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A place for announcements, suggestions and activities related
to the the John Galt Pledge initiative.
--
C. Jeffery Small
Click here to take The John Galt Pledge
The John Galt Pledge Initiative Blog
-- C. Jeffery Small |
Click here to take The John Galt Pledge |
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"I don't make jokes. I just watch the government and report the facts." — Will Rogers
"But it ain't funny!"" — Me
03-09-10 4:30 PM
Gangster Government |
Subject: We Now Have A Total Gangster Government
The real State of the Union. As Michael Barone put it a year ago, we now have a "Gangster Government" operating in place of what should be a free market.
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03-06-10 7:30 PM
Jon Bon Jovi |
Subject: Bon Jovi Turns Concerts Into Obama Worship Services
In an article on the Free Republic website entitled: Jon Bon Jovi Takes United We Serve on Tour (Turns Concerts Into Obama Worship Services), the rock singer Jon Bon Jovi will be using his current concert tour as a vehicle to preach to the audience with a prepared video, calling upon them to visit the government's United We Serve website and sign up to volunteer their time, effort and money to the community and the nation. In addition, Bon Jovi created a Public Service Announcement that will be used by the government to further promote this activity. Remember, this is just one more piece of propaganda being produced by the Corporation for National and Community Service, an organization that in just the last two years has received over $2 billion of your taxpayer funds to be used to promote this "volunteer" activity, while Congress works to pass H.R. 1444, which contains provisions for imposing a mandatory national service requirement on every American citizen. |
03-05-10 10:50 AM
Michael Mann |
Subject: Climategate in Review
In order to facilitate better research into the facts surrounding the Climategate scandal, all of the information relating to global climate change has been consolidated on a single page, allowing easier updates. For more information, go to: |
02-22-10 12:30 PM
Medically Incorrect |
Subject: It's not "Health Care Reform", it's
"Government Reform"
In a Medically Incorrect video clip at PJTV, Dr. Peter Weiss demonstrates why the average conservative cannot be entrusted to man the battle stations in defense of our individual rights when it comes to most issues, including health care. Dr. Weiss argues for an alternative to the Democrat's health care legislation by proposing the following:
So, as is often the case in the give-and-take between progressives and conservatives, the battle is not government control vs. free-markets and rights, but simply an argument over exactly what form the government controls will take, with your freedom flushed down the toilet in either case. I think it is important to get our priorities straight on the health care issue. We need to be telling the conservative Republicans who are opposing the Democrat's health care legislation that we don't expect or want them to propose their own alternative version of health care reform. Government has no business being involved in the health care business at all. What we need and want from the Republicans is "Government Reform". They should be doing one thing, and one thing only, and that is working to repeal every piece of existing legislation that regulates, or otherwise interferes with the free market operation of the insurance, medical and drug industries. By continuing to call this "health care reform", we implicitly cede to the government our consent that it is all right for them to be thinking about health care at all. It's not, and this video clip demonstrates exactly why. The bills we require do not involve 2,000+ pages of exposition. They only requires a single sentence which identifies an existing piece of offending legislation and retires it. The solution to the problem of excessive medical costs is to get the government completely out of the picture. Stop the government from funding medical research completely, and private industry will perform that function, just as it once did. Eliminate regulations on these industries and free-market competition will expand choices and reduce medical costs, just as it does in every other unregulated industry. Contact your legislators and let them know we demand "Government Reform". Period. |
02-21-10 11:30 AM
US Congress |
Subject: An Open Letter to Congress on Health Care
I have just read an article in the New York Times which indicates that this weekend, President Obama is planning to send health care legislation to Congress, designed to be attached to a budget bill, and rammed through the Senate using the now widely publicized scam known as "budget reconciliation". After everything that has been said and written about this issue, I find this action truly unbelievable! Did Washington not receive the clear message that we the people sent to all of you with the recent election of Scott Brown in Massachusetts? If not, let me repeat it for you once again: We don't want the house version of the health care legislation. We don't want the senate version of the health care legislation. We don't want the President's version of health care legislation. We don't want the Democrat's version of health care legislation. We don't want the Republican's version of health care legislation. WE DON'T WANT THE GOVERNMENT TO BE INVOLVED WITH OUR HEALTH CARE IN ANY WAY, SHAPE OR FORM! We don't want the government controlling our lives and we don't want you interfering with the personal medical decision that we choose to make in consultation with our doctors. We don't want to be forced to obtain health insurance under penalty of fines and/or jail. We don't want our health providers and insurance companies to be regulated, forced to act against their own best professional interests, any more than we wish that upon ourselves. We don't want any new taxes. And we certainly don't want another huge financial liability imposed upon productive Americans, who already shoulder the unreasonable burden that you and your fellow legislators have placed there with a $12.4 trillion debt and a shiny new $3.8 trillion budget. Now, this draconian legislation that will cost trillions of additional dollars, is supposed to be added to a budget bill as though it were just another typical pork-barrel earmark! And this from the President that pledged to reform earmarks and make "his administration the most open and transparent in history." I hope that this is not a process that you are seriously considering supporting. Instead, you should be doing everything within your power to stop this abomination dead in its tracks. I'm watching, and so are millions of other concerned Americans all across the nation. And each day, with each new insult that emanates from Washington D.C., thousands more join our ranks. Most of us are simple citizens who would much rather be tending to our daily lives, but instead have been drawn onto the political stage by a steady stream of audacious actions so abusive to our individual rights, and so far outside the constitutional scope and powers granted to the federal government, that we are compelled to act. Through the growing Tea Party movement we are organizing, and as was just witnessed in MA, we will produce results. The choice you face is simple: you must decide what you intend to do in response to our growing numbers and strength. You can commit political suicide by charging ahead, supporting this legislation in the belief that your election to Congress has somehow granted you the right to force your wishes upon the American public against their will. Or you can sit on the sidelines, trying to remain unnoticed as this bill is pushed forward. Unfortunately, that's an old political tactic that no longer works under the new Tea Party reality, and this cowardly approach will have you targeted as well. Or you can stand up and loudly proclaim your opposition to this legislation on constitutional grounds. By taking a vocal, principled stand in service of the rights of every citizen you were elected to represent, you can transform yourself into a hero of the new political movement that is prepared to sweep across the national landscape. Make your choice -- or the choice will be made for you.
Sincerely, |
12-19-10 6:15 PM
Tea Party Debates |
Subject: New Tea Party Debate Reference Site
Robert Tracinski, the editor of The Intellectual Activist, has created a new website titled The Tea Party Debates, where he shares his personal experiences in planning and executing a candidates' debate with his local Tea Party organization. The information on this site may be used as a guide for others who wish to do the same. Currently, the website contains information in the following areas:
As Robert says:
Why not indeed! Get involved with your local Tea Party group and help build momentum during the next few election cycles for a renewed commitment to individual rights and liberty for all. |
02-18-10 10:00 AM
The Rights of Man |
Subject: The Rights of Man
There is a new activist website titled The Rights of Man which, as the name implies, is intended to promote the spread of ideas in support of individual rights, as articulated in the U.S. Constitution. The main thrust of this site is directed at the creation of letters which can then be easily mailed to selected recipients such as politicians or media contacts. Additionally, letters made public on this site may be reviewed by others, and if desired, signed and mailed by them to the recipients, thereby increasing each letter's impact. I encourage you to visit this site and craft your own contributions in the battle to restore our freedom and rights. |
02-14-10 1:30 PM
Craig Mundie |
Subject: Government Takeover of the Internet
On April 1, 2009, Senators John Rockefeller [D-WV] and Olympia Snowe [R-ME] introduced the still pending S.773: Cybersecurity Act of 2009, which empowered the President to shutdown the internet for undefined "critical infrastructure information system or network" in the event of a further undefined "cybersecurity emergency". From the text of the bill:
On December 22, 2009, President Obama appointed former Microsoft security executive and Ebay CIO, Howard Schmidt, as the new "Cyber-Security Czar", with broad responsibilities to "secure government networks and critical U.S. infrastructures." This followed the March 11, 2009 appointment of Microsoft's chief trustworthy infrastructure strategist, Philip Reitinger, to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), where he was charged with "protection of the government's computer networks and [to] work with the private sector to help secure critical infrastructures." Of course, when you think of computer security, Microsoft is the name that first comes to mind! Now, we have Microsoft's chief research and strategy officer, Craig Mundie, proposing that access to the web should require government registration — something equivalent to a "driver's license" — that would eliminate anonymity and allow everyone's activity to be tracked by the government. As others have pointed out, this is similar to a scheme recently tried and abandoned by the Chinese government as too repressive. But that hasn't stopped the United Nations from expressing interest is something along these lines as well. So there you have it. Microsoft, a company which has demonstrated that it is unable to solve the technical problems relating to computer security, is now in charge of our technology infrastructure and proposing that instead, every citizen be registered, regulated and fully monitored as the best solution to achieving security. The current administration's march towards a totalitarian state continues, one bill, one czar, and one regulation at a time, with their relentless advance for the repeal of individual rights, starting with the right to free speech. And remember Rahm Emanuel's dictum:
I believe that J. R. Dieckmann summed it up best when he wrote about Obama's appointment of a cyber-czar:
'Nuff said.
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02-14-10 1:15 PM
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Subject: Climategate Update: 02-14-10
All of the information relating to climate change has been consolidated to a single page. For more information, go to: |
02-10-10 6:30 PM
Hyperinflation |
Subject: Preparing Americans for Hyperinflation
Here is a thought-provoking video that discusses the causes of
past hyperinflation in countries around the world and why the
current monetary policies in the United States are guaranteeing
that we are headed towards the same result.
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02-08-10 2:20 AM
U.N. Climate Chief Rajendra Pachauri |
Subject: Climategate Update
All of the information relating to climate change has been consolidated to a single page. For more information, go to: |
02-06-10 8:30 AM
Bloomberg |
Subject: So, was Joe Wilson wrong when he called Obama a lier?
In an article by Jonathan Weil titled, Obama's $6.3 Trillion Scam Is America's Shame, he reports that the President's latest $3.8+ trillion federal budget leaves out a few minor items that might have a little bit of impact upon the country. For example, this budget does not include:
Last year, the federal government lifted the $400 billion liability debt ceiling for Fannie and Freddie, pledging to cover unlimited losses through 2012! I guess this was necessary because at the same time they eased restrictions on the size of their investment portfolios, allowing them to accumulate more and more bad debt. As Weil comments,
So much for openness and transparency. I agree with Joe Wilson,
"Mr President, You Lie!"
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02-02-10 10:50 AM
Federal Jobs |
Subject: Solving the Unemployment Problem — One Federal Job
at a Time
In his State of the Union address, Barack Obama stated that he was going to focus on solving America's unemployment problem. A few days later he released details for his $3.8 trillion 2011 budget, indicating his intention to continue with his, so far, spectacularly failing plan to spend his way out of our economic woes. Today in the Wall Street Journal (WSJ), there is a report entitled Uncle Sam Wants You, which highlights just exactly how and where all of this "economic stimulus" is actually paying off. And the answer is: in the ranks of federal employees. As the WSJ reports, "civilian full-time equivalent employees" within the government's ranks has increased 14.5% in just the past two years, bringing 20 2.148 million, the number of federal employees in 2010. Unlike workers in private industry, federal employees neither produce nor contribute to the production of tangible goods and services that form the basis of our economy. Where as a worker in the private sector acts to generate wealth which pays for their own employment, government is simply a net consumers of wealth, and every new federal employee place an additional burden on the remainder of the economy to carry them. So, as usual, Obama is merely shuffling papers, moving names from the list of the "unemployed" to a new list of "federal workers". But the net effect is zero, because the funds for the salary of a government worker must be extracted from the surplus economic efforts of productive private-sector employees, just as the funds for an individual who receives an unemployment check must first be produced by others. It is all a game of smoke and mirrors, with no actual economic gain. But there is a terrible economic cost to all of this. For the billions and trillions of dollars that the government removes from the economy, directly through taxes, or indirectly through inflation, are funds no longer available for capital investment by businesses actually engaging in processes of true wealth creation. This retards the recovery and expansion of the economy, which means new productive jobs are not created, which means that real unemployment remains high. |
02-01-10 11:30 AM
The Chronicle of Philanthropy |
Subject: President's Budget Proposes Increase for National
Service
As reported by Suzanne Perry in The Chronicle of Philanthropy: It seems like just a short time ago that jaws were dropping over the 2010 budget of $1.15 billion for the Corporation for National and Community Service. Well, our budget-conscious President, who, in his State of the Union address just pledged to freeze non-critical, discretionary spending and work to reduce the federal deficit, announced his shiny new 2011 budget at a mere $3.8+ trillion. And the folks at the Corporation for National and Community Service, who are responsible for implementing mandatory community service (i.e., Service-Learning) requirements on students — and if H.R. 1444 is passed, national service requirements on all the rest of us — managed to get a hefty raise of a quarter of a billion dollars, bringing there total budget to $1.4 billion. Well, that answers one question. For Barack Obama, there is nothing "discretionary" or "non-critical" when it comes to enslaving American citizens — just so long as it is done for the noble purpose of sacrifice and service to state. |
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01-31-10 12:00 PM
Atlas Shrugs |
Subject: Obama Continues to Organize his Youth Army!
Got that! Obama is using the public school system as a means to recruit an army of youth organizers specifically focused on the upcoming 2010 elections. And he is proposing that the schools extend classroom credit to the students for their participation! This "internship" is nothing more than a ten-week, socialist, youth army, propaganda, indoctrination program. Let's look at some of the highlights:
Suggested Reading: "Rules for Radicals" by Saul Alinsky, and "The New Organizers" by Zack Exley Week 2: What is Organizing?: Building Relationships and Organization
Suggested Reading: "Dreams of my Father" by Barack Obama Week 3: What is Organizing?: The Power of Good Data and Reporting
Week 4: Strategizing for Effective Change
Suggested Reading: "Stir It UP: Lessons in Community Organizing and Advocacy" by Rinku Sen, and "Politics the Wellstone Way: How to Elect Candidates and Win on the Issues" by Wellstone Action Week 5: Developing Leadership
Week 6: Managing Events
Week 7: Building Coalitions
Suggested Reading: "A Strategic Approach to Collective Action: Looking for Agencies in Socialist-Movement Choices" by James M. Jasper Week 8: Working with the Media
Week 9: Utilizing New Media
Week 10: Celebration, Evaluation & the Long Haul of Change
Potential Action: "Have Intern agree to participate in a December conference call with OFA headquarters (and ideally a special guest). During the call, we can unveil our larger strategy for student and youth strategy [sic] in the states. After the call, we will follow up with specific contacts for each participant so that they can get immediately get [sic] plugged in to OFA's efforts within their communities." See Pamela Geller's website for photocopies of the entire document which she obtained from a concerned parent who's son had received it in his government class. As the agenda outline makes clear, the purpose of this "training" is to create a student army that continues the President's push for passage of his health care, energy and education reform legislation. And if you believe that this would only affect students who have already developed a deep commitment to political activism, then you haven't been paying attention. As I have reported here in depth, through its Service-Learning program, the government is imposing mandatory community service requirements upon students of all ages, making this a necessity for them to graduate each year. Faced with meeting this onerous new obligation, every student must waste their time looking for some form of labor that is acceptable to their school. Then their teachers dangle this "opportunity" in their faces, telling them it will not only fulfill their community service requirement, but will earn them class credit as well. Just another masterful example of the government employing the carrot-and-stick approach in order to force people to do its bidding. And who pays for all of this? Why you, the taxpayer. As I reported here and here, for their 2010 budget, the Obama administration has handed over $1.149 billion dollars to the Corporation for National & Community Service, which then uses that money in the form of grants, to entice school districts to impose Service-Learning programs upon their students. So, once again, the government is using your own money against you, to undermine your liberty. Another interesting thing to notice in the OFA Internship document is the proposed reading list, which is nothing less than primer for the progressive left. And notice that, despite a year's worth of serious criticism on this point from many commentators, Obama is still proudly reading from the play book of Saul Alinsky, the radical who wrote, in typical Marxist class-warfare fashion:
Well, there you have it. For Obama, this is nothing less than an all out war for power and control — not just over your health care, or the economy — but control over your very life. With the push for mandatory national service for all Americans currently winding its way through Congress in the form of H.R. 1444, we are rapidly moving towards the fulfillment of Rahm Emanuel's dream of having the government impose its idea of "basic training and understanding" upon each of us, making sure that we learn the "universal sense of service" that will "give Americans, once again, a sense of what they are to be American". Translated: "If you don't agree with Barack, then your simply not an American ... and we plan to fix that!" The final thing to be learned from this document is just how organized these "community organizers" actually are. They have developed a well thought out, highly structured program to implement their agenda and they are following through with their plans. And with Obama in the White House, they now have access to considerable funds — your funds — which they can use to achieve significant results. If they are not stopped, in the long run they will certainly achieve their purpose. Therefore, it is imperative that we act in opposition to end this nightmare. We must continue to attack on every new front, chopping off each tentacle until they have no more to extend. And then we will lop off the head and put an end to this nightmare.
The chickens are all coming home to roost. Everyone who cares about
the future of this country, whether you have children in school or not,
needs to take action agains this abomination. Get in touch with your
local schools and find out where they stand on the matter of
Service-Learning programs and determine whether they have received
these OFA Internship forms, and if so, whether they passing them out
to the students. If you are a parent in the PTA, raise these issues
with other parents and organize protests over the transformation of
our government schools from nominal places of education into socialist
indoctrination camps. And everyone should be loudly protesting against
Obama's totalitarian tactics of attempting to create a youth brigade
to serve his overt political agenda. If this doesn't qualify as
clearly illegal activity, and if people don't rise up in a storm of
protest, then I truly fear for the future of this country.
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01-29-10 4:30 PM
WorldNetDaily |
Subject: Being a Senator is Hard Work!
Bob Unruh of the WorldNetDaily, reports that over the past two years, Nancy Pelosi has billed the U.S. taxpayers over $101,000 just for in-flight food and liquor! That's roughly $1,000 per week! And just how often does she fly? Well, enough to rack up a total exceeding $2.1 million in expenses for her use of Air Force One jets, which amounts to about $20,200 per week. Quoting Tom Fitton, the president of Judicial Watch:
Well, when you're one of the Ruling Elite, having to bear the responsibility of micro-managing the lives of over 308 million people, it can make you hungry — and thirsty! And remember when the heads of the automotive companies flew to Washington on their private jets and were roundly criticized by Congress? Well, this is different, because those executives were running failing businesses, while Pelosi is the head of a thriving enterprise that has a mere $12 trillion debt (soon to be over $14 trillion) and an unfunded liability of well over $100 trillion. So, for having done such a swell job, I think we can all agree that she's earned her perks. And if she's a teensy bit sanctimonious, well, who can blame her? 'Cause being a senator is hard work! |
01-28-10 3:30 PM
Public Forum |
Subject: Invitation to a New Discussion Forum at Go-Galt.org
A new public bulletin board has just been added to the go-galt.org website. This forum is intended as a place for discussions relating to current events and political issues, from an Objectivist (e.g. libertarian) perspective. I would like to invite anyone interested in participating in these discussions to sign up and join in. Click here to visit the forum.
