Living for Jesus!

Our Fourth Birth (intentional unassisted homebirth!)

2011-12-24T16:02:00.009-05:00

This baby was purposely conceived in great love on Christmas Eve. I think I ovulated a couple of days later and so technically it could have been sperm from another day, but it was on Christmas Eve that my husband Matt told me that he felt led to give me a "very small present." I knew what he meant as we had recently had a miscarriage, and I had told him I wanted more kids. I only had a couple of menstrual cycles after the miscarriage, but up until Christmas Eve, he had been choosing to use condoms.

I then began to take my morning temperature so I would know when I ovulated, and about two days later, my temperature went up and stayed up! A pregnancy test a couple of weeks later confirmed it, and I calculated my due date, based on suspected ovulation date, to be Sept. 19. We immediately realized this to be when we take our annual roadtrip halfway across the country and camp at a large music festival. Matt practices all year and competes in the guitar contest, the National Flatpick Championship.

I planned to not hire a midwife for either prenatal care or the birth. I felt very comfortable doing my own prenatal care, and after our last birth, an unassisted due to fast labor, we were so spoiled by the experience that we didn't want anyone there for any future births. I wanted to wait as long as possible to tell most people. I hadn't told anyone I was pregnant when I had the miscarriage and was so glad I didn't have to go back and tell everyone the bad news. I wanted to get past the first trimester at least before telling others.

I eventually got a blood pressure machine, a fetoscope for listening to the heartbeat, and some urinalysis strips. The first trimester was just waiting, which would have been the case whether I had a midwife or not. I don't get ultrasounds, and early ultrasounds are not typically used by homebirth midwives anyway. I own a doppler, which I never used due to my reading that they can be damaging to the baby like ultrasounds can. (All my previous babies had their heartbeat checked by doppler.) I just patiently waited until I could feel my fundus (top of my uterus) above my pubic bone. This occurs by the twelfth week, but I felt mine at ten weeks. Multiple pregnancies can cause the uterus to grow faster at first. This was very reassuring that baby was alive and growing.

Next, I waited for movement. I felt the first movement at about 14.5 weeks, and a few weeks or so later, baby movement was constant and unmistakably baby. I rarely used the fetoscope as baby movement and uterine growth assured me all was well. I have been blessed with healthy pregnancies with no prior complications, so I felt very safe not having a midwife. I was basically doing everything for myself that the midwife would do anyway, since I don't get most of the things that are routine under OB care. I trust my body to be perfectly capable of growing and birthing babies, and I loved that this baby was growing undisturbed.

I studied some midwifery books so we would know what to do what to in case of complication or emergency. I mostly studied Polly's Birth Book: Obstetrics for the Home by Polly Block, Spiritual Midwifery by Ina May Gaskin, and Emergency Childbirth by Gregory White, MD. I've read much about pregnancy, labor, and birth as a hobby for about the past ten years, but I wanted to make sure I had memorized how to deal with potential problems. I didn't expect to have any, but wanted to be prepared just in case. I had many supplies in my birth kit as well that I didn't expect to use, but wanted them in the miniscule chance we did encounter any problems.

Everything went well throughout, and I busily tried to get some home repair projects done before the baby came. I even did another big bathroom remodel project, but I started it six weeks before our due date, as I did not want another labor and birth with no toilet in the house! Our last baby came a week early and was born on a bucket, our temporary toilet, since I had just begun a big repair of our bathroom floor and had taken out the toilet. I wanted a working bathroom this time!

Everything was up in the air though because of our trip. We were both comfortable with birthing on the trip and planned to go whether the baby was here yet or not. Our parents however were very upset by this. They already were really worried by our plans to birth alone, and the idea of a roadside baby was just too much. They were really pressuring us to get a midwife for the birth and of course to stay home if the baby hadn't come yet. We were just playing everything by ear and didn't know how everything would play out. I definitely did not want anyone but us there for the birth, and I didn't want Matt to miss the contest either.

On a Friday night ten days before the due date, we were talking about how maybe the upcoming full moon would trigger an early labor. The moon was to be full on Monday, and on Wednesday, we were planning to leave for our trip. I fell asleep late, around 2am (after sex!), and feeling a little twinge in my back every time I had a braxton-hicks contraction, which seemed to be occurring with a regular frequency. Hmmmm... I wondered if it was the beginning of labor. I thought of going outside, but decided that if it was labor, I better try to sleep.

The next morning I woke up and had bloody show! I figured labor would happen sometime within the next few days. With my first and second babies, I had bloody show a few days prior to birth, but with the last baby, I had no bloody show at all, which I think is one reason I didn't realize I was in labor until shortly before he was born.

Matt had taken our two older boys squirrel hunting and our youngest was still asleep. I played various songs on You Tube and danced. I was very excited to think I would soon labor, birth and have our new baby here. When everyone returned, I told Matt about the bloody show. We were so glad it looked like the baby would come early and we could go on our trip without causing our parents major worry. Matt left to go cut grass (we have a lawn care business), but he called home two or three times to check on me and see if he needed to head home early.

I decided if we were going to have our baby soon then the most important thing for me to do was to clean the house. A clean house is always desirable to a woman in labor! I spent the day cleaning and had contractions all day, but not painful. It wasn't until later that day, somewhere between 4 and 5pm, that I started to think this baby might come today. The contractions had been growing steadily stronger and closer together as the day wore on.

I had managed to clean the bathroom, kitchen, and living room, and decided to get a shower. I still needed to clean my bedroom, but by this time was doing triage on what was most important. I wanted a shower more than a clean bedroom, and I knew my time on getting anything done was getting shorter. I took a shower, then ran a bath and sat in the water for some time with a glass of water to drink. Our two (almost three) year old, Christopher, was with me a lot and even brought me bananas, which I wolfed down. He also brought me my book of acupressure points for labor, which I hadn't asked for but had been wanting.

I used acupressure during my last labor and had very little pain, so of course I used acupressure this time, but contractions were still painful. I think it may have made them shorter, but who knows since I never timed anything. I used the same points on my back that I had used before, along with some others at times. I even held small combs in my hands squeezing on them to stimulate points during each contraction, while also using my thumbs and fingers at the same time to stimulate other points. Always multitasking! I don't know when I got in the tub, but I think I got out about 5:30.

I decided I wanted to try and clean my bedroom and knew I could always get back in the tub if I wanted. In between contractions, I folded the huge pile of laundry on our bed, made the bed which didn't even have sheets on it since I had washed them, cleaned up everything off the floor, swept the floor, and whatever else needed doing. I had an inflatable kiddie pool, but never could blow it up since our bedroom was too messy. By the time I got the bedroom cleaned, I was too far along to care about the pool. Oh well.

I couldn't have set it up in the living room as our nine year old son Joshua, who had been saying for months he hated homebirth, was in there on the computer oblivious to the labor going on in the house. I think his distaste for homebirth is perhaps due to anything having to do with his mother's vagina being repulsive. He is a nine year old boy after all, so I suppose his attitude is understandable. We asked him once what he would do if his hypothetical future wife was having a baby, and he said he'd go to the "Men's Club!" We don't know where he got that idea, but hopefully he'll come around! Daniel, our five year old, had already fallen asleep due to getting up so early to go hunting. Christopher was either around me or his brother.

I spent a lot of contractions bent over the bed or a bucket, reminding myself at one point think of the contractions as waves to ride. (Once, I went outside and had a contraction under the almost full moon.) I've never felt compelled to do this during labor before, but it's what felt best. I would often move up and down, and rotate and move my hips as well. Joshua did see me bent over once and asked me why. I said something about it felt better or I just wanted to, and he never suspected anything. Matt came home from work at 8:10pm and saw me bent over the bed. He asked me how was it going and I said, "It's a going." I was glad he was home so he could tend to Christopher, who was being very needy. He kept wanting me to carry him and I kept trying to tell him there was no way I could carry him now.

Matt told Joshua that I was in labor. I wouldn't have told him, and he wasn't happy about it. I was in either our bedroom or the bathroom. I felt tired and laid down on my bed on my side for several contractions. I remember looking at my clock, and it was 9:33. It was around this time when Matt informed me that the contractions were coming every two minutes, which really didn't matter to me. I could tell of course that they were intense and frequent. I also thought of how I'd read that some women planning homebirths wind up transferring to the hospital for pain medication. While I certainly had no desire to go anywhere, especially a hospital, these were all clues that I was in transition, but at the time, I was thinking of Matt's prediction that morning. He said he thought the baby would be born the next day, and I was hoping I didn't have hours more labor ahead.

I decided to get back off the bed to resume my bent forward position for contractions. I also decided to make low moans hoping to get my cervix to open quicker, and I visualized it opening. I've always been a quiet laborer just breathing through contractions, but I had learned that low vocals help to dilate the cervix. I learned this from my childbirth instructor friend, Sarah, who I had hired to teach my friend Marsha, when pregnant with her first, and I sat in on the fantastic class.

I thought I had to throw up and went to the bathroom, but wound up only salivating a bunch in the toilet. Matt wiped my face with a cold washcloth that felt great. I went back to our bedroom, and I did make sure I peed every time I went in the bathroom. I had read in one of my midwifery books about reminding the mom to pee, and for some reason that stuck with me, so I kept peeing!

I always throw up right before my kids are born, so I was definitely getting closer! I had more contractions in the bedroom, then had to vomit again. I went back to the toilet, and this time, I puked! I then brushed my teeth, which I also always manage to do after puking. I thought that I'd have one more contraction and then the baby would be born. I had peed again and this time left my pants off and now ripped my shirt off. Matt told me later he knew I was about to birth when I got naked! I was just hot!

I got down in the floor on my conveniently red colored, rubber backed bathmat that Matt had bought for me the previous Christmas. What a romantic guy, huh? He also gave me new matching towels and a shower curtain. Anyway..., I was on my hands and knees and had another contraction, and then, the baby was right there! Unlike my second and third births in which I felt the babies move down the birth canal for two contractions, and then they were born during the third contraction, I never felt this baby move down.

A little bit of fluid came out as my water broke, and then the head came out. I heard Matt say something, but I don't remember what, but I thought maybe I should push, so I gave a little push and the rest of the body came out with the rest of the fluid gushing out. The baby was coming out regardless of whether I pushed or not though, as I was still in the midst of the contraction when the head was born. All my babies came out in one contraction with no break after the head like happens with some women.

This birth was different from my previous two in which I had fetal ejection reflex, and the babies came down and out on their own with zero effort in any way on my part. During that one contraction in which this baby came out, apart from my one little intentional push after the head was out, the whole thing was very intense as I was very loud, grunting I think, and of course saying Jesus over and over like I always do when babies are exiting my body! It felt different than the others, and as I think about it now, I wonder if it was the extra pressure from still having most of the fluid inside. My water had always broke before they entered the birth canal. It all happens so quick and is all so intense, that it can be hard to correctly remember all the details and feelings. But it seemed as if my body was working hard to get the baby out during that contraction.

The baby came out crying and it took me a little bit to get my leg over the cord so I could sit down. When I did, Matt handed me our new son! Yes, another boy! We like boys and weren't at all hung up on having a girl, so we were happy with another son. I asked Matt a couple of times to check the time, and he was born at 10:07pm. Our previous son was born so fast when we weren't expecting it that we don't know the exact time of his birth, but had to make a general guess for his birth certificate.

I noticed right away that he had hypospadias, in which part of the foreskin is missing. I couldn't remember the name at the time, but had read about it and how it's ironic that some parents circumcise sons, causing the penis to resemble what is an actual birth defect.

I sat on the mat holding him for maybe a half hour while Matt made phone calls to our parents. My mom wanted to come over, but I told Matt to tell her to wait until the morning as I hadn't even birthed the placenta yet and was sitting naked covered in blood, fluid, and poop and pee from the baby, who went while sitting in my lap. I was quite a mess!

Although I didn't plan to birth on the bathmat, but just so happened to want to get down in the floor, and happened to be in the bathroom where a mat was, I must mention how easy clean up was. Everything was totally contained on the mat! I just threw it all in the washing machine. Easiest birth clean up ever! So, not only did my most amazing husband give me the sperm to make the baby on Christmas, he also gave me the mat to birth him on!

We kept asking Joshua if he wanted to see the baby. It took him a while to come in, but once he did, he's been in love with him since. Daniel missed all the excitement, and his eyes about popped out when he woke up to a new brother! Christopher had watched the birth and told us right after that I pooped out a baby! All the boys love him dearly.

When I raised up a little after having been sitting on the mat, the placenta came out, my smallest one ever. I never saw my first placenta, but my other two were much bigger than this one. I don't know why, but it served the purpose. I had been considering a lotus birth, and also planned to encapsulate the placenta into pills to eat, which is supposed to be great for many things. I had a cooler to keep the placenta in to do both if I chose.

I got in the shower for a quick wash, then put the still attached to baby placenta in a ziploc bag, and had Joshua hold the bag so I could rinse the baby's poo covered butt off under the faucet. I put the baby back down on a clean towel, and set about to do his blood typing. I'm Rh negative, and Matt is positive. All our boys are positive, so I've always had rhogam. I only needed four drops of blood, but couldn't get it from the white, nearly bloodless cord, so I got some from the fetal side of the placenta, and this baby was also positive.

A couple of hours after the birth, I went ahead and decided to cut the cord and weigh him. Matt wasn't too keen on waiting until the cord fell off on it's own. While he would have gone along with a lotus birth, there was nothing left in the cord, so I decided to cut it. Matt cut it as he had all the other boys' cords, and we tied it with hemp twine. I had bought a cord band for that purpose, but didn't know how it worked and messed it up trying, but hemp twine worked fine. A small amount of blood did come out when he cut it, which is why we tied it tightly with the twine. Just like the others, it fell off on the fourth day.

I used a fish scale I had bought just for weighing the baby, and he was 7 pounds, 3 ounces, after subtracting the weight of the blanket we hung him from the fish scale in. He was 20 1/2 inches long, making him our smallest baby both in height and weight.

He latched on great, and nurses like a pro. I'm so very thankful I never had breastfeeding problems. I spent much of that first night awake, just watching him as he lay sleeping beside me.

I felt fantastic as soon as he popped out, and had no tearing at all and not even any discomfort. A couple of days later, I had Angy, my midwife for my other homebirths, come over to give me Rhogam, and do the state required newborn bloodwork, and check the baby out. I was really only concerned about the hypospadias. His is minor, and an online friend directed me to a very reassuring article at http://www.drmomma.org/2010/04/hypospadias-surgery-and-circumcision.html. He is still fully functional, but just looks a little different.

He was nine days early, and we were glad, as now we could take our annual vacation in peace. Everyone was very relieved when he arrived early, and we took off on our trip as planned when he was four days old. Due to massive rainstorms and having a newborn, we did get a hotel instead of camp.

