I’m sure you have all heard about SOPA, PIPA and SB 1867 by now. And I hope all of you are outraged about them. Some of the biggest names on the internet are so incensed over these proposed laws that they are either shutting down for 24hours or protesting in some major way. The sites shutting down and/or protesting include Google, Reddit, Facebook, Twitter, Mozilla and Wikipedia.  Although GoDaddy has since softened their stance, they initially supported SOPA wholeheartedly — that was until people started taking their business elsewhere. They lost over 37,000 domains during Move Your Domain Day. Yet another reason I hate GoDaddy.

The Constitution of these United States and The Bill of Rights gives us personal freedoms that are ours by birthright and law. However, our current government wants to regulate every thing we do — even in the privacy of our own homes.

Big Brother, much?

In an effort to curtail internet piracy, strengthen intellectual property laws — who are they kidding? These proposed laws have nothing to do with keeping anyone — or anything — safe, save for the wallets of Hollywood Big-Wigs and corporations. Under the guise of ‘security’ these bills have been introduced into the Senate with the hopes that they will pass and those with all the gold will get to decide what us peons can and cannot do on the internet.

These laws could make it so that bloggers like myself could be arrested, detained, convicted and executed without due process just for speaking out against the government. In fact, that’s just was SB 1867 says; It was quietly passed last month. It also allows bestiality for those in the military, along with repealing ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ — DADT can stay, all the other crap in that bill needs to GO! That’s the first hit to our unalienable rights.

If SOPA and PIPA pass on January 24, 2012, The MPAA and RIAA, along with their allies in Hollyweird, will get a law that will  “give the U.S. government the power to censor the Web using techniques similar to those used by China, Malaysia and Iran”. SOPA would allow the Justice Department to seek an order making allegedly piratical sites essentially vanish from the internet. That’s CENSORSHIP and a blatant attempt to strip all American citizens of their personal freedoms.

This is the email I just recieved from Mozilla, entitled Why is the Internet on strike today?:

Today, Mozilla is joining the virtual strike against Internet censorship – along with others like Wikipedia and Google – to raise awareness of US Congress legislation that could fundamentally alter the Internet we know and love.

This harmful legislation, called the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) in the House and the PROTECT IP Act (PIPA) in the Senate, will be voted on as early as January 24th in the Senate.

If you live in the US, there’s still time to help stop these bills from becoming law. Please visit mozilla.org/sopa for information on the bill, and on ways you can reach out to your senators.

What makes this legislation so bad? Here’s how it would change the Web:

• Communication platforms – from YouTube to Facebook to Amazon – could be shut down if a single rights holder alleges a violation.
• It would make the Web less stable and less secure.
• Social networking sites, like Twitter or Facebook, could be forced to track and control user behavior, stunting innovation and undermining free expression.
• Your Internet provider could be required to inspect all of your traffic and browsing.

Visit mozilla.org/sopa right now for information – and make your voice heard before it’s too late.

Please join today’s strike, and help protect the Internet.

Sincerely,

Jane & Winston
Editors

This is not a Third-World country and we are not living in a dictatorship, police state or under communist rule — yet. So while we still have voices, while we can still stand up for what we believe, DO IT. We may not get another chance.

It’s only six short days until the vote. We must stop this from becoming law.

STOP #SOPA, #PIPA AND REPEAL SB 1867 BEFORE IT’S TOO LATE!!!

Stop SOPA, PIPA And Repeal SB 1867: Save Our Personal Freedoms And Constitutional Rights is a post from: Last Shreds Of Sanity | Blog Designer | California Mom Blog

It’s a crime to be a Christian in Iran. One that is punishable by death if you do not embrace Islam and eschew your true beliefs. Under the Koranic laws (Sharia and Hadith), apostasy, the rejection of Islam, is a Capital Offense. Of course there are other things in sharia that Muslims break every day, but depending on who is interpreting the law, you may or may not be convicted of anything. It’s all very arbitrary. For being an apostate, however, Iranian Pastor Yousef Nadarkhani faces execution for refusing to renounce his Christianity and call Allah his god.

And no one really cares.

He was convicted of apostasy because it was determined that he has Muslim ancestry.

When asked to repent by the judges, Yousef said, “Repent means to return. What should I return to? To the blasphemy that I had before my faith in Christ?” The judges replied , “To the religion of your ancestors, Islam.” To which Nadarkhani replied, “I cannot.”

You can join the fight HERE.

I only learned about this because I saw Michelle Malkin’s post in my feed reader.

I haven’t heard a word about it on CNN (it’s on their site but I have not seen it broadcast) or our local news. No, the big news story is that of Michael Jackson’s doctor’s trial (gag).

From CNN:

Pastor Youcef Nadarkhani, the head of a network of Christian house churches in Iran, could be executed as soon as midnight Wednesday in Tehran for refusing to recant his religious beliefs and convert to Islam, said the chair of a commission that monitors religious freedom around the world.

