The Battle Hymm of the Baby Boomers

It's shocking! A very good friend sent this to me! What was he thinking, anyway? I mean, to send this to me a day or two before my birthday? Oh, the cruelty! (Not that I'm hinting or anything.... hint... hint....)

(I apologize to anyone offended by the crude language in this video. However, while crude, the words are allowed by the FCC for radio and TV broadcast.)

Warning: If you are 30 or older, you may be depressed after watching this video...

Thank God, I'm STILL only 29! (Right..... and man-caused global warming is real, too!)

If I could wrap my brain around the new Senator from Minnesota, Al Franken, then I know I can deal with my old age... Oops...

A Second Chance?

By John Kubicek

Just a little more than a month ago (May 19), a strange thing happened at work. We see a few feral felines out at my work site which is in a rural area. But until May 19, I had never seen a domesticated cat out there. That is when I met Pearse.

Unfortunately, pet owners in this part of Iowa, since the flood last year, and because of the economy, have been having problems with either finding places to live that allow pets, or they found they couldn't afford the expense of providing for their pets, or both. So, thinking that the cat was most likely "dumped" by an owner, I took him home with me that morning.

There are times when we have have good intentions, but end up having unintended consequences. On the Saturday before Memorial Day, I was able to take Pearse into the Veterinarian for a check up. The Vet removed a tick from the outside of his ear, gave Pearse the needed initial shots, and put a little flea and tic repellent between Pearse's shoulders. Up until that Vet appointment, Pearse was my little shadow.

Strangely, though, after that appointment, Pearse started doing all he could to not be seen. He started hiding. At first, I was able to find his hiding places. But I also noticed that he had scratched his ear really bad where the tick had been removed. But then, he started scratching his back where the flea and tick stuff (Revolution)was applied, and it became infected. And then, it got to where I couldn't even find him, as his "hiding places" got to be where he knew I wouldn't be able to find him. I wanted to get him back the Vet, but towards the first part of June, I was not able to find him at all. He had found such a good spot to hide, I wasn't able to find him for almost two days.

And then, on June 3, as I was getting ready to go to bed, he came out of hiding. I didn't know it, but apparently Pearse came out of hiding that day to say goodbye. When I got up to get ready for work that night, Moochie (my dog) and I found him; little Pearse had passed away.

Needless to say, I was feeling very bad about that for the last several weeks. Not only did I greatly miss him, I also felt that I was somehow responsible to Pearse's ultimate demise. And, quite honestly and understandably, I also had no desire to get a "replacement cat."

I had that attitude right up until Father's Day, this past Sunday. That was when my attitude was drastically altered, for the good! That night, just as I was getting ready to depart for work, my neighbor knocked on my door. I have to think this scenario had been perfectly choreographed. The first thing my neighbor said was, "I think I've found a replacement cat for you," and seconds later, around the corner of his house, comes this cat. The cat looked exactly like Pearse. My neighbor and I talked for a few minutes, I had a few questions, and I finally told Greg (my neighbor) that I would have to think about it, being that I was just getting ready to leave for work.

I got to work at about 10:00 PM, and I bet it wasn't 20 minutes before I decided that I wanted to adopt the cat. But I still sought advice from my co-workers. Most felt that I SHOULD take in the new cat. And it's ironic, because some of the information I had been told about the cat by my neighbor wasn't exactly accurate. I mean, the information that I had available at the time I was speaking with the co-workers about adopting the cat, was much like George W. Bush's information about WMD in Iraq when he made the decision to go to war.

I made the decision, then, while I was at work, that I would adopt the cat. My plan was, when I got home from work Monday morning, I would look up Greg, the neighbor, and find out where the cat was. My decision was to adopt the "replacement cat" was so solid, that when I was at work, I thought of a name for the cat. It was a no brainger, too. I named him RC. That makes sense, right? Think, "Replacement Cat"!

But instead of having to try to contact Greg, the neighbor, something happened that was the deal maker. Just after getting my dog outside to the fenced in yard, as I was heading back to the house, I heard the "meow," and there he was! And there you go! He (RC) was a new member of the family.

So, despite the few minor skirmeshes between RC and my dog Moochie, everyone is very happy! RC, like Pearse was when I first brought him home, is my shadow. I'm getting a second chance! It was meant to be.

I was wondering what kind of point I was going to make with this column, as I was writing the above. After all, this blog is usually about politics. I'm not going to disappoint you, as I just saw something breaking in the news today. It is very, very sad. What I'm talking about is the story about S.C. Governor Mark Sanford. He "disappeared" for a week. Today, a shocking press conference, where he admits to an extramarital affair. To top it all, Gov. Sanford was actually a potential candidate for the Republican nomination for President for 2012. This is shocking, to say the least. His political career is probably down the drain, not to mention that his marriage will be difficult to keep together. It would be difficult to believe that Gov. Sanford's political career will have a second chance.

All this happens just when I was going to write about the fact that how Obama deals with North Korea and Iran could be deal makers or breakers. I was going to mention the fact that if Obama is wrong about the potential threats, America is in great jeopardy. If the President is EVER wrong about how his foreign policy is run, I'm afraid that he will also not get a second chance. A nuclear attack on America could result in a solid blow against our lives and our liberty as we know it in America.

I was lucky. I got a second chance, an opportunity to make things right with the adoption of my new little buddy, RC. And this wasn't the first time I've been allowed a "second chance." I'm afraid that Gov. Mark Sandford, though, won't be able to get by this in his political career. He's not going to be as lucky as former President Clinton. I will pray that Sanford does have a chance to resolve the marital issues, and that won't be easy, but that will be his only opportunity for a "second chance."

But will Obama get a "second chance" should he be wrong with how he deals with Iran and North Korea? Will America get a "second chance" if we are attacked by terrorists, Iran, or North Korea with a WMD?

And can we always expect a "second chance?" No. However, don't pile on me when I tell you that sometimes a "second chance" can come along, and it is up to us to know when we can reconcile our past mistakes. Hopefully, there will be a mistake America made by electing Barack Obama that we will still have a chance to resolve in November of 2012.

RELATED STORY:
Living Side By Side In Peace

Liberals are making me work too hard

By John Kubicek

Seriously, I'm in need of a day off. The liberals are making me work too hard. WAY too hard!

Not a day will go by when there isn't anything in the news that would bother me. Being a news junkie, I will never have withdrawal symptoms, unless this country gets hit by an EMP, or sun spots, and we lose all access to the internet.

So, let me just tell you, I've moved on to the harder stuff. Sure, the stories about criminal activities (car chases) and the uncovered scandals with celebrities will sometimes interest me and get my attention. But my true mission is to tell you about the stories that are not only interesting, but vital to helping you retain your liberties. Getting people to pay attention to the assault on our freedoms by our government is what I am really concerned with.

In this last week, I paid attention to the stories that you will NOT know about in most of the mainstream news outlets. I was very focused on stories this last week that will hopefully give some clues to those out there that are uninformed or misinformed, or both. I was spending a lot of my time on gathering evidence.