This is a set of introductory discussion categories to get things
started:
If you would like to discuss an issue that doesn't obviously fit into one of these areas, additional categories can be created. Let us know your views and thoughts on the important subjects facing each individual and the country today. I look forward to hearing your thoughts. |
01-22-10 4:00 PM
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Subject: And this is how it's done ...
Here is an excerpt from today's announcement from the Corporation for National & Community Service, the agency that, on December 16, 2009, received $1.149 billion when Obama signed the Fiscal Year 2010 Consolidated Appropriations Act:
With over $1 billion of unearned taxpayer dollars, the agency dangles grants in front of various groups and educational institutions, only asking that they engage in a process of indoctrination of their youth in exchange for the funds. Bit by bit our already failing educational system is being transformed into a community work camp, where students are forced to contribute their labor while being trained for "a lifetime of service". Once again I raise the call-to-arms, asking concerned people to vocally protest this form of further intrusion into our educational system which is allowing the Obama administration to sneak in their program for nationwide mandatory service, one student at a time. |
01-20-10 5:20 PM
Scott Brown |
Subject: My Direct Letter to Scott Brown
I just sent Senator-Elect Scott Brown the following letter.
The election of Scott Brown is a watershed event with many positive consequences. But Brown has demonstrated with his actions before the election, and comments made afterwards, that he is not a person who sees the relationship between a government and its people as it was intended by the framers of the Constitution. I suggest that everyone who supported his election write their own letter to Scott Brown, letting him know that he is representing all citizens of this country, not just those of his home state, and explain to him your views and expectations for his term in Congress. Let's make sure that as he heads off to Washington D.C., he goes with a clear understanding of his proper role.
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01-20-10 3:30 AM
Scott Brown |
Subject: An Open Letter To Scott Brown And His Supporters
Let me extend a huge thank you to all of the people in Massachusetts who turned out yesterday and voted for Scott Brown. You have each contributed to a political event that will have untold repercussions, both in the short and the long term. In casting your votes, you have spoken loudly, sending a clear message to President Obama and the Congress that the majority of the citizens in this country are opposed to the nationalization of the medical profession as well as the other socialist policies that these career politicians are doing their best to force upon us against our will. And I am also grateful to all of the other people across this country who spoke out in support of Brown's election and contributed their money, time, effort and commitment to seeing that this result could be achieved. It was an organized team effort, and we have achieved a rewarding result. There has already been much discussion in the press about various dirty tactics that the state of MA might attempt in order to block Brown from being certified and confirmed, until after the congressional vote on the health care bill. There are also reports of maneuvers that the House and Senate are cooking up to try to ram a bill through before Brown, a duly elected representative of the people, can cast his vote. It is difficult to predict what specific actions may actually be taken, but the MA state legislature and this Congress have each already demonstrated their contempt for the will of the people, for due process, and for allowing us to observe their underhanded, back room deal-making. President Obama was nothing other than a bold faced liar when he promised openness and transparency for his administration. Should the politicians resort to any of these underhanded measures, then we must act again and let our protest, in voice and action, become a wave that washes over them, drowning any hope for a political future. Let them know that Brown's election has only been a warning shot. And Mr. Brown, please do not let us down! You have been sent to Congress for one purpose: to do everything you can to stop the socialist juggernaut from crushing the spirit of America. Your job is to defend the rights of every individual and to cut the scope of government back wherever possible, doing what you can to return it to its singular function of protecting our rights, and nothing more. So once you have cast your vote against the health care legislation as you have promised, remain true to the principles of the people who elected you and continue the valiant fight to uphold the U.S. Constitution. Now everyone get out there and celebrate. You've earned it!
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01-17-10 2:00 PM
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Subject: Too Fat To Fail!
An article by Paul Hsieh in The Christian Science Monitor titled Universal healthcare and the waistline police starts out:
This is the fate in store for all Americans if we fail to stop the current health care legislation from passing, for if it does, the government will finally have a very powerful tools at its disposal, allowing it to reach into the personal lives of each citizen and control our actions as it sees fit. Paul concludes:
Read the entire article. Paul has it exactly right, except that I would challenge him on one important point. By categorizing our government as a "nanny state", he makes the common error of giving the benefit of the doubt to the government by assuming that its motives are all directed in our best interest. Nothing could be further from the truth! Our president and members of Congress know nothing at all about you and your unique circumstances, and could care less about your personal wellbeing. They have no interest in being you caregiver. That is simply a convenient fiction to conceal their true intent, which is to gain control over your actions and direct your life in service of their agenda. And their agenda is nothing more than raw, naked power. To them, you are merely a natural resource to be mined until your productive vein runs dry. Look at all recent actions taken or proposed by the government and identify the common denominator as it pertains to the American public:
And the list goes on. This is on top of the government having already nationalized the education, utilities and transportation industries, and heavily regulating the agriculture, manufacturing and pharmaceutical sectors, to name but a few. Where once we were a free people in a free country, able to pursue our lives in whatever manner we chose, so long as we didn't violate the rights of others, today our lives are so managed that it is extremely difficult to find some area where an individual may act without first seeking permission, paying a tax, or worrying that some agency might come behind and judge those actions to have been in violation of one of the unfathomable number of regulations that have been enacted. Don't oppose health care reform because it is bad medicine. Fight it for all you are worth because it is you personal freedom — and the freedom of all of your family members — that is at stake. And that is something worth fighting for!
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01-16-10 4:30 PM
LA Times |
Subject: Don't Worry, Be Happy! Yeah Right!
In a recent piece in the Los Angeles Times titled Researchers say it's official: TGIF, baby!, Shari Roan reports on startling research that reveals that "People are happier and feel better on the weekends". Who knew? The article reports:
So, this research from the University of Rochester has concluded that people find pleasure in "freedom", "personal autonomy", and "self-determination". Stop the presses! Maybe someone should inform the people in Washington D.C. that their intrusive meddling into the lives of the citizens, with their policies to regulate our every decision and action, is a clear violation of our right to the pursuit of our own happiness. In fact, let's start with the abomination known as health care reform which is explicitly designed to eliminate self-determination and freedom of choice for every one of us, destroying our individual autonomy and instead, treating us like a herd of cattle. Let's all make one final effort to contact the White House and our congressional representatives and let them know, in no uncertain terms, that their actions are making us VERY UNHAPPY, and that we DEMAND that they stop violating our unalienable rights and begin protecting them as they swore an oath to do when they took office. Oh yeah, and don't forget to let them know that now we have scientific proof backing us up! :-) |
01-11-10 4:30 PM
New York Post |
Subject: ObamaCare vs. the Constitution
As readers of this blog are aware, I have long argued that the agenda of the current administration is nothing less than an all-out assault on the most fundamental principles of the U.S. Constitution. As one example in support of this position, consider the recent article by Betsy McCaughey in the New York Post, titled, ObamaCare vs. the Constitution, which highlights five specific way that the congressional health care bill "rob you of your constitutional rights." Here is a quick summary of the issues identified:
It is critically important that we make an understanding of, and adherence to the U.S. Constitution, the cornerstone of all future political activity. Every candidate must be grilled on this, proving that they have a working understanding of the constitutional guarantee for the individual rights of each citizens. They must demonstrate their recognition of the constitutional constraints and limitations placed upon each branch of government. And they must prove that they are dedicated to actively protecting our rights and adhering to those limitations in every one of their political acts. Every piece of congressional legislation, and every action by the executive branch, must be explicitly validated on constitutional authority. In this way, the citizens of this country can once again assert their proper relationship to their government, and reign in the abuses that have grown over the past one hundred years. |
01-06-10 5:50 PM
Jerusalem Post |
Subject: Civic Responsibility Should Not Be Optional - Got That?
The call — no demand — for compulsory national service is a plague sweaping across entire world. Daily there are reports from countries in Africa, Australia, Asia, the Caribbean, the Middle East, Russia, and Western Europe. where politicians propose ever increasing draconian legislation that places the lives of average citizens under the control of their governments, to be directed to perform tasks which were not voluntarily chosen. Take, for example, the article written by Danny Ayalon, the deputy minister of foreign affairs in Israel. In a piece titled, Civic responsibility should not be optional, the author, while acknowledging that:
states that in the last election, his party, Israel Beiteinu, called for mandatory service:
Once again we see expressed, the view that the state is the primary civic entity, to which duty and loyalty are to be commanded from each of its subservient citizens. The United State may well be the next country to adopt this program, if the Obama administration has its way. Here is a link to the Americans for a National Service Act, a group with the following mission:
So, National service is "the most important public issue for the United States", and its implementation will make "solutions to all of our other problems possible", by forcing you to make a "decisive change" which will lead you to realize your relative insignificance as you are pushed into "selfless" service for "something greater than YOU". The day that every American citizen has virtually become enslaved to its government will be "the beginning of the end to all of our problems." I repeat my call for everyone who wishes to preserve their freedom, to fight this trend now in whatever way you can.
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01-06-10 4:50 PM
Doctors Vote |
Subject: What do doctors think about government control of
health care?
If you are a doctor, then I encourage you to visit the Doctors Vote website and complete the short survey. Let everyone know where you stand on the important issue of health care reform legislation, and what impact passage of that legislation will have upon you. |
12-30-09 3:30 PM
Brad Harrington |
Subject: The Hugest Heist in History
Bradley Harrington writes another excellent open letter regarding the problems that we face in light of the Obama administration's spending over just one short year.
Bradley Harrington is a former United States Marine and a free-lance writer who lives in Cheyenne, Wyoming. As Brad asks, "what do you intend to do about it?" In addition to the usual actions of writing and speaking out against the policies that are leading to the decline and fall of America, here are some activist-oriented organizations to investigate. If you find one that meets your requirement, join in and add your efforts to the cause of restoring liberty to America.
If you know of other good activist organizations or actions that you would like to recommend, please sent them to me and I will include them on this list.
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12-24-09 9:30 AM
Merry Christmas |
Subject: Happy Holidays
Dear Reader: Have a Merry Christmas and a Wonderful New Year!
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12-24-09 1:00 AM
01-20-10 |
Subject: Let's Strike!
Ken Cook has begun to organize a National Strike Day protest at he website, National Strike - January 20, 2010. The site is only a few days old and is still in the throws of organizational work, including defining exactly the form in which the strike will be executed. I would like to encourage every reader to visit the site, sign up, and get involved in helping turn this into an event with maximum impact. There is a forum and a set of member blogs where running discussions are being conducted. So please read what has been written and then contribute your own ideas. Whether striking by withholding goods and services for a period of time in order to demonstrate our numbers and our resolve — or by taking a variety of other actions that strike a note of fear in these entrenched politicians who have shown us their total contempt, it is important to add your efforts to the growing group of citizens across America who have reached the limits of what they are willing to tolerate. Standing shoulder to shoulder, we will march towards freedom and beat back a tyrannical ideology that wishes to enslave us to serve the whims of a ruling elite. Stand up for your individuality and demand the full set of rights to which you are entitled as an autonomous human being. |
12-20-09 10:20 PM
The Declaration of Independence |
Subject: The Second American Revolution: It's Time To Make Your
Stand
Today, Ben Nelson, the senator from Nebraska, declared that he is going to support the Senate's health care bill as the 60th member of a Democratic coalition that has no Republican support. As reported in The Huffington Post:
Other concessions? What could those be?
So taxpayers in other states will now also pick up the cost of expanded health care for Nebraska's residents similar to provisions that Harry Reid managed to write into the bill for Nevada citizens. Well, why not? It's all in keeping with the Obama administration's master plan for wealth redistribution. You still have some wealth left, and therefore it obviously needs to be redistributed to others. But is that the only last minute piece of pork added to the bill? Of course not.
Read Robert Tracinski's article, You Will Lose Your Private Health Insurance for a concise summary of the true implications and impact of the final legislation that will soon be voted on once the House and Senate bills are reconciled. With the imminent passage of the health care legislation, it is finally time to take a firm and uncompromising stand. As was stated over 233 years ago in The Declaration of Independence:
Unlike the TARP bailouts, and other incursions into the US economy, which, with stretched-to-the-limit incredulity, might charitably be credited as horribly misguided efforts with underlying good intent, no such claim could possibly be made for the Congressional health care bills. These are nothing more than a naked power-grab, granting to the government a significant increase in the direct control over the personal lives and decisions of every in America, intentionally destroying individual liberty. It is time to choose a side of the single greatest issue facing America, and declare your allegiance either to tyranny or to freedom. The time for the Second American Revolution is now at hand. It is up to every freedom-loving person to commit all of their intellectual, physical and financial resources to the cause of liberty. We must retake control of a government which no longer represents us - or else, we must abolish it. As we have seen demonstrated time after time over the past year, the opportunity for reasoned debate with the opposition has long since passed and the moment has arrived to pull out all of the stops and take forceful action on every possible front. Remember Ayn Rand's observation:
Those committed to destroying the US Constitution and enslaving all of us into serving their tyrannical ends will only succeed if we stand by and allow them to do so. Recognizing this fact, it is up to us to mount counter efforts. While new opportunities for action are being organized and put into effect all across the country, there are many things that can be done immediately. Here are some suggestions:
Working together, we will form an irresistible force that will beat back the destroyers of freedom.
In Liberty, |
12-17-09 3:00 PM
Michelle Malkin |
Subject: Community Service Thugs
Michelle Malkin reports on how some of your $6 billion tax dollars are being redistributed to thugs under the guise of "Community Service" work, in her article titled, Meet Philly's community service thugs: "A band of brigands". |
12-17-09 12:30 AM
George Monbiot |
Subject: Redefining Humanity
In an article titled, This is bigger than climate change. It is a battle to redefine humanity, published in The Guardian, George Monbiot lays bare the soul and the intend of the entire environmentalist movement. Describing the Copenhagen climate summit, he states:
And like all good socialists, the issue for Monbiot is not what will we, as individuals, become. The only relevant question is what will be the transformation for humanity as a whole — with all of the inconsequential individuals simply forced to conform to the collective will. And who is to decide this bold new direction for humanity? Well, for Monbiot that's a moot point as the decision has already been cast, with the consequences of that foregone decision sprinkled throughout the remainder of the article. Consider such prescient observations as the following:
"Now we find ourselves hedged in by the consequences of our nature, living meekly on this crowded planet for fear of provoking or damaging others. We have the hearts of lions and live the lives of clerks." "The summit's premise is that the age of heroism is over." "[I]t is ... a battle between two world views. The angry men who seek to derail this agreement, and all such limits on their self-fulfilment, have understood this better than we have." "[F]ossil fuels have granted the universal ape amplification beyond its Paleolithic dreams. [... allowing] us to live in blissful mindlessness" "The angry men know that this golden age has gone; but they cannot find the words for the constraints they hate. Clutching their copies of Atlas Shrugged, they flail around" "All those of us whose blood still races are forced to sublimate, to fantasise. In daydreams and video games we find the lives that ecological limits and other people's interests forbid us to live." "There is no space for heroism here; all passion and power breaks against the needs of others. This is how it should be" As Ayn Rand once wrote:
This article perfectly summarizes the real issue behind the environmental movement. I agree that it is concerned with nothing less than the redefinition of humanity. And the vision of that new humanity is as a passive video-gamer, vicariously placated by virtual-acts that were once undertaken in reality. With our lion hearts caged, and all thoughts of heroism ground out of existence, we will all voluntarily accept our new place as clerks and stewards of the planet, and sacrifice ourselves in service to "other people's interests". Nothing more can be expected when the "original sin" of our human nature unavoidably leads to "primal tragedy".
Monbiot articulates the polarity that exists between
environmentalists' view of mankind and those held by Ayn Rand. So,
who's the destroyer and who's the savior? The choice is yours.
Either lay down you copy of Atlas Shrugged and accept your redefined
role as a hapless, mindless sheep — or grasp your copy firmly
in hand and wield it as the tool it was intended to be, standing
proudly in the long tradition of our Paleolithic ancestors who knew
how to dream of a better future and then work creatively to realize
it.
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12-14-09 3:30 PM
Michael Ramirez |
Subject: Speaking of Service-Learning....
[Thanks to Cloud Downey for bringing this cartoon to my attention.] |
12-11-09 12:30 AM
The Chronicle of Philanthropy |
Subject: Increased Budget for National-Service Agency
From The Chronicle of Philanthropy comes the following news update:
Just keeping you informed of where your tax dollars are going. And as a reminder, the US National Debt is over $12,102,854,204,873.00, so what's another billion or so dollars? There's plenty more where that came from! |
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12-10-09 7:45 PM
Brad Harrington |
Subject: A Patriot's Open Letter
This open letter, written by Bradley Harrington to our political representatives, is an excellent articulation of the most fundamental issue currently facing our country. We are in nothing less than a battle for the enlightenment ideals of individualism, unalienable human rights and liberty that is embodied in our Declaration of Independence and Constitution.
Bradley Harrington is a former United States Marine and a free-lance writer who lives in Cheyenne, Wyoming. |
12-09-09 4:00 PM
Haaretz.com |
Subject: Service As A Social Norm
Israel has always maintained a national defense force by way of mandatory conscription, but even that country is upping the ante with a proposal to extend mandatory service to all citizens in the country. Reuven Gal reports in an article titled, " Service as a social norm", as follows:
The author then makes a stab at arguing against such a program on ethical grounds.
