Thursday, January 31, 2008

I'm just saying....

Another worthy column by Chuck Baldwin on the presidential candidates..
Why Does The Establishment Hate Ron Paul?
By Chuck Baldwin
January 8, 2008

This column is archived at
http://www.chuckbaldwinlive.com/c2008/cbarchive_20080108.html

What is it about Ron Paul that the Establishment finds so disturbing? This is a man who perhaps personifies Christian character and integrity, American patriotism, and family values more than any other public figure. Ron Paul is a committed family man whose marriage to Carol has lasted for more than 50 years. He is a lover of families and children. As an OB/GYN physician, Dr. Paul has delivered more than 4,000 babies into this world. His life demonstrates a commitment to life and marriage.

Furthermore, Ron Paul's devotion to Christ is very personal and deep. Unlike many politicians (especially in the Republican Party), Ron Paul does not wear his religion on his sleeve. He doesn't need to. Anyone who knows him knows his faith is exhibited on a daily basis. His life and family are testaments to his Christian faith.

Beyond that, Ron Paul's record in Congress is so unblemished, so honest, so full of integrity that it is difficult to describe. This is a man who actually takes his oath to the Constitution (an oath every congressman, senator, and President also takes--but then ignores) seriously. So much so that he has never voted to raise taxes, never voted for an unbalanced budget, never voted for a congressional pay raise, never voted for a federal restriction on gun ownership, and never voted to increase the power of the executive branch of the federal government.

In addition, Ron Paul has never taken a government-paid junket. Even though he is a 10-term congressman, he is not accepting a government pension. He also returns a portion of his office budget every year to the taxpayers. No wonder Ron Paul was declared to be the "Taxpayer's Best Friend."

Now, how in the name of common sense can a man such as Ron Paul be hated? Maybe it is because he is a man of integrity and honesty. Remember, our Lord said that men who love darkness hate the light. And if there is a word that describes the Establishment in America today, it is DARKNESS.

Name it: the establishment Democrat and Republican Parties, the establishment media, the establishment financial institutions, and even the establishment churches all seem to be run by people who exude the power of darkness. It should not surprise us, therefore, when a man arises who personifies the light of integrity and honesty, that the powers that be should hate him--and hate Ron Paul they do.

Conservative Republican Ron Paul is loathed as much by members of his own party as he is by liberal Democrats. Even though he is the epitome of a Christian gentleman, Ron Paul is despised by Christians and pastors as much as he is by pagans--maybe more. The media despises him--especially Fox News. The so-called conservative Fox News celebrity Sean Hannity practically goes ballistic at the mere mention of Dr. Paul's name.

Ron Paul has been categorized with the Ku Klux Klan, brothel owners, and Skin Heads. He has been called practically every name in the book. Conservatives and liberals alike rail against Dr. Paul in a manner never seen before in modern politics. Again, why does the Establishment hate him so much? I'll tell you why.

The Establishment hates Ron Paul because his honesty and integrity expose the rest of them for the moral reprobates they are. Their own conscience cannot bear the sight of him. His very presence condemns them. Their personal greed and ambition cringe at the very thought of Ron Paul. If Dr. Paul became President, the Gig would be up! It would be Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday at Tombstone all over again. They know it, and they will fight like mad to keep their corrupt stranglehold on American politics.

Another reason the Establishment hates Ron Paul is because he is a true American--and there are not very many true Americans left in Washington, D.C., these days. You see, Ron Paul has read and studied American history. He understands constitutional government. He knows what real money is--and is not. As historian and author Thomas DiLorenzo said, Ron Paul is a modern-day Thomas Jefferson. (See his column at:
http://www.lewrockwell.com/dilorenzo/dilorenzo137.html )

Unfortunately, most of what we have in Washington, D.C., these days (in both parties) is a bunch of internationalists who cannot see past their own selfish interests. They are consumed with greed and power. They are slaves to Big Business and special interest groups. They are petty, shallow hirelings who care nothing for constitutional government, the principles of liberty, or the American people. To them, Ron Paul represents everything they hate: limited government, freedom, selflessness, humility, and integrity.

Furthermore, Ron Paul is not interested in creating a world empire. Neither is he a warmonger. He would squash the burgeoning New World Order in its tracks--and the globalists ensconced in Washington and New York City know it.

There is only one Presidential candidate who would bring a modern-day revolution to Washington, D.C., and it is not Barack Obama or Mike Huckabee. It is Ron Paul. Obama and Huckabee--along with the rest of the Democrat and Republican contenders--are only more of the same. The same Nanny State, the same unconstitutional laws and regulations, the same advances toward global government, the same attacks against individual liberties, the same arrogance, the same hypocrisy, the same social programs, the same back-breaking taxes, the same jack-booted federal police tactics, the same IRS, the same lobbyists, and the same corrupt Washington politics.

That the Establishment would hate Ron Paul should not surprise us. It does not even surprise me that many pastors and Christians despise Ron Paul. (After all, many of them still worship at the altar of George W. Bush.) What is yet to be seen is, How will the American people receive him? His strong showing in Iowa surprised most of the "experts." I believe he will do even better in New Hampshire today. How Dr. Paul's campaign fares in future primaries is still to be seen.