Matt wanted to name him Noel, which means Christmas child. I liked the meaning, but not the name, so finally after much debate and discussion, when he was four weeks old, we put a name on the birth certificate, Isaac Noel. Matt and I and the boys are always cuddling and snuggling and kissing him. He is so precious, and we all love him so much.

Abortion: Mercy or Murder?

2011-07-05T11:56:00.002-04:00

I wanted to share my response on a Facebook thread about abortion. First,

Birth Without Fear

posted this quote here: https://www.facebook.com/birthwithoutfear/posts/211181862259709

‎ "I've noticed that everybody that is for abortion has already been born." ~Ronald Reagan

I replied, "Love it!!! Thanks for posting BWF!!! I can't read all these comments, but I am very pro-life and believe all babies deserve the same legal protections as everyone else. Whether born yet or not, the baby is human like us. I'm not sure how some feel it is part of the mom's body when it is so obviously a separate person. I also don't understand how some people are advocates for babies rights and gentle care and compassion once born, but think it acceptable to kill them before they are born. If you don't care about if they are killed prior to birth, why care about what happens to them after birth? It's the same baby."

A lady replied, "Christy, unfortunately, it seems like a lot of pro-life people care more about the baby in utero than they do about the child and adult that follow. Nobody seems to have a really good solution for what to DO with all the babies they don't want aborted. Should parents just keep their kids when they can't care for them and/or don't want them? What about the ones whose mothers do hardcore drugs while they are pregnant, and are going to be born with SEVERE deficits? And adoption isn't always the fairy tale that we like to think it is...I can vouch for that.

But it doesn't seem to matter. As long as they are alive, they should be happy. Who cares who crappy their lives are?"

This is my response I want to share.

"Tanya, I just checked back to this thread and wanted to answer your questions. I also care deeply for children and adults as well. Killing someone should not be an option for how to deal with an unwanted person. If that is an appropriate solution, than what should stop us from killing other supposedly unwanted people. There are places in the world where street children are hunted down and killed because they are unwanted and viewed as a dirty nuisance. Do you consider this acceptable? If not, than why the distinction between the two groups of children? Simply because one group is still in the womb does not make it morally or ethically ok to kill them. They are still people. As for children born with severe defects, it is not our right to act as judge of who is worthy of life. The Nazis thought they had the right to decide who had the right to live and who should die. Believing that "defective" individuals should not be allowed to live is exactly what the Nazis practiced. I do not at all think parents should be forced to keep children they do not want, but murdering their unborn children is no different from murdering their born children. Both involve the premeditated taking of another person's life. The age of the victim does not turn a crime into an act of mercy. It seems from the comments here that some consider abortion to be an act of mercy. I can certainly understand thinking a person would be better off dead than to live a life of abuse and suffering. However, by actually believing it acceptable to kill people in order to protect them, we then open the door to it being acceptable to kill anyone we deem to be suffering. This results in the same outcome as the Nazis, who kill those "unworthy" to live. If it's ok to kill unborn babies who may possibly suffer from being unwanted or having birth defects, than is it not also acceptable to kill already born people who suffer? Should we kill abused children to save them from further suffering? Should we kill those with mental and/or physical handicaps? How about the terminally ill or those living with excruciating chronic pain? Should we not do all these people a favor and put them out of their misery? What if they don't want to die? Our survival instinct is the strongest instinct. Often, people who attempt suicide due to their misery change their mind and fight to live. Unborn babies try to get away from the abortion instruments. So, what should we DO with all the unwanted babies, you ask. Of course, I would love to see them adopted into loving families. There are many families desiring to adopt, even to adopt "defective" children. Our adoption rate is very low and our abortion rate is very high. Abortion is a massive industry that makes vast sums of money for those involved. Extremely vulnerable women are preyed upon by this industry. These women must daily live with their choice to abort. I do not at all condemn them. I blame the industry and the government which blesses, protects, and helps finance it. I do not think abortion will go away and everyone will live happily ever after. I do hope I have been able to present reasons showing why legalized abortion is wrong. When it's ok to kill one group of people for whatever reason you may have, than it is ok to kill others. I contend that we do not have the inherent right to kill another, even if it is our own child, and that it is wrong for our government to have laws in place legalizing one person to kill another."

TOS Review: Brill Kids-Aesop's Fables Volume 1

2011-03-21T12:14:00.004-04:00

We received a five book set of Aesop Fables stories from Brill Kids (http://www.brillkids.com/), which is a company dedicated to creating products to teach very young children. So young in fact, that they even have a website section devoted to prenatal learning! (http://www.brillbaby.com/prenatal-before-birth/introduction-to-prenatal-education.php)

This book set is designed for babies and children ages three months and up. Much older children will enjoy them as well. Brill Kids is very involved in teaching babies and young children to read, so these books are geared for helping you to teach your young child to read.

Each book consists of one Aesop Fable, such as The Boy Who Cried Wolf. These are short, simple books, which will easily hold a young child's attention. They have a very unique design. On the left side of the page is the very large text, and on the right side are rich illustrations. The difference in these books is that an extra blank flap can be used to cover the picture, so that you can have your child focus on the words instead.

You read the text first, while using your finger to underline the words as you read. Then, you uncover the picture and discuss the picture with your child in relation to the text. You repeat this for each page. This way, you can use a storybook as a reader. As Brill Kids states, children will look at the pictures and not the words when parents are reading them a story. This method keeps the child looking at the text for a while first.

The five book set is available for $37.50 at https://user.brillkids.com/onlinestore/storybooks-aesops-01.php. When you purchase the book set, you also receive access to the books in digital format that includes the stories with added multimedia effects and professional voice narration.

If you appreciate taking advantage of the short window in a young child's life in which they soak up learning like a sponge, consider giving Brill Kids a try. They have early learning resources down to a science!

TOS review: Math Rider

2011-02-26T06:16:00.003-05:00

We were given the opportunity to review Math Rider recently in exchange for our review. Math rider is an easy way for kids to practice their math facts while having fun at the same time. These are my favorite types of teaching tools. As a mom who has seen plenty of tears and frustration during math, I'm always looking for ways to make learning painless, and preferably even enjoyable.

One of my firm homeschooling goals is for all my children to have all the basic math facts memorized. I consider this to be crucial to their future math success and caring for themselves and a family when grown. I feel a person would be mathematically handicapped if they always have to stop and think whenever trying to figure out a basic math problem.

Many schools today however, do not teach the math facts like they did when we were in school. They let elementary students rely on calculators instead. Thankfully, homeschoolers can teach as we choose, and in our home, we are learning the math facts! This has actually been our main math goal this year with our third grader.

I was very pleased to receive this program! It is available as an instant download to your computer. As with many homeschool products, it grew out of a family's need to find a way to teach their own children something, which they then shared with the rest of us.

Math Rider provides practice in addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division, using all the facts from 0-12. This is far more than just electronic flash cards, though! Children are actually sent on exciting quests. Not only that, but the game teaches traditional values of honesty and caring as well. The game is interactive, responding to your child and changing as needed depending on your child.

To view a sample video of Math Rider in action, visit their home page at http://mathrider.com/. Here you may also order the program for $37. They offer a 30 day money back guarantee, so you won't be out any money if your child just doesn't like it. Most kids would enjoy fighting dragons and rescuing princesses though! At least in a game, that is.

Visit http://mathrider.com/game-play/reviews to read many reviews of how Math Rider has helped many children to learn a very needed skill in a fun way, including children who were really struggling with math.

More details about Math Rider and how it works are at http://mathrider.com/game-play. I highly recommend giving Math Rider a try!

TOS Review: The Curiosity Files: Quicksand

2011-02-11T19:41:00.005-05:00

Our latest item we received in exchange for our review is an e-book published by The Old Schoolhouse about something most everyone finds fascinating: quicksand. This is one of several topics in a new series they have out called The Curiosity Files.

Geared for children ages 8 to 13, this e-book is both educational and entertaining, and is sure to engage adults reading along as well. It tells all about quicksand, such as how to recognize it and escape from it, along with what exactly makes quicksand, and even how to make your own.

The unit study also incorporates quizzes, Bible study, math, a study of tides, essay writing and instruction, spelling and vocabulary words, games, puzzles, copywork pages, science experiments, geography, arts and crafts projects, music, and more! A recommended book list and lots of internet links for further study are also included. How ever do they fit so much into these?!

Quicksand may be purchased for $6.95 at http://www.theoldschoolhousestore.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=191_459&products_id=19171. It will then be available for immediate download. I think this is a great price for so much learning material.

You can order the entire series for only $46, available as an instant download at http://www.theoldschoolhousestore.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=191_459&products_id=18203&zenid=8t84i03rq5eo35atqu030tbmq5. Titles include such things as Zombie Fire Ants, MRSA, and the Dung Beetle.

This is a fantastic series, researched, written and published in excellence as are all The Old Schoolhouse products. I highly recommend any of their e-books. They have another winner here!

TOS Review: Times Alive!

2011-01-31T11:09:00.003-05:00

We recently reviewed a fantastic program from City Creek Press (https://www.citycreek.com/), called Times Alive! It's a phenomenal way to make memorizing the multiplication tables easy, fast, and actually fun. We have been working all year on helping our 3rd grader memorize all the basic math facts and are on multiplication now, so this program is perfect for us.

I think it is crucial that my children memorize all the math facts to build a solid math foundation, but my son is often not happy about having to sit and work on math. Tears and great frustration have resulted on many occasions. I want him to enjoy learning, and I know that enjoyable learning leads to natural retention of the material. Times Alive to the rescue!

Times Alive presents each of the multiplication problems, from zeros through nines, with a cute, unique story set to music, and accompanying animated pictures of the numbers acting out the story. The story is read by a narrator and a catchy song about the story is then sung, and the words to both the story and song are on the screen to read. The whole idea is brilliant! Watch some sample problems at http://www.youtube.com/user/TimesTablestheFunWay#p/u/4/F35_ZRpRzJI to see it in action.

This is actually proven to be a superior way to teach children the times table. This method increases retention of math facts from 62% to 95%! Fun, interactive games and quizzes give practice time and test recall. Additionally, progress reports are kept for parents to review.

Times Alive may be ordered as either an instant download for $44.95, or a CD-ROM for $48.95 at http://www.citycreek.com/Times-Alive-CD-ROM-p/sotnowpc.htm. They also offer many other products, such as books with the stories, fun flash cards with the pictures to remind kids of the story, division cards, the songs on CD, teacher's manual, and so much more. Another line of products all about addition is available, along with subtraction cards.

I think these products are great, and would recommend them heartily. Times Alive may seem a little pricey, but it saves so much in time, tears, and frustration. The Times Alive story book is only $19.95 if you need a cheaper option, and is available at http://www.citycreek.com/Times-Book-for-Kids-p/bkt.htm. If the price is not a problem though, the program is the easiest way to learn. The kids get to sit and watch funny cartoons, and effortlessly learn their math facts. I love it!

TOS Review: Speekee

2011-01-21T11:46:00.002-05:00

In exchange for our review, we received Speekee (http://www.speekee.com/). What in the world is Speekee, you ask? Well, according to their website, it's "The world number 1 Spanish course for young children." Many parents want their children to learn a foreign language, and many colleges require that the child has taken courses in a foreign language. However, teaching a foreign language on top of all of our other homeschooling goals can be very intimidating, not to mention time consuming, for parents who may not remember very much of their own foreign language attempts so long ago.

Enter Speekee to the rescue! Geared for children ages 2-10, Speekee is an award winning, very easy way for kids to learn Spanish without even trying to learn! These are my favorite types of resources, so fun that the kids learn without realizing it. Anyone with preschoolers who enjoy watching Dora the Explorer know that their children effortlessly pick up Spanish phrases, as Dora refers to some things in Spanish, and the children learn without trying. Speekee works on the same immersion concept.

Speekee is a cute purple puppet, who along with his human friends, speaks only in Spanish. There are ten videos in all, each about 15 to 20 minutes long, in which Speekee and friends go about their lives doing a variety of fun things. Each video is about something different that they do, such as go to the zoo, park, a party, school, and so on. Children learn Spanish words and phrases as they watch Speekee and his friends. The more they watch each video, the more they will remember and retain what they are learning. My kids love to watch the same videos repeatedly, and I think most kids are the same way.

The words can be close captioned on the screen, or turned off if desired. Subtitled words are displyed in both English and Spanish. On the screen for each video, there are also a number of activities children can do to further enhance what they are learning. There are many great songs, too, which always makes remembering words easier when it's set to music.

Speekee is available as a 4 DVD set, including a 34 song CD, and a 70 page guide. However, these are produced in Europe, and some North American equipment will play these DVDs, and some won't, so definitely check to be sure your system will play European DVDs before ordering.

Speekee is available to everyone online for $7.50 per month, with unlimited access, and the first two weeks are free! If you would like to take advantage of your child's innate ability to easily learn foreign languages, which is much easier for children than adults, I highly recommend giving Speekee a try. They are likely to pick up quite a bit of Spanish in two weeks, and then for a very nominal price, you can continue to subscribe. Check out the free trail at http://www.speekee.co.uk/online.php. Enjoy Speekee!

TOS Review: Meastro Classics

2011-01-19T10:15:00.004-05:00

We received a copy of a dramatized version of Peter and the Wolf on CD from Maestro Classics' Stories in Music series. There are currently seven titles in the series, one of which is also in Spanish. Each one is richly narrated by a gifted man named Yadu, who is an incredibly talented storyteller. The London Philharmonic Orchestra provides the accompanying symphony music. Together, these classic tales are brought to life for children.

Our boys love this CD, and have listened to it several times already. It's something you can listen to and escape. I prefer a dramatized audio story over video, as I find it highly enjoyable to relax and imagine. These CDs foster imagination , which is so important in our technology driven life today. Children are also taught great literature through this series.

In addition to the actual story, much background information about the story, author, and history is also given, greatly adding to the educational quality.

Each CD is available for $16.98, and also includes a 24 page program book. There is a coupon code on their home page to purchase three CDs for $45. A few additional gift sets, including the story books and more, are also available.

Visit their website at http://www.maestroclassics.com/ to browse all the wonderful products and even listen to samples of the beautiful music.

TOS Review: Easy Classical

2011-01-10T12:43:00.003-05:00

We received a downloaded copy of the Early Modern History Schedule from Easy Classical in exchange for our review. Easy Classical (http://easyclassical.com/html_pages/index.html) is a homeschooling family owned and operated business, dedicated to providing schedules, writing guides, copybooks, and geography curriculum for other homeschool families, who want to teach a Classical Education to their children. Their resources can greatly simplify what can sometimes seem overwhelming.

So, what is a history schedule, you ask. Well, it is actually a year long (36 weeks) program focusing on a particular time period in history. They offer five different time periods, from the Old Testament to present day. The Early Modern History Schedule we reviewed covers the period from the early American explorers to 1815. These can be used with all ages from K-6, which is always a huge plus in my book. They also offer state history schedules.

