God in Human Language
In pursuit of the truth - cinops be gone - Sunday, Jan. 13, 2013
By Fr. Frank Pavone, National Director, Priests for Life
Christmas is God in Human Language
It is about a God who, in loving us, knows how to speak to us
The Letter to the Hebrews says, “In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but these last days he has spoken to by his Son” (Heb. 1:1-2).
Christmas is a revelation, manifestation, showing what was hidden. The Advent cry, “Open up, ye heavens from above!”, expresses the human need for meaning, and for the answers to basic questions: Why are we here? What is this life all about? Where are we going? Is there life after death? How are we supposed to live? Does God exist, and if so, is he a friend or foe? How does he want to be worshipped?
All the philosophers of history, though coming to a certain conclusions correctly through human reason (which though wounded by sin, is not destroyed) nevertheless could not reach the full answers to all these questions. God needed to speak, and he needed to speak in human language.
So the Son who reveals the Father, has come, and Christmas celebrates that coming. Continuing that passage from Hebrews, which is used by the Church for Christmas Day Mass, we read, “The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being” (v.3)
So, thanks to Christmas, we know who God is, what life is about, what God expects us to do, and what awaits us beyond the grave. We know how to obtain eternal life. We have found what the human heart has always sought. St. John writes, “After this I looked and there before me was a door standing open in heaven” (Revelation 4:1). Christmas opens the door and shows us God in human language!
Christmas destroys the “tyranny of relativism,” the confusion of indifferentism, the idea that each person can create his own morality, or that one religion is as good as the next. As we welcome the birth of this child, we welcome the one who will preach the Sermon on the Mount, instruct us by parables, and establish his Church to continue making his teachings clear.
To welcome the Divine Child today is to welcome all that he will do and teach, the easy and the difficult, the comforting and the challenging, without considering ourselves authorized to pick and choose among those teachings.
It makes no sense to welcome the child but reject his teachings. It is inconsistent to prepare for and celebrate Christmas but refuse to accept the fullness of the Gospel that this child proclaimed.
That Gospel has taught from the beginning that life must be protected, including life in the womb. There can be no such thing as a “pro-choice Christian.” A rejection of even a single life is a rejection of Christ himself.
This Advent and Christmas, let us welcome Christ and all that he teaches, and all whom he loves.
Sunday, January 13, 2013
Saturday, January 12, 2013
1-Co-Workers of the Truth Fellowship
1- Co-Workers of the Truth Fellowship
In pursuit of the truth - cinops be gone - Saturday, Jan. 12, 2013
It is good that pro-life, pro-marriage and pro-family advocates can meet at least once monthly. Mark your calendar for this Thursday, Jan. 17, 2013, 9-10:15 A.M. at Chick-Fil-A at the Long Beach Shopping Center, corner of 605 Freeway and Carson Street in Long Beach, Calif.
“We are afraid that the good that is in the world will become completely powerless; that eventually it will no longer be meaningful to seek the good in truth, purity, justice, or love because the law of the sharper elbow is now the only law that prevails in the world, because the tendency of the world is to judge in favor of the violent, the brutal, not the saintly. For we see it: what rules the world now is money, the atom bomb, the cynicism of those to whom nothing is sacred.” 12th, 1977, Benedict XVI.
Today, we have the values and culture of Hollywood promoted with loads of money. Add to this, we have a two-faced double-standard News media. Their enemy is also the family. Also never again will we have a 50% Catholic vote for the most adamant pro-abortionist - same-sex marriage type of President; when only 20% of Evangelicals voted for him. Why? Are we becoming like European Catholics who were duped/stupid to vote for the 1930’s demagogues in Italy & Germany?
We are grateful to Michael Novak, a member of First Things’ advisory council who will give us a background to what we face in America today. Reference First Things - February 2013 issue.
“At present, there is no realistic check on the appetite of progressive government (even on ‘compassionate conservative’ govern.) for greater tax revenues and the racking up of greater debt. Worse, these debts are without remorse laid upon the backs of future generations. They are now laid up to a Greece-like breaking point. That alone could destroy our republic. From within. Legally.
“At present, there is no practical break on a court system (and a system of law schools) that believes itself no longer bound to the foundational principles of the Constitution but only to the current ideas of “progressivism.” …
“To my mind, however the greatest of our national weaknesses lies now in the decadence of our moral and cultural institutions. Look at our mainline churches, once the bedrock of the nation’s moral solidity and depth. Look at our university faculties. Seldom has so much illusion been packed into the pride of self-superior souls.
“Our founders well understood that our sort of republic cannot stand without a foundation in morality - and religion. As both Washington and Benjamin Rush put it in different ways, the framers held quite firmly, from long experience, that our republic cannot stand without liberty; nor can liberty without virtue (for most people) without religion. (That is without religion of the type that favors and under girds human liberty. Not all religious are of that type.)
“The price of liberty, our founders often said, is eternal vigilance. The ideas on which liberty precariously rests need to be passed along from generation to generation. If they are ever forgotten or minimized, even by one generation, turn out the lights…
“Yet I am still hopeful… In my view, to put it in the words of Joseph Warren, member of the Massachusetts Provincial Congress, “our country is in danger, but not to be despaired of.” Everywhere we see the small beginnings of a drive for a “return to the Constitution” and a growing number of thinkers who are supplying fresh arguments for “revolving to first principles,” a policy that the founders advised for every generation.
