On kids, homework and nation building

The history lessons from our homeschooling curriculum prompted quite a discussion this week.  One of the benefits of homeschooling is the ability to digress into a topic that the kids find fascinating.  Such was the case this week.   

Discussing the constitution and the founding of America led into the subject of nation building.  The boys were adamant that we should depose every dictator and right every wrong.  In their minds, they had trouble grasping what could go wrong with that plan.  Wouldn't everyone be happy being free like we are?

Reminds me of those in charge of our great nation at the present.  What could go wrong?  We deposed an evil dictator didn't we?  They will welcome us with open arms.

Talking with a co-worker in the lunchroom, I surmised that is exactly the case.  Our nation building ideals are juvenile in thought.  Idealistic, but not based in experience.  How many dictators must we depose, how many Shahs must we prop up, how many civil wars must we create before we learn the lesson?  Freedom can not be imposed.  It must be earned, even won; paid for in blood. 

My co-worker related it to trying to give one's children happiness and prosperity.  How many children are given everything only to squander it.  Just as Jesus can't make us love Him, so we too must learn the path to happiness... freedom... prosperity.  To think otherwise would be, well, childish.

Old law, meet the new guard

Just have to highlight this Item at CMR. Patrick post on an article from the Guardian

The item? "Home-schooling has been illegal in Germany since it was outlawed in 1938." It still is illegal. Christianity , I mean, Unlawful indoctrination has this dangerous concept of freedom. Can't allow for that in a police state.

Eating dirt

I have been listening to Pope Benedict's book, Jesus of Nazareth on audio book available from Audible.com. They have a special to try them for 14 days. I got my one book, but didn't think it was worth the try so I canceled. Then they offered a one year membership for $10 and another free book. So I jumped at that and got this book.

The reader of Jesus of Nazareth is quite good. And this just in, the Pope knows a little bit about the Bible. In fact he comes across as rather scholarly.

One part hit me as I was listening. I bookmarked the spot and turned off the reading so I could think about it further. Benedict is talking about the temptations of Jesus, in particular the first temptation to turn stones into bread. He goes off into why wouldn't God just solve world hunger if He is such a good and merciful God. Why wouldn't He just continue providing manna for his people? Good question and one often leveled at Christians and specifically his Church.

In his answer to the question, he quotes Alfred Delp, "Bread is important, freedom is more important, but most important of all is unbroken fidelity and faithful adoration."

This really stirred my mind. And if I can put all my thoughts together, may be an article of considerable length sometime. I pondered as I was driving and hopefully can bring it all back together.

Today though, I ask, why is freedom more important than bread? Without the proper order as Pope Benedict relates, the result is not justice, but ruin. God cannot be set aside. But in my thoughts, why ruin? Why couldn't God provide for all our needs? The short answer is, because of our human nature.

The longer answer is freedom would be sacrificed. Our freedom to choose right is what makes us, how should I say it, worthy of God's love. Not worthy as in He owes us the love, but worthy as in worth loving to the extent of dying for us. If we could not choose, what value would our obedience be? If someone, some entity, provided all our food, would we not become dependent on them? Would not we become virtually slaves? This is evident in the U.S. foreign aid policies. To receive aid, countries must comply with our demands. And then when they are dependent and the demands become unacceptable, are they free to choose? Hardly.

This doesn't even touch on the idea whether we would be satisfied with what is provided. It didn't take the Israelites long to grumble about free food every day. "Fresh bread is great, but what about some chicken?"

So as I develop more of this, I will keep you posted.

Wonder why I don't get the hits from China anymore

This is the image search for Tiananmen massacre on Google.cn? Yeah I can see how kittens, puppies and gerbils fit the description. Perhaps the most damning evidence is the number of hits. Only 4 pages? I don't know as I have ever seen a Google search that returned fewer than 10 pages of hits.

Nah, the Chinese government doesn't censor their internet. Just some technical issues as Yahoo says Beijing likely blocking Flickr

SHANGHAI (Reuters) - Flickr.com, one of the world's most popular online photo-sharing sites and owned by Yahoo Inc., is likely being blocked by the Chinese government, Yahoo's Hong Kong unit said on Tuesday.

Flickr -- popular among a growing class of digital photo enthusiasts in the world's second-largest Internet market -- has not shown photos to users in mainland China since last week, amid rumors Beijing took action after images of the Tiananmen massacre in early June 1989 were posted.

Remember precedent

Just image what this sets for precedent if we elect a president with less character and doesn't have our best interests in mind. And yes, that last part was sarcasm.
Court rules in favor of enemy combatant - Yahoo! News

RICHMOND, Va. - The Bush administration cannot use new anti-terrorism laws to keep U.S. residents locked up indefinitely without charging them, a divided federal appeals court said Monday.