Should Ron Paul fail in his bid to become the Republican Party's Presidential nominee, I believe it is critically important that he continue his bid as a Third Party candidate. His campaign is more than a campaign--it is a movement. People by the thousands and money by the millions is pouring in, and it will continue to pour in all the way to the general election. It is essential that Ron Paul stays in the race all the way to November.

Remember, when Abraham Lincoln won in 1860, there were four strong Presidential candidates, and Lincoln won with just 39% of the popular vote. With New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg seriously considering an independent bid for the White House, and if Ron Paul, likewise, runs as a Third Party candidate, 2008 could see another race with four strong Presidential contenders. In such a case, anything is possible--including a Ron Paul victory.

The fact is, Ron Paul does not need the support of the Establishment to win. With God's help--and with the help of millions of fed-up and tireless average Joes--anything is possible. Anything.

Here is another thing: the fact that the Establishment hates Ron Paul so much must mean that there is ample reason for ordinary people like you and me to love him!

Tuesday, January 29, 2008

Big Brother.......

Big Brother isn't just for farmers and he isn't "coming" at some future date....he's here, he's moved in and most likely is sleeping in your bedroom...your children's bedrooms....and your kitchen...and your bathroom...and your car .....and your purse....ad nauseum...

Read this article from the No NAIS website...after you get done shaking you might want to call your Congressional representatives...I know I will be. It is time to wake up and take action...this ought to shake you down to your toes if you care about privacy AT ALL.

All that is necessary for evil to triumph, is for good men to do nothing. Edmund Burke


If you think we are free today, you know nothing about tyranny and even less about freedom. Tom Braun

Microchips Everywhere


News — walterj 5:01 pm


Interesting mainstream article. We have been point out these issues for a long time. Perhaps the public will finally wake up and smell the RFID tagged coffee…
Microchips with antennas will be embedded in virtually everything you buy, wear, drive and read, allowing retailers and law enforcement to track consumer items - and, by extension, consumers - wherever they go, from a distance. … microchips are turning up in some computer printers, car keys and tires, on shampoo bottles and department store clothing tags. They’re also in library books and “contactless” payment cards (such as American Express’”Blue” and ExxonMobil’s “Speedpass.”)
:
With tags in so many objects, relaying information to databases that can be linked to credit and bank cards, almost no aspect of life may soon be safe from the prying eyes of corporations and governments, says Mark Rasch, former head of the computer-crime unit of the U.S. Justice Department. By placing sniffers in strategic areas, companies can invisibly “rifle through people’s pockets, purses, suitcases, briefcases, luggage - and possibly their kitchens and bedrooms - anytime of the day or night,” says Rasch, now managing director of technology at FTI Consulting Inc. (FCN), a Baltimore-based company.
:
In an RFID world, “You’ve got the possibility of unauthorized people learning stuff about who you are, what you’ve bought, how and where you’ve bought it … It’s like saying, ‘Well, who wants to look through my medicine cabinet?’”
He imagines a time when anyone from police to identity thieves to stalkers might scan locked car trunks, garages or home offices from a distance. “Think of it as a high-tech form of Dumpster diving,” says Rasch, who’s also concerned about data gathered by “spy” appliances in the home. “It’s going to be used in unintended ways by third parties - not just the government, but private investigators, marketers, lawyers building a case against you …”

:
As RFID goes mainstream and the range of readers increases, it will be “difficult to know who is gathering what data, who has access to it, what is being done with it, and who should be held responsible for it,” Maxwell wrote in RFID Journal, an industry publication. The recent growth of the RFID industry has been staggering: From 1955 to 2005, cumulative sales of radio tags totaled 2.4 billion; last year alone, 2.24 billion tags were sold worldwide, and analysts project that by 2017 cumulative sales will top 1 trillion - generating more than $25 billion in annual revenues for the industry.
:
A 2005 patent application by American Express itself describes how RFID-embedded objects carried by shoppers could emit “identification signals” when queried by electronic “consumer trackers.” The system could identify people, record their movements, and send them video ads that might offer “incentives” or “even the emission of a scent.”
:
In 2006, IBM received patent approval for an invention it called, “Identification and tracking of persons using RFID-tagged items.” One stated purpose: To collect information about people that could be “used to monitor the movement of the person through the store or other areas.”
Once somebody enters a store, a sniffer “scans all identifiable RFID tags carried on the person,” and correlates the tag information with sales records to determine the individual’s “exact identity.” A device known as a “person tracking unit” then assigns a tracking number to the shopper “to monitor the movement of the person through the store or other areas.”


But as the patent makes clear, IBM’s invention could work in other public places, “such as shopping malls, airports, train stations, bus stations, elevators, trains, airplanes, restrooms, sports arenas, libraries, theaters, museums, etc.” (RFID could even help “follow a particular crime suspect through public areas.”)

Another patent, obtained in 2003 by NCR Corp. (NCR), details how camouflaged sensors and cameras would record customers’ wanderings through a store, film their facial expressions at displays, and time - to the second - how long shoppers hold and study items.

Why? Such monitoring “allows one to draw valuable inferences about the behavior of large numbers of shoppers,” the patent states.