“Strong Catholic minds are offering a fresh articulation of the American founding principles in the new and richer context of the Catholic intellectual tradition. Tocqueville famously hinted at this possibility: that one day Catholics would become the best intellectual defenders of the American way of understanding natural rights.”
George H. Kubeck, I believe the 80% Evangelicals who voted against Obama wish Catholics success.
In pursuit of the truth - cinops be gone - Saturday, Jan. 12, 2013
It is good that pro-life, pro-marriage and pro-family advocates can meet at least once monthly. Mark your calendar for this Thursday, Jan. 17, 2013, 9-10:15 A.M. at Chick-Fil-A at the Long Beach Shopping Center, corner of 605 Freeway and Carson Street in Long Beach, Calif.
“We are afraid that the good that is in the world will become completely powerless; that eventually it will no longer be meaningful to seek the good in truth, purity, justice, or love because the law of the sharper elbow is now the only law that prevails in the world, because the tendency of the world is to judge in favor of the violent, the brutal, not the saintly. For we see it: what rules the world now is money, the atom bomb, the cynicism of those to whom nothing is sacred.” 12th, 1977, Benedict XVI.
Today, we have the values and culture of Hollywood promoted with loads of money. Add to this, we have a two-faced double-standard News media. Their enemy is also the family. Also never again will we have a 50% Catholic vote for the most adamant pro-abortionist - same-sex marriage type of President; when only 20% of Evangelicals voted for him. Why? Are we becoming like European Catholics who were duped/stupid to vote for the 1930’s demagogues in Italy & Germany?
We are grateful to Michael Novak, a member of First Things’ advisory council who will give us a background to what we face in America today. Reference First Things - February 2013 issue.
“At present, there is no realistic check on the appetite of progressive government (even on ‘compassionate conservative’ govern.) for greater tax revenues and the racking up of greater debt. Worse, these debts are without remorse laid upon the backs of future generations. They are now laid up to a Greece-like breaking point. That alone could destroy our republic. From within. Legally.
“At present, there is no practical break on a court system (and a system of law schools) that believes itself no longer bound to the foundational principles of the Constitution but only to the current ideas of “progressivism.” …
“To my mind, however the greatest of our national weaknesses lies now in the decadence of our moral and cultural institutions. Look at our mainline churches, once the bedrock of the nation’s moral solidity and depth. Look at our university faculties. Seldom has so much illusion been packed into the pride of self-superior souls.
“Our founders well understood that our sort of republic cannot stand without a foundation in morality - and religion. As both Washington and Benjamin Rush put it in different ways, the framers held quite firmly, from long experience, that our republic cannot stand without liberty; nor can liberty without virtue (for most people) without religion. (That is without religion of the type that favors and under girds human liberty. Not all religious are of that type.)
“The price of liberty, our founders often said, is eternal vigilance. The ideas on which liberty precariously rests need to be passed along from generation to generation. If they are ever forgotten or minimized, even by one generation, turn out the lights…
“Yet I am still hopeful… In my view, to put it in the words of Joseph Warren, member of the Massachusetts Provincial Congress, “our country is in danger, but not to be despaired of.” Everywhere we see the small beginnings of a drive for a “return to the Constitution” and a growing number of thinkers who are supplying fresh arguments for “revolving to first principles,” a policy that the founders advised for every generation.
“Strong Catholic minds are offering a fresh articulation of the American founding principles in the new and richer context of the Catholic intellectual tradition. Tocqueville famously hinted at this possibility: that one day Catholics would become the best intellectual defenders of the American way of understanding natural rights.”
George H. Kubeck, I believe the 80% Evangelicals who voted against Obama wish Catholics success.
Friday, January 11, 2013
A Witness at the FPA Abortion Facility in L.B.
A Witness at the FPA Abortion Facility in L.B.
In pursuit of the truth - cinops be gone - Friday, Jan. 11, 2013
By Diane Caldera: The Knights of Columbus* at St. Irenaeus Church, Cypress, CA., have a weekly outreach to people going into or walking by the Family Planning Association (FPA) abortion mill on 2777 Long Beach Blvd. across from the Long Beach Memorial Hospital.
When I can go along with them, I take my shocking pink and white sign with me. www.AbortionBreastCancer.com When there is no foot traffic, I hold the sign up for cars traversing the street. When pedestrians approach, I show them my sign and ask if they would take some info.
Most are curious, wondering, “What does abortion have to do with breast cancer?” I hand them a little leaflet with the image of a 2 and one-half inch perfectly formed baby 12 weeks after conception. I ask them, “Does that look like a human being to you?” They always say, “Yes, of course.” Then I tell them that 4,000 babies like this one are getting sliced and diced everyday in America and have been since the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision.
I add that abortion is not good for women either, because it causes breast cancer four ways (the leaflet refers to the above website for details on this.) It also predisposes women to premature birth of future “wanted” children - a tragedy for the child, who is at high risk for cerebral palsy, blindness, mental deficiency, and many other serious conditions, and for the mother, whose premature birth increases her risk again for breast cancer (ibid.)
