This is frightening. NC teacher berates student for bringing up something negative about Obama's past--something that Obama himself wrote about in one of his memoirs--and she calls it "disrespecting the President." She tells him that he can be arrested for such an act, then goes on to insinuate that he could be arrested without having his rights read.
It's sad to watch this video and realize the student knows more about the laws in country than the teacher. He could probably teach the class better than she.
If this is what passes for intellectual discourse in public education count us out. We will continue to homeschool, thank you.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vjpWaESn_9g
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/05/21/nc-teacher-captured-on-video-suggesting-student-could-be-arrested-for-obama/?intcmp=trending
Monday, May 21, 2012
Monday, April 9, 2012
Hunger Games
So, now I've been classified as a "hater" because I don't want to be entertained by the trendy movie "everyone" is dying to see. Seriously? I'm a "hater" because I don't want to be entertained like others want to be entertained?
Let's get it straight: I am not a Hunger Games "hater."
I just have a problem with the portrayal of children being randomly selected to kill other children. It's a personal issue, and I totally take it for that. I know the story and context and the horrendous fact that we already living it! Hello, sweatshops, kids drafted into wars, and children working and living in deplorable conditions throughout the world, anyone? There's a reason we buy Fair Trade.
Our society could get worse if we don't watch out. That's why the "Hunger Games" and other examples of this type of fiction are so important! These themes are vital to our continued advancement as a society. I'm jazzed by the kids who are totally getting the message of these books and the movie. They should! They need to!
But, please, just because I have a problem with the way the themes are portrayed, don't call me a "hater." I simply have a different point of view about what I can personally handle in the fiction I read and see. There are a ton of great books I'll never read because I need peace in my psyche more than I need visions in my head.
Some of us are more sensitive than others to certain issues. I don't hate the Hunger Games, I just don't want to read the books or see the movie. It's a preference not a political stance.
Let's get it straight: I am not a Hunger Games "hater."
I just have a problem with the portrayal of children being randomly selected to kill other children. It's a personal issue, and I totally take it for that. I know the story and context and the horrendous fact that we already living it! Hello, sweatshops, kids drafted into wars, and children working and living in deplorable conditions throughout the world, anyone? There's a reason we buy Fair Trade.
Our society could get worse if we don't watch out. That's why the "Hunger Games" and other examples of this type of fiction are so important! These themes are vital to our continued advancement as a society. I'm jazzed by the kids who are totally getting the message of these books and the movie. They should! They need to!
But, please, just because I have a problem with the way the themes are portrayed, don't call me a "hater." I simply have a different point of view about what I can personally handle in the fiction I read and see. There are a ton of great books I'll never read because I need peace in my psyche more than I need visions in my head.
Some of us are more sensitive than others to certain issues. I don't hate the Hunger Games, I just don't want to read the books or see the movie. It's a preference not a political stance.
Thursday, February 16, 2012
Lunch Police
A 4-year-old girl had her homemade lunch taken away when a State Agent deemed the lunch did not follow USDA guidelines for a nutritious lunch. As a more nutritious alternative, the school provided her with a tray lunch and presented her parents with a bill for it.
The homemade lunch? Turkey and cheese sandwich, banana, potato chips and apple juice. (Sounds like a really healthy lunch to me!)
The Tray lunch? We're not sure of the entire contents, but the girl ONLY ate 3 chicken nuggets off of it.
Hmmmm. Only our government would believe that processed, fried, white-flour laden chicken bits are healthier than freshly made from love and scratch sandwich and fruit.
When we live in a country where State Agents are inspecting homemade lunches and passing judgment, we have lost all freedom from tyranny. This lunacy MUST end.
Here's why this should bother you regardless of where your children eat or if you even have children: this incident is but a milestone on our slippery slope to a police state. Get rid of God, make sure no being is above government. Get rid of parents, make sure no one but government influences children. Get rid of free markets, make sure everyone is dependent upon government.
Sunday, February 12, 2012
Whitney Houston's National Anthem
It was the height of national patriotism that moment in time during Super Bowl XXV in January of 1991. We were the red, white and blue. Operation Desert Shield had just become Desert Storm thrusting us into war for the first time since Vietnam. We were pro-military, pro-troops, pro-America!
