What’s the difference between rights and privileges?
In today’s world, we hear the word “rights” tossed out quite a bit.
What is the difference between a right and a privilege?
To me I like I like to think of the difference between a right and privilege like this:
Lets say you’re out for a little boat trip, say a 3-hour tour. Your boat crashes on an uncharted island but there are inhabitants that come out to greet you.
Do you, as a stranger to them, have the right to demand they take care of your injuries? No, you don’t. If they offer to take care of your injuries, that makes it a privilege, not a right, and you should be very grateful for their assistance and not view it as if you are entitled to it.
Do you have the right to demand they educate your children? No, you don’t. Therefore, education is a privilege, not a right.
Do you have a right to keep your property? Yes, you do.
Do you have a right to defend yourself if attacked? Yes, you do.
Do you have a right to attack the natives to take their property? No, you do not. That’s not a privilege either. It’s a violation of their rights and may cause you to lose one or more of your rights such as your right to life or liberty.
Do you have a right to vote in their elections? Certainly not.
Do you have a right to burn down their village because you learn that some of their ancestors enslaved your ancestors? No you don’t.
Social justice is the false idea that you have a right to violate another person or their property because of your individual circumstances. This doctrine leads to societal breakdown as individuals envious of other’s property or lifestyle, seek to pull down and level another person, instead of applying themselves to the effort necessary to overcome their personal circumstances. It’s always easier to destroy than build.
There are some that try to convince us that our personal, individual rights can be modified by the government or by a panel of judges. Any person with a conscience can recognize this is false. Rights can’t come from government or they can be taken by the government. A government of the people and by the people derives its powers from the consent of the governed, not by overpowering the governed with rights the people don’t possess themselves. Rights come from God and if you don’t believe in God, you can still feel the truth of the fairness of how this scenario works. We don’t seek to dominate and control each other, but allow everyone the freedom to choose how to act as long as their actions don’t interfere with others’ freedom to act.
During a crisis, it’s difficult to openly criticize leaders for their “decisive actions.” They are always making decisions on “the best available knowledge” “for the good of the people.”
How do you know if it’s really the best available knowledge or for the good of the people? Is putting 10 17 million people out of work the good of the people if we save a few thousand lives? Are you asking the unemployed people, or the families that lost someone? You’ll get different answers. The problem is, that’s the wrong question to ask. The proper question to ask is, are you willing to give up liberty?
America has always been willing to sacrifice some lives in exchange for liberty…in the past. Now we are ceding liberty at the drop of a hat with the mention of keeping us safe. We shut down our entire economy and let politicians wrap the chains of slavery (ie. compliance) around our necks. We’ve embraced the political mafia and their promise of safety (“protection”) as long as we do exactly what they say.
During World War II, the English were being bombed every day by the Germans. People were dying. They didn’t abandon their factories. They fixed them and used them every day to overcome the enemy. Only a robust economy solves individual and collective problems. The people supported the soldiers by keeping things going back home.
In our pandemic, now it’s healthcare workers on the front line. What’s happening to support them? We’ve shut down the economy. Stupid in my opinion. Taiwan and Sweden told their citizens how to take precautions and exercise good judgment, but didn’t shut down the thing that keeps everyone productive and providing for their families. That’s the model we should be emulating.
Everyone wants to be important in a crisis. From the CDC, WHO, governmental leaders, bureaucratic administrators, etc… Everyone claims their bailiwick is critical in an emergency and others can’t comment or criticize. They are saving lives… (as if a “non-essential” breadwinner going to work every day doesn’t save a family’s life…)
It’s short-term selfish thinking. Bad stuff happens to everyone. It’s life. Yes we should preserve it, but not at the cost of our freedom.
Who is Playing the Long Game?
Who is thinking in the long-term when citizens are thinking in the short-term?
The central planners. “Never let a crisis go to waste.” They pull a magic trick on us while we watch the right hand (media causing a panic) and then the left hand does the trick (government passing extensive new laws that abridge our freedom). Every crisis turns into a loss of freedom…by design.
