Sharing hopes and dreams for a better world.

The thing about having a blog that is really interesting is hearing from people all over the world on my email.  Some are to bashful or even afraid to comment on the published blog but feel comfortable using the email attached to the blog.  I know others who read this would like to hear from those in other countries as much as I. 

I see on our activity reports that we have readers in Australia, Argentina, Canada, Greece, Russia, Iraq, South Korea and Turkey.  I know our readers here in the United States would love to hear your thoughts about where our world is today and what we can do to make it a better place.  We are all citizens of the world and as so we are the only hope for making things better for all of us. 

We have no ulterior motive, we are just people who want to live our lives in peace by getting to know one another.  It would be great if you would take a moment to write even if it is anonymous, just leave your first name and country.  We can all sit around and listen to our politicians banter on and on and accomplish nothing or we can develop a thread that may weave for our people a common and comforting quilt.  We don’t have to agree on all things in the world but we can agree that it would be a great gift to all who inhabit this earth just to find a common thread that could lead to an understanding of cultures.  In that way the children of the world might just inherit a better place.   

How much are our schools influencing the politics in America?

Are the Universities destroying America by injecting politics of the far left into their scholastic endeavors?  Over the years academia has moved solidly to the left.  It reminds me of Nikita Khrushchev’s statement that “they the Communists will take over America without firing a shot.”  How far from the truth is that statement?  The left has totally taken over the news media, the universities and the unions in America.  They shape the minds of our youth and when one of them denounces this they chastise the accuser.  We send our children off to be educated not indoctrinated, yet these, in many cases State run organizations continually warp the minds of their students.  Professors like Ward Churchill of Colorado who because of tenure have continued to expound their hate for the American system.  Thankfully Churchill was finally dumped after years of the damaging brainwashing he administered to his students. 

A teacher can have a preference in politics, no one can or should deny their right to an opinion but their opinion and their politics should stay out of their curriculum.  The youth of America have the right to build their own consensus in regards to politics.  In the 50’s and 60’s it was the strong desire of parents that their children would have an opportunity for a better education than they did.  Many gave up their life’s pleasures to afford this for their children and sadly watched as the likes of the Weather Underground and other campus radicals took over the academic leadership in the schools of the United States.

There is a solution to this problem and it lies in the State supported institutions all across the country.  As with all government agencies the only way to stop their influence is to cut off their funding.  The schools themselves will eventually get the message and cleanse themselves of the radical element.  The key is to elect legislators from within your community who have the courage to attack this problem and fight for real educational reform from kindergarten up.  Politics do not belong in elementary, middle, or high schools and should be limited to political science classes in college.  Just how nice would it be to see a school that concentrated on the 3 R’s rather than things like Johnny has two Daddy’s?   There are two things that do not belong in our schools;  Political Correctness for one and extreme sex education other than hygiene.  The thing that needs to be brought back to schools is God and discipline.  It wouldn’t be bad to throw in a little patriotism too.

This notion that it’s the community’s responsibility to raise your children is the problem with society today, if you are old enough and man or woman enough to have children then be grown up enough to take responsibility for their upbringing.  Children need structure and that is what should be provided by the parents.  Teachers are not babysitters and proxy parents, they are there to teach reading, writing and arithmetic, morality, commonsense and behavior should come from the home.     

That’s my opinion, what’s yours?

Affordable healthcare or a time bomb

Just where are we at with the Affordable Care Program or as it’s better known as (Obama-Care)?  I'm afraid that things aren’t going as smoothly as we were promised.  Many of us warned of the consequences of such a big change and many of those fears are starting to become reality.  Small business will be the real test as they work around the additional expense, in many cases the cost of this program to the small to medium business will be greater than their profit over the last few years.  Many entrepreneurs are already shuffling their workforce to fit under the shield of protection, this is done by shifting full time employees to part-time and laying off marginal workers.  The cost for individual healthcare policies has gone up tremendously with promises of more increases.  Insurance companies just like any other investment is looking to make a profit or they wouldn’t be in the business and when they are forced to take on known problems their cost goes up and it’s spread across the board.  It doesn’t matter that you’ve never had a claim now you will have to pay for the claims of others.  It’s no different than taxes, the more people not working the greater the tax burden is on those who are.  The government is made up of WE and WE have to bear the burden of those who feel it’s their right to slack off.  Don’t get me wrong there are a lot of people out of work who would love to find a job but with employers up in the air regarding the unknown costs associated with Obama-Care, jobs are at a premium.  A big problem is that I’ll guess about 30% of those who have been laid off over the past 4 years are enjoying the free pass and it will take an earthquake to get them back into the workforce as long as the government is feeding and housing them. 