Each history schedule comes in a three ring binder and includes 36 week-long schedules, along with another 45+ pages of lesson plans, charts, and instruction sheets. Review questions, quizzes, projects, and shopping lists are included as well. To see sample pages of this item, go to http://easyclassical.com/html_pages/Early_Modern_Product_Page.html.

There is an extensive list of recommended books you can use in your study. Some are essential for this study, but many are supplemental. A complete list of necessary and additional books is found here: http://easyclassical.com/html_pages/Early_Modern_Curriculum.html.

Each history schedule may be purchased in notebook version for $35.95 plus shipping or digital version for $29.95, and either may be purchased at http://easyclassical.com/html_pages/History_Schedules.html.

They also sell four different science schedules covering eight subjects and main schedules for each grade from K-6, covering every subject, except science and history, although complete schedules including these are also available. Subjects covered are Bible, math, grammar, writing, handwriting, spelling, Latin, art and PE.

I think the price is very reasonable as you are getting a full year of material. Some additional books will need to be purchased, but many can hopefully be found at the library. With everything they sell including a material list, you could find out before ordering what all is available at your library and what must be purchased. They do include the cheapest place online to purchase each book in an effort to help their customers spend the least amount of money.

If you desire to give your child a classical education, but need help pulling it all together, this is a superb company that has done all the legwork for you.

TOS Review: Math Facts Now!

2011-01-05T00:15:00.004-05:00

In exchange for our review, we received a program download called Math Facts Now! Designed to help children master all the basic math facts, this takes the place of ordinary flash cards. It is essentially computer flash cards, completely programmable to personalized lessons, and can be used with multiple children.

To begin, you enter your child's name, then create a new lesson. Lessons are saved, and can be edited and deleted if desired. You choose to design a lesson using either addition, subtraction, multiplication, or division, and then pick which numbers to be included in the math problems, from 1 to 12. Zero is added in automatically.

Next, you decide how many seconds to allow your child to answer the problem, between 2 and 60, how many times to repeat a wrong answer, between 2 and 10, and how many correct answers are required, between 50 and 100. Wrong answers must be fully typed with both the problem and answer. Problems that your child misses are asked again with more frequency to further ensure learning and mastery.

You can even enter in a special reward from Mom and Dad to be displayed for a perfectly completed lesson. A printable chart is available at any time for viewing of lessons completed and percentage of problems answered correctly and missed. This would be a great addition to student portfolios.

Math Facts Now! is available either as a download for $15.95 or as a CD-ROM for the same price plus $3.95 shipping and handling, a small price to pay in my opinion for math facts mastery. Either option may be ordered at their website at http://www.mathfactsnow.com/.

You may also try a free trial version at http://www.mathfactsnow.com/index.php?main_page=page&id=2. On top of all this, this program is guaranteed effective, or your money back!

TOS Review: Tiny Planets

2010-12-17T18:53:00.005-05:00

Our latest item to review for The Old Schoolhouse is Tiny Planets, a safe, online site for kids to learn and play. Designed for children ages 4 to 12, this award winning website has oodles of wonderful things to do. Their primary purpose is to encourage a desire to wisely steward Earth and to want to learn about the universe.

There are six different ways to enjoy Tiny Planets, all accessed through the home page at http://tinyplanets.com/. There are interactive story books to read, games to play, an educational area with lesson plans and science experiments, a lab test spot showcasing new games, Tiny Planets television shows to watch, and an interactive, virtual community in which kids can explore the universe, adopt a planet, and safely "chat" with other children using programmed script and emoticons.

Two alien characters, Bing and Bong, are all throughout Tiny Planets. Bing's Corner is full of games to play and may be accessed at http://tinyplanetsfun.com/bingscorner.

Bong's Corner contains many comics, coloring pages, puzzles, posters, and more. Take advantage of all this at http://tinyplanetsfun.com/bongscorner.

Find lots of educational activities for early learners at http://www.tinyplanetslearning.com/.

Much of Tiny Planets is free to explore, but some things cost money. This is accomplished in the way of parents buying "keys." Parents may set up accounts for different children, which will nicely eliminate one child using a sibling's allotted keys! Keys cost $1.95 for 10, $3.95 for 25, $9.95 for 85, $25.95 for 250, and $49.95 for 600 keys.

I would suggest exploring the free areas first and then deciding if you want to purchase keys. Your children will most likely really enjoy learning about our amazing universe with Bing and Bong!

TOS Review: Apologia Press "Good Morning, God"

2010-12-10T10:09:00.003-05:00

We received a wonderful picture book for children from Apologia Press in exchange for our review. I am already a huge fan of Apologia, and have their entire series of elementary science books, which are phenomenal. I learn so much from these books, as they are packed with fascinating information, but I digress, and will now return to my intended book review.

Apologia (http://www.apologia.com/) is a top notch company in every way. Everything they publish has a Creationist point of view, and the facts to back up what they claim. This statement of purpose comes from their website, "Apologia Ministries exists to give the home-schooled student a scientific education that will help him or her make a reasoned defense of the Christian Faith."

Good Morning, God is a beautifully illustrated book written for children ages one through eight, making it a superb book to gather your little ones together to snuggle and read. The story follows a little boy through one week. Each day, the boy learns more about God as he goes about his day. His parents faithfully teach him about Jesus from morning to bedtime, just as Scripture instructs us to to do. This book gently teaches children to remember God all day long, and reminds parents that we need to be continually pointing our children to our Savior.

You may view the first twelve pages at https://apologia.securesites.net/pdfs/sample/271.pdf?zenAdminID=9df713e49ee746fbc6a32db1ed901064.

To order this excellent book for $14, visit https://apologia.securesites.net/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=12&products_id=173.

While you are there, be sure to check out all their many incredible resources.

TOS Review: Master Innovations

2010-12-01T00:47:00.005-05:00

In exchange for our review, we received some very nifty items from Master Innovations (http://www.themasterruler.com/). The Master Ruler (yes, there is a play on words here!) is a God given idea to a teacher who prayed for a tool to better be able to teach children how to understand rulers, which tended to confuse her students with all the various lines. She then actually dreamed of herself using a specific tool to teach her students, and the Master Ruler is the result. What an amazing story! So, you know it's a phenomenal product since the idea came from God!

We received two rulers, the Master Ruler and the Metric Master Ruler, and the Master Ruler Workbook. Instead of the standard ruler, these consist of multiple rulers in one, spiral bound together. Each one is made of clear plastic with only one type of measurement on each. For instance, the Master Ruler has five layers of rulers, and the measurements are inches, half inches, quarter inches, eighth inches, and sixteenth inches. The Metric Master Ruler has three layers, with decimeters, centimeters, and millimeters. This allows the student to easily see the different measurements, and how they fit within the other measurements, very easily and without confusion. This tool makes it so much easier for children to learn to understand and use rulers.

Each ruler sells for $9.95, which I consider to be a very reasonable price. The workbook is $15.95, and has ample opportunity to practice measuring with each layer of the rulers. All can be ordered here: http://www.themasterruler.com/store/the-master-ruler,category.asp.

Also available are several other equally ingenious products, Master Clock, Master Fractions, and Master Angles. Workbooks are available for use with each of these incredible products to even better learn, understand, and practice using them.

Videos showing how each item is used can be seen here: http://www.themasterruler.com/educational-learning-products-watch-videos.asp.

The home page (http://www.themasterruler.com/) includes numerous videos of teacher testimonials sharing how well the products work in helping to easily and effectively teach children.

I found it much easier to help my son understand ruler measurements using the Master Rulers. This is an excellent product which I can heartily recommend.

TOS Review: Smart Kids Productions

2010-11-29T10:04:00.004-05:00

In exchange for our review, we received a book from Smart Kids Productions called Nanuq: A Baby Polar Bear's Story. This book is one of five books in the My Animal Family series. Each book explores a fictional story in the life of a baby animal, but includes many true animal facts as well, so your child is learning without realizing it. This is my favorite way to homeschool!

The other books in the series, all designed for children ages 3 to 8, are about lions, elephants, chimpanzees, and dolphins. There are many more books in the works, and will eventually be 24 in all. Each book is $12.99 plus shipping, and also comes with a DVD, featuring award winning BBC footage of the animals in their natural habitat. Learn more about each book here: http://www.mafkidsclub.com/store.php?a=browse.

Along with the book and DVD, your child receives a six month free membership to the MAF (My Animal Family) Kids Club (http://www.mafkidsclub.com/). You can also access a free trial first, thereby extending your free membership. This is an online game site where children can play and learn in their animal's habitat. Each book has its own habitat, and each habitat can only be played in once the book has been purchased.

The habitat games are really geared for what kids like to do. They can dress their character, make drawings, and explore the habitat while learning facts about the animals. During their exploration, there are various educational games to play, which earn points. The points can then be used to buy tools which allow for further exploration. Everything about this game is educational, which is always a plus in my book!

Once your free membership expires, extending your membership may be purchased by the month for $5.99, for six month at $35.94, or for one year at $71.88. This is for all the habitats that you have purchased books for. Since each book comes with the free membership, you will have plenty of time to decide if you want to continue membership to The Kids Club. Another perk is that club members can purchase books at a 25% discount, bringing the cost for any additional book and DVD sets to $9.75 each plus shipping.

If you have a child who loves animals, one of these books would be a great gift. You get quite a bit of fun and learning for a very reasonable price. Enjoy!

Special offer to subscribe to The Old Schoolhouse magazine!

2010-11-15T13:13:00.004-05:00

Attention homeschoolers!

Today only, you may purchase a one year subscription to The Old Schoolhouse magazine for only $10! After today, the price will increase by $2 each day this week, and then return to its even higher regular rate. Also, every 10th, 12th, and 14th customer will be receiving a tote bag, Schoolhouse Planner, or a $20 gift card for TOS e-books. On Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, one customer will also win a $200 gift card to the Schoolhouse Store. To order your subscription, visit: http://bit.ly/cQwWOQ Better hurry! :)

TOS Review: Corps of Re-Discovery

2010-11-15T12:46:00.003-05:00

We recently received the Coin Pouch Kit (http://www.corpsrediscovery.com/products/Coin-Pouch-Kit.html) from Corps of Re-Discovery in exchange for our review. This is a neat little leather item pre-cut and ready to assemble. The kit comes with everything you need, and all you need to do is to thread the waxed string through the pre-punched holes. It took us about 30 minutes to put together, and now the boys have a coin pouch to hold their treasures.

The item we received is currently on sale for $4.99, which I think is a reasonable price. This and their other items would make wonderful stocking stuffers. Since our boys are all about anything having to do with cowboys, Indians, frontier living, and so on, there are quite a few items available from Corps of Re-Discovery that they would love to receive for Christmas.

I like to avoid bringing any more toys into the house, and always look for creative, crafty, and educational type gifts, and the things sold by Corps of Re-Discovery are exactly the type of gifts I like to give. Our boys would be thrilled to receive anything from this page: http://www.corpsrediscovery.com/categories/American-Indian/! Items geared more for girls are here: http://www.corpsrediscovery.com/categories/Pioneer-and-Colonial/.

Now, let me give you a little background on this homeschool family owned and operated business. They named their business after the name President Thomas Jefferson gave to the Lewis and Clark expedition. That original name lacked the "re" though. This family was blessed to achieve a longtime dream in which they spent 14 months touring America in a motorhome. Their phenomenal story can be found here: http://www.corpsrediscovery.com/pages/About-Us.html .

This adventure is what led to the idea and formation of the business. They wanted to create project kits to enable other families to "re-discover" the American History era of American Indians, Pioneer Americans, and Frontiersman. Their fantastic kit collections can be found here: http://www.corpsrediscovery.com/.

I heartily recommend checking out their website. Their kits would be a superb addition to the study of these time periods, as well as just something fun to do.

FREE digital issue of The Old Schoolhouse Holiday Supplement

2010-11-12T11:02:00.008-05:00

FREE digital issue of The Old Schoolhouse 2010 Holiday Supplement here!

http://www.thehomeschoolmagazine-digital.com/thehomeschoolmagazine/holiday2010

Enjoy oodles of articles, dozens of recipes, lots of super cool craft ideas, and activity pages for the kids! Articles include how countries around the world celebrate the holidays, Christmas heartwarming stories, tips to reduce stress and remain focused on why we are celebrating, and a even a bunch of education articles from the 2010 Fall Expo. Pages may be printed as desired.

So, grab a hot cocoa, and do some relaxing this season with The Old Schoolhouse FREE online issue, their gift of love to us. Please share freely with your friends and family as well. Enjoy!

The Puppet Master?

2010-11-10T00:00:00.006-05:00

Glenn Beck exposes the most powerful man in the world, George Soros, as the man pulling the strings of governments and companies worldwide. Soros has a past history of collapsing currencies to profit himself, and unfortunately for Americans, he now has his sights on us.

Breastmilk: It's good for what ails you!

2010-10-31T00:08:00.006-04:00

Here are two articles I found over at one of my favorite blogs, Peaceful Parenting, listing many things breastmilk can help. It is a tremendous natural healer, along with being the best possible food to feed babies.

http://www.drmomma.org/2009/09/medicinal-uses-of-breastmilk.html

The Medicinal Uses of Breastmilk

List compiled by Celin ChildsPhotos © 2009 Danelle Frisbie

Breastmilk is not only the best way to feed your newborn or infant, this nourishing substance has the ability to heal and protect the body as well. I am not just talking about your infant's body; I am talking about yours, as well as your older children. In this article I am going to discuss some of the basic ways you can use breastmilk to cure common ailments.

Human milk contains a balance of nutrients that perfectly matches infant requirements for brain development, growth and a healthy immune system. Human milk also contains immunologic agents and other compounds that act against viruses, bacteria, and parasites.

Since an infant's immune system is not fully developed until age 2, human milk provides a distinct advantage over formula. Children who are breastfed enjoy lower rates of several chronic childhood diseases, including respiratory infections and ear infections as well as diarrhea.

Breastfed infants develop body compositions that are quite different from formula-fed infants, resulting in fewer overweight and obese children.

Breastfeeding releases a hormone in a woman's body that causes her uterus to return to its normal size and shape more quickly and reduces blood loss after delivery. In addition, breastfeeding for longer periods of time reduces the risks of breast cancer and ovarian cancer.

Pink Eye: Breastmilk has the ability to treat and cure eye infections such as Pink Eye. All you need to do is to squirt the milk into the infected eyes. You should do this frequently as possible until the eye is completely healed. If you were treating your infant's eyes for Pink Eye, the best result would be to wait until the baby is asleep. Some babies can be treated while awake, however, it may be difficult. You should squirt the milk around the crease of the closed eye and then gently lift the eyelids and allow all of the breastmilk to seep into the closed eye.