In 1988, God’s prophet on earth, Ezra Taft Benson, said these words: “I testify that wickedness is rapidly expanding in every segment of our society. It is more highly organized, more cleverly disguised, and more powerfully promoted than ever before. Secret combinations lusting for power, gain, and glory are flourishing. **A secret combination that seeks to overthrow the freedom of all lands, nations, and countries is increasing its evil influence and control over America and the entire world.**” (https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/1988/10/i-testify?lang=eng)
President Benson (Title for the earthly president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints), previously served in President Dwight Eisenhower’s administration as the Secretary of Agriculture. In 1966 he gave a talk at BYU and in this 3 minute clip he shares a boast by Russian president Nikita Kruschev that he made to President Benson while he had to host the Russian on a U.S. tour.
In short, he said President Benson’s grandchildren would live under communism, not by any war, but Americans are so gullible, they will take socialism by doses until they wake up one morning to find they are living under communism.
We keep enacting more and more “precautions” that are turning us into a police state. Why? It’s by design of the central planners, our “masters”, the “elites” who think they know what is best and how to control the economy to make it better. There aren’t communists “hiding behind the door,” they are out in the open talking about social justice, Marxist principles, waving Bernie posters, and teaching many of our youth. The only economies that have ever functioned as close to perfect as possible is where the free market works. When people are free to capitalize on opportunities, they do so and the whole machinery of the economy functions better.
What’s the Game?
To explain what’s been happening, there is no better video clip than this one of an interview between Ed Griffin and Yuri Bezmenov in the 1970’s. Yuri was a KGB agent that defected to America and told us in great detail how the Russians took over countries and how Soviet propaganda operated. This plan was brought into play many decades ago and we are now in an end game situation where every crisis is being “normalized” by government instead of through freedom of the people to act. The Constitution of the United States is the only thing that has slowed down the communists from transforming our country even faster which is why they are so eager to abuse the Founding Fathers of this country and make it seem like they were horrible people and hypocrites. Tearing down the framers makes it easier to tear down the banner of freedom they created.
This is one of the most important videos that exists on YouTube’s servers. I’ve watched it several times to remind myself and share with others what’s happening in the America and the rest of the world.
To summarize, Yuri says the Communist purpose is to prevent people from coming to sensible conclusions about what is happening around them.
The stages of infiltration Bezmenov talks about center around a long-game plan that leads to the socialization and eventual takeover of a nation. The Soviets did this repeatedly with other nations. Their agents have been present in America for a very long time.
The four steps of the plan are:
1) Demoralization-this isn’t to put people down like you demoralize someone. It’s literally to destroy moral values (ex. Sexual revolution, life has no value so abortion is pushed, family is inconsequential, etc…). He points out that when someone loses moral values, they can no longer assess truth even when it’s presented to them in great clarity. He said this phase takes 15-20 years so that the demoralized generation becomes the teachers of the next generation and are able to pump Marxism into the heads of the children.
Once this long phase is done, the next few can be put on a loop for different industries. Just repeat 2-4 over and over till you have communism.
2) Destabilization- this takes 2-5 years for each crisis to be created. They’ll destabilize the economy in various ways (banking, savings and loan, terrorism, health care, foreign relations, defense systems).
3) Crisis-over several weeks the destabilized area hits a crisis point and “requires” a violent change in structure and economy.
4) Normalization-Leaders promise they have fixed the problem and remove more of the free market economy. It’s a government takeover of the industry and individual liberties.
Since 9/11 it’s become so easy to see these things happen. Immediately after 9/11 we had the Patriot Act, a massive document prepared far in advance of 9/11 just waiting for the right crisis to normalize life in America again. Since then, every crisis has been handled by every administration by enacting more draconian measures which the American people just roll over and accept. We stopped being the land of the free and home of the brave decades ago. We left God in favor of American idol-atry and listen to atheists more than prophets and the warnings in scripture. It’s all by design… The godless communist/Marxist threat never left. It’s just poisoning the well and cementing the evil into place until nobody can resist. Every totalitarian government wants gun control so they can’t be resisted. They promote promiscuity and the destruction of the family bonds to weaken the influence of good parents on their children so the “state” parents in government schools can pumped new doctrine into young heads as Yuri explained. This latest covid-19 crisis is a prime example of what Yuri warned us about. The disease brought about a crisis and the next phases of the program have been dropped into place remarkably fast. It’s almost like cell phone companies were ready to turn over our location tracking to the government so the CDC can “monitor the disease.” How do they know what phone owners carry the disease and how it’s spreading? I guess we’ll just have to trust these noble angels with our freedom. I’m sure they’d never do anything to strip our rights away like telling us what we can, can’t, must, must not purchase or inject into us and then carry a record of it around with us…for our own good… Meanwhile, the governments of the world are taking an interest/control of industries (airlines, etc…) because it’s so important that they not fail. They’re too big and important…
What do we do now?
