Life Lessons

In my 4th period Math class I was teaching my GED students how to do simple word problems. Problem number 5 was something along the lines of:

Suzy gets paid $9.25 an hour. How much did she get paid after she worked 30 hours?

Easy, huh! After calculating how much money Suzy made the inmates starting arguing about whether or not she made a lot of money.

I instantly changed my lesson plan.

We calculated how much Suzy would make in a forty hour work week and then how much that would be for a whole month. Then we calculated the taxes and subtracted that from the total. The next step for us was to spend Suzy's money to see how quickly it would run out. I asked, "How much is rent a month?"

"$80," came the reply. I must have made a face because that was quickly followed by"...in the projects-you know-Section 8 housing." A stunned moment later I responded.

"I have to admit, I don't know how much rent is in the projects. But, out where I live, a small cheap apartment is going to cost you about $800 a month." It was their turn to gasp!

So, we deducted $800 from Suzy's month's pay. With the meager left overs we debated how she should spend it. Should she buy food? Could she make a car payment? Was she going to have any utilities? All the talk about buying a car sparked a conversation. The boys wanted to know how to buy a car. So I explained the different ways. They were intrigued by the concept of buying a car on eBay. Actually, they were more than intrigued; they were disturbed. They were horrified at the thought of getting ripped off. I explained to them the safeguards that eBay and PayPal have. It still didn't do much to reassure them.

One student, asked what else could be bought on eBay. So, we discussed the various objects, both used and new, that could be found on eBay. I mentioned among the things you could buy were books. This student was very intrigued. He wanted to know more about buying books on the computer. Soon, he decided that the internet was too scary for him. So, then came the next query.

He asked how to buy a book. I could have been knocked over with a feather. The kid didn't understand shopping at store! Surely, I thought, his mother or grandmother had taken him shopping?

So, I went over the names of some Bookstores and how they were set up. He was worried that they would only take credit cards and I assured him he could pay in cash. He wanted to know what cost more, a paperback or a hardback. (He admitted that he didn't start reading until he got locked up.) I also told him he could go to the library. It was a very interesting math class with lots of life skills for the boys.

It all reminds me off the time when I shocked the boys after they found out I am actually dumb enough to pay for my own groceries! I also am reminded about the inmate who confided that he was scared to leave because he didn't know how to find a role model who could help know how to get an apartment or set up a phone line to the apartment, etc. These kids today were kind of a mix of the two situations.

I guess today they learned some real information that will apply to them someday. I hope.

Justice Clarence Thomas

I just finished reading Justice Clarence Thomas's autobiography entitled My Grandfather's Son: A Memoir. I found it highly enjoyable. I couldn't put it down. I devoured the contents over the course of three days, during my lunch hours! read it in my sparse spare time over the course of three days. I found it to be an open and straightforward memoir. I could see parallels to what is going on today with the conservative movement in general. Thomas was vilified in the press and by the liberals. His name was tainted with accusations that forever scar. Conservatives are being branded as racist radicals, etc.

I realize I was just a kid when the hearing were going on, yet I remember them. They had a lasting impression; the kind of impression the liberals were hoping to make. In my more recent years of adulthood I have begun to see through the lies that have been told about conservatives. I hope that my take on Justice Thomas is now accurate. His argument was very believable. It doesn't hurt that I like his rulings! ;)

Momma's Boys

Yesterday was Mother's Day. Mothers play an integral role in the future of governments and the faith of children. As a father, my children love me, but I work long hours and they do not get to see me as much as they see my wife. She is a great example to them.

There is a story in The Book of Mormon that gets repeated around the world in many a LDS chapel on Mother's Day. It is about a group of formerly bloodthirsty people who swore to live a life of peace and buried their weapons upon converting to Christ. Years later after they had been driven from their homes and taken in by another nation, that host nation was under attack. This group of people approached the prophet about breaking their oath in order to protect their hosts. He instructed them not to because to do so would damn them.

Those of you who don't know the story are wondering what this has to do with Mother's Day!

