have to give the merits of their hard work to somebody else against their will. I told my parents I would be very upset if they just voted "Against Carter" again. I told them they should be "For Ronald Reagan".
I further bolstered my stance against peanuts by acquiring a taste for pistachios. However, I rejected the red-dyed pistachios as those were rumored to be from countries that support Iran. The rumors I heard, at the time, were that the pistachios with the non-dyed shells were from the US or US allies. Yummy!
Even within the first 18 months of Reagan's first Administration, I was victim to Carter's policies. My father lost his job (he did win his suit for wrongful termination later on). We had blocks of orange colored wax that were passed off as "cheese". I remember shopping carts full of "generics" instead of name-brand groceries. Though "unemployed", my father worked and still had his own business, which he was liquidating in order to have the capital to start another business. Eventually, Reagan's policies took hold, my father started that new business, and was very successful for many years.
I spent my teen years under Ronald Reagan's administration. During my "tween" years, I developed a liking of punk rock, metal, and "glam rock". Despite my father banning "those vulgar Brits" (the Sex Pistols) from his house, I still managed to get in a listen. I also listened to KISS, Ted Nugent, The Ramones, and The Stray Cats (among many others). I also furthered my interest in economics. The TV Show, Family Ties, introduced me to Milton Friedman. The character "Alex" was a huge Reagan fan, as well.
My involvement in Reagan's presidency started on his inauguration day. I cheered loudly when Iran announced they were releasing the hostages. I made sure my left-leaning cousin understood that I knew it was because Carter was a wimp and Iran was afraid of Reagan.
I listened to Reagan's speech "tear down this wall". In 1987, while Reagan was still in office, I joined the National Guard and entered the Cold War. I rejoiced when, on November 9, 1989, my brother's 17th birthday, the Berlin Wall came tumbling down, a legacy to Reagan's presidency though during Bush Sr.'s administration.
I still have a piece of that wall proudly displayed on my mantle.
Being in the National Guard, I served during Operation Desert Shield/Storm, though I did not deploy. I served in Operation Just Cause, attached to a unit in the fight. So, I was directly involved in Bush Sr.'s Administration.
When I transferred into the active duty Army, my first duty station was Berlin Germany. I discovered that "ein Berliner" was a tasty type of German doughnut. I witnessed, first-hand, the fall of the Soviet Union and the Warsaw Pact. I as part of the Clinton Administration as his cuts to defense and draw-down policies cut our funding. I was directly impacted by the reduction in training assets. I was there when he killed the Berlin Brigade and shut us down. So you can pin me to three Presidents in direct reference to my having been stationed in Berlin Germany. JFK's famous speech about being a tasty pastry, Reagan's "tear it down" speech, and Clinton's "You're Evicted" speech.
I was part of the Clinton Administration in 1994 when he deployed my unit to Panama to deal with the rioting Cuban Refugees that were, at that time, denied entrance to the US (Operation Safe Haven).
I also developed a strong appreciation of the band Warrant who scribed a song entitled "Ode to Tipper Gore". It is an anti-censorship bit of cacophony that seemed to lean a little right. Of note, Tipper is a die-hard leftist. To this day, if enjoy the irony of outcries against the right for "censorship" when the greatest advocates of censorship have come from and generously support the tyrannic left.
I was part of the Clinton Administration when he vetoed the budget several times over and there was a scare we would not receive out paychecks. I remember his propaganda accusing Newt Gingrich and other conservatives of attempting to "shut down the government". I driving to work on Fort Lewis during a severe snowstorm that had closed most of the post. I remember thinking "we're going through this, and we may not even get paid". My buddy Rick Bise even went into a little satirical rant about it. To this day, I find it ironic that it was Clinton who was vetoing the budget. He wanted further defense cuts but increases in other spending. That seemed in direct opposition to the US Constitution to me.
In 1996, I joined the Intelligence Community. I saw Clinton's lack of decisive action regarding the first World Trade Center (1993), Khobar Towers (1996), African Embassies (1998), and USS Cole bombings. We knew who was responsible. It made no sense to me that we didn't take action. I also knew of the Oil-for-Food program, and how it was failing. Still, Clinton supported it. I knew of the other embargo and resolution violations in Iraq. Why we took only ineffective actions such as "Desert Fox" eludes me to this day. Clinton was more interested in tying the military's hands and sending us to Bosnia, Croatia, Macedonia, Albania, and Kosovo.