Sore Cracked Nipples: Many new mommies experience the pain and discomfort of sore cracked nipples from breastfeeding their newborn. Creams and oils can work wonders, however, the best medicine lies right inside of the breast. Breastmilk can be rubbed around the sore areas of the nipples after feeding and then left out to briefly air dry.

Mosquito and Ant Bites: Breastmilk is a sterile disinfecting concoction; so placing the substance on insect bites can actually work wonders. You should squirt a little milk on the bites and rub in thoroughly. This will help to stop the itching that may be caused by the insect bite.

Acne/Eczema/Diaper rash: Breastmilk can help to clear up these nasty skin disorders. All you need to do is to wash the infected area of the skin with clean water, and then you can apply the breastmilk all over the infected area. You should then let the milk air-dry.

Facial Cleanser: Breastmilk holds the ability to clean the skin very well. You should apply the breastmilk on the face and wipe it clean. Believe it or not, breastmilk can remove eye makeup.

Sore Throat and Mouth Sores: You should breastfeed your baby if their throat becomes sore. If you get a canker sore you can swish a little breastmilk around in your mouth for several seconds. This will help to heal the infection.

Stuffy Nose: If your infant has a stuffy nose, all you have to do is squirt a few droplets of milk into the nose and then suction or squeeze out; follow the same procedures as you would for saline.

Immunity Boost: If your older children are getting sick or they just need a little pick me up, you can give them breastmilk in order to boost their immune system.

Plugged Eye Ducts: If your infant's eyes are plugged you can squirt breastmilk into the eye crease at the nose. You should do this four times the first day and only two the day after.

Scratches, Burns, Gouges, and Scrapes: These can all be treated with breastmilk. You just have to squirt and rub breastmilk on the infected area. Then you let the area air-dry and then bandage as normal.

Sexual Lubricant: Males can squirt the breastmilk directly onto the penis in order to use as a lubricant during sexual intercourse. Females can hand express the milk into a sterile cup in order to do this. Breastmilk can be used the same as a couple would use Vaseline, KY Jelly, or Astroglide.

Contact Lenses: For people who wear contacts, running out of solution during dyer moments can be one of the most frustrating and eye painful situations. Remember, breastmilk is a sterile substance, so you can use the milk the same as you would solution for your dry contacts or to clean them.

Eye Puffiness and Redness: You can squirt breastmilk into the eye to cure puffiness and redness.

Breast Cancer: Breastfeeding your infant is one of the best ways to prevent breast cancer from developing in you. Breastfeeding provides a means of protection for you from getting the disease.

Chicken Pox: You can use breastmilk to help ease the pain of itching by using the same as you would Calamine Lotion or any other ointment.

Leg Ulcers: You can squirt breastmilk on leg ulcers in order to clear them up.

Chapped lips/skin: All you have to do is express a small amount of breastmilk onto the fingers and wipe over the lips/skin. Do not rub the milk in; you should leave the area a little wet.

Donating breastmilk can be a wonderful charitable deed. Here is a list of clinical, medicinal, therapeutic, post surgical uses for donor breast milk.

Clinical Uses of Donor Breast Milk:· Prematurely· Malabsorbtion syndromes· Renal failure· Inborn errors of metabolism· Cardiac problems· Pediatric burn cases· Failure to thrive· Short-gut syndrome· Feeding intolerance· Post Surgical· Bronchi pulmonary dysplasia

Medicinal/Therapeutic uses of Donor Breast Milk:· Treatment for infectious diseases· Intractable diarrhea· Gastrontentis· Infantile botulism· Sepsis· Pneumonia· Hemorrhagic Conjunctivitis

Post Surgical Healing:· Omphaloele· Gastroschisis· Intestinal Obstruction/bowel fistula· Colostomy ReparDonor Breast milk can also help with immunodeficiency diseases, severe allergies, IGA deficiencies, and solid organ transplant.

http://www.drmomma.org/2009/11/more-ways-to-use-breastmilk.html

More Ways to Use Breastmilk
By Liz Laing

Acne Treatment and Facial Cleanser: Wash face with a mild soap, rinse, and gently pat a breastmilk-saturated ball of cotton (not a synthetic material) over the entire face. This process is great for removing eye makeup as well.

Burns and Sunburn: Apply breastmilk gingerly to burns and they will dry up and look much better the next day. A burn treated with breastmilk and mashed-up blueberries will dry up within an hour, wrote one mom on a Midwifery Today online forum.1 Elena Michaels, PhD, CCH, LMFT, a traditional naturopath in Santa Clarita, California, told me that she often applied her breastmilk to her kids' sunburns. The soothing milk would stop the pain immediately," she said. "I believe the lauric acid found in breastmilk is antiviral, antibacterial, healing to tissue, and contains analgesic properties. Besides human breastmilk, virgin coconut oil is nature's most abundant source of lauric acid.

Chapped Lips: Dab a bit of milk onto dry lips, leaving them wet. Apply often, and lips should take only a day or two to heal.

Cold Sores and Fever Blisters: Place milk directly on a cold sore with a clean finger or cotton ball. This should speed the healing process and also help relieve some of the pain.

Cuts, Scrapes, Scratches: Clean wound first using breastmilk if you don't have soap and water. Drip milk onto the wound, then let it air-dry. You can also use a cotton ball or a 4-by-4-inch gauze pad soaked in breastmilk. If the cut is on a baby's lips or mouth area, allow him or her to nurse. An upset child will be calmed by the gentle, loving act of breastfeeding, and the milk will help heal the wound. I'll never forget when my 15-month-old daughter was bitten by her grandma's dog right on her face." says Nancy Levesque, a former La Leche League leader. "I immediately put her to my breast and nursed her as we were deciding what hospital to take her to. I'm so glad that I was able to comfort her during this traumatic time, and I believe the act of nursing did help to begin to heal her wound.

Diaper Rash: Gently pat baby's bottom with breastmilk, being especially generous when applying it to reddened or rash areas. Leave baby's diaper off for a few minutes and let the bottom air-dry.

Ear Infections: Place a few drops of breastmilk in the ear; follow with warm (not hot) olive oil and garlic, or bottled garlic mullein oil (sold at natural food stores).

Red or Puffy Eyes: Place two cotton balls saturated with breastmilk over closed eyes for a few minutes - works better than tea bags or cucumber slices!

Insect Bites: With a clean finger, dab breastmilk on the bite; this will help stop the itching.

Skin Rash/Wounds: Apply breastmilk on itchy spots - even chickenpox - for soothing relief. One woman claims that she used her breastmilk to clear up an elderly relative's leg ulcers. It's also possible that breastmilk helps heal skin wounds in nursing women themselves.

Sore or Cracked Nipples: Gently rub milk onto nipples or area of soreness and let air-dry. Another option is to bathe the sore nipple by dipping it into a clean, shallow dish of breastmilk.

Sore Throats: Baby can benefit by directly nursing.

Warts: Leave a breastmilk-saturated cotton ball on the wart for a few minutes twice a day. Continue for several days until the wart dries up.

For even more info, including articles on breastmilk's cancer killing attributes, visit http://www.kellymom.com/health/illness/healing-breastmilk.html.

Disease Killing Properties Of Breast Milk

2010-10-30T23:36:00.003-04:00

I found this great article detailing some of the many wonders of breastmilk. Receiving this amazing living nourishment from mother's breast is what every baby needs. Breastfeeding properly satisfies baby's physical, emotional, and mental needs, and is highly beneficial in many ways for Mom, too!

http://www.vaccineriskawareness.com/Disease-Killing-Properties-Of-Breast-Milk

Disease Killing Properties Of Breast Milk

One of the most important things you can do for your baby is breast feed him. Breast milk is important because:

1. It is species appropriate milk. Human milk is meant for human babies.

2. It contains exactly the right levels of nutrients that he needs, unlike formula which is cow's milk and tailored to a calf.

3. It contains long chain fatty acids essential for human brain growth, not included in most formulas.

4. It contains antibodies to disease and white blood cells for the immune system, not present in formula.

5. It fulfils a baby's biological need to breast feed from it's mother and helps to safeguard the baby's emotional health throughout life.

6. Breast feeding mums don't get as much breast cancer as mums who have never breast fed.

Breast Milk Kills Cancer!

One of the reasons we now have 1 in 3 people affected by cancer is that we are seeing a whole generation of people who were brought up on formula milk.

A few years ago immunology student, Anders Hakansson1, of Lund University, Sweden, was experimenting by mixing human milk, cancer cells and bacteria. To his surprise the cancer cells were "acting up". Their volume was decreasing and their nuclei shrinking. Hakansson's supervisor, Catharina Svanborg, quickly recognized that the cancer cells were committing suicide. The phenomenon of apoptosis, whereby the body rids itself of old and unnecessary cells was well known, however for this to occur with cancer cells was unknown as their usual pattern is to reproduce in an uncontrolled fashion. Something in the breastmilk caused the cancer cells to self-destruct. Svanborg and her team had already done extensive investigation in the ability of breastmilk to protect the gut lining from invasive bacteria such as pneumococcus that causes the increased rates of upper respiratory tract infections and otitis media in children not breastfed. And so they began to track down the cancer-killing component in breastmilk. Then in 1995 they reported2 that the protein alpha-lactalbumin, or alpha-lac for short, was capable of targeting not only cancer cells but also other immature and rapidly growing cells, leaving stable, mature cells for growth and development. Alpha-lac's amazing capabilities may explain in part why formula fed infants suffer from increased rates of infectious diseases as well as childhood cancers.

References:
1. Discover Magazine, June 30, 1999

2. Hakahsson, A. et al. Apoptosis induced by a human milk protein. Proc Natl Acad Sci. 92:8064-8068, 1995

Breast Milk Kills Polio Says Inventor Of Polio Vaccine!

Did you know that Albert Sabin, inventor of the oral polio vaccine, did the first study on the anti-polio properties of breast milk? He infected mice with polio and then took breast milk from 71 American women and fed it to the mice. The breast milk had an 84% success rate at neutralising polio. (Albert Sabin and Howard Fieldsteel, 'Anti-poliomyelitic Activity of Human and Bovine Colostrum and Milk', Journal of Pediatrics, 29 (1962).

Breast Milk Protects Against HIB and Meningitis

According to the journal of epidemiology, breast milk protects against HIB for up to 10 years after you have stopped breast feeding.

'For each week of breast feeding, the protection improved.' (Journal of Epidemiology, 1997, 26: 443-450).

Breast Milk Protects Against Whooping Cough, Strep B, HIB and Meningitis!

Tropical Pediatrics also found significant amounts of antibodies in breast milk to whooping cough, HIB, strep B infection and meningitis.

'Samples may indicate a protective role for breast milk against the four infections of early childhood.' Tropical Pediatrics, 1989, 4: 226-232.

Breast Milk Can Protect Against Complications From Measles

Fatality from measles in third world children was REDUCED BY ONE THIRD in breast fed children, according to:

17. Lepage P. Munyakazi C, Hennart P. Breast feeding and hospital mortality in children from Rwanda. Lancet 1981;i:40911.

Breast Milk Protects Against Rotavirus/Diarrheoa

In a study in Brazil, dehydrating diarrhoea (defined by the presence of a persistent skinfold plus at least two other signs of dehydration) was 6.0 times more frequent among non-breastfed infants than among exclusively breastfed infants. If a child already had diarrhoea, the risk of developing dehydration was 3.3 times greater for the nonbreastfed infant.

Fuchs SC. Risk factors for dehydrating diarrhea: a case-control study. Ph.D. thesis, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Brazil, 1993.

Victora CG, Fuchs SC, Kirkwood BR, Lombardi C, Barros FC. Breastfeeding, nutritional status and other prognostic factors for dehydration among young children with diarrhoea: a casecontrol study. Bull WHO 1992;70:467-75.

Breast Milk Protects Against Cholera

Epidemiologic studies show that breastfeeding protects against shigellosis and cholera. Breastmilk also contains antibodies against a large number of other gastrointestinal pathogens. It also protects against neonatal necrotizing enterocolitis.

Hanson LA, Ashraf R. Carlsson B. Mattsby-Baltzer I, Motas C, Hahn-Zoric M, Mata L, Herias V, Cruz JR, Lindblad BS, Karlberg J, Jalil F. The Second John Soothill Lecture: breastfeeding, infections and immunology. In: Chandra RK, ed. Nutrition and immunology. St. John's, Canada: ARTS Biomedical Publishers and Distributors, 1992:45-60.

Lucal A, Cole TJ. Breast milk and neonatal necrotizing enterocolitis. Lancet 1990;336:1519-23

Breast Milk Can Protect Against Pneumonia

In Rwanda non-breastfed children were twice as likely as breastfed children to die of pneumonia.

Lepage P. Munyakazi C, Hennart P. Breast feeding and hospital mortality in children from Rwanda. Lancet 1981;i:40911.

Breast Milk Reduces Cot Death By 50%!

The German Study of Sudden Infant Death is a case-control study of 333 infants who died of sudden infant death syndrome and 998 age-matched controls.

RESULTS. A total of 49.6% of cases and 82.9% of controls were breastfed at 2 weeks of age. Exclusive breastfeeding at 1 month of age halved the risk, partial breastfeeding at the age of 1 month also reduced the risk of sudden infant death syndrome, but after adjustment this risk was not significant. Being exclusively breastfed in the last month of life/before the interview reduced the risk, as did being partially breastfed. Breastfeeding survival curves showed that both partial breastfeeding and exclusive breastfeeding were associated with a reduced risk of sudden infant death syndrome.

CONCLUSIONS. This study shows that breastfeeding reduced the risk of sudden infant death syndrome by ~50% at all ages throughout infancy.

Source: PEDIATRICS Vol. 123 No. 3 March 2009, pp. e406-e410.

TOS Review: PG Key

2010-10-27T10:21:00.000-04:00

Our latest item we received in exchange for our review is an exceedingly helpful (and could be argued necessary) PG Key (http://www.pgkey.com/). This is a very small device designed to keep children safer when they are online. It fits into a USB port, and once plugged in and installed, the parent is able to monitor online usage.

This is really an amazing device. It is a one time purchase of about $50, with no monthly or annual fees. This is all you have to buy ever. I already have a program I purchased online to keep my children safe, and I paid $150, and that was just for the first year! With PG Key, I thankfully won't have to renew that item.

PG Key was developed by a couple of IT (information technology) guys, who happen to be brothers as well as fathers. They recognized the extreme need for parents to be able to protect their children from the many dangers online. They brought in numerous other people, such as law enforcement, education, parenting, and medical experts, along with other parents and even kids. PG Key is the result of their many efforts.

Once PG Key is installed on a computer, the parent can set time limits on computer usage, along with desired sites to block and allow. Settings can be made for each individual family member. This can be great if an older child needs longer computer time to study than a younger child. A list of known bad sites, as well as sites with viruses and malware, is already in the default block list. The child can only use the computer when the PG Key is inserted, which is impossible to override. With so many children having unsupervised time alone, this is huge benefit.

