Archive for November, 2008
Russia Predicts Breakup of USA-Texas on the Rise!
http://drudgereport.com/flashrur.htm
RUSSIAN ANALYST PREDICTS DECLINE AND BREAKUP OF USA
Tue Nov 25 2008 09:04:22 ET
A leading Russian political analyst has said the economic turmoil in the United States has confirmed his long-held view that the country is heading for collapse, and will divide into separate parts.
Professor Igor Panarin said in an interview with the respected daily IZVESTIA published on Monday: “The dollar is not secured by anything. The country’s foreign debt has grown like an avalanche, even though in the early 1980s there was no debt. By 1998, when I first made my prediction, it had exceeded $2 trillion. Now it is more than 11 trillion. This is a pyramid that can only collapse.”
The paper said Panarin’s dire predictions for the U.S. economy, initially made at an international conference in Australia 10 years ago at a time when the economy appeared strong, have been given more credence by this year’s events.
When asked when the U.S. economy would collapse, Panarin said: “It is already collapsing. Due to the financial crisis, three of the largest and oldest five banks on Wall Street have already ceased to exist, and two are barely surviving. Their losses are the biggest in history. Now what we will see is a change in the regulatory system on a global financial scale: America will no longer be the world’s financial regulator.”
When asked who would replace the U.S. in regulating world markets, he said: “Two countries could assume this role: China, with its vast reserves, and Russia, which could play the role of a regulator in Eurasia.”
Asked why he expected the U.S. to break up into separate parts, he said: “A whole range of reasons. Firstly, the financial problems in the U.S. will get worse. Millions of citizens there have lost their savings. Prices and unemployment are on the rise. General Motors and Ford are on the verge of collapse, and this means that whole cities will be left without work. Governors are already insistently demanding money from the federal center. Dissatisfaction is growing, and at the moment it is only being held back by the elections and the hope that Obama can work miracles. But by spring, it will be clear that there are no miracles.”
He also cited the “vulnerable political setup”, “lack of unified national laws”, and “divisions among the elite, which have become clear in these crisis conditions.”
He predicted that the U.S. will break up into six parts – the Pacific coast, with its growing Chinese population; the South, with its Hispanics; Texas, where independence movements are on the rise; the Atlantic coast, with its distinct and separate mentality; five of the poorer central states with their large Native American populations; and the northern states, where the influence from Canada is strong.
He even suggested that “we could claim Alaska – it was only granted on lease, after all.” Panarin, 60, is a professor at the Diplomatic Academy of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and has authored several books on information warfare.
Add comment November 29, 2008
A&M Profs Support Ayers
The Young Conservatives of Texas at A&M College Station found a petition where 8 A&M professor signed their support to Bill Ayers. Full Story
Ayers is not a new name to anyone who followed the 2008 Election. For more info on his influence and connections please see Ayers of Confidence.
Add comment November 28, 2008
Higher Ed Funding in Texas needs Change
Higher Education in Texas is an issue that sometimes is passed over by the general public, as well as, the State Legislature. This session the change being discussed is not how much to hike tuition but instead how to fix the problem created by government.
Some of the ideas include a 2 year freeze on tuition, a “freshman freeze,” and a swap out linking the “top 10% rule” and tuition increases. Although I personally am not in favor of any of these options as least they are a step in the right direction concerning the shocking cost of education in Texas.
“Explosive student population growth of the last two decades plus record fuel prices for most of the past two years forced schools to spend more money than what the lawmakers gave them for the current two-year cycle.
And then there are the four-year colleges and universities. With a growing number of legislators calling for the repeal of the 2003 tuition de-regulation law, or, at least for a two-year moratorium on the skyrocketing tuition increases of the past five years, Texas Tech, West Texas A&M University and the state’s other public institutions are also expected to ask for more money.
Despite a projected surplus of at least $10 billion for next year’s session, officials worry that the Legislature may be too frugal to avoid a shortfall in 2011. After all, seven years ago the lawmakers had a $6 billion surplus going into the session but spent it had the $10 billion deficit two years later.
A few major universities such as Texas Tech already have frozen tuition increases or reduced their rates, those schools are out of reach for thousands of Texans since tuition was deregulated in 2003 and prestigious schools increased their tuitions more than 100 percent. As a result, tens of thousands of students who ordinarily would have gone from high school to a four-year institution are enrolling in junior colleges.