I documented more about my place in history in the Clinton and G.W. Bush presidencies in an earlier article. 16 of my 24 years of total military service (20 active duty) were under these two presidents. The morale and apparent dedication of those in uniform was like night and day.
Of note, I still have, sealed and preserved, a box of Peanut M&Ms that was autographed by President G. W. Bush. The box is unique as it has the Air Force One logo and Presidential Seal instead of the normal M&Ms packaging.
President Obama tries to implant himself in the histories and biographies of 13 presidents though only having been alive for 10 of them, one more than I have lived under. (I was born in 1968. Johnson was president.) So, will I be added to the bios of these 9 presidents as well? After all, it's "only fair".
I was part of the first moon landing. It's true, I was. We had an old black and white television. I sat there, on my parents laps, and watched the news coverage of those famous words uttered the day before my first birthday: "One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind". I was an almost one-year-old man. So I was part of that "mankind" that joined in that "giant leap". Throughout my life, I have had some strange attachment to the moon. Moon-bat astrologists will tell you it is because I am a Sun-Cancer and Moon-Leo. I blame my parents' for the early indoctrination.
I was part of the Watergate Scandal. I was a sentient almost four-year old in June 1972 when the break-in took place. My parents watched the news intently, turning the TV from Doctor Who, Star Trek re-runs, or whatever kids' show I watched and subjected me to the newscasts as the investigation played out on mass-media. I was part of Nixon's biography as I was a young man watching our president resigned. Hearing about Nixon's habit of recording conversations and keeping notes most likely helped form my general aversion to being photographed or recorded unless I am doing so myself. On the flip-side, I do have the means to record phone conversations. I also keep chat files from IRC, G-Chat, and other platforms archived and backed-up in several locations. Did I get this from Nixon?
I was part of the Ford Administration. July, the month of my birth, has always been special to me. It is also the month of the birth of our great nation. So, at almost 8 years old, I joined President Ford (and the rest of the nation) in celebrating our republic's 200th year. I marched in front of our suburban Chicago home with a flag waving high. I sang out the Star-Spangled Banner, My Country 'Tis of Thee, and God Bless America all day long, at the top of my little lungs. Oh, I also developed an interest in playing golf. (I still find it boring to watch, on TV.)
I was part of the Carter Administration. In 1976, when he was running against Gerald Ford, I was quick to start "peanut jokes". I was also one of the first to point out that Carter was nowhere near as intelligent or handsome as George Washington Carver who did so much work and research on the benefits of the peanut. Shortly after his inauguration, I developed a strong dislike for peanut-butter and jelly sandwiches. To this day I cannot stand the combination. I blame President Carter.
I also remember this as my first Presidential Race where I was somewhat active. I asked my parents to vote for Ford. It is where I first learned about voting against the greater "evil" as they explained that they were doing so not to be "For Ford" but "Against Carter". I was determined to support the individual right to not have to eat peanut-butter and jelly mixed together.
I also decided that Ford was better than Chrysler during that time. I wasn't "for Ford". I was "against Chrysler". (A couple of years later, this was further strengthened. The catalytic converter and medieval computer caused my mother's 1979 Cordoba to spend more time not working than being driven.)
Later in his administration, I would turn on the news, despite my parents' desires, and keep abreast of those people held hostage in Tehran. I watched the newscasts of the failed rescue attempt. I started digging into why the mission failed, as far as my young mind and limited research outlets allowed. I was angry about the drastic cuts to the military budget and saw them as one of the major causes of the failed rescue attempt.
I also saw the rise in gasoline prices to well over $1 a gallon for the first time in history. Even gasoline with an increased ethanol content was expensive. I remember the problems it caused my father's car. I also remember that trips to see my grandparents became a little less frequent. The bonus was that they increased in duration. I also remember the prices of automobiles increasing, causing my father to seek more used cars than new cars for several years. The main reason was that "regular gasoline" was cheaper than "unleaded".
In 1980, I read my first economics books. I was 12. So, there was a lot of terminology and math that was a little over my head. But it appeared to me that the price-caps and consumer or demand-side Keynesian economics employed by, first Nixon then further exacerbated by Carter, were failures. Listening to debates, it clicked to me. It made sense to me that one is less likely to produce if they have to give the merits of their hard work to somebody else against their will. I told my parents I would be very upset if they just voted "Against Carter" again. I told them they should be "For Ronald Reagan".