If you believe in America (and not political parties), if you want to protect your freedom, do these things.
1) Pray to God to protect and preserve liberty. Listen to what he wants you to do. If this message resonates with you, you are here for a reason to help preserve liberty in whatever form we can until the nations of this earth are swallowed up under our Heavenly King whose right it is to reign, when He comes to earth to liberate the captives and establish a millennial kingdom.
2) Start writing your congressional leaders in your state and federal positions (do you know who they are?). Heck, your own town as well. The Mayors of Salt Lake City, Los Angeles, and others took draconian measures they have no authority for, to lock down the population with unconstitutional executive threats. The only reason they can do this is because we the people let them. They can only do the things we delegate to them to do. They derive their power from we the people. If you or I can’t do something ourselves, we can’t give that ability to government to do collectively. They have no authority for it, and only as much power as we cower to. You’d better start demanding they unwind all the ways they impacted our liberty or else these things will stay and just get worse with every “next crisis” they can “normalize.” You can bet they’ve already written the next dozen major laws on paper and they only wait for the next crisis to see what they can get away with. We’ve got to find people running for office that are more “Tea Party” minded that want to restore rights and shrink government. Government functions best when it’s at the most local level and the framers wisely limited (on paper as the supreme law of the land), what the federal government could do. They saw with great vision what happens to countries who have strong national governments without putting limits on them, and we’ve lost sight of that and let the camel’s nose edge the body into the tent. Vote for freedom candidates every election.
3) If you don’t know the U.S. Constitution very well, may I suggest you acquaint yourself with it through reading it and maybe taking a course like this one online (https://online.hillsdale.edu/landing/constitution-101). I had some great teachers as a youth but never read the constitution till I was 30. Heaven help today’s generation being openly taught by teachers that communism isn’t that bad. If you aren’t homeschooling, (not talking about the crisis schooling happening now) you should seriously consider it. Know your rights or lose them.
Here’s a collection of some articles which shed a little different light on this whole “pandemic.”
Related Articles:
CURE: LA doctor: COVID-19 patients go from ‘very ill’ to ‘symptom-free’ in 8 to 12 hours using hydroxychloroquine and zinc
Good news as it proves only 1 in 1,000 requires hospitalization and that would be spaced out. Coupled with the cure for the worst afflicted, Utah’s hospitals would have no problem handling this. It’s like a regular bad flu season.
Knut Wittkowski, previously the longtime head of the Department of Biostatistics, Epidemiology, and Research Design at the Rockefeller University in New York City, said in an interview with the Press and the Public Project that the coronavirus could be “exterminated” if we permitted most people to lead normal lives and sheltered the most vulnerable parts of society until the danger had passed.
CDC tells hospitals to assume Covid-19 killed someone if it’s present. This has NEVER happened before to tell hospitals to assume a cause of death. Up till now they determined the cause of death on their own.
Welcome to the Math Skills Worksheet I created for my kids. This will help your children excel at all basic math functions. To truly excel at math, basic functions must become automatic so the slower conscious thinking gives way to much faster unconscious processing and automaticity takes over. In short, this is an algebra trainer, and mastery tool.
When I was a child, I enjoyed timed math tests. We’d get a sheet of paper with 60 problems and see how many we could complete in 60 seconds. The goal was to finish all 60. I remember feeling awesome the first time I did that. The problems on this program are slightly more complex and require more thought. It isn’t expected that someone complete these sets of 50 problems in under a minute but if that was possible, that would be super awesome. 🙂
Every Operation at Once
So what is this? It’s a worksheet generator where you are presented with a few columns. Two random numbers within a range you specify (like 0 to 5, or 0 to 12, or -12 to 12) are added and multiplied. The person working the problem out must identify the two numbers. In doing so, they will use all four math operators (+, -, *, /) and learn to hold combinations of possibilities in their mind all at once.
The one working the problem then has to sort these out mentally. For example, two numbers that add to 10 AND multiply to 25 are 5 and 5. Two numbers that add to 8 and multiply to 15 are 5 and 3, and so on. It’s pretty simple but it really gets the brain working. When my son started doing these a few weeks ago, it took him over 15 minutes to complete a sheet. I wasn’t trying to frustrate him so in the beginning he just worked as many problems as he could for 15 minutes and stopped. Pretty soon he was under 15 minutes to complete the whole sheet and then we started timing him. His scores came down lower and lower with each succeeding sheet (and an occasional increase). Eventually he got under 3 minutes for 50 problems and that was good enough for me to move on.