Unfortunately, he has lost the battle before he begins, because he has already ceded the fundamental principle that the State's needs supersede the rights of the individual when he allows that the existence of "an existential security threat" justifies "a system of compulsory conscription". Once that basic relationship between the State and its citizens is established, there is no valid argument remaining to counter the current proposal which claims that Israel's vital social needs should also be met by a new class of conscription. After all, a need is a need, whether stemming from internal or external causes. And here is why Mr. Gal is not able to mount a cogent defense:
He cannot fathom a proper defense based upon the rights of the individual, because he explicitly rejects such a concept. He advocates a social egalitarianism where all citizens are the same — in principle, if not in practice — with none supposed to rise above any other. And how would this unnatural result be achieved? By "impartial nurturing" — whatever that might imply! Maybe the "Service-Learning" programs in the US would fall under that heading? This puts a lot of faith in "social norms". Exactly how long can such a system stand up to "marginal elements" like me, not only refusing to participate, but making a loud vocal argument in opposition and encouraging others to exert their own independence by not participating as well. No, I'm fairly sure that a truly voluntary system will not meet the real goals of those people pushing this proposal. Just as the Obama administration realizes that it is important to pay lip service to the idea of "volunteerism" while funding the push for mandatory national and community service under the nation's radar. |
12-06-09 10:30 PM
UK Times Online |
Subject: Think Tank: National Service for 7-Year-Olds
An article by Sonia Sodha in the UK Times titled, Think tank: National service for 7-year-olds, highlights the scope and intent behind the drive to impose a mandatory national service requirement on the citizens of many countries across the globe. Although this story is about Britain, there is nothing here that doesn't apply equally to what is currently transpiring in the United States. Here are a few excerpts:
Just as I have been arguing throughout these many articles, the premise upon which the entire idea of national service rests is the socialistic belief that we are not sovereign individuals possessing an unalienable right to our own lives, but instead are merely components of society; a group to which we "owe something" simply as a consequence of our existence. And in fulfilling that duty, we must strive to make our subservience to the state something more "soulful". Please write to me with an explanation if you have any idea what this actually means. It must be important because it comes from a "think tank"! And just like voters in Chicago, the British plan is to enforce their program early and often. With a bold stroke, they would conscript you at age seven and then keep a guiding hand on your throat throughout the remainder of your life. But there is nothing further to discuss, since the "community benefits would be huge". Any what could be more beneficial that dragging productive citizens away from their selfish "tools or keyboards" and reassigning them to perform valuable community tasks like "picking up litter", "dredging canals" and "reading to the elderly". Actually, it sounds more like a plan for teaching an entire country how to Go Galt! To further demonstrate that words have lost all meaning for a great segment of society, the think tank, Demos, states right at the top of it website:
They are first and foremost promoters of "free and powerful citizens", with the intent of giving "people more power over their lives". Raise both of your hands if you think there is no contradiction between their stated purpose and their proposal for mandatory national service. For the rest of you, use your hands to pour a drink and raise a toast to 1984 - a few years late, but still arriving fully intact. |
12-06-09 12:45 AM
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Subject: "Service-Learning" in Action
I thought the following was funny. On AirCargoBlog.com, a desperate high school student is looking around for some "community service" work, apparently in order to fulfill his mandatory requirement for graduation so that he might be allowed to attend college. A couple of the responses were, ahem, interesting. Here is the initial query:
Here is a portion of the first response:
Yes, as I pointed out previously, the function of "community service" does have a bit of an identity problem. It does amaze me that most educators seem oblivious to the fact that mandatory service requirements, imposed upon students, certainly convey the stigma of a punishment, which no amount of verbal whitewashing can conceal. And here is the second response received:
I actually feel sorry for this poor kid. In his struggle to complete this assignment, he has clearly been given no guidance and is, in my opinion, rightfully clueless about what others expect of him. It is difficult to know if he is making a good faith effort to perform real work for his 72 hour sentence, if he thinks that this work would benefit his community, or if he sees the job of cleaning planes as a way to pocket treasures left behind by passengers. But one thing is for sure. These are 72 hours that have nothing to do with education and everything to do with socialization.
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12-04-09 1:02 PM
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Subject: Climategate begets Googlegate
In a nice piece of investigative work, Harold Ambler reports on his website, Talking About The Weather, about Google's apparent attempt to minimize the damage being done by the Climategate scandal, by removing the term "Climategate" from Google's auto-suggest function. Harold reports that as the scandal was initially breaking, it was possible to type the letters "c-l-i" and see a suggestion for "climategate" displayed. As the news reports continued to mount, the number of relevant hits for climategate continued to rapidly rise, currently yielding just under 30 million hits. Despite this, Harold notices that as of December 1st, Google would no longer offer "climategate" as a suggestion. Why? Harold contacted a person in Google's global communications department and asked for an explanation, but received no satisfactory answer. Read his article for the entire disturbing story. Note that as of December 4th, Google will suggest "climate gate" as a possible entry (currently with about 10 million hits), but "climategate", with three times as many entries, has still gone missing. To fully understand this story, it is important to know that Eric Schmidt, Google's CEO and Chairman, has been a vocal supporter of Barack Obama, and an advisor to the current administration on energy policy. Quoting from Wikipedia,
This shows that he is not a disinterested party with regard to this
topic. Could these results be benign. Possibly. However, it is
certainly not obvious that an unbiased mathematical algorithm would
operate in this manner, thus leading to the speculation that the
results are being massaged in service of a political agenda.
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12-04-09 11:45 AM
Slippery Rock University |
Subject: New Government Program Pays Students For Community
Service
As reported by Mike Madden in the Slippery Rock University's newspaper, The Online Rocket, The government is extending its national service claws into universities by paying college students to perform community service work.
As economics major Matt Ligman comments later in the article:
Even this student can see the folly in this. But no one seems to be asking the really important question. "If this program doesn't teach hard work, then what does it achieve?" The only answer is that it makes more people both wards of and servants to the state, by getting them to rely upon the government to provide for an ever widening sphere of their wants and needs in exchange for a willingness to do the government's bidding. |
11-28-09 11:20 PM
What Did I Do? |
Subject: The UK: Just One Small Step Ahead of Us
In the UK Telegraph, Julie Henry reports on Britain's plan to impose 50 hours of mandatory national service upon all of the country's youth. Apparently Gordon Brown has been listening to Michael Caine and decided that this move is just what the UK needs to help solve its current problems. However, there appear to be some unintended consequences of this measure. Who would have guessed?!!
Fantastic. It's a double play! Not only is every child throughout the country going to be forced into indentured servitude, but the plan will eventually result in a thorough background check of every citizen in the country. Slavery and the complete destruction of individual privacy all in one package. And don't forget the added extra bonus of all those new government jobs created to administer the bureaucracy for these new programs. A few more taxes should cover that. No, I was wrong, it's a triple! If we can just get this distracting health care bill passed, then I feel confident that our president will have the time to focus on a bright and shiny mandatory national service requirement of our own. After all, why should Britain have all the fun, and Gordon Brown get all the glory? |
11-28-09 5:00 PM
Academy of St. Joseph |
Subject: School Requires Parents to Perform Community Service
According to an article by Elizabeth Humphrey titled, School Requires Parents to Perform Community Service, the Academy of St. Joseph in NYC is now requiring family members of its students to perform community service work.
Notice how the article's author slides right into todays double-speak. A "requirement" is called "volunteering" and the mandated program is a "partnership", just like the public/private "partnership" our government now has with many of our fine financial and business institutions. There is no need for the Obama administration to make headlines by imposing a mandatory national service requirement on all Americans from the top down when they are already doing such a fine job of achieving the same results from the bottom up, through our school system! The community service requirement started with seniors and was then extended to all high school students. Junior high students followed, and then the program was expanded throughout grade school. Now the parents are being required to participate. That does a pretty good job of snaring the majority of the populace right there. And it is all happening with hardly a peep of protest from the general public. |
11-26-09 8:00 PM
Joe Galloway |
Subject: Thanksgiving: Learning How to Appreciate Your Rights
Joe Galloway is a combat journalist and author of the book "We Were Soldiers Once ... and Young". On a recent book tour through Lubbock, TX, he offered his views on military conscription, as reported in this article from Texas Tech:
In a video interview attached to the article, Mr. Galloway states:
This got me thinking about the issue of Americans appreciating or failing to appreciate certain aspects of their lives, and I am in agreement with Galloway that many people in the U.S. have no real understanding of the nature of their individual rights, including their liberty, and therefore fail to properly appreciate them. But I cannot agree with Galloway's solution — the same one being proposed by the Obama administration — which is to violate those very rights in an effort to teach people to treasure them! The "right to life" identifies that each person's life is sacrosanct and may not be violated by another, while the "right to liberty" means that each individual may select their own goals and pursuits in accordance with their will, free from external compulsion. I am sure that it is true that if you conscript a person into national service for a few years against their will, command their every move during that period, and place them in combat situations where their very life is in grave danger, if they survive the experience and are once again freed, most people will come away with a deeper appreciation for their life and their liberty. Of course, the same thing can be said for a survivor of a Siberian Gulag, and, in principle, there is no real difference between these two situations, as both are violations of the rights of the individual. I also disagree with Galloway's interpretation of the Founding Father's intentions with regards to our rights. The Declaration of Independence states that we possess:
which means that these rights are absolute and an indivisible part of our human nature. Quoting from unalienable.com:
Clearly, if our rights are inherent, unalienable and exist outside of the Constitution and any formation of government, then they are not something that need to be earned. As the Declaration of Independence clearly states, governments are not formed in order to dispense rights, but instead:
The original purpose of our government's formation was to protect and defend the individual rights of each citizen. It is some twisted form of Orwellian illogic that concludes that those fundamental rights are protected by their violation! And it is the cruelest perversion when this method is applied to young, developing minds as is currently being done in public school civic classes all across the nation. In the name of "service-learning", school children are forced to perform hours of "community service" work while any discussion of the nature of individual rights and the guarantees of those rights in the U.S. Constitution are buried. And this is after these same children have already been conscripted into forced education. People's gaps in knowledge, resulting in a corresponding failure to grasp the true value of a thing, is certainly not limited to the abstract concepts of individual rights. If one believes that it is the government's function to determine what is of value for each of us, and that it is the government's further role to educate us to appreciate those values, even if force must be applied to achieve that goal, then, in the spirit of the Thanksgiving holiday, let's consider another program that might be implemented. I suggest that every American be required to live in an isolated log cabin in northern Minnesota for a period of two years: heating their home with wood that must be cut, hauled and split; getting water from a stream which must then be purified by boiling; using candles or open pit fires for light; butchering their own meat; plowing, planting, growing and harvesting their own crops; and maintaining the structure as required, including building an optional outhouse if desired. Of course, everyone would be encouraged to explore sources of alternative energy, sustainable forestry, organic farming, low-impact waste management, and energy conservation in their spare time. I know with absolute certainty that anyone surviving this wonderful experience would have "earned" a much greater respect and honest appreciation for: the hot dog that they purchase at their grocery store; the gallon of gasoline that they pump into their automobile; the flush of a toilet; the flick of a switch that floods the room with light; the push of a button that raises the room temperature by a few degrees; the convenience of picking up the telephone and calling a roofer when a leak is discovered; the simple pleasure of a conversation with another person; and so much more! If forced military, national or community-service are good ideas that are justified due to their beneficial effect upon the conscriptee, then I can see no argument against this proposal which would have considerably more beneficial impact. Impact being the operative word! Of course, I'm kidding. I would never suggest that a program like this was in any way justified in being imposed upon citizens of a free country. I was just making a point about individual rights and why conscription is wrong in principle. However, if someone were to suggest that we make this a requirement for anyone running for political office, then you would have my attention! Happy Thanksgiving! |
11-24-09 5:30 PM
Star Tribune |
Subject: Indoctrinating the Indoctrinators
As the government continues its speedy imposition of forced community service work on the country's students through the Service-Learning initiative, one might wonder just what sort of training do the teachers in these classrooms have for administering these programs, and what type of mentoring can we expect them to provide to their charges. Well, wonder no longer. In the Minneapolis-St. Paul Star Tribune, Katherine Kersten does an excellent job of reporting on one answer in her article, At U, future teachers may be reeducated. Did she actually mean to report that teachers were to be educated? No, she really means reeducated! From the article:
And only then will they will be ready to send forth and pass on their
indoctrination to your children.
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11-24-09 12:15 PM
Heaven and Earth |
Subject: Climategate: The Selling of the Big Lie
All of the information relating to climate change has been consolidated to a single page. For more information, go to: |
11-24-09 1:30 AM
Community Service |
Subject: More Mandatory Community Service for Students
In an earlier article, I reported that the Lockport Township, IL School District was considering imposing mandatory community service on all high school students as a requirement for their graduation. Well, as this follow up article indicates, they accomplished their mission.
The kids never had a chance. Once the fundamental principle of an individual's right to their own life was breached, and the government was handed the power to impose mandatory education on our youth, there was no effective argument remaining to protect them from the imposition of any other form of involuntary servitude. And these Illinois children are not alone. In the Arizona Central, a "recent news article" states:
"It is meant to teach students about being active citizens in a democratic society." The obvious lesson to be learned is that an active citizen in a democratic society is one who is commanded into action by an authority. "Having that requirement helps show students that they are a valuable part of the community and when they do good things, the community is a good place to live." This is a load of crap. If something is good to do, then people choose to do it voluntarily. Being forced to perform community service says that the community is good for me, when you are forced to do what I want you to do. The lesson is that others have decided that you owe an obligation to your community and you will be forced into discharging that duty, regardless of what you may think or choose. "Mike Barrera, ... said he wants his students to come away with a feeling of doing something good for people." And there it is. School is not about education, which is an intellectual pursuit. Instead, it is all about socialization, which is mindless emotional indoctrination. "The value of what they're doing now comes in when they're doing it on their own." Because, that's when we know that the indoctrination has taken root and the active, independent mind has been ground out of existence. |
11-22-09 6:50 PM
Health Care: It's a Gift |
Subject: Why The Republicans Are No Ally In The Fight Against
Health Care Legislation
[This is a slightly modified version of an article originally published on November 10, 2009] After the disastrous vote on the health care bill in the House, I received an email from my Republican, Washington State Representative, Dave Reichert, in which he indicated that he had voted against the bill. He then included the following attachment to his message as his antidote to what the Democrats were offering. This one page synopsis is similar to other Republican proposals I have seen. Here it is:
This demonstrates why many, if not most Republicans are not friends of liberty. The ideas being promoted in this document are not a clear alternative to the Democratic proposals, but merely a watered down "me-tooism", which cede every important principle to the Democrats while, for the most part, asserting exactly the same interventionist role for government in the lives of US citizens. In the loose language presented here — which is typical politician-speak so that the author cannot actually be pinned down to any specific action or outcome — it might be possible to charitably interpret the first point as a plan to rationalize medical malpractice, making the rules more objective, which could have favorable consequences to medical costs. Also, the idea of eliminating the tax laws that preclude individuals from receiving the same benefits for investing in their own health care is a worthy goal. Both ideas are obvious and matters of simple justice. However, beyond that, these proposals are all draconian. Instead of recognizing that government shouldn't be in the health care business at all, Reichert supports Medicare and CHIP programs and actually wants to expand them. Thus, he fails to comprehend that it is these very programs that are substantially responsible for distorting or destroying the proper functioning of the health care market and creating the very mess that we now find ourselves facing. His solution to the problem is to make the problem worse. He proposes to add 20-23 million additional children to the health care rolls, with no discussion of who is to bear these massive costs. He will increase medical coverage for an unspecified number of "pre- and early-retirees", again with no apparent regard for who will shoulder this burden. As I mentioned above, while one point seems to imply a loosening of restrictive tax laws in order to make health care fairer for all, there are other sections here where Reichert proposes to wield the tax code as the tool of choice to effect the types of results he wishes to see. How is this any different from what the progressive Democrats are doing? Like a parent attempting to "influence" their child to make a proper choice, he wields the tax code like a carrot and stick, in order to force citizens to take actions that they apparently would otherwise not choose to do of their own free will. Many of the proposals are simple forms of wealth redistribution, with one group of taxpayers being required to pay for the health care of another group. The numbers do not matter, theft is theft, and Reichert is prepared to engage in it just as readily as his counterparts. He demonstrates that he has no awareness or regard for the constitutionally guaranteed right to our own property. As with the Democrats, he sees us citizens as a "natural resource" to be mined or milked to whatever degree he deems necessary in order to support the goals he has decided are best. As a Republican, is Reichert sympathetic to business interests and does he support a free-market capitalistic economy? Absolutely not! He has no hesitation in proposing to tell insurance companies how they must conduct their business. He will write the terms of the contracts, specifying the age dependents must be covered under their parent's policy; forcing companies to accept all pre-existing medical conditions; detailing how coverage must be allowed to travel with the individual regardless of whether it was being provided contractually through an employer; and so on. He will intervene in some unspecified manner, to impose "interoperability standards" on the industry and "coordinate care between health care providers". He will "reward high-quality care". I'll leave it to your imagination what it means when the government — the repository of force — uses a word like "reward". This is Fascism, with the government making the business decisions while the owners are left to implement the policies and bear the risks associated with running those businesses. Reichert wants the government to "promote prevention and wellness". But where does he find the constitutional mandate for congress to engage in any such activity? The question is irrelevant because, just like the Democrats, he does not recognize the plain language of the US Constitution, and does not see his actions as a government representative being bound in any significant way by that document. He sees himself free to engage in any activity that he judges to be of interest. He has elevated himself from a defender of the constitutional rights of American citizens, to the role of dictator, making whatever decisions he desires, and then willingly imposing them upon his subjects. Reichert is not an exception. He is a very typical Republican congressman, and like most others, he is clearly not an ally in the fight to restore our vanishing liberty and individual rights. Just the opposite - he is numbered among the enemy. It is time to change the nature of the political conversation. In addition to all the other work being done to battle issues such as mandatory national service, government run health care, or cap-and-trade legislation, we must attack the government at its constitutional roots, making it clear to the wider public that congress has 1) no constitutional authority to engage in most of these areas, and 2) our representatives, who are pledged to uphold the constitution and defend the rights of the citizens, are doing just the opposite, and in so doing, deserve to be immediately removed from office. Challenge your Senators and Representatives on these constitutional matters and determine where they stand. If they are unwilling to act in service of the oath they have taken, then mount a campaign against them on constitutional grounds. I think you will be surprised to discover just how vulnerable they are in this area. It is a flank that they have not had to defend during their careers, and they are unprepared for an assault from this direction. |
11-21-09 3:40 PM
All Voices |
Subject: One Good Dose of Compulsion Deserves Another
Once you cross over the line by imposing mandatory education on children, you transform schools into prisons, with all of the associated problem that entails. Here is a short article that appeared on the website All Voices which is interesting for some of the selected follow up comments by parents and community members.
Never is it questioned by anyone that schools should not be a detention camp for troubled youth. Of course, if school attendance was not forced upon these kids, then only the ones who wished to get an education would attend and would not have their education disrupted by troublemakers who demonstrate that they refuse to learn. I also like how the school is considering "community service" as a punishment for students who misbehave. I wonder what message that sends to other students who are forced to perform community service as a mandatory requirement for their graduation. Will it be obviously clear that their community service is a "good thing" and not some form of punishment as well? Oh who cares. After the education that they are receiving, I'm sure that few of them will ever think to even ask the question. |
11-20-09 8:00 PM
The Hill |
Subject: Obama accused of doing favors for ally
From the website The Hill, we have the story, "Obama accused of doing favors for ally" which tells us something about the operations of the Obama administration, which pledged us "openness" and "transparency", but instead is conducting politics as usual by shielding its agencies from any form of serious scrutiny.
Hope and Change you can count on. |
11-19-09 4:00 PM
Prez. BO Speaks |
Subject: Get Off Your Butts and Volunteer
Maybe he listened to Mr. Twentyman from Australia, of maybe all geniuses simply think alike, but Obama is going to solve America's child obesity problem one "volunteer" at a time. As reported in USA Today in an article titled, President tackling kids' obesity, public service on White House lawn:
Of course, once the government controls all aspects of health care, then obesity will no longer be a personal problem, but a "public epidemic" with direct costs being born by the taxpayers. Therefore, the government will have every "justification" to step in and make sure that this problem — and its associated costs — are eliminated. Obesity will become a "crime against the state" and "terrorist eating" will no longer be allowed. Caloric intake might be rationed and monitored. Twinkies might be declared a "biological pollutant" and outlawed. Mandatory national service might consist of "forced labor" for your own health. Whatever the "solution", it is at that point that we will find out what the real definition of "voluntary" was. Of course, by then it will be too late to do anything about it. |
11-18-09 12:26 PM
Sylvia Bokor |
Subject: A Republic — If You Can Keep It.