A statement by the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom, an independent advisory group appointed by the president and Congress, “expressed deep concern” for the man’s fate.

After four days of an appeals trial for apostasy, Nadarkhani refused to recant his beliefs.

Leonard Leo, chair of the commission, said the pastor “is being asked to recant a faith he has always had. Once again, the Iranian regime has demonstrated that it practices hypocritical barbarian practices.”

The commission’s statement also called the trial a sham and said Iran is violating the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which Iran is a party.

Iran violating human rights or international laws? Say it isn’t so!

They also have a double jeopardy statute. SO if you’re found innocent in a main “court”, you can be tried again in the court in your home city/village for the same thing and get convicted there. Basically, you’re screwed.

“I would be disappointed if at the end of this whole maelstrom, there was no statement by our government on this situation,” Leo said. “At some point the United States has to stand up for the right of this pastor and for human rights more broadly and call countries to account for what they are doing.”

The Permanent Mission of the Islamic Republic of Iran in the United Nations failed to comment on the ruling.Jordan Sekulow, executive director of the ACLJ, said the outcry from Christians in America has been loud and sustained.

“American Christian, like never before, are engaged in this,” Sekulow said. “This is evidence that Christians in America over the past decade have done a better job engaging in the persecution issue.”

Sekulow also said he hopes the White House or State Department will issue a statement on the issue.

I’m not seeing anyone tweet about this. And yet this is something we should all be screaming about. Where is Sean Penn? Why hasn’t he taken up this cause du jour? Why hasn’t any celebrity activist or even President Obama mentioned this egregious human rights violation? Oh wait, it’s about Jesus Christ and Christianity. Speaking out against a MUSLIM country’s brutality and religious intolerance goes against that liberal creed of tolerance for everyone.

Evil flourishes when good men do nothing.

~ Edmund Burke

Explain to me how that works again. We have to be tolerant of people who hate us (and make sure we know what horrible infidels we are and how we deserve to die) because we are Christian, white, black, Hispanic, Jewish and/or American but when one of those groups we are supposed to be so tolerant of orders the EXECUTION of a Christian who was born and raised in their country, simply for being Christian we are supposed to ignore it????

I DON’T THINK SO, Muhammad. It ain’t happenin’.

The tyranny of a multitude is a multiplied tyranny.

~ Edmund Burke

Christians are being persecuted all over the world and no one is doing a thing about it. It’s like the Romans throwing Christians to the lions all over again.

But arrest and sentence to death a Muslim just for being Muslim, and prepare to suffer the wrath of righteous indignation, economic sanctions and the vilification of your morals as a society.

Has this world really gotten so far away from God that a death sentence for believing in Him is not something we see as injustice?

So while Iranian president Ahmadinejad spoke to the U.N. General Assembly about how America discriminates against Muslims, practices colonialism, has started every war since time began and orchestrated 9/11, his puppet masters were sealing the fate of one of their citizens, Pastor Yousef Nadarkhani, because he is a CHRISTIAN.

In 2010, the Iranian regime carried out 546 executions, more than at any other time during the preceding decade, and representing an increase of around 25 per cent on the previous year. Increasingly, execution is becoming Tehran’s favored method for dealing with anyone it deems an opponent — like Pastor Yousef Nadarkhani, an Iranian pastor who has refused to recant his Christian faith.

Pastor Nadarkhani’s case is another grim illustration of the volatile situation faced by religious minorities living under Iran’s Islamist clerics. Even though the state formally recognizes the existence of Christians, Jews and Zoroastrians, these minorities are under no illusions about their subordinate status.

Since 2009, when Mahmoud Ahmadinejad stole Iran’s election to claim a further term as the country’s president, the crime of “moharebeh” — waging war against God — has frequently been invoked against those who question the Islamic legal codes which underpin the state.

But we’re supposed to be tolerant of all other faiths, even those who want Christians and Jews wiped from the face of the Earth. Because, as Christians, if we are not tolerant, we are bigots.

No, we are standing up for ourselves. We are speaking out against injustice.

We are standing up for what is right. We are being the voice of the silenced.

It is our job as human beings, citizens of the world and Christians to fight against this kind of brutality and intolerance.

These are people who advocate female circumcision, death by stoning and honor killings. None of those things is moral or legal by real world standards.

Whenever a separation is made between liberty and justice, neither, in my opinion, is safe.

~ Edmund Burke

Just as I was bout to publish, I saw that The White House released a statement on this, but it’s NOT from President Obama:

From press secretary Jay Carney:

The United States condemns the conviction of Pastor Youcef Nadarkhani. Pastor Nadarkhani has done nothing more than maintain his devout faith, which is a universal right for all people.

That the Iranian authorities would try to force him to renounce that faith violates the religious values they claim to defend, crosses all bounds of decency, and breaches Iran’s own international obligations.

A decision to impose the death penalty would further demonstrate the Iranian authorities’ utter disregard for religious freedom, and highlight Iran’s continuing violation of the universal rights of its citizens.