Introducing: negative numbers…
We talked about the number line and how 1 times any number is itself, so negative 1 times a number is the opposite sign of that number. We discussed this for a bit and the idea that two negatives multiplied times each other will make a positive so you can tell by looking at the multiplication column if both numbers are the same sign and then tell by looking in the addition column if both numbers are positive or negative. Then he started trying out the new worksheet.
For example, two numbers that add to -17 and multiply to 60 are -12 and -5. Two numbers that add to 0 but multiply to -9 are 3 and -3, and so on.
When my son started this sheet, he could only complete a few problems in 10-15 minutes. It was new thinking. We were patient and just let him build his skills. He worked at it and is now to the point of completing 50 of these problems in 6 minutes. The goal is 3 minutes again (and there’s always a prize involved). This one will cost me so please buy a copy of this worksheet! 🙂
Adjustable Difficulty
To get children started, you can select a range on one of the spreadsheet tabs for the maximum absolute value used on a worksheet.
The worksheet then adjusts the page title and problems to match your selection.
For example, if I input 5, you’ll see the title change and the problems adjust to the new values.
Start with seeing how many problems they can complete in 5 or 10 minutes. Each day they should get a little better and improve their ability to focus. Help them get used to thinking about combinations that add or multiple to a number. For example, what are all the combinations that add to 10, or numbers that multiply evenly into 24. Maybe one sheet takes a few days of work to finish.
Once they can do the entire sheet without frustration, start timing them and offer a prize when they get under a certain amount of time for completing the sheet. Once they get that prize, offer another prize at a lower figure. Once your child gets down to about 3 minutes with positives, introduce negatives and the time to complete a sheet will reset and probably be more than 15 minutes if they are just learning about negative numbers. Repeat the process of getting them used to it and then build up to see how many they can do in 10 minutes, then once they can complete the sheet time them to get faster.
Getting Started Pages
I also built sheets with answers which are especially helpful for getting started. The column where it says “FOLD BACK” is where you fold back the answer columns A and B so they aren’t visible when doing the worksheet. When they are done they can unfold it to check their answers and see how they did.
Start with positives with answers till they master the math and then you can print without the answer sheets. Then do negatives with answers till they master the math and then you can print sheets without answers (not printing answers lets you print 2 worksheets per page and you could even flip the paper over and use the back side).
Each printable tab on the worksheet will print 10 sheets to use. Pressing F9 will scramble the math values so you can print additional sets with new numbers. If you only want a couple sheets just limit the printout pages accordingly.
Benefits to your Children
Once a child gets these problems down to a low time, they will have transferred a significant load of mental work into their subconscious and will be way ahead of peers that still have to mentally process problems in their conscious mind.
Master addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division all at once
Your children will grasp quadratic equations when they hit algebra with greater ease and excitement at their ability to know how to separate x^2 -x -12 into (x+3)(x-4) without batting an eye.
As they lower their time, self-esteem and confidence will increase and they’ll be excited to put their mastery skills to work
License agreement: Purchase of this spreadsheet allows you to print as many physical paper worksheets as you want for your own children. You are not permitted to print pdf copies to distribute to others. This is a personal copy of the math worksheet. Please refer others to the website address above to purchase their own copy of this worksheet. Simple honesty contract.
You are welcome to purchase copies of the worksheet for others and send it to them. If you need bulk pricing please contact me.
Someone sent me a link to this graph which comes from pg. 74 of a PARCC document and shows exactly what’s happening in public education. 89% of high school math instructors believe their students are ready for college level work, yet only 26% of college instructors think they are ready. What’s the disconnect here? Are high school math teachers in a bubble thinking they’ve imparted “higher order thinking skills” through constructivism but reality is otherwise?
Most universities have remedial math courses for students who have had difficulty getting to university math levels. However, few universities have remedial math DEPARTMENTS. UVU is one such university that has been forced to do this because of the low quality math skills of students who arrive at the university.
For years the Utah State Department of Education has maintained that the high remedial math class percentage at UVU is the result of returning missionaries who haven’t had math for a period of 2-3 years and then need help getting back up to speed. This is a myth which can now be fully corrected.