What kind of evidence am I talking about? Would a few good videos help? Of course they would! I did my best to capture what were the stories of the week. But, except for one minor problem, what I can tell you about is just the tip of the proverbial iceberg. In the many hours that I spent on capturing news video, I had to be very selective on what I would upload and share on my youtube channel.

There is a major challenge with being a "news editor," and that is the need to increase the "value" of our blogs or news sites. That is not necessarily just going to be a financial value that I have in mind. No, sometimes it is that we want to make sure people - as many as possible - get an idea of what is really going on in this world. We try to provide more information than what they would be getting from the mainstream media alone.

With that being said, let me give you a few ideas of what I saw in the news this week. These are things that will affect a large number of you, my readers. I'm pretty sure that a large majority of people that read my columns are involved in endeavors that depend on free enterprise.

The attack on Free Enterprise



And here, Gretchen Carlson (of Fox News) talks about profitable auto dealerships being shut down.



And if those last two videos weren't outrageous enough for you, how about this?

Gretchen Carlson vs GM



And in the mean time, we hear that Carrie Prejean has been fired as Miss California. (And here we thought North Korea was a situation to be really worried about!) Seriously, don't worry about Carrie. She'll come out just fine, I'll guarantee it. But, I'm not so sure about North Korea and Iran being involved in the devolopment of nuclear weaponry and methods of delivering the weapons of mass destruction.

So instead of us having to deal with such serious subjects, I will divert your attention for a few moments of fun. I just happened to catch this fun segment I saw this week on Fox and Friends. You have to see it! Have your heard of the Young Cons? You'll love this!

The Young Cons on Fox & Friends - June 10, 2009



I was totally impressed that a couple basketball players would take on the liberal establishment, despite being at Dartmouth. We can only imagine the pressure they may have to deal with. But then, that can't possibly compare with the attack on a Conservative that we saw this last week, as in Dave Letterman's trashing of Sarah Palin and her family. Michelle Malkin brings some perspective to the fact that those on the Right will take a lot of heat, in very nasty ways. And really, it's only those on the right that would have their families attacked in derogatory ways.

Michelle Malkin says Letterman's attack on Palin and her family is pathetic



There was really just one point to this entire column. Those last two videos expressed the fact that if you are willing to stick by your values, you are going to need very thick skin. And that is exactly why I will stick my neck out for what Gretchen Carlson did this last week. Gretchen did a great job in letting us all know, free enterprise is truly under attack.

Not a business owner? Not a problem, right? Of course not, unless you are wondering if unemployment would be a setback... The attack on Free Enterprise by the Obama minions will hurt all of us.

What we are facing: A true "grave danger"

By John Kubicek

How much scarier can it get?

My colleague Joseph Farah was attacked by a blogger in a post entitled, "Joseph Farah is a serious US domestic danger!" And without some real critical thinking about what was written by the author, Sam Mehrani, it could have been easily overlooked. And I am not even talking about Sam's lousy spelling and grammatical skills. Actually, the real problem I have is that Sam and people like him (or her?) is the real danger in this country.

Wait, didn't I hear almost eight years ago that people were actually complaining because some were saying that those that didn't support the War on Terror were unpatriotic? Apparently, when the tables are turned, it is now unpatriotic to not support "The One." And I quote Sam, when it was written, "The outcome of it so far has become a grave danger [emphasis mine] for the US. It is nothing more than unpatriotic behaviour that should be swiftly delt with." A grave danger... "Unpatriotic behaviour that should be swiftly delt with?"

Sam Mehrani gave us an unintended gift. What was written in that piece displayed the complete picture of what a truly brain-washed devout cult-like follower of a empty-suited figurehead would look like. We can't thank him (her?) enough.

The moronic Mehrani diatribe was spawned by Joseph Farah's quest to get Barack Obama to disclose his actual long-form birth certificate. Seriously, anyone with a neuron or two floating around in their brains would have to really wonder why Barry Hussein Obama would refuse to do so. I don't remember Barack talking about privacy in his campaign speeches. Wasn't his theme about transperency? I mean, the way he was talking, he should be displaying his Social Security Number on the side of Air Force None... I mean, Air Force The One...

What is he hiding? Isn't his refusal to allow public viewing of his long form birth certificate some type of admission of guilt? Why?

But hey, if the Mehranic ones can find a way to demean those that ask the critical questions, they will do so as long as they are enabled by the lame-stream press, and by us. That's right. Even though some of us may feel like we are just a grain of sand on beach, we must speak up. The grave danger would be if when our comrads are attacked, we stay silent.

Memorial Day: A Time to Remember

By John Kubicek

Memorial Day, it is a time to remember that freedom isn't free.

Freedom's Not Free - By The Rivoli Revue (Ron and Kay Rivoli)


It is a time to remember the many that have fallen for our freedom.

Memorial Day - Arlington (With music by Trace Adkins)


It is a time to honor all of the men and women that have fought and served in the military and those who have died for this great country, the United States of America.

Freedom Rocks at the Freedom Rock, by a Patriot In Iowa, Ray "Bubba" Sorensen


I am praying that Bubba Sorensen has had a chance to work on the FreedomRock 2009 version without too many weather delays. He's been doing this for every Memorial Day for the last 10 years. I am looking forward to the 2009 Freedom Rock!

Here's another excellent video I found at Bubba's Blog where he is being interviewed by Mike Huckabee:



While Ray - I mean Bubba - has been bringing us the memories of our veterans on Memorial Day through his very gifted artwork, there is somebody else that used her gifts for the same purpose. Patrice Lewis brought us a story this weekend called, "Forever Young," an account of her husband's uncle who valiantly fell in battle during WWII at the young age of 19. It will help you comprehend just how much it means when somebody makes the ultimate sacrifice for our freedom.

I hope you have enjoyed the Memorial Day tributes above, from the various perspectives in the forms of music, art and text. It really IS a time to remember those that have paid the ultimate price in defending our freedom. I only wanted to raise the awareness that their courage and patriotic duty is remembered during the long holiday weekend. This needs to be a time when we have to think about the reason that some of us have a long weekend to enjoy with our loved ones. It truly must be a time to remember.

Living Side By Side In Peace

By John Kubicek

I've known that my dog Moochie was very lonely when I went to work. I had really been considering getting another dog, hopefully one at the local kennel that had been abandoned... and preferably a yellow lab.

While God answers our prayers, He sometimes gives us something that may be a litlle different than we were asking for. Instead, I got ... a kitten!

I was at work Sunday night, and out of nowhere, here comes this cute little kitten, probably a month old, and walks right up to me. I found out from co-workers that this kitten had been around for a few days.

My immediate feeling was that I wanted to adopt this poor lost kitty. I had concerns, though, because I have a pretty good sized dog, Moochie, and I didn't want to endanger that poor little lost and homeless kitty. I decided to take on the risk, and bring the kitty home, and see if Moochie would be able to tolerate a cat in the house.

I was amazed. Moochie and the kitty took to each other right off the bat. It was truly love at first sight!

