The Four Freedoms

The Total Power of One

2011-12-22T11:41:00.000-08:00

A few days ago I had the pleasure of attending a lecture by Fred Holden, Author of "Total Power of One in America" hosted by Joe Sabah. I've been thinking about it since.

The message was clear: speakers and teachers should be certain to utilize their influence to promote responsible citizenship.

A litany of topics and approaches were suggested. Yet, it seems as though in some measure the message fell on deaf ears, and I have been wondering why.

Of the many things offered, it was the Eight dangerous illiteracies that caught my attention because it resonated. My years of observation and research had come to the same conclusions.

The eight can be condensed to four critical illiteracies: Financial (few of us know how to employ principles of prosperity regardless of circumstance), Political (few of us understand that we are to protect the Constitution and our rights by our elections), Economic (few of us understand the ramifications of economic policy--short term and long term), Business (few of us understand the principles that generate business success and how to differentiate business success from greed).

It is therefor incumbent upon those who do know to tactfully, tastefully yet boldly remind the rest of us what we all know in our hearts to be true yet forget in currents of daily living.

Why would a speaker or an author be reticent to take up that mantle? Is it because we are so conditioned to avoid any social discussion about these topics that we bristle at the mere mention of them? If not, why then would an author write or a speaker speak? I ask you.

A Threat to Property Rights

2011-12-15T08:37:00.000-08:00

The erosion of our political freedom is subtle. I have often wondered how it happens. This informative and well documented presentation is an intriguing example of how this is done.

What's in a name?

2011-10-03T12:13:00.000-07:00

Whether they are called communists, socialist, fascist, imperialist, liberals, progressive or what ever, it makes no difference. What matters is that in the end the object is the same: the subversion of freedom and independence.

They may take a different tact and woo people to their cause with platitudes of noble purpose. It must be understood that the ends do not justify the means. For the means are what determine the ends. The ends are not the the objective that is so earnestly being sought. That is just a way-point. The ends are what the endeavor makes of us along the way. That is where the true devastation lay.

Freedom can only be had by a moral and responsible people. An amoral people cannot be free. A dependent population can not be free. Any movement, no matter the name, that replaces responsibility with security, that exchanges amorality for standards of civility, will go the way of all civilizations who have attempted to do so in in the past.

We as a nation must set and maintain standards by which to live. Do not mistake tolerance for promoting. Do not mistake freedom for irresponsibility. Do not forget for one moment that, while you can do what ever you want, you cannot be absolved the responsibility for your choices. No, America is free because enterprise and morality promotes freedom. Any endeavor to the contrary undermines it, no matter what the name.

The Federal Reserve

2011-09-13T08:24:00.000-07:00

There have been a lot of voices lately calling for an audit of Federal Reserve.

I can't for the life of me understand why such would not be a matter of course unless there is something to hide. All responsible organizations have audits to ensure that the people managing the books remain on the up and up. All branches of government should be audited as a part of doing business. Citizen oversight at its best.

But it will be argued that the information in such an audit would be too hard for the general public to understand and could cause too much trouble to explain, etc. Well, I say do it any way. We need the education.

For those who don't know, this is what the Fed is:

According to the Board of Governors, the Federal Reserve is independent within government in that "its decisions do not have to be ratified by the President or anyone else in the executive or legislative branch of government." However, its authority is derived from the U.S. Congress and is subject to congressional oversight. Additionally, the members of the Board of Governors, including its chairman and vice-chairman, are chosen by the President and confirmed by Congress. The government also exercises some control over the Federal Reserve by appointing and setting the salaries of the system's highest-level employees. Thus the Federal Reserve has both private and public aspects.^[12]^[13]^[14]^[15]

Sears - An Exeplairy Corporate Citizen

2010-12-04T18:18:00.001-08:00

By law companies must hold jobs open for reservists who are called to duty. Sears is voluntarily paying the difference in their salaries and maintaining all benefits, including medical insurance and bonus programs, for all called up reservist employees for up to two years. They are to applauded.

Robert Welch 1958

2010-11-14T16:02:00.001-08:00

Undocumented Immigrant

2010-07-18T23:41:00.001-07:00

Calling an illegal alien an 'undocumented immigrant' is like calling a drug dealer an 'unlicensed pharmacist'.

Announcing The Four Freedoms!

2010-07-06T09:37:00.000-07:00

In commemoration of Independence Day, I am delighted to announce the publication of The Four Freedoms available at Amazon.com.

The Four Freedoms is a story about a man who discovered the wisdom of the ages and applied it in his life to create success beyond his imagination.

It was written for those that have a yearning for freedom--freedom from bad habits, freedom that prosperity brings, freedom from misery, and the freedom to be happy in relationships and in life--for those who have an innate sense that there is something more but just cannot figure out what it is.

I hope you enjoy it.

The Art of Networking

2010-07-06T09:35:00.000-07:00

“Networking is the art of making and using contacts. It is the single minded persuit of useful contacts at every convention, seminar and neighborhood barbecue. And today networking is exploding. It is changing the way we do business and the way we socialize. Some people say it is purely a pragmatic technique but the true networker knows it is more. The true networker proposes a new outlook. Previous societies considered every stranger an inherent threat. To the networker, every stranger represents an opportunity, the chance to find prospects, reach targets or meet friends.”

As timely as this article seems, it may interest you to know that it comes from the August 1985 issue of Success. Yes, 1985. Twenty-five years ago.

Yet twenty-five years later I find that people are clamoring for networks and yet repeatedly disenchanted with them. It begs the question why and what can be done?

Permit me a suggestion. If our networking seems fraudulent, difficult or unfulfilling, perhaps it is due to intent. If everyone at an event is of mind of “what’s in it for me” then everyone is taking and no one is giving. The result is a networking vacuum.