We call upon the Iranian authorities to release Pastor Nadarkhani, and demonstrate a commitment to basic, universal human rights, including freedom of religion.

From Speaker of the House John Boehner:

Religious freedom is a universal human right.

The reports that Pastor Yousef Nadarkhani will be sentenced to death by the Iranian government unless he disavows his Christian faith are distressing for people of every country and creed.

While Iran’s government claims to promote tolerance, it continues to imprison many of its people because of their faith. This goes beyond the law to an issue of fundamental respect for human dignity.

I urge Iran’s leaders to abandon this dark path, spare Yousef Nadarkhani’s life, and grant him a full and unconditional release.

We all must stand up for this man. You can join the fight HERE.

Iranian Christian Pastor Faces Execution For Not Embracing Islam is a post from: Last Shreds Of Sanity | Blog Designer | California Mom Blog

I remember the 2008 Presidential campaign. I remember waiting for Obama to actually enumerate what it was he was planning on changing. His slogan was “Change you can believe in”, yet he never did truly say what changes he was planning on making. All I ever heard was more of the same  tired Democratic rhetoric…big government, more taxes, more spending, elitist attitudes, etcetera, etcetera, ad nauseam. I do remember him talking about governmental transparency non-stop. I heard him say how everything was going to be above board and there would be no closed door deals made. Everything was supposed to be broadcast on C-Span. Additionally, we were also supposed to be able to access this information via the Internet.

Uh, OK. None of what he promised about “transparent government”, being FOR the people and letting the rule of law reign has come to pass.

I call that a bait and switch.

Were any of the negotiations for the Health Care Reform Bill broadcast?

I predicted this would happen. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.

This morning, my friend Brandy, over at Not So Average Mama, sent me this video. I knew I had to post it.

I give you The Great Reneger….

Obama Is The Great Reformer? Try The Great Reneger! is a post from: Last Shreds Of Sanity | Blog Designer | California Mom Blog

Well at least that’s something I can agree with, no public funding of abortions and no “socialized” or “centralized” health care system. But there are so many things in this bill that I do not agree with, it’s hard to enumerate them. Before all the left wingers go crazy on me, let me say that I do believe that health care reform is desperately needed in this country. Our current system is broken and only rewards the health insurance companies, not the patients or even the doctors. Health insurance and pharmaceuticals are a business, plain and simple. Those companies are not in it to help their customers, they are in it to make money. Anyone who thinks differently is an idiot.

Each month, we pay nearly $800 for health insurance through my Husband’s company. We have an HMO, Pacific Care, which is one of the best plans out there. However, we are still afraid to go to the doctor because of the ever increasing co-pays for office visits and prescriptions. Last month, The Diva was hospitalized with pneumonia and RSV. We were charged $75 for the E.R. visit and another $250 for the eventual hospital admission. This was the same night that we had taken her to the urgent care where she was initially diagnosed with the pneumonia and given several prescriptions that we had filled immediately. That visit cost us nearly $100. Upon her discharge from the hospital three days later, we had a whole new set of prescriptions to have filled. Another $100.

In three days we spent nearly $600 on health insurance co-pays.

That’s almost what we pay per month for the family plan.

It wiped us out completely.

So, yes, I do believe we need reform. I do not think any American citizen should have to decide between rent/mortgage/food/utility bills and getting needed medical care. But it happens. I’ve had to do it myself.

I have a friend who is very sick. She has no medical insurance. She recently went to the E.R. because she needed to see a doctor now and it was her only choice. The bill was $10,000. The hospital graciously gave her a discount of 84% which then left her bill at $1,600. But still, that’s a lot of money. She still needs to pay for the visit to the neurologist she must see in order to get a proper diagnosis. It’s ridiculous. Her husband owns his own business. She works from home online. They are not on welfare. They work. But they still could go bankrupt over medical bills.

This is a problem.

You work. You pay your taxes. You follow the law. You get screwed anyway.

Then Obama comes along, spouting his Bohemian fantasies about “change”.  And we get a health care reform bill with so many holes, backroom deals and greased palms that even the mob couldn’t come up with a plan so evil. Hell, even Billary couldn’t get this passed in the ’90′s. And we all know she/he aren’t exactly pillars of morality, transparency and being above board!

I will never understand why liberals think spending, taxing and big government is the solution to everything. We are in a recession that really should be called what it is…a depression. And don’t be fooled into thinking that this economic fiasco was caused by the republicans, because it wasn’t. The whole sub-prime loan deal was thought up and pushed through by THE DEMOCRATS not the republicans. The bank bailout? Uh, that was the liberals, too.

And did that multi-billion dollar bailout help even one American to not lose their job or home?

Nope.

It lined the pockets of the already rich bank executives whose greed helped to cause the collapse of the housing market.

