An Inconvenient Debt

US Economy: The Philosopher's Stone

Hingsight is 20/20, Ron Paul should have been elected President.

This is the best Ron Paul, Peter Schiff video I have seen yet.

A New Use For Soda Pop

Really makes me want to go out and chug a big gulp. Not!

Spying on Pacifists, Environmentalists and Nuns...

Read this LA Times Article

Then chew on this from Court Justice Douglas back in the 70's:


"This case involves a cancer in our body politic. It is a measure of the disease which aflicts us. Army surveillance, like Army regimentation, is at war with the principles of the First Amendment. Those who already walk submissively will say there is no cause for alarm. But submissiveness is not our heritage. The First Amendment was designed to allow rebellion to remain as our heritage. The Constitution was designed to keep government off the backs of the people. The Bill of Rights was added to keep the precincts of belief and expression, of the press, of political and social activities free from surveillance. The Bill of Rights was designed to keep agents of government and official eavesdroppers away from assemblies of people. The aim was to allow men to be free and independent and to assert their rights against government. There can be no influence more paralyzing of that objective than Army surveillance. When an intelligence officer looks over every nonconformist's shoulder in the library, or walks invisibly by his side in a picket line, or infiltrates his club, the America once extolled as the voice of liberty heard around the world no longer is cast in the image which Jefferson and Madison designed, but more in the Russian image..."Laird v. Tatum, 408 U.S. 1, 28, 92 S.Ct. 2318, 2333 (1972)(Dissent by Douglas).

A Wake-up Call Over The Anti-Christian Agenda of Public Education

From WorldNetDaily.com

The young man reported on in the above article from WorldNetDaily.com took his own life after receiving pressure from his peers and allegedly a Professor over his Christian beliefs. His Professor challenged him to read Dawkin's book "The God Delusion".

Several of his loved ones mentioned the fact that he liked to debate the issues. While I like debating probably more than the next person, it is not something that should be jumped into lightly. Atheists and non-Christians can get very nasty with their name calling in defending their philosophies of life.

Being a homeschooling mom I take these stories very seriously. But I do hope and pray that this was a rare, isolated occurrence. Although my skeptical head tells me it's not. It may just be that young influential teens don't always take these extreme measures when confronted with similar situations that question their beliefs.

Homeschooling only goes so far though. I can teach them strong values all the way through High School if my husband and I choose to. But once they reach college they may be suddenly exposed to similar discussions in classrooms and with peers at a young and vulnerable age when peer pressure can be overwhelming. I pray that I can establish the roots in my own children today to give them the strength in their faith they will need in a world of tomorrow. This world of tomorrow will no doubt be farther away from the morals of God than we faced in our school years. All the more reason for Christians to be in the world but not of the world.

I hope the anti-Christian agenda of today will start to be seen for what it is, anti, not neutral. Schools should not lean one way or the other. Yet everything they are teaching leans more towards atheism rather than neutrality and equality.

At the same time, our fight in the public school system should not necessarily be one of a pro-Christian agenda, which is arguably unconstitutional, but rather an equal rights agenda. We are not much better than Islamic extremists or the State Church that drove the pilgrims to seek an existence separate from their oppressive views. These establishments said, "My way or the highway". If we try to force our agenda on others they will fight back with their own agenda equally as persistently. By seeking equal rights for all, as our founding fathers intended, we may have a better chance to change things one person at a time.

Obama's Reason for Fighting Overseas Wars

This was taken directly from Obama's website, no not change.gov that has been virtually wiped clean of any hint of the once specific agenda of the Obama administration. This was taken from his campaign site BarackObama.com under the Issue of Defense. Why oh why doesn't this surprise me? I imagine it too will be taken down soon, once thinking people get sight of it. I have read and re-read this because I thought surely they wouldn't put something like this on their website. Maybe I misread it or misunderstood what they were trying to say. Please tell me I'm wrong! Taken directly from his site, see if you can catch it:

• "Preserve Global Reach in the Air: We must preserve our unparalleled airpower capabilities to deter and defeat any conventional competitors, swiftly respond to crises across the globe, and support our ground forces. We need greater investment in advanced technology ranging from the revolutionary, like Unmanned Aerial Vehicles and electronic warfare capabilities, to essential systems like the C-17 cargo and KC-X air refueling aircraft, which provide the backbone of our ability to extend global power. "

Well folks if you didn't see it, read the last line of the paragraph again and then go to his website to verify it. We are fighting wars globally in order to "extend global power." The only thing I can't figure out yet is: Are we more like Ancient Rome or Nazi Germany?