One of the neatest things about PG Key is that it records the past 60 hours of computer activity, which can then be played back on any computer using the PG Key. It plays just like a movie, with play, pause, fast forward, and rewind. It's really fantastic the way it works. Some programs will record keystrokes, so that you can see what your child is writing, but not what the other person is saying. PG Key records it all, which is especially helpful in this age of internet child predators.

The idea though, is not to secretly spy on your child, but rather to let them know that PG Key records everything, hopefully causing them to better monitor their own online activities. To see the complete list of phenomenal features, visit http://www.pgkey.com/Features.aspx.

Pg Key is sold in stores, such as Office Max, or can be purchased online with additional shipping charges. They also offer a free trial, if you would like to try it before you buy it, at http://www.pgkey.com/StoreLocator.aspx.

Pg Key has been featured in many different news programs, magazines, and newspapers, and has won several awards. I highly recommend this product. $50 is a small price to pay to protect our precious children.

TOS Review: Brill Kids Little Reader

2010-10-22T20:12:00.007-04:00

I received a super cool product from Brill Kids (http://www.brillkids.com/) in exchange for my latest review, a teach your baby to read program! This is geared for children ages six months to three years. Our youngest just turned two, and he loves it! He gives a big thumbs up to Brill Kids for his portion of the review.

We have been using the Little Reader basic program consisting of a total of 260 daily lessons (two semesters worth of material). Each lesson has two sessions, which only take five minutes each to watch, but our son always wants to watch several! 3000 words in 180 categories are covered, and the lessons are fully customizable. You can add your own pictures and even voice. Brill Kids has created a top notch program.

This downloadable program is so easy to use as it is right on the computer. Just click the mouse and go. I find this very easy as it requires no work from me, which is always a big plus. All I have to do is set my little fellow on my lap and watch the screen.

The lessons begin with words familiar to young children, such as animals, body parts, action words like smile and kick, and so on. More words are introduced over time, and old words are frequently repeated. Each word is stated and accompanied by a picture and a video with sounds, giving a multi-sensory approach. The child learns what the word looks like that goes with each picture. This is a proven method by which many babies and young children have learned to read.

I haven't tried to "test" him to see if he can recognize any of the words yet, but it is a definite vocabulary builder. He is so excited to watch the pictures and videos, and always repeats each word they say with glee. I think if I used it for a longer period of time, he would learn to read the words. I plan to keep using it with him. My primary academic goal for our children is that they read very well and love to read, so I'm all for a product that encourages reading, especially when done in such a gentle way.

This item is pricey at $199 (or $149 for one semester), but it could be used with multiple children as you receive a lifetime usage. They do offer a free trial, which would be a fantastic way to check out the many different features (they have an online parents' forum, too), and see just how much your little one enjoys it. Visit here for the trial offer: https://user.brillkids.com/order/trial-checkout-01.php. You can also view sample lessons on their website.

Additionally, they have a math program, also with a free trial, and say a music program will be coming soon. They also offer several free downloads for early learning at http://www.brillkids.com/free-download/. A sister site, Brill Baby (http://www.brillbaby.com/), even has information to help teach your unborn baby! These are great sites to peruse and learn how to easily teach your young child in a way that is enjoyable for both of you.

TOS Review: Soli Deo Gloria Resources

2010-10-15T00:37:00.002-04:00

We recently received a unit study about William Tyndale from Soli Deo Gloria Resources in exchange for our review. I'll give a little background on all of the above. The unusual name of the business is actually Latin for "To God Alone the Glory," and the business motto is "Educating God's Children for God's Glory Alone." They have such an incredibly wonderful encapsulation of why we (as Christian homeschoolers) teach our children that I want to share it here.

Why do we educate our children?

If we educate our children so that they will be intelligent and successful - we may be seeking THEIR glory.
If we educate our children so that they will impress our family, friends and neighbors - we may be seeing OUR OWN glory.
If we educate our children so that they can pour forth facts and figures accurately - we may be seeking the glory of KNOWLEDGE (and knowledge puffs up).
But if we educate our children so that they have a big view of God, are aware of their individuals giftings and seek to use them for the advancement of God's Kingdom around the world and in eternity - then we are seeking GOD'S glory.

I think I need to print that out and read it daily! Kim Kargbo is the lady behind the business and the wise words above. A pastor and missionary's daughter, married to a pastor's son, she homeschools their three children using unit studies. This is a popular method of teaching many homeschoolers use, in which a subject is studied in depth. No matter what is being studied, just about all of the traditional school subjects can be incorporated into a unit study, such as history, geography, science, vocabulary, literature, and so on. Math can be worked in as well, but is also often studied separately.

Kim actually has written all of the unit studies she sells. I am so impressed with this lady! She has authored many unit studies about a wide range of topics including Bible study and Godly character building, human body, weather, oceans and marine life, ancient history, WWII, Civil War, American presidents, Lewis and Clark, Native Americans, civil rights movement, colonial America, American westward expansion, Mississippi River, Sierra Leone, map skills, history of flight, kindergarten, and more. Did I tell you I'm impressed already?

Most of these are available either in notebook form or as an E-book, which means the book is viewed on your computer, although any or all pages could be printed. The William Tyndale unit study we reviewed is only available as an E-book, and is very reasonably priced at $8.00. This one is meant to be studied for one week. The longer lasting unit studies cost a little more, and I mean a LITTLE more. The one on American presidents contains material for a 30 week study, yet only costs $12.50!

William Tyndale was a Christian who worked tirelessly to translate the Scriptures into English. Born around 1494, the practice in the churches was to read the Bible in Latin. The people could not read the Bible for themselves. Tyndale was blessed to study languages, and he gave his life as a martyr in 1536 for the crime of providing a translation the English people could read. He is a true "hero of the faith."

This particular unit study can be used for any student in grades K-12, making it perfect for the entire family to do together. It has five days worth of activities, and would be a great way to try out unit studies, or just take a break from your regular routine. One outside book and video is needed for the study, and Kim gives a list of several from which to choose. She also gives a list of several websites for further study. She recommends making a notebook of the completed projects. Assignments include making a timeline of Tyndale and other famous people and events from that time, map labeling, brief study of the plague, language translation, the Reformation, the Renaissance, martyrs, the printing press, and more. This study could easily be the springboard into a much longer and more in depth study of this time period.

To view the description page of this study and to order, visit:
http://www.solideogloriaresources.com/index.php?main_page=document_product_info&cPath=71_82_86&products_id=231&zenid=33ddfae6cc4779a14040ec86f1bd4600.

While there, browse her site and many wonderful items. If you want to be further impressed by this amazing woman of God, visit their ministry to disabled women in Sierra Leone, Africa at
http://www.womenofhopeinternational.org/. Wow. Can I be Kim when I grow up?

TOS Review: Schleich toys

2010-09-24T07:50:00.003-04:00

As a member of the TOS Review Crew, we were sent several animal figurine toys, including both farm and wild animals, from Schleich in exchange for our review. Our boys, ages 8, 4, and almost 2, were so very excited to find all these animals inside when they opened the box! These are high quality, hand-painted, very authentic looking pieces.

The boys have had so much fun playing with them. Although stickers were attached saying they are for ages 3 and up, our toddler is thrilled with these realistic animals. Only one, the pig, is anywhere near small enough for him to fit it into his mouth. The rest are way too big, although parents should be aware that these are not recommended for very young children.

The company was started in 1935 by Friedrich Scheich, and is based in Germany. While we have no Schleich toy stores in my area, their website gives links to several companies where they may be purchased online.

They have so much to choose from! The available figurines are divided into three main categories: World of Nature, World of History, and World of Fantasy. Within these groups, they offer domestic and wild animals, dinosaurs, knights, dragons, unicorns, Smurfs, American Indians, and more.

The Schleich website does not list prices, but from looking at the stores which do sell their figurines online, the cost per piece starts at a few dollars and goes up from there. The larger pieces get pricier, and they also offer a number of collections and many various accessories, such as trees, corrals, castles, and barns.

I read several customer reviews of these toys, and the overwhelming consensus is that the kids play with their Schleich toys all the time, they are very durable, and will be passed on to future grandchildren.

These pieces are so realistic, they would also make excellent additions to adult collections. The color and detail on the knights for instance, is incredible.

One potential drawback for some is that they are made in China, at least the pieces we received were. Their website states that production takes place in Germany and other unnamed foreign countries. A letter accompanying our animals did state that they exceed safety standards. I know there have been several scares about tainted toys being made in China.

To view all the figurines, and a list of online and brick and mortar stores selling them, visit their website at http://www.schleich-s.com/.

TOS Review: I See Cards

2010-09-15T09:02:00.002-04:00

Our latest product we received in exchange for our review is a really neat twist on math flash cards called PyraMath. It consists of a deck of playing size cards with numbers one through nine on them, along with the letter names in five languages and Roman numerals! There are two identical numbers on each card facing both ways, so that one number is upside down. This makes it easy to see your opponent's numbers.

The game is generally played either solo as in a type of solitaire, or with a partner. The players face each other and lay out 5 to 7 cards each in a row, and then the rest of the deck in a pile face down. The object is to look at any two side by side cards as a math problem, using addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. You can use only certain ones depending on skill level, such as only addition for a young child. Then, you draw a card, and hope it is an answer. If so, you play the card, and if not, lay it on the discard pile. Cards may be drawn from either pile. The first person to find answers to all their math problems wins, and a completed game resembles a pyramid, hence the name.

This is a great way for kids to learn math facts in a fun, non-threatening way. My son generally dislikes doing math worksheets, but had a blast playing PyraMath. They learn without realizing they are learning. I find this scenario far more appealing than dealing with tears when my child doesn't want to do schoolwork. Surely, they will better remember what they learn while playing a fun game than being forced to learn something against their will.

The cards are very reasonably priced at $6.95 per deck. There are currently three other types of math card games for sale, and they are working on more. Visit their website at http://www.iseecards.com/ to order, see the different available card decks and all the many different ways to play, and also to play a free online version.

TOS Review: Time for Learning

2010-09-03T16:12:00.001-04:00

We have been reviewing the preschool section of an online interactive curriculum called Time 4 Learning. We received a month long access in exchange for our review. They also have complete lessons to 8th grade. Both our four and eight year old boys have greatly enjoyed this program, and even their toddler brother likes watching them play.

This web based curriculum consistently makes the list of the Top 100 Educational Websites each year, and it's easy to see why. Altogether, over 1,000 self paced interactive learning activities are offered, and each student is given access to three different levels, so they may review and progress with ease when they are ready. We had access to kindergarten and first grade, too. All subjects are included, and many homeschool parents use Time 4 Learning as their child's primary curriculum. It can also be used as a fun supplement.

There are many very helpful things for parents, such as lesson plans, easy record keeping, teaching tools, and a parents' forum. All lessons correlate to state standards and scope and sequences, which can really alleviate the common concern that the kids are "on track" with what they should be learning. Support is instantly available by telephone during normal business hours, and all e-mails are answered within 24 hours.

The program we used has lessons on all the general preschool basics like shapes, colors, letters, and numbers, and then so much more. It seems like they've covered everything in a preschooler's life. Nature, money, insects, zoo, farm, human body, weather, tools, and space are just some of the many available subjects. Another part that my boys always want to do is called the Playground. There are lots of available games, many of which are also educational. There are several links to other educational internet sites as well.

More information and sample lessons are available at http://www.time4learning.com/. The cost is $19.95 per month for your first child, and $14.95 for each additional child. This is paid through a credit or debit card, and a money back guarantee is offered if you cancel with 14 days.

This price will be prohibitive to some parents, especially if they have a large family and only one income like many homeschool families. Of course, many packaged complete curriculums using textbooks cost far more. Some parents do not like relying on electronic media to teach, but other parents have no problem with this. For those who like utilizing the abundant opportunities technology offers, and are seeking an online curriculum, this is a superb program.

If the price is not a hindrance, I think Time 4 Learning would be a great way for children to learn things they need to know in a fun way at their own pace. It could be a big time saver to parents as well. I still think we need to personally teach our children things, but do not mind letting them learn things online as well.

For those interested in seeing more of what Time 4 Learning is all about, visit their website and try out some sample lessons. My children have had a blast on Time 4 Learning, and chances are, yours will too!

TOS Review: Peterson Directed Handwriting

2010-08-30T11:19:00.010-04:00

As a member of the TOS Review Crew, I received a VERY helpful item in exchange for my review. Peterson Directed Handwriting has been around since 1908, and has been successfully used by many educators. I was especially impressed by one testimonial from a teacher who has used this method for over 50 years! Read this and other testimonials at http://peterson-handwriting.com/Testimonials.html.

This approach to teaching handwriting is quite unique. Contrary to every other writing program I have seen, this one is adamantly against having children use pencil or crayon to trace letters, and instead has children use their pointer finger to trace. I find this fascinating. Our 8 year old son has poor handwriting. I've just felt that he needs more time to develop his fine motor skills, but my husband thinks he will improve by practicing handwriting. According to Peterson, this approach can hinder children! Read more about why children should trace with their pointer finger at http://mrpencil.na5.acrobat.com/fingertrace/.

The backbone of the program is called "movement-based strategy." Modern computer technology now shows why the Peterson approach is so successful. The superiority of finger tracing is clear. It establishes "muscle memory" leading to fluency instead of a struggling writer. The student also counts while finger tracing. Each stroke is counted, and with each word, the counting starts over. This all works together to create internalized rhythmic patterns so that the student becomes a natural handwriter. Other crucial components include proper teaching of paper placement, posture, and pencil grip technique. Learn about all this at http://mrpencil.na5.acrobat.com/pdhmethod1/.

Because we received this program in the summer, I have not yet used it with my son. We are always learning, of course, but are now getting back into more formal lessons. I am greatly looking forward to using this with my struggling writer. I never realized that making him sit down and practice writing, which he generally greatly dislikes, was not helping anything. I plan to use the finger tracing and counting techniques with him. Supposedly, once the patterns are established, the actual writing is much easier.

There are many products to choose from and all levels are available, from the preschool level to grade 4 and above. Print and cursive are available, with the grade 3 being a transition form of a slanted print. Online training sessions are also available. There are so many products to choose from that it can be overwhelming to know which one to get, so you may wish to contact Peterson for assistance. We received Step 1, 2, and 3 PDF versions, and the training session. The PDF pages can be printed as desired, so you can use them for multiple children. Since each one covers an entire grade and is reusable, I consider the $19.95 price to be very reasonable.

Another option I found on the products page is the basic homeschool kit for various grades, even up to grade 8. Each kit is only $15.05, and all the homeschool offerings are at http://shop.peterson-handwriting.com/category.sc;jsessionid=EFCAD667695E1F9979C8BF9C25FB500A.qscstrfrnt05?categoryId=5.

Read all about this one of a kind approach, which has stood the test of time at http://peterson-handwriting.com/.

