Full Civic Literacy Exam
Today on the Neal Boortz show, he was talking about this test from the Intercollegiate Studies Institute. It is scary that the test average for college professors was 55%. And yet, they keep increasing tuition costs. Go figure.Here’s the link. give it a try you will find it interesting.
By the way, in case you’re interested I scored 84.85%.
http://www.isi.org/quiz.aspx?q=FE5C3B47-9675-41E0-9CF3-072BB31E2692
Understanding the Occupiers
Though it started months ago, and no longer makes daily headlines on the major news networks, the Occupy Movement is still plugging away. Tenaciously spreading its anti-capitalist mantra to anyone who cares to listen. This movement has been applauded in the media as a great social movement, but how great has it really been? Just what has truly been accomplished that will benefit the whole of society? To get a better handle on the kind of people who are, or have participated in an Occupy protest, I have a few questions I would like to ask. I would appreciate a direct response to these questions from anyone who is or has participated in an Occupy protest for more than a week.
- Are you currently employed? If so, how did you get the time off from work to participate in this protest? If no, are you actively seeking employment? If so, how are you conducting a job search while attending the protest?
- If not employed, are you a student? If so, how are you managing to attend class and keep up with your homework while attending the protest? What is your grade point average?
- Do you own a home or rent? If so, how are you paying your mortgage, or rent and utilities while you are attending the protest? If not, where were you living before you encamped at the protest? Did you have to contribute financially in any way, in order to live there? Will you be able to return there when you are through protesting?
- Other than student loans or education grants, are you receiving any form of government assistance? If so what kind?
- Do you depend on your parents for any kind of financial support? (To include trust funds)
- Are you married? If so, are both of you attending the protest?
- Do you have any children?
- What visible positive effects can be seen in this community due to the presence of this protest?
- Are you old enough to vote? If so, are you planning on voting in the presidential election?
- Do you now, or have you ever owned any kind of business?
It will be interesting and probably surprising to see the answers to these questions. I’ll put the results in a future post.
Pistol Pack’in Pappy
This man should get the Father of the Year Award. His daughter might hate him now, maybe for a long time. But when she grows up (which my also take a while) to be a useful, productive, self-sufficient member of society instead of an entitlement driven drain on her friends and family e.g. the occupiers, she will thank him for that character building moment of national humiliation.
Red State Blue State Nanny State
I am not a Catholic. I have no problem with women choosing to use contraception to prevent a pregnancy. I think it’s great when an insurance company covers it.
But just who in the, heck, does the President and his Congressional supporters think they are? How did they come to the conclusion that they actually have the authority to force a religious institution to abandon its tenants of faith? This bill is not about women’s rights, health or contraception.
It’s about a government over reaching its authority and insinuating itself further and further into our private lives.
Who is to blame for this? We are. We have become dependent on the “nanny state”. To many of us are happy to trade away a few personal freedoms, for the government’s promise of a life without worry or want. We want the government to protect us from being offended, or inconvenienced by our neighbors. We want businesses to be regulated so that their profits are handed over to the government and redistributed, so that we can have free health care, a grocery allowance, and subsidized housing. Most dangerous of all, we want the government to be our conscience.
Both liberals and conservatives want the government to restrict behaviors that we find immoral or offensive. We want airwaves censored from sex, violence, and obscene language, yet we continue to tune into shows and buy tickets to movies that contain those very things. Some want women to be able to have an abortion any time, anywhere, for any reason, and some feel that there is never a justifiable reason to abort a baby. Many of us choose our elected officials on this issue alone. Meanwhile we fail to teach our children that a sexual relationship carries with it some heavy responsibilities, and requires a certain level of maturity. We want the government to prevent banks from charging penalty fees when we fail to handle our finances responsibly. We want the police to crack down on drunk drivers, speeders, and red-light runners, but we complain about rogue cops when we are the ones who get caught. We no longer have the ability to make very basic judgments for ourselves.
The Founding Fathers designed our Constitution to limit government. I’m sure they never intended for the Bill of Rights to be twisted and perverted into a device that allows the government to become our teacher, our parent, our God. We need to resurrect our common sense and good manners. We need to stop confusing legal with moral and take responsibility for our own clean living rather than imposing it on others. Most of all we need to use our patronage and our pocketbooks to effect social change rather than placing power that should belong to the people into the hands of the government.
This painting is a powerful depiction of what is going on in America today. The artists other painting, One Nation Under God” gives me chills.
Just Americans Making Ethical Statements Weblog
Provo, Utah (CBS Las Vegas) – In front of the White House a man is sitting on a park bench in the throes of depression. He is surrounded by 43 presidents. In the forefront, purposefully ignoring the depressed man is President Obama, whose right foot is stepping on the Constitution. James Madison is next to Obama, pleading with him to stop.
This tableau is called “The Forgotten Man”, a painting by Jon McNaughton, an artist who is known for his politically-charged work.
The painting, which uses objects such as discarded dollar bills as symbols and scraps of paper with individual constitutional amendments scrawled onto them, has been making the rounds across the Internet.