tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-76304839742608464232024-03-20T21:20:25.310-04:00For to Live is Christ..."And whatever you do, in word or deed, do EVERYTHING in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him." -Colossians 3Katiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11648127995043442556noreply@blogger.comBlogger132125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7630483974260846423.post-77637965387209412902013-06-22T19:24:00.002-04:002013-06-22T19:37:04.150-04:00White Knuckles This is something I have always ALWAYS struggled with: letting go. My entire life I've equated letting go and giving up/moving on as the same thing, but really they're not. The hardest thing for me is letting go WITHOUT giving up or just throwing out the entire situation. Letting go, yet staying in the situation, without knowing what the outcome will be - and not being able to control it - is extremely difficult. I honestly don't know if I've ever truly done it. But I hope to become proficient at it because, newsflash, Katie can't control everything in her life! And she can't run away from it either! Maddening and freeing at the same time.<br />
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<i>To "let go" does not mean to stop caring; it means I can't do it for someone else.</i><br />
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<i>To "let go" is not to cut myself off; it's a realization that I can't control another.</i><br />
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<i>To "let go" is not to enable, but to allow learning from natural consequences.</i><br />
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<i>To "let go" is to admit powerlessness, which means the outcome is not in my hands.</i><br />
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<i>To "let go" is not to try to change or blame another, it's to make the most of myself.</i><br />
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<i>To "let go" is not to fix, but to be supportive.</i><br />
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<i>To "let go" is not to be in the middle arranging all the outcomes, but to allow others to affect their own destinies.</i><br />
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<i>To "let go" is not to deny, but to accept.</i><br />
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<i>To "let go" is not to nag, scold, or argue, but instead to search out my own shortcomings and correct them.</i><br />
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<i>To "let go" is to fear less and love more.</i><br />
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Every one of these lines is like taking a hammer to my solid brick wall of everything I am. Or at least thought myself to be. But it's truth. And I want it in my life.<br />
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"And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free." </div>
Katiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11648127995043442556noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7630483974260846423.post-62210091473930331152013-05-13T08:39:00.001-04:002013-05-13T08:39:27.423-04:00Me vs God - Really?We laugh to ourselves when we think of those Bible stories where mere human beings actually had the nerve to stand up to God. I mean, come on - there's a reason he's called GOD with a capitol G! And anyone who knows anything knows that a true God is not going to let mortals tell him what to do.<br />
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So why do I try and tell God what to do almost every day? Every time I question WHY, choose to ignore something obvious from him in my life, succumb to worry and fear about the future, and feel discontented, I am essentially telling God I don't trust him enough to work things out for my good. As he promises he will. It's me vs God - and just take a wild guess who wins every time. Oh I put up a good fight; one of my primary traits has always been stubbornness. But I mean really, this is GOD we're talking about, not just a grandfather in the sky or an apathetic old man wringing his hands over the state of the world. He is active. And he will see his will done on earth as it is in heaven.<br />
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The pastor at the church we visited yesterday preached a sermon that cut into me like a knife... His question was, what are you filled with? Is it Jesus? Or is it this job, that opportunity, this person, that event? And I was bashed between the eyes by the fact that I, Katie, care more about what I, Katie, think of myself, than what God thinks of me. My eyes actually filled with tears as I considered how I've knocked myself out pretty much my whole life to ACHIEVE something, to be someone - not for accolades from others, but so I could close my eyes every night thinking I accomplished something. I've never been much of a people pleaser, but I LOVE to please myself. What confronted me yesterday was the simple question: do you want to please GOD? Of course any true Christian would immediately answer YES to that question! But talk is cheap, and the real test will come in how you live your life, make your choices, spend your time.<br />
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The earth-shattering truth is that God is a god like none other. He loved his children before they were born (Ephesians 1) and nothing we can do will make him love us more. And by pursuing what I think is important, regardless of what God thinks is important, I am basically telling him his love is not enough. That I need something more than his love. Don't get me wrong - planning for the future and considering the talents and passions God has given you will help you decide how to spend your life. But there is a fine line that can be so easily crossed, we may look back at it, shocked how long ago we crossed it.<br />
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<i>"Commit your way unto the Lord. Trust him and he will act."</i><br />
<i>-Psalm 37:5</i>Katiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11648127995043442556noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7630483974260846423.post-56905342331118878072013-04-09T13:02:00.000-04:002013-04-09T13:02:01.212-04:00Don't let *it* define youWe all have history. We all have things in our past we wish he hadn't done. We all have those people in our lives that just seem to always be rubbing us the wrong way. We all feel the depth of certain failures in our lives...<br />
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And it's so easy to let these things come to define who we are. To let our failures rule us from their graves. To let what people think of us or how people choose to treat us define how we feel that day. What we've been through DOES make us into who we are, but I believe we have the power to choose what DEFINES us.<br />
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<i>Define: to state the precise meaning of</i><br />
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What is your precise meaning? Where have you found purpose? Some people seriously do find their meaning through their failures and through basically looking at themselves through victimized eyes. Life is too short to live that way! And we serve too big a God to ever succumb to looking at ourselves with apathy, discouragement, and even self-loathing.<br />
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Don't let the negative things in life define you. Break free and decide that each day is brand new, and deserves a fresh start. Guilt will creep in, it always does. Take a good look at guilt in the face and say "I am bought with a price. I am loved by the creator of the world. I am sorry for what I've done, but it's not who I am. I am chosen by God and I am loved. I am accepted. And I will never allow you to run my life again."<br />
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<i>"The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him, and he helps me. My heart leaps for joy, and with my song I praise him." -Psalm 28:7</i>Katiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11648127995043442556noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7630483974260846423.post-78436886930926800502013-04-07T19:15:00.002-04:002013-04-07T19:18:18.016-04:00What's the GOAL Anyway?A week ago was my birthday. I turned the wonderful age of 24! And no, this post isn't so that I will get more birthday wishes than I already got :) We celebrated together yesterday as a family, and my brother (surprisingly, haha) was thoughtful enough to ask me what my personal goals were.<br />
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He made a joke that I always have new goals (which is true), and proceeded to wait expectantly for my newest list of aspirations. And I was struck again, as I sat there with my wonderful family, how IMPORTANT it is to have goals.<br />
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Without goals you can have the sad experience of looking around yourself and wondering what in the world you've done with your life. God has given us the precious gift of EXISTENCE here on earth! And what we decide to do with the time given to us is of utmost importance. One day when you look back on your life, what sensations do you want to feel? Those of accomplishment and peace? Of a job well done? Or will you wrestle with feelings of regret and the emptiness of a wasted life.<br />
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Don't put it off. Sit down and write out a list of goals you have. Start small if you want. But write SOMETHING. Push yourself. Don't settle for just getting by. Look at all the heroes and great people in history - none of them were content with their lot in life. All of them fought against the human tendency to become apathetic and complacent. Let's not just look for heroes - let's <i>become </i>the heroes that our peers and younger generations can look to.<br />
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<i>Don't be fooled by the calendar There are only as many days in the year as you make use of. One man gets only a week's value out of a year while another man gets a full year's value out of a week."</i><br />
-Charles Richards<br />
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PS: One of my goals is to actually BLOG more! No kidding :) So stay tuned!</div>
Katiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11648127995043442556noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7630483974260846423.post-62381758767208729022012-09-20T08:07:00.001-04:002012-09-20T08:07:08.760-04:00Upside DownCheck out this article I just stumbled across.... Let's stay awake and keep thinking.<br />
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<b><u>The government’s demonic strategy against parents of autistic children</u></b></div>
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by Jon Rappoport</div>
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September 13, 2012</div>
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<a href="http://jonrappoport.wordpress.com/2012/09/14/the-governments-demonic-strategy-against-parents-of-autistic-children/" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">http://jonrappoport.wordpress.<wbr></wbr>com/2012/09/14/the-<wbr></wbr>governments-demonic-strategy-<wbr></wbr>against-parents-of-autistic-<wbr></wbr>children/</a></div>
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<a href="http://www.nomorefakenews.com/" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">www.nomorefakenews.com</a></div>
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Let me start with this controversial statement: The worst thing parents can do is obtain a diagnosis of autism for their vaccine-damaged child.</div>
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The primary fact to keep in mind is: the government must deny any link between vaccines and autism, because to admit the connection would force it to pay out gigantic sums of money to parents, under its Vaccine Injury Compensation Program (VICP).</div>
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VICP was created in 1988, through an agreement between the US government and pharmaceutical companies, to funnel all law suits for damage away from those companies, and into a bureaucratic maze of government madness, where the parents’ chances of compensation are minimal, where the deck is most assuredly stacked against them.</div>
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National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program</div>
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Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS)</div>
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Once parents enter the maze, hoping to gain funds to care for their children, they are immediately confronted with a list of disorders and diseases. This list essentially tells them:</div>
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“If your vaccine-damaged child has been diagnosed with any of the following medical conditions, you may be able to win financial support. If not, you’re out of luck.”</div>
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Autism isn’t on the list. Here is the list:</div>
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Vaccine Injury Table</div>
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Can things be any clearer than that? A diagnosis of autism is a trap.</div>
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One: a young child receives a vaccine.</div>
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Two: he suddenly withdraws from life.</div>
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Three: a doctor makes a diagnosis of autism.</div>
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Four: the parents want to sue the company that makes the vaccine, but they can’t; they must apply to the VICP for funds to care for their child for the rest of his life.</div>
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Five: as soon as they enter the VICP system, they learn that the label “autism” is the very thing that will keep them from the funds they desperately need.</div>
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That is the long and short of it.</div>
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Forget about the fact that the parents never wanted to involve themselves with a federal government program. They wanted to sue the vaccine maker. They wanted a court award. But they were barred from suing.</div>