Then there’s a 2001 patent application by Procter & Gamble, “Systems and methods for tracking consumers in a store environment.” This one lays out an idea to use heat sensors to track and record “where a consumer is looking, i.e., which way she is facing, whether she is bending over or crouching down to look at a lower shelf.”
The system could space sensors 8 feet apart, in ceilings, floors, shelving and displays, so they could capture signals transmitted every 1.5 seconds by microchipped shopping carts.


The documents “raise the hair on the back of your neck,” says Liz McIntyre, co-author of “Spychips,” a book that is critical of the industry. “The industry has long promised it would never use this technology to track people. But these patent records clearly suggest otherwise.”
:
Still, the idea that tiny radio chips might be in their socks and shoes doesn’t sit well with Americans. At least, that’s what Fleishman-Hillard Inc., a public-relations firm in St. Louis, found in 2001 when it surveyed 317 consumers for the industry.


Seventy-eight percent of those queried reacted negatively to RFID when privacy was raised. “More than half claimed to be extremely or very concerned,” the report said, noting that the term “Big Brother” was “used in 15 separate cases to describe the technology.”

It also found that people bridled at the idea of having “Smart Tags” in their homes. One surveyed person remarked: “Where money is to be made the privacy of the individual will be compromised.”

In 2002, Fleishman-Hillard produced another report for the industry that counseled RFID makers to “convey (the) inevitability of technology,” and to develop a plan to “neutralize the opposition,” by adopting friendlier names for radio tags such as “Bar Code II” and “Green Tag.”
:
[I]n the United States, RFID is not federally regulated. And while bar codes identify product categories, radio tags carry unique serial numbers that - when purchased with a credit card, frequent shopper card or contactless card - can be linked to specific shoppers. And, unlike bar codes, RFID tags can be read through almost anything except metal and water, without the holder’s knowledge.
-AP News

NAIS for shoppers. What is it going to take to wake up the public? Some people already get it but all to many turn a blank face when asked to care about farmers and homesteaders dealing with the USDA’s proposed National Animal Identification System.

 

Sunday, January 27, 2008

Elisabeth Elliot on obedient children...

As usual, she says it so much better than I.....
The Comfort of Discipline

Too many parents today hate their children. We saw it a couple of weeks ago, and in church at that. Lars and I attended a very small church where there was a very large number of small children. The creaking of pews, rustling of books and papers, dropping of crayons and toys and offering-plate nickels, talking, crying, and traipsing up and down the aisles for trips to the rest room all made it quite impossible to listen to the sermon. One child who was sitting with his father in front of us was passed forward over the back of the pew to his mother. Immediately he wanted daddy. Back over the pew again, headfirst into his father's lap. In a few minutes, up to mommy. So it went.

A week later we went to a much larger church with over a hundred children present. They were quiet. We were amazed, and later questioned a couple who were members there. ''We believe Christian parents should control their children," they said simply. Where did they get that idea, we wanted to know. Well, from the Bible. The Book of Proverbs speaks repeatedly of the use of the rod. One reference is in chapter 13: "A father who spares the rod hates his son, but one who loves him keeps him in order." The implication is clear: The keeping of order, where children are concerned, sometimes requires the use of the rod.

In the small church, it seemed, they hated their children. In the big one they loved them. They were taught (from the pulpit, the couple told us) to love them according to the Bible's definition of love: Keep them in order.

My dear friend Mari, the wife of a Welsh shepherd, writes often about lessons she learns from watching sheep. In a letter to me she described a very hard winter:

All the sheep were brought down from the mountain early, about one thousand breeding ewes. Two hundred are wintering in a lowland farm while the others are hand-fed here with hay and maize. The grass is covered with snow...When John wants to move sheep or cows from one pasture to another it is a hopeless job when the lambs or calves take to running their own way. They will be followed invariably by their mothers, who will go headlong after their offspring, blindly, in their care for them. What chaos! If only the parents would stay where they were, holding their ground, defending their standpoint, the little ones would eventually return to them and would willingly be led together to the right place.

Although our men are fighting hard against nature's elements these days, even that's easier than fighting unchanged, selfish human nature. I wonder: are the sheep and cows a true picture of what's happening in the world? Road men refuse to grit and salt the snow-covered roads; dustmen, gravediggers, and others are pressing for more money. It is so true that money is the source of all evils. If it isn't the capitalists it's the workers. This has been true in every generation. But now parents are leaning backwards to please their children, afraid of displeasing them. Teachers live in fear of their pupils at school, bosses are afraid of the workers, the government of trade unions. It's anarchy.

Anarchy is the complete absence of order and authority. It's what lambs and calves like. It's what people like too--for themselves. (It's another matter when the neighbors scorn order and authority.) A Houston high school principal described the new educational system as a "cross-graded, multi-ethnic, individualized, open-ended learning program with the main objective being to learn respect for the uniqueness of a person." Maybe that's what the parents in the little church were aiming for. It was open-ended, all right, and each unique little individual was doing his or her not particularly unique thing. The result was chaos, if not downright anarchy. A short lesson, emphasized in the vestibule with a narrow "board of education," i.e., a rod, might have done wonders to teach small individuals respect for the persons around them, who were there not to provide an audience for their antics but to worship.