UVU generated the following information after a request by Dr. David Wright, math professor at BYU, and Senator Margaret Dayton.
Click to enlarge
This chart shows that these remediation rates (as high as 72% in the past few years) are for first time college students. Many people who go on missions squeeze in a semester or two before they leave, and when they return from their mission they are no longer counted as a first time college student. The percentage of students prepared for college level algebra, is a pitiful 16-24%. How can this be? Constructivist math promoted by BYU’s Math Education department has made the rounds of all the surrounding school districts and it’s killing us. There has not been a single study showing constructivist math programs as effective. Yet we continue doing this injustice to our children making them non-competitive with the rest of the world. When will our schools change? They won’t until school board members quit listening to the so-called “expert” educators within their districts and from schools of education. It’s obvious these folks don’t value actual scientific facts or else they would drop these programs and just use something that works like Singapore math.
This past week I received a couple of troubling emails from parents in Alpine School District. Here’s the first:
Last night my daughter was at a youth activity when a 12 year old girl from her church class mentioned some fun creative writing assignments she was given at the public junior high school in our neighborhood. In the first assignment, the students had to write a fictitious story about a woman who planned the murder of her husband. They had to write how and why she did it and how she got away with the murder. The other assignment was to tell a detailed story about a girl that had murdered her best friend and how she was beaten by her father so badly that she almost died. My daughter was shocked and told her friend that she thought it was an awful and evil assignment and that she would never write such a thing. My daughter told her that assignments like that are given to desensitize students into “believing that killing is a natural thing which isn’t bad”. Another young girl listening in agreed and said that her charter school would never assign a paper like that because it would be “highly inappropriate” and she would have to agree with her school. Unfortunately, the sweet young girl who had to write these two papers disagreed and said it was fun to write thriller stories and they were, after all, just stories. Are they? What was the purpose? After spending hours plotting and writing about how to murder a friend and family member, what kind of memory does that instill in a child? Couldn’t there be other appropriate character-building writing assignments given to 7th graders?
All three of these girls come from great families and they are all very sweet, smart girls. However, only two of them were able to discern how inappropriate this assignment was and to stand up courageously, expressing to their peer why they would never agree to such an awful assignment. These assignments are coming at an accelerated rate to younger and younger children.Parents need to talk to their children constantly about what they are learning in school and to give their children the tools they need to stand up for what is right.
I really don’t think I need to add anything to this story about how inappropriate this is. Here’s the second comment regarding math.
Oak,
I thought you might be interested in my latest experience with Mountain Ridge Junior High.
When we received [daughter’s] schedule and teachers I knew right away that I would be requesting a teacher change for Algebra I. She was given the same math teacher that [son] was given last year. If you recall, I transferred him out of the Algebra I class when he brought home his “Connected Math” book that looked like a 1st grade lesson book. My teacher request was denied and the response email is below.
Greetings:
Your teacher change request has been denied. According to our records, [daughter] has not had this teacher. It is not our procedure to make teacher changes when students have not had an opportunity to learn from the assigned teacher. It is the practice of our math department to teach a balanced math approach, there are no “traditional” teachers anymore.
We are happy to resolve concerns that exist when the need arises.
If you wish to discuss this further, please see administration rather than counseling.
Regards,
[name], Counselor
Of course, it was my decision to take this up with the principal, but in all “fairness” I thought that perhaps this teacher had changed the way she was teaching as so far [daughter] had been coming home with math worksheets that looked okay to me. I emailed her to set an appointment so that she could show me her curriculum for the entire year (I did not want to see only the semester and then the Investigations come into play the second semester). Because of scheduling, mostly on my part, I was never able to meet with her, but she did explain to me through email what books and so forth she would be using. This Connected Math curriculum was listed.
I went into the school and was able to speak with the Vice-Principal, explaining to him that I was not happy about the math teacher and the curriculum she would be using and that I would be pulling [daughter]out of Algebra I and teaching her at home using Saxon Math as my teacher request change was denied. He informed me that all of the teachers at the junior high are now teaching a “balanced” math using traditional and Investigation methods. For the next couple of minutes, he commenced to convince me that I should give Investigations math a chance as his kids have done very well with it. I explained that my kids have not done well, and I will not risk the best education of my kids on a math program that in studies and tests, and in my own experiences, has not proven to be the best math we can be teaching, and in most cases detrimental. The conversation ended as I firmly informed him that I would indeed be pulling her out and teaching her at home for that period.
