From your Black Grandma

I came across this site because of a political cartoon I liked, and I'm a little appalled by some of the articles. The site is called Black Commentator and you can check it out for yourself. The link will take you to an article called "Republicans Refuse Stimulus for Citizens Deep in Poverty". They were referring to Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour. I don't know him and can't speak to his objections, but this stimulus isn't the end all be all to everyone.

What struck me MORE though about the article was how the Black Commentator described the poor in this community.

For example, in Lambert, a community of 1,700, we found many people experiencing grinding poverty - living in ramshackle houses built nearly a century ago, with rampant unemployment, scores of young people with nothing to do but make babies, trash and stripped cars all over the place, people with serious health needs, cut off from mainstream services for the lack of public transportation.

Although the local mayor said the “people wanted to live that way,” in a dramatic moment of repudiation at the food pantry, people were asked what they wanted. They launched into a chorus of, “jobs, jobs, library, decent houses, food, transportation, health services!” In other words, people had gross needs that were not being served by state, county and local leaders.

I have to stop here to make a point, although there is plenty more to say about the article. Right here, I see blatant untruths and contradictory logic. I've never been to Lambert, Mississippi, but let's take inventory, I can see the town in my mind's eye. I understand the depression that comes from poverty or needing a helping hand to jump start a new direction.

1. Ramshackle houses
2. Trash
3. Stripped Cars
4. Unemployment
5. Young people
6. Sick people
7. Lack of Transportation

Knowing only that much about Lambert, I know that if I dropped my 2 sons off in Lambert, I would bet my life that they wouldn't be "stuck" in poverty for very long. They would find the owners of the ramshackle houses and fix them up for money or barter. They would force a contract with the city of Lambert to pick up the trash if the city doesn't know how to get that done. They would take the parts of the stripped cars and barter til they had a few working. I could even see them grow big enough to hire the lazy young people who only have time for sex. I could see them open a grocery store or bus service to towns that have free clinics or other services.

Of course the article doesn't recognize the description of Lambert as having any opportunity per se, they continue to argue that the residents couldn't possibly turn it around themselves.

Their poverty is not merely that shaped by the lack of money, but a poverty of the spirit shaped by the oppressive forces that have robbed them of hope, such that many cannot conceive of leaving or don’t know how to manage the transition to a new reality of living. They do not fit the model of Harriet Tubman, they fit her model of those who do not yet fully know they are free.

Stay with me here, cause it gets better. I want to remind you also that this is a Black Commentator talking about a black community with a black mayor. What is his answer to the problems of Lambert?

There needs to be a new Poor Peoples’ March today while the attention of the nation is being socialized to the damages that can result from an unregulated economy. But this time, it should deal with those who have been ravaged for decades with no one coming to their aid because those in power were allied with their oppressors.

Does the Black Commentator really believe that Governor Barbour (white) benefits somehow from continued poverty for the people of Lambert? It's possible I suppose, but doesn't the Governor benefit more by having communities thrive? Does he have give no blame to the mayor (black) who so arrogantly said “people wanted to live that way.” Who exactly are the oppressors here if not the black leaders and commentators?

Well just pretend I'm a Black Grandma, with slave roots and sleeves rolled up.

Shame on you Black Commentator! Shame on the mayor of Lambert and the black leaders and the black preachers of Lambert.

Don't listen to your leaders and your brothers who want to keep you in poverty. Don't believe them when they say you need to wait for the "Massa's crumbs." Don't listen to the anger they spew and the lies they tell. Keeping you down apparantly makes them look taller. Not only are you free, but you have been given the greatest gift of all. Like Joseph, who was sold into slavery by his own brothers, he trusted God in all things, and God turned what men had intended for evil to save his family, even those same brothers, in their time of need.

Don't settle for the Lambert that exists today. Mothers of Lambert, get those kids back in control. You teach them how to clean up their town, paint their homes, and take responsibility for their actions. You take a switch to them if you have to, and you remind them of their rich heritage and how your grandparents didn't have the choices and the opportunities that they have. Don't allow the leaders to go to Washington and let you settle for crumbs...take control of your kids and you teach them how to bake their own bread.

Teach them to NEVER take a handout, just a helping hand. Teach them with a broom and paint brush and get your homes in order. The enemy of poverty isn't the white man or the rich man...the enemy is anyone who tells you that you need a handout. Anyone that tells you that you can't make it on your own, the scars are too deep, those are the real oppressors, the liars and the snakes in the garden.