The trouble starts, of course, not when the kids tumble out of the station wagon and charge into church. It starts at home, before they can walk, with parents who believe that love means giving them what they want and letting them do what they choose. They don't like ordinary food. They blow it out when they're babies and throw it on the floor or down the garbage grinder later on. They scream for other foods, and their screams are rewarded. If screams don't do the trick, tantrums will, especially in public. (Watch them around the gumball machine in any supermarket. The initial "No" is quickly reversed.) A child who doesn't throw tantrums can use another weapon--he can go into a sulk. His parents pity him and this teaches him to pity himself. When things don't go his way he knows that he has a right to resentment. The spiritual implications in later life of this kind of early training are disastrous: ''If God loves me he will give me what I want. If he does not give me what I want he does not love me." That isn't what the Bible teaches, of course, but it's what a child may conclude if his parents operate this way.

Training children, like corralling calves and lambs, is a great deal of trouble. It takes sacrifice. It's much easier to let them go. But you can't do that if you care about them. Only the one who cares about them will go to the trouble of bringing them under control. "The good shepherd gives his life for the sheep." The sheep don't take kindly to the crook he uses, to the dogs who herd them where they don't want to go, or to the disinfectant baths they are plunged into. It is the shepherd's sole purpose to take care of them, to see to their well-being according to his wisdom, not according to their whims.

My parents loved us enough to make us wear galoshes (those awful things with black metal clasps) when "nobody else had to wear them"; to see to it that we got five meals a day (three for the body and two for the soul, the latter including hymns, Bible reading, and prayer); to say no to things like candy or coming in when we felt like it, or skipping piano lessons and church; to give us chores to do around the house and to make it clear that if we didn't do them they wouldn't get done; to give us an allowance even during the Depression and teach us that some of it belonged to God; to stick by what they had said--line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little and there a little. They drew lines. We knew where they were drawn. They didn't move them. They knew more about life than we did, and had a fairly clear picture of what was good for us. Like other kids we complained that they didn't love us or they would do so-and-so. "When you have children of your own," Mother would often say, "you can let them do that if you want to." She knew we wouldn't want to--if we loved them.

We've got it backwards--love says don't restrain, hate says restrain. God puts it the other way: "The Lord disciplines him whom he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives. . . . If you are left without discipline . . . then you are illegitimate children and not sons" (Hebrews 12:6, 8 RSV). "When we fall under the Lord's judgment, he is disciplining us, to save us from being condemned with the rest of the world" (1 Corinthians 11:32 NEB).

It is not difficult for adults to see what's wrong with other parents and other people's children. But how blind we are in our childish reactions to the dealings of a kind Heavenly Father! The motive for discipline is love. Its purpose is salvation. The people of Israel muttered treason against him and said, the Lord hated us that he brought us out of Egypt" (Deuteronomy 1:27 NEB). Freed from slavery, they missed onions. Led by the Lord of Hosts himself with his angels and a pillar of cloud and fire, they were terrified of the Amorites. "You saw how the Lord your God carried you all the way to this place as a father carries his son. In spite of this you did not trust the Lord your God" (verse 32).

Discipline or "chastening" can be a painful thing for us poor mortals. We think only of the "rod" itself--the hard experience, the prayer that was answered with a No, the shattered hope, the misunderstanding, the blow to pride--forgetting the loving Hand that administers the lesson and the Savior who like a shepherd leads us. We forget how much we need his tender care.

As parents, let us faithfully remember that the keeping of order sometimes requires the use of the rod. As children of the Father and sheep of his pasture, let us remember humbly to accept his discipline, praying:

We are Thine, do Thou befriend us, be the Guardian of our way;
Keep Thy flock, from sin defend us, seek us when we go astray.

Saturday, January 26, 2008

Obedient children....where have they gone?

I have been amazed lately at what I have witnessed in the grocery store. I have had to bite my lips to keep quiet at some of the things I hear in the produce aisle! Parents and children seem to have switched roles! I do not understand why I hear parents either explaining to, arguing with or pleading with their young children about why they should obey. Reach out and touch some reality folks...at 6 or 7 years old they don't need THAT much freedom in their little lives. It seems that many parents, with tender hearts I am sure, want to be their little one's friend. They have friends....what they need are parents. This doesn't mean that you don't love them, play with them, snuggle them and adore them. It means that when it comes down to the bottom line, you are the boss and they KNOW you are the boss. You can be best friends when your children grow up.

I tried to teach my boys "immediate obedience without question". Once they obeyed they were free to ask me what it was all about...respectfully. I then had a choice to make...to explain or to tell them that they needed to obey because Father said to obey your parents. Most often it was the latter...if they don't learn to obey me quickly and without question while I am standing there....how will they learn to obey Father quickly and without question when they can't see Him? There is no room for the question WHY? with our heavenly Father and there should be no room for the question WHY? with little ones. Our Heavenly Father requires our obedience because he says so....is it so bad for us to require the same of our children?

There are times you need to tell your child "do this". And then you need to be prepared to make them....no pleading, no whining, no explaining. If you know it is necessary for the good of your child, then you require it. If they don't obey then an appropriately placed pop on the behind does a lot for motivation. HOWEVER!!! You must be consistent with this. If you teach your child that sometimes they will be disciplined and sometimes they will get away with it, then you have effectively made your life miserable because they will test you EVERY chance they get. They need to know without a shadow of a doubt that disobedience ALWAYS brings discipline. ALWAYS!

