Tom Del Beccaro

I support a fair flat tax. We can't keep taxing success ad further inflating a bloated government. I like Tom Del Beccaro. He would make an excellent US Senator for California.

http://www.delbeccaroforsenate.com/ontheissues/tax-policy/

The Minimum Wage Disaster in California

Forcing an increase in the minimum wage I a job killer. Jerry Brown has crammed one down on business owners, making us all losers.

http://m.townhall.com/tipsheet/justinholcomb/2016/04/18/uc-berkley-forced-to-cut-500-jobs-after-15-minimum-wage-n2149066?utm_source=thdailypm&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=nl_pm&newsletterad

Bag Tax Update!

More Stupidity in California. The Bag Tax Needs to Be Voted Down!

http://www.flashreport.org/blog/2016/04/18/california-grocers-worst-nightmare/

 

A Photographer Reminds Us of a Past That May End Up In Our Future

A Photographer Reminds Us of a Past That May End Up In Our Future 

I found this story on New Advent that linked to http://www.creativeboom.com/photography/abandoned-checkpoints-photographer-documents-europes-forgotten-borders/  which describes a photographer's project to photograph abandon checkpoints.  You may want to check out these eerie photographs by Josef Schulz. Secure and lawful borders are a necessity for domestic order, much like a front door of a house.  They can be used to do good or evil.

Truths About Proposition 13 in California

Prop. 13 has always been good for the State coffers and property owners.  It is time to review why it is so for the new homeowners, especially those juggling student loans, home loans and starting families, and yes, Obamacare.  Read on:  A Defense of Proposition 13 -- Updated January, 2015  by Richard Rider  http://riderrants.blogspot.com/2015/01/a-defense-of-proposition-13-updated.html

Vatican calls on Muslim leaders to condemn Islamic State

 

Vatican calls on Muslim leaders to condemn Islamic State

"Religious leaders also are called on to exercise their influence with the rulers for the cessation of these crimes, the punishment of those who commit them and the restoration of the rule of law throughout the country, ensuring the return home of the deported," the Vatican said.

 

Good people can not sit quietly while letting such atrocities go on. Organizations like CAIR need to lead the condemnation or their assertions about a peaceful religion can not remain credible. I applaud the Vatican’s strong statement.

The Big Fat Surprise: Why Butter, Meat and Cheese Belong in a Healthy Diet | Book by Nina Teicholz

My Favorite Book for Summer 2014:  What a Surprise!

The Big Fat Surprise: Why Butter, Meat and Cheese Belong in a Healthy Diet | Book by Nina Teicholz

If you want to know why the food industry and Michelle Obama have it so wrong and why obesity is the public health problem it is, then read this HISTORY book.  No, this is not a diet book, it is a history of how we have gotten this food pyramid that is so hard on women especially after they turn 40.  It is an answer to overweight children and metabolic syndrome, insulin resistance etc. 

Correlation and consensus substituted for the rigorous clinical studies and tested science is not something to base school lunch programs and recommendations from healthcare providers to promote and inflict on the general public. What about all those studies like the Women’s Health Study and the Framingham Study that are often quoted and analyzed and reported in the popular press?  Read this book, think about it and share it. 

I could not put this down until I finished it.  I enjoyed sipping my coffee with heavy cream while I read this book. 

Study: 'Cash for Clunkers' an even bigger lemon than thought | Fox News

Another feel good idea that makes life miserable.

Study: 'Cash for Clunkers' an even bigger lemon than thought | Fox News

"Strikingly, we find that Cash for Clunkers actually reduced overall spending on new vehicles," the researchers reported, noting households "tended to purchase less expensive and smaller vehicles such as the Toyota Corolla, which was the most popular new vehicle purchased under the program."

Chalk it up to Obamanomics.

Israel to grant Vatican control of site of Last Supper? : News Headlines - Catholic Culture

 

This is so exciting: I hope that it happens!

The Cenacle, which is the site of the Last Supper, is the site recognized by Israel as the Tomb of David?  The Vatican has long been pursuing Israel to grant it control of this most special site.  Pope John Paul II was able to say the Mass there (you can read the homily here: John Paul II: Homily March 23, 2000 at the Cenacle (Private Mass) and this would be a great gesture of friendship to the Church. 