The teenage boys of this people came forward and asked the prophet to allow them to go to war because they had been either too young or unborn when the oath was taken. And so these 2000 (eventually 2060) young stripling warriors took up arms in defense of their adopted homeland. They told the prophet that they would be protected by God because their mothers had taught them it he would do so, and they believed the teachings of their mothers.

These boys went into battle many times and all were wounded. But, not one died. They never lost a battle. They were instrumental in winning the war.

LDS young men and women are taught to have the faith of their mothers. If they have faith in what their mothers teach, they will be able to withstand the attacks of others on their faith.

It is the wisdom of mothers and fathers that will save this nation. They will, regardless of their creed, teach faith and patriotism to their children. These children will love their God and love their country. It is in the home that hope for the future awaits!

The Pull of Tyranny

I have learned that there is a scale of government control. On this sliding scale governments migrate back and forth. On one extreme, government has no control and anarchy reigns. John Locke refers to this state as "absolute freedom" and instructs us that it is humanity's natural starting point. But, for safety, humans agree to form societies with each other. Sliding to the other extreme, we find government with the absolute control we call tyranny.

Whenever a nation has a government that has become tyrannical, sooner or later, the people overthrow that government and revert back to anarchy. This anarchy prevails until a new government steps in. I consider the polar opposites of anarchy and tyranny to have the gravitational pull of suns. The closer you get to either pole ,the quicker you move toward it. As movement to one pole or the other gains momentum, it become harder to stop.

Let us apply this to the United States of America. The founders lay out the evidence of King George III's tyranny in the Declaration of Independence. Before teh revolution was even over the Articles of Confederation were ratified. The fear of tyranny that was in the hearts of the Founders nearly destroyed the young nation. The Articles of Confederation were too close to the pole of anarchy. The states would not cooperate with each other, even for their own benefit. The people were revolting and rioting. It was during this time that Thomas Jefferson proclaimed, "a little rebellion every now and then is a good thing."

As the young nation slipped toward anarchy, Great Britain, Spain and France watched and waited for the anarchy to become so great that the tyranny they would offer the Americans would be accepted with open arms for the safety it would provide.

Allow me to interrupt my narrative by saying that the elements of tyranny always benefit enough people that they do not try to halt it until it is often too late.

Returning to my narrative, the Founders saw the danger the nation was in. They decided that teh Articles of Confederation must be amended!

After the core founders were able to convince the others of the dangers they faced, the whole group decided to scrap the Articles of Confederation and write what would become the Constitution.

Imagine two equally super strong magnets facing each other. Now imagine a piece of metal being placed between them. Unless it is perfectly centered, the metal will be attracted to one magnet over the other. The founders labored all summer to place the Constitution exactly between the two pole of tyranny and anarchy! However, in their wisdom, they knew that there had to be a way to adjust course in case their work was not perfect.

The power to amend the Constitution was employed immediately. Some Founders like Benjamin Franklin and Patrick Henry were still wary that the Constitution leaned toward tyranny. Thus they insisted on what we know as the Bill of Rights.

Since the founding, the government hsa been straining and pulling towards tyranny. In the name of saftey and security some have embraced this migration. As the government has moved closer to tyranny the pace of movement has quickened.

Who is to blame? All who would sacrifice liberty for security! All who would take liberty from others for power! Is any one political party to blame? No! Both major political parties and many minor ones promise safety for some group in return for the liberties of another. The poor have taken the liberty to dispose of property from the succesful. The rich bankers and automakers have taken the liberty of all of us, our children and possibly our grandchildren by accepting bailouts. In order to "be safe" we give up our privacey at aiports in a random manner.

Why? Because we fear one another! Leading up the the revolution our forefathers set aside their fears and worked together and created this great nation. When will we set aside our selfishness and entitlements and grab ahold of the government as a people and restore it to it's rightful place: atop the Constitution- in the center-halfway between tyranny and anarchy?

My Thesis is Done!