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At this point, you might say, “But if their child really does have autism and it was obviously caused by a vaccine, then they should be able to find justice somehow.”</div>
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You don’t understand how deep this deception goes. You don’t understand how criminally insane it is.</div>
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Because, you see, the label of “autism,” the very label that keeps parents from getting help for their children, is an arbitrary word that means nothing.</div>
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A deviously designed word that means nothing is keeping parents in a lifelong state of desperation, as they go bankrupt trying to care for their vaccine-damaged child.</div>
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We begin here: all 297 official mental disorders, listed in the (DSM) publication of the American Psychiatric Association, are defined and approved by committees of psychiatrists. Whether it is schizophrenia or autism or ADHD or clinical depression or bipolar disease, the definitions consist wholly of described behaviors. That’s all.</div>
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Psychiatrists will tell you these symptomatic behaviors are signs of underlying chemical imbalances or genetic aberrations, but they have no tests to back up this assertion. Therefore, all they are left with are the behaviors, their own menu-like clusters of those behaviors, and the “mental disorder” label they place on each cluster.</div>
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If they had more, if they had blood tests or brain scans or genetic assays, they would publish those tests and claim they are definitive for diagnoses of mental disorders. But they don’t.</div>
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Here is an exchange between a respected psychiatrist and a PBS interviewer, which occurred during a Frontline report titled, “Does ADHD Exist?”</div>
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PBS FRONTLINE INTERVIEWER: Skeptics say that there’s no biological marker—that it [ADHD] is the one condition out there where there is no blood test, and that no one knows what causes it.</div>
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BARKLEY (Dr. Russell Barkley, professor of psychiatry and neurology at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center): That’s tremendously naïve, and it shows a great deal of illiteracy about science and about the mental health professions. A disorder doesn’t have to have a blood test to be valid. If that were the case, all mental disorders would be invalid…There is no lab test for any mental disorder right now in our science. That doesn’t make them invalid. [Emphasis added]</div>
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Yes, it actually DOES make all those disorders invalid, unless “science” suddenly means “the opinions of psychiatrists sitting in a room, collecting together various human behaviors, and labeling them.”</div>
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Here is a link to the official psychiatric definition of autism disorder. It’s worth reading:</div>
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<a href="https://www.firstsigns.org/screening/DSM4.htm" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">https://www.firstsigns.org/<wbr></wbr>screening/DSM4.htm</a></div>
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Notice that all the criteria for an autism diagnosis are behavioral. There is no mention of laboratory tests or test results. There is no mention of chemical imbalance or genetic factors.</div>
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Despite public-relations statements issued by doctors and researchers, they have no laboratory findings to establish or confirm an autism diagnosis.</div>
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But, people say, this makes no sense, because children do, in fact, withdraw from the world, stop speaking, throw sudden tantrums. Common sense dictates that these behaviors stem from serious neurological problems.</div>
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What could cause the behaviors listed in the official definition of autism disorder?</div>
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Vaccine injury; a toxic medical drug; a head injury; ingestion of a poison; an environmental chemical; a severe nutritional deficit; oxygen deprivation at birth; perhaps the emotional devastation accompanying the death of a parent…</div>
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There are many possible causes of the behaviors arbitrarily called autism.</div>
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However, then, why bother to say “autism?” Why not just say vaccine injury or head injury? Why not try to find the crucial event that brought on a specific child’s sudden and unique withdrawal from the world?</div>
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The answer should be clear. By establishing a label like autism, medical drugs can be sold. Studies can be funded. An industry can be created.</div>
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Something more can be done, too. The government can reject vaccine injury as a defining event in a child’s life, and reject the need to pay out compensation for it.</div>
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The government can say, “Since we know that some children who are diagnosed with autism have not received vaccines, or have not received vaccines containing a neurological poison (mercury), we do not compensate parents whose children are vaccine-injured on the basis that they have autism.”</div>
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Poof. It all goes away. Did you catch the sleight-of-hand trick?</div>
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Let me expose it. A child is given a vaccine. The child goes into a massive withdrawal from life and communication. A doctor, assessing the child’s behaviors, connects them with the official menu of behaviors labeled “autism.” The doctor then says, “This child has autism.”</div>
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Then the parents try to obtain government compensation through the VICP, the Vaccine Injury Compensation Program.</div>
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The parents, who now have alarmingly high expenses for ongoing care of their vaccine-damaged child, go to the VICP and say, “Our child has been diagnosed with autism, and we want to collect funds for the vaccine-injury he sustained.”</div>
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The government replies, “This is impossible. You see, we know that autism isn’t caused by vaccine injury. We know it because many children who are diagnosed with autism have never been injured by vaccines. Some autistic children have never had vaccines.”</div>
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Do you see what is going on here? The parents stepped into a fatal trap. They said “autism” and the government said “vaccine injury does not cause autism.”</div>
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You might think the parents could back up and regroup. They could say, “We don’t care what you call it, we just know our child was severely damaged by a vaccine, and we need funds.”</div>
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But it’s not as easy as that. The government has no category called “vaccine damage.” The government demands some disease or disorder that is diagnosed and officially attributed to a vaccine injury. As I established earlier, the government has a specific list of diseases or disorders that it will allow—to even begin thinking about financial compensation.</div>
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But, you say, this is an evil word game. Of course it’s a word game. The whole notion of “autism” based on no definitive tests was a word game to begin with.</div>
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What is called autism (merely a label) is not one condition caused by one factor. It is a loose collection of behaviors that can be caused by various traumas.</div>
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Parents say, “My child’s life was stolen away from him. He must have autism.”</div>
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A label provides some measure of relief for the parents. It doesn’t prove that the label actually means something. In fact, the label can be a diversion from knowledge that would actually help the child. Suppose, for example, after receiving the DPT vaccine, the child went into a screaming fit and then withdrew from the world. Calling that autism tends to put the parents and the child in the medical system, where there is no definitive effective treatment. Outside that system, there might be some hope with, say, hyperbaric oxygen treatments, or other strategies.</div>
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If all this creates a sense of outrage in you, you are not alone.</div>
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If a hundred thousand parents of children who have been devastated by vaccines traveled to the headquarters of the Vaccine Injury Compensation Program, at the Parklawn Building, 5600 Fishers Lane, Rockville, Maryland, and if they stayed there and Occupied the area, and if they had a unified position that cut through the word game and the purposeful official delusion, perhaps this criminal insanity would end.</div>
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A doctor’s diagnosis of autism most assuredly does not end the insanity. It adds to it.</div>
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I once had a conversation with a parent whose child was vaccine-injured and then diagnosed with autism. She spent years trying to obtain compensation from the VICP and failed. Here is a paraphrase of how our conversation went:</div>
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“I found out my child wasn’t the point of the VICP proceeding at all. The government’s attorney was doing everything possible to deny us compensation. I felt I was up against a monster.”</div>
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“They denied you benefits because your son had been diagnosed with autism?”</div>
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“Yes. They said there was no established connection between the vaccine-damage and autism, so they rejected my claim.”</div>
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“So you see that the the label ‘autism’ was the very thing they used to reject your claim.”</div>
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“I know it now. I didn’t know it then.”</div>
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“You also know there is no reason to use the ‘autism’ label. It’s an arbitrary word.”</div>
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“It’s a word that is ruining us.”</div>
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“Do you realize that, if your doctor had diagnosed your son with a different catch-all label, you would have stood a better chance of gaining compensation?”</div>
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“What label?”</div>
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“Encephalopathy, for example.”</div>
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“So you’re telling me it was all a game, and if I could have gotten the doctor to understand that, he might have written a different diagnosis in my son’s chart, and my chances [of compensation] might have improved.”</div>
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“That’s right. A different word.”</div>
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In a just world, a parent whose child is damaged by a vaccine would be permitted to sue the vaccine maker. In a less just world, the parent would be able to enter the VICP system and claim a right to compensation based on the simple stand-alone fact that her child was damaged by a vaccine.</div>
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In the world we live in, that parent has to prove her child was diagnosed with a condition that the government admits could be caused by a vaccine.</div>
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And if the doctor wrote down the word “autism,” the chances of compensation are suddenly very, very remote. They’re zero, unless the parent was able to obtain an accompanying word like “encephalopathy.”</div>
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Finally, people will insist that researchers are getting closer to discovering the true and basic cause of autism. This is just more arbitrary verbiage. The “symptoms” listed as definitive for autism are just a collection of behaviors. I could put together a list, and so could you:</div>
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“Fatigue, eye flutters, sadness, lack of desire to participate in school, loss of appetite, halting communication…” I could give these behaviors a name, “Remoteness Syndrome,” and call it a disorder, and then I could raise a few billion dollars to search for the underlying cause…but there would be no underlying single cause, because the list was a non-starter. It was just an arbitrary collection of behaviors.</div>
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“Autism” is nothing more than a catch-all phrase that indicates a variety of possible unconnected neurological insults. Each patient should be examined by a health practitioner who can really find the cause in that case. Then, perhaps, a treatment plan can be devised for that child.</div>
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Meanwhile, the government and its VICP program embroils parents and works them over and tortures them for years, and dumps most of them out on the street with no compensation.</div>
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Jon Rappoport</div>
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The author of an explosive collection, THE MATRIX REVEALED, Jon was a candidate for a US Congressional seat in the 29th District of California. Nominated for a Pulitzer Prize, he has worked as an investigative reporter for 30 years, writing articles on politics, medicine, and health for CBS Healthwatch, LA Weekly, Spin Magazine, Stern, and other newspapers and magazines in the US and Europe. Jon has delivered lectures and seminars on global politics, health, logic, and creative power to audiences around the world.</div>
Katiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11648127995043442556noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7630483974260846423.post-59951673955501918092012-09-14T00:21:00.000-04:002012-09-14T00:21:14.125-04:00One Day at a Time....A friend gave me a print-out of this section from a book.... I honestly don't even know the book, much less the author etc. It was a long time ago... But it was so beautiful I have been meaning and meaning to post it on my blog, so here it is. Be encouraged :)<br />
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I like to think of each day's occupation as a <i>journey</i>. Something to be prepared for and undertaken in a spirit of adventure, and not as a dreary trudge merely traversed as a duty because it happens to be Hobson's choice.<br />
Although this is the day of the automobile and the aeroplane, I know that a vast number of women, including the writer, still make the day's journey on foot. And without even a tinge of envy, I believe that for those who want to see things and to understand them, Shanks' pony is still the ideal means of locomotion.<br />
Of course, the thought of a <i>day's</i> journey will not appeal to those who can take world tours; and yet, whether our bodies journey far afield or only a stone's throw from home, the life of the spirit is made up of morning-till-night excursions, and therefore the little turns and bends in the road, the unlooked-for encounters and ordinary landscapes, are of importance, because they form our experience; our means of learning and excelling in the lessons God has to teach us.<br />
We are travelling for our education, and day's journeys are not to be despised, because, as an old friend of mine said when we called on her unexpectedly: "You <i>never</i> know when you get up in the morning what strange thing's going to happen before you go to bed!"<br />
I like to think that as the body wakens in the morning, throws off lethargy, tightens muscles, and feels her senses growing alert for the needs of the new day, so the Soul who inhabits that body arises, shaking herself loose from sloth, and goes first foot down the secret stairway of the being to prepare for the emergencies of the road.<br />
But there is something the Soul must do before that. She must array herself in garments, choosing them with care, to make her comely in the eyes of all beholders, but very specially in the eyes of one Beholder. The idea that we must wear our oldest clothes when going on a journey was exploded long ago.<br />
Nowadays we like to look our very best at all times, but I think especially when we are journeying. No one knows with whom we may meet, what we may do, or where we may go. And clothes <i>do</i> make a difference.<br />
The mood we choose to get up in undoubtedly affects the tenor of the whole day. The Soul has many garments ready for wearing, and no one but herself can decide which she shall select. The Soul has this advantage over the body. <i>She</i> need never feel obliged to wear any ill-fitting unbecoming dress because she gave more than she meant to give for it, and it still has a lot of wear in it.<br />
The Soul need never tell herself that the gown in which she is her comeliest, and which she would most enjoy wearing, must be kept for special occasions.<br />
None of these wise housewifely thoughts apply to the Soul's wardrobe. In regard to this she has a distinct command and her pleasure is also her duty.<br />
<i>Put on thy beautiful garments, O captive daughter of Zion.</i><br />
<i> </i>These words were spoken long generations ago to a People about to take a journey, a long and weary journey, but it was to the Land of Heart's Desire. To the soul of that nation the prophet spoke as though she had been a woman; a woman pressed down by the chains of a prison, but now set free to go the way of her heart.<br />
I woke early one morning and was thinking of the day's journey when these words became real to me. That day was going to be a troublesome day. A journey through uncongenial country, with hills to climb and streams to cross; the kind of wayfaring which makes one very tired, and yet seems to lead to no useful junction.<br />
To put it into plain words, Jane was on holiday, Bunty was starting for Ireland that day, and a party of friends on a motoring tour had written to say they might give us a look in about lunch-time, or it might not be till supper-time. And they might be glad to stay the night, or they might not. They could not say definitely, but would just leave it and see.<br />
I lay in bed trying to think out what this meant. John said it need mean nothing whatever. Bunty was quite old enough to get herself and her luggage ready without a stroke of help from me. And as to the visitors, if they came, they could have bread and cheese. Why on earth did women make such a fuss over situations that were perfectly simple?<br />
But I knew what it meant; that Bunty's room--at that moment rather chaotic--must be turned out after she had gone in case the visitors came; that beds must be made up and that sufficient food must be prepared.<br />
In fact a very busy day indeed was before my young Emily and me. My own writing, always inclined to be in arrears, must be put aside and caught up with afterwards as best it could. And nobody would be any the better for all the wear and tear I had to face, for nobody would realize that any wear and tear was attached to just having three or four motorists for one night. Especially as they might not come.<br />
Then to me the word of the Lord came: <i>Awake, awake, put on they beautiful garments, O captive daughter of Zion.</i><br />
<i> </i>And I saw with the eyes of my understanding that every woman who hungers and thirsts for righteousness is a daughter of Zion. For Zion means City of God, and is another name for Jerusalem. Jerusalem with her chequered history is a picture of a woman's inner life. She is "the mother of us all" and we storm-racked and temperament-driven creatures of the twentieth century are her daughters.<br />
I saw that. And then I saw, too, that putting on beautiful garments meant something more than making the best of a tiresome situation. It meant the inner self being graceful over it and not down-at-heel. But, oh! (I thought) how am I to <i>get</i> like that, and to keep like that, when truly my temper is feeling much tattered and torn?<br />
Why is it that after all these years I still hate to be shifted out of my "course"? If I had been a horse I am afraid I should have been the sort which chafes when it feels a hand upon the reins, the sort of horse which will suddenly fling up its head and bolt.<br />
I thought back to the days when times were far more difficult. I was younger then and stronger than I am now, but burdens were heavier and circumstances inexorable. Yet, day after day the journey was undertaken, night after night found one weary, but still alive to tell the tale.<br />
I thought, too, of days more recent when the extent of the "journey" was only from the bed against the wall to the settee in the window. And even then--as those who must make that sort of wayfaring will testify--there were little helps by the way; baken cakes and water-cruses, which kept the journey from being "too great."<br />
And as I lay thinking and reasoning--for God does still reason with His people--I saw that this day's journey was only another form of the old lesson that seems to be taking me all my life to learn. The lesson of accepting each moment as it comes, believing that God who plans the ages is mindful of the smallest detail in the lives of men. Because "His folk are we all."<br />
A living soul is meant to be not only a pathfinder, but also a trail-blazer--and the finding and the blazing is never done once and for ever. It is a slow and continuous process, for paths have a way of grassing over, and trails often need rekindling if the road is to be kept open for God to travel on it. For <i>that</i>, if we only could realize it, is the reason and the meaning of all our wayfaring.<br />
God sends us journeying so that each day's mileage may become a highway for His feet. In us, and through us, as we live our ordinary lives, the great Road Planner looks for a way by which He can bring His own transports. Years pass sometimes before we see how the roads link up with one another, merging at last into the one Road which leads to the City Celestial.<br />
This new day (I thought), this very hour of my soul's waking has been born out of eternity; tonight when I lie down again it will have returned whither it came. Not a single moment of it is my own property. It is only lent to me to use, as I might use a field-path without in any sense becoming its owner.<br />
And this being so, who am I that I should say: "This thing or that thing is my lifework," when really my "life-work" is to get on with whasoever my hand findeth to do?<br />
"When little has been done by me, much may have been done in me," is what Francis Thompson said when the pressure of ordinary life seemed to hinder him. By which I think he meant that no day is lost if in it the Soul has received the faintest glimmer of Things as they Are.<br />
A look at the clock made me step out of bed and begin to dress. The day's journey had still to be traveled, but the burdensome quality of it did not weigh heavily now, because it was adjusted and swung harmoniously. Moving to rhythm is a grand secret.<br />
One charlady of mine knew that secret. When she swept, the broom became a young lithe dancing partner; when she washed a blanket, her arms fell into a metrical swing, so different from the feverish rub-here-and-there of the unskilled. My charlady never seemed hurried, yet the amount of work she did in a day was amazing. I thought of her as this day wore on. Just an ordinary day which thousands of women would have tackled without turning a hair.<br />
After the usual last-minute stampede, Bunty left. The guests did not arrive till tea-time and could not stay the night. When John and I had waved our farewells, he turned to me and said:<br />
"There! What did I tell you? There was no need for half the things you have done. I never saw such a woman!"<br />
And I replied quite truthfully:<br />
"No, nor did I."Katiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11648127995043442556noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7630483974260846423.post-89880587095027768832012-08-23T08:47:00.004-04:002012-08-23T08:47:23.848-04:00Brave New World contd...."But I don't want comfort. I want God, I want poetry, I want real danger, I want freedom, I want goodness. I want sin."<br />
"In fact," said Mustapha Mond [bad guy], "you're claiming the right to be unhappy."<br />
"All right then," said the Savage defiantly, "I'm claiming the right be to unhappy."<br />
"Not to mention the right to grow old and ugly and impotent; the right to have sypilis and cancer; the right to have too little to eat; the right to be lousy; the right to live in constant apprehension of what may happen tomorrow; the right to catch typhoid; the right to be tortured by unspeakable pains of every kind." There was a long silence.<br />
"I claim them all," said the Savage at last.<br />
<br />
I finished this incredible book last night. Disturbing, compelling, and eye-opening. Those are all words that come to my mind. But I would definitely recommend it for adults who want to think deeply (which I would hope of every adult). Aldous Huxley is a magnificent writer.<br />
<br />
The book in a sentence speaks of never giving in to cultural ideas, fighting against the tide, spending your energies on what matters, even when it looks like it doesn't matter...Katiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11648127995043442556noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7630483974260846423.post-28063590655348288452012-08-21T22:54:00.002-04:002012-08-21T22:54:12.836-04:00Brave new WORLD"I'd rather be myself. Myself and nasty. Not somebody else, however jolly."<br />
<br />
"That'll teach him" [the director] said to himself. But he was mistaken. For Bernard left the room with a swagger, exulting, as he banged the door behind him, in the thought that he stood alone, embattled against the order of things; elated by the intoxicating consciousness of his individual significance and importance. Even the thought of persecution left him undismayed, was rather tonic than depressing. He felt strong enough to meet and overcome affliction, strong enough to face even Iceland [what he's just been threatened with by his superior].<br />
<br />
He was not worthy, not... Their eyes for a moment met. What treasures hers promised! A queen's ransom of temperament. Hastily he looked away, disengaged his imprisoned arm. He was obscurely terrified lest she should cease to be something he could feel himself unworthy of.<br />
<br />
"Well, I'd rather be unhappy than have the sort of false, lying happiness you were having here."<br />
<br />
<br />Katiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11648127995043442556noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7630483974260846423.post-4870501361208881042011-11-01T15:41:00.004-04:002011-11-01T15:43:26.728-04:00The Way the World Turns....One of my dear friends, <a href="http://breanna-lifespoem.blogspot.com/" style="background-color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #cc0000;">Breanna</span></a>, just started a blog and she inspired me to start posting favorite songs again! I used to do it all the time but little to no response, so stopped. But just because I'm not getting any comments is no reason to stop doing something good! :) So here goes...<br />
<br />
Life has not been easy lately. I mean, it's not usually easy, but it's been ESPECIALLY hard the past couple of months. But you know? Christ never promises that this life will be easy. And it's songs like these that help me see the bigger picture... Sanctus Real is an amazing band.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=85PxGLqIxoA"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #cc0000;">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=85PxGLqIxoA</span></a><br />
<br />