The Bishops Need to be Responsible When Talking About Economics: They Are Not When Talking About Minimum Wage

 

The Bishops and American Business: Rethinking the Minimum Wage

January 26, 2014 By Kathy Schiffer  Patheos.com

Simply raising the minimum wage does not begin to unwreck the economy that has been severely damaged by Obamacare and its effect on the workforce participation.  It can only add to inflation and higher unemployment in the the 16 –20 year old workforce sector. Schiffer does a good job laying this out. One can only hope that the Bishops educated in the Keynesian curricula will wake up.

The Freedom of the Family - Truth and Charity Forum

 

The Freedom of the Family - Truth and Charity Forum  Father Brian Thomas Becket Mullady, O.P.

Can we talk about the principle of subsidiarity too much?  The answer is no when we have allowed a Leviathan that is disastrously over reaching, especially threatening the ability to practice one’s faith in the public square. Institutions do not take the temperature of a sick individual, people do. The family can never be replaced by a welfare state. That would be inhumane.

Moral Relativism melts into Arithmetic. So why are the Bishops in America adopting this garbage?

 

Obama math: under new Common Core, 3 x 4 = 11 | The Daily Caller

 

The article above and the editorial here in the Trib published August 17, 2013 that points out 100 Catholic dioceses have adopted Common Core are excellent  The editorial also questions whether this adoption is the “demise of Catholic Schools” and “if that is the intention?”

 

Catholic schools & Common Core  Trib, published August 17, 2013

Bravo to these Pennsylvania Catholic School Parents Fighting Common Core

Catholic school parents fear arrival of Common Core  The Morning Call August 19, 2013

We have watched how our American Bishops have pushed big government money into our Catholic institutions such as healthcare, immigration and education that has now threatened their future Catholic identity.  It is a self-inflicted wound.  Now, they are pushing Common Core into the parish schools.  Parents, if they don't stand up now, will have to flee to homeschooling or independent Catholic education to assure a classic liberal arts education for K-12.  When will they learn?

Bravo for the courageous acts of these parents.

Common Core Won't Make Kids Smarter - Eagle Forum

 

Common Core Won't Make Kids Smarter - Eagle Forum  Phyllis Schlafly

If you care about kids, education and society, then fight Common Core. Here is an excellent article by Phyllis Schlafly regarding the state of Common Core. Tell your local bishop, such as Bishop Patrick J. McGrath in San Jose, this is an atrocity if it is inflicted on the diocesan schools.

Beware of Sophistical Education “Reformers” | Crisis Magazine

 

Beware of Sophistical Education “Reformers” | Crisis Magazine  by Steven Jonathan Rummelsburg.

This article is summarizes the philosophical harmful underpinnings of Common Core, standardized testing, charter schools and modern public and now much of private education in America.  It is worth printing out and keeping a copy to pass on.  From the article:

Like the proverbial frog in a pot of slowly heating water, most Americans are unaware of the depth of sophistry that governs our public schools. Generations of sophists have been trying to engineer a brave new world in all spheres of public life, the last place we should accept this is in our children’s classrooms.

Beware of Sophistical Education “Reformers” | Crisis Magazine  by Steven Jonathan Rummelsburg.

Obama Wants Education to be like China, China Wants Teachers to Learn From USA…Ironies! Stop Common Core

 

The Worlds Most Famous Teacher Blasts School Reform  By Valerie Strauss, The Washington Post, July 16, 2013

This is worth reading as a teacher that is recognized in both the USA and in China urges teachers not to adopt Common Core, which he refers to as another “new [school reform] flavor of the month.”

So why is the Diocese of San Jose adopting this? I thought Catholic education was about being better than this always chasing a new novelty. What is in it for them? Money? It just does not make sense.

San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA Economy at a Glance

 

San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA Economy at a Glance

Here are the stats for San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara California.  U6 numbers are not available.  The California Labor Market Review can be found here:  http://www.calmis.ca.gov/file/lfmonth/calmr.pdf

Common Core: Homogenizing Schools and Our Children | Acton PowerBlog

 

Common Core: Homogenizing Schools and Our Children | Acton PowerBlog

President Obama has overtaken the auto industry, the insurance industry and now is attempting to do the same with our educational industry.  Our rights are melting from under our feet. 

Will Americans let their children’s future melt away, because they are so brainwashed in moral relativism that they no longer have a foundation to see the harm in our society’s erosion?

A Noble Defense of Liberal Arts Education

 

Humanist, Where Art Thou?