I've had three dogs in the last 18 years. I've never raised a cat before. But I am definitely up for this. While I've never had the experience of raising a cat, I think I'll do just fine. I seem to have this infinite love for animals, kind of like Ellie Mae of the Beverly Hillbillies. To me, my pets are part of the family.

This new member of the family has been named: Pearse (sounds like "pierce"). I hope that name isn't too gender-specific, because at this time, I am not even sure if Pearse is a male or female. Yes, there is a real gender identity crisis going on here. A friend at work thought it was a male, but I'm not so sure now. When Pearse goes to meet the vet on Saturday morning for an initial check up, I'll then know for sure, and there won't be any more gender identity issues.

What has happened in the last two days has been a very welcome break for me. This precious little kitty has taken my mind off of all the problems of the world at least for a day or two. I am pretty sure that I was in need of a time-out. It was getting difficult to decide what to write about these days, there is so much happening. And I will admit, I was beginning to ask myself some thought-provoking questions: Just how much was there that I could opine on that you haven't already read somewhere else? Was it important whether or not it was about a topic that attracted a lot of reader interest? Or, should I just continue writing about some of the issues that aren't the topics of the day, and not worry about whether or not those columns are popular and draw more readers?

There was something that came out of those questions that ended up being quite profound. Perhaps writing blogs won't be what I'll be able to do for the rest of my life as a career choice in order to produce a life-sustaining income. (And don't forget, I now have one more mouth to feed!) It would be great if I was able to get to that point, but that seemed to be the whole problem. Putting that desire to write blogs for an income - above everything else - became very stressful. Writing blogs about political issues, especially from a Conservative view point, made it even more difficult, because that guaranteed that there would be detractors to whatever I would post. Not to mention, there is always the possibility that at some point in the near future, there will be an attempt to silence the Conservatives. (That has already started.)

And here I am today, writing about the rescue of a lost kitty, which I believe suffered the indignity of being dumped off out in the rural area, as an unwanted animal. It was my first inclination that made me want to adopt little Pearse. He or she really needed to feel loved.

After just two days of witnessing the love develop between Pearse and Moochie and myself, and seeing a dog and a cat get along so well, it gave me some hope for us people, too. I just wonder how good things could be if we learned from the dog and cat living side by side in love, peace and harmony.

I just wonder how many abortions could be averted if women knew that there are people out here that would be willing to adopt and give that child loving parents and siblings.

This story ended up being a lot more important than I thought it would be. Hey, I'm just sayin'...

More About "Being Schooled": Indoctrination

By John Kubicek

In my last column, "Being Schooled," I wrote the following:

So, here's my point: I'm pretty sure that the public education system is totally broken. I have this feeling that our kids are being indoctrinated... However, I am also aware of the fact that kids could also be indoctrinated if they went to private schools or if they were home-schooled. The obvious key here is, who are the ones that are indroctinating our kids? In my humble opinion, those that are going to the public schools are being indoctrinated by a political force with an evil agenda. I do not believe that agenda really has a happy ending for those of us that value freedom.

Of course, what I had written then was based on my own opinion, but I would not have written it had I any doubts that I was right. I can now happily say that something I saw Sunday morning (May 10) on Fox & Friends confirmed what I wrote. I WAS right! And I have the video up on youtube that will verify that. You will see the video below, but first, let me give you some of the background.

Did you hear the story about the high school student, Chad Farnan, who sued his teacher, James Corbett, for bashing Christianity during his lectures for a European History class? Chad and his attorney, Robert Tyler, won the case. U.S. District Court Judge James Selna ruled in Chad's favor. In this case, the allegation against the teacher and defendant, was that he was bashing Christianity and abusing his power as a teacher in order to denegrate Chad's religion. When you see this video, you'll see why Chad won the case.



What this teacher, James Corbett, had done was brazen abuse of his authority as Chad's teacher. In this case, it was about the teacher's defamation of Christianity. But, that isn't the whole story. And in fact, the victory for the student in U.S. district court was just a small part of the story. There is much more to this case that we should be aware of.

My initial plan was to put the video on my Cross Tribe Network, a Christian-oriented blog. When I uploaded the above video to youtube.com, I wrote in my title and description that Christian bashing by a teacher to his students won't be tolerated. That would have been fine, and I could have left it at that. But, I then realized there was more to the story.

Suppose the teacher was a Christian and was bashing Atheists? Would if the teacher had been a Muslim and was bashing Jews? Would those situations be tolerated? If a teacher was mocking anyone a different race or sexual orientation, we know what would happen. That teacher would not get a pass, no matter what. I'll guarantee you, that if Carrie Prejean became a public school teacher, and told the class that marriage should be between a man and a woman, the NEA would not be coming to her defense! So, why should it be allowed for them to disparage someone of a different religious belief? To keep in line with the 1st Amendment, what the teacher wants to say outside of the school environment is fine. But when it comes to what they are "teaching" in a class, that is no place for those attacks and they have no benefit to the students.

Taking that epiphany a little further, and spending an additional day in thinking about this before writing, I saw confirmation that public schools really were becoming indoctrination centers. In "Being Schooled" I had written the following:

The obvious key here is, who are the ones that are indroctinating our kids? In my humble opinion, those that are going to the public schools are being indoctrinated by a political force with an evil agenda. I do not believe that agenda really has a happy ending for those of us that value freedom.

In that writing, I only stated that there was a problem, but I wasn't really able to produce any possible solutions. It was my own opinion that there was a "political force with an evil agenda" in charge of indoctrinating our kids, and that it wouldn't have "a happy ending for those of us that value freedom."

Now, consider what would have happened had the teacher, James Corbett, been able to continue on with his anti-Christian and anti-Conservative rants while teaching his class? But wait, it is worse, because I'm sure Corbett wasn't (isn't) the only teacher doing this! And you can be rest assured that there is much more insidious education being crammed into the heads of our youth in the public indoctrination centers... I mean, public schools. Well, there is now a solution. We now have legal precedent to employ in taking it to other teachers that do the same thing, and for that matter, school systems that allow it and even encourage it! This could be the NEA's worst nightmare!

Chad Farnan had innocently recorded his teacher's lectures in order to help him prepare for the class (tests). Little did he know what his studious efforts would lead to! It has become something that could turn around the way the public school system has been used to indoctrinate children to fit their liberal and socialist agenda. This is a way to put the brakes on the social decline that we have been witnessing. It's also a way that maybe we can now force teachers to start actually TEACHING, so that our next generation would actually be able to pass that 8th grade test from 1895 that we talked about in "Being Schooled."

What seems to be so absurd is why did it take an 11th grader to take on the "system" and claim victory? It reminds me of the David and Goliath story. Chad didn't just take on the teacher; he was taking on the power of the teacher's union (NEA), the State, and even the Federal Court.

My guess is that the case will be appealed. Or, wait.... will it? Does the NEA really want it to be public knowledge that there is indoctrination going on? To win their case, wouldn't they have to be trying to show that indoctrination is a "good thing"? But then, I guess if it's "for the children," that could work. Let's hope that it doesn't.