What I see are wimpy parents. Either they don't have the confidence that they know best or they just don't have the "gumption" to follow through. Recently overheard in the pharmacy section: "Well, Ella May, you know the Dr. said you need to take this medicine and I really think you should take it to make yourself feel better. You see, it will help kill the bad germs...please Ella May, please make Mommy happy and take this." At this point I had to leave before I felt compelled to open mouth and insert foot have a talk with Mommy and Ella May. What I wanted to say to the Mom was...YOU ARE THE BOSS. Tell the child, "You are going to take this medicine." What I wanted to tell Ella May was "You will obey or you will be spanked!". Ella May, by the way, had a triumphant look on her face...she knew she was in charge....she was enjoying the power struggle...she knew she was winning...she wasn't any older than SIX!

Parents, if you are not in control of your child at the age of 6....if they do not respect you and obey you at the age of 6 without requiring an explanation from you (that they will then assess to see if it meets their qualifications!) .....what makes you think it is going to get better by the time they are 13...14...16? IT WILL NOT! If you have a rebellious, difficult child now, unless you change your parenting style you will have a rebellious and difficult child at 16 and I am sure you will be dealing with far more serious subjects than whether they are going to take their cough syrup!

Here is a quick test to see how you are doing:
1.Do you enjoy being with your child?

2.Can you take them anywhere and be reassured that they will behave?

3.Do they obey you the first time you ask?

4.Do you require your child to adjust themselves to your life?

5.Do you adjust your life so as not to put yourself in situations where your child might be difficult or embarrass you?

6. Do you find yourself saying "We can't do that/go there because (insert name) would ________ (fill in the blank... not sit still, scream, throw a temper tantrum, embarrass us, disobey, etc.).

If you can't answer yes to the first 4 and no to the last 2 then you might want to make some adjustments to your parenting style while remembering that consistency is the key to everything. A book that helped me a lot when my boys were little was called "Making Children Mind Without Loosing Yours" by Dr. Kevin Leman. I read this book more than once...and still keep it on my shelf...after all I still have kids at home! I am sure you can still find this book through the link in my sidebar to Amazon. It would make a wonderful gift to both you and your child!

Elisabeth Elliot sums this up so much better than I, so let me step off of my soap box and allow Elisabeth Elliot to tell you all about it!

Author: Elisabeth Elliot
Source: Keep A Quiet Heart

A Child's Obedience

Questions from a young mother: "How can I train my twenty-month-old to come to me? How many times do I say 'Come here' before I go and grab him?"

The very first time you tell the child to do or not to do something (come here, don't touch, sit still), (1) make sure you have the child's attention; (2) look him straight in the eye (let him know he has your attention); (3) speak in an even, normal tone, address him by name, give the command; (4) give him a few seconds to let the message sink in; (5) speak his name again, and ask, "What did I say?" Since training should begin long before he is talking, he will not be able to verbalize the answer, but he should obey. Children always are way ahead of their parents' idea of what they can understand. (6) Tell him once more: "Mama said come, Andrew." If he does not obey, spank him. After the first time or two of practice, spank after you've spoken once.

To make a habit of repeating commands is to train the child to believe you never mean what you say the first time. If the first lesson in obedience is carried out as above, the child learns quickly that you mean exactly what you say. I know it works--my parents taught us this way, and I watched them train my younger sister and brothers. I found that it worked with my daughter Valerie.

If you run after the child and physically force him to do what you say (e.g. grab him when he doesn't come, take something away when he touches it), you are training him not to pay attention to your words. He knows he can get away with anything until forcibly restrained.

Now about spanking. The book of Proverbs speaks of the "rod of discipline," (22:15) and says, "Rod and reprimand impart wisdom, but a boy who runs wild brings shame on his mother" (29:15, NEB). "He who spares the rod hates his son, but he who loves him is diligent to discipline him" (13:24, NIV). My mother used a very thin little switch from a bush in the backyard. We knew there was one in every room, readily available to administer a couple of stings to our legs if we disobeyed. Valerie keeps a thin wooden paint stirrer handy in the house, and also in her purse. One or two firm "paddles" on a small outstretched hand are language that an under-two child understands very clearly.

Don't imagine that following this advice will mean that your child will be punished twenty times a day. The wonderful thing about these simple rules is that punishment needs to be used very seldom, if you start soon enough. If you begin at the beginning to show the child you are serious about obedience, you will not need to undo the months or years of raising your voice, repeating commands again and again, rushing after him. You will have control. The child will be learning to trust the word of authority (which will make it much easier later for him to believe that God means what He says) and your life together will be much more peaceful and happy.

Suppose your child is already twenty months or three years old and you have not taught him to obey? Then you must both pay a price, but I believe it can be done. Set aside a whole morning to start over. Talk to him, tell him how much you love him, tell him, "This morning we are going to learn the most important lesson you will ever have to learn." Let him see that you are in earnest. Start practicing the beginner's rules.