Networking is, by defenition, connecting. Connecting requires giving. Try instead to see how much you can give–referrals, advice, introductions, useful information–any kind of value add. Les Brown says that the universe hates a vaccume. In order to get you have got to give. The more you can give the more will you get back. Conversely, you cannot recieve if both hands are busy holding one to what you have.

Your Brand and You

2010-07-06T09:32:00.000-07:00

According to Kevin Roberts, CEO of Saatchi & Saatchi Worldwide and author of Lovemarks: The Future Beyond Brands, the magic is simple and sincere-literally.

On the one hand, brand is about connecting with customers on an emotional level: intimacy, sensuality, and mystery that results in loyalty beyond reason.

On the other hand, brand is a “sacred promise” about improving customers lives. The way in which a company commits to improve customers lives becomes the hallmark of the company. It permeates every facet of communication and and guides every decision of the company.

It starts with a positioning statement which identifies target audiences, hones in on competitors, and pinpoints the businesses most compelling benefit. From this the promise can be formulated.

How clear is your company’s mission statement?

In the B2B world the most important things that set your company apart from the rest are offering reliable customer service and close relationships.

Coca-Cola is the premier example of fullfilling both in their branding. Changes in packaging and marketing have always included “being happy, always sociable, and always part of the local community.” These emotional promices are what have given Coca-Cola their edge–simple and sincere.

Americans Stand Up

2010-05-21T22:38:00.001-07:00

There is one thing that I am pleased to see and that is Americans standing up. History has shown us demonstrations, marches on Washington and so forth. Above all it is important that government be reminded that they get their their power from we the governed; we must remember that we are the ones who empower government. Let us not shirk our civil responsibility.

CING Presentation

2010-05-19T07:38:00.001-07:00

Presented an introduction of the The Four Freedoms to Denver's Construction Industry Networking Group (CING). I presented as my role of Business Architect and shared with them the three Cornerstones of Success: Truth, Communication, and Purpose. On these rest any and all success in any endeavor. Time permitted that I share the most important thing so I told them about the importance vision plays to purpose.

From the Rainbows and Roads speech I shared with them what I call the Great Golden Nugget of Truth: Only one in twenty are living to their capacity in wealth, health, satisfaction and relationships, etc. The rest of us are chasing rainbows. The philosophy of the rainbow is "If only _____ then everything will be fine."

Success and failure are the accumulation of every small decision that we make every day.

It is easy to do the right things; it is just a bit easier not to.

It takes knowing where we want to go to give us what we need in order to choose to do what we should when we should.

Most of us don't know what we want.

Finally I gave them an exercise to help determine what they want.

I love teaching!

Thomas Jefferson Predicted It

2010-03-31T05:22:00.000-07:00

The democracy will cease to exist when you take away from those who are willing to work and give to those who would not. Thomas Jefferson

It is incumbent on every generation to pay its own debts as it goes. A principle which if acted on would save one-half the wars of the world. Thomas Jefferson

I predict future happiness for Americans if they can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people under the pretense of taking care of them. Thomas Jefferson

My reading of history convinces me that most bad government results from too much government. Thomas Jefferson

No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms. Thomas Jefferson

The strongest reason for the people to retain the right to keep and bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against tyranny in government. Thomas Jefferson

The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants. Thomas Jefferson

To compel a man to subsidize with his taxes the propagation of ideas which he disbelieves and abhors is sinful and tyrannical. Thomas Jefferson

Thomas Jefferson said in 1802
'I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies. If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issue of their currency, first by inflation, then by deflation, the banks and corporations that will grow up around the banks will deprive the people of all property until their children wake-up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered..'

How long shall we as a nation continue to ignore the future which history has show is inevitable upon our present course?

The Threat of Socialism Then as Now

2010-03-22T22:45:00.000-07:00

Government of the People, by the People, and for the People

2010-03-22T07:46:00.000-07:00

I ask you, how can a government be of the people when its elected officials and their influence are to be had by the highest bidder?

How can there be government by the people where the legislators are not themselves bound by the very laws they enact upon the people?

How can there be a government for the people when our unified voice is blatantly disregarded?

Thomas Jefferson said, "When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty." The American government should be very, very afraid.

For we the people will no longer sit idly by as they continue to erode our liberties.

Steve Jobs Commencement Speach

2010-01-04T05:23:00.000-08:00

Steve Jobs knows something about creating financial freedom. Hear his advice to Stanford University's graduation class of 2005.

2009-07-30T13:03:00.000-07:00

Education and the "Whole Man"

2009-06-07T16:57:00.000-07:00

Here is a disturbing quote upon which I only just stumbled.

"Two respected German historians looked out on the carnage after 1945 in search for meaning, one from within the country, where he had spent his entire life of eighty years, the other from the safer refuge of the America to which he had been driven. Both had token pride in their native culture and its achievements; both now stood in horror at the sight. The older man, Friedrich Meinecke, called the sight before him "The German Catastrophe" and in Gordon Craig's felicitous phrase offered the following explanation: "the emphasis upon power at the expense of spirit has corrupted the values of the people and stunted their political growth." 1 The younger historian, Hajo Holborn, later Sterling Professor of History at Yale, allowed more time to pass before offering a more expansive but similar analysis. While paying attention to the role social conflict had played in paving the way for Hitler. Holborn placed a major portion of the blame elsewhere:

The actual decline of German education goes far to explain not only why so many Germans voted the Nazis into power but also why they were willing to condone so many of their subsequent crimes. German education hardly dealt with the "whole man"; it chiefly produced men proficient in special skills or special knowledge but lacking not only in the most primitive preparation for civic responsibility but also in a canon of absolute ethical commitments. Although the churches provided this for a good many people, and to a greater extent within the Roman Catholic Church than within the Protestant Churches, the number of Germans who looked to the church for guidance was limited. The higher philosophy and the humanities of the period were largely formalistic or relativistic and did not produce a firm faith. In these circumstances it was inevitable that so many people fell for cheap and simple interpretations of life and history, as offered by the racists. To young people in particular this proved an irresistible temptation. 2 "(excerpted from Education, Moral Values, and Democracy: Lessons from the German Experience by Douglas F. Tobler Fn, BYU Studies, vol. 28 (1988), Number 2 - Spring 1988 .)