After a week and a half, she was able to add another elective and she now does Saxon Math at home after school. Was it worth it? Of course! After just the first lesson, [daughter] said, “Wow, Mom, I finally understand how to do these problems.” She enjoys working at her own pace, being challenged, and having me as her teacher (of course, I think that is the best perk). Within the first few lessons she was learning/understanding things that she was not before, like how to find a common denominator. What?! 🙂
I hope other parents are speaking out about the education their children are receiving. So far we have had a great time home schooling and have now pulled [another daughter] out of the school.
This parent’s story illustrates the problem within ASD now where they tell parents that they use a “balanced” approach to math but everything they do in teacher training is geared toward the constructivist approach which is an unproven method of teaching. Actually, it is proven as a failure. Project Follow Through proved that, and the school district has been forced to admit they have no studies that support the use of Investigations, Connected, and Interactive math. These programs are utter failures. If you would like more information illustrating this, I’ve posted my letter to the School Board President in State College, PA on why to avoid Investigations math, and then another letter I sent the ASD board showing a government study that shows Connected Math actually produced a negative effect on learning.
You need to know that the schools DO have teachers who prefer and favor a traditional method and this counselor knows this. There are teachers that lean in both directions and you may have to speak with some of them to find out who is who. The problem exists at the high school level as well. Find out from your child’s teacher if the class will use Interactive math or a real math program.
Here’s where you can learn about dual enrolling your child to teach math at home but take other classes at school.
Some local folks and I are working on a website for people who aren’t familiar with LDS/Mormon beliefs. It’s called Meet Some Mormons and it will grow with time to include more information regarding practices and beliefs, but there is already a bit of content out there if you want to take a look. The latest post is called, “What Mormons believe in” and it’s just a short summary if you want to take a look at it. There’s also some great video clips on the site with members sharing their conversion stories. My parents are converts to the LDS church and their short story is on the site. However, there’s a really great story I encourage everyone to watch. It’s the video clip from Marty Curtis and I think it’s a powerful story about the conversion that can take place within someone when they are born again and experience their own “mighty change of heart.” Marty is a great guy and his story is great. I hope you’ll watch it. No matter your beliefs, you can’t help but feel the power of Marty’s message.
***This post is not to create panic or worry, I’m just offering a reminder that these things are coming, and even if you don’t believe in prophesy, it’s not a bad idea to have some food and water and supplies stored up just in case of a natural disaster.***
Are you a member of the camp that reads the scriptures and thinks, “yep, that’ll happen someday” or are you actively preparing for the things that the scriptures have said would come to pass? If you’re in the first camp, please start preparing. The rest of us can’t carry all of you in spite of our desire to not see anyone suffer. It’s not like we haven’t been warned what is coming. We need to get our homes in order and be ready for these events that will come to pass. For the benefit of the readers who may not have studied scriptural prophesy, here’s a few things that are coming our way.
-Wars and rumors of wars (Matt 24:6)
-Famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in divers places (Matt 24:7)
-A hailstorm with hailstones that weigh 75 pounds (Rev. 16:21)
-The hailstorm will destroy the crops of the earth (D&C 29:16)
-A plague of flesh-eating flies & flesh falling from people’s bones (D&C 29:19) (ala Raiders of the Lost Ark?)
-An overflowing scourge and desolating sickness shall cover the land (D&C 45:31)
-The earth shall tremble and reel to and fro as a drunken man (D&C 88:87)
I believe these things are real but whether or not you do, the rate of disasters in the world has increased and it would just be a good idea for everyone to prepare for any disaster that might impact you.
A few weeks ago I stumbled upon something that mentioned a Twilight Zone episode called “The Shelter.” I never watched the show when I was a youth because I thought it would freak me out, not really knowing what the show was about. So I watched this episode with my wife and oldest children and it was a look at the panic that ensues when a disaster is about to strike and people are not prepared. You can watch it in 3 parts here:
The main impetus for this post is that some time ago, someone sent me this video and I’ve been toying with posting it because I’m not trying to create a panic, or shout the sky is falling, but just trying to share a warning with people that prophecy is real and will come to pass. I also don’t know if this video is accurate in what it predicts for a massive earthquake this September and possibly November, but I did vet the information in this video about the tool being on NASA’s website and the dates of the major earthquakes in the last year and a half and it checks out. This makes me sufficiently intrigued to forward this on as an FYI in case you decide that now is a good time to stock up on a few extra supplies.