At Texas Tech, for example, which last year froze tuition for at least the current year, the overall increase was 102 percent in four years. At junior colleges, on the other hand, the average increase was 28 percent during the same period.
“I would argue just based on that information that the increase on the cost of going to universities, which has been much steeper than increasing costs in community colleges, is driving more students to select community colleges (as) a place to begin,” Texas Higher Education Commissioner Raymond Paredes told a Texas Senate panel recently.
That’s not all.
“We not only educate people who want to transfer to a four-year school or just get an associate degree to get a good paying job,” Matney said. “We have also become the primary workforce training for Texas.”
State Reps. Carl Isett and John Smithee said they understand the critical needs of community colleges and expect the Legislature to listen to their funding requests.
“I am a big believer in the community college system,” said Smithee, R-Amarillo, dean of the Panhandle delegation and one of the most senior members in the Legislature. “It is going to be an area of great importance.”
Add comment November 28, 2008
81st Session Budget Major Issue
Former state Rep. Talmadge Heflin, R-Houston, chairman of the House Appropriations Committee in the 2003 session, sees something that worries him and has gone public with his concern.
Heflin, who now heads the Center for Fiscal Policy at the Texas Public Policy Foundation, an Austin think tank, is warning his former colleagues that if they don’t avoid the mistakes of 2001 in next year’s session, history will repeat itself – in 2011, the lawmakers will be back in session facing perhaps an even bigger deficit than the one in 2003.
“Next year, the Texas Legislature will reveal whether it has learned the lessons of 2001 or whether it will spend us into another budget crisis,” Heflin said. “Clearly, the national economy is far worse today than it was in 2001, and while Texas has positioned itself better than just about any other state, we will not be immune to the effects from a national recession.
Republican Reps. Carl Isett of Lubbock and John Smithee of Amarillo, said the Legislature would be foolish not to listen to Heflin and O’Brien.
“This is not the time to start new programs,” said Isett who also sits on the House Appropriations Committee and chairs the panel’s subcommittee on general government, as well as the Sunset Advisory Commission, which oversees all state agencies.
“We just need to fund the schools, to keep our roads and highways safe and the criminal justice system that protects us,” Isett said. “We just have to meet those and other essential needs.”
Smithee, the dean of the Panhandle delegation and chairman of the House Insurance Committee, agreed.
“We need to be very cautious,” Smithee said of next year’s session. “It doesn’t take a genius to figure out that we’re in for tough times. Texas is starting to feel it now.”
Full Story- Official warns of ‘03 budget repeat
1 comment November 28, 2008
Gay High School
“The city of Chicago plans to open a “gay-friendly” public high school, the Pride Campus of the existing Lawndale Little Village High School for Social Justice. Officials hope the Pride Campus will welcome 600 students when it opens in 2010.”
“Chicago Public Schools Chief Arne Duncan says he hopes about half of Pride Campus students will be homosexual, and half will be heterosexual. It is difficult to imagine how Duncan might achieve that vision, since by federal law school officials may not ask students about their sexual orientation.”
There the liberals go again! Twisting and turning the system, using the principles which they fought against to create special circumstances for those they feel deserve them. The Warren Court’s unanimous (9-0) decision in May of 1954 stated that “separate educational facilities are inherently unequal.”
“Opponents of the Pride Campus question the use of public funds to create a school themed on sexual orientation. “Why is the answer to bullying a return to separate but equal?” asked Andrew Breitbart, founder of the news site Breitbart.com. Breitbart called attention to the broader issue of “social justice” teaching in public schools. The School for Social Justice, which will be connected administratively to the Pride Campus, opened in 2005.
Add comment November 27, 2008
Anti-Gun Man Next Attorney General?
Media reports say President-elect Barack Obama has selected Eric Holder as his Attorney General, and that Holder may already have accepted the offer. Holder, as Deputy Attorney General under Janet Reno during the Clinton Administration, said that the Second Amendment does not protect an individual right, but instead protects the right to have a firearm when serving with a militia. After leaving office, Holder stuck to that assertion when he signed Janet Reno’s brief to the Supreme Court in the Heller case, which stated, “The Second Amendment does not protect firearms possession or use that is unrelated to participation in a well-regulated militia.”
Add comment November 23, 2008
How Obama Got Elected
Has a sad video about voters who had no clue and yet voted for the person they thought would make history. The famous quote by Martin Luther King Jr. “Judge men not by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.” goes both ways!