Add to that the following:

"The purpose of the foundation [the General Board of Education] was to use the power of money, not to raise the level of education in America, as was widely believed at the time, but to influence the direction of that education....The object was to use the classroom to teach attitudes that encourage people to be passive and submissive to their rulers. The goal was--and is---to create citizens who were educated enough for productive work under supervision but not enough to question authority or seek to rise above their class. True education was to be restricted to the son and daughters of the elite. For the rest, it would be better to produce skilled workers with no particular aspirations other than to enjoy life." (G. Edward Griffin in The Creature from Jekyll Island, (copy write 1994. Thirteenth printing: June 2002) on Rockefeller's General Education Board, founded in 1903.)

Even if Griffin were wrong is his assertions of motive, we must look long and hard at the current result. The recent financial collapse can in good measure be laid squarely on the shoulders of a populace as described in that last sentence. We are the product of our own making. The question should be what are we becoming and is that okay? History shows us where the present course will lead.

If we cannot manage to rally behind a unifying force, we will have only ourselves to blame for the inevitable.

1. Gordon Craig, Germany, 1866-1945 (New York: Oxford University Press, 1978), 763. See also Friedrich Meinecke, Die Deutsche Katastrophe: Betrachtungen und Erinnerungen, Dritte Auflage (Wiesbaden: Eberhard Brockhaus Verlag, 1945), 161 and passim.

2. Hajo Holborn, A History of Modern Germany, 3 vols. (New York: Knopf, 1969), 3: 813.

Change

2009-02-23T05:31:00.000-08:00

The following is the fourth installment of the paper on Personal Freedom.

"'Status Quo' is Latin for, 'The mess we are in.'" -- Ronald Reagan

Understanding Choice, Cause and Effect, and Responsibility lead to a singular option—accept or reject it. Some may argue that one can accept a truth but do nothing about it. I contend that inaction alone is the indicator of rejecting a thought or idea. As the ancient author said, “shew me thy faith without works and I will shew thee my faith by my works.” If a person believes that a diet will work but does nothing about it, the diet, and their belief in it, will avail them nothing. Only a belief that motivates to and includes action constitutes faith. Ergo, “…faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.”

The action that must ensue is, again, a singular option—do something, or do nothing. There is no status quo. There is only growth or decay, advance or retreat. Change is constant. Change is certain. It is the obvious result of the endless ripples affected by all of the causes that occur around us. Jim Rohn puts it eloquently when he says, “All positions are temporary.” He goes on to say that if change is inevitable, we might as well choose the change we want.

”We can also do nothing. We can pretend rather than perform. And if the idea of having to change ourselves makes us uncomfortable, we can remain as we are. We can choose rest over labor, entertainment over education, delusion over truth, and doubt over confidence. The choices are ours to make. But while we curse the effect, we continue to nourish the cause. As Shakespeare uniquely observed, "The fault is not in the stars, but in ourselves." We created our circumstances by our past choices. We have both the ability and the responsibility to make better choices beginning today. (Jim Rohn, Change Begins With Choice)

Now, suffice it to say that you have a choice: you can accept what has been presented and go on, or reject it and go back. The key question to any and every decision is;

Where will this choice lead me five or ten years down the road, and is that okay?

Look for "The Keys That Unlock the Doors" as the next installment of the paper on Personal Freedom.

Prosperity

2009-02-09T21:20:00.000-08:00

"Our prosperity as a nation depends upon the personal financial prosperity of each of us as individuals." --George Clason

The Law of Cause and Effect: Part II

2009-02-04T11:08:00.000-08:00

The following is the third installment of the paper on Personal Freedom.

Responsibility

In this sense, we will employ Steven R. Covey’s use of the word. He explains that all of us are “response-able” or able to respond. In other words we can choose how to respond to the situational effects of our given circumstance. Many argue that their responses are someone else’s fault—I have a hot temper because I’m an Irish red-head; It’s my parent’s fault; I didn’t have the opportunities others did; I was abused; I’m too fat, too thin; too ugly, too beautiful; too dark, too light, too short, too tall; too rich, too poor; it wasn’t in the stars; et cetra at nauseum. These people are really just arguing for their limitations—caught up in their self-justification endeavoring to excuse their feelings of fear, inadequacy, or guilt and shame for inaction. Jim Rohn said, “You must take personal responsibility. You cannot change the circumstances, the seasons, or the wind, but you can change yourself. That is something you have charge of. You don't have charge of the constellations, but you do have charge of whether you read, develop new skills, and take new classes.”

Once we recognize our “response-ability,” we are faced with the truth of our responsibility. We are responsible for what we think, feel, say, and do in response to our circumstances. Concurrently, we are responsible for the consequences pertaining to our choices. There is no shirking that responsibility. We can hide from it, ignore it, or deny it, but in the end, there it is. Every choice is a cause which in turn has its effects. It also means that if you don’t like the effects you are experiencing, you can change them by changing the causes.

“If you don't like how things are, change it! You're not a tree.” –Jim Rohn

At this point I may have lost some of you. For the idea of such responsibility strikes such fear into the hearts of some that they choose to crawl back into bed and pull the covers over their head.