I further bolstered my stance against peanuts by acquiring a taste for pistachios. However, I rejected the red-dyed pistachios as those were rumored to be from countries that support Iran. The rumors I heard, at the time, were that the pistachios with the non-dyed shells were from the US or US allies. Yummy!
Even within the first 18 months of Reagan's first Administration, I was victim to Carter's policies. My father lost his job (he did win his suit for wrongful termination later on). We had blocks of orange colored wax that were passed off as "cheese". I remember shopping carts full of "generics" instead of name-brand groceries. Though "unemployed", my father worked and still had his own business, which he was liquidating in order to have the capital to start another business. Eventually, Reagan's policies took hold, my father started that new business, and was very successful for many years.
I spent my teen years under Ronald Reagan's administration. During my "tween" years, I developed a liking of punk rock, metal, and "glam rock". Despite my father banning "those vulgar Brits" (the Sex Pistols) from his house, I still managed to get in a listen. I also listened to KISS, Ted Nugent, The Ramones, and The Stray Cats (among many others). I also furthered my interest in economics. The TV Show, Family Ties, introduced me to Milton Friedman. The character "Alex" was a huge Reagan fan, as well.
My involvement in Reagan's presidency started on his inauguration day. I cheered loudly when Iran announced they were releasing the hostages. I made sure my left-leaning cousin understood that I knew it was because Carter was a wimp and Iran was afraid of Reagan.
I listened to Reagan's speech "tear down this wall". In 1987, while Reagan was still in office, I joined the National Guard and entered the Cold War. I rejoiced when, on November 9, 1989, my brother's 17th birthday, the Berlin Wall came tumbling down, a legacy to Reagan's presidency though during Bush Sr.'s administration.
I still have a piece of that wall proudly displayed on my mantle.
Being in the National Guard, I served during Operation Desert Shield/Storm, though I did not deploy. I served in Operation Just Cause, attached to a unit in the fight. So, I was directly involved in Bush Sr.'s Administration.
When I transferred into the active duty Army, my first duty station was Berlin Germany. I discovered that "ein Berliner" was a tasty type of German doughnut. I witnessed, first-hand, the fall of the Soviet Union and the Warsaw Pact. I as part of the Clinton Administration as his cuts to defense and draw-down policies cut our funding. I was directly impacted by the reduction in training assets. I was there when he killed the Berlin Brigade and shut us down. So you can pin me to three Presidents in direct reference to my having been stationed in Berlin Germany. JFK's famous speech about being a tasty pastry, Reagan's "tear it down" speech, and Clinton's "You're Evicted" speech.
I was part of the Clinton Administration in 1994 when he deployed my unit to Panama to deal with the rioting Cuban Refugees that were, at that time, denied entrance to the US (Operation Safe Haven).
I also developed a strong appreciation of the band Warrant who scribed a song entitled "Ode to Tipper Gore". It is an anti-censorship bit of cacophony that seemed to lean a little right. Of note, Tipper is a die-hard leftist. To this day, if enjoy the irony of outcries against the right for "censorship" when the greatest advocates of censorship have come from and generously support the tyrannic left.
I was part of the Clinton Administration when he vetoed the budget several times over and there was a scare we would not receive out paychecks. I remember his propaganda accusing Newt Gingrich and other conservatives of attempting to "shut down the government". I driving to work on Fort Lewis during a severe snowstorm that had closed most of the post. I remember thinking "we're going through this, and we may not even get paid". My buddy Rick Bise even went into a little satirical rant about it. To this day, I find it ironic that it was Clinton who was vetoing the budget. He wanted further defense cuts but increases in other spending. That seemed in direct opposition to the US Constitution to me.
In 1996, I joined the Intelligence Community. I saw Clinton's lack of decisive action regarding the first World Trade Center (1993), Khobar Towers (1996), African Embassies (1998), and USS Cole bombings. We knew who was responsible. It made no sense to me that we didn't take action. I also knew of the Oil-for-Food program, and how it was failing. Still, Clinton supported it. I knew of the other embargo and resolution violations in Iraq. Why we took only ineffective actions such as "Desert Fox" eludes me to this day. Clinton was more interested in tying the military's hands and sending us to Bosnia, Croatia, Macedonia, Albania, and Kosovo.
I documented more about my place in history in the Clinton and G.W. Bush presidencies in an earlier article. 16 of my 24 years of total military service (20 active duty) were under these two presidents. The morale and apparent dedication of those in uniform was like night and day.