A Not So Rigid Schedule

For some reason wherever I go on the internet in regards to homeschooling, parents always ask "What is your schedule?" So here is a quick rundown of the daily schedule for our First Grader. My 4 yo DD is doing PK which I intermix with helping my first grade DD. Our schedule is by no means set in stone. My daughter chooses pretty much what order she wants to do each subject. I'm not including times because of the great variences. I quickly found out that it just frustrates me too much when we are off of schedule from interruptions or things taking longer than scheduled. But this is a rough idea of how it usually ends up going. School is completed shortly after lunch and the rest of the afternoon is spent playing outside, chores and getting ready for dinner.

--Monday--

* AM Chores/Breakfast
* Math (CIMT-MEP Year 2)(Daily)
* Literature Reading (Currently she's reading a chapter a day of "Poor Mrs. Quack by Thornton Burgess)
* Language Arts-
Word Mastery (Mon/Wed/Fri)
Journal Entry (Daily)
Copywork (Daily)
* Poetry - A Child's Garden of Verses by Robert Louis Stevenson
* History - Stories of Great Americans for Little Americans (Often includes extra worksheets/mini books/lapbooks to supplement)
*Bible - Leading Little Ones to God
Scripture Memory
*Personal Development - Laying Down Rails: Charlotte Mason Habits Handbook


--Tuesday--

* AM Chores/Breakfast
* Math (CIMT-MEP Year 2)(Daily)
* Literature Reading (Currently she's reading a chapter a day of "Poor Mrs. Quack by Thornton Burgess)
* Language Arts-
McGuffey's 2nd Reader (Tues/Thurs)
Journal Entry (Daily)
Copywork (Daily)
* Picture Study - Just finished 6 weeks of John James Audubon, now we started Monet
* Science - Exploring God's Creation With Astronomy
Astronomy Notebook
*Bible - Leading Little Ones to God
Scripture Memory


--Wednesday--

* AM Chores/Breakfast
* Math (CIMT-MEP Year 2)(Daily)
* Literature Reading (Currently she's reading a chapter a day of "Poor Mrs. Quack by Thornton Burgess)
* Language Arts-
Word Mastery (Mon/Wed/Fri)
Journal Entry (Daily)
Copywork (Daily)
* Nature Study
* History - Stories of American Life and Adventure (Often includes extra worksheets/mini books/lapbooks to supplement)
*Bible - Leading Little Ones to God
Scripture Memory
*Handicraft/Life Skills


--Thursday--

* AM Chores/Breakfast
* Math (CIMT-MEP Year 2)(Daily)
* Literature Reading (Currently she's reading a chapter a day of "Poor Mrs. Quack by Thornton Burgess)
* Language Arts-
McGuffey's 2nd Reader (Tues/Thurs)
Journal Entry (Daily)
Copywork (Daily)
* Music Study - Just finished 6 week study of Bach, Now on to Mozart
* Science - Exploring God's Creation With Astronomy
Astronomy Notebook
*Bible - Leading Little Ones to God
Scripture Memory


--Friday--

* AM Chores/Breakfast
* Math (CIMT-MEP Year 2)(Daily)
* Literature Reading (Currently she's reading a chapter a day of "Poor Mrs. Quack by Thornton Burgess)
* Language Arts-
Word Mastery (Mon/Wed/Fri)
Journal Entry (Daily)
Copywork (Daily)
* Drawing - Draw Write Now and other books/internet resources
* Social Studies/Geography - Seven Little Sisters Who Lived on the Round Ball that Floats in the Air (Often includes extra worksheets/mini books/lapbooks to supplement)
*Bible - Leading Little Ones to God
Scripture Memory
*Handicraft/Life Skills


We homeschool year round but do cut back during the summer, mainly focusing on the basics and utilizing more lapbooks and unit studies.