♫<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Helvetica, Arial; font-size: 11px;">Empty moments when I feel hopeless</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Helvetica, Arial; font-size: 11px;">Have left me restless inside</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Helvetica, Arial; font-size: 11px;">Doubt and sadness have kept me in fragments</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Helvetica, Arial; font-size: 11px;">Longing for a better life</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Helvetica, Arial; font-size: 11px;">Oh, it's the way the world turns</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Helvetica, Arial; font-size: 11px;">The way, the way</span><br />
<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Helvetica, Arial; font-size: 11px;">And I feel the current pulling me down</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Helvetica, Arial; font-size: 11px;">Can't keep the world from turning around</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Helvetica, Arial; font-size: 11px;">So I keep turning to You</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Helvetica, Arial; font-size: 11px;">I keep turning</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Helvetica, Arial; font-size: 11px;">'Cause You're the hope of a new sunrise</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Helvetica, Arial; font-size: 11px;">Breaking over a desperate life</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Helvetica, Arial; font-size: 11px;">And I keep turning to You</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Helvetica, Arial; font-size: 11px;">I keep turning to You</span><br />
<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Helvetica, Arial; font-size: 11px;">I'm so distracted by senseless passions</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Helvetica, Arial; font-size: 11px;">Tempting my wandering eyes</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Helvetica, Arial; font-size: 11px;">But ever pursuit brings me closer to the truth</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Helvetica, Arial; font-size: 11px;">That only You can satisfy</span><br />
<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Helvetica, Arial; font-size: 11px;">When I feel the current pulling me down</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Helvetica, Arial; font-size: 11px;">Can't keep the world from turning around</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Helvetica, Arial; font-size: 11px;">So I keep turning to You</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Helvetica, Arial; font-size: 11px;">I keep turning</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Helvetica, Arial; font-size: 11px;">'Cause You're the hope of a new sunrise</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Helvetica, Arial; font-size: 11px;">Breaking over a desperate life</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Helvetica, Arial; font-size: 11px;">And I keep on turning to You</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Helvetica, Arial; font-size: 11px;">I keep turning</span><br />
<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Helvetica, Arial; font-size: 11px;">The way we're hurting keeps us turning to You</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Helvetica, Arial; font-size: 11px;">To You♫</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, Helvetica, Arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 11px;"><br />
</span></span>Katiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11648127995043442556noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7630483974260846423.post-6339216691939097292011-10-17T11:57:00.001-04:002011-11-01T15:32:12.435-04:00We Can Cry with Hope....Steven Curtis Chapman's song on his Speechless CD keeps running through my mind--particularly the chorus:<br />
<br />
♫We can cry with hope<br />
we can say goodbye with hope<br />
'cause we know our goodbye is not the end<br />
And we can breathe with hope<br />
'cause we believe with hope<br />
there's a place where we'll see your face again...♫<br />
<br />
My grandmother, Dorothy Christine Robertson Cochran, passed away last Thursday, October 13th. She was a bright, energetic, spunky, fun, individual who could never be beat and never stayed sad. She had a difficult life, yet didn't allow that to quench her spirit and make her hard, bitter, and joyless. She chose instead to make nearly everything into a joke of some kind, love comedy, and make others laugh as much as she could.<br />
<br />
During the last ten years we have lived far from her residence in FL--first in GA and now in CO. But the distance never lessened our love for her, or her love for us. I am so grateful that God lengthened her life to 81 years so we could know and love her longer.<br />
<br />
The most difficult thing about her passing is that none of us are 100% certain she was a Christian. I don't say this out of arrogance but out of a painful desire to be truthful to myself. But like the song says, we can cry with HOPE. We can HOPE that she is in heaven right now, waiting for us to get there. Knowing a peaceful and pain-free existence she really never had here on earth.<br />
<br />
I honor, love, respect, and cherish my grandmother's memory, and I always will. I miss her so much and still can't believe she's gone at times, but it's just another reminder that this earth is not our home. She is the first of my close family members to pass away, and I know that if I live my full life expectancy, this is only the beginning of seeing death in those closest to me. I honestly don't know how I will deal with other family members' deaths who are even closer to me than my grandmother was. But I do know that God will never send anything my way that I can't handle with his strength.<br />
<br />
I love you, Grandmother.Katiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11648127995043442556noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7630483974260846423.post-74186334498985365892011-09-30T08:43:00.000-04:002011-09-30T08:43:24.926-04:00Is there STILL "no chance in the world" for him?<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"></span><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><span style="font-size: large;">Harris Poll: Ron Paul Would Beat Obama 51-49</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><span>Congressman tells packed out NYC audience: “America is ripe for a true revolution”</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><span>Paul Joseph Watson</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><span>Infowars.com</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><span>Tuesday, September 27, 2011</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><span><a href="http://www.infowars.com/harris-poll-ron-paul-would-beat-obama-51-49/" style="color: #0000cc;" target="_blank">http://www.infowars.com/<wbr></wbr>harris-poll-ron-paul-would-<wbr></wbr>beat-obama-51-49/</a></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><span>A new Harris Interactive poll released today reveals that Congressman Ron Paul would defeat Barack Obama 51-49 in a hypothetical run off, one of only two Republican candidates who would stand a good chance of preventing Obama from securing a second term in the White House.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><span>Paul-Obama</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><span>Only Ron Paul and Mitt Romney would beat Obama, according to the poll, which found that Obama would defeat every other Republican candidate, including Rick Perry.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><span>The survey is another indication that Paul is quickly moving into second place to become Romney’s main challenger as Rick Perry’s campaign crashes and burns.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><span>The poll was conducted in mid-September and surveyed 2,462 US adults. Its findings reveal that Paul has now overturned Obama’s slim majority in a hypothetical run off between the two and would likely beat him, especially if he was afforded the kind of national platform that the corporate press have been loathe to provide.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><span>As we have previously discussed, despite an admitted establishment media dirty tricks campaign to deliberately ignore Ron Paul’s candidacy, he has emerged as a top tier candidate with a genuine chance of challenging Romney. A Paul victory in the Republican primary would represent a major problem for Obama’s hopes of a return to the Oval Office because it would remove the incentive for many Democrats to back Obama.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><span><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><span>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">MY COMMENTS: The last sentence in this article is poignant.... The reason Paul receiving the Republican nomination would bereave Obama of many of his supporters is because Paul wants to withdraw our troops from the 150 countries they are in. Not all in a day of course, but gradually taking the number down, rather than gradually increasing it (which is happening now). A sovereign, powerful nation does not mean a busy-body, sprawled out nation. Look at your history--that is how EVERY other nation in the past met its doom--by being too thinly spread.</div></div></div></div></td></tr>
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</tbody></table>Katiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11648127995043442556noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7630483974260846423.post-84755981660640232212011-08-24T22:55:00.002-04:002011-08-24T22:55:38.112-04:00Legislate YOURSELF<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span>The case for blackmail and child labor</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span><span>John Stossel also defends ticket scalping, price gouging, kidney selling</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span><span>Posted: August 23, 2011</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span><span>2:04 pm Eastern</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span><span><a href="http://www.worldnetdaily.com/index.php?pageId=337077" target="_blank">http://www.worldnetdaily.com/<wbr></wbr>index.php?pageId=337077</a></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span><span>By John Stossel</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span><span>We grow up learning that some things are just bad: child labor, ticket scalping, price gouging, kidney selling, blackmail, etc. But maybe they're not.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span><span>What I love about economics is that it can show that what seems harmful is actually good for society. It illuminates what common sense overlooks.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span><span>This was the subject of my Fox Business show last week. It was inspired by the eye-opening book "Defending the Undefendable" by economist Walter Block.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span><span>Most people call child labor an unmitigated evil. But my guests, David Boaz of the Cato Institute and Nick Gillespie of Reason.tv, said that's wrong.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span><span>"If we say that the United States should abolish child labor in very poor countries," Boaz said, "then what will happen to these children? ... They're not suddenly going to go to the country day school. ... They may be out selling their bodies on the street. That is not an improvement over working in a T-shirt factory."</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span><span>In fact, studies show that in at least one country where child labor was suddenly banned, prostitution increased. Good economics teaches that as poor countries get richer and freer, capital investment raises the productivity of labor and child labor diminishes. There's no shortcut through government prohibition – unless you like starvation and child prostitution.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span><span>What about price-gouging? State laws attempt to prevent people from charging "unconscionable" prices during emergencies.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span><span>"If I'm in the neighborhood of Hurricane Katrina," Boaz said, "what I want is water and ice and generators. ... If you are in Kentucky (and) you've got 10 generators in your store, are you getting up at 4 a.m. to drive all day to get to Louisiana to sell these generators if you can only sell them for the same price you can sell them for in Kentucky? No, you're going to go down because ... you can sell them for more."</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span><span>Also, if prices rise during an emergency, that's a signal for people to buy only what they most need. That leaves more for everyone else. If the price remains low, an incentive to conserve is lost.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span><span>Ticket scalpers are seen as sleazy guys who cheat you by marking up the price of tickets. Profits go to middlemen instead of the performers. What good could they possibly do?</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span><span>"I like to think of ticket scalpers as the guy who stands in line so that I don't have to," Gillespie said.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span><span>Time spent in line is part of the ticket cost. Scalpers let you pay entirely in money, rather than partly in valuable time.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span><span>Most people say that selling body parts is wrong.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span><span>"It also seems wrong to have people dying because they can't get a kidney," Boaz said.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span><span>Some 400,000 Americans are on a waiting list now for a new kidney, and they are not allowed to pay for one.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span><span>(Column continues below)</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span><span>"We sell hair. We sell sperm. We sell eggs these days," Boaz added.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span><span>Gillespie added, "The best way to grow the supply and allow more people to live is to allow the market to price those organs."</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span><span>Maybe the most counterintuitive position argued on my show was that blackmail should not be a crime. Blackmail (unlike extortion) is the demand for money in return for withholding information. Robin Hanson, a George Mason University economist, defends blackmail.