Of note, I still have, sealed and preserved, a box of Peanut M&Ms that was autographed by President G. W. Bush. The box is unique as it has the Air Force One logo and Presidential Seal instead of the normal M&Ms packaging.
President Obama tries to implant himself in the histories and biographies of 13 presidents though only having been alive for 10 of them, one more than I have lived under. (I was born in 1968. Johnson was president.) So, will I be added to the bios of these 9 presidents as well? After all, it's "only fair".
Monday, May 14, 2012
Public Schools Are Training The New Secret Police -- Your Kids
Public Schools systems have an agenda. They want your kids.
Across America, some conservative parents have been undergoing a "great awakening". School choice programs, charter school programs, and homeschooling associations are on the rise if not in actual practice, then in the political debates. Why?
One reason is that Teachers' Unions want continued profits from your tax dollars, through mandatory payments by the teachers and administrators themselves. If they get educators and administrators a contractual raise, their cut is larger. School Choice legislation takes those tax dollars and allocates the students' share towards the school the children attend. If that is a charter school, that school gets more taxes. In many states, those teachers at charter schools are mostly not members of the unions. So the union doesn't get a slice. With vouchers for private schools, it's the same thing. Some states are even extending tax breaks to parents who home-school. In Indiana, if your kid works his or her butt off and graduates a year early, those funds allocated for the child's senior year go into a college fund. It's money out of unions' pockets. They hate it.
They hate it not only for the obvious reduction of the wad in their purses. They hate it because it means lower funds to use to push their political agendas. It means a lowered account used to lobby for things such as "green energy" or dump into campaign funds and Political Action Committees for their socialist candidates. (From 1989-2012, the National Educators Association and the SEIU have donated $71.1 MILLION to Socialist AKA Democratic Party Campaigns. Those funds originated from your tax dollars then paid to salaries from which NEA and SEIU extracts their dues. So, these are, basically, your tax dollars going to these candidates. Imagine the school supplies and education materials that money could have been better spent on! But those increases in education spending are "for the kids", right? Wrong.)
Dating back into the sixties with the advent of Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) and other "student led" groups (Such as the domestic terrorist group, the Weatherman and the Weather Underground) allegedly supporting "free speech", several organizations seeking a "revolution" began organizing. Marcuse-ian ideology, Frankfurt School indoctrination, and Alinsky Tactics became the main academic pursuits on college campuses. Those pursuits advocate Marxism, Fascism, Maoism and other tyrannical socialist (under the euphemism of "Democracy", "Liberalism", and "Progressive") agendas. These were embraced by such lovely people as Derrick Bell, William Ayers (former Weather Underground terrorist leader turned collegiate indoctrinator), and other advocates of the overthrow of the US Constitution. Many of these "forward thinkers" are now college professors, teachers' union organizers, and other various influential personalities in "education".
Among many teachers, administrators, and school boards, you have public employees who hold a very frightening and scary common ideology they don't want you to know. They believe they own your kids from the second they step onto school property until they sign them back over to you to go home and sleep. Some will even go as far as to believe they own your kids form the second school starts on the first day of the school year until the dismissal bell on the final day. Some localities and states have even enacted policies and regulations affirming such.
They believe that because they are legally responsible for the welfare of your child while you entrust them with the education and care for those few hours that it extends to a pecuniary ownership. These days, parents are fined, watched, and investigated if they teach their own kids things that don't fall in line with the socialist ideological narrative the teachers feed the kids. They inspect lunches brought from home and fine parents if the food brought from home doesn't meet their specifications. If your child does independent research for an assignment and essay contest and finds data and proof that the propaganda pushed by the school is false, your child get persecuted and expelled.
They are not your kids. They belong to the state during the school year. The teachers and administrators are the ones the state has given the authority to minister to your kids. "It takes a village". So "the village" has more a right than the parents.
The "village" is not the parents. You have people such as the head of the national council of principles who honestly believe that parents are too stupid to raise their own kids. Yes, even if both parents have graduate degrees (on of them specializing in child psychology), they know less than somebody with a BA in elementary education. Pay no attention to the fact that a BA in elementary education is one of the less challenging undergraduate degrees to acquire, at least when compared to engineering, business, applied sciences, or even something as "useless" as philosophy.