People are shocked to learn that, contrary to the myth, abortion is far more dangerous than childbirth. (http://after abortion.org/2012/higher-death-rates-after-abortion-found-in-u-s-finland-and-denmark/)! And there is a scandalous cover up of these facts!
(http://www.you tube.com/watch?v=Dsmma0COO1E&feature=player embedded)
If they linger, I go on to explain that abortifacient birth control is also cancer-causing (AbortionBreastCancer.org, ibid), and that all American employers are now forced to pay for cancer-causing abortifacients: the pill, patch, shot, IUD, and ring, the Morning After Pill, RU486, and Ella (jhttp://www.bcinstitute.org/pill kills brochures.htm) through the nationalized insurance we just voted for in November.
They are forced even if it goes against their consciences to do so! So we start talking about the First Amendment right to freedom of conscience and of religion that America has always supported in the past. (at Valley Forge, Mennonites and Quakers were not coerced into taking up arms against the British, although our country’s situation was grim), so why coerce now?
There is also a legal case based on health arguments against mandatory contraceptives. http://www.lldf.org/in-the-public-square.brief-argues-mandatory-contraceptives-endanger-women-health/. To top it all, I tell them about the 2009 study that shows that women under 18 who take birth control pills are three to four times the risk for TNBC, Triple-Negative Breast Cancer, the most aggressive and hard-to-treat form of breast cancer associated with more deaths at younger ages.
http://breastcancer.about.com/b/2010/01/08/abortion-birth-control-pills.htm, and that teenagers less than age 18 who have abortions between 9 and 24 weeks have an 800% increased risk of breast cancer, or a relative risk of 9.0 (times more risk!!!), according to a National Cancer Institute-commissioned study, Daling et al. 1994. (www.AbortionBreastCancer.com, ibid.)
Most of the people I talk to are greatly interested to discover this information and accept the literature. Some ask about chastity resources, so I refer them to www.chastity.com. If they are interested, I also give them a Divine Mercy prayer card. Often they smile as they leave. I smile back.
George H. Kubeck, *Cypress Council 8599.-Letter is in the Council Bulletin, Jan.2013
In pursuit of the truth - cinops be gone - Friday, Jan. 11, 2013
By Diane Caldera: The Knights of Columbus* at St. Irenaeus Church, Cypress, CA., have a weekly outreach to people going into or walking by the Family Planning Association (FPA) abortion mill on 2777 Long Beach Blvd. across from the Long Beach Memorial Hospital.
When I can go along with them, I take my shocking pink and white sign with me. www.AbortionBreastCancer.com When there is no foot traffic, I hold the sign up for cars traversing the street. When pedestrians approach, I show them my sign and ask if they would take some info.
Most are curious, wondering, “What does abortion have to do with breast cancer?” I hand them a little leaflet with the image of a 2 and one-half inch perfectly formed baby 12 weeks after conception. I ask them, “Does that look like a human being to you?” They always say, “Yes, of course.” Then I tell them that 4,000 babies like this one are getting sliced and diced everyday in America and have been since the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision.
I add that abortion is not good for women either, because it causes breast cancer four ways (the leaflet refers to the above website for details on this.) It also predisposes women to premature birth of future “wanted” children - a tragedy for the child, who is at high risk for cerebral palsy, blindness, mental deficiency, and many other serious conditions, and for the mother, whose premature birth increases her risk again for breast cancer (ibid.)
People are shocked to learn that, contrary to the myth, abortion is far more dangerous than childbirth. (http://after abortion.org/2012/higher-death-rates-after-abortion-found-in-u-s-finland-and-denmark/)! And there is a scandalous cover up of these facts!
(http://www.you tube.com/watch?v=Dsmma0COO1E&feature=player embedded)
If they linger, I go on to explain that abortifacient birth control is also cancer-causing (AbortionBreastCancer.org, ibid), and that all American employers are now forced to pay for cancer-causing abortifacients: the pill, patch, shot, IUD, and ring, the Morning After Pill, RU486, and Ella (jhttp://www.bcinstitute.org/pill kills brochures.htm) through the nationalized insurance we just voted for in November.
They are forced even if it goes against their consciences to do so! So we start talking about the First Amendment right to freedom of conscience and of religion that America has always supported in the past. (at Valley Forge, Mennonites and Quakers were not coerced into taking up arms against the British, although our country’s situation was grim), so why coerce now?
There is also a legal case based on health arguments against mandatory contraceptives. http://www.lldf.org/in-the-public-square.brief-argues-mandatory-contraceptives-endanger-women-health/. To top it all, I tell them about the 2009 study that shows that women under 18 who take birth control pills are three to four times the risk for TNBC, Triple-Negative Breast Cancer, the most aggressive and hard-to-treat form of breast cancer associated with more deaths at younger ages.
http://breastcancer.about.com/b/2010/01/08/abortion-birth-control-pills.htm, and that teenagers less than age 18 who have abortions between 9 and 24 weeks have an 800% increased risk of breast cancer, or a relative risk of 9.0 (times more risk!!!), according to a National Cancer Institute-commissioned study, Daling et al. 1994. (www.AbortionBreastCancer.com, ibid.)