Sylvia Bokor wrote a great editorial piece on her blog entitled, "A republic if you can keep it." As words of encouragement for continuing the battle to restore our lost liberty, I would like to quote the closing paragraph of that essay:
As for the rest of her article, I can confirm that I have received a similar response from all of my congressional representatives — both Republican and Democrat. They have all demonstrated a total disregard for my views and for my rights as an autonomous individual. Furthermore, they have demonstrated a total lack of understanding of the US Constitution and its purpose in protecting the rights of the citizens by restricting the allowable powers of the government. To win back our liberty, we must clear this congressional stable and replace most members of Congress with people who have demonstrated a comprehensive understanding and respect for our Constitution. |
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11-17-09 3:00 PM
The Chronicle of Philanthropy |
Subject: When $6 Billion is not enough.
You might remember that earlier this year, the Serve America Act was passed, taking an additional six billion taxpayer dollars and transferring them to the Corporation for National and Community Service in support of expanding national service programs of every size and color. Today, The Chronicle of Philanthropy reports that the Center for American Progress issued a report indicating that:
The report continues:
As is typical for a liberal think tank, a few billion dollars spent by the government will produce a wonderful flood of new jobs, while those same funds, spent or invested by the original owners (i.e., you and me) are simply wasted, producing no economic activity at all. Also, notice that if the think tank's projections are correct, then the 100,000 new jobs will all be created at the bargain rate of $15,000 per job. This would be a fantastic result in light of the many reports that the TARP funds have not been ably to achieve quite this ratio. For example, John Boehner, the House Republican leader, lists on his blog a story from the New Hampshire Union-Leader that reports that:
Yes, let's that the kind of program that fills me with hope. By all means, let's dump in another $1.5 billion. What could go wrong? |
11-17-09 2:15 PM
SEIU Lobbyist |
Subject: Unions Come Out Against Volunteerism!
Let's let the news story by Jarrett Renshaw of The Morning Call speak for itself.
Volunteerism is fine ... just don't do it in my back yard! And coincidentally, here is a link to another concurrent article titled SEIU Lobbyist, discussing what SEIU actually does support. |
11-14-09 10:45 PM
Australia |
Subject: Conscription: It's Not Just For Crime Any Longer
Apparently, after listening to Michael Caine spouting off in England this past week, certain people in Australia got the message and decided to up him one. As reported by Steve Lilleubuen in an article titled:
Mr. Twentyman has got Michael Caine beat by a mile! While Caine only wanted to reduce violence, Twentyman isn't about to be stopped by such shallow thinking. He is going to address crime and brushfires too. And he'll clean up the country's graffiti and trash to boot! But wait. That's not all!! If you pick up the legislative gavel and pass the law right now, he is going toss in, at no extra cost, the solution to societies child obesity problem as well! How, you ask? Why "through intensive physical training". But don't worry, because he promises, "It's not like you're going to be punished or be at a boot camp". Whew, I was getting a bit concerned for a moment. There is nothing contained in this Australian proposal that is not being pushed to an even larger degree by the current Obama administration and the entrenched members of Congress. Do what is necessary to put the breaks on this movement before it is too late. And one additional disturbing fact. Mr. Twentyman justifies his call for mandatory nationwide service as follows:
So, honest, friendly, well-behaved, law-abiding children must be enslaved so that we don't stigmatize those who are violent and commit crimes! This is becoming a familiar world-wide theme and is one of Obama's mantras. You need look no further than this single sentence to see with crystal clarity that egalitarianism and self-sacrifice are among the most evil ideas ever perpetrated upon mankind. Under the principle of treating everyone "fairly" and "equatability", all must be reduced to the lowest common denominator. The good is reduced to the bad; the heroic to the craven; the law-abiding are to be treated the same as the criminal; the productive stripped of their earnings so that they may rise no higher than the shiftless. Anyone who supports this view of man and this concept of inverted "justice" is nothing more than a destroyer. |
11-14-09 9:45 PM
Youth Service America |
Subject: I Am AmeriCorps ... Because Obama Says So!
Using federal taxpayer funds, the Youth Service America organization, which is primarily responsible for the implementation of the "service-learning" programs in schools, along with AmeriCorps, VISTA, Online Learning Center, United We Serve, and the Corporation for National and Community Service, has branched out to use YouTube as a recruiting and promotional tool. As they say on their YAS Service Wire website:
Heading over to their YouTube Resource Center, we are greeted with the following introductory promotional video. This consists of a number of AmeriCorps members holding an "I AM AmeriCorps" sign and telling us the reason for their involvement. In many cases you can see them reading their heartfelt "reason" off the back of the sign that they hold. Often, you cannot hear or understand what the speaker is saying. I was particularly impressed with one fellow who, at about 57 seconds into the clip, shows that he is a graduate from the Kutcher/Moore school of total subjugation, by proclaiming:
The lack of quality in the production and content of the majority of these YouTube videos is certainly some indicator of the level of results that can be expected from the remainder of the work projects being conducted by these organizations. It certainly seems to be the case that quantity takes precedence over quality. Is this where you would choose to have your dollars spent? Fortunately, you don't have to make weighty and troublesome decisions like this, since the federal government has taken over your life and is making all of these decisions for you. More soma anyone? |
11-12-09 3:42 PM
Michael Ramirez |
Subject: The Lighter Side of Pain
A couple of comics that make their point.
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11-12-09 10:45 AM
Lincoln School |
Subject: Middle school students learn about community service
The Lincoln Journal covers news from the central-eastern Massachusetts
region. The following are excerpts from an article published on
11-12-09 titled,
Middle school
students learn about community service:
Now, the compliant 12-14 year old children have learned to be "better citizens", having been taught that the "needs of others" place a moral claim on their time and energy; a duty which they must discharge through community service. And that's "just the beginning!" Education or indoctrination? |
11-12-09 12:23 AM
Michelle Obama |
Subject: Make Your Entire Life a Tour of Duty
The following excerpts are from an article by Christine Simmons of the Associated Press, titled, "Mrs. Obama says veterans' skills can help at home". Earlier today, in a Veterans' Day speech, Michelle Obama focused on how veterans could continue to serve their community and nation in ways that:
"For many of these folks, service is the air they breathe. They don't just want to serve for a certain number of years of deployment." On a day that is set aside to honor our veterans who have engaged in the difficult and often dangerous task of protecting and defending this country, instead of simply recognizing their work and offering an unqualified statement of thanks, the First Lady leads off with statements designed to cajole those honorable veterans into committing to an entire life of service to their country. Although we have had over a year to witness the President and First Lady in action, it is still breathtaking to see the level of inhumanity exhibited by these two, as they pursue their social agenda for this country, with total disregard for the existence of, or impact upon actual human beings. Here are additional passages from the article showing that the focus was on promoting the idea of national service, and not in honoring the veterans:
"Communities need veterans' knowledge in technical skills such as engineering, logistics and public safety, she said." "'Whether it's running a rural health clinic or rescuing a community struck by a natural disaster, our veterans have what it takes for success,' she said." "President Barack Obama signed into law earlier this year national service legislation that includes a Veterans Corps, designed to engage veterans in service."
And then we finally get to the entire point of this exercise:
The march towards universal conscription in this country continues. And don't think that its going to be a three-month stint either. As you can see from this speech, the plan is really for life-long servitude. |
11-11-09 9:30 PM
Michael Caine |
Subject: Principles? What Principles?
Back in April of this year, Michael Caine spoke out, taking a very strong position against massive tax increases in the UK. He said:
Sir Michael seems to think that he deserves to keep the product of his considerable labors, and decries the mooching "layabouts on benefits" that he is forced to support. I cheered when he made this pronouncement, thinking that it was about time that more public figures stood up for themselves and used their access to the press to make a principled case to the general public in support of individual rights. However, I guess I didn't really understand Mr. Caine's actual position. Today, in response to the level of violence currently being witnessed in the UK, he began to channel Rahm Emanuel, coming out in favor of the British government imposing a national service requirement upon all youth in the UK.
"There should be a great plan to re-educate these youngsters. It's such a waste they all feel society has let them down." Do the youths of Britain have a right to their own lives? No! According to Mr. Caine, their lives are at the disposal of the government, to do with as the government sees fit — just so long as it doesn't "let them down". And it is not just their lives, but in proper Orwellian fashion, their minds as well, which, are available for a dose of that good old-fashion re-education. Where I see the principle of individual rights being applicable in both of these situations, Mr. Caine appears to treat them as unrelated and applies his unique brand of pragmatic problem solving to each. In the case of taking his money, apparently that's wrong because he doesn't like it. In the case of conscripting youths into national service, that's just fine because he thinks it would be good for them. Or stating it another way, it is perfectly fine for the government to control your body and mind in service of achieving societies goals, but keep your @#$%^& hands off of my money, you @#$%^&! Like so many other misguided people, Sir Michael Caine thinks that he is the only clear-headed thinker, surrounded by a sea of idiots. And he knows with unflinching certainty that he has the one-size-fits-all solution to problems which needs to be forced upon everyone else for their own good. Why?
Well, because it's obvious, you snotty-faced heap of parrot droppings!
Shut your festering gob, you tit! Your type really makes me puke,
you vacuous, coffee-nosed, maloderous, pervert!!!*
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11-11-09 8:00 PM
|
Subject: Two Interesting Links
Here are two interesting links you may wish to explore.
Scott is very sincere in his writings and concludes his piece by stating:
This all sounds great to me, but I admit I'm wearing blinders. Tell me why I'm wrong, and why compulsory national service is a bad idea."
If you have a couple of spare minutes, you might want to drop by and
share your views with him.
in which he shares his thoughts on having the school impose mandatory community outreach requirements on all students. We are engaged in a polite discussion of the implications of such a requirement. If others have something further to add to the conversation, please contribute your thoughts. |
11-10-09 12:30 PM
Civic Service Act |
Subject: HERE IT COMES!
In my left hand I hold health care reform and cap-and-trade legislation. Pay no attention to my right hand! The gambit for instituting a nationwide national service requirement for all citizens is still swirling around Congress in typical stealth mode. House Resolution 1444 was introduced by Jim McDermott (D-WA), Jim Moran (D-VA), Dutch Ruppersberger (D-MD), Ted Kennedy (D-MA) and Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), back in March, with the intention of creating a:
Don't you just love phrases like, "and for other purposes"? It's so open-ended that the commission could explore anything and everything. You fill in the blank. Calling itself the "Congressional Commission on Civic Service Act", it states such "findings" by Congress as:
(2) A more engaged civic society will strengthen the Nation by bringing together people from diverse backgrounds and experiences to work on solutions to some of our Nation's major challenges. (3) Despite declines in civic health in the past 30 years, national service and volunteerism among the Nation's youth are increasing, and existing national service and volunteer programs greatly enhance opportunities for youth to engage in civic activity. (4) In addition to the benefits received by nonprofit organizations and society as a whole, volunteering and national service provide a variety of personal benefits and satisfaction and can lead to new paths of civic engagement, responsibility, and upward mobility." Our "civic health" has been declining for the past 30 years, but national service is just the ticket to mend our "social fabric". Does anyone care to know just what these statements actually means? Apparently, it is self evident to the framers of this resolution and the rest of us are simply too stupid to comprehend the obvious. The resolution states that more youth are involved in national service and "volunteerism". Maybe that is because they are being forced to do so as a mandatory requirement for graduating from high school. Just another of the big lies that the government finds so easy to tell with a straight face. The commission has as one of its duties, recommending to Congress how Congress can:
and
As I have said many times before, the people in Congress see us not as autonomous individuals , but instead as a "human resource" to be "managed" by their "trained leaders".
Fight back against this monster before it is too late to act.
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11-10-09 10:30 AM
Opinion Piece |
Subject: We Own You. Get Used to It!
On today's OpEd page, a Wall Street Journal editorial
highlights the true goal of ObamaCare, as articulated by one of its
supporters, John Cassidy of the New Your Times.
So there you have it. It's OK for the politicians to lie to us, because they own us and operate from a position where they can freely make critical decisions about our lives without regard to our own personal thoughts, beliefs and desires. Truth is reserved for those possessing the right to self-determination, so let there be no illusion that the concepts of the right to one's life, liberty and property have anything at all to do with what is now occurring in this country. We are effectively all slaves of the state and subject to whatever whim it manages to concoct and ram through as legislation. The limitations on allowable government action that are delineated in the US Constitution are being totally ignored by all three branches of our government. We are rapidly becoming a totalitarian state. Sign the John Galt Pledge and then contact each of your Senators and Representative and let them know, in forceful terms, that you are not asking, but demanding that they adhere to the intent of the US Constitution and expect them to protect and defend your constitutional rights. It is time to let everyone in Washington know that you are mad and have reached the limits of your patience. |
11-05-09 7:37 PM
The Student Formerly Known As Prince |
Subject: Any Community Service?
I couldn't let this one pass by. While our schools focus on making
sure that the youth of our country are being properly indoctrinated in
the values of "Service Learning" to become acceptable citizens,
do you think that they might be neglecting any other types of useful
learning? Let's let one enterprising student answer the question for
us as she searches for a solution to her
community service requirement problem on Yahoo Answers:
Yes, her research skills may be a little rusty, but I don't know what I'm worried about. She's the product of our fine educational system and that should guarantee that she will do just fine. And even if she can't get a job in one of the technical fields, or in the world of high finance, I'm sure she'll find her place in a fine government job. Maybe even teaching English to one of your children or grand kids! |
11-05-09 12:30 PM
Dilbert |
Subject: Volunteer: Because it Feels So Good
Well, I'm back from my trip and hope to get back to posting regularly again. Here is a little cartoon to get the ball rolling.
On an administrative note, I have now added permanent numbered links to each article in the boxes to the left. If you wish to reference a specific article, use these links to insure that your reader is directed to the exact point you wish. |
10-16-09 2:15 AM
Big Brother |
Subject: Obama Controls Your Television Set
I would like a break from reporting on stuff like this, but the bad news on the ever expanding subject of national service just keeps pouring in. Back on September 10th, the Entertainment Industry Foundation (EIF) issued a press release which indicated that:
Remember, this primetime TV programming blitzkrieg covering more than 60 different shows, is only the first wave in a multi-year effort! A more detailed list of which network shows are participating, and in exactly what manner, can be found here. On the Big Hollywood website, John Nolte has just submitted an article entitled, LEAKED NETWORK MEMO REVEALS: Obama Controls Your Television Set, which discusses a related industry memo that describes the purpose of this media campaign. Here are some sections from that memo:
So, just as the Obama administration has organized artists, using the National Endowment for the Arts, to push his social agendas, he is now using the broadcast media to accomplish the same goals. And if you think that getting the government run United We Serve website out of the service program hosting business was a victory — it was a very shallow one, because other shill organizations like the EIF simply take over the operation with sites like iParticipate.org. When the government gets called on the carpet for inappropriate or illegal behavior, it simply outsources it dirty work to other quasi-private organizations, which it then funds indirectly with the billions of TARP and Corporation for National & Community Service dollars that are being dispensed by the administration like candy.
If you have been reading all of my previous articles, then you know
that this effort is merely one more prelude to Obama's true agenda
of instituting a program of mandatory national service for every
American citizen. It is critical that we organize a very vocal
opposition to this effort. For if we allow the idea of mandatory
service to continue unchecked, then it will not be long before the
autonomy of the "sovereign individual" will be nothing more
than a memory in this country.
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10-15-09 12:30 PM
Congressional Health Care |
Subject: Will Members of Congress Use the Health Care Plan
That They Vote For?
Members of Congress currently have a gold-plated health care plan for which they pay very little. Louisiana Congressman and physician John Fleming thinks that it is only right that Congress be subject to the same plan that it believes is best for the rest of us. Or as he puts it, he wants to give: "Congress an opportunity to put their money where their mouth is." In service of that goal, he had put forward House Resolution 615 where:
Click here to see a list of Representatives who currently support this resolution. If your Representative is not on the list, write to them and ask why, telling them you expect their participation. You might also write letters to the editor of your local paper, letting others in your area know that some or all of your State Representatives have not signed up to receive the same health care they promote as good enough for the rest of us. Let your Senators know that you expect the same from them as well! You can also visit John Fleming's Website and add your name to a list of citizens that support this resolution. |
10-15-09 11:30 AM
Classroom Brainwashing |
Subject: Exposing Obama's Classroom Brainwashers
In a PJTV video titled: Joe Hicks covers much the same territory that I do on this blog, pointing out that our public schools are becoming more indoctrination centers than houses of learning. I disagree with Joe on one point. We can stop this if a loud, vocal movement begins to speak out against the concept of state-run education and we work to completely privatize all of our schools. Quoting from the article by law professor Rodney A. Smolla that I reference in my previous blog entry below:
There is nothing other than inertia stopping the citizens of this country from declaring that there should be a complete and total separation of both education and economics from the state, just as we have proclaimed a bright line separation for religion. Unfortunately, over the past 60 years, the history of the separation of religion and state has been one of slow erosion. As the introduction of God has been pushed slowly into the secular realm of government, that movement has been responsible for opening the door for these other abuses. I would hope that it should now be clear that in order to prevent a torrent of abuses, government, as a repository of retaliatory force used to protect the constitutional rights of its citizens, must b e precluded from stepping over its rigidly defined constitutional boundaries. And this can only be accomplished when the wall between religion, education and economics remain unbreached. |
10-14-09 11:30 PM
Involuntary Servitude |
Subject: Involuntary Servitude: The 13th Amendment Ain't What It
Used To Be
Excerpts from a 1997 paper by Jessica Parr titled, Mandatory Community Service:
Say it with me one more time: Mandatory service is not volunteerism!
So, apparently the court ruled that forcing a child to attend school, and then denying that child the possibility of graduating if they did not participate in mandatory service, was not a form of punishment! But if is isn't, I have some serious trouble understanding the rationale operating here. In researching this issue further, I discovered a very interesting 1999 paper by Rodney A. Smolla, a law professor at University of Richmond, entitled: The Constitutionality of Mandatory Public School Community Service Programs. For readers wishing to get a better handle on how today's courts view these issues, I highly recommend taking a careful look at the entire article. Below I will excerpt a few of the sections that help explain the decision in the above case.
So, based upon this line of argument, the Thirteenth Amendment's reference to involuntary servitude is supposed to be read as exactly equivalent to the conditions of African slavery. And any form of servitude which does not rise fully to the level of such slavery is not covered by said Amendment. Again, I suggest reading the entire document in order to get the full gist of these arguments and to see why the author argues that other types of constitutional challenges to mandatory service also fail. I believe that a careful reader of the above excerpts will quickly see, as I do, a number of glaring holes in the arguments being presented. I do not offer these quotes in the belief that they present a cogent case for accepting the legality of mandatory service, nor do I think that they argue from a proper interpretation of the Thirteenth Amendment. However, it is a fact, as the author points out, that the courts have repeatedly upheld most forms of conscription and the "taking" of citizens' labor and property for redistribution under the guise of the welfare state, as constitutional. It certainly gives one pause to contemplate exactly where we currently stand, and what steps would be required to move from our current position towards a more rational reading and application of the text of our Constitution! Please send me your thoughts and ideas on the subject. |
10-13-09 8:20 PM
serve.gov |
Subject: Woo Hoo! This Decision is a Win for the
Volunteer Sector
From a serve.gov (AKA: United We Serve) service brief:
Hmmm... Do you think those "lessons" could have anything to do with the ACORN scandal?