It was being used to show that character counts, but apparently not enough in this past presidential election.
Add comment November 20, 2008
Received Money From Planned Parenthood in 2008
Mario Gallegos——-State Senate District 6——$250.00
Wendy Davis=======State Senate District 10====$5,000.00
Joe Jaworski———State Senate District 11—–$4,000.00
Chris Bell=========State Senate District 17====$1,000.00
Jeff Wentworth——-State Senate District 25—–$1,000.00
Leticia Van de Putte===State Senate District 26====$1,000.00
Juan Garcia———-State House District 32—–$3,000.00
Valinda Bolton======State House District 47====$1,000.00
Diana Maldonado—–State House District 52—–$1,000.00
Joe Straus=========State House District 121===$1,000.00
Mike Villarreal——–State House District 123—-$1,000.00
Joaquin Castro======State House District 125===$1,000.00
Sherri Matula———State House District 129—-$1,000.00
Kristi Thibaut=======State House District 133===$5,000.00
Virginia McDavid——State House District 138—-$2,500.00
Ana Hernandez======State House District 143===$100.00
Carol Alvarado——–State House District 145—-$250.00
Garnet Coleman=====State House District 147====$250.00
Jessica Farrar———State House District 148—-$500.00
Hubert Vo=========State House District 149====$2,000.00
David Mincberg——-Harris County Judge——–$2,000.00
Diane Trautman======Harris County Tax Assessor-Collector=$600.00
Adrian Garcia———Harris County Sheriff——-$500.00
Vince Ryan=========Harris County Attorney====$500.00
Received Money From Other Pro-Abortion Groups in 2008
Wendy Davis——-State Senate District 10——$100,000.00
Veronica Gonzales==State House District 41=====$20,000.00
Valinda Bolton—–State House District 47——-$40,200.00
Donna Howard====State House District 48=====$15,000.00
Diana Maldonado—State House District 52——$50,100.00
Paula Pierson=====State House District 93=====$27,670.00
Carol Kent———State House District 102—–$20,000.00
Sherrie Matula====State House District 129=====$20,000.00
Kristi Thibaut——State House District 133——$30,000.00
Carol Alvarado====State House District 145=====$2,500.00
Diane Trautman—-Harris County Tax Assessor-Collector—$45,000.00
Some of the candidates are incumbents or were elected on the 4th. More updates to come!
Add comment November 16, 2008
How to Pray for the New President-Elect
As stated in my last post the day after the election was my birthday I was at first upset and depressed but then God started working on my heart. No doubt due to the prayers of so many of my friends. One action I felt I needed was to go to church that evening. I did and it was a great help. Our pastor discussed “How to Pray for the New President-Elect: Psalm 19:7-14″ It was a lesson I needed to hear and I hope by sharing it with you, it will in turn help you with the struggles in this situation.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
We need to recognize our responsibility to ward the new president elect
Recognize that God put him there
- Romans 13:1-2 “Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God. Therefore whoever resists the authority resists the ordinance of God, and those who resist will bring judgment on themselves.”
Recognize our responsibility to pray for him
- 1 Timothy 2:1-3 “Therefore exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men, for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior”
How to pray for the president elect
Pray that the word of God will have its way with the president-elect’s heart
- Psalm 19: 7a “The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul”
- Hebrews 4:12 “For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints, and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.
Pray that the president-elect will trust the word of God
- Psalm 19: 7b “The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple”
Pray that the president-elect will follow the word of God
- Psalm 19: 8 “The statues of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart, the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes”
Pray that the president-elect will rely upon the word of God
- Psalm 19: 9 “The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring for ever; The judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether.”
Pray that the president-elect will desire the word of God
- Psalm 19: 10-11 “More desired are they than gold, Yea than much fine gold: Sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb. Moreover by them Your servant is warned, and In keeping them there is great reward.”
Pray that God will correct the president-elect when needed
- Psalm 19: 12 “Who can understand his errors? Cleanse me from secret faults.”
Pray that God will protect the president-elect as needed from the enticement of power
- Psalm 19: 13 “Keep back Your servant also from presumptuous sins; Let them not have domination over me.”
Pray that the president-elect will walk uprightly with God
- Psalm 19: 14 “Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart Be acceptable in Your sight, O Lord, my strength and my Redeemer.”