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span><span>"The thing you're threatening when you're threatening blackmail (is) gossip," Hanson said. "If it should be all right to tell people, it should be all right to threaten to tell people."</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span><span>What we don't like, however, is the blackmailer saying, "Pay me to keep quiet."</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span><span>"But the effect of that is to make people behave," Hanson said. "If we (allow) blackmail, people behave even more because they are even more afraid of what might happen if they don't."</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span><span>Maybe Ponzi-schemer Bernie Madoff would have been caught earlier?</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span><span>"That's right. ... Blackmail is actually a form of private law enforcement."</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span><span>Also, since gossip is free speech, blackmail is simply selling the service of not engaging in free speech. Why should that be outlawed?</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div style="border-color: -moz-use-text-color -moz-use-text-color windowtext; border-style: none none double; border-width: medium medium 6.75pt; padding: 0in 0in 1pt;"> <div class="MsoNormal" style="border: medium none; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; padding: 0in;"><span><span>I subtitled my last book, "Everything You Know Is Wrong." I was exaggerating, of course, but many things we're taught are fallacies. That's why I like economics. It explodes fallacies.</span></span></div></div>Katiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11648127995043442556noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7630483974260846423.post-31652385048714399182011-08-24T22:50:00.000-04:002011-08-24T22:50:02.917-04:00How about some REAL change....<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span>Our Guide to the Best Coverage of Ron Paul and His Record</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span><span>by Lois Beckett</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span><span>ProPublica, Aug. 23, 2011, 2:19 p.m.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span><a href="http://www.propublica.org/article/our-guide-to-the-best-coverage-of-ron-paul-and-his-record" target="_blank"><span><span style="color: blue;">http://www.propublica.org/<wbr></wbr>article/our-guide-to-the-best-<wbr></wbr>coverage-of-ron-paul-and-his-<wbr></wbr>record</span></span></a><span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span><span>This is the second installment in a series of reading guides on 2012 presidential candidates. Our first one was one Texas Gov. Rick Perry.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span><span>Three-time presidential candidate Ron Paul is consistently disregarded by the media, a point made recently by comedian Jon Stewart and confirmed by a Pew Research Center analysis of news coverage.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span><span>But the 76-year-old Texas Republican congressman's tiny-government ideals have become increasingly relevant to the national debate. And despite some eye-rolling by television anchors, there's been plenty of substantive coverage of Paul's ideals and track record. Here's our guide to some of the best reading on Ron Paul.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span><span>The basics:</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span><span>The best place to start is a 2001 Texas Monthly profile by Sam Gwynne, who explains why Paul remained such a viable Republican congressional candidate despite his refusal to toe the party line.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span><span>Paul, an obstetrician who has delivered an estimated 4,000 babies, is a pro-life Libertarian who believes that much of the federal government is unconstitutional. (His son, Kentucky Republican Rand Paul, is a U.S. senator and Tea Party favorite.)</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span><span>Ron Paul's 2012 campaign website summarizes his policy views, which include abolishing the Federal Reserve and the IRS, eliminating income and capital-gains taxes and refusing to raise the debt ceiling.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span><span>On principle, Paul supports ending federal bans on marijuana, heroin, cocaine and prostitution, although he says he’s never used marijuana himself, and is so conservative in his personal life that he does not travel alone with women. He says on his website that he avoids discussing his Christian faith publicly because he wants “to avoid any appearance of exploiting it for political gain.”</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span><span>As a doctor, he would not accept Medicaid or Medicare funds, reportedly treating patients for free instead. (He has argued that Medicare and Medicaid are unconstitutional.) He does not believe members of Congress should receive pensions, so he has opted out of receiving his own.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span><span>As an Atlantic profile explains, Paul’s views are defined by his affinity to Austrian economist Ludwig von Mises, who opposed central banking and argued that most problems with the economy result from government interference. Paul believes that the United States should return to the gold standard, and describes Aug. 15, 1971, when President Nixon ordered that U.S. dollars no longer be backed by gold, as a watershed moment that inspired him to begin his career in politics.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span><span>Overview of his record as a congressman:</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span><span>The Texas Monthly profile explores the tension between Paul’s principled approach to politics and his ability to get things done in Washington. He earned the nickname “Dr. No” for his tendency to vote against bills with wide Republican or bipartisan support. He voted against the USA Patriot Act and the federal ban on same-sex marriage—and also against congressional gold medals for Ronald Reagan, Rosa Parks and Mother Teresa. (“It’s easier to be generous with other people’s money,” he noted at the time, and suggested that if his fellow legislators wanted to award medals, they should contribute $100 each.)</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span><span>You can see the highlights of his congressional voting record on his Washington Post profile page, or look through the full list of his votes at GovTrack.us.</span></span></div>Katiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11648127995043442556noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7630483974260846423.post-27927785968930549212011-07-12T15:32:00.000-04:002011-07-12T15:32:36.365-04:00Mankind Legally Blind"Thus, too, it happens in estimating our spiritual qualities. So long as we do not look beyond the earth, we are quite pleased with our own righteousness, wisdom, and virtue; we address ourselves in the most flattering terms, and seem only less than demigods. But should we once begin to raise our thoughts to God, and reflect what kind of being He is, and how absolute the perfection of that righteousness, and wisdom, and virtue, to which as a standard, we are bound to be conformed, what formerly delighted us by its false show of righteousness, will become polluted with the greatest iniquity; what strangely imposed upon us under the name of wisdom, will disgust by its extreme folly; and what presented the appearance of virtuous energy, will be condemned as the most miserable impotence. So far are those qualities in us, which seems most perfect, from corresponding to the divine purity."<br />
-John Calvin in his book The Institutes of the Christian Religion<br />
<br />
How often do we, as Christians, think we have it all figured out? Oh to be sure, we don't come out and SAY this in words, but we live like we do. We don't consult with our Lord on every action we take, every decision we make, every movie we watch, every book we read, every word we say, every thought we think! The mindset is that we have "freedom" in Christ to do whatever we jolly well want, without actually seeking "what would please the Lord." (1 Thess. 4:1) As this quote so brilliantly states, we are HUMAN and our minds are naturally set on the things of this world. It will take work, perseverance, faith, and an ACTIVE seeking of the Lord and his Word to overcome this natural tendency we have as fallen man.<br />
<br />
Just some food for thought :) Be encouraged! There is hope because God has seen fit to renew our minds. This means always scrutinizing what we allow into our minds, and what we allow into our hearts....Katiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11648127995043442556noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7630483974260846423.post-22871542875711126512011-05-31T17:17:00.000-04:002011-05-31T17:17:03.664-04:00An Interesting Perspective<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><span style="font-size: large;">Marital roulette</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><span>Exclusive: Vox Day advises men to avoid wedding working women</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><span>Posted: May 30, 2011</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><span>1:00 am Eastern</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><span><a href="http://www.worldnetdaily.com/index.php?pageId=304781" style="color: #0000cc;" target="_blank">http://www.worldnetdaily.com/<wbr></wbr>index.php?pageId=304781</a></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><span>Sunday, May 29, 2011</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><span>By Vox Day</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><span>There has been an amount of discussion of a marriage strike in recent years as various male and female commentators alike attempt to explain the continuing decline in marriage rates throughout the advanced nations of the West. As more and more men have become aware that women file for most divorces and that family courts are now little more than thieves' dens designed to funnel financial resources from men to women by any means or legal-sounding excuse necessary, they have understandably become considerably more marriage-averse.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><span>In the last 40 years, the percentage of 25-34 American adults who were married has dropped from 80 percent to 45 percent. In 2009, it was reported that at only 52 percent, the percentage of married adults of all ages was the lowest percentage recorded since the U.S. Census Bureau began collecting marital information 100 years ago.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><span>When one considers the widespread availability of wildly entertaining, time-intensive video games as well as high-quality, high-definition pornography produced to suit even the most esoteric sexual tastes, it is not terribly surprising that American men are becoming ever more disinclined to risk pledging their lives and fortunes to the increasingly adipose, decreasingly reliable creature known as the American woman?</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><span>Dr. Helen Smith writes: "Nowadays, for many men, the negatives of marriage for men often outweigh the positives. Therefore, they engage in it less often. Not because they are bad, not because they are perpetual adolescents, but because they have weighed the pros and cons of marriage in a rational manner and found the institution to be lacking for them."</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><span>The problem is that marriage is more than an institution; it is a structural foundation of society. Moreover, marriage is historically proven to be the best means of producing and raising healthy children, which means that it is integral to the continuation of both American society as well as the human race. Without a strong base of healthy marriages between men and women, no society is likely to survive, let alone prosper.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><span>(Column continues below)</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><span>So, what is a young man who wishes to be a happy and productive member of society but does not wish to find himself locked into a life of post-divorce serfdom to an ill-tempered, overweight woman with a legal obligation to children who may not even belong to him? Fortunately, the answer is both clear and easily applied. To increase your chances of marital and familial success in life, it is vital to stay away from what are known as "career" or "working" women.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><span>While this will not eliminate all the risks of what has become known as Marriage 2.0, it will return a man's probability of successful marriage to that of the earlier, more marriage-friendly era. Marriage to a stay-at-home wife rather than one with a full-time job reduces the risk of divorce by nearly one-third. Just the simple act of avoiding romantic involvement with working women is nearly enough on its own to again make marriage a viable option for young men.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><span>Moreover, stay-at-home mothers make for much better mothers as they spend 91 percent more time with their children than working mothers do. The most remarkable observation is that stay-at-home mothers spend 12 more minutes per day on the physical care of their children than working mothers spend with their children in total; the net result of this insufficient attention is that the children of working mothers are 23 percent less likely to pass college entrance exams, 29 percent more likely to be unemployed and are more likely to be overweight by age 11.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><span>Although it may appear to be disturbingly like one, this column is not intended as an indictment of career women or working mothers. The facts are what they are, and my only objective is to point out to men that it is a mistake to conclude the societal changes of the last 40 years have rendered all American women equally unsuited for marriage. No one would dispute that the odds of successfully raising a family with a meth head or crack addict tend to be on the low side, and no one should be upset by the statistically observable fact that men who wish to marry and have children will have a significantly greater probability of success if they choose to marry women who are dedicated to making a career of being a wife and mother.</span></div>Katiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11648127995043442556noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7630483974260846423.post-56117687233402708932011-05-24T16:38:00.000-04:002011-05-24T16:38:17.774-04:00HumilityIf you have never read CJ Mahaney's book HUMILITY, then it's time to make room on your reading list--like around #1 position. No kidding--this book is short, sweet, sharp, and very much to the point. No really--it IS short (only about 150 pages and very small pages at that), sweet (in the sense that it gives us so many ideas for how to be more sweet *smile*), sharp (meaning intelligent) and to the point--well that's sort of self-explanatory.<br />