Yea!!! A WIN for the volunteer sector!!!!! Of course, it's so obvious!! This, of course, is the pre-packaged tag line for the Main Stream Media when reporting on this story. And being a good citizen, I knew I was supposed to lead with this for my report as well. But seriously, take a look at the original notice. This statement, in all its enbolded glory, sits on the page like an out of place pimple on the nose tip of your prom date. I guess its true that the people in government do really believe that if they just "say it", then it must be true!
In other words, we got caught with our hands in the cookie jar! We're not sorry we did it. But we are sorry we got caught.
Now isn't that sweet. The government is listening to us after all! And they're smart too!
I'm just so thankful that I got my service project
registered at serve.gov before it was too late!
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10-13-09 10:22 AM
Brave New World |
Subject: YOU CAN'T HANDLE THE TRUTH!
So what does Nationalized Health Care really hold in store for us? Here it is, straight from one of Barack Obama's advisors, former Labor Secretary, Robert Reich. As he says, this is the truth, but you don't hear it from your politicians, because, as Jack Nicholson says in A Few Good Men, "You can't handle the truth!".
You just have to love the students in the audience who actually applaud when Reich says that the government is simply going to let you die once you become too old! Yes, they represent the future! I'm guessing that they watched Logan's Run one too many times and think it must be a swell idea to let the government terminate you when you reach 30.
And who knows folks, by then we might be really lucky and 35 might be the new "30". Yes, it certainly is a Brave New World indeed!
Circulate this video to your friends that still say everything is
coming up peaches and cream with the health care reform proposals!
Or you can link directly to it on this site here.
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10-11-09 12:54 AM
|
Subject: American Exceptionalism
Time for some good news for a change. Here is a very highly recommended 15 minute video by Bill Whittle on PJTV where he discusses exactly what makes the United States a truly exceptional country. Watch and enjoy.
[Thanks to Richard Gleaves for bringing this to my attention.] |
10-10-09 8:45 PM
Michelle Obama |
Subject: How Much is Michelle Obama Worth?
As reported by Andrew Clark in Politics Daily,
In the article you can read about the controversial give-and-take between various students and groups on the campus over this proposal. But my interest lies elsewhere. Ms. Obama certainly seems to have a high opinion of her own worth. In exchange for a 30-40 minute speech at a university, she expects students to take 100,000 hours of their valuable time away from their studies and invest it in "community service" projects. Once again, using the federal minimum wage of $7.50/hour, this means that she is demanding a minimum of $750,000 of the students' time in exchange for less than one hour of hers! According to Slate's The Big Money, mid-range commencement speakers can command between $30-50,000 per engagement, while big names like Rudy Giuliani are worth up to $75,000. Even the master, Bill Clinton, who, as President, figured out that he could lease out bedrooms at the White House, could get only $350,000 for giving a speech on the most popular topic of all — trashing George Bush! Wait, I have an idea! Why doesn't Ms. Obama lead by example and practice what she preaches. Shouldn't she simply donate her time as a community service, and give the speech at GWU for free, without demanding extra-curricular work from the students? But of course not! That kind of thinking is only for suckers. |
10-10-09 12:00 PM
Slaying Leviathan |
Subject: Involuntary Servitude for All
Reader Leslie Carbone, the author of Slaying Leviathan: The Moral Case for Tax Reform, brought to my attention an interesting article that she wrote back in November 2008 titled, Emanuel Proposes Slavery. In this piece she discusses Rahm Emanuel and Barack Obama's call for the creation of a "Civilian National Security Force" that would conscript every American into a mandatory period of national service for the purpose of:
With terms like "basic training" and "community service", it's duces wild as to what the government could do with – or to you during your period of conscription. Now Rahm is a nice guy, and he is only proposing a three month period of mandatory service. And if you buy that, then you must think that the top income tax rate is 7% and that your Social Security number will never be used as a means of identification. A program like this is always proposed as a small thing, which then quickly expands to feed the bottomless pit that is our federal, state and local governments. There were a few issues raised in the comments section to Leslie's article that I would like to address here. A couple of the readers complained about the use of the term "slavery" being applied to this proposal, when it was simply "temporary compulsory service" and, as one reader put it, "that's all." . Well, this sort of semantic argument is about as interesting as calculating the number of angel dancing on the head of a pin. The 13th Amendment to the Constitution states:
Emanuel's plan certainly qualifies as involuntary servitude, so it is clearly unconstitutional. And as far as I am concerned, every form of involuntary servitude is a form of slavery and vice versa. The duration of the servitude is immaterial because we each possess an unalienable right to our lives - and that is an absolute. And so long as we refrain from violating the rights of others, no entity, whether they be another individual, a group or a government, may morally lay claim to one one moment of your life. Some of Leslie's readers also commented on the fact that we have had compulsory military service in this country, on and off, throughout our history, and what Emanuel is proposing is nothing different. Of course, these arguments were meant to defend this new form of conscription on the grounds of "tradition". But that argument doesn't hold water if you read the 13th Amendment. It contains no exception to the ban on involuntary servitude, other than as punishment for a crime. The truth is that military conscription or a "draft" is unconstitutional as well. As one of the commentators put it: "Compulsory military service IS involuntary servitude, which IS slavery". The use of conscription in this country has been a travesty to our rights and any future attempt to reinstate a draft must be opposed on constitutional grounds. Now, I am a huge supporter of our military as an absolutely essential institution, required to protect our lives, rights and freedom, and I have deep respect for anyone who commits themselves to that job. But the fact that I see this function as important, does not somehow grant me the special privilege of then being able to force someone else to provide that service against their will. The only proper way for a free people to interact with one another is voluntarily, with the initiation of force prohibited. And this is especially true when dealing with the government, which is charged as the repository of retaliatory force, to be used strictly in service of our protection. When the government steps over that bright line, as ours did long ago, and begins to initiate force against its citizens, then it is time to do what our forefathers once proclaimed in the Declaration of Independence:
Whether our current form of government can be salvaged, or whether it has become so corrupted that it must be replaced, is something worth carefully considering. |
10-09-09 6:00 PM
I'm Confused?? |
Subject: Just For the Record
Just as a parenthetical comment, I would like to go on record as saying that the Nobel committee's awarding the Peace Prize to Barack Obama is just about the stupidist thing I have heard since — well, since they awarded it to Al Gore in 2007 and Yasser Arafat in 1994. Obama was nominated for the prize on or before February 1, 2009. So at best, he had been in office a maximum of 12 days. If Barack Obama was the state-of-the-art for promoting world peace, we would all be dead by now. Well, the entire world has apparently gone insane. I think M. Night Shyamalan may have gotten it right. The Happening appears to be coming true! :-) |
10-09-09 5:35 PM
Chris Brown Performing Community Service |
Subject: Community Service's Split Personality
If you monitor the news for mentions of mandatory "community service", it soon becomes apparent that there are two buckets into which these reports fall. The first is the use of "community service" as a punishment for various criminal offenses in lieu of fines or incarceration. In these cases, the convicted criminal is sentenced to perform a specified number of hours of "compulsory unpaid work" at some designated task. When reviewing the literature on the theory behind community service punishment, it is often presented as a cost-effective alternative to incarceration while also providing two forms of deterrent. First, as a form of public humiliation for the offender, shaming them into altering their ways. And second, using this offender as a very visible example to others, warning them to avoid similar behavior. The case of Chris Brown is somewhat typical. After pleading guilty to beating, choking, and threatening to kill his ex-girlfriend, instead of being jailed, he was ordered to perform 180 days of community service. As the NY Daily News reports:
There are so many things that could be said about this use of "community service" that it is difficult to know where to begin. Start by reading about the cases of George Norris and Krister Evertson in The Washington Times article, Criminalizing everyone, and then try and reconcile what is happening to people like these, while a celebrity who assaults a woman, is expected to do nothing more than pick up trash, wash cars and clean graffiti as his penalty. What form of "justice" accommodates a disparity of this magnitude? And one wonders what standard or principle is being put into practice that leads to the community, and not the victim of the crime, being the beneficiary of the services performed? It is certainly not the concept of victim restitution — or if restitution is being applied, then it is clear that the court judges the actual crime not to have been committed agains the individual involved, but against "society" as a whole, and it is therefore society that should be compensated, while leaving the victim to lick her wounds. The second category of mandatory "community service" is the type of national or community service being implemented by the Corporation for National & Community Service through it sub-organizations and programs including Senior Corps, AmeriCorp, VISTA, National Civilian Community Corps, United We Serve, 9/11 National Day of Service, Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service, National Service-Learning Partnership, and many others. On the one hand, we have our government using "community service" as punishment and a form of public humiliation for bad behavior. So how is it then possible for the same government to turn around and tell honest citizens, children and adult alike, that having a mandatory service requirement forced upon them should be embraced as a beneficial privilege and an honor? Shouldn't the observant, thinking individual see the contradiction in this and instead react to the mandatory requirement as though it were punishment? And the answers is, yes, of course they should! And the reason they should is not because the service work is similar — although most school children are being required to perform equally menial tasks like collecting trash — the reason is because the service requirement is being forced upon them, exactly as it is being imposed by force upon the criminal! In the case of the criminal, the use of force is justified by the fact that it is retaliatory force in response to the original use of force by the lawbreaker, and applicable because the wrongful actions taken caused the convicted criminal to forfeit their rights. But in the case of honest people, there is absolutely no justification for the government's actions. Here, the mandatory service requirement itself becomes the initiation of force against citizens who's constitutional rights remain in full force. And it is this distinction that makes the latter use of mandatory service equivalent to indentured servitude or slavery. Nevertheless, the folks who currently control our government are incapable of making such fine distinctions between the initiation and the retaliatory use of force, or of seeing a difference between the unalienable individual rights possessed by each citizen and the forfeiture of those rights through criminal acts. They are incapable of seeing these simple facts because they do not recognize the individual as a sovereign entity. Their collective vision of the the world extends no deeper than "society", which is recognized as the sole repository of rights and privileges. People — the citizens of a country — are the raw material of that society — a natural resource to be applied by the collective's whim and will to those societal issues and problems deemed by the controlling elite to be worth addressing. It is from this viewpoint that the two wildly different classes of mandatory community service discussed above, merge into one. There is no fundamental difference between a man who beats a woman and a second grade school child. Both are warm bodies that must be trained to bend to the will of the group. And as George Orwell so clearly identified long ago, it is not just your actions — but your thoughts, that must be bent. So the next time you see someone in a red jersey picking up trash along the side of the road, think of all the sons and daughters being indoctrinated by NEA teachers in the ways of "service-learning", to become just one more generation incapable of thinking their way out of a paper bag, having no idea that, once upon a time, there were people — individuals — who possessed a right to their life, their liberty and their property, and made independent choices in directing the course of their lives without the intervention or necessary approval of their "community". See that road worker — and then get mad enough to do something to stop this insanity! |
10-08-09 9:30 PM
NSLP |
Subject: Be It Resolved ...
Ace Parsi, the Policy Director for the National Service-Learning Partnership, issued an Important Policy Update in which he states:
[...] It's a critical time for service-learning and it is so important to let Congress know that service-learning works and we care. I wonder what those "key relationships in Congress" are that need to be nurtured? Could it have anything to do with taking more money from the pockets of the taxpayers and giving it to these people? On October 7th, various Senators introduced the following resolution:
Recognizing the benefits of service-learning and expressing support for the goals of the National Learn and Serve Challenge. Whereas service-learning is a teaching method that enhances academic learning by integrating classroom content with relevant activities aimed at addressing identified needs in a community or school; Whereas service-learning has been used both in school and community-based settings as a teaching strategy to enhance learning by building on youth experiences, granting youth a voice in learning, and making instructional goals and objectives more relevant to youth; Whereas service-learning addresses the dropout epidemic in the United States by making education more `hands-on' and relevant, and has been especially effective in addressing the dropout epidemic with respect to disadvantaged youth; Whereas service-learning is proven to provide the greatest benefits to disadvantaged and at-risk youth by building self-confidence, which often translates into overall academic and personal success; Whereas service-learning provides not only meaningful experiences, but improves the quantity and quality of interactions between youth and potential mentors in the community; Whereas service-learning empowers youth as actively engaged learners, citizens, and contributors to the community; Whereas youth engaged in service-learning provide critical service to the community by addressing a variety of needs in towns, cities, and States, including needs such as tutoring young children, care of the elderly, community nutrition, disaster relief, environmental stewardship, financial education, and public safety; Whereas far-reaching and diverse research shows that service-learning enhances the academic, career, cognitive, and civic development of students in kindergarten through 12th grade, and students at institutions of higher education; Whereas service-learning strengthens and increases the number of partnerships among institutions of higher education, local schools, and communities, which strengthens communities and improves academic learning; Whereas service-learning programs allow a multitude of skilled and enthusiastic college students to serve in the communities surrounding their colleges; Whereas service-learning programs engage students in actively addressing and solving pressing community issues and strengthen the ability of nonprofit organizations to meet community needs; Whereas Learn and Serve America, a program established under subtitle B of title I of the National and Community Service Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12521 et seq.), is the only federally funded program dedicated to service-learning and engages more than 1,100,000 youth in service-learning each year; Whereas Learn and Serve America is a highly cost-effective program, with an average cost of approximately $25 per participant and leverage of $1 for every Federal dollar invested; Whereas the National Learn and Serve Challenge is an annual event that, in 2009, will take place October 5 through October 11; and Whereas the National Learn and Serve Challenge spotlights the value of service-learning to young people, schools, college campuses, and communities, encourages others to launch service-learning activities, and increases recognition of Learn and Serve America: Now, therefore, be it
(B) engaging youth in positive experiences in the community; and (C) encouraging youth to make more constructive choices with regards to their lives; (2) encourages schools, school districts, college campuses, community-based organizations, nonprofit organizations, and faith-based organizations to provide youth with more service-learning opportunities; and (3) expresses support for the goals of the National Learn and Serve Challenge. I had a few questions about this resolution, and as the primary sponsor, I wrote to my Senator, Patty Murray, asking the following:
I am reading the text of S.CON RES. 46, and I am trying to get a better understanding of the exact nature of service-learning. There are a great many claims made in this resolution regarding social and cognitive benefits to be realized by youth from their participation in this program. Specifically, the resolution states:
I have scoured the NSLP website looking for just this type of research, but have not been able to locate it. As the primary sponsor of the legislation, I would greatly appreciate it if you could send me a copy of the research that you used when crafting these statements. Alternately, you could just point me to a location on the internet where I could review the research. The resolution also states:
I was confused by this passage. Could you please explain to me just how this leveraging works? What is the $25 cost/participant and what is the time unit associated with this $25 cost (per student/year, per student/event or something else?) Can you then explain why this is cost effective? In relation to what exactly? Finally, I must plead serious ignorance when it comes to the day-to-day workings of Congress, but I am trying to understand exactly what is the purpose of a resolution such as this? There does not seem to be any legislative component here, and I cannot determine what action or impact this resolution is supposed to produce. Could you please enlighten me. Thank you for your time and help in improving my understanding in this area.
Sincerely, I will report here if I receive any clarification from the Senator. |
10-08-09 2:12 PM
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Subject: Too Good To Pass Up ....
OK, this doesn't have anything to do national service, but it was just too good to let slip by unnoticed. Do you have any idea where your tax dollars go? Well here is where $2.6 million of them went! Maybe if we keep their prostitutes happy, the Chinese government won't try to cash in the roughly one trillion dollars of U.S. Treasury Bonds (over 10% of the total US debt) that it is currently holding! [Thanks to Fred Bartlett for the reference.] |
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10-08-09 1:50 AM
NSLP |
Subject: Service-Learning
While exploring the National Service-Learning Partnership (NSLP) site, I took a look at the page describing the "service-learning" concept. Near the top of the page is the following example:
When I was in school, we were given problems in practical learning that involved real-world exercises that helped us to integrate and apply our abstract knowledge to situations that we might encounter throughout life. There could certainly be a practical learning component to the exercise of examining local water to determine its content. And practical problem-solving certainly meets this aspect of the NSLP's goals:
But that goal could easily be met by thoughtful teachers and standard educational programs just as it was in my day. So why do we need to pump billions of additional taxpayer dollars into a complex organization like NSLP. Well, so that we might achieve their other true objective:
Our schools are being turned into factories used to create a population equipped with "service skills" (conveniently left undefined), "community stewardship" skills (again, I could not locate a definition or discussion of what this entails), and "civic action" skills. The mind reals at what this last is supposed to mean! Standards for conveying the facts embodied in subjects suchs as math, English, history, biology, chemistry and physics can be objectively examined and agreed upon. But what about topics such as what is and is not appropriate activity within the realm of "civic action", or what exactly are the standards one applied to concepts of "kindness" and "caring"? And where is there any discussion and analysis relating to the morality and constitutionality of enforced labor? The answers to questions such as these are clearly dependent upon a broad-based philosophy, and different people will come to different conclusion in these areas depending upon the principles that they hold. After examining case after case where these so called service-learning program are being implemented, it soon becomes clear that the agenda is to indoctrinate the students in an implicit philosophy of altruism, replacing their budding independent and adventurous spirit with a more docile one of self-sacrifice to others. The people implementing these programs administratively, and teaching them is the classrooms, are all Ellsworth Tooheys - but of an even more sinister kind. For, while Toohey plied his craft in the realm of adults who at least had a fighting chance to think for themselves and defend against his methods, these people ambush children, as young a five or six, who have not yet had the opportunity to develop their critical thinking skills through practice and life experiences, nor have most yet learned that there are adults in the world who do not deserve their trust. If you are concerned about the rapid invasion of service-learning programs into our schools, supplanting traditional education subjects and methods, I encourage everyone to get in touch with your local school board to determine the status of these programs, and to make your opposition known. There is only one long term solution to this and a myriad of other problems with our schools. We must get the government out of the education business once and for all. Until this is accomplished, schools will continue to be used as indoctrination centers for one bad idea after another. The abysmal state of education today is a direct result of having made it appear to be "free" to one and all. Like any other free product, education has come to hold very little value in the eyes of most students (as witnessed by their lack of initiative and commitment in pursuing their studies) and by most of their parents who are also products of this "free" system. And the resultant apathy leaves the system wide open for the type of massive abuse we are now seeing. When parents are required to pay directly for their childrens' education, they will soon begin to apply some of those critical shopping skills that they currently reserve for the purchase of a new car or major appliance. And when parents begin to evaluate how their valuable education dollars are actually being spent, children will once again begin to learn — and think. |
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10-07-09 9:10 AM
Dana Loesch |
Subject: Chipping Away at Big Brother
Here is an interesting tidbit from Andrew Breitbart's Big Government website. According to poster Dana Loesch, the United We Serve website serve.gov has apparently removed all references to the ACORN organization. So it seems as though the actions of the investigators, blog reporters and activist protesters had some direct and measurable effect upon our government. In itself, this is a small victory, but more and more we seem to have the politicians adopting a defensive posture rather than the smug, dismissive, offensive that they were leading with just a few short months ago. Now this is a freedom-loving community service that I can support! |
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10-07-09 12:20 AM
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Subject: Send in You Sightings
If any reader of this blog runs across a story relating to mandatory community or national service which they believe would be of general interest to others, please send me a note pointing to the article. Thanks for your interest and participation. |
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10-06-09 7:52 PM
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Subject: Service is the Rent You Pay ...