Add comment November 12, 2008
Teaching “Social Justice” in Schools
The article below was written by Phyllis Schlafly of the Eagle Forum
Many voters didn’t think it important when it surfaced during the presidential campaign that Barack Obama’s friend, the 1960s radical William Ayers, is now a professor of education at the University of Illinois in Chicago. Ayers’s preoccupation with inserting his ideas of “social justice” into public school curriculum didn’t seem an issue to make tracks in a national election.
Now we find that in election week, the most respected education journal, Education Week, featured a front-page article on “social-justice teaching.” This confirms that accusations about “social-justice teaching” are not inventions of John McCain’s partisan consultants, but are matters that vitally concern everyone who cares what the next generation is taught with taxpayers’ money.
“Social-justice teaching” is defined in Education Week as “teaching kids to question whoever happens to hold the reins of power at a particular moment. It’s about seeing yourself not just as a consumer [of information], but as an actor-critic” in the world around you. This revealing explanation comes from Bill Bigelow, the curriculum editor of a Milwaukee-based organization called Rethinking Schools, which publishes instructional materials relating to issues of race and equity.
Bigelow admits that this is “a subversive act in some respects because it is not always encouraged by the curriculum.” Apparently, he intends to provide the encouragement.
In Bigelow’s book “Rethinking Columbus,” he wrote that he encourages his students to walk in the shoes of groups that have been oppressed or disenfranchised. He assigns students to role-play various oppressed groups in the U.S. and foreign countries.
“Social-justice” lessons highlight past mistakes in U.S. history rather than our accomplishments and opportunities. Emphasizing problems and injustices rather than achievements is given the highfalutin label “critical pedagogy.”
David Horowitz of the California-based David Horowitz Freedom Center says that social-justice teaching is “shorthand for opposition to American traditions of individual justice and free-market economics.” He says it teaches students that “American society is an inherently ‘oppressive’ society that is ’systemically’ racist, ’sexist,’ and ‘classist’ and thus discriminates institutionally against women, nonwhites, working Americans, and the poor.”
Sol Stern of the Manhattan Institute describes Professor Ayers as one of the leaders in “bringing radical social-justice teaching into our public school classrooms.” Ayers argues in his books and articles that “social-justice teaching” should be injected into various curriculum subjects.
Education Week identifies the “special-interest groups” that promote “social-justice teaching” and provide curricular materials, online resources, and “professional development” (i.e., indoctrinating teachers). These groups include an affiliate of the American Educational Research Association, the Cambridge-based Educators for Social Responsibility, and the Washington-based Teaching for Change, in addition to Rethinking Schools.
The lobbyists for “social-justice teaching” and “critical pedagogy” sponsor well-attended conferences (no doubt at taxpayers’ expense) and publish magazines. Teachers 4 Social Justice attracted 1,000 educators to an October seminar in Berkeley, California.
Lesson plans are available from a 30-year-old magazine called “Radical Teacher,” which was founded as “a socialist, feminist, and anti-racist journal on the theory and practice of teaching.”
Education Week identifies Ayers-style “social-justice teaching” as rooted in the writings of the late Brazilian educator, Paulo Freire. His best-known book, “Pedagogy of the Oppressed” (1970), is considered a classic text of radical education theory and is regularly assigned in education schools.
After Freire’s theories took hold in teachers colleges, it’s no surprise that they made their way into public schools, especially where low-income and minority kids can be taught Oppression Studies. Schools that specialize in “social-justice teaching” exist in Los Angeles, New York and Philadelphia, among other cities.
The Social Justice High School in Chicago, for example, has a 100 percent Hispanic or black student body. The principal admits that the lessons taught there are often “atypical,” such as teaching the relative likelihood of whites and minorities being pulled over by police.
This district recently announced plans to open a “gay-friendly” public high school called Pride Campus with 600 students, half homosexual and half heterosexual. Official materials say that the curriculum will “teach the history of all people who have been oppressed and the civil rights movements that have led to social justice and queer studies.”
It is clear that “social-justice teaching” does not mean justice as most Americans understand the term. Those who use the term make clear that it means the United States is an unjust and oppressive society and the solution is to “spread the wealth around.”
Professor Ayers declined to be interviewed for the Education Week article. His comments were unnecessary since the article was generally favorable to “social-justice teaching” and dismissive of its critics.
Add comment November 11, 2008