Perhaps this would be a good time to consider whether freedom after all, is what you really want. The very idea! Who in their right mind would not chose freedom over captivity? Consider the illuminating social study that the fall of the Soviet Union has afforded us. A generation in economic, social, intellectual, spiritual, and personal confinement and a large majority of the population find themselves quite without the internal compass necessary to capitalize on their new found liberties. Similarly we can look the people of ancient Israel. Four hundred years in captivity and they had grown accustomed to being cared for. They were unprepared, unwilling, and unable to step up and take responsibility for caring for and acting for themselves. As such, part of the reason given for their wandering in the wilderness for 40 years was to allow a generation to die off taking their mistaken ideologies with them.

But what of the modern individual; have we not similar tendencies? How many of us are prone to shirk our responsibilities? Be honest now. Have you ever heard someone say, “It’s not my fault!” Have you ever heard anyone say that when you were the only one in the room? It’s true we are a generation of “excusiologists.” We employ billions of dollars per annum to attorneys, courts and legislators to either get us off the hook, or to hold someone else responsible. The most absurd example is the so called McDonald’s Coffee case. While the public scoffs at the plaintiff as being the fool who was unwilling to accept responsibility for dropping her coffee, the truth, as the court found, was that McDonald’s was unwilling (without compulsion) to accept responsibility for persistently preparing a beverage to a temperature sufficient to cause third degree burns and skin grafts. [1]

Such compulsive fault finding and placing blame perpetuates a subconscious life philosophy toward the same end. The results are people who, as stated above, feel that they are owed something and that they are not to blame—for anything. The often unspoken end to that line of thinking is, “and therefore I have no control.” Ironic isn’t it? Control, or self-determination is one thing that permeates nearly all of the human needs Maslow depicted in his 1943 paper.[2]

Thus we have exposed another great lie of the human condition. We tend to do things erroneously believing they will yield certain results, when the natural consequences are actually contrary to what we want. Much has been and could be written on this topic, which is, in my opinion, the very essence of insanity or at the very least dysfunctional. Suffice it to say that we as sentient beings will accept certain basic needs being gratified by others for a time. But there comes a point when our needs for esteem and self-actualization cannot be given us by someone else. Those needs are not satisfied unless we take the responsibility to do so. I submit that once one has experienced the sweet satisfaction of self actualization, he is, or should be, far less willing to allow someone else to remove from him the responsibility for the baser needs. This is nature of growing up.

It is an unspoken but commonly held belief that what we as people really seek deep down is the freedom from consequences. This fact was vocalized to my surprise by a group of youth who were responding to the question ‘What is freedom?’ Their answers feeding off one another in a brainstorming fashion eventually drew out that what they really thought freedom to be is freedom from consequences. But in the same instant they said it, they realized, as you just did, that there is no such thing. Yet that is what we humans seem to crave. Historian Edward Gibbon on the fall of Athenian democracy said,

In the end, more than they wanted freedom, they wanted security.

They wanted a comfortable life, and they lost it all -- security, comfort and freedom...

When the Athenians finally wanted not to give to society, but for society to give to them...

When the freedom they wished for most -- was freedom from responsibility...

Then, Athens ceased to be free.[3]

But freedom is not free. Neither is captivity free. There is a price for both. The difference is that you often don’t know the price for captivity and ignorance until later—sometimes too late. [4]

Here is indicated the inextricable connection between personal and political freedom which will be discussed later on. The important message is the imperative nature of personal freedom and the responsibility it demands.

We all feel that we would like to do certain things and not suffer any consequences for those choices. That is the essence of our carnal natures. That is the essence of what we must master. The mastery of those tendencies is what constitutes character and maturity.

"What if you could be anything, or anybody, you chose to be? Think about it. What would you choose to be?" Nido Qubein

[1] Liebeck v. McDonald's Restaurants, P.T.S., Inc., No. D-202 CV-93-02419, 1995 WL 360309 (Bernalillo County, N.M. Dist. Ct. Aug. 18, 1994) details from nmcourts.com

[2] Maslow, A. H. (1943). A Theory of Human Motivation. Psychological Review, 50, 370–96. (See Chart in Appendix.)

[3] Edward Gibbon, Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, 1998 edition, Wordsworth Editions Limited

[4] In his book Escape from Freedom, Eric Fromm explores this social/psychological dichotomy. He writes, “The person who gives up his individual self and becomes an automaton (mindless conformity), identical with millions of other automatons around him, need not feel alone and anxious any more. But the price he pays, however, is high; it is the loss of his self.....freedom has a twofold meaning for modern man: that he has been freed from traditional authorities and has become an 'individual,' but that at the same time he has become isolated, powerless and an instrument of purposes outside of himself, alienated from himself and others; furthermore, that this state undermines his self, weakens and frightens him, and makes him ready for submission to new kinds of bondage. Positive freedom on the other hand is identical with the full realization of the individual's potentialities, together with his ability to live actively and spontaneously." (Eric Fromm, Escape from Freedom, 1941, Henry Holt and Company, LLC, 115 West 18th Street, new York New York, 10011, clarification added.)

See installment four on Change.

The Law of Cause and Effect: Part I

2009-01-27T22:26:00.000-08:00

The following is the second installment of the paper on Personal Freedom.

The concept of choice introduces us to the Law of Cause and Effect. This is a universal law that, like gravity, is always in effect whether or not you know about it or even believe it. It has been called by many names as it has been discovered and rediscovered over the centuries. It is known as the Law of Reciprocity. Ancient script calls it the Law of Harvest or the Law of Reaping and Sowing. Newton’s third law of physics is the Law of Action-Reaction, and Emerson called it the Law of Compensation.

This law requires that for every effect or result there is a cause; or as more commonly stated, you reap what you sow. Its meaning is both a word of condemnation and a word of hope. It means that you are who you are, you have what you have, you do what you do, you know what you know, and you lack what you lack because of the choices you have made. Now the tendency here for some may be to argue that they are experiencing the effects of what others have caused. This idea may be true, but refers to situational effects.