Which in turn caused people to lose jobs, businesses to go under, etc., etc.  It was a domino effect. And it ain’t over yet, people. There are still another couple of rounds of foreclosures about to hit. We are going down fast and hard and no liberal can see it. Our painfully inexperienced commander-in-chief  thinks that by handing out money from his Obama bucks tree {read: taxpayers pockets}, he can stave off the inevitable. He can’t. Our economy is cyclical. It needs to run its course so it can start to grow again. But liberals always have to try and control everything. They must be “big brother” and have their tentacles in every single part of our lives. Liberals don’t even think we are smart enough to follow the rules on our own. So much so that they want to control one of the most personal and intimate decisions a person will have to make…their own medical care.

Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, says that Medicare isn’t being cut, it’s being improved. Yeah, tell that to my mother who lost her Medicare Part D for no apparent reason. That is the part of Medicare that pays for prescriptions. She was just in the hospital with severe bronchitis, bordering on pneumonia. She cried to me on the phone the other day because she couldn’t afford her prescriptions. Medications that were desperately needed so that she could get better. I am sure that she will have to forgo paying some of her bills this month in order to purchase her medicine. It’s not right.

And the part about the health care reform bill being passed without any public funding for abortions? That’s not exactly true. Obama is supposedly going to sign an Executive Order rescinding any provisions for that. However, an Executive Order DOES NOT supercede law. Ain’t our democratic system of checks and balances great? And if you don’t “buy” one of the “plans” in this bill, you will be fined. Uh, OK. So when we are taxed so much that our paychecks won’t pay our basic necessities because the funds for health care have to come from somewhere, penalties will be lobbed on us that have the potential to make us homeless and destitute. How does that translate into we still have a “choice’ and this bill will make our lives better?

Tell me, please, when your loved one needs a necessary surgery and are put on a waiting list for nine months, will this “reform” still be a good thing? Hey, just ask a British citizen. They can tell you all about waiting in line for medical care and waiting lists for medical procedures. Or ask a Canadian how they don’t have a primary care physician because they have to wait for a yearly lottery or another patient to die or move in order to get a spot. Apparently Canadians also have to carry a private insurance policy because their health system doesn’t cover everything. Centralized health care at it’s finest.

I know our health care system is corrupt and set up to benefit insurance and pharmaceutical companies. I will bet you dollars to doughnuts that there are cures for cancer, AIDS and any number of other deadly diseases locked up in a safe in some pharmaceutical exec’s office waiting for the right time to be released. The “right time” being when they can make the most money off of it. And since they will now not have the potential to make mountains of money from bilking the American citizens, don’t expect those cures to ever see the light of day. I agree that reform is needed. I want this system to be fixed. I don’t think anyone should be without medical care. However, the bill that was just passed is not the right one to fix this problem.

In ten years, do you think we will all be speaking Chinese, Russian, German or Spanish? Maybe we will have to learn them all, just in case. After all, if we are turning into a socialist nation, we might as well go all the way.

Don’t count on anyone’s life expectancy to increase now. Right to die laws being moral or immoral aren’t going to matter anymore. The government will now decide when you are done with your treatments.

Welcome to ObamaCare.

Health Care Reform Bill Passes With No Public Option Or Public Funding For Abortion is a post from: Last Shreds Of Sanity | Blog Designer | California Mom Blog

Tracy and Loma Linda, California are now going to charge residents $300 for every call to 911 with an option to pay $48 for unlimited calls for one year. If you are not a resident of Tracy or Loma Linda,  it will cost you $400 per call. Is this a creative way to make up for a budget shortfall or a recipe for disaster?

From KTLA:

LOMA LINDA — Residents making 911 calls requiring emergency medical services now have a choice — pay $300 per call, or sign up for an annual fee. The Loma Linda Fire Department plans to charge residents $300 for each 911 call, beginning Monday [March 1, 2010], under its new “Fire Medical” program. Residents can also choose to pay a $48 dollar annual membership fee and not be charged for each call. The fee covers each household.

Non-residents will be charged $400 per call or an annual fee of about $60.

No fee will be charged for police or fire emergencies. The cost does not cover any charge from a private ambulance company. The money will go to the fire department, which hopes to offset the costs of providing specialized services to the community. Officials say the fire department responds to more than 3,000 calls each year, about three-fourths of which are for emergency medical services.

I can see it now:

Operator: 911, how would you like to pay for this call? We accept debit, Visa, Mastercard and American Express. I can also give you instructions on how to make a payment through Western Union.

Caller: Help me my baby is turning blue!! He’s not breathing! Help me!!!

Operator: Ma’am, calm down. I will be happy to help you as soon as you make your payment. You are a resident, correct? Non-residents pay a higher fee.

Caller: What??!!! MY BABY IS NOT BREATHING. I NEED AN AMBULANCE NOW. HELP MY BABY!!!