Get rid of the leaders around you who are not working on your behalf. Don't wait for the jobs to come to you...create the jobs, give businesses a reason to come to Lambert. Force your local mayor to provide the transportation service that your town needs or get another mayor who will. Advertise for what you need by showing off the pride you have in yourself and your community. Remember that

"all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness."

Bipartisan change you can believe in

I think this says it all.

Take Back Our Children

It was very hard for me to watch the President's address last night. It's never really what he says that worries me, it's what he really means that shows through.

An increase in the Federal standardization of our children's education is not what we need right now. Pouring more federal money and mandates into our educational system be it through grants or civil service or any way you cut it...we need to be afraid and we need to take a stand. We currently have the state as the biggest partner in public school, but the Feds want a bigger influence.

Charles Stickley wrote, "Ever wonder why many Americans react to important information with a blank stare? If psychopolitics succeeds in its mission throughout the Capitalistic nations of the world, there will never be an atomic war, for our enemy will have SUBJUGATED ALL OF HER ENEMIES. Communism has already spread across one sixth of the inhabited world . Marxist Doctrines have already penetrated the remainder . An extension of the Communist social order is everywhere victorious . The spread of Communism has never been by force of battle, but by conquest OF THE MIND. IN PSYCHOPOLITICS WE HAVE REFINED THIS CONQUEST TO ITS LAST DEGREE."

Parents are barely hanging on to any control as witnessed in last years California case against a home school. Parents almost lost their right to teach their own children, if they didn't have the "appropriate teaching credentials." The price of those credentials is teachers who no longer teach facts, but behavior modification. The drop out rate of our high school youth isn't a reflection of poor parenting, it's a reflection that the SYSTEM isn't doing enough. Our young people still have a sense of survival and freedom at their core. By 16 they realize that they may not be one of the handful of new college freshman being produced by the SYSTEM. Either they already know what they want and prefer to pursue their education elsewhere, or they don't know what they want, but aren't challenged enough or encouraged enough in the SYSTEM to find it.

It was clear from last nights address that "Dropping out of school will no longer be an option". That the Feds want control "from cradle to the start of their career." Does that mean there will be reform in our schools to re-engage those not tracked for college, or will they take those "rejects; the incorrigible; the trouble makers; the lazy; the washouts" and put them into public service? The new civil soldiers. How will they stop these children from finding their own path? They've already labeled them as failures because they couldn't conform to the core of the SYSTEM. They weren't willing to become "standardized", pegged and put on track for more of the same.

I propose that these "drop outs" are not failures. The Public School system has only one product K-12, and that's to create a handful of college freshman for future indoctrination. These young people who have other interests are the future innovators; plumbers; electricians; artists; CEOs and patriots. Will some of them use those talents in gangs...absolutely. But a majority will take that self-reliance; determination; resiliency and intuition and they be fine. But what have we done to those that we didn't squash? We wasted their time and tried to break their spirit.

Governor Jindal was able to create emergency legislation due to Hurricane Katrina that allowed the school funding to assist faith based and private schools who were picking up the slack when the Public School system in New Orleans was failing. As Rahm Emmanuel so clearly states..."let's not waste a good crisis". While our public schools are struggling with state and federal mandates, and not enough money to implement those mandates...this is a great opportunity to regain control of our children and their school funds.

If we can enact similar legislation that allows 60% - 75% of the money currently allocated by ADA for each student, and allow the money to follow the child; directed and managed by the parents; regardless of the religious affiliation; regardless of the grade by grade standardization policies; regardless of the accreditation of the campus or instructors, then we can save our children and the future of America. They take our money, but the money does NOT follow the children. The money goes directly to the institutions that comply or propagate the anti-American, anti-Christian, anti-family dogma of the far left. We need to stop that.

We need to REFORM the educational system and take back our children.

God is in control

by Twila Paris

God is in control

This is no time for fear
This is a time for faith and determination
Don't lose the vision here
Carried away by emotion
Hold on to all that you hide in your heart
There is one thing that has always been true
It holds the world together

God is in control
We believe that His children will not be forsaken
God is in control
We will choose to remember and never be shaken
There is no power above or beside Him, we know
God is in control, oh God is in control

History marches on
There is a bottom line drawn across the ages
Culture can make its plan
Oh, but the line never changes
No matter how the deception may fly
There is one thing that has always been true
It will be true forever

He has never let you down
Why start to worry now?
He is still the Lord of all we see
And He is still the loving Father
Watching over you and me

watching over you...watching over me..
watching over every things..
watching over you..watching over me..
every little sparrow..every little things...