The ruling was a harsh rebuke of one of the central tools the administration believes it has to combat terror.
...
"This is a landmark victory for the rule of law and a defeat for unchecked executive power," al-Marri's lawyer, Jonathan Hafetz, said in a statement. "It affirms the basic constitutional rights of all individuals — citizens and immigrants — in the United States."

The court said its ruling doesn't mean al-Marri should be set free. Instead, he can be returned to the civilian court system and tried on criminal charges.

Bottom line, if he is guilty of something, he should stand trial. Sounds like there is evidence, so please proceed to protect our society from these criminals. But usurping the rights of citizens sets a dangerous precedent for the rest of us "not yet criminals".

Funny what happened when another illegally detained U.S. citizen took it to court.

Jose Padilla, who is a U.S. citizen, had been held as an enemy combatant in a Navy brig for 3 1/2 years before he was hastily added to an existing case in Miami in November 2005, a few days before a U.S. Supreme Court deadline for Bush administration briefs on the question of the president's powers to continue holding him in military prison without charge.

And why don't I trust that our supreme court will rule in favor of liberty? Hmmm, I wonder why?

That should eliminate those lousy tourists

Washington State has found a way to keep tourists from clogging the roadways and filling the coffers of local tourist traps.

Washington State: Kids could be stuck in booster seats until 16

Thousands of Washington children will be forced back into car and booster seats next month when a change to state law takes effect.

On June 1, children will have to stay in the safety seats until they are at least 8 years old or 4 feet, 9 inches tall. Violators face a $112 ticket.

And if that wasn't bad enough, it only gets worse.

The changes also require children to use booster seats until they are 16 years old if a vehicle's seat belt does not properly fit the child.

So any "safety minded" WSP can pull over a vehicle they see with a child's head riding a bit too low. What about people who recline in the passenger seat. Perhaps we should just be able to buy a $300 sticker for our windows that reads, "Child Friendly, already been extorted by Graco."


As they say, "Hate freedom? Vote liberal."

They sure can count on a lot less families risking the journey into the Ever-greedy State.

Meehan amendment defeated

It is amazing the elitism that pervades our nation's capital. From the common man not understanding $400 haircuts, to our, OUR, representatives not thinking we should freely have a say in the legislative process.

Pro-Life Groups Celebrate Defeat of Amendment Hurting Free Speech

Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- Pro-life groups are celebrating the defeat of an amendment to a lobbying reform bill that would limit their free speech rights and those of their members. They said the amendment targeted would have hurt their efforts to tell private citizens about what is occurring in Congress.

Rep. Marty Meehan, a Massachusetts Democrat, says his amendment targets grassroots lobbying and its supporters asserted that the measure would require merely “disclosure” of “huge undisclosed amounts” spent to get members of the public to “lobby Congress.”

Yet, a coalition of pro-life groups, said the reality is that the Meehan Amendment would force countless individual Americans and groups to register and report as “lobbying firms."
...

“The defeat of the Meehan Amendment, and its predecessor in the Senate, is an important victory for grassroots-based movements like the pro-life movement," he said. "This victory is due to an outpouring of opposition to the idea of officeholders regulating the right of private groups to communicate with the public about what is going on in Congress.”

Johnson said that he was pleased with the victory but worried about another bill that would cause headaches for pro-life groups.

He cited H.R. 984, sponsored by pro-abortion Rep. Henry Waxman of California, that would require Executive Branch officials to disclose every letter, email or contact they receive from any "private party" such as pro-life groups or pro-life people.

“Under the Waxman ‘Big Brother Act,’ it would no longer be possible for any private citizen to express an opinion about a federal government policy, without that communication becoming an entry in a public database,” Johnson explained.

Bottom line is these groups are a pain in the rear to wayward congressmen. The phone, fax, and email surges when the public becomes aware of actions they would rather hide in the darkness of bureaucracy. Like a cockroach, support for these bills scatter when the light is shone upon them.

"if America is to have government by the people, then the right of the people to be informed must be protected."

Are you a "single-issues" terrorist?

From the "But we meant well" file, comes this gem. Alabama's Homeland Security Department seems to have gone just a bit overboard in trying to defend their state.

Alabama Revises State Terrorism Web Site After Including Pro-Lifers

Montgomery, AL (LifeNews.com) -- If you're a member of a pro-life organization, there's a chance you could be among those who are involving in plotting terrorist attacks against the United States. That was the view of the Alabama state terrorism web site until recently, when state officials took it down to revise its content in the face of a huge outcry.

The Alabama Department of Homeland Security put together a web site that was partially intended to help state residents spot possible terrorists and report them to officials.

The only problem was that the site included several various political groups on the site, including gay and lesbian groups, anti-war organizations, and pro-life advocates. They fell under the heading "single-issue" terrorists.

Now I have heard the "single-issue" label applied to the pro-life cause, but not to this extreme.

"Single-issue extremists often focus on issues that are important to all of us. However, they have no problem crossing the line between legal protest and ... illegal acts, to include even murder, to succeed in their goals," the web site said.