Yeah, that will be wonderful, won’t it? So let me get this straight, Tracy and Loma Linda City Councils, you are going to charge your residents to use emergency services that are supposed to PUBLIC safety, paid for by tax dollars and therefore ALREADY subsidized by your residents?  And this is legal? Uh, huh. So in my state, California, which is already one of the most expensive states to live in and completely broke, two cities want to charge it’s residents for PUBLIC services that have already been bought and paid for by the taxpayers of those cities and the state. Oh and don’t we all pay a 911 surcharge on each and every phone bill???

Tracy City Council member, Michael Maciel, was quoted as saying “How much is your life worth to you?”

Apparently, my life is worth $300, to you, Michael.

Does anyone see a problem with this picture?

Anyone?

Another California city, Ventura, is also adopting a fee for 911 calls. However, their charge is much more reasonable than Tracy or Loma Linda at $1.49 per month, if you sign up for the plan, or $50 per call if you opt out. The city will also waive any fees for Good Samaritans who make emergency calls.

From The L.A. Times:

Strapped for money to hire additional police officers and firefighters, Ventura will soon charge a monthly fee for emergency calls to help pay for services.

Residents in the seaside community will pay $1.49 a month for emergency service access beginning May 1. If they choose to opt out of the plan, they will be charged $50 for each 911 call.

City officials stressed that the action is vital to improving public safety services.

The fee will be levied on about 158,000 residential and business land lines and cellphones in the city.With exemptions for certain low-income residents and pay phones, Ventura hopes to raise at least $2.2 million annually to cover much of the cost of operating its 911 dispatch center. The money will also be used to hire six additional police officers and three firefighters.

Councilman Neal Andrews, who cast the lone vote against the fee this week, said the panel should not have authorized it without a public vote.

“The 911 service is a core part of our public safety program; it’s not something people should have to pay for extra. It’s not optional,” Andrew said.

“The public has a right to expect access to emergency services on demand — when they need it, without encumbrances of any kind.”

Don Facciano, president of the Ventura County Taxpayers Assn., agreed

“Our main point is that it’s a tax,” he said. “So just call it a tax and put it before voters and let it be judged on its own merits.”

Ventura is believed to be the only Southern California city to adopt such a charge. But similar 911 fees are in place in several Northern California communities, including Santa Cruz, San Jose and San Francisco.

Ventura City Atty. Ariel Pierre Calonne said that allowing residents to opt out of paying the monthly fee should protect the new ordinance from lawsuits.

“I think we’ll be successful if challenged,” Calonne said.

A “good Samaritan” exemption in the ordinance will waive the $50 per call charge if someone who opted out contacts 911 to assist someone else. Businesses with multiple phone lines will be charged for three phones per trunk line.

The city of Ventura has this whole 911 fee thing in a much better perspective than either Tracy or Loma Linda. But I have to stress that I do not believe that any “fees” should be charged to anyone needing emergency or public safety assistance. An increase in taxes, maybe, but how much is too much? Don’t our tax dollars, property taxes, sales tax and city taxes pay the salaries and budgets of these publicly funded. public safety agencies? Isn’t it their job “to serve and protect”? Or is the creed only “to serve and protect” those that ante up? Is this a trend that will soon be sweeping the entire country or is it exclusive to cash strapped California?

I did not find any information about “Good Samaritans” being excluded from the per call fee for either Tracy or Loma Linda, CA, so I can only deduce that they are also liable for said fees if they call to report anything. No one will be calling 911 when their elderly neighbor slips on the ice and breaks her hip if they are going to be charged $300. If you go on vacation and your house catches fire, expect to come home to a pile of ashes. I expect the crime rates in both cities to rise as well as apathy towards people in jeopardy. Witnessing a crime in progress will likely not elicit the observer to call 911, but rather to keep moving on. Bank robbers will be having a field day, and a profitable one at that.

In our current economic crisis, where people are still losing their jobs at an alarming rate, no matter what Bohemian fantasies Obama is trying to feed us, how can any city council think that charging its residents for public safety/emergency assistance is a good idea? I don’t have an extra $48 laying around, much less $300. I also expect any tourism these cities have now to dwindle to zero. How is the loss of tourism dollars going to help these cities? I sure as hell am not going to visit any city that will charge me $400 for calling 911, should the need arise. No, I suspect anyone hearing of this new “fee” to avoid these particular locales like they were infested with Ebola, Bubonic Plague and Leprosy.

$300 To Call 911? I Guess The Neighbors Will Be Letting Your House Burn is a post from: Last Shreds Of Sanity | Blog Designer | California Mom Blog

Your lives were not lived in vain.

FT. Hood will always be remembered.
Please say a prayer for all the victims and their families.

**Image credit to Candy at Serendipity Mommy**

In Honor Of Those Lost Today At Ft. Hood is a post from: Last Shreds Of Sanity | Blog Designer | California Mom Blog

Yes, my friends, school children were made to sing songs of praise to Obama! In public school. I am sure these kids did not fully understand what they were singing, but the teacher who was orchestrating it all certainly did. Catch the “Ooh I like that” exclaimed from off camera! This makes me ill. They are treating Obama like he is some sort of saviour. He’s not. He’s just another inept Socialist politician who can talk a good game. Pay close attention to this video.