Situational Effects implies another very important principle which is, we do make choices but we cannot choose the consequences. In an extreme example, one can choose whether or not to pull the trigger. Once that choice is made, the consequences will unfold naturally and beyond anyone’s control. The consequences of that choice may be that a life ends, a person goes to prison, lives are disrupted, and the ripple effects of that choice reverberate across space and time. It is rightly said that no man is an island. Every person touched by that choice is experiencing a situational effect—they have been placed in a situation not of their choosing. (Excluding those who chose to associate with a disreputable individual or other ethereal, distant choices.) But for purposes of this discussion, we will say that Victor Frankl was in a concentration camp for reasons not of his choosing. And that the heart-break of losing his wife to an executioner was also an experience not of his choosing.

The fact is that all of us, every one with no exception, are experiencing situational effects in every moment of every day. It is a mistake to think that because we did not create the situation, we are not responsible for how we respond to it.

For the continuation, see Part II: Responsibility

Legacy of G.W. Bush

2009-01-15T07:42:00.000-08:00

In these waning days of the Bush Presidency it seems appropriate to render unto Cesar that which is Cesar's. Following is partial list that represents the Bush Presidency. It will be interesting to compare this list in coming years to that of the Obama administration.

So what did President Bush do for which he deserves any credit? Here’s a short list:

• Banned partial-birth abortion
• Reinstated parental-consent clause in the Medical Privacy Act
• Upheld ban on abortions at military hospitals
• Proposed, worked for, and signed into law two income-tax cuts
• Worked to eliminate the Death Tax
• Worked to privatize Social Security
• Eliminated OSHA’s ‘ergonomic’ rules for home businesses
• Reduced H1B visas from 195,000 a year to 66,000
• Killed attempts to revive Kyoto Global Warming Treaty
• Revised Forestry Management Act to allow cleanup to prevent fires, removed need for Environmental Impact Statement before removing dangerous brush and fallen tress from fire-risk areas
• Removed Saddam Hussein from Iraq
• Eliminated Al Qaeda network in Afghanistan
• Eliminated Al Qaeda operational existence outside North African continent
• Disarmed Libya of its WMDs
• Improved US military review ability, emphasis on asymmetrical warfare
• Best friend to Israel since 1948
• Prohibited putting US forces under UN command
• Brought back EP-3 plane and crew from China without conflict
• Ended participation in International Criminal Court
• Faced down the UN, saying “America will never seek a permission slip to defend the security of our country."
• Worked to reform Medicare
• Worked to address border security, created largest budget and roster for enforcement, internal fugitive capture, and employer penalty system in history
• Constructed ABM silos in Alaska, Montana, and Maine
• Operation Tarmac
• Denied ABA role in vetting federal judge/justice nominations

This list is courtesy Stolen Thunder: A Better Man Than His Detractors

Who was Hayim Solomon

2009-01-10T15:22:00.000-08:00

On the rear of the One Dollar bill, you will see two circles. Together, they comprise the Great Seal of the United States.

The First Continental Congress requested that Benjamin Franklin and a group of men come up with a Seal. It took them four years to accomplish this task and another two years to get it approved.

If you look at the left-hand circle, you will see a Pyramid.

Notice the face is lighted, and the western side is dark. This country was just beginning. We had not begun to explore the west or decided what we could do for Western Civilization. The Pyramid is uncapped, again signifying that we were not even close to being finished. Inside the capstone you have the all-seeing eye, an ancient symbol for divinity. It was Franklin's belief that one man couldn't do it alone, but a group of men, with the help of God, could do anything.

Secretary of Congress Charles Thomson suggested "Annuit Coeptis" when he put together the final design of the Great Seal in June 1782.

Thomson did not provide an exact translation of the motto, but he explained its symbolism: The Eye and the motto Annuit Coeptis "allude to the many signal interpositions of providence in favour of the American cause."

It translates to "Providence favors our undertakings"

The Latin below the pyramid, NOVUS ORDO SECLORUM, means, 'a new order has begun.' At the base of the pyramid is the Roman Numeral for 1776. (MDCCLXXVI)

"In God We Trust" is emblazoned on the currency.

If you look at the right-hand circle, and check it carefully, you will learn that it is on every National Cemetery in the United States It is also on the Parade of Flags Walkway at the Bushnell, Florida National Cemetery , and is the centerpiece of most hero's mouments. Slightly modified, it is the seal of the President of the United States , and it is always visible whenever he speaks, yet very few people know what the symbols mean.

The Bald Eagle was selected as a symbol for victory for two reasons: First, he is not afraid of a storm; he is strong, and he is smart enough to soar above it. Secondly, he wears no material crown. We had just broken from the King of England Also, notice the shield is unsupported. This country can now stand on its own. At the top of that shield you have a white bar signifying congress, a unifying factor. We were coming together as one nation. In the Eagle's beak you will read, ' E PLURIBUS UNUM' meaning,'one from many.'

Above the Eagle, you have the thirteen stars, representing the thirteen original colonies, and any clouds of misunderstanding rolling away. Again, we were coming together as one.

Notice what the Eagle holds in his talons. He holds an olive branch and arrows. This country wants peace, but we will never be afraid to fight to preserve peace. The Eagle always wants to face the olive branch, but in time of war, his gaze turns toward the arrows.

They say that the number 13 is an unlucky number. This is almost a worldwide belief. You will usually never see a room numbered 13, or any hotels or motels with a 13th floor. But think about this:
13 original colonies, 13 signers of the Declaration of Independence,
13 stripes on our flag,
13 steps on the Pyramid,
13 letters in, 'Annuit Coeptis,'
13 letters in 'E Pluribus Unum,'
13 stars above the Eagle,
13 bars on that shield,
13 leaves on the olive branch,
13 fruits,and if you look closely,
13 Arrows.