Most of the people I talk to are greatly interested to discover this information and accept the literature. Some ask about chastity resources, so I refer them to www.chastity.com. If they are interested, I also give them a Divine Mercy prayer card. Often they smile as they leave. I smile back.
George H. Kubeck, *Cypress Council 8599.-Letter is in the Council Bulletin, Jan.2013
Thursday, January 10, 2013
Common Sense after a Close Election
Common Sense After a Close Election
In pursuit of the truth - cinops be gone - Thursday, Jan. 10, 2013
Preface: Tom McClintock is a fiscal conservative Congressman. He lost the Republican primary to Schwarzenegger. Otherwise he could have been elected Governor years ago. Here are some classic significant excerpts of his insightful talk given Nov. 17, 2013 at Calif. Federation of Rep. Women.
A. We need to recognize that a large proportion of our population is not familiar with the self-evident truths of the American Founding and has no compass with which to follow back to the prosperity, happiness and fulfillment that is the hallmark of a free society… Great parties are built upon great principles, and they are judged by their devotion to those principles.
B. For the first time in our history, young people face a bleaker future than their parents enjoyed. We need to appeal to them. The very groups of voters most damaged by Obama’s policies are those who voted for Obama - we need to appeal to them. Not in the closing days of a campaign poisoned with partisanship - but right now.
1) First, the same election that returned Obama to the White House also returned the second largest House Republican majority since World War II - bigger than anything Newt Gingrich ever had.
2) Second, according to polls before, during and after this election, the American people agree with us fundamentally on issues involving the economy, Obamacare, government spending, bailouts, …
3) Third, the American people are about to get graduate level course in Obamanomics, and at the end of that course, they are going to be a lot sadder and a lot wiser.
4) Have we forgotten that just two years ago, Republicans [with Tea Party] campaigned on clear principles of individual liberty & constitutionally limited government… a net gain of 63 U.S. House seats, six U.S. Senate seats, 19 state legislatures, six governors &nearly 700 state legislative seats? [This group of Americans that passed according to Time Magazine 90 restrictions on abortions.]
5) It is true that Latino voters are a growing part of the American electorate - making up 10% of the vote in 2012, of which 71% voted for Barack Obama, according to the CBS exit poll….
6) Citing research from the Pew Institute … the wave of illegal immigration has now crested and may actually be reversing… noted that every immigration wave has followed this pattern. Those who stay become more and more assimilated and more and more Republican as the years go by…
7) It is true that 5 % said that the most important issue in their vote for President was their pro-choice/pro-abortion position. 5% of the entire electorate is nothing to sneeze at. But 4% of the voters said in casting their vote for President was their pro-life/anti-abortion position… a statistical tie.
8) The voters who appeared at the polls agree with us on Obamacare. According to the CBS exit poll, by a plurality of 49 to 41 %, they want to repeal some or all of Obamacare… By a margin of 51 to 43 %, they believe that government is “doing too much things better left to businesses and individuals.”… By a resounding margin of 63 to 33%, they disagreed with the statement that “taxes should be raised to help cut the deficit.” … 52% voters agreed “things in this country today are seriously off on the wrong track.”…
9) The single biggest political movement in 2009 and 2010 was the much maligned, politically incorrect Tea Party … The Tea Party energized fully one third of the American electorate; 60% were Republicans, 20% independents and 20% Democrats. [The Tea Party will be active in 1214.]
George H. Kubeck, We must vomit out of our minds the mindset of leftist political correctness.
In pursuit of the truth - cinops be gone - Thursday, Jan. 10, 2013
Preface: Tom McClintock is a fiscal conservative Congressman. He lost the Republican primary to Schwarzenegger. Otherwise he could have been elected Governor years ago. Here are some classic significant excerpts of his insightful talk given Nov. 17, 2013 at Calif. Federation of Rep. Women.
A. We need to recognize that a large proportion of our population is not familiar with the self-evident truths of the American Founding and has no compass with which to follow back to the prosperity, happiness and fulfillment that is the hallmark of a free society… Great parties are built upon great principles, and they are judged by their devotion to those principles.
B. For the first time in our history, young people face a bleaker future than their parents enjoyed. We need to appeal to them. The very groups of voters most damaged by Obama’s policies are those who voted for Obama - we need to appeal to them. Not in the closing days of a campaign poisoned with partisanship - but right now.
1) First, the same election that returned Obama to the White House also returned the second largest House Republican majority since World War II - bigger than anything Newt Gingrich ever had.
2) Second, according to polls before, during and after this election, the American people agree with us fundamentally on issues involving the economy, Obamacare, government spending, bailouts, …
3) Third, the American people are about to get graduate level course in Obamanomics, and at the end of that course, they are going to be a lot sadder and a lot wiser.
4) Have we forgotten that just two years ago, Republicans [with Tea Party] campaigned on clear principles of individual liberty & constitutionally limited government… a net gain of 63 U.S. House seats, six U.S. Senate seats, 19 state legislatures, six governors &nearly 700 state legislative seats? [This group of Americans that passed according to Time Magazine 90 restrictions on abortions.]
5) It is true that Latino voters are a growing part of the American electorate - making up 10% of the vote in 2012, of which 71% voted for Barack Obama, according to the CBS exit poll….