Celebrate Homeschooling! TOS Live Expo info!

2010-08-18T16:27:00.013-04:00

I have an exciting thing to tell you about, which in exchange for telling you, I receive for free! Being a member of the TOS Review Crew has LOTS of benefits! This is a LOT of product for very LITTLE cost. It's time for the Schoolhouse Expo!

You may be unfamiliar with The Old Schoolhouse Expos, so read on to find out what it's all about. From October 4-8, the Expo will be in full swing. Registration is already open, and two special pre-conference shows will be offered on August 24 and September 21.

The theme is "Celebrate Homeschooling!" Each day will be action packed, motivating, and encouraging. Hear from top speakers such as Diane Waring, Dr. Jay Wile, Jeannie Fulbright, Molly Green, Melanie Young, and many more, seventeen in all. For the complete list of speakers and topics, visit http://bit.ly/aWHFiL.

A special series dedicated to homeschooling teens, and a special focus on the subject of writing will be presented.

Lots of door prizes will be awarded, you can ask the speakers questions, chat with other parents, and browse the virtual vendor hall. All this is available when you attend the Live Expo. Now all this happens right over your home computer. You don't have to even get out of your pajamas, much less spend all that money on gas, meals, and hotels.

You can also order an Expo To Go, if you don't have time to spend a solid week at your computer. This gives you all the sessions on MP3, after the actual event. What you could do is order the Live Expo, and just keep the computer on as you go about your day. That way, you will still get the session copies, but you could also take advantage of the all the benefits of the Live Expo.

You won't believe how affordable this is. They are practically giving the Expo away! The regular price is $24.95, BUT, register by August 22, and it's only $19.99! I feel like a infomercial, but wait, there's more! You also get over $200 in free e-books!!!

So, that's the five day Live Expo, with all the great speakers, interaction with speakers and participants, door prizes, and virtual vendor hall, MP3 copies of every session so you can listen again, and over $200 in free e-books for $19.95!!!!!!!!!!!!

I must warn you to order NOW, because the Expo is expected to sell out very soon. If you do wait, and Live Expo is sold out, the October Expo to Go may be purchased. You could still enjoy all the sessions on MP3. This is also on sale until August 22 for only $14.95!

Sign up NOW at http://www.schoolhouseexpo.com/!!!

The 2010 Schoolhouse Planner: Making a Plan for School and Home

2010-08-13T17:51:00.024-04:00

As a member of the TOS Crew, as in the This Old Schoolhouse Homeschool Crew, I have been privileged to review some great products. The big perk is that my family gets to use and enjoy these products for FREE, in exchange for my review. Quite a win/win situation!

The Crew was recently offered a chance to write an ad for The 2010 Schoolhouse Planner. In exchange for my ad, I received a free planner! Now, Mama didn't raise a fool, so I jumped at the chance for a complete planner to bring all the many areas of my life into one handy place. Like probably all other homeschool moms, I really struggle sometimes with attempting to stay on top of everything. I always feel like I have 10,000 things to do, and I'm going in a hundred directions at once. The kids, the house, the mess, the errands, the cooking, and oh yeah, I think we're supposed to be homeschooling here, too. Here comes a superb planner to the rescue!

Before I get into all the many goodies inside, they are offering a spectacular deal if you order the planner by August 15. Not only do you get the utterly gigantic planner (over 600 pages!), you will also receive twelve free e-books! I've had the chance to review some of their e-books, and they are always top notch and overflowing with well presented information, internet links for further study, activities, and so much more. I have been very impressed with TOS e-books.

Now for the goodies! This planner is truly amazing. Not only did they somehow come up with every possible page a homeschool mom could ever want or need or even think of, and plenty you haven't thought of as well, they are all able to be filled in on your computer and then printed! You decide which pages you want, type in your information, then print. Pages could then be placed in plastic sleeves and a binder for a very nice, super high quality, professional looking, completely personalized, one of a kind planner.

There is no way I can list everything included, but here are some highlights. The Table of Contents alone takes 13 pages to list everything! First of all, it is customizable for any number of people in your family. Big family? You're covered! The first part of the planner is divided by months. Each month includes two very practical and encouraging articles on a wide variety of topics, lots of recipes, oodles of internet links, lots of useful resource lists, homeschool ideas, family activity and craft ideas, and so much more. Whew! This is only the beginning.

Next, we have blank, large blocked, monthly calendar pages, and then an amazing and highly useful section of various educational information covering such things as the Bible, history, science, math, art, geography, civics, Latin and Greek root words, lapbooking basics, recipe and measuring conversion charts, and more.

Now, we get the forms. Any kind of form you can imagine for smoothly running both a homeschool and a household are here. They have thrown in everything but the proverbial kitchen sink. There are almost 300 pages of forms! A list of the offerings includes a plethora of homeschool recording and planning forms for everyone from highly structured homeschoolers, unit studiers, and even unschoolers! There are goal sheets, to do lists, journal pages, preschool ideas, high school transcript pages, grading sheets, Bible memory pages, science lab sheets, and so much more. No matter how you prefer to plan and record things, it's in here!

The household forms include anything you will need to be on top of everything. (I don't know if any of us are ever truly on top of it all, but this planner should help!) There are pages for grocery lists and menu planning, car maintenance records, important information we should all have ready access to, housekeeping reminders, chore charts for everyone, budget pages, prayer journal and Bible study notes, garden plans and monthly reminders, family tree, appliance records, vacation planners, and so much more. There are pages to plan and record just about everything in your life.

Now that you know you have to have one of these incredible planners, they are available for instant download at http://thehomeschoolmagazine.com/TOSEBookSellSheets/Modules/10Planner/10Planner.htm for $39, a price I consider very reasonable considering just how much you get. These planner pages can be used year after year. It is truly a one time purchase.

If you prefer your planner on CD, you may purchase it at http://www.theoldschoolhousestore.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=191_193&products_id=15592 for $44.

Even more information and details about the last planner you will ever need is at http://thehomeschoolmagazine.com/TOSEBookSellSheets/Modules/10Planner/10Planner.htm.

Be sure and order TODAY to take advantage of the 12 free e-books, and enjoy being organized!

Financial illiteracy in America

2010-07-29T16:30:00.005-04:00

Here's a short reply I gave to a post about credit cards and debt on a 9-12 board I'm on:

One more enormous failure of the public school system (and parents who are expecting the schools to teach) is the incredible lack of practical skills, especially financial management skills. Kids go off to college where credit card companies happily give them credit cards, and the government happily gives them student loans. When they leave school, they are usually saddled with a very depressing amount of debt. It's a sad way to start adulthood, and leaves these people with no choice but to very often live paycheck to paycheck. Most have acquired a car payment by now as well. The pattern continues with an unaffordable house payment. Banks tend to give far more credit than what can be handled, and of course people tend to spend the maximum approved loan amount for everything. Credit continues to be used to finance a lifestyle that took someone's parents a lifetime to achieve. So many look well to do, yet struggle to put food on the table. They just don't truly own much, though they are paying on much.

We are so far removed from the traditional American ethic of working hard, and saving for purchases. This collective mentality has destroyed our nation. Not only is our government now living under unsustainable debt, so are most of our citizens. This leaves the people unable to care for themselves.

Until people choose to live within their means, stay out of debt, and save money, they will remain enslaved to government, banks, jobs, etc.

My reply to an OB's article on "unnecesareans"

2010-07-29T16:07:00.005-04:00

Here is a reply I left to an article by an OB regarding unnecessary c-sections.
Article here:
http://academicobgyn.com/2010/07/27/the-myth-of-the-unnecessary-cesarean/

Dr. Fogelson,
I don't have time to read all the replies, but since you seem to be reading the comments, I will leave one for you. I am very happy to see you mention:

"I completely agree about looking at the factors that promote normal birth:
here’s a few:
1) avoiding unindicated inductions
2) control of gestational diabetes
3) delaying hospital admission until the onset of active labor"

In my area in WV, virtually all OB attended hospital birthing women are induced, and are thus in the hospital the entire labor. We also have the 5th highest rate of c-sections in the nation, and are running about a 50% chance of induced women getting c-sections. The only women I know who escape this are the homebirth moms I know, and the VERY rare lady who refuses induction despite enormous pressure from her doctors. These are done for the convenience and scheduling of the doctors, and always occur PRIOR to the due date!

I can not figure out why women in my area do not question the insanely high c-section rate. They happily go in for their scheduled inductions implicitly trusting that the doctor has their best interests at heart. How have humans managed to survive if so many women are incapable of birth?

I am a natural birth advocate, having had one birth center birth, and two homebirths (one unassisted.) I realize emergency care is sometimes needed, and I am very thankful we have such care available. However, treating all births like emergencies, intervening from beginning to end, causes the very problems women think they are being protected from.

If women are left alone to labor and birth as they choose, almost all will birth fine, and free from any complications. The best thing we could do to greatly minimize c-sections and other things like forceps or vacuum delivery and episiotomies, etc., for women who choose hospitals to birth, is to leave them alone! Give them peace, quiet, and privacy, and minimize interruptions. Let them labor as they choose, freely walking or moving as desired. Let them birth in whatever position desired. I've never known any women who actually chose to birth flat on their back, which hinders birthing efforts, as it narrows the pelvis and compresses blood and oxygen to the baby, often resulting in fetal distress. Keep the dreaded continuous electronic fetal machine away, shown to actually CAUSE unneeded c-sections. A doppler every 30 minutes or so should give plenty of reassurance that baby is well. Also, get rid of the timeline which says if a woman doesn't produce a baby in a certain amount of time, she has "failure to progress" and winds up with a c-section or a forced vaginal birth (forceps, etc.) Do not use pitocin to either induce or hasten labor.

The typical hospital scene however, treats women as cattle, herding them in and out as quickly as possible. Induction, pitocin, labor in bed, "failure to progress," c-section. I hear this story of induction to c-section all the time from women I know.

What's needed is a midwifery model of care for most women. Let labor begin and proceed on it's own. Let the woman do what her body innately knows it needs to do. Tragically, this scenario is the opposite of what most women encounter. Therefore, you will continue to have women who feel violated and cheated, and yes even medically raped.

Birth is a very special, sacred experience in a woman's life, which is not at all respected in our current obstetric model of childbirth care. Not only are most women cheated out of a positive birth experience, the aftercare of the newborn is deplorable. Separating the mother and baby after birth tremendously interferes with the natural bonding hormones and breastfeeding. So many women report feelings of detachment towards their infants, which they very often attribute to a labor and birth in which they were at the mercy of doctors and staff, who completely took over their labors and performed unneeded c-sections. Many of these women have found later healing in homebirth, which is infinitely more peaceful than a hospital birth.

I hope you will continue to advocate lowering c-section rates among your colleagues, and also seek to advocate for a far less interfering approach to childbirth, which will result in far fewer c-sections. Thank you.

TOS Review: "Travel Kits: A Simple Way to Bless Others"

2010-07-22T08:11:00.001-04:00

Travel Kits: A Simple Way to Bless Others from The Old Schoolhouse is written by an extremely creative lady! Donna Rees has come up with a wonderful way to bless both our own family and other families, as well as making our next road trip more fun and less stressful. Wow! Some people are exceptionally blessed with overflowing creative juices. Donna is oozing with ideas, which she enthusiastically shares on every page of this e-book, available for instant download at http://thehomeschoolmagazine.com/TOSEBookSellSheets/TravelKits/index.htm. Priced very reasonably at $12.45, I was amazed by just how much Donna packs into this book! Perhaps I am more amazed because I don't tend to be one of those super creative people, but Donna has gone far above and beyond a great idea, and has thrown everything but the proverbial kitchen sink into her book.

Now that I have you curious, I'll share the basic concept, which is actually quite simple and usable for all ages. The idea is to pack a collection of individually wrapped gifts for the recipients to open at certain intervals during the trip. This turns the typical dreaded long car ride with kids into a series of opening and enjoying gifts! What a great idea! Super creative people will be able to take this idea and run with it, but for the rest of us, Donna's book is saturated with specific ideas for boys, girls, tots, teens, moms, dads, and grandparents, as well as creative ways to package your gifts.

Travel kits do NOT need to be expensive! Donna says that dollar store and homemade gifts work great, and she offers up a seemingly unending procession of gift ideas. Toys for the kids are an obvious choice to my mind, but she lists many more not so obvious gift ideas, such as crafts, snacks, games, and much more, along with lots of fun ways to present your gifts to add even more to your recipients' joy.

In addition to making these bundles of fun for your next road trip or to bless another family's next trip, Donna gives many ideas for creative care packages to send with those going away for an extended trip. I especially like her daily Scripture and encouragement idea to include in a "Box of Blessings."

If all this isn't enough to make you want to partake of Donna's creative juices, she also includes a list of helpful websites for traveling families, the official tourism websites for each state, recipes for homemade food to enjoy at a roadside picnic, a list of items you may want to bring on your trip, many ideas for fun travel games and activities, a recommended book list for various ages from tot to adult, and even step by step directions on how to make an origami jumping frog!

We haven't traveled anywhere since I've read Donna's e-book, but I have already started collecting items for our next trip. I think a Travel Kit for my family will definitely help reduce the stress that comes from having youngsters stuck in the car for hours on end. Audiobooks and DVDs are very helpful, but I think a thoughtfully made Travel Kit will give my kids something special to make the driving part of our next trip far more bearable and even exciting.

Making a Travel Kit for another family would be an extremely kind and wonderful way to bless them. God has given Donna a superb idea to bless others and make our own trips easier.

TOS Review: Travel the World!

2010-07-19T00:20:00.000-04:00

My latest assignment for the TOS Review Crew is an e-book titled, "Travel the World!" This is another one of the many super creative e-books that The Old Schoolhouse offers. Before I tried out for the Review Crew, I thought they just published a terrific magazine for homeschool families. I've since found out that they also publish oodles of superb educational e-books on a wide range of subjects.

Several talented ladies have combined efforts to write and illustrate this great geography guide. It can be used with all ages, and would be a fun family learning adventure. Like all of TOS' offerings, it is written with a Biblical worldview, which I prefer. Scripture verses are given that clearly point to God as Creator, and we are reminded that geography is a study of God's world, which is the "setting" for God's story.

Globes and maps are first explained, including how to find places using longitude and latitude lines. Next, we get an overview of the world's oceans and continents, along with many countries, landmarks, rivers, lakes, deserts, mountain ranges, and so on. This section is chock full of internet links to further explore. Then follows a list of websites for even more learning and games.

Now, you could read these pages, using a globe or map to locate all the discussed places, in just a few hours. Or, you could really dig in and take advantage of the many internet linked sites. This could take as long as your family wants to spend exploring God's magnificent earth.

The next section includes questions to answer, puzzles, copywork pages in print and cursive, coloring pages for each continent, and a world map to label. Students are encouraged to make a lapbook, and lapbooking pages for each continent and several websites for further ideas are given.