Kathleen Sebelius the Health and Human Services head told an interviewer Monday that the administration was not prepared for the backlash on the program and was having trouble keeping up with the changes in regulations.  Gee, isn’t that what everyone was yelling about when they snuck this bill through in the middle of the night?  20K new reg’s so far and estimating close to 30.  This is a lot of extra work for any business to try and keep up with let alone a mom and pop outfit.  Just like the tax code it will grow into a monster that only accountants and lawyers will understand. Once this is all implemented we won’t have to worry about being like France, we will be France basically.  At that point the Dreams of Obama’s father will supersede those of our Forefathers of a free capitalist society.

That’s my opinion, what’s yours?  

Food For Thought

This couldn't be said this any better than it has been by J. P. Long

 

By Junius P. Long

Food For Thought

If you can get arrested for hunting or fishing without a license, but not for being in the country illegally ... you might live in a country founded by geniuses but run by idiots.

If you have to get your parents’ permission to go on a field trip or take an aspirin in school, but not to get an abortion ... you might live in a country founded by geniuses but run by idiots.

If the only school curriculum allowed to explain how we got here is evolution, but the government stops a $15 million construction project to keep a rare spider from evolving to extinction ... you might live in a country founded by geniuses but run by idiots.

If you have to show identification to board an airplane, cash a check, buy liquor or check out a library book, but not to vote who runs the government ... you might live in a country founded by geniuses but run by idiots.

If the government wants to ban stable, law-abiding citizens from owning gun magazines with more than ten rounds, but gives 20 F-16 fighter jets to the crazy new leaders in Egypt ... you might live in a country founded by geniuses but run by idiots.

If, in the largest city, you can buy two 16-ounce sodas, but not a 24-ounce soda because 24-ounces of a sugary drink might make you fat ... you might live in a country founded by geniuses but run by idiots.

If an 80-year-old woman can be stripped searched by the TSA but a woman in a hijab is only subject to having her neck and head searched ... you might live in a country founded by geniuses but run by idiots.

If your government believes that the best way to eradicate trillions of dollars of debt is to spend trillions more ... you might live in a country founded by geniuses but run by idiots.

If a seven year old boy can be thrown out of school for saying his teacher is "cute," but hosting a sexual exploration or diversity class in grade school is perfectly acceptable ... you might live in a country founded by geniuses but run by idiots.

If children are forcibly removed from parents who discipline them with spankings while children of addicts are left in filth and drug infested “homes”... you might live in a country founded by geniuses but run by idiots.

If hard work and success are met with higher taxes and more government intrusion, while not working is rewarded with EBT cards, WIC checks, Medicaid, subsidized housing and free cell phones ... you might live in a country founded by geniuses but run by idiots.

If the government's plan for getting people back to work is to incentivize NOT working with 99 weeks of unemployment checks and no requirement to prove they applied but can’t find work ... you might live in a country founded by geniuses but run by idiots.

If being stripped of the ability to defend yourself makes you more "safe" according to the government ... you might live in a country founded by geniuses but run by idiots.

What would Ike, Truman or Reagan do?

My wife asked an interesting question this morning, she asked what Ike or Truman or even Reagan would do in this situation with the world on the brink of war.  I had to think a while as the question hit home.  I don’t believe we would have reached this point had any of the above listed been president.  Why you ask, because they would have reacted a lot sooner to the different cases.  Ike or Truman would have at the first sign of escalation put out an ultimatum to stand down immediately that the world would have listened to, as they were known for being men of action not just diplomacy.  In the last few decades we have become appeasers and are not expected to react other than to send our diplomats to negotiate with these rogue leaders through third party intermediaries. 

“We will not negotiate with terrorists” is what they say, but in the background we have an emissary from the French speaking for us.  Our stature in the world has fallen to the degree that if Korea wants more food they rattle the saber and we send food, it’s a big joke in the world.  America the country that was left to these last two generations a strong and feared nation among nations has become the piñata of the world, poke her and goodies will fall out.  We saw what Reagan did when he took command, the hostages in Iran were released immediately, how about when the Cubans sought a foothold in Grenada, he didn’t negotiate he reacted.  We saw what Truman did at the end of WWII to show the world that it doesn’t pay to mess with the United States of America.  Ike was so strong coming out of WWII that we had the greatest period of economic growth in our history.  Why did these leaders succeed where today’s fail?  Because they had the heart and soul of America and all these tin horn dictators knew it.  The John Wayne syndrome has always been the mantra for success in leadership in America.  The press called Reagan the Cowboy in a very derogatory way, yet it was that Cowboy who brought down the Berlin Wall and brought The Soviet Union to her knees. 

A thing to ponder; all three presidents that I spoke of brought themselves out of poverty just as most Americans did in the day.  There were no hands reaching down to lift their spirits or fill their larders.  These were self made men who took the personal responsibility to succeed. The Presidency was the most prestige’s position in the world and when the President of the United States spoke people listened.  Today we have a reflection of what we have become; a spoiled aristocratic government that thinks more about their personal power and prestige than the glory of the American way that defined our nation for decades.  

That’s my opinion, what’s yours?