A word of caution: spanking, in my opinion, should be for deliberate disobedience only. When a child spills his milk or stuffs peanuts up his nose or pours your talcum powder all over the carpet, he is not being disobedient. He is only acting his age. You have not forbidden him to stuff peanuts up his nose. If you have, and he does it anyway, spank him. If, in defiance, he dumps his milk on the floor, spank him. But childish mistakes and messes must be pointed out, and by all means he should be made to rectify them or clean them up as best he can. Think of punishments that will fit the "crimes," but reserve the stick or the switch for deliberate disobedience. He will soon learn that when he defies you, a spanking follows as sure as the dawn follows the night--even if you are in church or the supermarket. Take him out to the car and spank him. Explain the whole system to him again (after the spanking), if necessary. Put your arms around him, assure him of your love, and change the subject.

Wednesday, January 23, 2008

So....what is this?

I need help!  I found this object when cleaning out an old bureau.  In fact, I found two of them.  It is about 7 inches long, it has 8 sides.  The ends have small holes drilled in them and the wood itself is covered with small holes.  I don't have a clue...I don't remember ever seeing them before.

Ideas anyone?

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Monday, January 21, 2008

A reader writes about the NAIS! Just say NO!

As I have written before...the NAIS is an invasion of your privacy, a violation of your constitutional rights and just another arm of government reaching out to control another aspect of our lives. A reader left a comment recently on an older post but it was so important that I wanted to re-print it here for your benefit. If you value your freedoms, please read this post and respond appropriately!
To: tnfarmgirl@comcast.net
Author : susan barackman
URL : http://nonais.org
Comment:
Good comments about NAIS...it is indeed a sorry plan developed only to benefit corporate ag but the rest of us have to do the work like tagging and tracking and paying for it.

I am convinced that NAIS is wrong on so many levels.

1. I found out by word of mouth not from the USDA. Those involved with
NAIS are the "big" guys in ag and horse business AND the chip makers. Not one backyard breeder was asked anything about inputting into NAIS regulations.

At the USDA website, it was claimed they wanted our input. I among many many others wrote our opinions on why we think NAIS would not work and our oppositions to NAIS. The USDA took those opinions and came out with a booklet on how to deal with those against NAIS, also claiming we are on a 6th gr level. I am sure you have a copy of it.

2. Many have been signed up for NAIS without their permission or knowledge
(nearly 14,000 in Idaho). Would you like to be signed up, say for a new car
lease, without your permission or knowledge. be responsible for the monthly
payments and not even sure the car will run and its the very make of car you hate?

3. The reasons we are told NAIS is needed keeps changing. (Disease
protection, bioterrorism, global market, etc) Yet when Creekstone Beef
wanted to test every cow they process for BSE, the USDA says they
cannot!!!Creekstone had to take the USDA to court to sue for the right to
test for BSE! And what does my reporting to the USDA when I take my horse
off my property have to do with big ag selling beef to Japan?

Actually, NAIS is NOT about protecting us from animal disease...it is a marketing plan for corporate ag. NAIS traceability ends at slaughter which is where many food issues happen. Why does the NAIS document allow only for depopulation?

4. The following is a must read for all horse owners....

http://arkansasanimalproducers.8k.com:80/whats_new_29.html

5. Tracking disease is not new. In 1938-Nazi Germany targeted one segment
of society they thought responsible for spreading disease, the JEWS. A law
was passed that ALL JEWS had to register their property.Every piece of
property they own into a massive database. IT worked. The Gestapo knew
exactly who to raid by the value of their art and jewelry. We know the rest
of the story, a minor event called the Holocaust!

In the same time period, the Russian Communist Govt under Stalin starved
millions of farmers in the most fertile part of the country because the law
stated that ALL the grain they grew belonged to the govt! They were not
even allowed to eat what they grew!

6. Several Constitutional rights/religious rights will be broken by NAIS
regulations. How can the Amish comply with this program when they feel it
will go against what they believe and they do not have electricity. How
about the impoverished who keep a few animals yet can barely afford potato
chips, let alone microchips. Then there is the Santeria religion, legal in
the US, animal sacrifice is practiced (chickens and goats) often in city
apartments. Will those animals be reported?

7. Why are there so many websites that are against NAIS and I cannot find
any for NAIS? Except govt sites+

8. A cost analysis of NAIS has not been done. The $3 promised cost of tags
in Australia went to $37.

9. Livestock owners will be under closer surveillance than illegals, drug
dealers, convicted six offenders/child molesters. Currently in the USA,
only convicted six offenders/child molesters have to register their premises
and file movement reports.

10. The issue of private property rights: In the NAIS document those who own livestock are called "stakeholder"
and the land upon which the livestock presides is "premises". Contracts
use certain words for a reason. The lectric law library states that the
word premises signifies a formal part of a deed,and is made to designate an
estate; to designate is to name or entitle. Therefore a premises has no
protection under the United States constitution and has no exclusive rights
of the owner tied to it. Stakeholder (the term the USDA is using to
identify us) refers to a third party who temporarily holds money or property
while its owner is still being determined.

By signing up for NAIS, title to property rights are clouded, basically
making the owner little more than a sharecropper.

11. NAIS is trying to be a one-size-fits-all program yet there is a huge
difference between granny's back yard hens, a pot belly pig in suburbia,
horses which are not in the food chain and the multi-billion dollar
corporate ag and factory farms, which this program was ultimately made for.
(oh by the way, the factory farms get one lot number per groups of animals,
but granny has to microchip every animal she has and report their births,
deaths and off-property movements.)

