Big Believer…

That does not mean I am a follower of Justin Bieber. That kid has issues and he doesn't need anyone giving him an excuse to misbehave. 

The more I examine and adopt the principle of the closer it is to me the better it is for me, I see that it encompasses all parts of life. From taxes to education. From the food I eat to the healthcare management. Ok, healthcare management is a bit specific but a good illustration of my point. Government should be managed as close to the individual as possible. This means these big federal programs like Obamacare (The Affordable Care Act) should not exist. They take away our individual freedoms. They are designed to self regulate and remove our representation. Taxation without representation, or in this case laws and regulation without representation. One of the very things we fought against in our revolution. 

So, our example of healthcare continues, Obamacare essentially says this:

We, the members of congress, authorize this agency, which is managed by the executive branch, to create a healthcare system and make any regulations it sees fit.

This is a gross over simplification, the Act ,Obamacare, designed a system which is managed by unelected officials, under the branch of government the president of the US is in charge of (Executive branch).

It is the same with regards to the EPA, IRS and others I don't know the names of. They have power outside of congress to regulate and create new laws. Because those organizations fall under the jurisdiction of the president by executive order new laws and regulations are created. I don't know about you but that kind of power shouldn't be in the hands of any one person, I don't care who it is. 

Simply put, bring government closer to the individual. Many of the problems we face wouldn't be here. So we need to vote for representatives that will move us toward that goal. If they are like Jon McCain, and tell us what we want to hear while doing what they can to gain and maintain power, they need to be voted off the island. They are destroying our rights. Why would we allow a thieves to hold us down and rob us blind? 

The people depicted in The Book of Mormon had it right, their laws made it a capital offense to lie. Liars were put to death. Why? Because the only thing of value in the world is truth. Our words to one another is what binds us together. Lying destroys that relationship. Honesty above all. I wonder where we would be if that was our law?

So just to be clear I am not advocating for any form of violence or the killing of anyone, not even our liar in chief. Even in The Book of Mormon they had to have a trial and prove it was lying and not the professing of a belief. 

The False Choice of Edumacation (yea, that's right)

When I look at how we educate people in this country, I am appalled. At one time we were the best educated in the world, (and that was just with an elementary education). It's a requirement to have graduated high school to get a mediocre job. Some companies without a degree from a college won't consider you (doesn't even matter what that degree is in just as long as you have one).

It's true that all job related knowledge is learned on the job.  There are some exceptions where book work a head of time makes the application of that work easier, i.e. medical doctor. But I could be persuaded that that too is a trade.

Education should teach us how to think for ourselves, not what to think.

In an episode of Little House on the Prairie, Mrs. Olson decided to model the towns school after the big city schools. She included teaching. She did this to show off and prove that the school was worthy to receive funding from the state (that's a problem right there). The representative from the state rebuked Mrs. Olson for her poor choice in teaching a useless subject. He explained that while French may work in a large city, in this small farming community most kids would not ever use it and would likely benefit from learning more about agriculture or something else that would be of help to them and the town.

We have strayed far from this concept. Even further from the ideals that contributed to the intellect of a founding fathers. When our nation was in its infancy, people would talk and debate. There weren't any electronic distractions to amuse them. People had to learn to use their brains and communicate.
I agree that elementary education is a must, with a primary focus on reading, writing, arithmetic and history. Everything else is filler.

So just where am I going with this rant?

The further we move away from the parent to get the curriculum, the less we teach problem solving and independent thinking.

After I graduated high school, Arizona instituted state wide tests for all grade levels. To graduate from high school the student is required to pass the test. Sounds wonderful up front, I even found myself saying that sounds great!

But something happened, there was a shift in how teachers taught and what they taught. Education was no longer in the hands of the parents, teachers, schools or even the school districts. It all comes through the state board of education. If students pass the test the school gets more funding. (Money is a terrible drug). Good bye true teaching and learning, hello teach and learn to take a test.

Successfully tested in individual states it's now being adopted on the national level. Among the first steps, George W. Bush brought us No Child Left Behind. (Teach to the kid who struggles while make everyone else wait) It has since evolved into Common Core, taking education as faraway as possible from parents, teachers and schools. I admit, the Common Core Standards look nice, but is it what works best? To take away schools choice in curriculum?

In Arizona we have, ideally, a great system. We have opened up the educational field for charter schools. BUT, these schools are required, in order to get their charter, to use the Common Core Standards and use the state administered tests. So I ask, where is my choice again? I have my choice of all these great A+ rated schools but they are all required, by the state, to teach using these federally funded standards.
Lets collapse the educational system and get back to Common Sense. ENOUGH of the false choices.

(False choice: when you think you have a choice but really it's between things that are the same, kind of like when you first start letting a child make decisions so that they will ultimately do what you want but allows them to feel like they are in control).

As I examine education and the way we, as society, make it the end all and be all, I can see the False Choices being given everywhere from elementary education to a two year degree from a local college. Lets put an end to the false choices and demand that we are not two year olds who can't make a decision without hurting ourselves. Before making a choice between things look at it, make certain they really are giving you a choice. If not, then declare it a False Choice and make a real one.

Education is our first responsibility, lets do it right. Closer to home, is always better.

#ObamaMask

The whole business of that rodeo clown taking the heat for doing his job is ridiculous. All he did was put on a mask of the president of the United States and run away from a bull. I blame the horrid reaction that everyone who has any authority had. IT'S A FREAKIN RODEO!! Now I don't frequent rodeos (last one I went to I was just out of diapers) but, as I recall the clowns were the best part. So why the hate speech? At no time did anyone actually threaten the prophet Mohammad, err I mean, His Majesty Obama. 

So here is what I am thinking, tweet pictures of yourself or someone else wearing an #ObamaMask, but the twist is you have to be pretending to do something that's corrupt (we can say #TheMaskMadeMeDoIt). 

To get us started here are some pictures I found online:

This one is an actual criminal robbing a McDonald's while wearing an Obama mask. 

This one is appropriate also!

I have already ordered mine when it gets here expect some tweets!

I am a cracker, a whitey…

Just putting it out there. In fact I simply want everyone to know, those are our words. Only white guys or gals can call each other that, otherwise it's racist. 

We say to each other all the time, "What up, cracker?" Or "Whitey gonna cap you!" It's engrained in our white culture. It even goes a step further if your a white guy on the street and and I don't know you and you call me cracker, I am gonna bust your lip. 

Got it. Good.

None of what I wrote is true, at all. I made it up. I am not violent in anyway. So if, a person of a different race, called me a cracker or whitey I wouldn't care. So I ask why the hate? Why do we let "Political Correctness" rule our lives? Whose politics is it we are saying is correct?

It's simple, we let our political leaders lead us the same way cattle are lead to the slaughter. They give us false choices, just like we give a toddler, so the whole time we feel like we are in control. In reality they maintain control. He who controls the language controls the debate. As we allow our language to be taken away we slip further and further a way from what made us great as a nation. At one time we were set apart from the rest of the world, what happened? The PC movement. It began dividing us and making us slaves of the language. 

When we are divided to the point we currently are nothing can be said without offending. It makes it so we can't communicate. It puts us into groups and then pits us against each other. So I say political correctness is racist and divisive, so I will not participate, I will not comply. Those who divide are those who crave power. Think about it.