The curricula in public schools contain classes in worshiping socialist leaders, to include Obama. They include learning from skewed and incorrect history textbooks by socialists such as H. Zinn. They preach that "fairness" means those who have worked and acquired more should be forced to give their earnings to those who are "less fortunate" (which is usually less industrious, motivated, and productive). They learn that Ho Chi Minh was a pretty good guy. They learn that Lenin was a great guy who was looking out for the "common people" (despite the fact he jailed or murdered more "common people" than the Czar did). In High School, nihilism is touted as beneficial while Napoleon Hill's Think and Grow Rich is vilified as a subversive text used by the "evil rich" who "won't share". The tyrannic pigs in Animal Farm are spun to be heroes and not metaphors of the evils perpetrated by Lenin and Stalin. The kids are taught lies about global warming and "green energy" that contradict actual scientific studies. the kids are taught that it is the government's job to take care of them. They are not taught to be individual free-thinkers who strive for self-sufficiency. It's even gotten to a point where competition is looked down upon (to include keeping score at sporting events) and cooperation for the good of the class (state, oligarchy, ruling class) are lauded.
Now these kids are being trained to spy on their own parents and report them to their socialist nannies. Questions on state and federal level standardized testing are now asking students to spill their guts and report on their home-life. It is bad enough that a teacher will report a parent to CPS if the kid falls off her bike while learning to ride it on Saturday and still has a bruise on Monday morning. Now you have essay question on standardized tests in New Jersey asking students to discuss a "Secret from home they had to keep" and "how keeping that secret affected them". It amounts to "give us the dirt on your parents" because reporting them to your state-appointed nannies is better than "honor[ing] thy mother and father".
Parents, it's time to take back your kids. Go to those school board elections and vote for those who advocate your rights as parents. Remember the 10th Amendment. Of course, this means you can no longer be lazy and let the teachers and administrators just do what they feel best (it isn't). You have to make the time to get involved. Get up 15 minutes earlier and make that lunch for your kids. Look at their homework. Read the textbooks being used. Attend school board meetings and voice your opinions and rights. What's more important, after all, that team-building cocktail hour for work or the kids you work to provide for in the first place?
While there, remind those intrusive spies for the US Communist Party of the Privacy Act of 1974. Don't be afraid to take them to court over the issue. The last thing they want is for these things to end up before a court that actually supports the US Constitution. Of course, this is why they try to indoctrinate your children in socialist ideology while giving their union dues over to socialist candidates in the first place. They want to instill that socialist state where neighbors spy on neighbors, sending each other to gulags and re-education camps for wanting to exercise free-thought and desiring liberty and prosperity.
Across America, some conservative parents have been undergoing a "great awakening". School choice programs, charter school programs, and homeschooling associations are on the rise if not in actual practice, then in the political debates. Why?
One reason is that Teachers' Unions want continued profits from your tax dollars, through mandatory payments by the teachers and administrators themselves. If they get educators and administrators a contractual raise, their cut is larger. School Choice legislation takes those tax dollars and allocates the students' share towards the school the children attend. If that is a charter school, that school gets more taxes. In many states, those teachers at charter schools are mostly not members of the unions. So the union doesn't get a slice. With vouchers for private schools, it's the same thing. Some states are even extending tax breaks to parents who home-school. In Indiana, if your kid works his or her butt off and graduates a year early, those funds allocated for the child's senior year go into a college fund. It's money out of unions' pockets. They hate it.
They hate it not only for the obvious reduction of the wad in their purses. They hate it because it means lower funds to use to push their political agendas. It means a lowered account used to lobby for things such as "green energy" or dump into campaign funds and Political Action Committees for their socialist candidates. (From 1989-2012, the National Educators Association and the SEIU have donated $71.1 MILLION to Socialist AKA Democratic Party Campaigns. Those funds originated from your tax dollars then paid to salaries from which NEA and SEIU extracts their dues. So, these are, basically, your tax dollars going to these candidates. Imagine the school supplies and education materials that money could have been better spent on! But those increases in education spending are "for the kids", right? Wrong.)
Dating back into the sixties with the advent of Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) and other "student led" groups (Such as the domestic terrorist group, the Weatherman and the Weather Underground) allegedly supporting "free speech", several organizations seeking a "revolution" began organizing. Marcuse-ian ideology, Frankfurt School indoctrination, and Alinsky Tactics became the main academic pursuits on college campuses. Those pursuits advocate Marxism, Fascism, Maoism and other tyrannical socialist (under the euphemism of "Democracy", "Liberalism", and "Progressive") agendas. These were embraced by such lovely people as Derrick Bell, William Ayers (former Weather Underground terrorist leader turned collegiate indoctrinator), and other advocates of the overthrow of the US Constitution. Many of these "forward thinkers" are now college professors, teachers' union organizers, and other various influential personalities in "education".