I got an email back from my Thesis Professor! It is finished! I just have to turn in the official fancy copies on Monday! I am going to Kinko's on Saturday to let them waste their ink! All 4 copies of my glorious 135 pages on what administrators think about online education for at-risk students.
It is such a relief! It is like a weight off of my shoulders!

Richmond Tea Party

On Wednesday, April 15th 2009, I had the good fortune of having some training for work in Richmond, VA. After the training was over I was able to go straight to Kanawha Park. I got there about 5 pm. In the hour before the Tea Party rally I wandered around and looked at the different booths. I met Scott Lee and got a Honorary Lee Brother bumoer sticker which I affixed to my car that very night!

At the We Surround Them Booth there was a gentlemen who was either antagonistic or unfamiliar with the movement and genuinely forgot his glasses. Either way he was trying to find every flaw he could with the 9 Principles and the 12 Values. Every time a criticism he made was shot down he made the excuse that he was having a hard time reading them without his glasses. That gentleman and one other were the only two people I saw who were not in the full spirit of the Tea Party. I'll get to the other gentleman later.

Estimates place between 3500 and 4000 attendees at the Richmond Tea Party! The rain did not keep many people away. I had a blast! The speeches were great. I loved the message. They did a good job of reminding people that this event was just the beginning! There is so much more to do.The event was a lot of fun. If we knew what fun a protest could be we would have started holding them long ago. The message was great. The turnout was great. Everyone had a great time standing in the rain. As I looked around everyone seemed to be happy to be there, even though we were upset enough with out government's actions to be there. I saw people enjoying all the signs and talking to each other. The folks with Don't Tread on Me flags were happily pointing each other out. They were happy to answer my questions on were they got them so I could get my own. I saw people exchanging contact information. The even was great. People were lining up to sign the petition that was going to be sent to Governor Kaine and other state reps. Sign it if you are from Virginia and haven't signed it yet!

There were a few logistical problems with the event. They only serve as lessons for the next protest! There were a few speakers who didn't speak loudly enough into the microphone and the good protesters in the back were frustrated at their inability to hear all the speakers. Perhaps at future events we can have speaker towers placed further back in the crowd! Oh, and everyone wanted to sing-along with the national anthem. The singer, who did a great job, was singing in a stylized manner...so the crowd was ahead of him and he was flourishing behind. Perhaps at future events he can sing another song that we won't feel compelled to join in on and we can all sing the national anthem as a mob.

Even with those few glitches it was a great event. The speakers had great messages. Many of them were able to animate the crowd. The bottom line is that we had a great turnout, a great message and showed everyone how to have a peaceful protest. Think back to the anti-Mormon protests after November 4th in CA, where the gay rights mobs vandalized LDS property and threatened to do worse to any and all who voted Yes on Prop 8. Think of how they beat that old lady up who stood with her cross in protest of their message. Think of all the media attention the No on 8 people got. Uh Oh. Now I am thinking bad thoughts. No violence= ridicule and/or minimal media coverage. Violence=media adulation and coverage. NO! Don't go there! It is just an observation, not a call to violence.

The one pro-Big Government Protester was allowed to stand in our midst, hold his sign and even yell "stop the war" once or twice during the protest. To my knowledge, the closest thing to harrasment he got was someone with a bigger sign stood in front of him for a few seconds until he went to a new spot. Was his sign destroyed? I don't think so. Was he beat up? I don't think so.