An entire section for high school students follows, with more in depth information, websites, and challenging activities. Some recipes, an answer key, and a gigantic list of internet linked websites for further learning and research finishes up this excellent resource.

"Travel the World!" is available for instant download at http://thehomeschoolmagazine.com/TOSEBookSellSheets/Modules/10June/June2010-Travel-the-World.htm for $7.95, which I find to be very reasonably priced for the content. Only one e-book would need to be purchased for a family, which is always a plus!

As usual, I learned some new things along with my kids, another great benefit of home schooling! We really enjoy learning together, and found this resource to be fun and educational for all of us.

Our Second Birth (at home!)

2010-07-15T20:27:00.012-04:00

When Joshua was three years and eight months old, I was due to give birth again. One of the midwives on staff at the birth center where he was born, Angy, had started her own practice doing homebirths! I was so excited. I looked forward to puking in my own toilet. Vomiting on oneself while having hard labor in a speeding car is no fun at all! I love her attitude as she is all about natural birth and non-intervention.

She gave me lots of choices that I was not given with the birth center, such as not making me have the IV antibiotics during labor. For every decision, she gave me the risks, pros and cons, and let me decide. I really appreciated that, and her trust in a woman's body to give birth by itself. I declined most of the routine tests, including ultrasound, so we didn't know if we were getting another boy or a girl.

Two days after my "due date," I woke up at 4 AM after only 4 hours sleep, and proceeded to pace my house for about the next 10 hours while listening to a Christian worship CD nonstop. Being January and very cold, I didn't have many options for places to walk, so I just did laps around my kitchen table and back and forth through the living room. I occasionally tried to sit down, but was very quickly pacing again. I suppose this was the early stage of labor that I didn't really experience the first time when I essentially went straight to hard labor. I wasn't in much pain at all, but just couldn't stop moving.

I then spent the next several hours in my bathtub. The tub is a regular size, (no deep jacuzzi this time), so I had to mostly lie down or lean forward while sitting to keep the water on my belly. I kept adding hot water every so often, while draining off some cold.

Joshua stayed with me practically the whole time I was in the tub. He started out on the other side, then sitting on the edge, then stuck his feet in, and eventually wound up in the tub. It was really sweet and funny. I said, "I can't even labor by myself." He would rub my back and say comforting things. I didn't mind him being there at all. I just breathed through my contractions since I didn't want to be loud and scare him.

Angy came over after I was in the tub, and I asked her to check my cervix, which she only does upon request, not routinely. She says dilation is not a good indication of when the baby will be born, so there is really no reason to check. Plus, it can introduce germs. A woman can very quickly fully dilate from 0 to 10 cm., or walk around for weeks very dilated like I did with my first baby.

I should have left well enough alone, because after an already lengthy labor, I was discouraged to hear I was only 2 cm. I had her check me once or twice more during my very long soak, and don't really remember what I was, but it wasn't enough to make me get excited. She even wanted to feel my belly once during a contraction to make sure they were the strong, productive ones since I was being the silent type. I just breathed through each contraction, concentrating on them one at a time, and reminding myself I was that much closer. As during my first labor, I allowed myself to squeeze my hands together, but made the rest of my body stay relaxed, as I didn't want to fight my body's efforts by tensing up. Angy reminded me to keep my face relaxed along with my body and not to grimace. I asked her at one point how much longer did she think it would be, and I think she said an hour. I can't quite remember when I asked her, though, so I'm not sure of her accuracy!

Everyone always said that second babies come faster, so I was discouraged with how long this was taking, and after my lack of sleep, many miles walked, and then the harder stage of labor, I was so tired, and just wanted to go to sleep, which of course is not possible when you are getting ready to have a baby.

My husband, Matt, would pop in and out of the bathroom checking on me, as would Angy. It was mostly just me and my little boy. Right when it got tough, Matt came in and stayed. He seemed to know when I needed him, and when I was ok alone. I basically wanted to be alone. We had called our families around 4 PM, but I had them all stay out of the bathroom. I told our family that I wanted to labor alone, but they could come in for the birth. Labor is an unbelievably intense time, and I didn't want to be distracted. I needed my full concentration for each contraction. I kept the lights off and burned candles and continued to listen to the same worship CD, (Russ Jones: The Worship Project), which was a huge help. It kept my mind focused on God.

I remember an intense mixture of emotions of pain, and love for my family, and God's presence just before transition. I cried from these overwhelming feelings of love. One song (Revelation Song) I repeatedly listened to that has been so special to me ever since. The chorus says, "Holy! Holy! Holy! is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come. With all creation I sing praise to the King of kings, You are my everything, and I will adore You."

Angy had come in to stay about then, and I needed to get out of the tub to throw up. Angy said that getting out of the tub would help move things along, too. It really did, as now the contractions came one on top of the other. I was on the floor, the toilet, leaning on Matt, all over the place. Transition was a blur, it was so intense and painful, though quick. I finally wound up on the toilet again, and my mom came in. She couldn't take being outside anymore, and held one hand, and Matt held the other. I had maybe a couple more contractions like this.

I felt the baby coming, and then squatted in the floor in front of the toilet, and said Matt's mom and sister better get in here, as I knew they were hoping to watch the birth. So, crowded into our tiny bathroom was me, Matt, his sister, our moms, Angy, and her assistant Jennifer, who is also a midwife.

Birth was quick and seemingly effortless. I say that because I didn't have to push hard like I did before. In fact, I didn't push at all. After all that long labor, it only took three contractions as my body pushed our baby out. He was ready to be born, and I squatted in the floor, and out he came.

I did get noisy during birth and I think it scared Joshua, so my father in law took him outside. He had left the bathroom before transition, and I'm glad since I was obviously in pain. I was crying out to Jesus when the baby came out!

I caught our baby's head and Matt caught his body. He turned him over and announced, "It's a boy!" It was very special with Matt and I catching our son. I had a very tiny tear, but we were in great shape. I liked it a lot better being in my own house doing whatever I wanted. Even though I had a midwife there, she watched the birth unobtrusively.

We didn't cut the cord until after it stopped pulsating, and I donated the cord blood. I wanted to do these with my first birth, but didn't get to. I sat on the toilet holding our new son until after we cut the cord and I birthed the placenta, then I got in the shower and felt great.

Everyone was surprised that he weighed 8 pounds and 6 ounces, and that he had a head full of very dark hair. He was 21 inches long, born on 1-16 at 6:48 PM. He was very content while we all loved on him, and welcomed him.

He was a little slow to get the hang of nursing, but caught on sometime that first week, and just like Joshua, nursed strong for almost two years. I've thought that lots of women would have thought something was wrong and just used formula instead. Especially since hospitals often push formula instead of encouraging breastfeeding.

We debated for a week on his name, and finally decided on Matt's original first choice, Daniel Isaiah.

I have a stepson, too, Gabriel, so Matt has had one in a hospital, one in a birth center, and one at home. Home is his favorite and mine. He was serving up pie and coffee during my labor! I cannot fathom trying to labor and birth in a hospital. I pray I never have anything to cause me to have that experience.

For something so incredibly private and intense, home is definitely the place to be.

Our firstborn's birth story!

2010-07-15T20:25:00.014-04:00

I had said for years that I was never going to get married or have kids. I always loved children, but didn't want to bring kids into an evil world, and felt I'd rather take in kids already here who needed a loving home. I still want to do this, and have since told God that I want what He wants for me, and will gladly take the children He gives, whether biological or adopted.

God opened my heart to marriage, which is another story I definitely need to share! My husband, Matt, had one son already and wanted more children, but he married me anyway, knowing I was adamantly against having biological children. For the first two years of marriage, he often talked about wanting a baby. That second year, I secretly considered bringing forth a child, while God worked on my heart. I finally decided to give him his heart's desire, and secretly quit taking birth control pills. I never took them again as I later discovered they can cause abortions by not allowing a fertilized egg to implant.

I quickly became pregnant only a couple of months later, but didn't tell anyone, not even Matt, until I was about four months along. It had been such a big deal for me to decide to have a child that I wanted time to myself to process and get more used to my new life, about to be forever radically altered.

I told my husband on the anniversary of our first kiss, my mom on her 50th birthday, and my in law family at Thanksgiving. My mother and sister in law still say they didn't taste their meal that day, as they were so shocked! Matt announced our news at church when people were telling what they were thankful for. Everyone was so thrilled and excited!

I was blessed with an easy pregnancy, and continued to daily cut grass in our lawn care business and give massages. I used the midwives from our local birth center for my prenatal care. I wanted to have a homebirth, but did not know any midwives who would come to my house.

Overall, I was very pleased with the birth center and all their midwives. They were always so warm, friendly, and caring. One thing I didn't like was the one time I saw their on staff OB a few days before labor, only because all the midwives and nurses were gone that day. He painfully jabbed my belly one time, and sat down across the room. Thank God he didn't do an internal exam! This was not the gentle palpating I was used to from the midwives.

I had been quite dilated for weeks before labor, (at my first 37 week internal check, I was already 3 cm. dilated). A midwife had offered to break my water when I was a few days "overdue," but I believe in letting nature take its course. I also wanted to cut grass that day!

Despite my working hard as usual, he was still busy "cooking" in there! I had an internal exam when I was a week over my due date, and I think the nurse stripped my membranes, but she did not say so. I just know that she was feeling around for a while, and it was uncomfortable. She did say I was about 4.5 to 5 cm. dilated. Now, I was still not in labor and had no signs of labor, although I did have a few days of "bloody show" by this time, so I knew labor would soon commence.

I was actually getting ready to go to Lowe's for supplies for one of our many home renovations, when the first real contraction hit about 8:15 PM that evening, and dropped me to my knees. Within an hour, they were coming fast and hard. Around 9:30, we left for the birth center, about 20 minutes away. I threw up many times, including all over myself while hanging my head out the car window. When I got back in the car, I told Matt, "This sucks!" Puking out the car window at high speed, and the wind just blowing it all over me, while in hard labor was no fun! I got to the center before the midwife, and vomited off their porch. As soon as they arrived around 10 PM, and I could get inside, I ripped off my vomit clothes, and got in their very large bath tub.

We had a midwife, nurse, doula, our parents, and Matt's sister all there, but our dads stayed in another room. I had read it was very important to keep relaxed, so I passed contractions by looking in the doula's eyes, and keeping all my muscles relaxed, except for squeezing Matt's hand. I had to poop and got on the toilet, a position I liked. My water broke, and the midwife suggested I try the bed. They had me on my back with legs up, which I hated, but was too tired to tell anyone. In between contractions, all I could do was rest, not talk.

Finally, I managed to tell them, and they helped me up to my knees, but I don't remember being on my knees for very long at all. It seemed like all my pushing efforts were done in that horrendous lying on back position. They told me I pushed for an hour. I don't even remember this, but they told me I had Matt in a headlock at some point! I only remember having three contractions on my back before being able to tell them I wanted to be upright, and I don't remember doing any pushing while on my knees. Time can be difficult to judge when in hard labor!

They told us our baby's heart rate was getting low and they were worried, so my midwife said I needed an episiotomy to get him out fast. It seemed like it was no time at all once I got back upright that she wanted to cut me, and I was back down on my back giving one last great unsuccessful effort to birth our baby, who had been crowning for a while. His head kept coming out a little, then back in. As soon as she cut me, he shot out at 1 AM. I'm sure I could have birthed him fine if I would have had more time, but I didn't want to chance damaging my baby to avoid an episiotomy.

I will also mention that against my desire, which unfortunately I had not verbally stated or written, they immediately clamped his cord, and had my husband cut it. I was too exhausted to stop them. If I would have known the clamp can be removed prior to cutting, I may have been able to muster the energy to have stopped the cutting, and given instruction to remove the clamp. This is something I only recently discovered. I always thought that once the cord is clamped, that it's as good as cut, which isn't true. As long as the cord is still pulsating, the clamp can be removed, and baby will get his blood flow from the cord again.

Even though I had researched and knew the cord should not be cut (or clamped) until after pulsing has ceased, I suppose the midwife didn't know this. She was such a wonderful lady, and I don't think she would have intentionally done something harmful. I don't dwell on it, and he is certainly healthy, but it still disappoints me when I think about it. All babies need their oxygen rich cord blood, and since he had a dangerously low heart rate, he especially needed all the blood his body wanted to take from the cord.

So for my first baby, labor took less than 5 hours. I'm sure I went practically straight into hard labor since I was already so dilated. I could hardly move my legs afterward, which I felt was do to the position I was put in and did not like. It seemed to really fatigue my thigh muscles. In the pictures we took with our family just after his birth, my legs are still spread open under the sheet. I didn't even have the strength to move them! After our families left, I got stitched up and nursed our new baby, then was able to take a shower and felt fine by the next morning when we went home.

It never even occurred to me to want pain relief. I just felt this is what you had to go through to have a baby. I was so glad to have had a natural childbirth and knew I would choose to do so again. We were blessed with a son, who weighed in at 7lbs, 7.75 ounces, and 21 inches long, born on 5-7, the day before his daddy's birthday! Thank You Jesus!!! Seven is my favorite number, by the way.

We named him Joshua Matthew, taken from the hand carved wood plaque Matt's dad had made for us and given to us for Christmas while I was pregnant. Oak leaves, acorns, and a Bible verse are inscribed on it. "As for me and my house, we will serve the LORD." Joshua 24:15 When we opened our gift, Matt saw the name Joshua and knew that was to be our son's name.

Our Third Birth (at home unassisted!)

2010-07-15T19:33:00.029-04:00

Our third birth was by far my easiest and fastest labor, and my favorite birth. Since our older boys were overdue, one by a week and one by 2 days, I figured this one would be late, too. I had a thought about this one coming a week early, but I must have forgotten that because I decided to replace my bathroom floor the week before he was due. My nesting instinct always seems to manifest itself in major home repairs. Our floor was rotted and we had a sewer smell at times. The smell got really bad, and I did not want to be in labor with that nasty odor.

I was planning a homebirth like I had with my last son. About ten days before my "due date," we took out the sink and toilet, and I spent the next couple of days ripping out the old floor and rotten wood. We live in an old house, and with each pregnancy I was doing lots of major renovations.

On Monday morning, (all my labors started on Mondays), I went to Lowe's to buy new wood. While there, I began to have back pains. Although they were mild, I had not previously had back pains. All my braxton-hicks contractions were always just in my belly. I even cried a little, hoping I wasn't going into labor at Lowe's. I was there about an hour and a half and had to ask questions of various salespeople about our project. I was really distracted trying to talk to these people, and when I finally checked out, I tried to give the cashier both cash and a debit card. I told her I was sorry, and that I had a lot on my mind.

I went home and carried my wood up my 38 steps, and then asked my husband, Matt, if he thought he would have cell phone service where he would be working that day. I told him I didn't think I was in labor, but I kept having these back pains. I told him several times to go on to work as I didn't think it was labor.