This brought tears to my eyes.  Why are we taking away the fundamental human search for the beauty and the truth that do not contradict. We were given five senses to experience the world before we ever engage in technology etc.  Why are we making our children slaves to the technological world without first giving them the joy of the created world?

Examining the Underpinnings of Common Core and Asking Why Are Our Catholic Schools Adopting Them?

 

Catholic Children In Grave Danger: A Report on Common Core in Catholic Schools  by Betsy Kraus

 

Read the excellent report and decide whether or not you want your child to be educated or part of a “human capital development data system. (page 21 of the report).

Common Core to Conflict with Parental Choices in Catholic Education in Diocese of San Jose

 

Update on the situation with St. Clare School  From California Catholic Daily

From the article: 

  The diocese has now instructed all parochial schools in the diocese not to accept refugees from St. Clare School and other Drexel schools whose parents do not want their children to become guinea pigs in the new blended learning experiment, which also separates schools from their host parishes.

National Catholic Register Addresses Common Core in Catholic School Classrooms

 

Common Core Education Standards Generate Catholic Concerns (3104)
The academic quality of the new federal standards is insufficient, according to critics. by CHARLOTTE HAYS 06/17/2013  National Catholic Register

 

The article points out that the use of materials for suggested use will be used by teachers as it will make lesson planning easier and provide opportunities in some cases to slip in political material. In a Catholic setting, parents would have to be concerned whether the teacher is solid in their Catholic identity if this would be a valid point of concern over the discretion of “factual” material.

This is experimental and once again, the experts think that it is ok to use students as guinea pigs that will be prepared more to job training rather than for higher learning that Catholics aspired towards in their great universities where John Henry Newman’s Idea of a University Discourse 6 explains the purpose of a university: It educates the intellect to reason well in all matters, to reach out towards truth, and to grasp it.

Catholic institutions especially in needing to pursue the New Evangelization need to step back from the secular pedagogy and consider restoring the goal to “reason well in all matters” for all their students, poor or rich.

Life Under Compulsion: The Dehumanities - Front Porch Republic

Anthony Esolen writes about the harm of Common Core.  Excellent article to share with your friends. Get a load of the writing sample he cites.  I pity those having to read such essays for a consideration to college entrance.

Life Under Compulsion: The Dehumanities - Front Porch Republic

If you were interested in what you have read, read this Esolen article next. http://www.frontporchrepublic.com/2012/12/life-under-compulsion-human-scale-tools-and-the-slavish-education-state/

Another article for food for thought that parents need in healthy portions in this day of technology where children are more like machines that need to be used efficiently.   Read it and ask do you really want your kids in a Common Core environment.

The folly of Common Core proponents' China envy | The Daily Caller

The Chinese produce the best of test takers, but are they innovative?  We can all agree they are great cheap manufacturers, but innovators?  I think not.  Why would we want to lose that edge with our children?  Why are Catholic Bishops jumping on this bandwagon?  Why specifically may we ask this of Bishop Patrick J. McGrath?  Why would anyone want to send their kids to a Catholic school that will leave the liberal arts behind for a kill and test on a selected group of facts and a substandard curriculum?  Teachers and professors are questioning this and refusing to sign on.

The folly of Common Core proponents' China envy | The Daily Caller 06/07/2013

Wow-Wow! Sparks Fly at First-Ever California Common Core Forum, in Thousand Oaks - venturacountyteaparty

 

Parents and Taxpayers in Thousand Oaks California showed up to a public meeting about Common Core.  The curriculum is copyrighted and can not be changed without permission.  Is this the case in the Diocese of San Jose? Is that why Pastors will not have any say about these schools?  Just how much will parents be informed regarding these standards?

Wow-Wow! Sparks Fly at First-Ever California Common Core Forum, in Thousand Oaks - venturacountyteaparty

For More Information, visit the Stop Common Core Website and view the informational videos.  http://stopcommoncore.com/youtube-channel-dvd/

So What Will They Say About You If You Oppose Common Core?

This article tries to explain why you should let a dumbed-down curriculum lacking in liberal arts be inflicted on children.