RELATED STORY:
Being Schooled ~ By John Kubicek

Being schooled

By John Kubicek

One of my college roomates was majoring in Education, and I have several relatives that are involved in the education field; from people who work with Special Ed kids, to teaching post-college graduate classes, to being school administrators. But, no, I am no expert. In fact, I didn't even participate in the PTA when my kids were in school. And, maybe that is part of the problem in today's world. Many of us can sit around and whine about where education has gone, but when we could have done something, we did nothing.

So, why would I even bother to write something that is so far "above my pay-grade," you may ask? It's simple, really. I truly confess that I didn't take part when I had the chance. The truth is, I had no idea what was going on back in those days when my kids were in school. Sure, like many of you, I've heard that the kids today are being "dumbed down." And like you, it seemed to be something we kind of felt was happening, but did we really have the evidence to prove our theory as being a fact? Probably not... Well, not until now.

You see, just yesterday I received a very enlightening email about our earlier generations not having the "education" that most of us will receive. The majority of us have graduated from high school. And there are many of us that have our college degrees, or better. But back in the day, a century or more ago, there were people who could proudly announce that they got through 8th grade. That sure seems to be no big deal these days (for good reason!), and you'll see what I mean when you see the following discussion about an 8th grade education in 1895. From the email I received from my friend, Rev. Gerri Janeway:

Remember when grandparents and great-grandparents stated that they only had an 8th grade education? Well, check this out. Could any of us have passed the 8th grade in 1895?

This is the eighth-grade final exam from 1895 in Salina, Kansas. It was taken from the original document on file at the Smokey Valley Genealogical Society and Library in Salina, and reprinted by the Salina Journal.

8th Grade Final Exam: Salina, KS - 1895

Grammar (Time, one hour)

1. Give nine rules for the use of capital letters.
2. Name the parts of speech and define those that have no modifications.
3. Define verse, stanza and paragraph
4. What are the principal parts of a verb? Give principal parts of 'lie,''play,' and 'run.'
5. Define case; illustrate each case.
6 What is punctuation? Give rules for principal marks of punctuation.
7 - 10. Write a composition of about 150 words and show therein that you understand the practical use of the rules of grammar.

Arithmetic (Time,1 hour 15 minutes)

1. Name and define the Fundamental Rules of Arithmetic.
2. A wagon box is 2 ft. Deep, 10 feet long, and 3 ft. Wide. How many bushels of wheat will it hold?
3. If a load of wheat weighs 3,942 lbs., what is it worth at 50cts/bushel, deducting 1,050 lbs. For tare?
4. District No 33 has a valuation of $35,000. What is the necessary levy to carry on a school seven months at $50 per month, and have $104 for incidentals?
5. Find the cost of 6,720 lbs. Coal at $6.00 per ton.
6. Find the interest of $512.60 for 8 months and 18 days at 7 percent.
7. What is the cost of 40 boards 12 inches wide and 16 ft.. Long at $20 per metre?
8. Find bank discount on $300 for 90 days (no grace) at 10 percent.
9. What is the cost of a square farm at $15 per acre, the distance of which is 640 rods?
10. Write a Bank Check, a Promissory Note, and a Receipt

U.S. History (Time, 45 minutes)

1. Give the epochs into which U.S. History is divided
2. Give an account of the discovery of America by Columbus
3. Relate the causes and results of the Revolutionary War.
4. Show the territorial growth of the United States
5. Tell what you can of the history of Kansas
6. Describe three of the most prominent battles of the Rebellion.
7. Who were the following: Morse, Whitney, Fulton , Bell , Lincoln , Penn, and Howe?
8. Name events connected with the following dates: 1607, 1620, 1800, 1849, 1865.

Orthography (Time, one hour)

1. What is meant by the following: alphabet, phonetic, orthography, etymology, syllabication
2. What are elementary sounds? How classified?
3. What are the following, and give examples of each: trigraph, subvocals, diphthong, cognate letters, linguals
4. Give four substitutes for caret 'u.'
5. Give two rules for spelling words with final 'e.' Name two exceptions under each rule.
6. Give two uses of silent letters in spelling. Illustrate each.
7. Define the following prefixes and use in connection with a word: bi, dis-mis, pre, semi, post, non, inter, mono, sup.
8. Mark diacritically and divide into syllables the following, and name the sign that indicates the sound: card, ball, mercy, sir, odd, cell, rise, blood, fare, last.
9. Use the following correctly in sentences: cite, site, sight, fane, fain, feign, vane , vain, vein, raze, raise, rays.
10. Write 10 words frequently mispronounced and indicate pronunciation by use of diacritical marks and by syllabication.

Geography (Time, one hour)