And finally, if you notice the arrangement of the 13 stars in the right-hand circle you will see that they are arranged as a Star of David. This was ordered by George Washington who, when he asked Hayim Solomon, a wealthy Philadelphia Jew, what he would like as a personal reward for his services to the Continental Army, Solomon said he wanted nothing for himself but that he would like something for his people. The Star of David was the result. Few people know that it was Solomon who saved the Army through his financial contributions but died a pauper.

I often ask people, 'Why don't you know this?' Your children don't know this, and their history teachers don't know this. Too many veterans have given up too much to ever let the meaning fade. Many veterans remember coming home to an America that didn't care. Too many veterans never came home at all. Let us always remember their sacrifice.

Let us understand that the Founding Fathers never intended to remove God from the State. Their primary concern was to remove the State from the Church. The founding Fathers understood what we in our arrogance seem to be forgetting--this nation cannot stand but for the grace of God.

Attributed to an unknown source.

Tolerance

2009-01-06T07:43:00.000-08:00

"Tolerance is giving to every other human being every right that you claim for yourself."

Robert Green Ingersoll
1833-1899, Orator and Political Speech maker

Tolerance is not to be confused with approval or condoning.

A New Civil Religion

2009-01-01T11:03:00.000-08:00

The following is an excerpt from "A New Civil Religion" delivered in 1992 by James Faust, formerly of President John F. Kennedy's Lawyer's Committee for Civil Rights.

"There seems to be developing a new civil religion. The civil religion I refer to is a secular religion. It has no moral absolutes. It is nondenominational. It is nontheistic. It is politically focused. It is antagonistic to religion. It rejects the historic religious traditions of America. It feels strange. If this trend continues, nonbelief will be more honored than belief. While all beliefs must be protected, are atheism, agnosticism, cynicism, and moral relativism to be more safeguarded and valued than Christianity, Judaism, and the tenets of Islam, which hold that there is a Supreme Being and that mortals are accountable to him? If so, this would, in my opinion, place America in great moral jeopardy.

For those who believe in God, this new civil religion fosters some of the same concerns as the state religions that prompted our forefathers to escape to the New World. Nonbelief is becoming more sponsored in the body politic than belief. History teaches well the lesson that there must be a unity in some moral absolutes in all societies for them to endure and progress. Indeed, without a national morality they disintegrate. In Proverbs, we are reminded that “righteousness exalteth a nation: but sin is a reproach to any people.” (Prov. 14:34.) The long history and tradition of America, which had its roots in petitions for divine guidance, is being challenged.

The new civil religion is different from that envisioned by Benjamin Franklin, who seems to have first used the term “civil religion.” (M. Marty, Pilgrims in Their Own Land, 1984, pp. 155–66.) Franklin’s “civil religion,” as I understand it, was envisioned to replace the state religions of Europe, with their forced taxation and oppression. Franklin no doubt envisioned that this vacuum would be filled with a patriotism reflected by national symbolism, pride, ethics, values, and purpose. His eloquent statement concerning divine intervention in the Constitutional Convention clearly indicated he was not opposed to religiosity.

The new civil religion isn’t really a religion as you and I would use that term to describe a faith or a church or a synagogue of people that worship Almighty God and espouse a code of moral conduct. This new civil religion teaches a sectarian philosophy that is hostile to traditional religion. It has its own orthodoxy. It could even end up in an ironic violation of the U.S. Constitution that says that there shall be no religious basis for office. (Article IV, U.S. Constitution.) Will irreligion become a test for office?"

What are your thoughts?

Faust graduated from the University of Utah in 1948 with a B.A. and Jurist Doctor. In 1962, he was elected president of the Utah Bar Association, in which office he served for one year. The same association awarded him its Distinguished Lawyer Emeritus Award in 1996. During the 1960s, Faust was named to the Utah Legislative Study Committee and later to the Utah Constitutional Revision Commission. Faust served in the House of Representatives for the 28th Utah State Legislature (1949) as a Democrat for Utah's eighth district. Faust also served as chairperson of the Utah State Democratic Party and helped manage a campaign for Senator Frank Moss. In 1996, he was awarded with the Minuteman Award by the Utah National Guard.

Faust was appointed by President John F. Kennedy to the Lawyer's Committee for Civil Rights. He was also an adviser to the American Bar Journal.

"News"week Nonsence

2008-12-08T21:37:00.000-08:00

In response to the December 15, 2008 cover story and the conjoining editorial, we wish to go on record as saying:

Never in modern history have we beheld such irresponsible reporting and dissemination of swill and tripe as this lead essay and follow-up drivel of an editorial. Congratulations to Newsweek and its plebeian editor for acceding to the ranks of the supermarket tabloid.

For an intelligent expose we recommend to the readers this article by Albert Mohler.

On Socialism

2008-11-17T22:44:00.000-08:00

Glen Beck plays audio of Sec of Agriculture Ezra T. Benson on his meeting with Khrushchev

On Socialism

Financial Freedom

2008-11-14T11:52:00.000-08:00

Financial freedom or financial independence is what most people call retirement. That is finally having the resources to live without working. The reality is that most people today reach retirement age without those resources in place. There are no more golden parachutes, no more pensions, and social security is a bigger oxymoron than the term military intelligence.

People must realize that retirement is an individual matter. It cannot be left to fate or to chance. It must be planned for and worked toward deliberately and meaningfully. To do so means to live on less than you earn and to do very deliberate things with the rest.

There is only one thing you can do with the money you intend to save: invest it.

There are only three investment vehicles: Stocks, bonds and real estate. (The money you bank is invested by the banks in these vehicles and they keep most of the earnings. Mutual funds are mostly stocks and bonds)

The Millionaire Real Estate Investor is a book compiled as a how-to through interviews with hundreds who are expert in the field.