I got a picture of the one gentleman holding his anti-protest protest sign. Unfortunately for his sign, the rhetoric is just an example of liberal talking points. We were protesting against spending. When Bush was trying to pass the first stimulus bill the Congress was flooded with vote no emails and calls. 90% of the calls and emails were against the Bush bailout. We couldn't have had a 90% result without all the angry conservatives screaming against government waste. Just because Bush called himself a conservative didn't mean he was. McCain lost for a reason (btw, did you all see where one of his top advisers was pushing for the Republican Party to go for gay marriage, etc?)! He was pro-illegal immigration, wishy-washy on protecting marriage, for the bailout, etc. His pro bailout stance lost him the edge Sarah Palin had given him. So, guy with the sign, nice try. To see his sign, look at the next picture. The bottom line is that the conservative message was not born with the election of Barack Obama. We have been around for a long time. We need to be more active! We need to get people out to the polls! McCain didn't have to be the Republican Candidate-but he was chosen by approximately 30% of the voters in the early states! The other more conservative options were dividing the rest of the vote. Hopefully as a movement we can gain the ear of our people and give them a truly conservative candidate for 2012. We need to find a candidate who will be conservative ALL the time...not just during the primaries! We need to find out who this candidate is and push for this candidate before the the primaries. We have to let Iowa know who we want! Or, better yet, have a nationwide primary so that reporters can't assign leaders and play kingmaker. WE, the conservatives, need to be the ones appointing who will represent us, not CNN and The New York Times!The bailouts our current administration is pushing through with Congress is going to, according to the Congressional Budget Office, doubke or triple the deficit made by ALL the previous presidents before President Obama! That is unacepptable! That is why we were moved out to protest. Welfare for corporations hobbled by government and welfare for individuals who made mistakes isn't going to help the country! Welfare never made a nation great! We need to cut taxes! We need to CUT SPENDING! We take out loans to give charity to other nations. Does this make sense? We take out loans to pay for our own programs. Does this make sense to you?
If we wouldn't fo it in our own budgets, why do let the government do it? We need to continue to protest. I know that my local We Surround Them group in Chester is going to take out an ad in a newspaper and send delegations to our elected officials' offices to explain our grievances. We need to stay in the news. And some localities need to get in the news!If you don't live near me, find your local group. Send letters to your elected officials. Don't just be sunshine patriots! Get out there; make some noise! Let me leave you with a clip that I took that had part of Patrick Henry's famous "Give me liberty, or give me death!" speech:

New Look

Hey, I am starting this blog back up. My thesis is virtually done and I have time again! Many of you have seen my endless thesis updates on Facebook and will doubtless be glad to see the end of them!

As part of my new look I have traded out the American Flag and put in the Gadsden flag in the background instead. I hope you enjoy the change. Now, this doesn't imply armed revolution, for all you Glenn Beck haters. Don't call us treasonous. The country needs to move past the petty games both sides play. We can't say criticizing Bush was patriotic but criticizing Obama isn't, or vice versa. We can't say protesting against the war was patriotic and this is not, or vice versa. This is not a time for violence and hate. That is how the politicians play us against each other so that when election season comes we donate to their coffers so that they can ignore us the whole time they are in office.

We aren't in an armed revolution. We have a country that is seriosly divided and ill. Violence would just leasd to a civil war that would decimate us all as other sit back and laugh. We just want to defend the Constitution. Speaking of the defending the Constitution. Attend your local Tax Day Tea Parties! I am attending mine here in Richmond, VA. I hope to be volunteering there. It ought to be a great chance to voice our concerns. We aren't going to just be some anti-Obama mob. This is bipartisan. The problem didn't just start with Obama. But, he sure is doing his part to make it worse. He is perfecting the methods of madness that Bush started with the 1st bailout. We don't want to bailout our neighbors who bought too much house; we don't wan't to bailout auto makers who are making cars we don't want to buy right now; we don't want to bailout banks who gave bad loans; and we sure as heck don't want to let the politicians doing all of this off the hook! Politicians have been artificially propping up our economy for too long. Instead of a minor spring flooding we now face the dikes breaking and putting our houses completely under water! It isn't a lack of regulation that got us here! It is a lack of people willing to take responsibility and trying to delay the pain that goes with bad choices!

So now we ask the politicians to let the businesses fail. Let the individuals fail, let those who have broke laws go to jail. Let our children have a future where they don't have to pay taxes to prop up our current economy. Stop taking loans from China and Saudi Arabia, et.al. Stop printing money like we are cheating at Monopoly. Stop enslaving our children to the debt of their parents!

I have plenty of time to vent again, now that my hiatus is over. So, I won't try and fit it all in one post!