Our curriculum and schedule comes mainly from a mix of 2 sites:

Old Fashioned Education and Simply Charlotte Mason

Summer Days

Celebrating Holidays

My friend Carol posed the question on her blog about what others think of how Christians should celebrate holidays such as Halloween, Easter, Christmas, etc. I thank her because it got me thinking and I am usually better at expressing things on "paper" rather than talking. So this gives me a good opportunity to express my thoughts and be prepared when someone asks why I do what I do.

There is a lot out there as far as evil is concerned on Halloween. My kids look at me when they see something halloween related that is "scary" because they know it's bad and are looking for my reaction to it. I ask them what they think of it, whether it be a blood dripping vampire costume at walmart or a witch, etc. and they say it's not good because God doesn't like it. I take those opportunities to praise them for recognizing that and remind them that there are things in this world that many people will say is ok but that it doesn't make it ok with God and we shouldn't accept it just because everyone else is. I think it is an important lesson for our children in the future because this world is only getting worse. Evil will most likely invade their world in the future even more than it does today until God has had enough and comes back. I want God to say to them "Well done good and faithful servant" because they have stood as a testimony to the world that they will not participate in something just because everyone else is, thereby telling their friends that what they are doing is OK. It provides for a good opportunity to share their faith in Christ when their friends and family ask about it. In the spirit of seeking peace and goodness during Halloween I do like alternative costume, fall parties etc. without the gory stuff and NOT on Oct. 31st so they see that Christians can still have fun and not be the party poopers, yet still glorify God.

As far as Easter and Christmas goes, they are understood today as "Christian" holidays. It is the world that is trying to distract us from our purpose for the holiday in today's society. Long ago the origins of Christmas and Easter were pagan celebrations. History in this case though is irrelevant to many because it was so long ago its origins are not widely known. It is widely known to be Christian in modern society, however. My children know we celebrate those holidays giving glory to God/Jesus and do not include such fantasies as the easter bunny or santa clause to divert their attention from the true meaning we are trying to convey to God, praising him and thanking him.

Yea, you read that right: my kids do not believe in Santa Clause, the Easter bunny, tooth fairy, or other fantasy characters our society likes our children to believe in. We have pleanty of fun and my children are not "deprived" for lacking Santa in their lives.

As a Christian I would be a liar if I expected my kids to believe in Santa. Many people have lost their faith because as children when they found out there was no Santa, tooth fairy, easter bunny etc. they correlated that to there must be no God either. "My parents lied about it all." is what one person told me "Why should I believe there is a God either?" Fortunately, God gave me that opportunity to share my faith with him! My family probably thinks I am a killjoy but when my children's salvation is on the line, I don't mess around.

What do you think?

Pumpkin Chili

This recipe sounds interesting, I'm willing to try it. It may be just the recipe I need to get me into the "feel of fall". I'll post my results later but here is the recipe:

2 lbs. ground beef
1 onion, chopped
1 green bell pepper chopped
2 cans kidney beans (I'm going to use black beans instead I think)
1 can tomato juice (46 oz.)
1 28 oz. can diced tomatoes
1 can pumpkin puree
pumpkin pie spice
chili powder(I think I will use cumin instead)
1/4 c. sugar (I'm not sure if I'll use this ingredient or maybe try a sample with a small amount of molasses instead first...)

simmer for 1 hour and serve.

A Look Into the Future...With Obama as President

A Bit over the top, but in a crazy way it is funny and scary at the same time.