1 What is climate? Upon what does climate depend?
2. How do you account for the extremes of climate in Kansas ?
3. Of what use are rivers? Of what use is the ocean?
4. Describe the mountains of North America
5. Name and describe the following: Monrovia , Odessa , Denver , Manitoba , Hecla , Yukon , St. Helena, Juan Fernandez, Aspinwall and Orinoco
6. Name and locate the principal trade centers of the U.S. Name all the republics of Europe and give the capital of each.
7. Why is the Atlantic Coast colder than the Pacific in the same latitude?
8. Describe the process by which the water of the ocean returns to the sources of rivers.
9. Describe the movements of the earth. Give the inclination of the earth.
~~~
Notice that the exam took FIVE HOURS to complete. This certainly gives the saying "he only had an 8th grade education" a whole new meaning, doesn't it? This also shows you how poor our education system has become and, NO, I don't have the answers!

And I am guessing that those 8th graders weren't graded on a "curve", either. I'm guessing that you passed or failed. Who knows what the cut-off was, that information wasn't included in the email. However, it would have to be a pretty low percentage of correct answers before I would have passed that test! I'm just saying...

Perhaps it was because I was feeling like an idiot after reading through that email from Gerri, but I did write back to her, with my moronic reply. I wasn't being sarcastic in the response. I think I was covering my guilt by coming up with a satire of what I can could perceive as being the test for today's high school graduates.

Now please remember, this was meant in jest. It was meant only for humor, and in no way reflects the actual education system as we know it... (Or, does it? No, I certainly hope not!)

My awesome satirical reply:

THE MODERN DAY HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATION TEST

Language Arts (TIME: One hour)

1. Name three punctuation marks that you can use at the end of a sentence in an email?
2. When texting your friends, what does it mean when you write: "LOL"? "LMAO"? "BFF"?
3. Name the President of the United States that says "Uh" the most times in one sentence if his teleprompter isn't working?

Arithmetic (Time: 30 Minutes)

1. If you bought an ounce of marijuana for $125.00, how much profit could you make if you split it into eight (8) equal size bags and sold them for $30.00 each (Hint: You don't have to include the amount that you short each bag for your personal stash!!)
2. How many $100 bills could you receive if you cashed your welfare check of $508.00?
3. If your food stamps were $200/month, and you bought Five 2-liter bottles of Pepsi at $2.00 each, 10 bags of M&M's for $1.00 each, and traded $10.00 of your food-stamps to your friend for enough to buy two 40-ounce bottles of Budweiser, or two bottles of Boone's Farm wine, would you have enough left over to buy 5 cans of Similac for your baby if each of them cost $3.00? (Hint: If you are a male and don't have the personal experience to help you derive the answer from, feel free to ask any of your homies in the class that got their girlfriends knocked up.)

U.S. History (Time: Two hours)

1. Name one time in history when somebody of a mixed race that may not be a natural-born citizen became President of the United States.
2. Name a U.S. President who's first name was George. (Extra credit is given if you can name two.)
3. There have been several wars that the United States was involved in that have been fought on American soil. Which of the following wars were not fought on U.S. Soil?
a) Revolutionary War for U. S. Independence
b) The American Civil War
c) The Viet Nam conflict
d) The War in Iraq

Science (Time: One hour and 30 Minutes - DOES NOT INCLUDE THE TIME TO WATCH THE FILM MENTIONED IN QUESTION 2)

1. Essay question: In 300 words or less, explain why Darwin's Theory of Evolution is correct and the Book of Genesis in the Old Testament of the Bible is a myth?
2. Name three reasons why Man-Made Global Warming could kill you, penguins, and polar bears. (Note: Please wait until after the instructor shows you the film "An Inconvenient Truth" before proceeding to this question.)

Social Studies (Time: Take all the time you want, but the sooner you answer, the sooner you can get out of school so that you can have time to stop at McDonalds on the way home)

1 Which political party, Republicans or Democrats, would you trust to make sure that you are taken care of in case of personal hardships, such as having your children out of wedlock before you have a job?
2. Where would right-wing extremists most likely reside?
a) RED states b) BLUE states
3. Name two social websites that allow your freedom of speech, including the use of profanity?
4. In 100 words or less, explain why radio talk show hosts such as Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, Dr. Michael Savage, and Sean Hannity should be required by the government to be fair and unbiased?

Well, gee, I don't know, where would I ever get the idea that our education system may be a little bit flawed in the first place? Your first guess would probably be that I'm just your typical "ditto head," I've listened to Rush Limbaugh way too much. Bonk! Wrong answer! Close, but not quite it.

Actually, here would be the correct anwwer: How about the fact that I watched a lot of Jay Leno on the Tonight Show, and saw many "Jay Walking" segments. Have you seen any of those? (If not, try looking it up on hulu.com). But, I'll tell you, there were many times it was just too scary. He would go out on the street, and ask various tourists many very easy questions about current events and history, and many of the responses were horribly wrong. The problem was, some of those people were people with college degrees and professional careers, and ... (gulp) ... many that admitted to be K-12 educators.

(And keep in mind that Jay Leno lives and works in Hollywood, though I don't consider him to have a leftist agenda. Far from it. In fact, I think he did a great job in actually displaying how truly lame, and what total idiots, many of the Hollywood leftist elites are - in a very covert way!)

But I digress... It's time to make my point. There have been times when I wrote, like in my last post, and just let you develop your own point of view. I supplied the information package and let you decide where to go with it. (According to my staff of attorneys, I had to say it like that so as not to be stealing the idea from Fox News.)

So, here's my point: I'm pretty sure that the public education system is totally broken. I have this feeling that our kids are being indoctrinated... However, I am also aware of the fact that kids could also be indoctrinated if they went to private schools or if they were home-schooled. The obvious key here is, who are the ones that are indroctinating our kids? In my humble opinion, those that are going to the public schools are being indoctrinated by a political force with an evil agenda. I do not believe that agenda really has a happy ending for those of us that value freedom.

So, to end this long, long rant, let me leave you with the antidote to the indoctrination that has been going on in the public schools to make sure that the new generations will have a need to depend on the "ISMs" they talk about in the following video:



We, who believe that our public education system has vastly deteriorated, need to make a decision to get involved in the education of our kids. We can do the home-schooling or private school options all we want to, but what about all those kids out there that have no other choice but to attend public school?

Those of us who value our freedom must find a way to infiltrate and reform the public schools. Let there be no doubt, that is a monumental challenge. I hope it isn't too late.

When Johnny Marries Moochie

The unintended consequences of state-approved same-gender marriage

By John Kubicek

(I would highly recommend parental guidance before you allow your children to read this column or see the following video.)

This news segment was the top of the news on Monday, April 27, 2009. I really didn't need to see this happening, and I was having a major problem with all the gagging that I was going through. I was beginning to wonder if I was coming down with the swine flu. But then I got to thinking what was really making me sick. The fact that the State of Iowa became a place that my new hero Carrie Prejean wouldn't approve of was nauseating enough. But then, they (the local media) had to go and rub it in my face. I doubt a baby's dirty diaper would have been worse..... Ooops, TMI.

In order to keep this from being an adult-rated video, I had to insert the picture of me and the love of my life - a female, of course - giving each other a smooch, in contrast to what the local TV station was broadcasting.

(Repeating my warning: Parental discretion is recommended before seeing the following video)



I must apologize to any same-gender couples. I am not trying to be intolerant. It just sort of seems that way... But, in trying to be tolerant, to accept diversity and alternative life-styles, I should be tolerant and give you the freedom to allow you to do your own thing.

And so, with that being said, I'm sure to get your support when I apply for a marriage license to marry the love of my life, my best friend, Moochie. I mean, if we're going to have equality here, why should there be any line drawn to what is acceptable?