6) Citing research from the Pew Institute … the wave of illegal immigration has now crested and may actually be reversing… noted that every immigration wave has followed this pattern. Those who stay become more and more assimilated and more and more Republican as the years go by…
7) It is true that 5 % said that the most important issue in their vote for President was their pro-choice/pro-abortion position. 5% of the entire electorate is nothing to sneeze at. But 4% of the voters said in casting their vote for President was their pro-life/anti-abortion position… a statistical tie.
8) The voters who appeared at the polls agree with us on Obamacare. According to the CBS exit poll, by a plurality of 49 to 41 %, they want to repeal some or all of Obamacare… By a margin of 51 to 43 %, they believe that government is “doing too much things better left to businesses and individuals.”… By a resounding margin of 63 to 33%, they disagreed with the statement that “taxes should be raised to help cut the deficit.” … 52% voters agreed “things in this country today are seriously off on the wrong track.”…
9) The single biggest political movement in 2009 and 2010 was the much maligned, politically incorrect Tea Party … The Tea Party energized fully one third of the American electorate; 60% were Republicans, 20% independents and 20% Democrats. [The Tea Party will be active in 1214.]
George H. Kubeck, We must vomit out of our minds the mindset of leftist political correctness.
Monday, January 7, 2013
Is America Exceptional?
Is America Exceptional?
In pursuit of the truth - cinops be gone - Monday, Jan. 7, 2013
We have excerpts from an insightful speech given by Norman Podhoretz delivered Sept. 12, 2012 at the Hillsdale College, and posted in IMPRIS, Oct. 2012, Vol. 41, Number 10.
First of all, unlike all other nations past or present, this one accepted as a self-evident truth that all men are created equal. What is meant was that its Founders aimed to create a society in which, for the first time in the history of the world, the individual’s fate would be determined not by who his father was, but by his own freely chosen pursuit of his own ambition…
Secondly, in all other countries membership or citizenship was a matter of birth, of blood, of lineage, or rootedness in the soil. Thus foreigners who were admitted for one reason or another could never become full-fledged members of the society. But America was the incarnation of an idea, and therefore no such factors came into play. To become a full-fledged American, it was only necessary to pledge allegiance to the new Republic and to the principles for which it stood.
Thirdly, in all other nations, the rights, if any, enjoyed by their citizens were conferred by human agencies: … In America, by contrast, the citizen’s rights were declared from the beginning to have come from God and to be “inalienable” - that is immune to legitimate revocation…
We have excelled by following our Founding Fathers in directing our energies, as our Constitution exhorts us to do, to the preservation of the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, as well as to the pursuit of happiness tacitly understood by the Declaration of Independence to require prosperity as a precondition. (In his original draft of the Declaration, of course, Jefferson used the word “property” instead of “pursuit of happiness.”) …
So far as liberty is concerned, until recently no one but libertarian have been arguing that we were insufficiently free in the United States… Judging by what they say and the policies they pursue modern liberals are not all that concerned about liberty. What they really care about, and what they assign a higher value to, is economic equality( as reflected in the now famous phrase, “spread the wealth around”)…
Yet after surveying the numbers, the economist Walter Williams of George Mason University asks an excellent question: “What standard of fairness dictates that the top ten percent of income earners pay 71 percent of the federal income tax burden while 47% percent of Americans pay absolutely nothing?” … The petering out of the Occupy Wall Street movement has recently confirmed, what Tocqueville observed on this point in the 1830s remains true today, Americans, unlike Europeans, he wrote, “do not hate the higher classes of society” even if “they are not favorable inclined toward them…”…
With all exceptions duly noted, I think it is fair to say that what liberals mainly see when they look at America today is injustice and oppression crying out for redress. By sharp contrast, conservatives see a complex of traditions and institutions built upon the principles that animated the American Revolution and have made it possible … for more freedom and more prosperity to be enjoyed by more of its citizens than in any other society in human history…
Consider the many apologies President Obama has issued for misdeeds of which he imagines Americans have been guilty in our relations with other countries in general and Muslim world in particular. Never mind that the U.S. has spilled blood and treasure to liberate and protect many millions of people from the totalitarian horrors first of Nazism and then of Communism…
The liberal community seems to think that the rest of the world would be better off without the United States… but most conservatives do not believe that a radical diminution of American power and influence would be good for us or for the world….
George H. Kubeck - The reelection of Obama was a tragedy and our country will experience it.
In pursuit of the truth - cinops be gone - Monday, Jan. 7, 2013
We have excerpts from an insightful speech given by Norman Podhoretz delivered Sept. 12, 2012 at the Hillsdale College, and posted in IMPRIS, Oct. 2012, Vol. 41, Number 10.
First of all, unlike all other nations past or present, this one accepted as a self-evident truth that all men are created equal. What is meant was that its Founders aimed to create a society in which, for the first time in the history of the world, the individual’s fate would be determined not by who his father was, but by his own freely chosen pursuit of his own ambition…
Secondly, in all other countries membership or citizenship was a matter of birth, of blood, of lineage, or rootedness in the soil. Thus foreigners who were admitted for one reason or another could never become full-fledged members of the society. But America was the incarnation of an idea, and therefore no such factors came into play. To become a full-fledged American, it was only necessary to pledge allegiance to the new Republic and to the principles for which it stood.