On the other side of this coin is this post by a senior researcher at JPL saying nothing is happening. However, it was posted in November 2009 so this “comet” entering our solar system would have been farther away and perhaps not on anyone’s mind the way it is now that this video has pointed out three major earthquakes tied into conjunctions with it since this researcher’s post.
Some LDS people ask, “why isn’t the church talking about this if stuff like this is about to happen?” The answer is simple. They’ve been saying it for decades, warning people to prepare a year’s supply of food, water, and fuel where possible. I recently received an email from a friend that pointed out an important fact related to this. I will end with this email and my hope that you will take seriously the need to prepare for those things needed in this time of trial that lies ahead. Our preparation must be both temporal and spiritual. I don’t know when these events will take place, whether it’s this year or 50 years from now, but they will happen. This is not a cause for fear (unless you haven’t prepared), but for greater faith because as these things happen, so also can we take confidence that the great promises of the Lord will also be fulfilled.
Subject: Fw: Why the Church Leaders are talking about Faith, Hope, and Charity
Dear friends: (be sure to watch the 4 min. youtube clip at the bottom)
General Conference continues to resonate through my heart and mind as I ponder the whisperings of the Spirit that accompanied the music, talks and testimonies.
For the past couple of years, I have wondered why in General Conference, the Brethren have been relatively silent in warning, giving counsel in preparing for the last days etc. I have prayed and yearned for Samuel the Lamanite-like talks, or President Benson’s or Bruce R. McConkie’s talks… yet instead we have been getting talks on Faith, on Hope.. on Charity/Service etc.. Every conference that we have we seem to hear more on hope, on charity. President Monson’s talk on the mother that needed hope despite having to bury her children in frozen ground with a spoon was almost more than I could bare. Why these talks on the big 3 (Faith, Hope, and Charity) instead of one year’s supply of food, emergency preparedness, preparing for eminent catastrophes?
On my knees asking my Father [:] here the world is crumbling, disasters are eminent, people are not prepared and need to be. I was very frustrated and wondered WHY ARE WE NOT GETTING THE WARNINGS…
Well ask and you shall receive.
I then had a wonderful phone conversation with my mother-in-law, and she felt impressed to tell me one thing in particular. She said things are so very close to all of the “prophesied” things to begin happening. We talked about the “cycle” (talked about in the Boyd K Packer’s Priesthood Talk in given in conference in April 2009) .We noticed that just before things completely fall apart and collapse with utter destruction, the Lord’s anointed stop warning, and start speaking about faith, hope and charity. IT IS THE LAST STAGE IN THE CYCLE.
Then it hit me… The Book of Mormon is a template for this as well. Case in point. We read in Ether… we get all the warnings about secret combinations etc. and how the wickedness is abounding and that the people will be destroyed if they don’t repent.. then just before the entire civilization gets destroyed we get the 12th chapter on FAITH, HOPE and CHARITY.. then the destructions in the following chapter to the complete destruction of that civilization.
Another example we find in Moroni chapter 8 just before telling us that the people will perish and the prophecies will be fulfilled, Mormon teaches his son Moroni (and us), about Faith, Hope and Charity.
(Note also, the Apostle Paul speaking to the Early Christian in I Corinthians 13 on Faith, Hope and Charity before the fall of Roman and the Christian persecution)
Okay… fast forward to [recent] conferences.. what messages are we hearing… FAITH, HOPE, and CHARITY!!!!!
WOW.. it hit me like a ton of bricks.. It was the answer that I needed to hear about why we aren’t receiving the voice of warning like I wanted.
Here is how I see the cycle now: As a people we move from being Humble to Obedient to Blessed. to Living Righteously. to Ease to Laziness to Prideful. to Selfishness to Immorality/Sin. to Having the prophets warn us to repent.. to Wickedness. to Ripening to the Point of no return.. to No more on Warnings, but teaching the humble followers to have Faith, Hope, and Charity.. -THEN DESTRUCTION, CALAMITIES for the wicked, etc.- and purifying the righteous and unfortunately compelling us back to being HUMBLE…..
So, we probably won’t see the prophets speaking to us to warn us.. we are past that time, we are in the final stage. This is the Lord’s way, just as He has done with the 2 prior civilizations (Jaredites, and the Nephites).. It is my opinion, the more we hear about HOPE, don’t DESPAIR, etc. .. THE CLOSER WE ARE!