I am sure you are aware that I'd only be one card-carrying member of PETA and ACLU attorney away from my dream of legitimizing my relationship and partnership with Moochie. According to the definition of marriage now the law in Iowa, it would only be fair for me to marry the girl that sleeps next to me when I go to bed. And of course, I'd also need to have a pass on the fact that she's only five and a half years old (about 39 in dog years).

While trying to be tolerant, and watching the local news segment where I had to shut my eyes, cover my ears and loudly repeat, "la-la-la-la," I had to wonder what is next. How long before other relationships and life-styles are to be sanctioned and forced down our throats? What do we do if other cultures in our midst insist that they should be able to hook up with members of their own family? Will age limits for marriage, or consenting physical relationships, be the next to go?

Now, just how far will society go to draw new lines where we are expected to be tolerant? We're really going down a slippery slope where we may not be able to stop our momentum before we go over the cliff, into the abyss.

What I am now wondering, is how long will it be before Perez Hilton adds me to the public enemy list along with Carrie Prejean and Dr. James Dobson? Well, Perez is the least of my worries. It may soon be a case of being an enemy of the state, the way things are going, at least here in the swine flu... I mean.... the hog state (Way too much pork around here).

Related story:
Stay True to Your Beliefs

Stay True to Your Beliefs

By John Kubicek

In the last few days, we had the news about Miss California, Carrie Perjean, telling the world what she felt about the moral decay of this land, and sticking by her Christian values. And we have Rev. Gerri Janeway – writing "Where Did It All Go?" – also not afraid to say what needed to be said.

First, let's see the interview that Sean Hannity had with Carrie:

The reason why this story about Miss California made the news circuit on Fox News was because of the detractors on the other side such as shown in this poorly made video (Warning - turn your speaker volume way down - the audio is way too loud in this one):

While I should be sleeping right now, I had to get this out today. You see, this is all about staying true to your beliefs. And this may be a difficult thing to ask of you right now, following the DHS Assessment that links us to right-wing extremism, but now is the time for us to stick to our values. What Carrie Perjean did was to go out on the limb, and profess her Faith and belief in our Lord Jesus, despite the consequences. Meanwhile, Rev. Gerri was not afraid to tell us of the results when we stay silent. Just stay true to your beliefs.

Related stories:
Distractions, Distractors, and Detractors ~ By John Kubicek
Where Did It All Go? ~ By Rev. Gerri Janeway

Distractions, Distractors, and Detractors

By John Kubicek

It is frustrating to be in the situation I'm in. Being somebody that follows the news on a regular basis (okay, I'm a news junkie!), I also have a desire to venture into the blogosphere. In my other blog, Blogging In Our Time 2 Escape, I am doing my best to help you, my loyal readers, to follow along with the stories that are affecting our ultimate destiny.

And the Time 2 Escape blog is just the tip of the iceberg. I also contribute extensively to youtube.com (TheREALjohnny2k) and digg.com (johnny2k). The only thing holding me back from doing a lot more with those two sites is the time limitation. If I didn't have to sleep, eat, or go to work, that 24 hour per day thing still wouldn't be enough to accomplish all I am inspired to do.

Speaking of being inspired, there is this other thing where I also want to write my own essays from time to time, as I am doing here, or on my other blog, The Cross Tribe Network. Hey, there is nothing like spreading myself too thin. But worse yet, I'm overwhelmed with all that could be written about. Some would call it Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD), but I call it Distractions, Distractors, and Detractors (DDD). I will now explain the great difficulties that I encounter with this dreadful syndrome.

Distractions

It was Easter morning, and I was watching the news, when I saw a story on Fox & Friends which perked my interest. I just happened to have recorded it so that I could put it up on youtube.com:



I was so totally into that story, and I was getting ready to write about it on this blog, until something else happened that glorious Resurrection Sunday... As you saw at the end of the above video, there was a situation that was coming close to a climax. Just as the above video was being uploaded to youtube.com, Capt. Phillips of the Maersk Alabama was being rescued from his captors. So much for being able to write the blog I was planning for the Limbaugh video. It was such an uplifting moment that captured America's complete attention, and mine!

I would never accuse the Obama administration of trying to distract us just after the great interview David Limbaugh had with Fox & Friends. That would have to be a conspiracy plot way beyond any one's imagination... even mine. I'm just saying, it had to be a coincidence.

(We do need to remember that our distractions are usually self-imposed.)

Allow me to put it this way to make my point: Barack Hussein Obama could have publicly announced that the Illuminati had just elected him as leader of the New World Order, and the story wouldn't have made a ripple in the news compared to what happened last Easter morning. What could ever compare to Navy SEALS taking out three pirates and saving the captive sea captain, while waves were tossing about both of the vessels? It was a great story, and I was diverted from anything else that day.

There are many things that can divert our attention in life. While many of our distractions are self-imposed, some aren't. To make my point, let me just show you several parts of the definition of "distraction" that I found on dictionary.com:

mental distress or derangement: That child will drive me to distraction.

that which amuses, entertains, or diverts; amusement; entertainment: Fishing is his major distraction.

that which distracts, divides the attention, or prevents concentration: The distractions of the city interfere with my studies.

division or disorder caused by dissension; tumult.

(Dictionary.com Unabridged ~ Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.)

Oh, by the way, also included at dictionary.com, was "Synonyms: madness, lunacy, insanity, craziness." How crazy is that? (I had to wonder.)

Distractors

In an initial draft of the story about what David Limbaugh said in the above video, I was going to use the word, "distractor". That word came up as a misspelling in my word processing program of choice. I assumed that noun to mean "a person (or group) who distracts people (from the truth)." However, I found it to have a different meaning when I again referred to dictionary.com. I came up with the following:

One of the incorrect answers presented as a choice in a multiple-choice test.
(The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition ~ Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.)

Now, think about it. When you were in school, you'd be taking a test, and there was that "distractor" as one of your choices in a multiple choice question. The most effective "distractors" were the ones that sounded like they could be a viable choice. That's right, those darn teachers could be so sly.

But this doesn't just apply to tests in your school days. Distractors are another diversionary tactic. Ask any military commander. Or, ask anyone involved in the battle for the hearts and minds of the people... er, I mean the sheople. It is kind of like feeding enemy spies with misinformation to present another possible "option," just like the distractor quesiton on a test.

And once again, I am able to provide yet another video that will illustrate my point. This is a case where our President had a little faux pas in diplomatic protocol. The President should not "bow" to anyone. Yet, his minions were throwing out explanations as fast as they could, hoping that one would stick. Those explanations were what I'd call, "Distractors":

And even Geraldo admits it (@ about 3:42), "keep spinning it, and spinning it..."

In other words, there can be more than one "distractor" in a multiple choice question on a test.

Detractors

I know this is the part of this essay you've been looking forward to reading about, just as much as I couldn't wait to write about it. How would the word "detractor" be related to "Distractions" and "Distractors"? I'll tell you after the following videos, assuming my brain hasn't imploded by then:



This "little" rally of about 400 people uplifted me. However, Rahm Emanuel had apparently been very busy on the phone, and gave the marching orders: Not just to the administration cronies such as Secretary of Homeland Security, Janet Napolitano, but also to the media minions. They certainly seem to have the art of detraction down to a science:

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

That video above fits the Random House definition of "detractor" perfectly: "the act of disparaging or belittling the reputation or worth of a person, work, etc."

Between the liberal left-biased news media minions and Janet Napolitano calling all of us that attended the rallies "a threat," it seems to me that there seems to be a tyranny forming that threatens our freedom. When the diversionary tactics begin to bow down to the level of having to disparage the opponent with mass propaganda, you have to figure it is their last desperate attempt to win the war for the hearts and minds of the "sheople."

