Machine Politick

I won’t be winning any awards for my grainy, slightly out of focus photos. However, I thought I’d take a minute to post them in order to share some of the beauty of the north Georgia mountains.

I hope everyone had a great Labor Day weekend.

I know, “How could I?” I’m still asking myself the same thing. You go through life thinking something is bad, but you really don’t grasp the concept fully until you experience it on a personal level. Public school is a perfect example. I spent the first couple of years in school sitting in the hall because I talked too much. My teachers couldn’t figure out that I was bored. Once I learned to sit still and wait for the rest of the class to finish their work, things got a little better. By third grade, I was doing extra book reports to occupy myself and things got even better… at least until Trig and Analytical Geometry when I got a teacher who didn’t feel like teaching anymore and told us to figure it out on our own.

Before I had my son, I heard a teacher say once, ” I don’t care what my students learn, I just need them to pass the tests”. I vowed to never send a child of mine to public school. Then we had our son, we enrolled him in Montessori and everything was going fine… until the economy tanked, I had to go back to work, and I couldn’t find a job. This summer, we made the difficult decision to send our son to public school. Never mind that it wouldn’t be an issue if we weren’t paying for a public school system through confiscatory taxes, that we had never used – or cared to. No use crying over spilt milk. So I signed up to volunteer and joined the PTA hoping it would be okay if I got involved.

That delusion lasted three days, until my son came home complaining that they don’t teach at this school. It turns out, the kids aren’t allowed to talk except during recess. So, when he asked for clarification on his worksheets, my son was told to “Just sit down and fill them out”. He complained to me that the work was stupid and boring. I thought maybe it was just an issue of learning a new way of working. When his work came home the first Friday, I saw what he meant. The work he was being given in his first grade class was preschool level. I had taken a child who was learning to do fractions and multiplication and put him in a class where he was being asked to do simple addition and to ‘circle the fourth dolphin in the group’. No wonder he was upset.

So, long story short, I sent the teacher an email asking how I could help. I wondered if it would be possible to send him home school materials to supplement the class work when he was finished and waiting for the next worksheet. ( I know you’re asking why I didn’t home school. It’s because he’s an only child and I want him to interact with other children. Plus, having to go back to work makes it nearly impossible.) I was informed that he was unable to do the work. I’ll be the first to admit that my son is stubborn and didn’t want to do the preschool work because it was ‘boring’. However, the teacher’s assesment was simply that he was unable to do the work. A student in her class couldn’t possibly be bored.

Why, do you ask, am I being so hard on her? The answer is simple. She lacked any observational skills, which ought to be a prerequisite for teaching. And, you’re going to love this, every piece of correspondence she sent me contained a spelling or grammatical error. I guess she couldn’t even be bothered to use the spell check on her email program.

The problems with public school are many and simple to assess. The main issue is the lesson plan. The problem isn’t with the plan itself, so much as the necessity to adhere to it rigidly in order to ensure equality of outcome. There is no room for children to excel in one subject and simultaneously receive help where they need it. They are all expected to do the same work, in the same way, at the same rate. Moving up a grade is frowned upon. The concept of the individual is frowned upon. Supplies are now considered communal property and are turned in to the teacher for distribution to the class as a whole during assignments only. This is done under the pretense of helping the teacher eliminate distractions and ensure that everyone has supplies. My son, however, made sure I knew that they were not allowing him to be responsible for himself. A child is perfectly capable of keeping track of a pencil, a glue stick and a pair of scissors. The real message here is that you should look to the government for the things you need so we can all be equal.

Needless to say, I finally found a job, I am volunteering at the Montessoru school in exchange for tuition reduction and my son is back where he belongs. The difference between public and private schools is simple. Private school teachers actually care about the students and what they are learning. There are exceptions on both sides, to be sure. However, we all know public education is less about education than it is about moulding good citizens.

Things you should read in case you think I am not being objective:

The NEA’s Latest Shenanigans

Race Based Punishment in Public Schools

H.L. Mencken on Public Schools

Education in the United States

John Dewey’s Philosophy on Education

More on John Dewey

This article was written for AnyStreet

I have a couple copies in my purse to hand out, so I thought I’d post the text here for purposes of reference pamphleting, etc.