And, Whitney Houston brought us to our feet.
In living rooms all across America and the world, Americans stood proud and patriotic. We put down our Super Bowl libations, pressed hands to our hearts and listened in collective silence as the Florida Orchestra cued Whitney Houston. That night she belted out what has become known as the greatest singing of the National Anthem anywhere, anytime. Cheers erupted, tears flowed and every American heart in the world swelled with national pride.
It's easy to recall that feeling now since most of us have lived though 9/11 and can clearly remember the flag-lined neighborhood streets screaming an autumnal Fourth of July. But, back then, in 1991 this was a new experience for us as a country. Of the older crowd, some had healed from the acidic bath of Vietnam, but many more hadn't. Those of us too young to understand the giant rift that had taken place, simply chose to ignore. We talked of the military in hushed tones and often our history teachers never made it past JFK's assassination before school year's end.
But 1991 dawned a new era. Patriotism blew across the land as an unexpected wind snapped our sails and sent us forth, walking a little taller, talking a little louder, acting a bit bolder.
Whitney Houston's performance on the field that evening in Tampa--bad costume choices aside--will always embody for me those heady days where we learned again to be proud of our country and raise the colors with honor on our houses and in public squares.
Thank you, Whitney, for lending your stunning instrument to a moment in history when we all needed to hear, "O'er the land of the free, and home of the brave!"
Rest in peace, Whitney. God Bless America.
And, Whitney Houston brought us to our feet.
In living rooms all across America and the world, Americans stood proud and patriotic. We put down our Super Bowl libations, pressed hands to our hearts and listened in collective silence as the Florida Orchestra cued Whitney Houston. That night she belted out what has become known as the greatest singing of the National Anthem anywhere, anytime. Cheers erupted, tears flowed and every American heart in the world swelled with national pride.
It's easy to recall that feeling now since most of us have lived though 9/11 and can clearly remember the flag-lined neighborhood streets screaming an autumnal Fourth of July. But, back then, in 1991 this was a new experience for us as a country. Of the older crowd, some had healed from the acidic bath of Vietnam, but many more hadn't. Those of us too young to understand the giant rift that had taken place, simply chose to ignore. We talked of the military in hushed tones and often our history teachers never made it past JFK's assassination before school year's end.
But 1991 dawned a new era. Patriotism blew across the land as an unexpected wind snapped our sails and sent us forth, walking a little taller, talking a little louder, acting a bit bolder.
Whitney Houston's performance on the field that evening in Tampa--bad costume choices aside--will always embody for me those heady days where we learned again to be proud of our country and raise the colors with honor on our houses and in public squares.
Thank you, Whitney, for lending your stunning instrument to a moment in history when we all needed to hear, "O'er the land of the free, and home of the brave!"
Rest in peace, Whitney. God Bless America.
Sunday, February 5, 2012
Planned Parenthood and the Susan G. Komen Mess
I'll just say it. I believe in the sanctity of life. All life.
How anyone can walk with God and not realize that life is sacred, doesn't know the God I know.
So, I'm an oddity. The Left want to end death row killings but support abortion. The Right want to end abortions but support death row killings. Totally insane, say I.
I believe in life. I don't think killing someone is the worst punishment. I vote for stricter conditions for lifers. I vote for necessities only, no cable tv and workout rooms. I vote for life sentences for our most dire cases.
I believe in life. I don't think a baby is a mistake. I vote for a baby's chance at their own life. I vote for adoption. I vote for families raising kids. I vote for premarital sexual abstinence.
It's not our right to take a life. Any life. If you are of Judeo-Christian belief, then you have to follow the 6th commandment which tells us not to kill. Anything else is fooling ourselves. Life is sacred and should be protected.
The Susan G. Komen mess with Planned Parenthood created quite a stir and that's been a really good thing for us all to talk about and get us thinking about various issues regarding female healthcare and abortions. The Susan G. Komen organization cut funding to Planned Parenthood due to a grant regulation and it wasn't tied to abortion, but it got us all talking about these women's healthcare issues.