Letter to Senator

Here is the letter I sent to my senator who voted Yes in the Stabilization Bill:

Dear Senator Kyl,

Thank you for your response to a previous email urging you to vote no. Please consider these points as to why the "stabilization" bill is a bad idea:

1. Creates lack of confidence in banks, markets, and the currency.
2. Government control of capital is govt. control of capitalism. Capitalism would have punished those who did wrong. Who is the government to bend capitalism to do your bidding?
3. Why would companies with debt worth anything want to participate in this?
4. It did not repeal the Community Reinvestment Act
5. Gives the Treasury TOO much power. Since we do not elect the Treasurer this is a very bad idea!
6. Brings us closer to hyperinflation by raising the debt to 70%-85% of our GDP, printing more money, and the reluctance of congress to deal with the problem. Instead you continue to make it worse by spending more money with a bottomless bank account, as proof by the shameless pork added to the bill and most other bills.
7. We will be stuck with the bill via inflation
8. It is unconstitutional for this bill to originate in the senate because of the added new taxes and a suit should be filed against all senators who voted yes on this bill by violating their oath of office.
I hope the "do nothing congress", turned "do something congress" will become the "do the right thing" 111th congress.

Sincerely,
Cydnie
Arizona

Banks don't have to back your account with cash...at all

The Financial Services Regulatory Relief Act was passed in 2006. I'm not sure what prompted such a bill and the fact that it is law is just scary. What is worse is that hidden in the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 are ammendments to this bill that give Banks the right to carry 0%-3% of deposits in available cash effective October 1, 2008. That means the changes eliminated the requirement for banks to keep reserves of cash on hand to cover deposits. So if you go into a bank and want your money they can tell you "Sorry, we're out of cash for the day." and it is perfectly legal. Take a look if you don't believe me:

Financial Services Regulatory Relief Act of 2006, Section 202, 203: http://www.govtrack.us/congress/billtext.xpd?bill=s109-2856

Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008, Section 128 :
http://money.cnn.com/2008/10/01/news/pdf/index.htm

Here is the Original Code:
http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/pdf/uscode12/lii_usc_TI_12_CH_3_SC_XIV_SE_461.pdf

The Financial Services Regulatory Relief Act of 2006 made changes to the United States Code TITLE 12 - BANKS AND BANKING, CHAPTER 3 - FEDERAL RESERVE SYSTEM, SUBCHAPTER XIV - BANK RESERVES.

These changes weren't set to take place until October 1, 2011 but the bailout bill has ammended that date to October 1, 2008. Yea, yesterday.

Hazelnut Coffee Soap

I made some more soap and I just love the way this soap smells! Hazelnut coffee...yummy! My soap room smells great from this soap. I can't wait to use it! My friend Carol took some great pictures for me of the bar I gave her. Cudos to Carol H.! She is such a sweet lady and takes great pics. This one I made with cream, olive oil, shea butter, coconut oil, safflower oil, castor oil, hazelnut coffee and fragrance oil.

Hyperinflation

It seems as if our government is following the manual "Causing Hyperinflation for Dummies" that requires huge government debt, printing money, and an immobilizing fear of repercussions to government actions (no one wants to get blamed and no one wants to cause a recession/depression). All these actions are a path the US government is clearly following.

Here is a summary of an article from Economicshelp.org:

So What is hyperinflation? It is very basically unchecked out of control inflation.

Examples:

Germany, 1922-1923 -- During the hyperinflation episode in Germany from 1922 to 1923, the Weimar Republic printed postage stamps with a face value of one billion marks, as prices doubled every two days. At one point in 1923, the exchange rate equalled one trillion Marks to one dollar

Yugoslavia 1993-1995 -- prices increased by 5 quadrillion per cent


What Causes Hyper Inflation?

Usually, countries with hyper inflation have the following features:

-Large government debt, usually over 100% of GDP. (Henry Paulson, by the way, is asking for an increase in the legal ceiling on federal debt to $11.3 trillion or 70% of GDP.)

-Printing Money. To cope with meeting the debt, the government starts printing money. This decreases the value of existing money creating a multiplier effect where people lose confidence in money and keep demanding wage increases.

-Reluctance / inability to deal with it. When Germany experienced hyperinflation in the 1920s it was not a phenomena they fully appreciated or understood. Their primary fear at the time was unemployment. They feared that unemployment could precipitate a Communist Revolution so they didn't want to do anything to reduce demand and possibly cause a recession.

Lack of Confidence in the Finance Sector

The experience of inflation can become engraved on people's mind making them suspicious of financers, bankers and the general economic system. It is no coincidence the Nazi party were able to feed off these suspicions to introduce extremist policies.