Just as a side note that just hit me, In one of my last videos, “Great
Trials Lie Ahead”.. Please watch if you haven’t already. Here is the link:
I started out with all of the warnings of Elder McConkie, President Benson, President Eyring…. and felt very strongly to end the video with the statements of HOPE by President Uchtdorf… This is a pattern, it is pattern seen in the Book of Mormon and we are following that same pattern today… NEXT STEP for ALL OF US: The Destruction of the Wicked and the Saints being Humbled.. Which especially here in Salt Lake is needed. and by the way….the Book of Mormon is true.
One more time…I don’t know when things are going to happen or if this video is accurate, but I do know the prophecies contained in scripture are real and they will happen and we’ve been warned to prepare for a long time so we have no excuse if we are caught unprepared.
If you assumed this was Alpine School District in Utah, it’s not, but it’s the same old story. We’ve just saved $26,000 by not having the study done. This news report is about Anchorage School District in Alaska which has jumped into constructivist math with the “Everyday Math” program (named thus because it was designed to frustrate parents and children every day). The “A-ha” moment of this article is right here. In all my years of studying this issue, I never saw this insidious angle.
Both Comeau and Nees say that they’ve heard complaints about the “Everyday Math” program from parents, who say that the method is so different from what they learned in school, that some parents aren’t able to help their children with their homework.
“When you have [the traditional method] on the board, and [the “everyday math” method] on the board, and the parent’s trying to do it the traditional way, [the student] is going to stop listening to Mom and Dad, and Mom and Dad can’t help them,” Nees said.
“Mom and Dad don’t know how to do it this way, so I will only listen to my teachers from now on.” Hmmm, where have I heard something like that before? John Dewey and other nationally prominent educators…
“Public education has served as a check on the power of parents, and this is another powerful reason for maintaining it.”
– John Goodlad, Developing Democratic Character in the Young, pg. 165
“Most youth still hold the same values of their parents… if we do not alter this pattern, if we don’t resocialize, our system will decay.”
– John Goodlad, Schooling for the Future, Issue #9, 1971
“Parents do not own their children. They have no ‘natural right’ to control their education fully.”
– John Goodlad / Developing Democratic Character in the Young, pg. 164
It is a very real possibility that Mr. Goodlad and all these other educators have embraced constructivist math not only for the social engineering aspects, but because it’s another barrier between parent and child. Parents don’t know how to do this method of math, so they may figure that it will serve to separate the parents a little further from their children and get children to believe that their teacher at school is the source of knowledge they should turn to. Why? Here’s what other prominent national educators have taught.
“Every child in America entering school at the age of five is insane because he comes to school with certain allegiances to our founding fathers, toward our elected officials, toward his parents, toward a belief in a supernatural being, and toward the sovereignty of this nation as a separate entity. It’s up to you as teachers to make all these sick children well – by creating the international child of the future.”
-Dr. Chester M. Pierce, Harvard Professor of Education and Psychiatry, in an address to the Childhood International Education Seminar in 1973
“Education should aim at destroying free will so that after pupils are thus schooled they will be incapable throughout the rest of their lives of thinking or acting otherwise than as their school masters would have wished …”
-Bertrand Russell, quoting Gottlieb Fichte the head of psychology that influenced Hegel and others.
I have never before understood this issue in this way. If you are new to fuzzy math, or even for a quick refresher, I strongly encourage you to watch these videos and read my comments below. (Update, looks like the video on the news report has been taken down now. You can still read the story though.)
One final note, when the lady in the video above says that when students learn this way studies show they do better, that is utterly false. There are no studies that support constructivist math as a superior method of teaching. To the contrary, they have been shown as failures.
Here’s meteorologist M.J. McDermott to explain this bizarre lattice method along with a stinging rebuke of Everyday math and Investigations math (the parental-separator of choice for Alpine School District). This video is 15 minutes, but she explains the lattice method after a couple minutes. I strongly encourage you to keep watching though, as she will explain fuzzy division, and then share an astounding quote at the 10 minute mark from the Everyday Math textbook telling teachers that mastery isn’t important.
At the end she holds up a couple of Singapore math workbooks to help your children learn math and I also endorse the Singapore Primary math workbooks which you can get at www.SingaporeMath.com.