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Humility. As soon as you think you have it down--you're prideful to even be thinking that. And when you don't have it down, you don't have it down, and are therefore being prideful! It seems this elusive character quality is impossible to achieve.<br />
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Guess what?<br />
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It IS indeed impossible.<br />
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And this is where I realized that humility and the Gospel are so inseparable, that trying to have humility without the Gospel is like trying to swim when there's no water, or trying to breathe when there's no air. It's impossible! Our works of piety on our own accord are completely abhorrent to God because they reek of pride, and our own sinful propensity to think we are just amazing if we do something right.<br />
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And so without the Gospel, there is hopelessness for humility. Don't discount the Gospel! It's not just the first building block in your walk as a Christian, it's the entire framework! We never outgrow it as Christians, and we never stop needing it--every second of every day. What struck me most about Mahaney's book was how he never failed to being the saving grace of the Gospel into every point he made on humility.<br />
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Basically, we have a need so great that only Christ and his Word can fill it in our soul. But even once He has filled that desire, every day the temptations to do evil will overwhelm our defenses. And here's the greatest mystery of all of this... Our INADEQUACY and INABILITY to be humble on our own leads us to the only way we CAN be humble: in acknowledging that we are not! God loves working like this (check out 1 Corinthians 1).<br />
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I could go round and round on this--in circles. But the bottom line is, that if we keep our eyes fixed on Christ and what HE and not WE have accomplished, we will indeed be humble! He promises it.<br />
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Be encouraged in that today, and keep your eyes fixed on Jesus Christ. It's that simple.Katiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11648127995043442556noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7630483974260846423.post-19142237884687819022011-05-09T14:13:00.001-04:002011-05-09T14:15:53.775-04:00Determinism or Chaos?This morning I was reading through Chalcedon magazine, and came across a fantastic article by RJ Rushdoony. First off, let me state my high admiration and respect for Rushdoony. I wish he were still alive so I could meet him somehow... Ah well, in heaven! :)<br />
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Anyway, this article addressed the caving in of churches and Christians to the idea that it took God longer--perhaps as long as billions of years--to create the world. Basically, the surrender of many godly people to the theory of evolution. First of all, I don't presume to judge any of my brothers and sisters in Christ who may believe in theistic evolution, or just plain evolution (I might argue that it's basically the same thing, but that's another blog post). I simply seek the TRUTH and this argument made sense to me...<br />
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Just like creationism, evolution relies on DETERMINISM and craves it. Determinism = the fact that there is order in any given circumstance, and that we as human beings discern situations from the perspective of already having a determined way it ought to be. The problem with evolution is that it rejects an idea of a supernatural being, so it cannot find a way to use determinism in its theory. Yet determinism is REQUIRED. The opposite of determinism is CHAOS. Let me quote directly from the article as the wording is perfect...<br />
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"Science thus WANTS a universe of law and of causality without God, but it would rather ascribe all the magnificent order of the universe to chaos rather than to God, because the scientists involved are fallen men, in rebellion against God and bent on suppressing their knowledge of Him. Men will either presuppose God, or they will presuppose themselves as the basic reality of being."<br />
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So if evolution rejects determinism, and the alternative is chaos, therefore evolution began out of chaos.. WAIT A SECOND. Is this really science? Science is socially thought to be a marketplace of ideas that are rationally and reasonably tested, hypothesis applied, theory applied, and finally fact applied it if holds up under the testing and scrutinizing of scientists. How can the very idea that our entire UNIVERSE sprang from chaos even have a seat--much less a high one!--amongst academic science!<br />
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OK so you believe that God DID create the world, he just did it a whole lot slower than six 24 hour days... This would lead us back to the Bible--does the word day mean day or DAY!? The word day in Hebrew literally means 24 hours. This is a whole lot simpler than many have made it....<br />
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There is a whole lot more from this article, but I will just encourage you to read this book. Find a review <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2885567-the-mythology-of-science"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #ffd966;">HERE</span></a>.<br />
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We can either give glory to chaos and chance, or to a mighty God who DOES exist and who each one of us will see face to face once we die. I pray for a reformation among Christians and non-Christians alike, and a return to moral creationism as opposed to amoral and chancy evolution.Katiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11648127995043442556noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7630483974260846423.post-44986013585345191052011-04-23T22:20:00.000-04:002011-04-24T00:19:21.782-04:00one of those "times"i broke my wrist 5 weeks ago and therefore this post will be short, messy, and sweet. but i just wanted to first say im not dead and i DO plan on blogging here more regularly... i was reading something in politics today that i just sat down to post but suddenly remembered how long it takes me to type (and im so very wordy about politics--politics and theology *smile*). SO i will hold off on that post until i get my cast off in about four weeks.... im sure ull be waiting for it oh so eagerly haha :)<br />
<br />
so breaking (or rather, shattering) a bone is no fun, and having surgery in the bargain definitely didnt help matters--but u know, as God fully intended, this trial has definitely brought me closer to my Elder Brother... it was so fitting because God timed my break right around the time (actually nearly right on the day) i started memorizing Romans 5, and the third verse in that incredible chapter goes as follows...<br />
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"More than that we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces HOPE, and hope will not put us to shame because God's LOVE has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us."<br />
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needless to say, i feel loved. our GOD, Lord, Saviour, Friend, Healer, Redeemer, and Lover will never leave us nor forsake us. and not only that but he works all things together for our GOOD.<br />
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remember that today. live it.Katiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11648127995043442556noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7630483974260846423.post-31103649520788623512011-03-07T19:48:00.000-05:002011-03-07T19:48:36.710-05:00PerspectiveI began memorizing Romans 4 today, and as is my custom, wrote out the entire chapter on separate 3x5 cards. As I was doing so, I found it incredible that Paul talks at length about how Abraham NEVER wavered concerning the promise of God, that he and his offspring would be heirs of the world!<br />
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No mention of Hagar, and Abraham's illicit relationship with her at Sarah's bidding. I was struck at God's mercy and the way he blots out our sin, his chosen children's sin, from his gaze and remembers it NO MORE. What an awesome God we serve!<br />
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This goes to show that God looks at things so differently than we do--he defies "logic," that is, man's reasoning. History, and all other subjects, must be viewed through HIS lenses. The way God views everything is the ONLY way to view it. And I am so glad he's chosen to view his children as spotless and without blemish.<br />
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Be downcast no more, oh my soul, but rejoice and be glad! For our Lord Jesus Christ has looked on us with favor in our distress.Katiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11648127995043442556noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7630483974260846423.post-13143439054426417562011-02-18T21:45:00.002-05:002011-02-18T21:45:44.623-05:00This is what I'm talking about....<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">Up From Paulism</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><span>By W. James Antle, III on 2.14.11 @ 6:09AM</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><span><a href="http://spectator.org/archives/2011/02/14/up-from-paulism" style="color: #0000cc;" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">http://spectator.org/archives/<wbr></wbr>2011/02/14/up-from-paulism</span></a></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><span>On the same day Ron Paul won the presidential straw poll of the nation's largest gathering of conservative activists, one of the nation's oldest conservative-libertarian activist groups kicked him off their national advisory board. Young Americans for Freedom (YAF) announced it had severed ties with the twelve-term Texas congressman, who had been on the advisory board for over two decades, over what it described as his "delusional and disturbing alliance with the fringe Anti-War movement."</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><span>Later, Paul triumphed at the at Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) straw poll for the second year in a row. He beat Mitt Romney, the only other candidate with an experienced campaign organization, 30 percent to 23 percent. Paul left the other possible Republican presidential contenders who are favored by either the mainstream media or the conservative movement -- most of whom got fewer votes than libertarian fellow-traveler and former Paul endorser Gary Johnson -- in the dust.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><span>While some individual participants may have been out of the mainstream, CPAC as a whole was hardly fringe. It attracted over 11,000 people, mostly mainline conservative activists. Romney, Tim Pawlenty, Haley Barbour, Newt Gingrich, Mitch Daniels, and Rick Santorum were among the other possible Republican candidates on hand. This wasn't, as some of the conference's conservative detractors imply, a joint meeting of the Log Cabin Club and the Libertarian National Committee.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><span>Straw polls aren't scientific surveys and thus can't be used to refute Donald Trump's CPAC prediction that Paul has "zero chance" of winning the presidency. But it is a good barometer that at this very early stage the other 2012 aspirants lack either grassroots support or organizational strength -- and in some cases, probably both -- at least in sufficient amounts to overcome Paul's zealous backers.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><span>The straw poll win coupled with the YAF flap shows the dilemma for the movement Paul is trying to lead. On the one hand, it was once unusual to hear Republican leaders not named Ron Paul talking regularly about the Constitution. Now it is commonplace, and not a single Republican contemplating the presidency defends the constitutionality of Obamacare. There is much more mainstream conservative interest in auditing the Federal Reserve, the doctrine of enumerated powers, nullification, and Austrian economics. But deep divisions still remain.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><span>Even at CPAC, there was little obvious comity between Paul's supporters and those who preferred other candidates. About half the crowd booed when the straw poll results were announced. All hell broke loose when Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld appeared with the audience still full of Paulites who had been there to hear the congressman's son Rand, now a freshman Republican senator from Kentucky, speak. They heckled the former vice president and defense secretary. The more traditional Republicans and movement conservatives on hand responded by shouting, "USA, USA!"</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><span>One side believed Cheney should present and Rumsfeld should receive an award for defending the Constitution, while the other thought they had a record of undermining it. The Paul supporters at CPAC branded these men "war criminals" while YAF declared that opposing their preferred foreign policy "border[s] on treason." What common ground can there be between these two extremes?