Thirdly, in all other nations, the rights, if any, enjoyed by their citizens were conferred by human agencies: … In America, by contrast, the citizen’s rights were declared from the beginning to have come from God and to be “inalienable” - that is immune to legitimate revocation…
We have excelled by following our Founding Fathers in directing our energies, as our Constitution exhorts us to do, to the preservation of the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, as well as to the pursuit of happiness tacitly understood by the Declaration of Independence to require prosperity as a precondition. (In his original draft of the Declaration, of course, Jefferson used the word “property” instead of “pursuit of happiness.”) …
So far as liberty is concerned, until recently no one but libertarian have been arguing that we were insufficiently free in the United States… Judging by what they say and the policies they pursue modern liberals are not all that concerned about liberty. What they really care about, and what they assign a higher value to, is economic equality( as reflected in the now famous phrase, “spread the wealth around”)…
Yet after surveying the numbers, the economist Walter Williams of George Mason University asks an excellent question: “What standard of fairness dictates that the top ten percent of income earners pay 71 percent of the federal income tax burden while 47% percent of Americans pay absolutely nothing?” … The petering out of the Occupy Wall Street movement has recently confirmed, what Tocqueville observed on this point in the 1830s remains true today, Americans, unlike Europeans, he wrote, “do not hate the higher classes of society” even if “they are not favorable inclined toward them…”…
With all exceptions duly noted, I think it is fair to say that what liberals mainly see when they look at America today is injustice and oppression crying out for redress. By sharp contrast, conservatives see a complex of traditions and institutions built upon the principles that animated the American Revolution and have made it possible … for more freedom and more prosperity to be enjoyed by more of its citizens than in any other society in human history…
Consider the many apologies President Obama has issued for misdeeds of which he imagines Americans have been guilty in our relations with other countries in general and Muslim world in particular. Never mind that the U.S. has spilled blood and treasure to liberate and protect many millions of people from the totalitarian horrors first of Nazism and then of Communism…
The liberal community seems to think that the rest of the world would be better off without the United States… but most conservatives do not believe that a radical diminution of American power and influence would be good for us or for the world….
George H. Kubeck - The reelection of Obama was a tragedy and our country will experience it.
Sunday, January 6, 2013
Ted Cruz Wins US Senate Seat in Texas
Ted Cruz Wins US Senate Seat in Texas
In pursuit of the truth - cinops be gone - Sunday, Jan. 6th, 2013
Preface: How fortunate the citizens of Texas are in having a Republican Party that respects and works directly with pro-life, pro-marriage and pro-family citizens. And that includes all who are also associated with the Tea Party Patriots which well-informed Catholics are also members.
Texas is a state that has about the same make-up of citizens like California. They passed the Parental Notification law to inform parents of a minor’s abortion years ago. (about 60%) They also have laws protecting the unborn and de-funding of Planned Parenthood. Thanks to the CINOP (Catholic-in-name-only politician) we failed to pass California’s Parental Notification at least twice. Texas is a Right to Work State. We in California failed to pass Proposition 32 which would have protected an individual’s choice to contribute monies for political agendas.
Proposition 32 is about: you pay for your political and social agenda and I will pay for mine. But don’t force me to pay for yours as condition for my employment. Well in California you are required to pay the union dues. You can’t decide. The union bosses know what is best for you. Recall the teacher unions forcing their members with their money contributions to defeat Proposition 8 - Marriage between a man and woman in California.
As a retired public school teacher this is an insult to the teaching profession which is supposed to be independent-minded. Well thanks to the union teacher Rodda Act of 1975 signed by CINOP Governor Brown we have a politicized leftist social engineering teaching profession in California. This is a tragedy for our children’s education. We are also stuck with two pro-abort, gay-sex marriage Senators Feinstein and Boxer. Thanks to the CINOP, like Beccerra and others.
++++++++++++
Breadth of Fresh Air Report: Think about it. Senator Fred Cruz beat his Democratic opponent Paul Sadler 57% to 40%. Could you imagine this happening in California? Fred Cruz had to win the Republican primary. He ran against a well known and established Republican. He was 11 points behind and in the runoff beat him by 14 points. Why?
Let’s get to some excerpts from the newsletter of the Leadership Institute V. 19, No. 8 Winter/12 - www.leadershipinstitute.org - 1101 North Highland St., Arlington, Virginia 22201
“Cruz served as a leadership Institute volunteer faculty member. He hired LI alumni to help in his campaign… Tea Party-backed Cruz won the endorsement of individuals like Senators Jim Demint and Rand Paul, former Senator Rick Santorium, Congressman Ron Paul, and former Governor Sarah Palin…
“Cruz chose Leadership Institute graduate Nick Dyer as his Youth Coordinator, whose job was to identify and organize conservative leaders on campuses throughout the state. “ I worked with them to facilitate projects that I learned about in LI’s Youth Leadership School. We built a network of volunteers that were integral to the success of the campaign,” said Dyer… “LI’s training has given me an invaluable foundation for political action. Whether it is techniques for Get Out The Vote, messaging, volunteer recruitment, or youth outreach, I use something I have learned from LI every day… We recruited, activated, and motivated thousands of volunteer.”…
“Leadership Institute faculty member Vincent Harris managed Cruz’s digital strategy and online presence… “The Cruz campaign ran the most integrated statewide digital strategy in the history of American politics.”… article written by Shane Seegers.