As for me, I wish Planned Parenthood could split into two organizations. One that promotes the health of women and the other that oversees the killing of babies.
I love the part of Planned Parenthood that provides decent healthcare for at-risk women. When I was young, struggling financially, and didn't have health insurance, I frequented Planned Parenthood for yearly checkups and female screenings. For a sliding scale fee, I could get a yearly exam which I could easily afford. That cost me a fraction of what a physician's visit at the time would be. It was a great help to me.
I know that Planned Parenthood centers help millions of other women a year with exams, tests, referrals, check-ups, etc. They are filling a great need, helping poor women and women without insurance obtain proper female medical care and access to STD and pregnancy testing.
But, then there's that other thing they do. That outpatient medical procedure that is legal and safe,--not really safe, but more about THAT at another time--the vast number of abortions they perform every year.
And, that's what causes me pause every time. I believe that a baby has a right to have a shot at life. Any life. Even a poor life. In any just society, a baby cannot be a "problem." We can't start killing babies simply because they are inconvenient or we can't afford them.
The pro-choicers wrap the abortion issue in a nice, pretty blanket called "a woman's right to choose." But that belies what is happening. Abortion is a life is snuffed out. A life that wanted nothing more to come into this world to be held, loved and comforted by the very person who decided to kill it. Everyone freaks out at cruelty to animals, but seriously a mother killing her baby, isn't that just a little more intense?
SIDE BAR: If you've had an abortion and are having a hard time grappling with the past, please visit www.afterabortion.org. You can find healing and help there for Post Abortion Stress Syndrome. Pregnant? They also have many fine resources anyone who is pregnant and struggling with what to do.
I wish the Planned Parenthood organization would stop participating in the 1.21 million abortions performed yearly. But they won't.
So, could they at least split into two groups? They could have one part take over the abortion clinics and the other act as healthcare clinics. That way, I could support the health clinics. I could get behind their great works in helping under-served women access medical care. I would not fear that government funds taken from my tax dollars could be misdirected, accidentally or otherwise, to abortions. I would rest happy knowing that women's healthcare needs were taken care of outside that which I don't support.
I kinda wish the backlash of the Susan G. Komen funding problem didn't cause them to cave to political pressure and change their rules to allow funding of Planned Parenthood to continue. The issue will now go away and further discussion and inspection of these topics will no longer be a central theme in our conversations. Even though the Susan G. Komen foundation stated clearly their move wasn't tied to abortion it was tied to a government investigation and their grant rules, the fact that we were all talking about Planned Parenthood and what it stands for was a good thing!
I can't tell you how many mothers with whom I spoke, like me, used Planned Parenthood in their youth and are supporters of the healthcare side of it. All of my Christian friends were in agreement that the abortion side of Planned Parenthood really made them uneasy regarding the organization. And this, despite their fervent belief that the women's healthcare delivery side of it was necessary and beneficial to many under-serviced women and communities.
We need to talk about these issues, understand these issues and re-evaluate where we stand on these issues. We can't keep shoving this to the back burner and giving up on debate. We need to talk about it, and hear the sides. Stephen Covey says, "seek first to understand." We need to listen. Then we need to think. Then we need to talk.
As for me, I've been many places on my journey, but after much introspection and prayer I have come to conclusion that life matters. It matters a whole lot.
How anyone can walk with God and not realize that life is sacred, doesn't know the God I know.
So, I'm an oddity. The Left want to end death row killings but support abortion. The Right want to end abortions but support death row killings. Totally insane, say I.
I believe in life. I don't think killing someone is the worst punishment. I vote for stricter conditions for lifers. I vote for necessities only, no cable tv and workout rooms. I vote for life sentences for our most dire cases.
I believe in life. I don't think a baby is a mistake. I vote for a baby's chance at their own life. I vote for adoption. I vote for families raising kids. I vote for premarital sexual abstinence.
It's not our right to take a life. Any life. If you are of Judeo-Christian belief, then you have to follow the 6th commandment which tells us not to kill. Anything else is fooling ourselves. Life is sacred and should be protected.