</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><span>"Paul's supporters have all the lungs and confidence of fourth-century Christians overwhelming the pagans," writes professional Paul-watcher Dave Weigel. But this can sometimes backfire. When they attempted to shout down Orrin Hatch as he explained his support for the bailout, they won him sympathy from the rest of the crowd -- even though most rank-and-file conservatives agree with Paul and disagree with Hatch on the issue.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><span>Yet Rand Paul struck a much different tone. He unapologetically made common cause with the Tea Party: "Is there anybody here from the Tea Party? Are we going to let Washington co-opt the Tea Party? Will you help me fight for and defend the Constitution?"</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><span>The younger Paul also invoked Barry Goldwater in reminding the audience that strict constitutionalism was part of the conservative movement's heritage. He cited the following from Goldwater's Conscience of a Conservative: "I will not attempt to discover whether legislation is 'needed' before I have first determined whether it is constitutionally permissible."</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><span>Of course, Rand Paul's father also favorably quotes conservative and Republican leaders of days gone by in his speeches, from Robert Taft to Ronald Reagan. But the son made common cause with his GOP contemporaries as well. Just as he has cosponsored legislation with Sens. Mike Lee of Utah, David Vitter of Louisiana, and Jim DeMint of South Carolina, the younger Paul enlisted Oklahoma conservative Tom Coburn in his speech. He even gave a shout out to Maine's moderate Susan Collins. Nancy Pelosi and other leading Democrats<span> </span>were cast as villains.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><span>While Ron Paul challenged the CPAC crowd by saying that he bet half of them wouldn't support cuts in the defense budget, Rand Paul led with entitlement reform, asking to applause, "Is there anybody here who would like to opt out of Social Security?" Then he emphasized the significance of national defense, calling it "the one primary and most important constitutional thing our government does." But he also referred to Pentagon cuts as the "one compromise we will have to make as conservatives."</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><span>Rand also put himself convincingly to the right of the Republican leadership. "They're talking about cutting $35 billion," he said. "We spend $35 billion in five days. We add $35 billion to the debt in nine days. It's not enough, and we will not stop the ruin in our country unless we think more boldly." Just as Reagan once called for a platform painted in "bold colors, not pale pastels."</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><span>When it comes to the substance of his positions on the Patriot Act, the Iraq war, and foreign aid to Israel, Rand Paul is still his father's son. But just as in his CPAC speech, he is trying to speak in tones less jarring to Republican ears, bringing his father's supporters and more traditional conservatives together.</span></div>Katiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11648127995043442556noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7630483974260846423.post-10034414424406953752011-02-16T20:50:00.000-05:002011-02-16T20:50:00.791-05:00Sad but Unsurprising...<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Study: Many college students not learning to think critically</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><span>Sara Rimer, The Hechinger Report | The Hechinger Report</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><span>last updated: January 17, 2011 04:52:23 PM</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><span><a href="http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2011/01/18/106949/study-many-college-students-not.html#storylink=omni_popular" style="color: #0000cc;" target="_blank">http://www.mcclatchydc.com/<wbr></wbr>2011/01/18/106949/study-many-<wbr></wbr>college-students-not.html#<wbr></wbr>storylink=omni_popular</a></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><span>Posted on Tue, Jan. 18, 2011</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><span>NEW YORK — An unprecedented study that followed several thousand undergraduates through four years of college found that large numbers didn't learn the critical thinking, complex reasoning and written communication skills that are widely assumed to be at the core of a college education.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><span>Many of the students graduated without knowing how to sift fact from opinion, make a clear written argument or objectively review conflicting reports of a situation or event, according to New York University sociologist Richard Arum, lead author of the study. The students, for example, couldn't determine the cause of an increase in neighborhood crime or how best to respond without being swayed by emotional testimony and political spin.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><span>Arum, whose book "Academically Adrift: Limited Learning on College Campuses" (University of Chicago Press) comes out this month, followed 2,322 traditional-age students from the fall of 2005 to the spring of 2009 and examined testing data and student surveys at a broad range of 24 U.S. colleges and universities, from the highly selective to the less selective.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><span>Forty-five percent of students made no significant improvement in their critical thinking, reasoning or writing skills during the first two years of college, according to the study. After four years, 36 percent showed no significant gains in these so-called "higher order" thinking skills.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><span>Combining the hours spent studying and in class, students devoted less than a fifth of their time each week to academic pursuits. By contrast, students spent 51 percent of their time — or 85 hours a week — socializing or in extracurricular activities.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><span>The study also showed that students who studied alone made more significant gains in learning than those who studied in groups.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><span>"I'm not surprised at the results," said Stephen G. Emerson, the president of Haverford College in Pennsylvania. "Our very best students don't study in groups. They might work in groups in lab projects. But when they study, they study by themselves."</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><span>The study marks one of the first times a cohort of undergraduates has been followed over four years to examine whether they're learning specific skills. It provides a portrait of the complex set of factors, from the quality of secondary school preparation to the academic demands on campus, which determine learning. It comes amid President Barack Obama's call for more college graduates by 2020 and is likely to shine a spotlight on the quality of the education they receive.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><span>"These findings are extremely valuable for those of us deeply concerned about the state of undergraduate learning and student intellectual engagement," said Brian D. Casey, the president of DePauw University in Greencastle, Ind. "They will surely shape discussions about curriculum and campus life for years to come."</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><span>Some educators note that a weakened economy and a need to work while in school may be partly responsible for the reduced focus on academics, while others caution against using the study to blame students for not applying themselves.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><span>Howard Gardner, a professor at Harvard's Graduate School of Education known for his theory of multiple intelligences, said the study underscores the need for higher education to push students harder.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><span>"No one concerned with education can be pleased with the findings of this study," Gardner said. "I think that higher education in general is not demanding enough of students — academics are simply of less importance than they were a generation ago."</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><span>But the solution, in Gardner's view, shouldn't be to introduce high-stakes tests to measure learning in college because, "The cure is likely to be worse than the disease."</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><span>Arum concluded that while students at highly selective schools made more gains than those at less selective schools, there are even greater disparities within institutions.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><span>"In all these 24 colleges and universities, you have pockets of kids that are working hard and learning at very high rates," Arum said. "There is this variation across colleges, but even greater variation within colleges in how much kids are applying themselves and learning."</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><span>For that reason, Arum added, he hopes his data will encourage colleges and universities to look within for ways to improve teaching and learning.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><span>Arum co-authored the book with Josipa Roksa, an assistant professor of sociology at the University of Virginia. The study, conducted with Esther Cho, a researcher with the Social Science Research Council, showed that students learned more when asked to do more.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><span>Students who majored in the traditional liberal arts — including the social sciences, humanities, natural sciences and mathematics — showed significantly greater gains over time than other students in critical thinking, complex reasoning and writing skills.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><span>Students majoring in business, education, social work and communications showed the least gains in learning. However, the authors note that their findings don't preclude the possibility that such students "are developing subject-specific or occupationally relevant skills."</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><span>Greater gains in liberal arts subjects are at least partly the result of faculty requiring higher levels of reading and writing, as well as students spending more time studying, the study's authors found. Students who took courses heavy on both reading (more than 40 pages a week) and writing (more than 20 pages in a semester) showed higher rates of learning.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><span>That's welcome news to liberal arts advocates.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><span>"We do teach analytical reading and writing," said Ellen Fitzpatrick, a history professor at the University of New Hampshire.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><span>The study used data from the Collegiate Learning Assessment, a 90-minute essay-type test that attempts to measure what liberal arts colleges teach and that more than 400 colleges and universities have used since 2002. The test is voluntary and includes real world problem-solving tasks, such as determining the cause of an airplane crash, that require reading and analyzing documents from newspaper articles to government reports.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><span>The study's authors also found that large numbers of students didn't enroll in courses requiring substantial work. In a typical semester, a third of students took no courses with more than 40 pages of reading per week. Half didn't take a single course in which they wrote more than 20 pages over the semester.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><span>The findings show that colleges need to be acutely aware of how instruction relates to the learning of critical-thinking and related skills, said Daniel J. Bradley, the president of Indiana State University and one of 71 college presidents who recently signed a pledge to improve student learning.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><span>"We haven't spent enough time making sure we are indeed teaching — and students are learning — these skills," Bradley said.</span></div>Katiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11648127995043442556noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7630483974260846423.post-72055197615720018012011-02-05T00:19:00.000-05:002011-02-05T00:19:27.551-05:00Hello New Year...I was just getting on my friend for not blogging the entire month of January, and OH MY WORD my blog doesn't have a January post either!!! *gasp* Well, since it's too late to remedy that, I figure I'd best blog before February is too far gone...<br />
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Frankly I am surprised at myself for even thinking of blogging--especially around this time! For those of you who don't know, I work at H&R Block during tax season (which is right now, for those of you who are completely out of it haha). AND, this is their BUSIEST two weeks out of the entire year!! However, when I need to blog, I blog. So here I am :)<br />
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I have nothing amazing to say--nothing spectacular or off record incredible. But life is like that. I am trying to be realistic here. Perhaps you were expecting some of my new year's resolutions. I could put some down, sure. But I was just thinking (uh oh) what are these things called "new year's resolutions" or "new year's goals"? For some it's a way to prick themselves into action--get them moving. For others it's just "what you do" and they write out their list, only to lose it within their next pile of junk. But really, why goals--and for many, only at the beginning of each year?<br />
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I have a couple questions on this subject. Number one, if goals are so awesome and amazing, how come we wait an entire year to make a list of them!? I am speaking generally here of course (I know you list freaks are out there---don't try to deny it!). And my second questions is, why even MAKE goals. I see where this is going, and it's the nature of man. Again. But that's ok--it's a subject I would do well to dwell on!<br />
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We make goals because we want something more than what we have. Most of our natures desire something BETTER than what we have: a better lifestyle, body, health--you name it! And yet that same nature fights against this desire, making us creatures of the moment, ease, and convenience, rather than FIGHTING our flesh. We make goals for several reason, I grant you, but I contend that the main reason most people make goals is to make themselves feel better about themselves.<br />