George H. Kubeck, I hope the above can happen in California. It is also a false idea to parrot that same-sex marriage is a conservative or Republican idea.
In pursuit of the truth - cinops be gone - Sunday, Jan. 6th, 2013
Preface: How fortunate the citizens of Texas are in having a Republican Party that respects and works directly with pro-life, pro-marriage and pro-family citizens. And that includes all who are also associated with the Tea Party Patriots which well-informed Catholics are also members.
Texas is a state that has about the same make-up of citizens like California. They passed the Parental Notification law to inform parents of a minor’s abortion years ago. (about 60%) They also have laws protecting the unborn and de-funding of Planned Parenthood. Thanks to the CINOP (Catholic-in-name-only politician) we failed to pass California’s Parental Notification at least twice. Texas is a Right to Work State. We in California failed to pass Proposition 32 which would have protected an individual’s choice to contribute monies for political agendas.
Proposition 32 is about: you pay for your political and social agenda and I will pay for mine. But don’t force me to pay for yours as condition for my employment. Well in California you are required to pay the union dues. You can’t decide. The union bosses know what is best for you. Recall the teacher unions forcing their members with their money contributions to defeat Proposition 8 - Marriage between a man and woman in California.
As a retired public school teacher this is an insult to the teaching profession which is supposed to be independent-minded. Well thanks to the union teacher Rodda Act of 1975 signed by CINOP Governor Brown we have a politicized leftist social engineering teaching profession in California. This is a tragedy for our children’s education. We are also stuck with two pro-abort, gay-sex marriage Senators Feinstein and Boxer. Thanks to the CINOP, like Beccerra and others.
++++++++++++
Breadth of Fresh Air Report: Think about it. Senator Fred Cruz beat his Democratic opponent Paul Sadler 57% to 40%. Could you imagine this happening in California? Fred Cruz had to win the Republican primary. He ran against a well known and established Republican. He was 11 points behind and in the runoff beat him by 14 points. Why?
Let’s get to some excerpts from the newsletter of the Leadership Institute V. 19, No. 8 Winter/12 - www.leadershipinstitute.org - 1101 North Highland St., Arlington, Virginia 22201
“Cruz served as a leadership Institute volunteer faculty member. He hired LI alumni to help in his campaign… Tea Party-backed Cruz won the endorsement of individuals like Senators Jim Demint and Rand Paul, former Senator Rick Santorium, Congressman Ron Paul, and former Governor Sarah Palin…
“Cruz chose Leadership Institute graduate Nick Dyer as his Youth Coordinator, whose job was to identify and organize conservative leaders on campuses throughout the state. “ I worked with them to facilitate projects that I learned about in LI’s Youth Leadership School. We built a network of volunteers that were integral to the success of the campaign,” said Dyer… “LI’s training has given me an invaluable foundation for political action. Whether it is techniques for Get Out The Vote, messaging, volunteer recruitment, or youth outreach, I use something I have learned from LI every day… We recruited, activated, and motivated thousands of volunteer.”…
“Leadership Institute faculty member Vincent Harris managed Cruz’s digital strategy and online presence… “The Cruz campaign ran the most integrated statewide digital strategy in the history of American politics.”… article written by Shane Seegers.
George H. Kubeck, I hope the above can happen in California. It is also a false idea to parrot that same-sex marriage is a conservative or Republican idea.
Friday, January 4, 2013
A Lesson About European Socialism
A Lesson About European Socialism
In pursuit of the truth- cinops be gone - Friday, Jan. 4, 2013
By a Danish bank executive on LI-organized speaking tour
Newsletter of the Leadership Institute, Vol. XIX - No. 19 - Winter/13 - www.leadershipinstitute.org
Saxo Bank CEO Lars Seier Christensen speaks to students at Liberty University about the dangers of socialism. As Shakespeare wrote, something is rotten in the state of Denmark.
“Many who are fighting socialism in the United States, very frankly, don’t have a clear or systematic understanding of what socialism actually does to a country.” With these words, Morton Blackwell, president of the Leadership Institute, launched a week-long speaking tour and introduced Lars Seier Christensen to an audAb to hear vivid, first-hand illustration of socialist policies and their effects in Denmark.
Dane warns Americans about socialist danger: Christensen, founder and co-CEO of Saxo Bank in Denmark, embarked on a five-day speaking and media tour October 15-19 organized by the Leadership Institute across three states and Washington, D.C. The tour included lectures at the University of North Carolina, Liberty University, and the Heritage Foundation, and several interviews, including the Wall Street Journal, Fox Business News, and Glenn Beck TV.
…“America stands at a crossroads between capitalism and prosperity or European-style socialism and economic decline. Mr. Christensen’s message could neither be more timely nor more important.”
Denmark: people addicted to handouts: Christensen used his homeland of Denmark to teach what America will become if its current course is not changed. Since Denmark is so far down the road of socialism, it is almost impossible to change the hearts and minds of its citizens who are addicted to government handouts and entitlements.