The Susan G. Komen mess with Planned Parenthood created quite a stir and that's been a really good thing for us all to talk about and get us thinking about various issues regarding female healthcare and abortions. The Susan G. Komen organization cut funding to Planned Parenthood due to a grant regulation and it wasn't tied to abortion, but it got us all talking about these women's healthcare issues.
As for me, I wish Planned Parenthood could split into two organizations. One that promotes the health of women and the other that oversees the killing of babies.
I love the part of Planned Parenthood that provides decent healthcare for at-risk women. When I was young, struggling financially, and didn't have health insurance, I frequented Planned Parenthood for yearly checkups and female screenings. For a sliding scale fee, I could get a yearly exam which I could easily afford. That cost me a fraction of what a physician's visit at the time would be. It was a great help to me.
I know that Planned Parenthood centers help millions of other women a year with exams, tests, referrals, check-ups, etc. They are filling a great need, helping poor women and women without insurance obtain proper female medical care and access to STD and pregnancy testing.
But, then there's that other thing they do. That outpatient medical procedure that is legal and safe,--not really safe, but more about THAT at another time--the vast number of abortions they perform every year.
And, that's what causes me pause every time. I believe that a baby has a right to have a shot at life. Any life. Even a poor life. In any just society, a baby cannot be a "problem." We can't start killing babies simply because they are inconvenient or we can't afford them.
The pro-choicers wrap the abortion issue in a nice, pretty blanket called "a woman's right to choose." But that belies what is happening. Abortion is a life is snuffed out. A life that wanted nothing more to come into this world to be held, loved and comforted by the very person who decided to kill it. Everyone freaks out at cruelty to animals, but seriously a mother killing her baby, isn't that just a little more intense?
SIDE BAR: If you've had an abortion and are having a hard time grappling with the past, please visit www.afterabortion.org. You can find healing and help there for Post Abortion Stress Syndrome. Pregnant? They also have many fine resources anyone who is pregnant and struggling with what to do.
I wish the Planned Parenthood organization would stop participating in the 1.21 million abortions performed yearly. But they won't.
So, could they at least split into two groups? They could have one part take over the abortion clinics and the other act as healthcare clinics. That way, I could support the health clinics. I could get behind their great works in helping under-served women access medical care. I would not fear that government funds taken from my tax dollars could be misdirected, accidentally or otherwise, to abortions. I would rest happy knowing that women's healthcare needs were taken care of outside that which I don't support.
I kinda wish the backlash of the Susan G. Komen funding problem didn't cause them to cave to political pressure and change their rules to allow funding of Planned Parenthood to continue. The issue will now go away and further discussion and inspection of these topics will no longer be a central theme in our conversations. Even though the Susan G. Komen foundation stated clearly their move wasn't tied to abortion it was tied to a government investigation and their grant rules, the fact that we were all talking about Planned Parenthood and what it stands for was a good thing!
I can't tell you how many mothers with whom I spoke, like me, used Planned Parenthood in their youth and are supporters of the healthcare side of it. All of my Christian friends were in agreement that the abortion side of Planned Parenthood really made them uneasy regarding the organization. And this, despite their fervent belief that the women's healthcare delivery side of it was necessary and beneficial to many under-serviced women and communities.
We need to talk about these issues, understand these issues and re-evaluate where we stand on these issues. We can't keep shoving this to the back burner and giving up on debate. We need to talk about it, and hear the sides. Stephen Covey says, "seek first to understand." We need to listen. Then we need to think. Then we need to talk.
As for me, I've been many places on my journey, but after much introspection and prayer I have come to conclusion that life matters. It matters a whole lot.
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
Repeat, Reuse, Recycle
I'm tired of politicians using the same line over and over again but not actually putting their words into practice. It's on BOTH sides of the aisle, so I'm not bashing one over the other here. It's a problem rampant throughout our political system.
It's for the children! We need to do something about the environment! We have to reform social security!