Conservative Reformers Must Challenge Movement Conservatives on Opposing Common Core | Dropout Nation: Coverage of the Reform of American Public Education Edited by RiShawn Biddle

More Warnings about Common Core

 

Yet Another Look at Common Core - Practical Leadership June 10, 2013 | Posted At: 04:01 AM | Author: Suzanne Tingley  http://blogs.scholastic.com/practical_leadership/2013/06/yet-another-look-at-common-core.html

The Haves and Have Nots created by the “expert” intellectuals continues to inflict pain on the pawn in the desk at institutions known as “schools”.

Here is a Letter to the Editor in the Indy Star talking about the failure of Common Core in the Indiana schools.  http://www.indystar.com/article/20130303/OPINION10/303030016/Common-Core-black-mark-Daniels-legacy

More About that “Agnostic” Common Core

 

Creative Minority Report: Don't Read to Your Children. It Makes Them Racist Homophobes and Stuff, Warns Academics

In the previous Noontime At the Well post, kicking literature out of the Curriculum was discussed.  It defeats the purpose of a value free mis-education process.  In the CMR piece we find Academics who come forward with their “expert” advice that states why literature meant to inspire children is harmful—because there are morals in the story and the characters as role models. Are the Catholic schools such as those in the Diocese of San Jose going to tell Catholic parents not to read unapproved stories to their children?

The Agnostic Common Core Lacking a Literature Core

 

No Learning Without Feeling  

By Claire Needell Hollander

My suspicion is that the Common Core enumerates skills and not books because as a country we still feel that real works of art are too divisive. It is more comfortable to remain agnostic, to permit our teens to remain an education-product consumer group, fed skills-building exercises that help adults to avoid the hard truths our children have no choice but to face.

The author points out Common Core is not about nourishing minds and intellects, rather it is about preparing robots to easily train for the skill set needed by “society”,  I hope Bishops and parents will wake up!

The Core Curriculum that Should be Taught: Catechism of the Catholic Church.

Repenting of the Failure of Parish-Based Catechesis: Time for An Old Idea By Barbara R. Nicolosi, Patheos Catholic, May 29, 2013

It's long past time for the Catholic Church in the United States to acknowledge and address the fact that in many, possibly most, dioceses, parish-based catechesis has been an abject failure. In the vaunted Year of Faith, it should sting all of our leaders and pastors that few of the ever-dwindling percentage of Catholics in the pews on a Sunday morning could pass a basic catechetical quiz.

I would say that Barbara Nicolosi  nails it in stating that our mainstream Catholic in the pew has been deprived of the opportunity to learn the true facts of the Catechism. We have read about the CORE Curriculum going into the Catholic schools about a body of “facts” that Bill and Melinda Gates would like to see in school, but it would be great if the Bishops would take a personal interest priority in seeing the Catholic in the pew develop a well formed conscience starting with the facts of the Catechism of the Catholic Church.  What we have now are dumb programs that leave no common tongue for Catholics to share.  The article is worth the reading time you will invest.

Diocese of San Jose Instituting an Education Plan Bill Gates Loves, but Is Not Liberal Arts Based, Rather Fact Based.

 

Time for parents, grandparents, priests, bishops and citizens to educate themselves about the big Gates Foundation program for education across America.  It is not a classic liberal arts education for our K thru 12 students.  It is based on “facts” as corporate America sees them. It is not grounded in forming minds and intellects towards making sound and wise decisions with a well-formed conscience. It is in fact a curriculum designed by a liberal foundation that pushes the idea of strict population control.  The reader is directed to several excellent articles about the core curriculum in particular and the program in the Diocese of San Jose.  Pray for our children and our Church to reassess the adoption of such a program.

1. The Ambitions of Bill and Melinda Gates: Controlling Population and Public Education by Anne Hendershott Crisis Magazine, March 25, 2013

2. Saving the Uncommon Core of Catholic Education by Emmett McGroarty and Jane Robbins  Crisis Magazine, May 17, 2013

3. University Helps Launch Academy of Blended Learning by Hatalia Pavlina, The Santa Clara May 23, 2013

4. Two Moms Vs. Common Core by Maggie Gallagher, National Review, May 12, 2013

5. Part II: DSJ Schools Implement Common Core State Standards by Nancy Doyle, The Valley Catholic 11-20-2012

6. Catholic elementary schools in Diocese of San Jose launch first Digital Benchmark Assessment, The Valley Catholic, 06-19-2012

7. Digitizing Humanity in the Pipeline by Mary Thompson, May 24,2013

8. My earlier post on Common Core. May 20, 2012.