And you thought Civil War was out of the Question?

Their goal is to revitalize the union within the confines of the Constitution.
Many of the words were taken directly from the words of Madison and Jefferson. Though none of the recent state legislation infers that they wish to secede from the Union, there are now 21 states that have joined New Hampshire and Oklahoma in drawing a line in the sand. Considering the Martial Law, the involuntary youth brigade, the threat of an offshore banking takeover, the ratification of the UN Sea Treaty, the danger of the North American Union...etc., etc., etc.

WOW!!! Don't wake sleeping dogs, eh?

HCR 6 – AS INTRODUCED

2009 SESSION

09-0274

09/01

HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 6

A RESOLUTION affirming States’ rights based on Jeffersonian principles.

SPONSORS: Rep. Itse, Rock 9; Rep. Ingbretson, Graf 5; Rep. Comerford, Rock 9; Sen. Denley, Dist 3

COMMITTEE: State-Federal Relations and Veterans Affairs

ANALYSIS

This house concurrent resolution affirms States’ rights based on Jeffersonian principles.

09-0274

09/01

STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE

In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Nine

A RESOLUTION affirming States’ rights based on Jeffersonian principles.

Whereas the Constitution of the State of New Hampshire, Part 1, Article 7 declares that the people of this State have the sole and exclusive right of governing themselves as a free, sovereign, and independent State; and do, and forever hereafter shall, exercise and enjoy every power, jurisdiction, and right, pertaining thereto, which is not, or may not hereafter be, by them expressly delegated to the United States of America in congress assembled; and

Whereas the Constitution of the State of New Hampshire, Part 2, Article 1 declares that the people inhabiting the territory formerly called the province of New Hampshire, do hereby solemnly and mutually agree with each other, to form themselves into a free, sovereign and independent body-politic, or State, by the name of The State of New Hampshire; and

Whereas the State of New Hampshire when ratifying the Constitution for the United States of America recommended as a change, “First That it be Explicitly declared that all Powers not expressly & particularly Delegated by the aforesaid are reserved to the several States to be, by them Exercised;” and

Whereas the other States that included recommendations, to wit Massachusetts, New York, North Carolina, Rhode Island and Virginia, included an identical or similar recommended change; and

Whereas these recommended changes were incorporated as the ninth amendment, the enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people, and the tenth amendment, the powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people, to the Constitution for the United States of America; now, therefore, be it

Resolved by the House of Representatives, the Senate concurring:

That the several States composing the United States of America, are not united on the principle of unlimited submission to their General Government; but that, by a compact under the style and title of a Constitution for the United States, and of amendments thereto, they constituted a General Government for special purposes, -- delegated to that government certain definite powers, reserving, each State to itself, the residuary mass of right to their own self-government; and that whensoever the General Government assumes undelegated powers, its acts are unauthoritative, void, and of no force; that to this compact each State acceded as a State, and is an integral party, its co-States forming, as to itself, the other party: that the government created by this compact was not made the exclusive or final judge of the extent of the powers delegated to itself; since that would have made its discretion, and not the Constitution, the measure of its powers; but that, as in all other cases of compact among powers having no common judge, each party has an equal right to judge for itself, as well of infractions as of the mode and measure of redress; and

That the Constitution of the United States, having delegated to Congress a power to punish treason, counterfeiting the securities and current coin of the United States, piracies, and felonies committed on the high seas, and offences against the law of nations, slavery, and no other crimes whatsoever; and it being true as a general principle, and one of the amendments to the Constitution having also declared, that “the powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people,” therefore all acts of Congress which assume to create, define, or punish crimes, other than those so enumerated in the Constitution are altogether void, and of no force; and that the power to create, define, and punish such other crimes is reserved, and, of right, appertains solely and exclusively to the respective States, each within its own territory; and