Time and again the call rings out in speeches, year after year, the same rhetoric, and not one single foot steps forward on any of these issues. THEN, if the government DOES act, it's a disaster. Take the incandescent light bulb nonsense. Instead of energy-sucking incandescent bulbs, I must now buy eco-friendly, kilowatt-saving bulbs. Never mind that they are filled with deadly poisonous mercury (green, indeed!) and when I need to get rid of them I have to take them to a center set up specifically for hazardous waste disposal. And if I break one, I practically need to call in a HazMat team. Um, yeah, that's SO much better. Thank you, government.
Here's an excerpt from the Weekly Standard highlighting Obama's common phrases...
"Obama 2010: "It's time for colleges and universities to get serious about cutting their own costs.
http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/havent-we-heard_618462.html
It's for the children! We need to do something about the environment! We have to reform social security!
Time and again the call rings out in speeches, year after year, the same rhetoric, and not one single foot steps forward on any of these issues. THEN, if the government DOES act, it's a disaster. Take the incandescent light bulb nonsense. Instead of energy-sucking incandescent bulbs, I must now buy eco-friendly, kilowatt-saving bulbs. Never mind that they are filled with deadly poisonous mercury (green, indeed!) and when I need to get rid of them I have to take them to a center set up specifically for hazardous waste disposal. And if I break one, I practically need to call in a HazMat team. Um, yeah, that's SO much better. Thank you, government.
Here's an excerpt from the Weekly Standard highlighting Obama's common phrases...
"Obama 2010: "It's time for colleges and universities to get serious about cutting their own costs.
Obama 2012: "Colleges and universities have to do their part by working to keep costs down."
***
Obama 2010: "And we should continue the work by fixing our broken immigration system."
Obama 2011: "I strongly believe that we should take on, once and for all, the issue of illegal immigration."
Obama 2012: "I believe as strongly as ever that we should take on illegal immigration."
***
Obama 2010: "We face a deficit of trust."
Obama 2012: "I've talked tonight about the deficit of trust . . ."
***
Obama 2010: "We can't wage a perpetual campaign."
Obama 2012: "We need to end the notion that the two parties must be locked in a perpetual campaign."
***
The good news is that after a couple years these sorts of speeches begin to write themselves."
Yup, and what exactly has HE done other than repeat these tired, old lines? At least he's recycling. Career politicians need to be ousted. We need term limits NOW!http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/havent-we-heard_618462.html
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
Occupy Wall Street Money Woes
So you know in theory I agree with what the OWS crowd stands for: a smaller and less-involved government, revoking government officials ability to profit from their own legislation, and sweeping reformation of the banking system.
I don't agree with their Sixties-style sleeping, living and defecating on public property methods, but if these are in fact their stance on the issues, I do agree with them.
Here's a tidbit I learned today. OWS is fighting over money. I know, ironic, huh?
The protesters who stand for the little people and against big business and big profits found themselves on the receiving end of $700,000. As of this week they've winnowed that boon down to $170,000 left in their coffers. And, that's causing quite a stir in the camps.
How did this happen?
In an article in the Wall Street Journal, Steven Ahmadi, a protester who has been on the scene since the beginning says, "With such an influx of donations, we've begun to rely on economic capital."
He diagnosed the group's problem as the "nonprofit industrial complex." Which he defines as the "trap that the mission becomes more about sustaining the organization than its message."
I think many of us could have seen this coming. They have become that which they protest against.
We have to be very careful about this, especially as the "class warfare" fight heats up this year. It's not only the love of money that is evil, but also the protecting of money. When people stake their claim on a piece of the pie, the fight becomes about sustaining their very own piece and no longer about the core issues.
I think the OWS crowd is finding out that it's not so easy when they're the stewards of capital. There's something inherent about money that makes us act in ways that divert us from our core causes and beliefs. You see this happen time and again in churches, organizations, governments, families, etc. When the focus goes from our endeavors to paying for our endeavors, money can hypnotize, it can entrance, it can seductively woo. We leave friendships, partnerships, ideals, morals and even God at the door when we enter the bank vault. We commit crimes we normally wouldn't when money is concerned.
The OWS crowd is fighting now over how the funds have been spent, and how they will continue to be spent. Not that they've left much to work with. These days 170K isn't much for any company or organization. So much for the camps' "nic at nite" booths where you can roll your own tobacco for free.
The ugly truth, I believe, is that evil doesn't use money to thwart us, evil IS money.