I write about this because it will have a great impact on our way of life as Americans. It will impact your ability to borrow money, to purchase anything due to higher cost of goods, etc. That means be prepared now with tangible goods. Gold will not feed you. Silver will not feed you. Just like having an emergency kit for a natural disaster, have an emergency stock for an economic emergency. If the fool says it could never happen then Murphy's Law says it will happen! Those who laugh now will laugh last when it happens I think. Katrina could never happen, 9/11 could never happen and they have. I'm just sayin'-ya' know?! :)

Here is the link to the above summary of an informative article describing hyperinflation in greater detail:

http://www.economicshelp.org/2008/04/hyperinflation-causes-costs-and.html

Auto Industry Bailout and Deliberate Degradation of US Dollar

Auto Industry Bailout and Deliberate Degradation of US Dollar

$25 billion this year alone, to the Auto Industry? Not exactly big news compared to $700 Billion but it is being passed through congress. But the effects of passing such a bailout is already snowballing.

For some reason the government sees it of benefit to "tank" the dollar. Everytime the FDIC is allowed to back these loans and bailouts, it ultimately comes from the US Treasury which we the taxpayers are footing the bill for. While we may not receive a new tax bill in the mail, we will see it in inflated prices for everything due to excess of currency in print.

Using the current crisis atmosphere to quickly push through this bailout is reminiscent of the Patriot Act, the most wide-spread threat of civil liberty in US history.

I wouldn't be surprised based on articles from the Council on Foreign Relations and elsewhere if this opportunity isn't used down the road to consolidate currency in some form with either North American countries or even other industrialized nations.

Obviously, their argument would involve fear tactics and an appeal to strengthen currency confidence. In reality this is their plan for consolidating wealth and furthering their plans for a "New World Order". This would result in the dissolving of the sovereignty of the United States and the Constitution. It may not happen right away but maybe next year we should know if the atmosphere is set for it. It is bad but not bad enough, yet.

I am just livid about this. Please feel free to add your comments.

How to Relieve Your Environmental Impact Burden Forever

Did you know the Academy Awards gave all presenters and performers 100,000 pounds of carbon emission offsets? Did you also know the money was sqandered on such companies as Waste Management, a 3 billion dollar company? Is lining the pockets of these corporations your idea of paying for your contribution to the demise of the planet? Really!

Is this the answer to stop global warming? Besides the the obvious fact that greedy corporations have found yet a new way for you to transfer your money to their accounts, is it really effective?

Then it hit me. It can be done, in a much simpler way and you can help! You have a great opportunity to part with your hard earned money and offset your impact to your city by adopting an off the grid family. Yes, you can relieve yourself of your burden of cash and guilt by donating your money to a family that is living the way you wish you could live.
For the price of a taco, you can making a great contibution right here in the United States for the good of the planet .

For about a dollar a day, you can enable families who don't have access to grid power to purchase solar panels, wind generators, solar water heaters, carbon-eating trees and more.

And, in response to your generous contribution a plot of garden space will be reserved in your name. This includes a custom paver stone engraved with your name, becoming a permanent fixture in their organic, carbon gobbling garden.

So join us at Myvicariousoffthegridfamily.com and adopt a family today. You will offset 50% of your environmental impact for just a dollar a day...that's $30 a month. To fully offset your impact each month requires only an additional $25 per month. For the greater good, give today.
To see an example of a family you could sponsor please visit http://myspace.com/prairiemae


(P.S. The above is a total satire, there is no myvicariousoffthegridfamily.com website offering this service, LOL.)

2nd Official Year of Homeschooling

My oldest daughter is 6 and has just started her first grade year of homeschooling. We have chosen to use a classic literature/Charlotte Mason approach for the past 2 years.

There are a couple of wonderful websites for Free Homeschooling Curriculum that I wanted to share with you:

http://oldfashionededucation.com
http://simplycharlottemason.com
http://amblesideonline.org

These websites have been a God send to me. Not only are they free online curriculums for grades k-12 but they are of excellent quality.