That it is true as a general principle, and is also expressly declared by one of the amendments to the Constitution, that “the powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people;” and that no power over the freedom of religion, freedom of speech, or freedom of the press being delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, all lawful powers respecting the same did of right remain, and were reserved to the States or the people: that thus was manifested their determination to retain to themselves the right of judging how far the licentiousness of speech and of the press may be abridged without lessening their useful freedom, and how far those abuses which cannot be separated from their use should be tolerated, rather than the use be destroyed. And thus also they guarded against all abridgment by the United States of the freedom of religious opinions and exercises, and retained to themselves the right of protecting the same. And that in addition to this general principle and express declaration, another and more special provision has been made by one of the amendments to the Constitution, which expressly declares, that “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof, or abridging the freedom of speech or of the press:” thereby guarding in the same sentence, and under the same words, the freedom of religion, of speech, and of the press: insomuch, that whatever violated either, throws down the sanctuary which covers the others, and that libels, falsehood, and defamation, equally with heresy and false religion, are withheld from the cognizance of federal tribunals. That, therefore, all acts of Congress of the United States which do abridge the freedom of religion, freedom of speech, freedom of the press, are not law, but are altogether void, and of no force; and

That the construction applied by the General Government (as is evidenced by sundry of their proceedings) to those parts of the Constitution of the United States which delegate to Congress a power “to lay and collect taxes, duties, imports, and excises, to pay the debts, and provide for the common defense and general welfare of the United States,” and “to make all laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into execution the powers vested by the Constitution in the government of the United States, or in any department or officer thereof,” goes to the destruction of all limits prescribed to their power by the Constitution: that words meant by the instrument to be subsidiary only to the execution of limited powers, ought not to be so construed as themselves to give unlimited powers, nor a part to be so taken as to destroy the whole residue of that instrument: that the proceedings of the General Government under color of these articles, will be a fit and necessary subject of revisal and correction; and

That a committee of conference and correspondence be appointed, which shall have as its charge to communicate the preceding resolutions to the Legislatures of the several States; to assure them that this State continues in the same esteem of their friendship and union which it has manifested from that moment at which a common danger first suggested a common union: that it considers union, for specified national purposes, and particularly to those specified in their federal compact, to be friendly to the peace, happiness and prosperity of all the States: that faithful to that compact, according to the plain intent and meaning in which it was understood and acceded to by the several parties, it is sincerely anxious for its preservation: that it does also believe, that to take from the States all the powers of self-government and transfer them to a general and consolidated government, without regard to the special delegations and reservations solemnly agreed to in that compact, is not for the peace, happiness or prosperity of these States; and that therefore this State is determined, as it doubts not its co-States are, to submit to undelegated, and consequently unlimited powers in no man, or body of men on earth: that in cases of an abuse of the delegated powers, the members of the General Government, being chosen by the people, a change by the people would be the constitutional remedy; but, where powers are assumed which have not been delegated, a nullification of the act is the rightful remedy: that every State has a natural right in cases not within the compact, (casus non foederis), to nullify of their own authority all assumptions of power by others within their limits: that without this right, they would be under the dominion, absolute and unlimited, of whosoever might exercise this right of judgment for them: that nevertheless, this State, from motives of regard and respect for its co-States, has wished to communicate with them on the subject: that with them alone it is proper to communicate, they alone being parties to the compact, and solely authorized to judge in the last resort of the powers exercised under it, Congress being not a party, but merely the creature of the compact, and subject as to its assumptions of power to the final judgment of those by whom, and for whose use itself and its powers were all created and modified: that if the acts before specified should stand, these conclusions would flow from them: that it would be a dangerous delusion were a confidence in the men of our choice to silence our fears for the safety of our rights: that confidence is everywhere the parent of despotism -- free government is founded in jealousy, and not in confidence; it is jealousy and not confidence which prescribes limited constitutions, to bind down those whom we are obliged to trust with power: that our Constitution has accordingly fixed the limits to which, and no further, our confidence may go. In questions of power, then, let no more be heard of confidence in man, but bind him down from mischief by the chains of the Constitution. That this State does therefore call on its co-States for an expression of their sentiments on acts not authorized by the federal compact. And it doubts not that their sense will be so announced as to prove their attachment unaltered to limited government, whether general or particular. And that the rights and liberties of their co-States will be exposed to no dangers by remaining embarked in a common bottom with their own. That they will concur with this State in considering acts as so palpably against the Constitution as to amount to an undisguised declaration that that compact is not meant to be the measure of the powers of the General Government, but that it will proceed in the exercise over these States, of all powers whatsoever: that they will view this as seizing the rights of the States, and consolidating them in the hands of the General Government, with a power assumed to bind the States, not merely as the cases made federal, (casus foederis,) but in all cases whatsoever, by laws made, not with their consent, but by others against their consent: that this would be to surrender the form of government we have chosen, and live under one deriving its powers from its own will, and not from our authority; and that the co-States, recurring to their natural right in cases not made federal, will concur in declaring these acts void, and of no force, and will each take measures of its own for providing that neither these acts, nor any others of the General Government not plainly and intentionally authorized by the Constitution, shall be exercised within their respective territories; and