Those who become adept at the principles of creating "real" wealth for their retirement find that they may amass the resources they need well before they reach 65.

We are teaching financial freedom workshops centered around the principles in this book.

Join us to learn the principles of financial freedom, the value of real estate as a vital part of your portfolio, and be introduced to your full service investment team.

For more information email facultas@The4Freedoms.net or phone 303-683-0462.

The Millionaire Real Estate Investor by Gary Keller

Book Review

2008-11-14T11:37:00.000-08:00

Why Good People Do Bad Things: How to Stop Being Your Own Worst Enemy by Debbie Ford

A critical read for a complete understanding of the human condition.

Ford illustrates that the root causes by which sabotage our relationships, our finances, our families, and our careers are rooted in our unknown and unconscious programing.

This programming results in an unhealthy belief concerning our dark sides. The pain and shame we feel "drives us to use food, alcohol, sex, drugs, excitement, collecting, gossiping and philandering as ways to distract ourselves from seeing that which we deem unacceptable or unflattering."

The scary thing is that we ALL do this to some extent or other. Some self-sabotage to the extent of the criminal.

In the end, it is important to recognize the lies we sell ourselves as the root cause of our short comings.

On Discrimination

2008-11-14T07:21:00.001-08:00

Until recently I had a different understanding of civil rights. I thought that civil rights were pretty clear cut and I could not understand all of the hullaballoo over civil rights issues. What I realized, I admit somewhat embarrassingly, was that I was confusing civil rights with ‘unalienable’ rights.

Thomas Jefferson enumerated Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness as among the rights endowed upon mankind by virtue of our humanity. Civil liberties or civil rights, on the other hand, are bestowed by consensus of the civilization or community.

To remove the stigmas and connotations of the word ‘government,’ let us consider joining a club. The Club has rules and privileges that club founders agreed upon and the members adhere to. Membership in the club is contingent upon that adherence.

Our Founding Fathers not liking certain aspects of the club to which they had belonged, formed a new club wherein they said the members could speak against the leadership if they wanted. Further, members would be permitted to worship God as they chose and the press could print essentially what ever it wanted.

So the Fathers formed a new Club. But unlike membership limited to those of wealth or family name, this club was open to all men—that is all white men. Black men and women were not permitted. They were shunned in certain respects and discriminated against. That was a civil or club decision. Women and blacks protested their exclusion and eventually the club was made to see that their exclusion, or discrimination, was wrong. That America was founded by Christians for Christians is factual as evidenced by the national emblems numerous.Though this country was founded on principles of a Jeudeo-Christian ethic, there are those non-Christians who resent their exclusion from the Christian nature of national holidays and the national culture and they are pressing for their inclusion, or rather to neutralize their exclusion.

Over the centuries many such civil liberties matters have been addressed. At one time adultery was punishable by death by stoning, but no more. For millennia, slavery was acceptable. So it was for an Egyptian man of Pharos’s house. Moses was raised around Israelites who had been enslaved for hundreds of years. And then one day he was persuaded that enslaving a nation was not right and he took action. It was not until Lincoln that slavery was abolished in this country. Discrimination against people for their race, color or creed, has been a long time dying in this nation. The common cry has been that discrimination is wrong and should not be part of our club rules.

In recent news, discrimination against the gay community has come to the forefront. Proposition 8 passed in California defining marriage recognized in that community as only between a man and a woman. Connecticut’s Supreme Court ruled in October that same-sex marriages would be recognized in that state on the grounds of separate standards. (see article CONNECTICUT SUPREME COURT RULES ON GAY MARRIAGE)

So what of this business of discrimination? Ex-convicts have to answer to their past on job applications and a company may refuse to hire them based on their record. Is that not discrimination? What about lenders who may not lend based on credit history? Are not the credit-risky being discriminated against? What about a child who wants to work but is denied because he is not yet 16? Is that not age discrimination? The point is being discriminate is the nature of weighing options and rendering judgment or decisions.

There could never be a complete elimination of discrimination without eliminating the basis for sound judgment and the very rules of civilization. So the question then must be, how do we draw the lines of permissible discrimination? And that is why civil liberties issues become so cloudy.

The answer must be centered in principle, as principle exceeds the various circumstances. In all organizations of humanity—family, business, clubs, churches, governments—principle must drive the rules. Rules are in fact founded in principles. The real matter is to correctly understand the founding principles as causes and their effects.

Wisdom of club or government leadership rests in understanding cause and effect and having and accurate vision of the desired effects in order to implement the necessary causes. This is why the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the one. While we are free to choose our actions, we are not free to choose the consequences of those actions—they are either natural results or imposed by civil mandate.

Freedom of speech is not absolute. It is civilly limited by slander. Freedom of the press is not absolute. It is civilly limited by liable. Freedom of religion, rights to privacy, right to own property, etc. all are civilly limited by the intrusion they become on others' inalienable rights—rights that cannot be sold or transferred.

So as with all civil liberties issues, when the issues of gay rights or same sex marriage, or plural marriage, are brought forth, the rights of the individuals must be considered in the light of cause and effect. Particularly, the effect on the whole of the community must drive civil decisions. In every case, club rules are going to discriminate against those who do not wish to comply with the rules. So the civil debate cannot be about discrimination alone. Like it or not, it must be about whether such discrimination is in the best interest of the community and what are the effects upon the rest of the individuals, the family and the community at large. In doing so we must look past self interest, fear, ignorance, delusion, denial, or opinion and look to know the truth of the effects of our decisions. As those decisions are deliberated, let us behave, well, civilly.