Do any of you think the parents were informed of exactly what these children would be singing or how the newly anointed POTUS-god was being aggrandized? The second song on this video, when sung with the original lyrics, is usually accompanied by a Confederate Flag. Stupid fucking Liberals, anyone? {Not you Courtney. You know I wuv you, even with your unfortunate political affiliation!} Or is this just another case of “taking it and making it totally Politically Correct a show of their stupidity for all the world to see their own”?

Obama is not a god, people!! He is a half black, half white, inexperienced, completely inept JUNIOR Senator who convinced a group of naïve, starstruck people to vote for him through expert manipulation and celebrity endorsements. How much time did he actually spend as a Senator before running for President? 143 days? Yeah, THAT qualifies him to run the whole damn country. Sure!

All he really is is a cheesy, greasy car salesman who lies to get you to buy his piece of shit vehicle. He has given every man, woman and child in this country a debt of $66,000.00. And this figure is sure to rise as he taxes us little people onto the welfare rolls and out of our jobs and takes our money to give to the big corporations in a desperate attempt to revive a brain dead economy. Yep, he changed things, but not for the better.

AIG and their six figure bonuses and luxury vacations, anyone? Uh huh, I thought so.

I have one thing to say about this: If I ever find out that my daughter has been made to do anything like this in class, there will be such a stink made by me and my Husband, it will make their collective heads spin. We will file lawsuits upon lawsuits. And believe you me, heads will roll. My daughter will not be indoctrinated into this bullshit called Socialism. If the American public lets this happen, it will be the death of everything this country was founded upon and holds dear. We might as well all become members of Al Qaeda and start speaking Chinese.

Then there is this little ditty from last year’s campaign. I saw images of kids singing to the “dear leader” when I first heard this song. It turned my stomach. It still does. And what, exactly, has Obama changed? There is still the same pork barrel spending, catering to special interest groups, greasing palms, political corruption and catering to the rich that there has always been where the Democrats are concerned. Oh, let’s not forget about their need to control every aspect of our lives because we are too stupid to figure it out on our own.

Contrary to popular belief and Party rhetoric, the Dems are not “for the people”. They are for the people that believe as they do, only. All dissenters will be shunned, torn apart by the media then shot in a fully televised public execution, as a deterrent, lest anyone else try to think for themselves.

This is part of the workbook/teaching materials/study guide that went a long with Obama’s speech to the schools:

Socialism Alert!! Can We Say Indoctrination, Class? School Children Made To Sing Songs To The “Dear Leader”. is a post from: Last Shreds Of Sanity | Blog Designer | California Mom Blog

This is a documentary I had not yet seen until a couple of days ago. It is quite amazing. It is visceral, powerful and thought provoking. It brought me right back to the feelings I had on 9/11. It is called The Falling Man. I hope you will watch it, in it’s entirety, and comment on it.

The Falling Man by Tom Junod {Esquire Magazine, September, 2003}:

“Is Jonathan Briley the Falling Man? He might be. But maybe he didn’t jump from the window as a betrayal of love or because he lost hope. Maybe he jumped to fulfill the terms of a miracle. Maybe he jumped to come home to his family. Maybe he didn’t jump at all, because no one can jump into the arms of God.

Oh, no. You have to fall.”

The film is centered around the famous picture of the man who jumped from one of the upper floors of the North Tower that day, rather than burn to death. This was the last thing the victims had control over; how they were going to die. Many made the choice to jump and breathe some fresh air as they plummeted to their deaths. They all knew they were going to die that horrible day, at least they were able to choose their own method.

I wrote about my feelings last year. That post is still valid today, except my feelings have become even stronger. Is it because I am older? A Mother? Or because it has been eight years and there has still been no closure or justice for those that were murdered that day and Bin Laden still trolls a cave somewhere in Afghanistan spewing out his hatred and vitriol against my country and my faith? Or is it because I hear and see all the hatred lobbed at our soldiers and their families for doing only what they signed up for and are directed to do?

I cannot answer that. I only know that I have heard the worry in my friends’ voices as they tell me their husbands or sons or brothers are being sent on another tour of the war zone. Many of them have already done 3 tours. This war is seemingly never ending, but it is necessary in order to keep our world free and safe.

Freedom is never free. I wish the protesters against this war would take a moment to realize that small fact. The reason they are able to protest freely and without fear of death or torture is because of the sacrifices made by our soldiers and their families.

I remember waking up that morning at 6 am to get ready for work, turning on The KTLA Morning News, as I did every day, and seeing these images. At first, I thought it was a clip from some new action flick, so I didn’t really pay much attention. I kept going about my morning, making my breakfast, etc.. When I finally sat down to eat & looked back at the T.V., I was transfixed. I truly could not believe that what I was seeing was real. As the full magnitude of what had just happened permeated my mind, I felt my heart begin to race.