That the said committee be authorized to communicate by writing or personal conferences, at any times or places whatever, with any person or person who may be appointed by any one or more co-States to correspond or confer with them; and that they lay their proceedings before the next session of the General Court; and

That any Act by the Congress of the United States, Executive Order of the President of the United States of America or Judicial Order by the Judicatories of the United States of America which assumes a power not delegated to the government of United States of America by the Constitution for the United States of America and which serves to diminish the liberty of the any of the several States or their citizens shall constitute a nullification of the Constitution for the United States of America by the government of the United States of America. Acts which would cause such a nullification include, but are not limited to:

I. Establishing martial law or a state of emergency within one of the States comprising the United States of America without the consent of the legislature of that State.

II. Requiring involuntary servitude, or governmental service other than a draft during a declared war, or pursuant to, or as an alternative to, incarceration after due process of law.

III. Requiring involuntary servitude or governmental service of persons under the age of 18 other than pursuant to, or as an alternative to, incarceration after due process of law.

IV. Surrendering any power delegated or not delegated to any corporation or foreign government.

V. Any act regarding religion; further limitations on freedom of political speech; or further limitations on freedom of the press.

VI. Further infringements on the right to keep and bear arms including prohibitions of type or quantity of arms or ammunition; and

That should any such act of Congress become law or Executive Order or Judicial Order be put into force, all powers previously delegated to the United States of America by the Constitution for the United States shall revert to the several States individually. Any future government of the United States of America shall require ratification of three quarters of the States seeking to form a government of the United States of America and shall not be binding upon any State not seeking to form such a government; and

That copies of this resolution be transmitted by the house clerk to the President of the United States, each member of the United States Congress, and the presiding officers of each State’s legislature.

We're Toast

It's obvious that there is NO difference between the Parties. This gal has been blowing the whistle for 40 years. We've sold out our children and now our country. These aren't NEW videos...I can't imagine what she thinks about our new Administration.





View the rest of this interview on YouTube

As a Christian, it was easy to stay responsible for my own kids education even though they were in the public school system. I attended CHEA conferences and knew that my husband and I were responsible to train up our kids. It didn't bother me that they had no real interest in a college degree. They were antsy to live life and they took what ever college course work was necessary to supplement the lack of skills attained in High School. They aren't rocket scientists, but they have good jobs and excel in their chosen fields. That's enough to make me proud.

Their dad and I took parenting seriously and knew that a fear of God was at the top of the list. We also helped them find their God given gifts and talents and helped them develop life skills, gave them a moral compass and demanded integrity. My youngest son however is the only college graduate and he's also the only one that requires great debate to win over on social and political issues. Funny how that proves her point. He's had the most trouble reconciling with God, but has enough respect for us as parents and a healthy fear of God, that he's mostly just confused.

These videos depress me in that we may be too late. Perhaps we've had our chance and this is just the last dance.

Have we entered the fog of the twilight zone?

16 illegals sue Arizona rancher
Claim violation of rights as they crossed his land

An Arizona man who has waged a 10-year campaign to stop a flood of illegal immigrants from crossing his property is being sued by 16 Mexican nationals who accuse him of conspiring to violate their civil rights when he stopped them at gunpoint on his ranch on the U.S.-Mexico border.

Read the whole story here.

The courts can't hear any of the BigO eligibility cases because Americans have no standing to ask for the credentials of a presidential candidate.... but illegal aliens held by a private American citizen at gunpoint have some kind of standing in our courts? Why don't they sue him in a Mexican court. These folks should be put in jail first for entering the country illegally and trespassing. After those cases are heard, and they've resolved their illegal status...maybe then we can give them standing to sue a man for protecting his property.