12. After much public outcry, USDA nows claims NAIS voluntary, but continues
to use our tax $$$ to bribe states to pass laws to make it mandatory. Gives
$$$ ot FFA and $H to get them to sign up. Some fairs say you cannot enter
your animal without premise number. There was a big stink at the Colorado state fair over this summer about registering premises. I question the legality of minors signing up private property that they do not even own for NAIS,be it their parents or someone else's property.

13 What is so magical about the number 48 traceback. Nais does not address
the fact that many diseases are coming in with the Illegals, Newcastle
disease in chickens and TB in a goat. But these were found without NAIS.

14. There are disease protocols in place that already work. NO foot and
mouth in the US since 1929. NAIS would be a costly boondoggle.

15. My mom always told me be careful what you sign your name to.

16. If NAIS is such a wonderful panacea, why is there so much opposition to it. You can learn a whole lot about why NAIS is opposed by so many by visiting these websites. Please check out these websites and organizations fighting NAIS. (national animal identification system) The research contained within them is from reading the NAIS document.

http://www.nonais.org/ http://www.tofga.org/
http://www.farmandranchfreedom.org/ http://libertyark.net/

Saturday, January 19, 2008

A glimpse of my heart....

2008....I can hardly believe it. Am I the only one that seems to feel that life is rushing past me at lightening speed? As I face this year, I realize that this will be one of the most difficult years of my life...and yet....I want to slow down...to linger...to stop this mad rush of days flying past.

As I have been reflecting on this new year, I have been trying to put words to the longings of my heart...what do I hope for, long for, wish for?
I fervently desire more of Him...my creator, my Beloved, my Father, my Friend...more and more, deeper and deeper I want to know Him, serve Him, love Him and be loved by Him....I want "I am my Beloved's and He is mine" to be impressed on my heart....no...not impressed...engraved.

In wanting more of Him, I find I want less and less of the ways and traditions of man. There is not room for both. I am learning that I have much to unlearn. That many things I have been taught as Father's ways are really the ways of men. I am learning to stop and pray and ask...."Father, is this where you want my hands and heart?" And, often, the answer is no.

Don't misunderstand...please...I love tradition. I am not trying to toss the baby with the proverbial bath water. We have a lot of traditions in my family and I have written about many of them here. But they are our traditions, desires, customs and ways and never have we tried to convince others that they are Father's traditions, desires, customs and ways. The problem, I guess, is that I haven't always been diligent to to ask Father about these things, to seek it out in His word, to study and find what He says on the matter.

But I have been encouraged greatly by my dear friend Julie and her husband to seek the matter out. To be diligent in my study and to seek our Father's face and to ask..."is this You?".

I long to slow things down, to take more time for the little things. To have time to sit and ponder with my boys, to marvel at the wondrous works of Father's hands. To revel in the glories of His creation which surround us night and day. To see Him in the small things and to share that with my boys. So much seems to press on me...I am a mother, daughter, sister, aunt, niece, teacher and friend. Many hats......I fear that I often wear them poorly or not at all. So many tugging at my heartstrings....I fear that I fly through my days and often miss Him who gives the true meaning to life....even in the little and seemingly unimportant things. "Father, help me slow down, show me what to hold on to and what to let go of and help me to see Your face in it all."

I long to have less, to need less, and to simplify our lives more so that we have more time for the important things. The boys and I were talking tonight about this. To have less stuff so as to have more time, my most precious commodity! More time to spend with Father, more time for each other, for family, friends and for others.....isn't it amazing that by choosing less we receive more?!

I long to savor every moment with my boys that I can. They are growing into men before my eyes. They are in this valley with me and often it is harder on them than me I fear. Yet their first thought is to look after each other, to protect me, to stand for Father...they give unselfishly of themselves to me, to each other....sometimes I look at them, their kindness, their thoughtfulness, their gentleness, their courage and it makes me weep. "Thank you Father for such children!" My heart cries that the years left are too short...how I long to live them wisely, faithfully....my heart whispers...."Father don't let me waste a moment!"

Thursday, January 17, 2008

Thankful for....

So many things...I just wanted to share a few :)

We awoke this morning to a winter wonderland...well...a wee bit of a winter wonderland. It was snowing hard when we went to bed and I prayed...for enough snow for the boys to enjoy some sledding. When we awoke I found that my prayer had been answered.

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We only received about two inches of snow but it was lovely to look at and the boys managed to sled for a couple of hours and engage in a massive snowball fight. I think Elijah won that...when his brothers came in to get warm he stayed outside and secretly made 100 snowballs...when the battle began he was ruthless :) Diligence pays!

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This picture looks out my back door and towards our "mountain" (it's a lot steeper and higher than it looks!)

We are also thankful for a broody hen who has begun to hatch a clutch of eggs! She is a Buff Orpington. One of the few breeds that we found that hasn't had the broodiness bred out of them. We have another sitting on a nest also.

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Look carefully and you can see a black chick peeking out from Mama's protective feathers.

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Here he has decided to be brave and step out on his own. They are SO cute! tn_100_5330.JPG

She has hatched 5 chicks so far but as you can see she has a few more to go. We are hoping that some of these will also hatch.