From an article titled, Service Day at the Meridian School, we learn how children in Kindergarten through 5th Grade are indoctrinated into the idea that service to the community is a duty. Here are some excerpts:
[...] "Service is the rent you pay for living on earth, and it starts in elementary school," according to Ron Waldman, the Head of Meridian School. "By the time they leave 5th grade, we want our kids to feel that this is part of the fabric of who they are. It's not whether I should or shouldn't serve the community, but how. That's just what we do." [Emphasis added] Yes, that's just what they do! Where are all the parent's, protecting their children from this sort of indoctrination? These poor kids have little chance of growing up and developing an ability to think critically and independently. Which, unfortunately, is the entire point of the exercise! |
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10-05-09 5:25 PM
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Subject: Working on Political Campaigns is "Community
Service" — Sort of ....
A naplesnews.com, we learn that:
[...] "It is not so much the site, but what you do at the site," [Diedra Landrum] said. "A student might clean up after a rally, but not endorse a candidate. They could work at voter registration." [...] But [Chris] Smith told committee members to think carefully about how much work they let a student do for a political or religious organization. If the district officials allowed a student to work for the Democrat or Republican parties, for example, they could be opening themselves up to allowing students to receive credit for working for the Nazi party.
"You could be going down a slippery slope," he said.
Yes, it is a slippery slope, but they teetered over the edge when they first began to consider imposing mandatory service on these children. After that, it's turtles all the way down. It is stunning to consider the level of micro-management exerted over the the nature of the mandatory service requirement, which is necessary to stop a student from engaging in political activity which (by what standard?) is apparently judged to be "offensive" and "wrong". On the other hand, it is equally amazing to consider how there is absolutely no vocal opposition raised in having these same students be forced to attend to menial labor such as "cleaning up after a rally"! This attests to the true reason for institution mandatory service. If the idea was to create opportunities for the betterment of the student, then requiring time-wasting activity such as cleaning would not be part of the equation. But if the idea is to extract free slave labor from our youth, then this easily meets the bill. I hope the pattern is becoming clear. |
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10-05-09 11:15 AM
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Subject: Recommending A Couple of Good Articles
Although not related to the topic of mandatory service, I would like
to recommend the following articles. This is from the Wall street
Journal, and is titled,
Clunkers in Practice.
This short piece asks and answers the question of just how effective
the government's "Cash for Clunkers" stimulus program was. At a total
cost of roughly $3 billion, studies have shown that once the program
stopped, GM and Chrysler car sales fell 42-45% below the abysmal
sales figures from one year ago. On the environmental front, the
the total program resulted in reducing oil consumption by only 0.2%,
and that the country as a whole is now $1.4 billion poorer. Is that
change you can believe in?
[Thanks to Cynthia Gillis for bring the second article to my attention.] |
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10-04-09 11:15 PM
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Subject: Update on the National Service Budget
Just to keep you informed about where some of your tax dollars are going, here is an Update on the national service budget from the Corporation for National & Community Service, released on October 1, 2009:
Today marks the beginning of a new federal fiscal year, and I want to update you on recent actions on the Corporation's budget. Earlier today, President Obama signed a continuing resolution which will fund federal agencies and programs at Fiscal 2009 levels through October 31. The continuing resolution, which was attached to the legislative branch appropriations bill, was needed to keep government programs operating after the official end of the fiscal year. As in prior fiscal years, our operations under a continuing resolution are limited and we will be following our normal annual practices for the time we are receiving this interim funding. Also, the continuing resolution will affect the timeline for implementing some of the new program activities authorized by the Serve America Act and proposed in the President's FY 2010 budget. While we cannot allocate funds for new Serve America Act initiatives until we receive our full FY 2010 appropriation, we are laying the groundwork to carry out these exciting new initiatives by developing rules, writing guidelines, issuing funding notices, and taking other steps that don't require final enactment of our appropriation. As you recall, the FY 2010 budget process began last May, when President Obama submitted a budget request of $1.149 billion for the Corporation and its programs, a $259 million or 29 percent increase over the FY 2009 enacted level. The House of Representatives included $1.059 billion for the Corporation in the Labor-HHS-Education Appropriations bill passed on July 24, followed a week later by the Senate Appropriations Committee providing $1.157 billion in its version of the bill. The actions taken by Congress so far reflect strong support for national service during this tough budget year, and we are hopeful the final measure will fully fund the President's request. As community needs continue to grow, and as Americans look for ways to give back, national service is a critical, cost-effective investment that engages citizens in tackling our most serious challenges. Please visit our budget page for more information on the President's request and Congressional actions. We will keep you posted on further developments." [Emphasis added] In the midst of the worst recession in 65 years, with many companies struggling simply to survive while at the same time, facing massive proposed tax increases, this government agency is receiving a 29-31% increase in its budget! This is over $1.1 billion taxpayer dollars being used to promote the activities I have been describing in the previous series of articles. "Government: The Only Growth Industry You Can Count On!" How about writing your Senators, Representative or the local paper and let them know exactly what you think of this. |
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10-04-09 11:00 PM
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Subject: Volunteerism is not legal unless it is done under the
watchful eye of the government
Here is a story by Gregory S. Hession, J.D., posted on the New American website:
A neighbor reported this activity to the Michigan Department of Human Services (DHS), and in a spasm of regulatory over-kill, the agency sent a cease-and-desist letter to Snyder right after the school year started. In it, the DHS demanded that she stop helping her neighbors by providing an "illegal daycare operation," because she was not a licensed day-care center. A Michigan law prohibits persons from caring for unrelated children in their home for more than four weeks each calendar year unless they are licensed day-care providers. Violation of the law is a criminal misdemeanor and can result in fines and jail time. After getting the letter, Snyder, a stay-at-home mother, contacted the Department of Human Services, but she "got nowhere." Somehow this situation came to the attention of higher-ups in the government, and this week the Governor of Michigan, Jennifer Granholm, publicly weighed in on the matter. She instructed the agency Director, Ismael Ahmedm, to work with the State Legislature to try to change the law. Yesterday, Michigan State Rep. Brian Calley (R-Portland) said he was working to draft legislation that would exempt situations like Snyder's from coverage under Michigan's current day-care regulations. "The bill will make it clear that people who aren't in business as day care providers don't need to be licensed," Calley said. Ironically, Snyder was threatened with jail for providing a service to her community, a "crime" for which another tax-funded state agency may bestow an award to her. The State of Michigan funds the Michigan Community Service Commission (MCSC), whose mission is to "build a culture of service by providing vision and resources to strengthen communities through volunteerism," and "to help individuals get involved in their local communities." Outstanding volunteers are even given special service awards by the Governor. Apparently, volunteerism is not legal unless it is done under the watchful eye of the government. Just as is occurring with health care and student loans — to name just two examples — governments at all levels work relentlessly to eliminate private enterprise in every field of endeavor, including voluntary ones. They remove these active areas of competition so that they may then wield total regulatory control over that aspect of our lives. And as this totalitarian creep marches forward, it eats away, more and more, at our freedom and the ability to pursue our own happiness. |
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10-04-09 9:44 PM
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Subject: You're an artist but can't find stable work??
Here are some excerpts from a job advertisement for a fashion design teacher, posted on the GraphicDesign-Jobs.com web site as well as on craigslist:
YOU ARE: Dedicated to Community Service & Social Change WE ARE: THE RADICAL ARTS VENUE & EDUCATION CENTER THIS POSITION IS PAID THROUGH AMERICORPS! Why go oversees when you can serve your community at home?? ALL POSITIONS ARE PAID A LIVING WAGE ALLOWANCE determined by terms of service. ALL POSITIONS have an ADDITIONAL EDUCATION STIPEND ranging from $1,250 to $2,362.50 depending on terms of service. RESPONSIBILITIES: Engage students in Community Service Activities through your art form QUALIFICATIONS: High school diploma/GED acquired by June 30th QUALIFICATIONS: Experience working with disconnected youth, including foster care or juvenile justice populations a PLUS [Emphasis added] Your tax dollars are now funding after-school fashion design for inner-city children, taught by a high school graduate who is committed to social change, and sponsored by the Radical Arts Venue & Education Center. But remember, don't call this arts training or educational instruction. This is community service. Could someone explain to me the difference between a job and this type of community service? |
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10-03-09 1:12 AM
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Subject: The Oath Keepers
In response to the John Galt Pledge at this site, a reader brought to my attention a very interesting organization called Oath Keepers. They describe themselves as follows:
The site then proceeds to outline the following action:
WOW! What is so shocking here is not the words themselves, which for the most part, merely reflects language currently in the U.S. Constitution, — what is shocking is that a pledge like this was considered necessary by people in our military organizations at all! This shows to what depths concerns run regarding the possible actions of the current administration. |
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10-02-09 1:07 PM
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Subject: Hey Kids, I've Got A Message For You ...
From the RFK Record, No Community Immunity by Heather Marie Mendez:
We all know you've heard about it a million times and that you have to complete at least 200 hours to receive a diploma and graduate; well this year it's no joke. Prior to this year, the alumni of Robert F Kennedy Community High School took community service lightly and didn't always complete their hours; the administration was lenient and allowed students to graduate, but the buck stops here. Some students are disgruntled about the recent announcement. "If students from years before were able to graduate and didn't complete all their hours, it's not fair that the same policies do not apply to us," said Hawa Faiq, sophomore. On the contrary, some students seem un-phased by the new enforced policy. "I've always known that I had to do all 200 hours so it's not a big deal to me; community service is a good thing and it looks great on college applications," said junior Daoud Noori. So if you're feeling inspired, it's time to sign up for walks, participate in school activities and talk to Mrs. Henry or Mrs. Lang to make sure you get those hours done and those time sheets filled out. Remember, you won't get your diploma without it. So RFK, it's time to get serious; get inspired, help your community, and complete those 200 hours!" I was particularly taken by the absolutely fantastic "teachable moment" when the clueless student, Hawa Faiq, points out that there is something unfair about selectively enforcing a policy upon him when others are given a free pass, and Ms. Mendez counters with, "On the contrary, some students seem un-phased by the new enforced policy." You simply cannot counter a syllogism like this, and must bend to its powerful logic! So much for Hawa Faiq, who is clearly not representative of the type of student RFK is designed to produce. Maybe he will have learned his lesson and not attempt to question authority in the future by applying the outmoded use of reason. Or more hopefully, as a sophomore, he might escape from RFK's clutches for the remaining two years of his high school education. I am also pretty sure that Ms. Mendez's use of the phrase, "the buck stops here" isn't really apropos to the point she was attempting to make! Here is the response I posted to the article at the RFK site:
Well, according to the Constitution, your "life" is yours, to do with as you see fit. This means that you -- and you alone -- decide the goals you wish to pursue. And your "liberty" is the freedom to act independently, based upon your own judgment. It seems to me that your parents, teachers, school administrators, politicians, and Ms. Mendez may have all forgotten this. Maybe you should remind them, and let them know that you do not delegate to them, the authority to determine the course of your life. And, of course, there is that other pesky amendment #13 which states:
Kids, what do you think slavery and "involuntary servitude" mean in this context? Do you think that forcing every child to complete 200 hours of community service in order for them to pursue their education qualifies? How do you feel about this? It's one thing to allow students to truly volunteer for any activity that they find worthwhile, but to require you to perform these services -- to use force to compel those of you to participate when you would otherwise elect not to do so -- doesn't that seem to qualify as involuntary servitude and violate your individual rights? It certainly does to me. And on a more practical note, if you were not being forced to spend your time on these community service activities, you might instead invest those hours in an after school job. The minimum wage is currently $7.25/hour, so the time that your school forces you to work for the community amounts to a minimum of $1,450.00. Maybe you should send them a bill! Some people think that performing community service will make you a more well rounded person and a better citizen. Maybe, maybe not. Personally, I think that any endeavor you pursue that teaches you to use reason, develop your analytical skills, think for yourself and challenge authority, are activities of considerably more value to your personal development, and would certainly make you be the type of person that I would welcome into my community. Give it some thought. And if you are interested in a more in-depth analysis of this subject, check out my writings at:
So kids, I send each of you my best for a long and successful life. And for those of you reading this who see that there is another side to this issue of mandatory service, I encourage you to stand up for your rights. They are valuable, and if you preserve them, they will serve you well.
Regards, The comment is awaiting approval. What are the chances that they will post it? [PostScript: Well, after sending two follow-up comments regarding the site owner's failure to publish my comments, I was shocked to see the comment finally displayed on 10-09-09, a full week after it was originally submitted. Of course, the delay means that few people will see the comment, but I guess it's better late than never!] |
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10-01-09 1:45 PM
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Subject: Running the Numbers: Over One Billion Served
Let's do a little math. According to the US Census, in 2007 there were 55 million students enrolled in grades K-12, and 17.6 million college students. Assuming a roughly equal age distribution of students, then there would be 4/13 * 55 million, or about 16.9 million high school students. So 16.9 + 17.6 = 34.5 million high school/college students. From my research, it looks like the annual requirement for mandatory community service in these schools ranges between 20 and 40 hours, so let's assume an average of 30 hours/year. Multiplying this by the available student population yields: 30 * 34.5 million = 1,035,000,000 hours. Yes, that is correct: OVER ONE BILLION HOURS! For 2009, the federal government has set the minimum wage at $7.25/hour. Therefore, the dollar value for the mandatory work being forced from students at the high school and college level each year is potentially worth over $7.25 billion dollars. Year after year after year. Do we need to look any further to understand the real motivation behind this push for mandatory national service? This is nothing more than slave labor being extracted from the nation's children. And it is being done under an indoctrination program designed to make every one of those children believe that they owe their labor to — the state, the community, the school or whatever collective group you care to substitute — but they owe it as a duty — and the group has a right to collect it from them upon demand. Contrary to what the Constitution states, their lives are not theirs, to do with as they choose, but something to be sacrificed in service to a higher cause. So why stop with low-priced school kids. Just think of the value to be had by turning every citizen into a national slave? Let's see, there are 300,000,000 of us, at an average salary of ....... Well, you get the idea. This movement must be stopped! By the way, it took McDonald's around 15 years (1948-1963) of constantly expanding nationwide service in order to serve one billion hamburger patties. That's a lot of hard work to get to a number like that. And every one of their employees, and every one of their customers interacted with McDonald's on a truly voluntary basis. |
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10-01-09 12:50 PM
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Subject: Community Service: It's Not Just For Your
Community Any Longer!
In the Howard County Times, we find an article describing how a high school student met his mandatory community service requirement by traveling to the Togolese Republic in Africa to install an "internet cafe" for the local villagers. In the truest spirit of altruism, this "mandatory community service" project ranks at the top, because it makes sure that not one iota of impact could be realized by any of the participants. Only when you make the entire world be "your community", do you really have the opportunity of discharging your "duty" in a manner that insures that neither you, nor your family, friends, neighbors, acquaintances, or even strangers with whom you might interact, could possibly benefit from your actions. Because, let's face it, if even the smallest drop of benefit finds it's way into your life, it would taint the purity of the sacrifice. Congratulations Padawan! Your proper place in society have you well learned. |
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10-01-09 12:14 PM
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Subject: Half of Public Schools Require Community Service
According to the Kansas City Star, in an article titled Volunteering is a requirement at Florida high schools:
And as long as we're scanning the article, the author asks and answers the question:
Everything. The three - and almost all other South Florida high school students - have to venture outside of the classroom to earn their diplomas, doing what schools call 'community service.'" The article describes one student, working for the Humane Society, who:
Well it's better than having kids learn about U.S. history or the Constitution. Wouldn't want our schools to be training any more rabble-rousers and stirring up trouble. And in the new make-work "volunteer economy", knowing how to clean a litter box is very likely to be one of the more valuable skills. |
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10-01-09 12:20 AM
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Subject: Volunteerism ... For Credit and Money!
From Raleigh, NC comes the story: Wake Tech launches effort to promote volunteerism, where:
OK, so the students are volunteering their time right? But wait, there's more:
So let me see if I've got this straight. AmeriCorp personnel who are undoubtedly getting a salary at taxpayer expense from the $6,000,000,000 that the Obama administration just pumped into this sector, are called "volunteers". And college students who participate in "service learning programs" and receive college credit are also "volunteers", with the entire process being one to "promote volunteerism". Yeah, I think I'm starting to get the hang of it now. This is volunteerism, the same way that the IRS claims that the American tax system is voluntary. As The Future of Freedom Foundation reports:
One can only wonder, of course, how many public-school-trained Americans believe this nonsense." Well, I think the answer to that last question is pretty much resolved by Wake Tech and the in-depth investigative reporting done by The Apex Herald Newspaper reporting on that story. Apparently, just about all of them! |
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09-30-09 11:30 PM
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Subject: To All Innocent Fifth Columnists
In 1941, Ayn Rand wrote an open letter to intellectuals, encouraging them to organize in support of individualism as the only means of successfully fighting the collectivist forces of Communism and Nazism. This piece is fully applicable today, identifying the exact nature of our current battle for freedom. From Wikipedia, a Fifth Column "is a group of people who clandestinely undermine a larger group, such as a nation, from within, to the aid of an external enemy." As Rand makes clear at the beginning of the article, she identified America's Fifth Column as the group of conservatives who failed to think, judge and then act to preserve the rights of the individual and the freedom to which they paid lip service. She was asking the honest among that group to rise to the challenge facing them, openly oppose totalitarianism, and fight for their independence and liberty. From the article:
Stop here. This is the crucial point. What you think of this will determine whether you are a mental Fifth Columnist or not. This is the point which allows no compromise. You must choose one or the other. There is no middle. Either you believe that each individual man has value, dignity and certain inalienable rights which cannot be sacrificed for any cause, for any purpose, for any collective, for any number of other men whatsoever. Or else you believe that a number of men — it doesn't matter what you call it: a collective, a class, a race or a State — holds all rights, and any individual man can be sacrificed if some collective good — it doesn't matter what you call it: better distribution of wealth, racial purity or the Millennium — demands it. Don't fool yourself. Be honest about this. Names don't matter. Only the basic principle matters, and there is no middle choice. Either man has individual, inalienable rights — or he hasn't. Your intentions don't count. If you are willing to believe that men should be deprived of all rights for a good cause — you are a Totalitarian. Don't forget, Stalin and Hitler sincerely believe that their causes are good. Stalin thinks that he is helping the downtrodden, and Hitler thinks that he is serving his country as a patriot. They are good causes, both of them, aren't they? Then what creates the horrors of Russia and of Germany? What is destroying all civilization? Just this one idea — that to a good cause everything can be sacrificed; that individual men have no rights which must be respected; that what one person believes to be good can be put over on the others by force. And if you — in the privacy of your own mind — believe so strongly in some particular good of yours that you would be willing to deprive men of all rights for the sake of this good, then you are as guilty of all the horrors of today as Hitler and Stalin. These horrors are made possible only by men who have lost all respect for single, individual human beings, who accept the idea that classes, races, and nations matter, but single persons do not, that a majority is sacred, but a minority is dirt, that herds count, but Man is nothing. Where do you stand on this? There is no middle ground. Where do you stand? And what will you do in the face of the same threat facing our country? Do not relegate yourself to the fifth column. Act in whatever capacity you can. Speak out. Write articles. Attend local protests. March on Washington. Donate to campaigns to oust the totalitarians from office. Sign the John Galt Pledge. Quoting again from Rand's article:
To be heard, however, we must be organized. This is not a paradox. Individualists have always been reluctant to form any sort of organization. The best, the most independent, the hardest working, the most productive members of society have always lived and worked alone. But the incompetent and the unscrupulous have organized. The world today shows how well they have organized. And so, we shall attempt what has never been attempted before — an organization against organization. That is — an organization to defend us all from the coming compulsory organization which will swallow all of society; an organization to defend our rights, including the right not to belong to any forced organization; an organization, not to impose our ideology upon anyone, but to prevent anyone from imposing his ideology upon us by physical or social violence. Are you with us? [...] The world is a beautiful place and worth fighting for. But not without Freedom."