I knew, without hearing any journalist speak the words, that Bin Laden was responsible. He had not accomplished what he set out to do in ’93; this was unfinished business. And, sadly, I also KNEW what this meant for my country

As I was driving to work, I listened as a flabbergasted DJ screamed “The tower just fell!!” I gasped in horror. I was stupefied. How could this happen in America? How many people have now lost their lives just because they went to work today or boarded a scheduled flight? How could NO ONE have had any inkling that this was about to happen? WHY has this happened? Of course the answers to these questions would become clearer in the coming days, but I am still, seven years later, trying to understand why.

The images of that day are burned into my psyche. They still haunt me. The memories of that day & those that followed are still so visceral. I recall everything becoming so eerily still & quiet. All the planes were grounded. Co-workers of Middle Eastern descent, walked around with their heads down & would barely speak to anyone. I scarcely even recollect hearing any birds singing. It’s almost as if they knew that our world, our lives, had been forever & irrevocably changed; that even their sweet songs could not break the deafening, black silence that had overtaken us.

I recall the elation I felt upon hearing someone had been pulled from “The Pile” alive. I also remember the inexplicable sadness when they stopped finding anymore victims. I recall the heartbreaking faces of the husbands, wives, mothers, fathers & children who were searching in vain for their loved ones. Those who were hoping against hope that they would find them alive. I remember. I remember. I will never forget. I cannot.

At that time, my husband was Non-Active Reserve, Air Force. I fearfully waited for a call from the base telling us he had been re-activated. Fortunately for us, that call never came. But many other families just like mine were not so lucky.

In the 7 years since 9/11, I have become a mother. She is now 3 1/2 and one of the great loves of my life. I wonder about what her life would have been like if the attacks had never happened. I also ponder what changes are in store for her growing up in a post 9/11 world. How will her childhood differ from mine & her Daddy’s? Are terrorist & Osama Bin Laden going to be words that she understands before she is 5? What kind of country have these evil acts left for our children to inherit?

This past week-end, My husband & I watched “World Trade Center” & “Flight 93″. For whatever reason, these two films affected me in a very profound way. I sobbed through them both. Lately, I find myself having extremely visceral reactions to anything 9/11 related. Maybe it is because I am a Mom now. Maybe it is because it has been 7 years and they still can’t find Bin Laden. I don’t truly understand it myself. I only know that this event was my generation’s Pearl Harbor, and for us, now, September 11th is our Memorial Day.

I will never forget.

God bless us all. God bless our troops. God bless America.

9/11…I Still Remember. I Cannot Forget… is a post from: Last Shreds Of Sanity | Blog Designer | California Mom Blog

This is a documentary I had not yet seen until a couple of days ago. It is quite amazing. It is visceral, powerful and thought provoking. It brought me right back to the feelings I had on 9/11. It is called The Falling Man. I hope you will watch it, in it’s entirety, and comment on it.

The Falling Man by Tom Junod {Esquire Magazine, September, 2003}:

“Is Jonathan Briley the Falling Man? He might be. But maybe he didn’t jump from the window as a betrayal of love or because he lost hope. Maybe he jumped to fulfill the terms of a miracle. Maybe he jumped to come home to his family. Maybe he didn’t jump at all, because no one can jump into the arms of God.

Oh, no. You have to fall.”

The film is centered around the famous picture of the man who jumped from one of the upper floors of the North Tower that day, rather than burn to death. This was the last thing the victims had control over; how they were going to die. Many made the choice to jump and breathe some fresh air as they plummeted to their deaths. They all knew they were going to die that horrible day, at least they were able to choose their own method.

I wrote about my feelings last year. That post is still valid today, except my feelings have become even stronger. Is it because I am older? A Mother? Or because it has been eight years and there has still been no closure or justice for those that were murdered that day and Bin Laden still trolls a cave somewhere in Afghanistan spewing out his hatred and vitriol against my country and my faith? Or is it because I hear and see all the hatred lobbed at our soldiers and their families for doing only what they signed up for and are directed to do?

I cannot answer that. I only know that I have heard the worry in my friends’ voices as they tell me their husbands or sons or brothers are being sent on another tour of the war zone. Many of them have already done 3 tours. This war is seemingly never ending, but it is necessary in order to keep our world free and safe.

Freedom is never free. I wish the protesters against this war would take a moment to realize that small fact. The reason they are able to protest freely and without fear of death or torture is because of the sacrifices made by our soldiers and their families.

I remember waking up that morning at 6 am to get ready for work, turning on The KTLA Morning News, as I did every day, and seeing these images. At first, I thought it was a clip from some new action flick, so I didn’t really pay much attention. I kept going about my morning, making my breakfast, etc.. When I finally sat down to eat & looked back at the T.V., I was transfixed. I truly could not believe that what I was seeing was real. As the full magnitude of what had just happened permeated my mind, I felt my heart begin to race.