On Wealth Re-distribution

2008-10-26T17:05:00.000-07:00

(Received via e-mail, author unknown)

Today on my way to lunch I passed a homeless guy with a sign that read "Vote Obama, I need the money." I laughed.

Once in the restaurant my server had on an "Obama 08" tie, again I laughed as he had given away his political preference--just imagine the coincidence.

When the bill came I decided not to tip the server and explained to him that I was exploring the Obama redistribution of wealth concept. He stood there in disbelief while I told him that I was going to redistribute his tip to someone who I deemed more in need--the homeless guy outside. The server angrily stormed from my sight.

I went outside, gave the homeless guy $10 and told him to thank the server inside as I 've decided he could use the money more. The homeless guy was grateful.

At the end of my rather unscientific redistribution experiment I realized the homeless guy was grateful for the money he did not earn, but the waiter was pretty angry that I gave away the money he did earn even though the actual recipient needed money more.

I guess redistribution of wealth is an easier thing to swallow in concept than in practical application.

(But just imagine if the waiter freely and voluntarily gave the tip to the homeless man. A society that forces the bestowal of good will may feed a man for a moment, but it ultimatley undermines the social will and therefore the ability to do so in the long run. Better it seems to teach the principle of benevolence, and let them govern themselves.)

Sage Political Advice

2008-10-17T20:04:00.001-07:00

The budget should be balanced, the Treasury should be refilled, public debt should be reduced, the arrogance of officialdom should be tempered and controlled, and the assistance to foreign lands should be curtailed lest Rome become bankrupt. People must again learn to work, instead of living on public assistance.

Cicero, 55 BC

Introduction to Personal Freedom

2008-10-13T11:28:00.000-07:00

Personal Freedom is the realization of who you really are and what you are capable of becoming and that only you stand in your way.

Psychologist Victor Frankl discovered this great truth while a Jewish prisoner in a Nazi concentration camp. He observed that those who survived developed a will to survive. He realized that no matter what was inflicted upon him, he could choose how to feel and think about it. He poignantly illustrates the depth of this discovery when, considering a guard, he says to himself, “You have more liberty than I, but I have more freedom.” Frankl concludes from his experience that a prisoner's psychological reactions are not solely the result of the conditions of his life, but also from the freedom of choice he always has even in severe suffering.[1]

Freedom of choice is the first great personal freedom.

Personal Prisons

Personal Prisons are cages of our own forging. They are the things that keep us down, that keep us in a rut, keep us in our box, prevent our growth, and weigh us down with depression, discouragement, and defeatism.

These bars and shackles are forged out of the alloy of misperceptions and bad habits. Ideas that we are victims in this world, that we are owed something, our poor self-image, laziness, complacency, addictions; ideas that “this is all there is,” or that “nothing can be done” and the like form our individual prisons.

Dr. Carter G Woodsen described it this way:

"If you can determine what a man shall think, you will never have to concern yourself with what he will do. If you can make a man feel inferior you will not have to compel him to seek an inferior status for he will seek it himself. And if you can make a man feel justly an outcast, you will never have to order him to use the back door he will go without being told, and if there is no back door, his very nature will demand one."

But as Frankl points out, you can choose what to think. In fact, in every circumstance you choose what to think, feel, say and do with respect to that circumstance. Many of us are accustomed to reacting, or playing off of and reflecting the circumstance back on itself. Most of us respond out of habit and without thinking and by so doing demonstrate our character or lack thereof. These habitual responses, or auto-responses, are the sum of the choices we made long ago based upon our experiences. They become reflex so we no longer consciously make a choice. The good news is that at any time, you can choose to take control of your programming. You can choose to change.

"It is not what happens to you but how you think about what happens to you that determines how you feel and react. It is not the world outside of you that dictates your circumstances or conditions. It is the world inside you that creates the conditions of your life." --Brian Tracey

"I used to say, "I sure hope things will change." Then I learned that the only way things are going to change for me is when I change." --Jim Rohn

[1] Victor E. Frankl, Man’s Search for Meaning, October 23, 1984 Revised and Updated, Washington Square Press.

For the continuation, see Part I: Law of Cause and Effect

Election 08

2008-10-10T07:17:00.000-07:00

With the election fast approaching, I find myself wondering about the nature of the political arena. If the last debate is any indication, it is a bloodbath of insults and issue regurgitating. Where are the statements of leadership? Those decisive statements that drive a nation like "Mr. Gorbechev, tear down this wall," or "In ten years we will land a man on the moon."

Such is the regrettable state when individuals bread in the legislative primordial soup become executive political combatants. Thankfully, Sarah Palin can offer that leadership perspective to the mix.

As the ideological differences have become more clearly defined than ever before in my memory, I find myself wondering why the McCain camp has not taken up the cry, "I am for self-reliance and I oppose Socialism."

Where are the definitive statements like:
"America has the technology. Let us be energy independent in ten years time."

"The US will support the rights of all people and all nations to worship as they will until that worship violates the rights of others' life and liberty."

"If any United Nations country such as Israel is attacked it is the duty and oath of the United Nations to defend that nation. If other UN nations will not abide their oath, the United Sates will do so without reservation and without measure."

"Al-Qaeda is an enemy to civility and civilization. I call upon leaders of all nations to join with us in eradicating it whether by persuasion or by force. As Americans we are committed to doing so, with you or without you."

"If a nation knowingly harbors terrorists, they must know that we are coming after those terrorists, with or without their permission."

"Let us make the way clear for businesses to operate and provide the products we need. But be forewarned that you will be held accountable for the way you use our national resources and how well you clean up your mess when you get finished."

"We as Americans must reform our thinking from that of consumers to that of producers."

Perhaps I am alone in this.

Truth

2008-10-10T06:30:00.000-07:00

"The truth is incontrovertible. Malice may attack it. Ignorance may deride it. But in the end, there it is." Winston Churchill