Wow! Not quite the pro-life people I tend to hang around with. Who knew all those Rosary wielding, quiet, humble praying people were so dangerous? (I am not excluding those non-Catholic prolifers, it just seems someone took the "using the Rosary as our weapon" comment a bit too serious.)

And yes, I am sure they were thinking of the thousands (rounded way up) of clinic bomber and abortionist murdering folks out there. But I didn't see Postal Union members on the site. And we know THOSE people are the true threat.

A champion and vindicator only of her own.

Another nice bit dug up by Mark Shea

The classic Republican position is summed up nicely by John Quincy Adams:

Wherever the standard of freedom and Independence has been or shall be unfurled, there will her heart, her benedictions and her prayers be.

But she goes not abroad, in search of monsters to destroy.

She is the well-wisher to the freedom and independence of all.

She is the champion and vindicator only of her own.

She will commend the general cause by the countenance of her voice, and the benignant sympathy of her example.

She well knows that by once enlisting under other banners than her own, were they even the banners of foreign independence, she would involve herself beyond the power of extrication, in all the wars of interest and intrigue, of individual avarice, envy, and ambition, which assume the colors and usurp the standard of freedom.

The fundamental maxims of her policy would insensibly change from liberty to force....

She might become the dictatress of the world. She would be no longer the ruler of her own spirit....[emphasis added]

"Trust us. We're the good guys."

Well, they have proven they can't be trusted, now what?

Justice Dept.: FBI misused Patriot Act - Yahoo! News

The audit released Friday found that the number of national security letters issued by the FBI skyrocketed in the years after the Patriot Act became law.

In 2000, for example, the FBI issued an estimated 8,500 letters. By 2003, however, that number jumped to 39,000. It rose again the next year, to about 56,000 letters in 2004, and dropped to approximately 47,000 in 2005.

Over the entire three-year period, the audit found the FBI issued 143,074 national security letters requesting customer data from businesses.

The FBI vastly underreported the numbers. In 2005, the FBI told Congress that its agents in 2003 and 2004 had delivered only 9,254 national security letters seeking e-mail, telephone or financial information on 3,501 U.S. citizens and legal residents over the previous two years.

Additionally, the audit found, the FBI identified 26 possible violations in its use of the national security letters, including failing to get proper authorization, making improper requests under the law and unauthorized collection of telephone or Internet e-mail records.

Of the violations, 22 were caused by FBI errors, while the other four were the result of mistakes made by the firms that received the letters.

The FBI also used so-called "exigent letters," signed by officials at FBI headquarters who were not authorized to sign national security letters, to obtain information. In at least 700 cases, these exigent letters were sent to three telephone companies to get toll billing records and subscriber information.

"In many cases, there was no pending investigation associated with the request at the time the exigent letters were sent," the audit concluded.

The letters inaccurately said the FBI had requested subpoenas for the information requested — "when, in fact, it had not," the audit found.

Senators outraged over the conclusions signaled they would provide tougher oversight of the FBI — and perhaps limit its power.

Oh, I feel better already now that Congress is going to "perhaps limit" the abuses on our freedom. The Patriot Act has to be the most misnamed bill there ever was.

So the Justice Department confirmed what many suspected. They removal of constitutional freedoms are being used against U.S. citizens who are NOT terrorists and many who are not even criminal.

I'm not surprised they are surprised

I saw an article in the local paper about the fight over the Texas governor's executive order requiring all girls to be vaccinated against HPV. Aside from the political kickback angle between Gov. Perry and Merck, there is something deeper that many people fail to understand. One of the comments in the article expressed surprise at the furor over mandating this vaccine. They could understand the social conservatives resisting abortion or some other cause, but they just didn't see this one coming.

That is what comes from reading the world through their own slanted vision. They think everyone reacts like they do. They have their agenda and they stick to it while it suits them.

But most pro-life people don't have the politically-correct list of buzz words that we find offensive. We don't read the news while looking at a check list to know what offend us.

Some things are just offensive to those who value life and love the gift of freedom. Yes, abortion is offensive. For those who understand the ties to abortion and the devaluation of life, contraception is offensive. So is the affront to parental rights and the general concept of liberty. The state doesn't know what is best for the child. The state is supposed to represent the citizens.

The reason for law is to protect the freedom of the people from those who would abuse or restrict the freedom of others. Law is not about legislating how a parent must be a parent.

Seat belt laws fall into the same category, just less offensive than forcible vaccination. I use my seat belt. I remind my kids to buckle up every time we are in the car. They ARE a safety device that can save lives. But again, the state should not fine me if I choose not to wear it. Or if I chose to comfort my young child on a long trip.


Remember, Freedom is a Christian concept. Those who seek to remove our freedoms, do not understand the meaning or the source of freedom. Freedom is a gift from God, so today, thank God for the freedoms we have. And let us protect that gift.