A friendly experiment

Taken from a friends' email to me prior to the election.

Today on my way to lunch I passed a homeless guy with a sign that read "Vote Obama, I need the money." I laughed.

Once in the restaurant my server had on an "Obama 08" tie, again I laughed as he had given away his political preference-just imagine the coincidence.

When the bill came I decided not to tip the server and explained to him that I was exploring the Obama redistribution of wealth concept. He stood there in disbelief while I told him that I was going to redistribute his tip to someone who I deemed more in need - the homeless guy outside. The server angrily stormed from my sight.

I went outside, gave the homeless guy $10 and told him to thank the server inside as I've decided he could use the money more. The homeless guy was grateful.

At the end of my rather unscientific redistribution experiment I realized the homeless guy was grateful for the money he did not earn, but the waiter was pretty angry that I gave away the money he did earn even though the actual recipient deserved money more.


I guess redistribution of wealth is an easier thing to swallow in concept than in practical application.

Thy Kingdom Come

Father, God...have mercy on us. You were with her at the signing of the declaration of Independence. You whispered to her founders and stood by them as they crafted the pillars that built this great nation. You called the weary, the tired and the poor to her shores to build her up as a beacon on a hill. You gave hope to the world through her bravery, generosity and even naivety. We have forsaken you. Like the prodigal son, we have stripped all that was good and prostituted ourselves with our greed and carnality. We've been in lukewarm water for over 30 years and the heat is getting turned up.

I listened to a sermon online that my brother recommended.

Although it was mostly bad news...

I should preface this with the fact that, no where in scripture, when you study the time before Christs return will you recognize a super power that could be America. This bothered me as a teenager, but not as much as I believed it might play out just as the bible foretold. I believe we are at the beginning of that time now. I know what you are thinking, but these weren't only my observations.

7 things that will happen... so that you might believe

America...like the prodigal son.

1. there will be no economic recovery. We have traded an economic system that worked --- for one that never has. We have traded freedom for something else.... All of the answers coming from govt. are insane... there is a reason why communist and socialist regimes have fences around them.
2. we will see a time of extreme need and want like we've never seen before
the hedges that protected America are trampled down.
the insanity of Al Gore - environmental terror talk with no regard for our sin against the creator
more natural disasters will come
3. Breaches of our national security - nations will come against us
4. Internal conflict - a very divided nation .... greater than the civil war.
5. a total desertion of or departure from one's religion, principles, party, cause
6. REVIVAL ------ greater opportunity to come to Christ
7. RAPTURE ------ evacuation

School Options from my Home Country

After posting my suggestion for California schools... I started researching a little and found some interesting models from none other than the Netherlands. Being from the Netherlands, and having some first hand knowledge of the system, I was curious to see how it was viewed.

Go to Open Education site for the full articles.

We left the Netherlands in 1956, and just 10 years later as we embarked on high school, my father, had some regrets about our immigration to America. So much so, that he sent my brothers and I back to summer in the Netherlands for the next 3 summers. I think he was appalled at the lack of core knowledge and memorization that was required of us in High School. Things like naming the continents and world leaders. World History and basic math and science facts. He didn't understand that in America they would allow the least experienced teachers to teach at the elementary level where the children were the most vulnerable. He thought the concept was upside down. There are tried and true formulas for teaching basics and you shouldn't experiment with the minds of the young and impressionable. He thought new ideas and theories should stay in the University where students and professors could debate as equals.

At the heart of the Dutch School system is their secondary program. I think this diagram from the article shows it best.


The model shows three separate paths from school to the workplace while still allowing for an individual student to transfer between the paths if they are willing or unwilling to do the work. I do believe also in compulsory education for youth under 16, but I don't believe the California Elementary school system is doing a good job for the money we are spending...and I really think we are FAILING, and have been FAILING our secondary and post secondary students for the past 30 years. What's appalling about that is the costs keep going up, the standards and the expectations keep going down and the dropout rate keeps going up.

Until we have real REFORM in our schools, outside of the current monopoly hold that the school system has on our educational options...we are never going to get it right.

Grandma's Plan for California's Budget

California is looking at a school line item of $50B in their budget with about $14B in cuts for 2009/10, and IOU's to taxpayers who are entitled to a refund of overpayment of taxes for 2008. Times are tough for everyone and we need to move to some drastic measures that are SMART, sound and lead the way for a better tomorrow.