I know the Biblical passage: the LOVE of money is the root of all evil. Well, I'm not so sure those hippies in the Sixties didn't get it right when they said, "Money is the root of all evil."
Money can solve problems, surely, but I've seen more done on a shoestring budget with human sweat equity than I've seen done with a large donor check. Usually the large check is the start of an organization's problems. How to spend it, when to spend it, who gets a say in the spending, who gets a cut of it...blah, blah, blah. You see where this goes?
Money seems to me to be a stumbling block not a pathway to goodness. If it can make the idealistic OWS crowd leave their core issues and bicker over their bank balance, then this looks to be a microcosm of everyone's dealings with money. From personal finances to big business to federal government, the spending of money is an instigator for fighting.
In this year 2012, we'll be hearing more and more about "class warfare." They don't call it "class bickering" or "class tiffing" for a reason. It's decidedly "class WARFARE." Money makes war and war makes money. But it is money that trips us up like a wedding reception's open bar to alcoholic Aunt Edna. There will blatant video footage.
Money. Fighting. People. I don't have a nice, neat answer or perfect wrap up for all this either. I'm just thinking out loud....
I don't agree with their Sixties-style sleeping, living and defecating on public property methods, but if these are in fact their stance on the issues, I do agree with them.
Here's a tidbit I learned today. OWS is fighting over money. I know, ironic, huh?
The protesters who stand for the little people and against big business and big profits found themselves on the receiving end of $700,000. As of this week they've winnowed that boon down to $170,000 left in their coffers. And, that's causing quite a stir in the camps.
How did this happen?
In an article in the Wall Street Journal, Steven Ahmadi, a protester who has been on the scene since the beginning says, "With such an influx of donations, we've begun to rely on economic capital."
He diagnosed the group's problem as the "nonprofit industrial complex." Which he defines as the "trap that the mission becomes more about sustaining the organization than its message."
I think many of us could have seen this coming. They have become that which they protest against.
We have to be very careful about this, especially as the "class warfare" fight heats up this year. It's not only the love of money that is evil, but also the protecting of money. When people stake their claim on a piece of the pie, the fight becomes about sustaining their very own piece and no longer about the core issues.
I think the OWS crowd is finding out that it's not so easy when they're the stewards of capital. There's something inherent about money that makes us act in ways that divert us from our core causes and beliefs. You see this happen time and again in churches, organizations, governments, families, etc. When the focus goes from our endeavors to paying for our endeavors, money can hypnotize, it can entrance, it can seductively woo. We leave friendships, partnerships, ideals, morals and even God at the door when we enter the bank vault. We commit crimes we normally wouldn't when money is concerned.
The OWS crowd is fighting now over how the funds have been spent, and how they will continue to be spent. Not that they've left much to work with. These days 170K isn't much for any company or organization. So much for the camps' "nic at nite" booths where you can roll your own tobacco for free.
The ugly truth, I believe, is that evil doesn't use money to thwart us, evil IS money.
I know the Biblical passage: the LOVE of money is the root of all evil. Well, I'm not so sure those hippies in the Sixties didn't get it right when they said, "Money is the root of all evil."
Money can solve problems, surely, but I've seen more done on a shoestring budget with human sweat equity than I've seen done with a large donor check. Usually the large check is the start of an organization's problems. How to spend it, when to spend it, who gets a say in the spending, who gets a cut of it...blah, blah, blah. You see where this goes?
Money seems to me to be a stumbling block not a pathway to goodness. If it can make the idealistic OWS crowd leave their core issues and bicker over their bank balance, then this looks to be a microcosm of everyone's dealings with money. From personal finances to big business to federal government, the spending of money is an instigator for fighting.
In this year 2012, we'll be hearing more and more about "class warfare." They don't call it "class bickering" or "class tiffing" for a reason. It's decidedly "class WARFARE." Money makes war and war makes money. But it is money that trips us up like a wedding reception's open bar to alcoholic Aunt Edna. There will blatant video footage.
Money. Fighting. People. I don't have a nice, neat answer or perfect wrap up for all this either. I'm just thinking out loud....
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