Thanks for the material go to USHistory.org

By Stan Transue

Confusion does reign in Liberals’ brains
It makes them defenseless and weak
Whenever I deign to try to explain
They rebuff the wisdom they seek

They’re led by emotion, envy and greed
To sanction their brutal desires
The warnings of prudence they never heed
While stoking the class-envy fires

They claim that our rights are subject to need
While increasing their needy-ones list
They chastise those on whose labors they feed
But upon whose support they insist

They rally the poor, the ignorant masses
By saying they can live off the rich
To keep them all resting on their lazy asses
They use the same old bait and switch

In the depths of despair they call on the able
To remedy their faulty schemes
Then blame their saviors for their empty table
While maintaining impossible dreams

To the ghost of society they hold us in debt
For the good of this ghost they all strive
To steal all the money they’ve not stolen yet
To enslave us like drones to the hive

At the pinnacle of this crazy pyramid scheme
Rests the spirit of cannibalism
Our blood is to buy their utopian dream
Our bones ground to feed Communism

To restore the blessings of liberty’s vision
And stop our demise in its tracks
Expose the charade that they have permission
And give all these looters the sack

When two thousand ten comes rolling along
Your ballot can express what’s desired
Open your throat and sing freedom’s song
Tell Congress that they are all fired.

Stan’s work is available at the Habersham County Conservative Examiner and at The American Exile

This Poem was also posted at Liberatchik

Why?
“Why” is a question, that when asked, is almost an immediate annoyance to the
person it is posed to. Children annoy their parents with this question, as they
seek to gather knowledge about the world about them. It is frustrating to
parents. But, it is a question that when asked of elected officials and those
seeking to destroy America, it becomes a weapon for those seeking to save the
republic. Do not bother to ask these clowns “where” they get the authority to do
the things they do, for you will get one of two answers, in various forms; you will
be told ’the Constitution allows for it’ or you will hear, ’from the people we
represent’. Stand up and ask these clowns “why” and don’t let them off of the
hook. Here are just a few samples for town halls, phone calls, emails, faxes and
letters:
Why do you think we should have government healthcare?
Why do you think that?
Why do you believe that taxes will grow the economy?
Why do you believe that?
Why are you allowing the government to grow so big?
Why do you think the government should be so big?
Why do you believe that a minority of private sector employees can support a
majority of public employees?
Why do you believe socialism will succeed here, when it has failed everywhere
else, no matter how many people the government kills to try and make it work?
Why do you support funding eugenics and racism?
No, seriously, why do you support killing minorities through eugenics?
Why are you funding terrorism and the killing of Americans by funding Hamas
and Pakistan?
Why are you running away?
And, one last question for them:
Why haven’t you filed articles of impeachment against Obama?
Why are you ignoring your oath to support and defend the Constitution and not
filing articles of impeachment against the president?
Why not give it a try yourself? Come up with some on your own. It is fun to
watch the elected officials squirm in the light of the question, particularly when
asked in public settings. But, you must be prepared to ask follow up questions
when they attempt to spin their way out of answering. I have several follow up
questions that I prefer:
Why didn’t you answer my question?
Why is it that your actions do not match your words?
Why do you want to change America?
Why are you dodging the issues?
Be relentless. Do not back down. And, above all, “act as if”. Act as if you are the
inquisitor. Act as if you are owed an answer. Act as if you have a right to know,
for you do. And, act as if they work for you, because they do.
In keeping with the spirit of “why” I have some questions for those of you who
view yourself as patriots, as Americans, as someone fighting for freedom:
Why is it that freedom fighters in Iran are still in the streets being beat and shot,
but you won’t come outside and protest?
Why is it that our founders went to war, shot people, over a tax on a beverage,
and you won’t protest in the streets?
Why is it that you believe if you go out three to five days a year at Tea Party
events, the government will listen?
Why are you not out in the streets during rush hour, blocking traffic, failing to go
to work, on a national strike? Why are you afraid of the government? The
government should be afraid of you.
When your children, grand children and great grand children are slaves to the
nation state, and Generalissimo Obama is hailed in the history books as the great
savior of the global government, what will you tell your family when they ask you,
“Why didn’t you do more to keep us free?”
Why?
Bill Turner
Assistant National Director Network Development
www.anystreet.org

This letter is also posted on ConservativePunks

These paintings are by Michael LeKites, who was kind enough to post them on our Facebook page. They were inspired by last year’s Taxpayer March on DC. I eel a personal connection to the work because I also attended the event. From the perspective of an artist, they are very well executed. The color and composition are amazing. From the point of view of a propagandist – they rock and I hope to see more work of this kind in the public forum. Please keep an eye out for future postings of Mr. LeKites’ work, as I plan to keep track of his progress.

These images have also been posted on Liberatchik

How do those two topics relate, and how did I come across them? That’s not a bad question for a reasonable person to ask. When I picked up Origami on the Edge, I thought I would be teaching my son how to make some cool monsters.