You are not sheople anymore, now that you understand the "Distractions, Distractors, and Detractors" tactics that the enemies of our freedom will use. And by the way, sorry that I ... er... distracted you from the point that David Limbaugh made in the video at the top of this page, that Obama may be a Socialist.

Life Means Something

By John Kubicek

It's Good Friday. Instead of trying to write today, I decided to present a collage of videos that have a lot to do with all that is going on.



Am I tugging at your heart strings yet?



I can just say that if somebody harmed my dog, Moochie, I would not be able to show the same restraint as did Marcus Luttrell...

But here is the video I saw about a week ago that got me thinking about this topic, that life means something:

Officer Down!

By John Kubicek

Things like this just shouldn't happen in little old Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Unfortunately, though, it does. A police officer in Cedar Rapids suffered an injury that is life-threatening, right in my neighborhood. I shop at the grocery store just up the street from where this incident happened. Yesterday, I witnessed the ongoing police investigation of the nearby crime scenes as I stopped by that store on the way home from work. I had no clue about what was going on, until I saw the news last night:



In a world full of turmoil, we can easily lose track of the things going on in our own back yards. I decided that I wasn't going to let that happen today. Officer Tim Davis of the Cedar Rapids Police Dept. (CRPD) deserves more than that. He, along with his family, deserve our prayers.

Can we do anything to stop things like this from happening? I don't know if I can answer that question, but I know that it is very important that we have the right perspective about things like this. I hope to show in the remainder of this column why it is imperative for us to be aware of what goes on in our neighborhoods.

And then, there were the four officers in Oakland, California, that lost their lives trying to stop a very dangerous individual from doing further damage. Also, there was the young police officer in North Carolina that did his best to end a shooting spree at a nursing home, and was injured in the line of duty.

Well, here is the rest of the story. There are people out there, like our police, that lay their lives out on the line every day. I'm thinking that we sometimes forget about them, and forget they are people doing their jobs.... I was going to say, "doing their jobs, just like us," but that's the point. Our police, just like our military, do put their lives on the line all of the time. But we forget that, because it doesn't happen often.

It isn't just the police that face dangers and hazards most of us wouldn't want to deal with. How about the EMTs (Emergency Medical Technicians), corrections officers, firefighters, military, or even private security officers? There are many more people that I could mention, too, that selflessly put their lives on the line for the safety of the rest of us. And sometimes, there may not even be a title by their names. There are even those times, like on Flight 93 on 9/11, where people just like you and I had a once-in-life-time "option" to make a difference to save lives.

But think about it. There are occupations, such as Law Enforcement, that a person must choose to do, and it is their loyalty to those they serve (us) to have to make the ultimate sacrifice if required. They deserve all of the honor that we can give them!

How to spend a Sunday

by John Kubicek

Well, I had plenty of things to do today. I suppose that ADD had something to do with it, but I found things to do and to think about that were completely off the page. My agenda of things I would accomplish went completely off the charts following an early Spring snow storm. And that is okay. It is times like this that give me a "fix" of learning more about God's gifts to us all.

So, let me bring you a video that I came across today:



This was a video that helped me to embrace multicultural relations all the more. But, it doesn't mean that I'm for some type of global governance. Actually, it is about sovereign people uniting and learning to accept and love cultures that are different from ours. We should all be giving a standing ovation for Linda Gentille, for doing what we should all be doing. It didn't take a U.N. Security Council mandate or resolution for people just like US to know how to get along with each other.

The Doom and Gloom Alarmists

By John Kubicek

There are many people in the media and in politics that are proficient alarmists. Don't you have to wonder how they have become so terrific at being able to amplify fear and anxiety with all of their doom and gloom predictions?

Well, Glenn Beck has let the cat out of the bag. He has hired a Fear Consultant, in which we'll see in the following video that I smuggled out of Glenn's Star Chamber. (I think Stephen Colbert will be very jealous that he missed his chance!) You will notice that the quality of the video is pretty lousy, but I had to get it through all of those various x-ray machines at the security check points at the Fox News building (which is ACTUALLY Glenn's Star Chamber!).

So, back to the story. You do realize that much of the media and about all of the politicians have fear mongering down to an art form. As the above tongue-in-cheek Star Chamber segment illustrates, a lot of the doom and gloom alarmists may not even be telling the complete truth, but if it's bad enough, it sells (Think: books and DVDs). It helps the media (including this blog) get a larger audience. It is a powerful tool for politicians, too. Heck, look at how well it has done for Al Gore in the last decadent decade! Nothing like spreading fear like the Inconvenient Lies about poor little polar bears without an ice cube to stand on!

There are times when we must practice discernment, and do our best to take the doom and gloom stories with a grain of salt. If Chicken Little tells you that the sky is falling, you may want to check and consider all of the facts before you move to a cave. You may want to take into account what the ultimate intention could be for an alarmist when ever you hear or read about doom and gloom. You know, things like man-made global warming having the ultimate goals of global governance and socialism seems to come to mind.

Fox & Friends, and the Implosion of Mercy

By John Kubicek

To: Fox & Friends, I'm there for you. I know all too well how technology can come back to bite us. Thus, I can also feel for you, too.

Last Saturday morning, there was going to be this historic building implosion in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. It was historic because it was going to the very first ever building demolision in Cedar Rapids using explosives. And very cool, because the site being imploded is next to a hospital. Can you imagine the histeria radiating from that issue? Well, funny thing was, there wasn't any that I noticed. In fact, it was an event that was celebrated just like the fireworks on the 4th of July. The "crowd" was much smaller, only because many people didn't find out about it happening until later.

Lucky for me, the original time that it was to happen was at 7:30 a.m., and it was postponed until 8:00 a.m. I had to hurry home from work to make it home to set up my video recording by 7:30 a.m. that morning. That wasn't easy, either, because I had several stops to make on the way home. Fortunately, the time was moved up to 8:00 a.m. during my trip toward home. I was keeping up with what was going on, apparently better than the Fox & Friends producers.

The Implosion of Mercy


But, it only figures. While I was able to multitask and get all of the video that I was hoping for, I encountered my own technical murkiness when trying to produce the above video. It was a combination of sleep deprivation following software issues I had dealt with, and I finally had to call it a day last Saturday. So, it took me an extra day before I could upload the video to youtube.com. And now, it is several days later before I get it put up on a blog. But, there is a point.

There are times when the "news cycle" depends on immediate release of the story, and getting it recorded "live" as it happens. The masses love "live" coverage. However, there are times when live coverage doesn't happen, as hard as we try.

That's why I have to make a shameless admission that this story, though published long after the news cycle of the event, is actually being used to make a point. It is just like the Rahm Emanuel Philosphy: Don't let a calamity go by without taking advantage of it. (Not the exact words, but the gist of it is accurate.)

And there is hope! A Conservative Prodigy

By John Kubicek

That last month, February 2009, was a very bad month. Nothing but doom and gloom. Cold weather. Fear and crisis. Irresponsible government spending. The 401k becoming a 201k... And we thought last summer was tough, at least here in the Iowa towns that were flooded out in June 2008.

The futility of it all...

And then, out of the ash heap of society, comes a new ray of sunshine. A new sign of hope! We haven't lost yet, because there are people out there that are waiting in the wings. They're going to be our future, and here is just one example:

Jonathan Krohn Addresses CPAC