I knew, without hearing any journalist speak the words, that Bin Laden was responsible. He had not accomplished what he set out to do in ’93; this was unfinished business. And, sadly, I also KNEW what this meant for my country

As I was driving to work, I listened as a flabbergasted DJ screamed “The tower just fell!!” I gasped in horror. I was stupefied. How could this happen in America? How many people have now lost their lives just because they went to work today or boarded a scheduled flight? How could NO ONE have had any inkling that this was about to happen? WHY has this happened? Of course the answers to these questions would become clearer in the coming days, but I am still, seven years later, trying to understand why.

The images of that day are burned into my psyche. They still haunt me. The memories of that day & those that followed are still so visceral. I recall everything becoming so eerily still & quiet. All the planes were grounded. Co-workers of Middle Eastern descent, walked around with their heads down & would barely speak to anyone. I scarcely even recollect hearing any birds singing. It’s almost as if they knew that our world, our lives, had been forever & irrevocably changed; that even their sweet songs could not break the deafening, black silence that had overtaken us.

I recall the elation I felt upon hearing someone had been pulled from “The Pile” alive. I also remember the inexplicable sadness when they stopped finding anymore victims. I recall the heartbreaking faces of the husbands, wives, mothers, fathers & children who were searching in vain for their loved ones. Those who were hoping against hope that they would find them alive. I remember. I remember. I will never forget. I cannot.

At that time, my husband was Non-Active Reserve, Air Force. I fearfully waited for a call from the base telling us he had been re-activated. Fortunately for us, that call never came. But many other families just like mine were not so lucky.

In the 7 years since 9/11, I have become a mother. She is now 3 1/2 and one of the great loves of my life. I wonder about what her life would have been like if the attacks had never happened. I also ponder what changes are in store for her growing up in a post 9/11 world. How will her childhood differ from mine & her Daddy’s? Are terrorist & Osama Bin Laden going to be words that she understands before she is 5? What kind of country have these evil acts left for our children to inherit?

This past week-end, My husband & I watched “World Trade Center” & “Flight 93″. For whatever reason, these two films affected me in a very profound way. I sobbed through them both. Lately, I find myself having extremely visceral reactions to anything 9/11 related. Maybe it is because I am a Mom now. Maybe it is because it has been 7 years and they still can’t find Bin Laden. I don’t truly understand it myself. I only know that this event was my generation’s Pearl Harbor, and for us, now, September 11th is our Memorial Day.

I will never forget.

God bless us all. God bless our troops. God bless America.

9/11…I Still Remember. I Cannot Forget… is a post from: Last Shreds Of Sanity | Blog Designer | California Mom Blog

You all know how I feel about the Prez. I don’t trust him. I don’t think he has enough experience and I certainly don’t think that Socialism is good. EVER. And Socialism is exactly where he is trying to steer this country. Mark my words, I can see it coming. Show me a country that started out with a Socialist leader, and I will show you a Communist country.

He has already created positions with the title “Czar”, with more on the way {He is trying to circumvent having to run anything by Congress or through our long held system of checks and balances. No one branch of our government is supposed to have more power than the other}. Forgive me, but wasn’t the last country ruled by Czars {A person having great power; an autocrat} a totalitarian, autocratic fear filled nightmare for it’s citizens?

Now, our dear leader, has saddled us with what is purported to become a $23 TRILLION debt!!! That has to be some kind of record for an American President. And in his first six months in office no less! He promised us jobs, if we would only get behind his stimulus package. Now he is asking for a THIRD stimulus package. My God! Where is this money coming from? His “Obama Bucks Tree” that only he can see and is guarded by unicorns and griffins?

We have an economy that is dead. U.S. currency used to be backed by gold held in Ft. Knox, hence the term “the gold standard” {thanks Kev, for cluing me in on this}, but no longer. We have been living on a borrowed economy for over 50 years, folks. How long will it be before this country is quite literally owned by foreigners?

I believe that the stimulus packages would have served a much greater service to our citizens had it been put in our hands, instead of CEO’s who used it for bonuses and spa vacations. But, hey, I’m just a Mom. What do I know? Now the unemployment rate, which Obama promised would peak at 8% has skyrocketed to over 10%, and in some states over 15%.

Where is the change we can believe in? Or did he mean change, as in the unemployment rate during his term would far eclipse that of The Great Depression?

I truly believe the tide is turning against President Obama and even some of his Liberal proponents are seeing that they made a huge mistake in backing him. I guess they should have listened to us on the Right, huh? We saw it coming. We warned you. You didn’t listen. now good people are losing their jobs, their homes and sometimes their families. All because Obama and the Liberal Left had something to prove, facts be damned!

So to you, Mr. President, I say, how long are you going to let your citizens, those peons you swore to protect, suffer for your lack of experience and ability?

Yes, Mr. Obama, Where Are All The Jobs? is a post from: Last Shreds Of Sanity | Blog Designer | California Mom Blog