Like everything else that involves raising a child, I should have known better than to make an assumption. If I haven’t learned anything else in the last six years, I’ve figured out that I don’t know squat about kids and just when I think I’ve seen everything, I’m proven wrong yet again.

We went to the library this week to get books and origami was a subject we were interested in. So we came home with this book by Xander Arena: American Mensa member, custom stone craftsman, full time student, and animal groomer of all things. I think you can probably guess what I thought of the biography, so we’ll leave that alone. Once I was actually reading the book to figure out how to make the monsters, which was the actual purpose of getting it, I realized there was a blog post in the making.

On the front cover is this little icon that says Green Edition. I bet you can guess where this is going. Before you assume I burn trees every day because I like to watch the shiny embers float about or club baby seals for their fur, let me say – I understand the need to conserve and protect our resources and the environment. However, those goals should not be accomplished at the expense of human life, under false pretences, at the point of a gun. The inside of the cover on the book describes why the book qualifies as planet friendly publishing in a smarmy, you suck manner that makes me want to add Dover Publications to the long list of companies I don’t want to give my money.

So, on to the point of this post. Why do I care about the blatant propaganda campaign in one origami book? Because it is obviously geared toward young people. You wouldn’t believe how many books like this are out there. I don’t believe it is coincidental any more than I believe that The Rainbow Fish is about sharing. It is a blatant campaign to teach children from a young age that humans destroy the earth and we all need to do without. Once that goal is accomplished, it’s a baby step to the concept that we’re all equal and should have equal things. Equality of outcome not equality of opportunity.

Why is this in a post on an art page? Because we need to be doing the same thing to promote honest, Conservative philosophy. Yes, you can find beautifully illustrated books on American history and Liberty in the children’s section. However, very few of them are the storybooks geared toward toddlers and young readers. If we don’t ingrain these ideas in our kids before we pack them of to public school, we have no one to blame but ourselves when they turn into blithering fools dependent on the State for their ‘needs’.

All of this brings us full circle, back to the origami book. The portion of the book that set all of this in motion is included below. You would think the description of how the artist designed the polar bear would be innocuous. Again, you would be wrong. The intro reads as follows:

“Originally, I viewed this model as simply a bear, but after reviewing photos of various sorts of bears, determined that it was definitely the arctic variety. Polar bears are presently in a bit of trouble, and I really do hope that they are able to adapt to our changing climate. Or conversely, that we slow the change…It would be a shame to lose them.”

I promise to come back from my family camping trip with something positive to say about art. I’m sure a weekend in a national park will lift my spirits. I know cooking meat over an open flame will!

Just in case you’d like to know what your kids are learning on TV, check out this article by our contributor Greg Contiero.

This article was written for Liberatchik

One of the books I am currently reading is the Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis. I am not a religious person by nature. Therefore, the book has afforded me some interesting insight into religion and spirituality. I do not, myself, posses faith or the belief in a higher being although (unlike many atheists) I do respect the right of others to do so. I find the concept of religion interesting; particularly the wealth of cultural and iconographic influence it has bestowed upon society.

For this reason, I believe I have approached the reading of this book with an open perspective. I have no agenda or preconceived notion of what it is about. I am reading it simply for the sake of gaining perspective. Ironically, the letters from Screwtape to his nephew Wormwood could just as easily be from a congressman to their aid. Perhaps it is because so many of them have spent their entire career dismantling America in much the same way that Screwtape dismantles souls.

I am not yet finished, but here are some lines I found particularly fitting to the current establishment in Washington.

“An important spiritual law is here involved. I have explained that you can weaken his prayers by diverting his attention from the Enemy Himself to his own states of mind about the Enemy. On the other hand fear becomes easier to master when the patient’s mind is diverted from the thing feared to the fear itself, considered as a present and undesirable state of his own mind; and when he regards the fear as his appointed cross he will inevitably think of it as a state of mind. One can therefore formulate the general rule; in all activities of mind which favor our cause, encourage the patient to be unself-conscious and to concentrate on the object, but in all activities favourable to the Enemy bend his mind back on itself. Let an insult or a woman’s body so fix his attention outward that he does not reflect ‘I am now entering into the state called Anger – or the state called Lust’. Contrariwise, let the reflection ‘My feelings are now growing more devout, or more charitable’ so fix inward that he no longer looks beyond himself to see our Enemy or his own neighbors.”

Translation: Put yourself and your ‘needs’ above all others. It is the mantra and the goal of the movement for ’social justice’. People are kept in a constant state of fear about their future, their status as victims, who will or won’t provide for their ‘needs’ while being kept in a position of helplessness and dependency by the very people who claim to be helping them. It is no coincidence that those same people have simultaneously torn down the concepts of morality, the family and individual responsibility.