Not only is Jonathan featured at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), he is now appearing on Fox News. And when you see this following video, you'll see why he'll be a regular Fox News contributor; and he rivals Ann Coulter:

Jonathan Krohn on Fox & Friends - A Fox News Contributor in Waiting?

Yes, there is hope. If you think that Sarah Palin, and then Joe the Plumber, were driving the liberals nuts, they haven't seen nothin' yet! Here's another JK - Mr. Jonathan Krohn - a future (or, maybe even a current) leader of the Conservative movement.

The CPAC was very interesting, and I'm wondering what took our Conservative leaders so long to be able to start articulating the Conservative values. At least now we have hope that there will be another generation coming along that will keep the American dream alive.

I'd love to go on to provide you with some great links, and show you some stuff that will keep your faith up. I will be doing that, but not today. You will want to stay tuned, though, as you'll be seeing things that may amaze you.

Keep the faith. Don't give up the hope for better times ahead - for us Conservatives.

There will be updates of all the great things going on in my other blog, johnnyk's "Blogging In Our Time 2 Escape" which will help you keep up to date with this movement. Yes, that movement, the one where The Revolution Is Just Beginning. And it has to give you hope when a 13 or 14 year-old kid is making this kind of difference.

The Revolution is just beginning

By John Kubicek

Having a severe case of "writer's block" in tbe last few weeks may have been the best thing to happen to me. And then I read a great column, "What Do You Do With Writer's Block and Idea Gridlock?" I found out from that column that my problem was actually "Idea Gridlock." The now famous words of wisdom that I read were, "When writer's block and creative gridlock strike, as they have for me this week, sit down and write or draw or brainstorm or do whatever you do. Just by doing, words and ideas form."

"Just by doing": Those were the words I needed to hear... or read, in this case. Those words stuck in my head. I don't know why, and I'm not sure if that is good, or to my detriment, or just something like "food for thought" I could expound on today. So, today, I'm just hoping that what I feel like writing is just "food for thought."

Let me just start with telling you about my new banner. That's the part at the top of my blog page here that gives you the name of the blog, and what you may expect to read in the blog. What I did was to get away from the good ol' text banner, and saying this is "johnny2k Is Home." Oh, how interesting.... NOT. How about what I've done instead? How about stepping out of the box a little bit? I'll explain this to you, but please keep your fire extinguishers handy. I may go up in flames on this one.

First, the new graphic text you'll see where I designed a title; cool. Next, there was that sweet little description: "A blog by a patriotic Freedom Fighter". And will that bring in some people from the google searches? For sure. And it isn't fair, but that's how blogging works if you happen to care about the number of visitors to your blog. It is just about as lame as somebody can get when wanting to attract visitors. I don't deny it.

But, it gets better! How about the picture with the graphic text next to it: "We Surround Them." My graphic creation abilities came out in the open. But, do you have any idea what that is about? Probably not, unless you're a dedicated listener and watcher of Glenn Beck's radio and TV shows.

In that new banner, of course, is the obvious killer line: "The Revolution is just beginning." It is a case of an unbridled johnny2k making a statement. So, what is that supposed to mean? Isn't having a word appear ANYWHERE on a blog, like "Revolution," something that flags me, that will put me on some kind of list, one that is probably not one we want to be put on?

So, there you go, I think that I found the way to get out of a situation like "writer's block" or "creative gridlock." The true reason for having a problem with writing, for having a case of having "writer's gridlock," is just like overcoming any other phobia. Sometimes, we just need to find a way to put the fears aside. Sometimes, we just need to "JUST DO IT" as the good old Nike ad would say.

But of course, there can be consequences for speaking out. Just saying what you actually believe (whether right or wrong) can have detrimental consequences, especially concerning your employment. How careful we must be - we MUST be - when it comes to our speech at work, and even then, also when we are not at work. That's just the way it is now. But, then, maybe these words are more important than you may have thought: "The Revolution is just beginning."

At least at this time, nobody here is suggesting that you take to the streets, complete with torches and pitchforks. However, what I have said here is important in that we just have to be willing to dissent. It should be very apparent to you by now that dissent is frowned on. And it is understandable if you don't want to go outside of "acceptable boundries" of speaking freely. You have the right to do just that, but there is also plenty of reason to fear the expression of your 1st Amendment rights.

Really, it's about being "Silent No More" - while we can. But if that is something that you are uncomfortable with, for the safety of yourself, or your family, please keep in mind that actually, WE SURROUND THEM!

Be afraid? Forget about it. You are not alone. Don't settle for "eating cake." The Revolution is just beginning.

It's for OUR children

By John Kubicek

"It's for the children" is a phrase that has brought about a bit of passion in folks, including yours truly. As a radio host known as "Mancow" from Chicago says, beware when you hear those words: "It's for the children"



And maybe the word "passion" would be an understatement when it comes to the audacity of a new "star" in the radio talk shows and a personality that a few of us are able to enjoy on the Fox News channel. Glenn Beck goes beyond what any of us would expect to see on a cable news show. And that is a good thing. Here's why:



This is why I am writing today. It is time to turn, "It's for THE children" into "It's for OUR children." When you hear, "it's for THE children," it is most likely propaganda from the government to give them an excuse for another social program. But when you see the above video, there is something new for you to hear, and it better be, "It's for OUR children." That should be the emphasis of what you have to pay attention to. We're talking about just us lowly people that want to have the freedom to be able to speak freely. That is for OUR children.

Just yesterday, I updated my banner at the top of this page. Did you notice that? I hope so. In the top right corner, just to the right of that famous icon you have seen, you may have noticed a little bit of text saying, "We Surround Them." That's my tribute to what Glenn Beck has been saying. That is for OUR children.

Our freedom is at stake. Our children's freedom is even more at stake. Our biggest fight in the next few years is to keep our freedom of speech. Without it, it could be the complete end of our freedom. And as Glenn Beck mentioned, it may be the ultimate sacrifice that a few of us are going to have to make. And I have resolved to be part of it. I'm ready to do whatever is necessary, at least with the power of my speech as tapped out on my keyboard. It's my blog, and it's for OUR children.

So.... Maybe we should all be crying

By John Kubicek

When was the last time you saw or heard a newscaster show emotion and literally lose it on a live newscast?

What I saw a few days ago was something that took a little time to soak in. And now that it has, I find it difficult to write about. I don't know... is it because my eyes have misted over? No, it is much more than that. I am not sure if I can really explain it because there is so much going on these days. But, what I am seeing is certainly not comforting. I think I know of somebody a lot like me, to where it is overwhelming just to see what is going on.

The Archduke Ferdinand Moment - Part One


The Archduke Ferdinand Moment - Part 2 - Glenn says the Cavalry has arrived


Glenn Beck: I Mean what I say. The cavalry is here.


If you have been having some very scary feelings about what is facing us, as a nation, and as people that really care about where this country is now going, YOU ARE NOT ALONE.

You can call it "The Archduke Ferdinand Moment," or "the tipping point."

All I know, though, is that what I've been seeing lately, and I'm afraid of where this country is headed. It isn't just that which is scaring me. What is really bugging me is how many people there are that are so oblivious to what is going on.

I just wish I had the space here to write all about the things that are really bothering me. It was my desire to try to write about that feeling that "something is wrong here." and I am afraid that the time is running out. What makes me so sad is that I may not have reached all those that I could have. I tried. And I know many you have tried, too.

Just when maybe you feel the way I have all day, when "Maybe we should all be crying," could we also make it our rally call? Even if these days are so much like what happened at the Alamo?

Update February 7, 2009
Related Stories:
Stimulus to ban religious worship - By Bob Unruh
Will the U.S. embrace global socialism? - By Henry Lamb
Is green losing its gold? - By Patrice Lewis
Glenn Beck: WE Surround Them