Marshall your optimism and man the battle stations!
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09-30-09 7:11 PM
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Subject: Updates to the Web Site
A reader made the excellent suggestion that I should provide reciprocal links to other sites that link to or write about mine. This is something that I should have done long ago — but better late than never. At the end of the main page I have added a section titled Sites Promoting This Initiative which feature those individuals or organizations. I want to extend a huge thanks to each of you that has undertaken the initiative to do this. It means a great deal to me. There may be others of you out there, who I am unaware of, that have also promoted this site. Please send me a note and I will add a link for you as well. |
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09-30-09 12:35 PM
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Subject: Giving is the New Taking
At the website titled New Paradigm Shift, there is a very pro-service article by Pilar Stella entitled Giving is the New Taking, which begins with the following quote by Price Pritchett:
While the article itself is not particularly noteworthy, I couldn't help be marvel at the irony of the title and the quote, as they apply to the true nature of the call for mandatory service currently being enforced in our schools and proposed for all citizens. Like the Greeks bearing gifts, the service initiative is dressed up in a Trojan horse of altruistic rhetoric designed to convince people that their enslavement by the state is actually in their best interest and something for which they would "volunteer" if only they were not being forced do so so! Yes, "giving" is certainly the "new taking" — the taking of one's freedom! |
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09-29-09 1:45 PM
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Subject: Lockport Township, IL High School Moves Towards Mandatory
Community Service
As reported today in The Homer Horizon:
Board members voted 5 to 2 to approve the first of two steps that would enact the policy to require community service hours of students, with a final vote on the matter scheduled to take place at the next board meeting on Monday, Oct. 19. Under the policy, the mandated service hours would be phased-in to all classes beginning in the fall of 2010. Seniors (Class of 2011) would be required to complete 10 hours of service, juniors 20 hours, sophomores 30 hours and freshmen 40 hours. [...] Michael Lewandowski and John Lukasik voted against the policy, with Lewandowski speaking out against the proposal during discussion at the Sept. 22 meeting. "Should we encourage our students to help the community? Yes. Should we force them to help the community? No." Lewandowski said. "Doing this voluntary is one thing but forcing them to do it is another. "We shouldn't force our students to do something against their will in order to graduate." Lewandowski worried the policy would provoke "incrementalism." "We've all seen how the government can creep into our lives," he said after reading to the board the 13th Amendment. "I don't want the federal, state or local government to say, 'well, the school district have approved this, so we can, too.'" Board member Angela Kamely responded to Lewandowski's statements. "We're doing this as a graduation requirement, not as a right to live," she said. "I support helping make a more well-rounded student." And with that mere flourish, Ms. Kamely brushes away the 13th Amendment and the rights of the students. Hey, it's only their education, not their lives! And just as a reminder: The Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution states:
Oh well, it's just a technicality. What's more important is to shape a "more well-rounded student" — in Angela Kamely's image. |
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09-29-09 12:02 AM
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Subject: Community Service Infects the Montessori Schools
In the article Cultivating Agents of Change, educational consultant Sara Cotner introduces Make A Difference Day, a national day of community service, into the Montessori curriculum. As she states in her article:
What better way indeed! Although, I would quibble with the word teach" and replace it with "indoctrinate". Reading further in the article we see that Ms. Cotner proposes the the entire class pick a single project from all of the proposed ideas and then work as a group to implement it. This sort of social group activity is the opposite of the Montessori educational philosophy which is based upon the understanding that a child is a self-directed learner, advancing their knowledge principally during periods of intense concentration and solo activity. Furthermore, Ms. Cotner has stated clearly that the social agenda she wished to impart to the students is her personal goal, and not a normal aspect of the Montessori course materials. It is crucial that education, at all levels, be removed from government control and influence. The educational activists like Ms. Cotner are breading a new generation of social activists, by brain washing children to treat as normal, a social ideology which they are not yet equipped to properly evaluate. This is nothing less than political indoctrination. |
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09-28-09 12:15 PM
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Subject: A Request for Help
While I have always been concerned about the advancement of mandatory national service as being a direct form of enslavement and a serious breach of the individual's right to their own life, I have to be honest in saying that until I began to study this subject in depth, I had no idea just how pervasive a movement it had become in our country. Using Google Alerts, I started tracking "community service", "national service", "serve.gov" and "United We Serve", and I typically get between 30-50 new hits per day—sometimes many more. Reading through these links on an ongoing basis starts to give a true picture of just how large and organized a force there is, pushing us ever closer to a commitment of a full blown service requirement to the State for all citizens. And with this being a priority of the Obama administration, efforts have been accelerating at a rapid pace, funded by a huge influx of new tax dollars directed towards the cause. It is important to fight this trend in every way we can, identifying the underlying breach of our rights as the principal reason for our opposition. I would encourage you to write letters to your papers, articles for your blogs, and speak out against mandatory service at every opportunity. You can also promote this site and encourage others to sign up, helping to create a growing list of support to back up all of our efforts. Thanks for your concern and your efforts to behead this monster. |
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09-28-09 11:45 AM
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Subject: Community Service is Mandatory in Maryland
In Maryland, community service—or as they like to call it in typical Newspeak terminology, service-learning—is mandatory for all students as a condition of being allowed to graduate from high school. At the link, you can read the history of the slow and steady creep of these programs being imposed, starting back in 1982. In particular, note how in 1983, the MD Maryland Superintendent of Schools is stopped by the State Board of Education from imposing this requirement, and how, through the use of funds provided in 1992 by The Federal Commission on National and Community Service, this trend is reversed and mandatory service is adopted. The individual rights of every child in MD, present and future, was sold for the paltry sum of $523,546. |
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09-26-09 10:50 PM
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Subject: Peter Schiff: Running for Connecticut Senator in 2010
Peter Schiff is an economist and broker who predicted, with astounding accuracy, the economic and housing crisis, while most others, in the both the financial industry and the government, derided him as simply loony. Here is a link to a video of a Mortgage Bankers Speech that Peter gave back on November 13, 2006, in which he outlines, in detail, exactly what was—and still is—wrong with the American economy. He then states, without equivocation, what the natural, and therefore predictable, consequences of those policies must be. It is an extraordinary eye-opener! This is such an important piece that I believe it should be seen by anyone interested in our current state of affairs. Therefore, I have added the link here in order to give it additional exposure. The video is roughly seventy-three minutes long, but it is an education in important economic concepts and well worth the time invested. If you agree, pass along to others, a link either to the video, or back to this site. Peter Schiff is currently running in 2010 for the Connecticut Senate seat currently held by Christopher Dodd. If you find the Schiff video interesting, I would also recommend an eighty-six minute video of a talk by John Allison, the CEO of BB&T Bank, given back on January 29, 2009, titled The Financial Crisis: Causes and Possible Cures. [Thanks to Cloud Downey for bringing the Schiff video to my attention.] |
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09-25-09 2:50 AM
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Subject: A Rose by Any Other Name ....
With Barack Obama, we live in a kinder, gentler world. For example:
So when mandatory national service is introduced, I suspect that it will be called something not quite so crass. I'm expecting that the administration will make us all feel really good about getting to participate in the exciting, new, energy-saving, revenue neutral, field of "open source employment"! Coming soon to a selective service office near you. |
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09-25-09 2:19 AM
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Subject: Can Second Graders Help the Community?
Why yes, according to teacher Hannah Motta's students, they can! Read about it at: 2HM Class Blog. Grace seems to have captured the real spirit of the exercise:
Second graders can give money to them for buying bricks or things they need. 2HM can give them some books to put in their library." Just like our government, this bright young girl recognizes at a very early age that the money, bricks and books you give away do not have to be yours! Now, what about first graders? Kindergarten anyone? |
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09-24-09 12:20 PM
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Subject: Oh Where, Oh Where, Did All The Doctors Go?
Here is a very interesting article: South Africa: Doctor brain drain continues. The article states:
The author then quotes Mike Waters, the shadow minister of health for the official opposition Democratic Alliance as stating:
What is interesting about this is that South Africa seems to have the type of medical system being proposed for the United States. Medical schools are state-run and student tuition is subsidized by the government. In addition to a year of internship, graduates are also required to contribute twelve months of their life to community service at a state-run health institution before being allowed to obtain a license to practice medicine. The majority of the health care system is run by the government, and is available without charge to roughly 80% of the population. And yet, despite this idyllic set-up, there appears to be problems in paradise. As the article explains:
"South Africa employs 18,000 doctors in state-run hospitals — or one doctor for every 3,800 people without medical aid" Ravick van der Merwe, an industrial relations adviser for the South African Medical Association states:
What ideas are being considered to solve this problem? The article states:
Well, if I was really ill or injured and required extensive or complicated medical assistance, I know that I would much rather have a doctor who pursued that career out of self-interest, following their thirst for knowledge and love of that type of work. Those are qualities that I can rely upon in a critical situation. I would not be comforted to know that the criteria used to select my doctor was "commitment to the country and to communities." He might be a warm body filling a space in a hospital, but a person's "social conscience" tells me nothing about their commitment to themselves and their work! When my life hangs in the balance, I want the self-motivated, competent doctor making the judgment or holding the knife, not the "nice guy". The article concludes with the following observation:
As those of you who have read Atlas Shrugged know, this "Brain Drain" phenomenon — or the John Galt effect — was described by Ayn Rand as a completely predictable consequence of the ever tightening government regulation of any profession or industry. If we continue to move in the direction that the Obama administration is leading us, this is one aspect of the future awaiting us. |
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09-23-09 8:15 PM
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Subject: Community Service Is Not What Made America Great
I discovered an excellent article by C. Edmund Wright at American Thinker, entitled "Community Service Is Not What Made America Great, which I would encourage everyone to read. Here are a few excerpts:
[T]he 9-11 attacks had nothing to do with Medicare, the Junior League or Earth Day or working in a soup kitchen, let alone registering voters or pushing for sub prime lending on behalf of ACORN. The 9-11 masterminds understood what it is that makes America great, and it was precisely some obvious icons of that greatness they attacked. It is our government-limiting Constitution -- creating an environment conducive to free enterprise, innovation, opportunity and military might, used for the good of all freedom loving peoples -- that has made America great. In short, it is our freedom. In stark contrast to our president and others, I say what we need now is a lot of self-interested financially motivated pursuits taking place. On the anniversary week of 9-11, it's a good time to champion that which the terrorists were trying to destroy -- that which makes America great. And for the record, they were not trying to destroy candle light vigils for death row inmates or the "Adopt a Highway" program. All of that is fine, but they were trying to destroy free economies and opportunity. They were trying to destroy the brain trust of a military whose history is that of conquering dictators and asking only enough real estate in return to bury their dead. They were trying to destroy our way of life. The American way of life. You know, life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. They were trying to destroy what made us who we were before Obama came to save us from our own greatness. They did not succeed. But if we can't tell the truth about what it is that made this country great, then we will do it to ourselves. Fantastic! Given all the problems we are dealing with these days, it is nice to be reminded of the underlying greatness of the USA which we are struggling to preserve—and I cannot thank Mr. Wright enough for having done this. Mr. Wright also make the following astute observation:
Exactly! It is self-interested, self-responsible adults that get things accomplished and have created the great wealth and standard of living that we enjoy in this country. And you have to create something, whether it be money or free time, before you can "redistribute" or "volunteer" any surplus to causes that reach beyond the requirements of one's own life. This is the simple fact that almost everyone in government fails to understand—or willfully ignores. Capitalism—free enterprise—is an economic system of creation. It allows wealth to be accumulated and leveraged over time, allowing us to continually improve our standing, generation after generation. It is a system that works precisely because it rewards the virtues of productivity, effort, intelligence and risk-taking. In contrast, socialism is a system of redistribution only. It does not understand or acknowledge the creative process. It sees our standard of living as a fixed pie, simply to be recut in a "fairer" manner so that all share equally. It penalizes the very virtues that capitalism rewards, and because of this, it ultimately becomes an engine of destruction as it drives out the good. And that is why Mr. Wright warns that, unchecked, the current administration may yet achieve what the terrorists were unable to do. |
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09-22-09 6:00 PM
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Subject: It's Never Too Early To Indoctrinate
Today we look at how the idea of national service has infiltrated our schools. Soon it will be impossible to get an education anywhere without being forced to submit to a mandatory service requirement. And since education is also mandatory, the requirement for national service will have been imposed through this back door, instead of by a direct legislative act which would have faced scrutiny and vocal opposition by the public. Let's start with a look at our friends at ACORN. Were you aware that some of your tax dollars were being given to this organization so that it could, in partnership with the New York City Department of Education, create two (and possibly three) high schools with a "community service" orientation? The first of these is the ACORN Community High School which has the goal of "Developing Tomorrow's Leaders". This is done, in part, with Social Studies programs that "teach them the critical thinking skills necessary to challenge inequity and injustice." Nothing very specific there, but it does get you thinking about just how "inequity and injustice" might be defined by ACORN? While I was unable to locate any detailed descriptions of the various academic courses being offered, there was a very complete overview of the service program and its requirements.
'Give Your Best, Be the Best' The ACORN Community Service Program (ACSP) offers ACORN students experiences that cultivate leadership skills while they contribute services to their communities. Through placement in various agencies and service providers, ACSP encourages students to apply what they learned in and out of the classroom to solve real-life problems. In the process students learn efficient work habits, teamwork and self-confidence. They also learn about democracy, budgets and the benefits of active citizenship. Further, students in ACSP acquire technical and communication skills that are essential in critical thinking for designing and implementing solutions that build proud and prosperous communities. Participation in ACSP instills an ethic of lifelong community service where students are inspired to build proud and prosperous communities." Aah yes, there it is in the last sentence — the real purpose of the program: "instills an ethic of lifelong community service". The community is the social unit of concern, with people as lifelong servants to its needs. And to prepare for this subservient position:
Unfortunately, babysitting will only earn you 0.5 ACSP points per hour. :-( Probably because it take more work to acquire "communication skills" when talking to babies! The second ACORN school let's you know where it's heading right in its title: ACORN High School for Social Justice. From their mission statement:
And what makes this school special? Selecting a few key bullet points:
This mixing of ACORN's political activism with education is appalling, and marks a new level of brazenness in the social indoctrination of children. That the New York City Department of Education engages in and promotes this sort of activity indicates that it is corrupt. But this movement is not confined to ACORN and New York City. This Falls City Herald News article discusses how the Tiverton, RI high school has imposed a mandatory "Community Service Learning" graduation requirement upon all of its students.
You simply have to admire the audacity of people who can use the word "volunteer" in describing an activity that is being forced upon every student. Community service coordinator Rebecca Elwell acknowledges:
Remember, these students are not actually being asked to volunteer. They are not being persuaded to engage in actions of their own choosing, for reasons that they personally judge to be worthwhile. They are being required to perform these services in order to be allowed to progress with their lives. I wonder if it ever crosses the minds of these "educators" that one source of struggle for some of these high school students might be an internal one. Possibly the demand—the act of being forced—to participate in this, or any other type of activity, is the source of their struggle, as they attempt, as most adolescents do, to assert their independence in thought, action and spirit at this critical phase of their development. The potential psychological damage being done to certain types of individuals is enormous. But is this phenomenon of community service limited to high school students. No! A report, once again from our friends at ACORN, tells us:
"Riverside School's third grade class will hold its third
annual Community Service Day on Wednesday, Sept. 23. The event,
which lasts from 9 to 10:30 a.m., introduces the students to
people who help their community and ties in with the class
civics unit. High school may be too late. By that time, some of these kids may have already developed thoughts of their own that could interfere with our "training", allowing them to rebel against the authority of their masters, The Community or The State. But if we can get them younger, say when they are only eight or nine, then fewer will have a chance to develop that independent, anti-social streak of learning to think for themselves. We must get to them early so that we can insure that they meet the goals that Barack Obama has laid out. They must be made to understand that it is their sacred responsibility to "not let their Country down!" It's enough to make you sick. |
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09-21-09 6:00 AM
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Subject: Don't Say You Didn't See it Coming!
One of the most pernicious laws on the books is the mandatory automotive seat belt law. What is so wrong about this law is that it steps over the boundary line of establishing laws that protect each of us from the harmful actions of others, and instead acts to protect us from ourselves! When these laws were first being proposed, I argued that they were extremely dangerous to our personal freedom, because they granted to the government the right to decide for us what was in our own best interest. As I argued in my previous post, there is no middle ground when it comes to the principle of deciding who make the decisions about how best to pursue one's own life. Either you have absolute authority over those decisions, or you don't. And if you give over even a small piece of that right to the government, then you have no principle remaining to which you may appeal as the control over your life which you retain is steadily eroded. The seat belt laws were a small breach into our personal autonomy that opened the door the today's call for mandatory national service. I would hope that everyone reading this could see the progression taking place as we march further along the path towards slavery. Still don't believe me? Well, let's take a look at an article published today from Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia, entitled: "Community service needed for seat belt offenders" Quoting sections from that article:
"For example, seat belt offenders should be asked to do 20 hours of community service before being let off." "[Road Safety Department director, Rano Aylwino Akat] said the majority of drivers and passengers used seat belts out of fear of being summoned and not for their safety." What is the real intent behind all of this? Do you actually thing that people who make these proposals are really benevolent souls with only your best interest at heart, or do you think that it is more likely that the people agitating for these ever increasing laws are really much more interested in exercising power and control over you life? "Yea, but come on, this is Malaysia we're talking about, not the United States!" I say that anyone prepared to make that naive argument deserves everything they get. And you will get it! |
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09-21-09 2:58 AM
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Subject: Republicans/Democrats: Who Can Tell the Difference?