#1. Admit that all the money in the world won't fix the California educational system as is, and that REFORM is needed.

I propose that all pre-K and K-5 programs are terminated effective 2009/10 school year. Turn elementary school education back in to the hands of who? PARENTS and churches...(what a concept). Maintain your basic skills testing for 5th graders, but make that the entry exam for Public Subsidized education which is offered only to those students who pass. Consolidate Middle school curriculum with advanced aptitude and placement preparation with the focus on preparation for either:

- a 2 year general education program (9-10)
- a 5 year university preparation program (9-12+ AA or transfer to University)
- a 4 year specialty program (9-12 w/special skills actually needed in the workplace)

The specialty programs could/would include:
- Arts and Science (music, art, performing art, film, video, sound, graphics, and all the technology that those industries need skilled workers for)
- Science and Technology
- Business and Technology

Any of the specialty schools could easily lead to university or the workplace, but all would have practical applications.

Saving all of the money from PreK-5 schooling and transferring half to support the new public education system would be enough to keep the state solvent and I believe prove to be a better model for our future. Take all of that money spent doing what parents should be doing, and invest it only in the children who develop a desire to succeed. Those who fail in this program will have their parents support in finding alternatives to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

I found a candidate for 2010

After an interesting BlogTalkRadio show last night, a guest recommended Peter Schiff as someone to watch. I had to google him and OMG...I found a man who HAD IT RIGHT!!! He not only tried to warn economists for the last 4 years...but he's protected his own clients, and is taking a stand by running against DODD as a Senator from Connecticut.



His candidacy is being supported and explored by Political Exploration and Awareness Committee PAC (PEAC), an Independent Expenditures Committee. I have no idea what his affiliations are...but Dodd needs to be removed and possibly brought up on charges.

Re-Group to WIN

The Republican Party, Independents and perhaps the new groundswell of Patriots that are cropping up online need the kind of solutions that the 'Obots' had. From social networking tools, ground troops like get out the vote and Acorn, the Obots have maintained a steady stream of lies designed to hi-jack even the best intentions of the people of America.

The Obama campaign used the Blue State Digital (BSD) Online Tools to generate more than $500 million from well over three million online donors. I'm personally apalled at their decision to turn off all Credit Card authorization tools normally in place for online transactions, but "validity" is a small price to pay for CASH. Who cares if the transactions were legal, right? I'm not suggesting illegal, unethical or treasonous practices...but I am suggesting we WAKE up and get organized.

Senator Barack Obama retained BSD to manage the online fundraising, constituency-building, issue advocacy, and peer-to-peer online networking aspects of his 2008 Presidential primary campaign. To date, the campaign has used the BSD Online Tools to mobilize well over a million donors to contribute over $500 million online, to motivate over 2 million social networking participants, and to create and promote more than 200,000 events across the country.

Surely opponents need to learn from this. I'm not sure where the "say one thing and do another" comes from....but it is a bit Alinsky-ish, don't you think? If you keep insisting that you are bi-partisan and keep holding meetings with the other side, maybe no one will notice that you NEVER listen or change anything. Maybe if you keep saying transparent, while your stuff is under lock and key, no one will notice that we've seen NOTHING. It's half amusing, like watching a magician in training. you can see the sleight of hand, but folks still applaud the outcome.

The whole of the campaign comes from ideas presented in Rules for Radicals. Alinsky outlines his strategy in organizing, writing in the prologue,

"There's another reason for working inside the system. Dostoevski said that taking a new step is what people fear most. Any revolutionary change must be preceded by a passive, affirmative, non-challenging attitude toward change among the mass of our people. They must feel so frustrated, so defeated, so lost, so futureless in the prevailing system that they are willing to let go of the past and change the future. This acceptance is the reformation essential to any revolution. To bring on this reformation requires that the organizer work inside the system, among not only the middle class but the 40 per cent of American families - more than seventy million people - whose income range from $5,000 to $10,000 a year [in 1971]. They cannot be dismissed by labeling them blue collar or hard hat. They will not continue to be relatively passive and slightly challenging. If we fail to communicate with them, if we don't encourage them to form alliances with us, they will move to the right. Maybe they will anyway, but let's not let it happen by default."[4]

Maybe honorable folks can't follow alinsky in good conscience...but it seems to me, we certainly need to pay attention.