To pay for these handouts, the government levies a tax burden on each middle-class citizen of 80-85%. This rate is higher than in Cuba or other dictatorships. With a political spectrum further to the left than the US, only one party in Denmark can be considered opposed to socialism, and its push for lower taxes, limited government, and reduced public sector expenditures now garners only 5% of the vote. The conservative message is marginalized and distrusted because of its association with capitalism. Most Danes believe private sector financial success can only be achieved at the expense of others or by bending or breaking the law. Socialist create the illusion of tax reform by shifting the money from one pocket to the other.
Socialism destroys the will to work, and the state sponsors it: Christensen shared with his audience an example of the outrageous state-sponsored abuse of entitlements. In Denmark, a dispute arose between two politician. The socialist argued for more entitlements to help the “poor.” The conservative challenged the socialist to find a poor person in Denmark. The best example the socialist could find was a woman, late called “Carina the Pauper” by the media. Carina, a 36-year old able-bodied woman who never worked a day in her life, receives a $2,600-a-month government stipend. After expenses of housing, utilities, internet, big-screen cable TV, pet food, cigarettes, and her son’s soccer lessons, she is still left with $1,000 per month. Many Danish citizens were shocked to learn about Carina, who appeared ungrateful even after receiving more income from tax-derived handouts than the working class earns.
Snoopers for the nanny state: To maintain this welfare state, the government has set up telephone hotlines for citizens to report neighbors who many be cheating the social welfare programs or not paying their taxes properly. The Danish tax authorities can walk into a person’s home on suspicion, whereas permission to search for a suspected terrorist is much more difficult.
Lars Christensen’s lectures opened the eyes of many thousands of students and citizens. Americans would do well to heed Christensen as a prophet who has seen the future of socialism and how a country is dragged down when the incentives to work and produce are destroyed.
George H. Kubeck- Obama’s policies will become today’s Denmark in America.
In pursuit of the truth- cinops be gone - Friday, Jan. 4, 2013
By a Danish bank executive on LI-organized speaking tour
Newsletter of the Leadership Institute, Vol. XIX - No. 19 - Winter/13 - www.leadershipinstitute.org
Saxo Bank CEO Lars Seier Christensen speaks to students at Liberty University about the dangers of socialism. As Shakespeare wrote, something is rotten in the state of Denmark.
“Many who are fighting socialism in the United States, very frankly, don’t have a clear or systematic understanding of what socialism actually does to a country.” With these words, Morton Blackwell, president of the Leadership Institute, launched a week-long speaking tour and introduced Lars Seier Christensen to an audAb to hear vivid, first-hand illustration of socialist policies and their effects in Denmark.
Dane warns Americans about socialist danger: Christensen, founder and co-CEO of Saxo Bank in Denmark, embarked on a five-day speaking and media tour October 15-19 organized by the Leadership Institute across three states and Washington, D.C. The tour included lectures at the University of North Carolina, Liberty University, and the Heritage Foundation, and several interviews, including the Wall Street Journal, Fox Business News, and Glenn Beck TV.
…“America stands at a crossroads between capitalism and prosperity or European-style socialism and economic decline. Mr. Christensen’s message could neither be more timely nor more important.”
Denmark: people addicted to handouts: Christensen used his homeland of Denmark to teach what America will become if its current course is not changed. Since Denmark is so far down the road of socialism, it is almost impossible to change the hearts and minds of its citizens who are addicted to government handouts and entitlements.
To pay for these handouts, the government levies a tax burden on each middle-class citizen of 80-85%. This rate is higher than in Cuba or other dictatorships. With a political spectrum further to the left than the US, only one party in Denmark can be considered opposed to socialism, and its push for lower taxes, limited government, and reduced public sector expenditures now garners only 5% of the vote. The conservative message is marginalized and distrusted because of its association with capitalism. Most Danes believe private sector financial success can only be achieved at the expense of others or by bending or breaking the law. Socialist create the illusion of tax reform by shifting the money from one pocket to the other.
Socialism destroys the will to work, and the state sponsors it: Christensen shared with his audience an example of the outrageous state-sponsored abuse of entitlements. In Denmark, a dispute arose between two politician. The socialist argued for more entitlements to help the “poor.” The conservative challenged the socialist to find a poor person in Denmark. The best example the socialist could find was a woman, late called “Carina the Pauper” by the media. Carina, a 36-year old able-bodied woman who never worked a day in her life, receives a $2,600-a-month government stipend. After expenses of housing, utilities, internet, big-screen cable TV, pet food, cigarettes, and her son’s soccer lessons, she is still left with $1,000 per month. Many Danish citizens were shocked to learn about Carina, who appeared ungrateful even after receiving more income from tax-derived handouts than the working class earns.
Snoopers for the nanny state: To maintain this welfare state, the government has set up telephone hotlines for citizens to report neighbors who many be cheating the social welfare programs or not paying their taxes properly. The Danish tax authorities can walk into a person’s home on suspicion, whereas permission to search for a suspected terrorist is much more difficult.
Lars Christensen’s lectures opened the eyes of many thousands of students and citizens. Americans would do well to heed Christensen as a prophet who has seen the future of socialism and how a country is dragged down when the incentives to work and produce are destroyed.
George H. Kubeck- Obama’s policies will become today’s Denmark in America.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)