Among many teachers, administrators, and school boards, you have public employees who hold a very frightening and scary common ideology they don't want you to know. They believe they own your kids from the second they step onto school property until they sign them back over to you to go home and sleep. Some will even go as far as to believe they own your kids form the second school starts on the first day of the school year until the dismissal bell on the final day. Some localities and states have even enacted policies and regulations affirming such.
They believe that because they are legally responsible for the welfare of your child while you entrust them with the education and care for those few hours that it extends to a pecuniary ownership. These days, parents are fined, watched, and investigated if they teach their own kids things that don't fall in line with the socialist ideological narrative the teachers feed the kids. They inspect lunches brought from home and fine parents if the food brought from home doesn't meet their specifications. If your child does independent research for an assignment and essay contest and finds data and proof that the propaganda pushed by the school is false, your child get persecuted and expelled.
They are not your kids. They belong to the state during the school year. The teachers and administrators are the ones the state has given the authority to minister to your kids. "It takes a village". So "the village" has more a right than the parents.
The "village" is not the parents. You have people such as the head of the national council of principles who honestly believe that parents are too stupid to raise their own kids. Yes, even if both parents have graduate degrees (on of them specializing in child psychology), they know less than somebody with a BA in elementary education. Pay no attention to the fact that a BA in elementary education is one of the less challenging undergraduate degrees to acquire, at least when compared to engineering, business, applied sciences, or even something as "useless" as philosophy.
The curricula in public schools contain classes in worshiping socialist leaders, to include Obama. They include learning from skewed and incorrect history textbooks by socialists such as H. Zinn. They preach that "fairness" means those who have worked and acquired more should be forced to give their earnings to those who are "less fortunate" (which is usually less industrious, motivated, and productive). They learn that Ho Chi Minh was a pretty good guy. They learn that Lenin was a great guy who was looking out for the "common people" (despite the fact he jailed or murdered more "common people" than the Czar did). In High School, nihilism is touted as beneficial while Napoleon Hill's Think and Grow Rich is vilified as a subversive text used by the "evil rich" who "won't share". The tyrannic pigs in Animal Farm are spun to be heroes and not metaphors of the evils perpetrated by Lenin and Stalin. The kids are taught lies about global warming and "green energy" that contradict actual scientific studies. the kids are taught that it is the government's job to take care of them. They are not taught to be individual free-thinkers who strive for self-sufficiency. It's even gotten to a point where competition is looked down upon (to include keeping score at sporting events) and cooperation for the good of the class (state, oligarchy, ruling class) are lauded.
Now these kids are being trained to spy on their own parents and report them to their socialist nannies. Questions on state and federal level standardized testing are now asking students to spill their guts and report on their home-life. It is bad enough that a teacher will report a parent to CPS if the kid falls off her bike while learning to ride it on Saturday and still has a bruise on Monday morning. Now you have essay question on standardized tests in New Jersey asking students to discuss a "Secret from home they had to keep" and "how keeping that secret affected them". It amounts to "give us the dirt on your parents" because reporting them to your state-appointed nannies is better than "honor[ing] thy mother and father".
Parents, it's time to take back your kids. Go to those school board elections and vote for those who advocate your rights as parents. Remember the 10th Amendment. Of course, this means you can no longer be lazy and let the teachers and administrators just do what they feel best (it isn't). You have to make the time to get involved. Get up 15 minutes earlier and make that lunch for your kids. Look at their homework. Read the textbooks being used. Attend school board meetings and voice your opinions and rights. What's more important, after all, that team-building cocktail hour for work or the kids you work to provide for in the first place?
While there, remind those intrusive spies for the US Communist Party of the Privacy Act of 1974. Don't be afraid to take them to court over the issue. The last thing they want is for these things to end up before a court that actually supports the US Constitution. Of course, this is why they try to indoctrinate your children in socialist ideology while giving their union dues over to socialist candidates in the first place. They want to instill that socialist state where neighbors spy on neighbors, sending each other to gulags and re-education camps for wanting to exercise free-thought and desiring liberty and prosperity.
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