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And finally, I am so thankful for the beauty of YHWH's creation. He paints us such wonderful pictures in the skies over our home. When we moved here, the only thing I really thought I would miss from Florida were the beautiful sunsets. As you can see, Father heard the longing of my heart and quite often gifts us with this type of beauty.

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"Thank you Father that Your glory is revealed, even here, on this sin swept earth."

Wednesday, January 16, 2008

Till the cows come home....

...except they don't. Not in reality. Not here on this farm. Seriously. That only happens in the movies.

The other night a truck pulls up late (o.k. 9:00 pm but that's late for me). It was a neighbor with the glorious news that he saw 3 Jersey's headed up the road...ON THE ROAD. We are the only ones down this way with Jerseys. This meant that our horse, Dusty, might be gone as well since he was in the same field. He is so dark that it is very hard to locate him at night. We would just have to pray.

Grab the giant spotlight (making a note to self that we need several more of these - they don't hold the charge very long when chasing cows). The older boys head up the road while Elijah and I stay home to man the phones. There are periodic updates from local neighbors to let me know where they are. They ended up, after 2 hours, in the barn of a neighbor several farms away. Problem...no doors on this barn. We have no cattle/horse trailer so we had no way to haul them home - we needed to be able to drive them home. They were so spooked by this time that it would have been an impossibility. The decision was made to attempt it again at daybreak....yes...I said DAYBREAK! I prayed that Father would keep them from the highway, from causing damage to someone else and from killing themselves...and also that they would be standing on our property at daybreak.

*Note* I don't mind being up at daybreak - I usually am... in a nice warm house...however trudging through fields at 12 degrees is a different story.

Of course, the next morning, at DAYBREAK, they were gone. The boys were out looking again. I sent Elijah up to look out the windows over the fields and see if he could locate Dusty. Elijah came running to tell me that Dusty was still here but headed towards the escape route that the cows took. I grabbed a fistful or carrots and headed out calling his name. I was waving a giant carrot like a torch in the hopes of catching his eye. He watched me but he didn't move. Of course not, I had to trudge through 3 fields and get within 20 feet of him before he decided he might like to have a carrot. I was able to lure him back into a contained field and shut the gate behind him.

While I was in that field, I was looking at our neighbors horses. He has quite a few and noticed some "odd" looking horses. My heart leapt at the possibility that our cows were this close (notice my heart leaps not just at romantic things but at the thought of our cows...hmmm...). I have terrible vision for long distances (or short ones for that matter :) so I lured Dusty back up the STEEP sledding hill at a pretty fast clip. I wanted to get him to the fresh hay we put out in the hope it would keep him busy for awhile. I then ran to the house to get the binoculars. Sure enough there were all three of our cows - just over our fence line in our neighbors field. Not on our property...but only about 20 yards away....I still call that answered prayer!! I called Jeremy and told him where they were.

The boys were able to drive them down into the large creek and head them towards home. Then they sent them up a small creek that runs through our property. I was waiting to open the gate and let them into a contained field so they couldn't plot another escape attempt.

The boys promptly asked for large bowls of hot oatmeal and cups of hot cocoa. I was happy to do this for them since they had spent another 2 hours chasing cows.

I think the cows left looking for food. We have been rationing hay...there is a massive hay shortage here this year due to the drought. Perhaps we have been a bit stingy. We have upped the amount we are putting out and hope that keeps them home.

This reminded me of the Great Cattle Drive of '03.....I'll have to tell you about that adventure some time

Sunday, January 13, 2008

Happy Birthday Mom!

My mother turned 81 in December. I am so proud of her. She lives life to the fullest, seems to have more energy than anyone I know and is on the go all the time. She is always lending me a helping hand, taking care of boys and just generally blessing our family!

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My four boys...all of them appear to have a secret :)

Elijah had a special card for Mom. Grandma has either lived with us or on the farm next to us since Elijah was a baby. He can not imagine not being able to run over there several times a day....just for a hug, a snuggle or to see what yummy thing Grandma has been cooking.

When Mom opened Elijah's card she started giggling when she read it. When she passed it to me to read I was amazed...don't ask me how/why...I don't have a clue. We are all convinced that he is really a midget sent to keep us humble....here is his creation in his card to Grandma...

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LOVE METER???????

Mom asked for my coconut chicken salad for dinner. She also didn't want a traditional cake...she wanted an ice cream cake...toffee flavored....so that is what I made and it was yummy!

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I tell Mom all the time that she certainly doesn't look 81...I don't think she even looks 71...now tell me readers...isn't that the truth?

Happy Birthday Mom....WE LOVE YOU!!!

Friday, January 4, 2008

Ask and you shall receive......

It has been requested...
Hey, Cheri...TN Farmgirl....since I have you here...how 'bout extending that special another few days into 2008....I came in a little late from having the flu and traveling - missed the news!
See...a pathetic mama like me NEEDS your info! :)
(Just teasing Cheri. Just bummed because I found the info a few days too late!)

And given.... :)

So...for all of you who have been under the weather, dealing with sick littles (and bigs) or traveling...I am extending the sale until midnight January 12th...

May our Father bless each of you with a healthy and happy new year as you endeavor to draw closer to Him.

Cheri
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