Just as during the last presidential campaign, there was no fundamental difference between John McCain and Barack Obama in their calls for national service, we now have former president George H.W. Bush joining with President Obama on October 16, 2009 for A Presidential Forum on Service. From their joint announcement:
Both political parties are morally bankrupt. Neither offers an alternative which respects and defends your most basic individual right — the right to your own life. This is very possibly the most important issue that we currently face, because the implications are more fundamental to the preservations of our liberty. The Obama administration is committed to instituting mandatory national service for all citizens. The United We Serve operation at serve.gov is just a prelude to the next step, which if enacted, will mean that the government will have established a claim of ownership over the lives of every US citizen. If you grant them the right to impose control over three months of your life, then you have no grounds for opposing a later increase to six months, two years, or a lifetime of service to the state. You life is either yours to do with as you choose, or it isn't. There is no middle ground. It is important that this push be halted in its tracks. Please do everything you can to oppose this insidious drive for conscription. |
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09-20-09 6:20 PM
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Subject: My Response to Frank Rich's Article in the New York
Times
On Saturday, September 19th, Frank Rich posted an opinion piece in the New York Times entitled Even Glen Beck Is Right Twice a Day. In this article he attempts to slay many dragons including Joe Wilson, Sarah Palin, Rush Limbaugh, Bill O'Reilly, Sean Hannity, Ayn Rand, and of course, Glen Beck. He opens his discussion with the following:
and a short time later he writes:
So, according to Mr. Rich, my dislike for the impact that President Obama's policies and philosophy is having on my life and my future, is rooted in my "undeniable" racial bigotry. And furthermore, I'm too stupid to be "taught" anything, so don't bother trying. Here is my response to Frank Rich, published in the online comments section.
Thanks Frank. I was really confused. I thought that there might be some issues here concerning the abridgment of individual rights; limiting the government's powers to what is enumerated in the Constitution; the shift in our country from a philosophy of individualism to socialism; the right to keep and dispose of my property as I, not the government, see fit; the short and long range trouble being created by an exploding national debt; the inability of the CIA to function in the wake of retroactive criminal investigations; the destruction of our financial institutions as all innovation is crushed under threats of 'clawbacks' and legal prosecution if you take any risks; ... to name just a few. But now I see that all of those "issues" are really just rationalizations I use to cover up my intense hatred of our President because his skin is a few shades darker than my own. Thank you Frank for your moral enlightenment. Oops, just kidding on that last comment! The truth is that Frank Rich, Jimmy Carter, and many others operate from an implicit position that those of us who disagree with their outlook and philosophy ARE actually morons. Because anybody with an IQ of 80 would obviously agree with them! The dissenting Glen Beck is just another moron - a broken clock - that could only be right occasionally by accident, but certainly not by dint of intellectual rigor and a proper analysis of the facts. Actually, this makes me start to wonder who the real bigots are? Finally, I would like to comment on what a joke it is to refer to Ayn Rand, and then link, as though it were relevant and insightful, to an article by Jonathan Chait in The New Republic. Yes, it's a feel-good piece for everyone who already thinks that Rand was also just another moron. But this reference is not going to do anyone any good if they want to actually discover what Rand, and her philosophy of Objectivism have to say that is relevant to what is happening in our country today. There are plenty of reference sites on the internet that people can explore in order to get a more balanced picture of Rand. What I would recommend is picking up a copy of her book, Atlas Shrugged, and read it. You might be surprised to discover an ominous set of parallels to today's events being depicted, despite the book having been written over 50 years ago. There is a fun game you can play while reading it. See if you can find your favorite politicians and commentators depicted, making statements and taking actions that could come right off of the front page of today's papers. Why, if you read closely enough, you might even find a bit of Frank Rich in there!
Regards, |
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09-18-09 4:16 PM
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Subject: Taxpayers Fund Activists for Obamacare at
United We Serve
I just ran across a very interesting article by Dana Loesch entitled: Taxpayer Funded Serve.gov Filtering Activists to ACORN. What Dana found is that the government's web site is sponsoring listings for "national service" opportunities by ACORN. OK, that doesn't seem so strange, since ACORN is supposed to be a "community service" organization, and that fits right in with the mandate for that site. However, a closer look at the list of ACORN opportunities finds one titled "Healthcare Activist" with the following description:
Dana points out that the question of reimbursement is unclear on this page, but she found ACORN advertisements on places such as Craigslist where activists were offered $90/day. Other ACORN service listings include such things as "community organizing internship", "neighborhood canvasser", and "tax preparer". After the recent video exposés, we can imaging the types of "services" provided by these volunteers. Sinces ACORN operates with government funds, here is another shining example of how your own tax dollars are being directly used against you! On a lighter note, you can go to serve.gov and type in the keywords "John Galt" and get about sixty listings for my Pledge initiative. It looks as though there is a listing for just about every state including Hawaii. However, I did notice on the Google map that they provide that Alaska is conspicuously absent. I guess Sarah Palin is still getting under their skins after all this time! And by the way, with so many fantastic opportunities, why haven't any of you signed up? It's so sad to have zero volunteers. Where's your public spiritedness? [Yes, of course I'm kidding! :-)] |
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09-18-09 10:38 PM
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Subject: The Ideas of the Next Generation
In an opinion piece titled "More From Our Citizens...", and published in The Citizen, the student newspaper of the Harvard Kennedy School, Zachary Kushel writes:
There's that call for mandatory service (conscription) again, and all in the name of fighting terrorism ... oh excuse me, with this administration we don't use those words any longer ... in the name of American security. And we will provide that beefed up security by spending time on such things as community organizing, no doubt being assigned to the nearest Acorn militia group in your neighborhood. But after touting the goal of enhancing American security, the author completely ignores security matters and spends the majority of the article on his real purpose:
So, in the mind of this student, it is an appropriate function of our government to bind us all together by way of a common experience. For what purpose? To "give back" and "be a better nation and a more united people". Exactly why is social unity such a desirable goal? No reason is stated, so apparently it is supposed to be obvious to all of us. And by what authority will this be done? None given and none needed. Again, it is assumed as simply obvious that the government may engage in this activity. This is the depth of analysis we get from someone receiving a Harvard education. I hope he is getting one of those government scholarship and not paying full price! Implicit in every call for public service is the collectivist's assumption that the group, whether it be the community, society, or the state, is of greater importance than the individual, and it is the individual's duty to serve. This is the unstated premis that must be challenged. Always attack the issue of national service at it's core, ignoring the sundry details of each proposal as mere distractions. |
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09-17-09 2:18 PM
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Subject: Article Recommendation
Here is an article by Don Feder that you might find interesting: "Obama: Fighting Terrorism With Community Service, Kumbaya And Commie Appointments" |
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09-17-09 11:12 AM
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Subject: It's Constitution Day!
September 17th is Constitution Day. Are you wearing your black armbands? The patient is sick, but not dead yet! I encourage everyone to do what they can today to promote the fundamental principles embodied in that great document. Speak out and let others know that it is time for a revival of personal sovereignty and a restoration of our rights. And don't forget to have fun doing it! :-) |
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09-16-09 11:30 PM
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Subject: Mandating Community Service: The Indirect Method
In reading an article entitled 10 Ways to Get Your Child Involved in Your Community, the author, going only by the first name of Kimberly, writes:
I have not looked into college application requirements for many years, but it wouldn't surprise me if this were true. Where once an individual's dedication to their academic performance was the principal criteria for acceptance into higher education, with the creeping socialization of our culture, other concerns like "commitment" to community may now be large determinants. With government controlling so much of the educational infrastructure already, it gives one pause to contemplate the reason that Barack Obama has made it one of his priorities for the federal government to overhaul the college loan system, eliminating lending institutions from the picture and requiring students seeking aid to apply directly to the federal government? The ostensible reason given is that this would save money because the government would be so much more efficient at distributing the aid, rather than "giving lenders billions of dollars in wasteful subsidies". Yes, we have heard this mantra before, and remain as unconvinced here as we have been with its many other applications. Somehow, I find it hard to take seriously the idea that this administration is interested in saving money! For you old time computer hackers reading this, I would say that this governmental incantation is the equivalent of the command xyzzy. And paraphrasing the Adventure game, I would give respond #50: "GOOD TRY, BUT THAT IS AN OLD WORN-OUT MAGIC IDEA." :-)
Consider Obama's quest to regulate student loans from another
perspective. Let's start by reviewing what happened, less than a
year ago, to the businesses that received federal bailout money.
With no contractual requirements presented to them, and only
retroactively after the funds had been taken, the Obama administration
began imposing draconian levels of control which included capping
salaries and bonuses, forcing mergers and dissolutions on unwilling
parties, invalidating contractual agreements and obligations by fiat,
replacing company leadership, mandating the specific product to be
produced, and so on. Clearly, Obama did not want to simply save the
economy from collapse — he wanted to control it! Now, when the
majority of students seeking higher education are forced to come
directly to the federal government, hat in hand, to obtain their own
personal Does this seem unlikely? A year ago, who would have thought that the president of the United States would be allowed to tell creditors of the automotive companies that their legal claims were to be invalidated and that labor unions, with no legal standing, would be given preferred status? All without benefit of court intervention. In this age we are living by the rule of man—no longer by the rule of law. This is why even the most benign-sounding issue, such as the funding method for student loans, can have disastrous consequences if allowed to proceed unchecked. The game is afoot. Will we be alert enough, agile enough, and care enough to counter their tactics? We will win, only if enough people engage them on the intellectual battlefield, challenging the fundamental principles that lie behind their strategy. |
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09-16-09 12:36 PM
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Subject: Additional Revisions to the Website
At the excellent suggestion of a reader, I have rearranged the main page to move the pledge form up to the top where it is easier to locate, rather than being buried within the text near the bottom. And I have rearranged this page as well to get the current blog posts right up at the top where they should have been from the start. Hey, its a learning process! |
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09-15-09 9:52 PM
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Subject: The Battle for National Service is Underway!
Building upon the administration's call for National Service, Mozilla Service Week (09-14-09 through 09-21-09) was recently announced, calling upon software developers to volunteer their services to the community. This project is cosponsored by the Mozilla Foundation, the people behind the Firefox browser, and SourceForge.net, one of the largest repositories of open source software projects in the world. Supporting this effort are three partners organizations: idealist.org and betterplace.org, both clearinghouses for volunteer projects, similar to the government's SERVE.gov site; and OneWebDay, a very loosely defined organization said to be modeled upon Earth Day, and created by Susan Crawford, a "current technology policy advisor to President Obama." As I have said before, there would be nothing wrong with private groups organizing activities and soliciting volunteers to aid in a cause which they supported. But this is nothing of the sort. Just as with SERVE.org, Mozilla Service Week has no specific goal that it wishes to achieve. Its only purpose is to prod others to freely donate their time, energy and/or money to social causes. And any cause at all is just fine, because the end results don't really matters. It's was getting you to agree to volunteer that was the goal all the time! And with the involvement of Susan Crawford, we see the Obama administration's fingerprints all over this effort. The strategy is clear. Start by using peer-pressure to cajole individuals into investing their time in these sorts of voluntary efforts, conditioning them to this sort of activity. This makes it much easier to later transition the country to mandatory national service. As we have seen over and over throughout history, the majority of those who have been convinced to volunteer their efforts will be the first to support legislation that compels everyone to contribute. After all, it is only fair that we all share the burden equally! And that's how we do an end-run around such niggling issues as the constitutional rights of the individual. Because, under an egalitarian philosophy, someone's definition of fair always trumps rights. So the battle is engaged and our opponents are out of the gate. And while the country's attention is focused on other crucial affairs, this administration is receiving very little resistance on this issue. That is why it is so critically important to oppose this insidious maneuver now, before it snowballs and later becomes much more difficult to stop. You can help by adding your name to the others who are supporting the Personal Declaration of Independence, and then promoting this site by writing your own blog entries or articles concerning the issue of national service, and asking others to visit this site and add their names as well. Let's attack this issue with force and preserve the true meaning of the the term: "volunteer". |
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09-14-09 6:05 PM
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Subject: The 9/12 March on Washington D.C.: Crowd Estimates
There has been a lot of controversy over the crowd size estimates for the march, ranging from a few thousand to over 2 million! Here is a link to an article that has the best discussion and estimates that I have so far seen.
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09-13-09 6:28 PM
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Subject: A Small Change to the Pledge Text
Due to comments from a few reader, I made a very small change to the text of the pledge, simply to make it easier to parse and therefore, a bit more readable. To shorten the single run-on sentence and make the last point clearer, I changed:
to:
I made the corresponding grammatical change to the pledge summary page as well. This edit has no effect upon the content and meaning and should be of no problem to anyone who has previously signed. However, if there are any concerns or questions, please do not hesitate to contact me. |
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09-12-09 12:44 PM
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Subject: The 09-12 Tea Party March on Washington D.C.
Best wishes to everyone who made it to Washington D.C. to attend the rally. I wish I could be there with you. I look forward to seeing the media coverage and the resulting impact on the political machine.
Regards, |
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09-11-09 6:53 PM
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Subject: The Spirit of Independence
Liberty-minded people tend to be extremely independent, in both thought and action. They think for themselves, and act on their own judgments. Therefore, they are often opposed to becoming involved in any group, organization or movement, preferring to walk their own path. I'm familiar with this because it applies to me as well. As a thinker, it is natural for me to believe that all that is relevant to an argument is its truth or validity, and that everyone else should be similarly swayed by the facts alone. Thus, when facing an issue, my first inclination is to put pen to paper and bang out a detailed analysis. But, as a realist, I am aware that there is a great segment of the populace that does not think about ideas at sufficient depth to operate in that manner. Many of these people, while basically good intentioned at the core, will not be swayed by simple rhetoric and analysis, and instead will often end up following the direction of a group rather than blazing their own intellectual trail. Our opponents have long recognized that there is a strong power of persuasion to be found by assembling large groups which speak in a single voice. They have often accomplished this through unions, but over the years they have honed the tactic to such a degree and have become such masters of the technique that we find that we now have a "community organizer" in the White House! The conservatives have begun to wake up to this and we are seeing them fight back fairly effectively with the Tea Party organizations. But what is missing from the Tea Parties is a well coordinated core of ideas. Many individuals have used those organizations as a platform to express extremely well articulated and important messages, but what they lack is that common philosophical core — a single great idea — upon which everything rests and which gains its strength as the number of participants grow. What I am attempting with this site is to provide a means where we can organize as a group, around one important core principle, and become persuasive to another segment of the population that we currently are not effectively reaching. If you are reluctant to sign up because of that strong independent streak that we all share, then please reconsider. It is extremely important that we pool our resources in an effort to stop being dragged over the cliff of socialism which is within our sights now more than any time in the past sixty years. In a world of greater independence there would not be such an urgency to act. But the the erosion of our autonomy and individual rights over the past one hundred years has resulted in us all being bound together with a single noose so that we are all subject to the same outcome. So, please add your voice here and help the message of freedom and individual right be heard clearly by all. |
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09-10-09 2:14 AM
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Subject: Website Updates
At the request of various readers, the the pledge form has been modified to allow the country to be specified. If the country is the United States, then the state will be recorded as well. If anyone previously entered their name from a non-US country, their entry will display as OTHER. If you email me your country of origin, I will update the record to reflect that information. I have also added buttons on the main page to access this blog page and made a few other minor cosmetic changes. |
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09-09-09 4:45 AM
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Subject: United We Serve: Service with a Smile :-)
On 09-09-09, a community service project entitled Take the John Galt Pledge was created at the United We Serve (i.e. SERVE.gov) website with the express purpose of:
Tied in with this project, volunteers are encouraged to honor the ideals of the founding fathers by spreading the words of liberty, independence and self-reliance throughout their communities. If you are interested in showing additional support for that type of activity, and want to really, as our President says, "participate in our nation's recovery and renewal", then click here. Note, that in order to be able to sign up as a volunteer, you will need to create and account on that government site. |
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09-09-09 10:16 AM
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Subject: The Purpose of This Initiative
The United States of America is at a tipping point, where individual rights and personal freedom now hang precariously in the balance. As we move forward, will we be the masters of our own lives, deciding for ourselves what goals to pursue and how best to allocate our personal resources in service of those goals? Or will we allow ourselves to be treated as children, handing more and more of the decision-making over to the government, demanding that it assume the obligation of providing for all of our wants and needs? The price for abdicating responsibility for one's life is the forfeiting of one's freedom. Those of us committed to the path of personal autonomy must fight for our freedom if we are to retain what remains, and regain what has been lost since the founding of this country. My purpose for this site is to create another effective tool in that battle for liberty. There are many avenues available for engaging in this struggle. Writing letters-to-the-editor, op-ed pieces, articles for magazines, blog entries or forum posts is one. This is a one-to-one type of activity where the individual writer communicates directly to the individual reader. Another is the use of organized protests. The Tea Parties are a good example of this technique, and on September 12th, many citizens will descend upon Washington D.C. to march in protest against the current administration's policies. This is a many-to-one activity, where the ultimate effectiveness of the action is directly proportional to the number of participants. For example, if 300 people show up in D.C. on the 12th, that might generate a page six mention in most newspapers. However, if 80,000 people march, then it becomes headline news which will have a profoundly greater impact. [OK, I guess I was proven wrong on that count. You can ignore 80,000 people. You can even ignore a million! All the more reason to make sure that we do get our message out.] The goal of this initiative is to create a permanent public record of protest that can later be referenced as a kickoff point for many different types of campaigns. But where the message of the Tea Party protests have been diffuse, I want the ideological message of this site to be strictly focused upon one critical point:
In order to have this demand taken seriously, it requires an outcry of protest loud enough that it cannot be ignored. So just as with the gathering in D.C., the number of people signing up here to show their agreement with the fundamental principle of the sovereignty of the individual is critical. And that is why I encourage you to participate, and then do what you can to make other like-minded individuals aware of this opportunity to also engage in this action. Once a critical mass has been reached here, showing broad-based support for our constitutional rights, I would then encourage all of us to continue to become involved in other forms of education and protest that are of personal urgency. This might include arguments against nationalized health care, wealth redistribution, corporate bailouts, government control of the money supply, interference in the economy, national service, cap-and-trade, etc. Regardless of the specific topic, I would suggest that as part of the analysis, it should be shown that the proper position to take is the one which supports the rights of the individual, as delineated by the U.S. Constitution. And this site can be referenced to show the level of support that exists for making the protection of our rights a key requirement when considering any piece of legislation. The value of this approach is that it provides an ideological basis for every issue, which is ultimately grounded on an unassailable constitutional foundation. Those arguing from a different viewpoint can then be reduced to either having to defend the Constitution themselves, or acknowledging their lack of support for that document. If this approach is used effectively, the entire tenor of the debate could be shifted from an ever evolving discussion of numerous pragmatic concerns to a very focused one of fundamental principles. And I can guarantee that those who are currently working feverishly to destroy our freedom cannot stand up to the scrutiny of fundamental principles. So the goal for this initiative comes in two parts:
In closing, let me add one additional point. It is important to
remember that, as individuals, each of us speak only for ourselves.
By signing this personal Declaration of Independence, each
person is indicating their support only for the ideas explicitly
expressed in the pledge, and not for the words or actions of any
other person. Please feel free to reference the
list when
making a point about the level of support for our constitutional rights,
but do not assume or assert that anyone on the list supports your
personal approach or viewpoints in fighting the battle for freedom.
I am very interested in receiving feedback and suggestions
regarding this project, and I would enjoy hearing any ideas you
may have for related activities. Interesting ideas, suitable
for a wide audience, will be displayed on this page. Click on
the button below to contact me by email.
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