“Thus by inflaming the horror of the Same Old Thing we have recently made the Arts, for example, less dangerous to us than perhaps, they have ever been, ‘low-brow’ and ‘high-brow’ artists alike being now daily drawn into fresh, excesses of lasciviousness, unreason, cruelty and pride. Finally, the desire for novelty is indispensable if we are to produce Fashions or Vogues.”
One need only go into the nearest gallery for an illustration of this point. The art community, which touts itself as being avant guard, independent minded, and opposed to the system has become a mere tool to the Progressive agenda. It is now our job, as Conservatives, to stand up to the status quo in the art community and take back our culture. How can we expect the next generation to understand what we are fighting for if they have no concept of Liberty or individualism? Traditionally, it has been the art community that has gone against the grain to raise awareness and promote unpopular ideas. I say we take advantage of that tradition and the means by which it has been achieved successfully in the past.

Want to help? Submit a blog post on the subject for our consideration. Send us images of your work. Find that in yourself that inspires you to stand up to the system and put it in creative form – produce a video, paint a picture, write a poem – anything to get the point across. If you need help getting started, contact me directly at frances@machinepolitick.com or feel free to use the Conservative Action Tools on my web page for ideas. The future is what we make of it.

This article was written for Liberatchik

I received the following email today from a good friend informing me that Six Flags will be having a Muslim Day scheduled on 9/12. By now I am sure you are all aware of the mega mosque being erected in New York. It is no coincidence that it is being built at ground zero. Historically, the Muslim community builds mosques on the sites of destroyed landmarks or converts existing religious structures. It is a reminder to the conquered that they are expected to submit to Muslim authority. (Some references are provided in the comments).

Dear Friends and Family:

Today I learned on the Six Flags website that they have scheduled a special “Muslim Day” at Six Flags on September 12, 2010.  Call me paranoid (I know you do) or old fashioned, but based on my understanding of Muslim tactics for conquest, having the Iconic American theme park schedule a day honoring Muslims on this sacred day of mourning is the equivalent of building a 13-story Muslim Community Center and Mosque just yards from Ground Zero in NYC (oh yeah, they’re trying to do that too!).  It’s gloating.  It’s rubbing our noses in their smug insolence.  And for the American companies and officials who allow it, its un-American!

I have sent the email below to Six Flags Special Events staff (SFGAMspecialevents@sixflags.com), and have called the President of Six Flags (contact info below)

Six Flags America
P.O. Box 4210
Largo, Maryland 20775
John Winkler, Park President
Park Information (301) 249-1500
Guest Relations (301) 249-1500 x3289

If you are so moved, please share this email with others and join me in letting Six Flags know that this event is an affront that we will not tolerate.  If you want to use my email below, feel free to make any changes that suit your sensibilities.

Thank you and God Bless America.

Stan

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Dear John Winkler;

According to your website you have set aside September 12, 2010 as a special day for Muslims at Six Flags.

First, I am absolutely stunned that your staff is so insensitive that you would schedule this kind of event on the day of mourning for the victims of the 9/11 Terrorist attacks.  You may recall that it was Muslims who killed 3000 innocent Americans and destroyed iconic American architecture – the very symbols of American greatness in the world.

I strongly object to this event.  Do not think for a moment that the significance of its timing is lost on Muslims around the globe; or seen as a mere scheduling coincidence to the Islamic Circle of North America (ICNA), which is nothing more than a front group for the Muslim Brotherhood that also embraces Hezbollah, Hamas, Al Qaeda and other terrorist organizations.

By Six Flags’ honoring Islam in this way on this day, your company is:

• Validating the attacks of September 11;
• Exalting a religion that demands the conversion or slaughter of “infidels;” (That’s you and me).
• Teaches “peaceful” Muslims to lie to and deceitfully “befriend” infidels in order to thrive while in the minority, so that they may impose the horrors of Sharia Law on their friendly hosts once their numbers are large enough; (Check Western Europe for the latter part of this trend).
• The ruthlessly expansionistic, despotic political ideology that has as its central goal, the annihilation of Jews the nation of Israel and the imposition of a global Caliphate to  impose a world-wide Muslim Theocratic dictatorship similar to what now controls Iran.

Whether or not you are aware of it, scheduling this event on this day is not only an ideological victory for the worst in Islam, but is tantamount to inviting the same Muslims who danced in jubilation on September 12, 2001 to spit on the graves of the innocents whose deaths they rejoiced.

If you let this event go forward, you are a disgrace to all Americans, and I will do every lawful thing in my power to make sure you regret the decision for the rest of your life.

Stan Transue

“Master yourself or someone else will always be your master.”