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The thing is, we want everything INSTANTLY! Patience is definitely out of style. So making goals is easy--sitting there and making a lovely list on lovely paper in stylish hand writing. But for most of us, when it really comes down to business, we turn to the "easy" little things that give us satisfaction in the moment, but at the end of the day only make us feel sick with how much time we wasted.<br />
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I am definitely not trying to bash new year's resolutions or say that no one should ever do them etc etc. But it seems to me that new year's goals have become not only fashionable, but fanciful. Goals are amazing and everyone should have them, but how about you make some NOW. If you didn't make some on New Year's Eve, and think inspiring thoughts while you watched the ball drop, who cares? What matters is to honor God in this life with EVERYTHING we do--and goals can definitely be one of them :)<br />
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I know this was sort of random--I just wrote it on the spot. Thanks for riding through it with me, and as always, I hope I caused some thoughts to go through your head. I love thinking, and I love getting others to think as well.<br />
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Sooo HAPPY THINKING! :)Katiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11648127995043442556noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7630483974260846423.post-33754384961753858872010-12-28T23:20:00.001-05:002010-12-28T23:20:33.847-05:00<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><span><span style="font-size: 26pt;">What do women want?</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><span>Dennis Prager finishes 2-part column on greatest desires of each gender</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><span>Posted: December 28, 2010</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><span>1:00 am Eastern</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><span><a href="http://www.worldnetdaily.com/index.php?pageId=244705" style="color: #0000cc;" target="_blank">http://www.worldnetdaily.com/<wbr></wbr>index.php?pageId=244705</a></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><span>Monday, December 27, 2010</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><span>By Dennis Prager</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><span>In my previous column, I offered an answer to the question: What do men want?</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><span>I made the case that what men most want from the woman they love is to be admired.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><span>If my answer is correct, and if we presume that the natures of men and women are complementary (a presumption many men and women understandably doubt given how often men and women do not get along), what women most want must be related to that which men most want.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><span>I believe it is.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><span>What a woman most wants is to be loved by a man she admires.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><span>I am well aware that to say this today is akin to announcing that the sun revolves around the Earth. For half a century, we have been told that what women most want is professional success and equality. And to the extent that a modern "liberated" woman does admit to wanting a man to love, she will say that she wants a "partner" who is her "equal." And girls and women have been told – or, more accurately, have had drummed into them – that equality means that both sexes are essentially the same (except for the physical differences) and therefore want the same things. Equality and sameness have been rendered synonymous. That is why she cannot say – and ideally wouldn't even admit to herself – that she wants a man to admire; that would be "sexist," as it would imply an unequal relationship.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><span>The notion that a woman most wants a man, admirable or not, has been scoffed at. This was encapsulated by the famous feminist slogan "A woman without a man is like a fish without a bicycle." Even feminism that did not agree with the fish-bicycle metaphor communicated to young women that an "authentic" woman would not have as her greatest desire to bond with a man.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><span>Today, feminism holds less appeal for young women than it did for the previous generation, but "equality" remains the liberal god of the day. That renders my theory – that a woman wants to be cherished by a man she admires – politically incorrect in the extreme.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><span>It is problematic enough to say that a woman most wants a man. But that pales compared to the claim that she most wants a man whom she admires. That seems to affirm gender inequality. The image it conjures up is of a woman looking up to her man as if he were some sort of lord and she his serf.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><span>Yet, any woman who believes that she is married to an admirable man would laugh at such a dismissal. Admiring one's husband doesn't render a woman a serf. It renders her fortunate.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><span>The truth is that almost nothing – including job success – elevates a woman in her own eyes as much as being loved by a husband whom she admires. That is why when married women get together, they don't talk about their jobs nearly as much as men do. They talk, among other things, about their man if they are proud of him, and complain about him if they are not. Even most feminists are happiest when married to a man they admire.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><span>And what is it that women most admire in a man? From decades of talking to women on the radio and, of course, from simply living life, I have concluded that an admirable man is one who has three qualities: strength, integrity and ambition.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><span>All three are needed. Strength without integrity is machismo. Integrity without strength or without ambition is a milquetoast. And ambition without integrity is a successful crook.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><span>(Column continues below)</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><span>Women are drawn to strong men. Though many men, when asked the secret to their long marriage, answer, "I learned to always say, 'Yes, Dear,'" the truth is that most women are not attracted to "Yes, Dear" men who always give in to a woman's whim. They are attracted to a man who exhibits strength in the outer world and at home as husband and father.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><span>But that strength must come with integrity. If it doesn't, he is a strong bad man. And while more than a few women fall for bad men (precisely because of the power of masculine strength to attract women), most women do not want such a man over the long run.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><span>And ambition does not mean that he is necessarily rich, but that he is a hard worker who wants to improve himself; plenty of men who earn relatively little are admired and loved by their wives. That is why a major "turn-off" to most women is a husband who sits and watches television all night (let alone all day).</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><span>The beauty of all this is that it all comes together for men, for women and for society.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><span>Women get what they want most: to be married to and loved by a man they admire. Men then attain what they want most: to be admired by the woman they love. And society gets the thing it most needs: admirable men.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><span>Unfortunately, none of this is taught at college.</span></div>Katiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11648127995043442556noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7630483974260846423.post-91822159997026592792010-12-27T21:44:00.000-05:002010-12-27T21:44:40.300-05:00I Want to Believe This!!! :)<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><span><span style="font-size: 18pt;">Chocolate better cure for common cold than echinacea</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><span><span> </span>* From: NewsCore</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><span><span> </span>* December 22, 2010 12:35AM</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><span><a href="http://www.news.com.au/breaking-news/chocolate-better-cure-for-common-cold-than-echinacea/story-e6frfku0-1225974729266" style="color: #0000cc;" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">http://www.news.com.au/<wbr></wbr>breaking-news/chocolate-<wbr></wbr>better-cure-for-common-cold-<wbr></wbr>than-echinacea/story-e6frfku0-<wbr></wbr>1225974729266</span></a></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><span>PEOPLE who buy echinacea to stave off a common cold are wasting their money and should buy chocolate instead, two separate scientific studies have claimed.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><span>Echinacea, which is believed to minimise the impact of a common cold, was studied by scientists at the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Medicine and Public Health.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><span>They found the over-the-counter herbal treatment only slightly delayed cold symptoms</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><span>In tests of 719 people, aged between 12 and 80, volunteers were randomly given either no pill, a pill they knew contained echinacea, or a pill that could have been echinacea or a placebo.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><span>Those who received echinacea saw the duration of their cold reduced by seven to 10 hours.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><span>"Trends were in the direction of benefit, amounting to an average half-day reduction in the duration of a weeklong cold or an approximate 10 percent reduction in overall severity," said Bruce Barrett, the lead researcher, writing in the Annals of Internal Medicine.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><span>"However, this dose regimen did not make a large impact on the course of the common cold, compared either to blinded placebo or to no pills," he concluded.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><span>In the UK, scientists at a British-based drugs company called SEEK, working with experts at Hull Cough Clinic, said that a naturally-occurring substance in cocoa - theobromine - has been shown to prevent the key features of a persistent cough.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><span>Seek was developing a medication based on theobromine, which is found in significant quantities in cocoa-based products and which it says "has been shown to inhibit the inappropriate firing of the vagus nerve, which is a key feature of persistent cough.”</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><span>Professor Alyn Morice from the clinic, said, "Due to the drawbacks of current opioid drugs such as codeine, we are in desperate need of a non-opioid treatment with a drastically improved side effect profile for patients."</span></div>Katiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11648127995043442556noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7630483974260846423.post-18826561264616120162010-12-20T22:52:00.001-05:002010-12-20T22:52:48.019-05:00<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><span><span style="font-size: 20pt;">Austria: Judge Rules That Yodeling Offends Muslims</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><span>Tevet 8, 5771, 15 December 10 05:12</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><span>by Elad Benari</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><span><a href="http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/141152" style="color: #0000cc;" target="_blank">http://www.israelnationalnews.<wbr></wbr>com/News/News.aspx/141152</a></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><span>(Israelnationalnews.com) It seems as though in Austria, the popular yodel is an insult to Muslims.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><span>An Austrian court has recently fined a citizen for yodeling while mowing his lawn, according to a report in The Kronen Zeitung newspaper.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><span>The citizen, 63-year-old Helmut G., was told by the court that his yodeling offended his next-door Muslim neighbors, who accused him of trying to mock and imitate the call of the Muezzin.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><span>In Muslim tradition, the Muezzin is the chosen person at a mosque who leads the call to prayer at Friday services and the five daily times for prayer from one of the mosque's minarets.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><span>The yodel is a song which is sung with an extended note which rapidly and repeatedly changes in pitch and makes a high-low-high-low sound. Developed in the Central Alps as a method of communication between alpine mountaineers or between alpine villages, the yodel later became part of the region's traditional lore and musical expression. The technique is used in many cultures throughout the world and Austria is one of the countries where it is most popular.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><span>Unfortunately for Helmut G., his neighbors were in the middle of a prayer when he started to yodel. The Kronen Zeitung reported that he was fined 800 Euros after judges ruled that he could have tried to offend his neighbors and ridicule their belief.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><span>Helmut G. clarified that “It was not my intention to imitate or insult them. I simply started to yodel a few tunes because I was in such a good mood.”</span></div>Katiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11648127995043442556noreply@blogger.com2