Actually, I was in denial. He knew I was in labor before I did. He said he could see it in my eyes. He stayed home and began urgently cutting boards for the floor, which is what I had planned to do that day. I remembered the acupressure points for labor I had found on the internet and decided to try them just in case I was really in labor. The first points I saw were for hastening labor. Since I did not want to be in labor, I passed on those and found some for pain relief. I was not in much pain, but I began to press on those points every time I had a back pain. The back pains kept coming, but I kept hoping I was not in labor. I did really like those points though. They made the back pains really short and they never got very painful. I was way too busy to try and time them.

I cooked breakfast and helped Matt with the floor, even going under the house through a hole in the floor to help hold some boards. The whole time, I just kept holding the points for the pains, which kept coming. I began to think maybe I was in labor and was not sure what to do. We were so unprepared to have a baby that day. We had no bathroom, the house was in shambles, the kids were sick, and I had not been to the store and was out of many basic food items. There was so much to do. The nest was not ready!

I asked Matt if I should clean or work on the floor. He said clean. I wandered from room to room, not knowing what was more important, the kitchen, bedroom, laundry? I decided to make our bed and sweep our bedroom floor as I was planning to fill a pool with water for labor, and I planned to put the pool in our bedroom. I then got out the pool and began to fill it with air. I kept thinking I wished it was already filled with water as I'd really like to get in! Our boys, Joshua and Daniel, were so excited that I was inflating a swimming pool in the house, and kept chattering and peppering me with questions. I finally managed to get the thing blown up, and told Joshua to tell Dad to bring in the hose to fill the pool. I didn't feel capable of getting the hose from outside and hooking it up by that point.

I felt like things were moving fast. Matt took a break from the floor to get the hose, and he hooked it up and began filling the pool. He wanted to call his dad to come help him with the floor, but I told him I didn't care about the floor right now! I had to throw up, which I did in both my previous labors. I went outside and threw up, and then came back in. Matt asked if he should call our midwife, Angy, and I said yes. He had asked me earlier, but I had said no. She laughed and said she was an hour away and probably wouldn't make it, but we knew what to do. I managed to brush my teeth and felt like I had to poop.

I got our temporary toilet, which was a five gallon bucket with our toilet seat on top, and a garbage bag and newspapers inside. I set it in my bedroom by the pool, and sat down on it. My water broke and I felt the baby moving down. I told Matt to bring me the coconut oil, then a spoon to dig it out with, which I then rubbed on myself to help avoid tears. With each contraction, I said, "Jesus, Jesus, Jesus..." Just like my second birth, I had three contractions as the baby came down with no effort or pushing on my part. On the third one, our new baby was born! Matt turned the baby over and announced, "It's a boy!" I had not had any ultrasounds, so we didn't know what we were getting.

Matt caught our baby wearing his work boots and covered in pressure treated sawdust. We had not even washed our hands as we had no idea the baby would come so fast. He got a bulb syringe from the closet (not new or sterilized, of course) and sucked out his nose and mouth, and a bath towel, which we covered him with as he lay on my lap. I told Matt he could turn the water off now! We called Angy and our parents to share our good news.

We were shocked. I had only realized I was in labor maybe an hour or so prior, and there we were with a baby! He let out a little cry just after he came out, and then just looked at us. He also nursed, peed, and pooped.

Joshua, who was about six and a half years old at the time, went outside when I sat down on the bucket, but Daniel, who was two years and nine months old, stood there and watched the birth. He got a little scared from all the blood, but we told him I was fine, and he got in the pool to play. Then Joshua, who had been outside whooping like an Indian, came in and got in the pool. Matt boiled some scissors and string, and after the placenta came out, he cut and tied off the cord. There probably wasn't much point in sterilizing anything by this time, though. Then, I got off the bucket and got in the pool with the baby, after having the boys get out, to get cleaned up. The water felt wonderful, and the baby really seemed to like the nice, warm water. At least I got to use the pool for something!

The midwives showed up about the time I was getting in the pool, which was about 45 minutes or so after the birth. I was glad it worked out that way. I had told Angy previously that I might not call anyone until after the birth. I had been reading a lot about unassisted birth and really liked the idea of an intimate family birth.

I only had a tiny tear, more like a scrape, and didn't need any stitches. I never had any long contractions and they never got very painful. I had natural childbirth with the other boys, so I know what those long, painful contractions are like. Now, I tell pregnant women about those acupressure points! I found them at
http://childbirthsolutions.com/articles/acupressure-techniques-for-use-during-childbirth-and-pregnancy/.

Our little guy weighed 7 pounds and 4 ounces and was 21 inches long. In the midst of all the excitement, we didn't look at a clock when he made his appearance, so we tried to determine the time of birth based upon when Angy's phone showed Matt called. We put 1:25 PM on the birth certificate, but I think we were off a little. I think it was probably between 1:20 and 1:25.

When he was almost three weeks old, and after much discussion, we finally put a name on his birth certificate, Christopher Joseph. Naming a person is very difficult!

Even though I wanted him to come later so I could get the bathroom done and go to the store and have the house nice and clean, we were so thankful it all happened the way it did. We still kept working on the house, only with a new, sweet little baby in it!

Homebirth vs. hospital birth letter to my pregnant friend

2010-06-27T01:44:00.010-04:00

Here's my most recent letter to my pregnant friend that I wrote in response to her mentioning that she would like a waterbirth. Since she is planning a hospital birth, I told her that I didn't think the OB would let her use the tub. I also asked about this on a midwife friend's Facebook page and am posting that discussion as well.

Most pregnant women automatically plan to birth in a hospital, and use an OB for prenatal care. They do not consider other options. Unfortunately, OBs and hospital typically greatly interfere in the natural birth process. Everything about our modern medical model of pregnancy, labor, and childbirth is one interference after another.From the first vaginal ultrasound at the first prenatal appointment, followed by many repeat ultrasounds, which are NOT proven safe, and babies are often shown trying to get away from the ultrasound, the interferences begin.

At the doctor's convenience, artificial induction of labor is scheduled, or even an elective cesarean section. The many interferences continue, and the laboring mom is never left in peace to do what her body needs to do to birth. Electronic fetal monitoring, being confined to bed, episiotomies, and birthing flat on your back are all the norm. If she fails to birth within the doctor's time frame, a c-section results.

Then the interferences with the baby begin. Immediate cord clamping, separating mom and baby, circumcision for boys, formula, vaccines, and more are all very common. Moms should be very thankful if they manage to leave the hospital with themselves and baby in one piece.

The typical homebirth is a night and day difference from the typical hospital birth. Labor begins naturally on it's own, and progresses without interference from anyone. Mom does whatever she feels like doing, and when baby arrives, she holds and feeds her baby without interruption.

Here's my letter to my friend.

Hey Mama!
I've got a FB thread I want you to read at http://www.facebook.com/joyinbirth#!/joyinbirth#wall
I asked a midwife friend on her wall if anyone knew about being able to have a waterbirth at Women's and Children's Hospital. So far, two people responded, the midwife and another friend who is a childbirth instructor. I think you will be very interested in the responses. Also, the midwife, Jennifer, said to call her if you have any questions at 304-552-6909. She was the birth assistant at Daniel's birth, and is a very sweet Christian lady.

A lot depends on what kind of birth you want. If you want a natural, unmedicated waterbirth, you will not get that at a hospital. You really need a midwife if you want that type of birth. OB's and hospitals constantly interfere in labor and birth. Their entire protocol begins and ends with interferences. They induce everyone nowadays, which is a big reason why we have such a high c-section rate. One interference leads to another. Inductions massively increase your risk of a c-section. Unfortunately, that's what popular now among OBs. I guess they like being able to schedule births at their convenience. I don't know anyone who is not induced except for moms using midwives. Jennifer said women have a 50% chance of getting a c-section if they are induced! I believe it! I know lots of women who wound up with a c-sec after induction. The women I know are even being induced BEFORE their due dates!

Anyway, if you don't mind taking drugs and getting an epidural (which are bad and risky in many ways for you and baby--I can tell you all about that if you want), don't mind being induced, (which causes far more painful and frequent contractions and has risks including uterine rupture), and being confined to a bed to labor (YUK!), don't mind a corkscrew in your baby's head to continuously electronically monitor contractions, don't mind lying on your back to birth (which is the WORST possible position to be in!), don't mind an episiotomy and immediate cord clamping and separation from your baby as they do who knows what to him, don't mind the hospital staff feeding him formula, don't mind the high risk of c-section, don't mind being told what you can and can't do and how you are "allowed" to labor and birth, etc, the hospital is a fine place to birth. If you don't like the idea of this likely scenario, then please seriously rethink your intended place to birth.

I am very happy to stay with you and help you in any way no matter where you choose, but I just want to make sure you are aware of what hospital birth looks like. You CAN have a natural, gentle birth in a hospital, but you need to be prepared to fight for one. It can be very hard to fight against a threatening and intimidating hospital staff in the midst of labor, which often requires your full concentration. That's why many women give in to whatever the staff wants to do to her. On the positive side, having a doula present is a proven help as the doula is there to both assist the mom and advocate for her and her wishes. Doulas really help to lower the chance of interferences as she can stand up for the mom when the mom is too focused on labor to stand up for herself. Also, the doula helps the mom remain relaxed and focused, which tremendously helps the mom to progress normally in labor and birth. The hospital environment is contrary to relaxation and focus, but the doula greatly helps. I would be serving you in an unofficial doula role.

Other important things to do to lessen the chance of a c-section are to refuse induction no matter how much they pressure you, and labor at home as long as possible. Don't go to the hospital until you are in active labor. Women who go to the hospital in early labor are far more likely to wind up with all sorts of interferences. An induced woman is at the hospital the whole time! I personally don't think you need to go to the hospital at all, but of course you need to do what's best for you. I don't think you even remotely qualify for being high risk! Our bodies are designed to birth, and they know what to do! Trust your body.
I love you!!!!!!!
Christy

Here's the Facebook thread.

Christy Lindsey

I have a question for Jennifer and anyone else who may know the answer. My dear friend is planning to birth at Women's and Children's Hospital in a couple of months and mentioned that she'd like to have a waterbirth. I told her that she needs to ask her OB, but I was under the impression that the tub is only used by ...the midwives who have hospital privileges that work through the birth center. Does anyone have any idea about this? Do ANY OB's actually let their patients use the tub?

More from me:
I, um, always think that the typical hospital protocol is to get the baby out asap using whatever means necessary, and that letting laboring women use a birthpool doesn't exactly fit in with the "assembly line" style of hospital births. I would LOVE to see her switch to a midwife, but I plan to stay with her and help her in any way I can during her labor no matter where she births. I am going to encourage her to refuse induction and labor at home as long as possible, but I worry because I know she will be relentlessly pressured to get induced. I know far too many women who were induced and wound up with a c-section. :(

From:

Sarah DeGroff

No. Only the midwives allow their patients out of bed at all (let alone to use the tub). OB protocol is break their water early (4 cm) and confined to bed until delivery including using bedpan (no getting up even for bathroom). Anyone who disagrees w/ this may want to reconsider their place of birth b/c trying for anything different will put her as a target of hostility by all staff.

MWs will allow some mobility @ CAMC & EFM on for 20 min & off for 40 min. OBs there will want continuous EFM (in bed).

More CAMC birth protocol: after a non-complicated vag birth, mother can expect to hold the baby only 20 min out of the first 3 hours after birth, thusly: after birth, immediate cord clamping & cutting & baby is taken to the other side of the room for routine procedures & evaluation for 40 minutes. Mom is then offered baby to hold for 20 min, then baby is taken away to the nursery for 2 more hours of procedures & evaluation. It is possible for a mother to fight for something different, but it will entail a real power struggle.

From:
Joy In Birth Midwifery

I'm not 100% of the answer to that, not knowing all the policies there (which is something we've talked about trying to acquire), but typically, OBs/nursing staff do not feel comfortable with a mother not doing things the "normal" way, wanting her to have continuous monitoring, etc. I can pretty much say that actually having a BIRTH in the water in hospital is out...labor might be a possibility. But, without being under a midwife's care, even in the hospital, I'd be surprised if they'd even let her labor in it. If she truly desires a waterbirth, she needs a midwife! Have her call me with any questions she has if you think I can be of help.

If she asks her doctor about it, also have her ask how many of his mothers labor in the tub, and how many ask for it. Maybe she'll actually get an honest answer without being paid lip service.

More from me:

Thank you all so very much!!! Truthfully, I am very afraid for her to birth in the hospital for all the many reasons you all are so aware of! She has said she doesn't want a c/s, but there is such a high probability of getting one, not to mention all the other many numerous negative interferences with the natural birth process and early bonding with baby. :( It really upsets me how hospitals treat laboring moms, birth, and then the babies. I hate for anyone to suffer these things, but of course am even more concerned for someone so close to me. I know a lady who told me she actually thought the hospital staff was trying to kill her during a labor and birth because of everything that happened. Her story was quite horrific! Epidural didn't work, they didn't believe her, proceeded to do an episiotomy and pour saline over it, which of course she felt, while she was confined lying down and all this was happening! Add some very rude and uncaring L & D nurses to that scene as well. And of course this entire brutal experience occurred during hard labor. I felt so bad for her. Tragically, many women have hospital horror stories to tell. It's no wonder there is such a fear of birth!

Anyway, thanks Jennifer for inviting her to call you. I will definitely let her know that! I'll direct her to this thread as well. You all are so phenomenal! Thank you!!!

More from Joy In Birth Midwifery:
Christy, stories like that literally make me cry. It hurts my heart to know that women are not treated with love, respect, honor, and care. It can be so much better than that. The midwifery model of care is so contrary to the medical model of care. Oh for more births that make women smile in the telling of it!

More corruption uncovered

2010-06-21T23:44:00.007-04:00

Glenn Beck uncovers even more corruption at the highest levels, as the web of deception he calls Crime, Inc. grows larger. This episode of his show demonstrates many corrupt criminal connections between government officials and corporations, all designed to enrich themselves at our expense.

Please watch, learn, tell others, and get involved. We all have to do what we can to get our nation back in the hands of the people, and out of the hands of those who seek our destruction, all while claiming to have our best interests at heart.

How to solve the education crisis

2010-06-15T13:52:00.003-04:00

Here is a short reply I made on my favorite 9-12 message board regarding the many problems with our education system.

Most Americans have been taught that you are a good parent if you send your kid to school. Not only are you a good parent living up to your societal expectations, but you get free babysitting and the kids out of your hair. If you pay property taxes, then you surely want to take advantage of that and actually get something for your money. Americans have been brainwashed that education is a right, and they expect the government to provide a free education. Who can blame them? After all, they were taught by government schools not to think for themselves, but to believe what their government tells them.

I attended government schools and graduated from one. I was always the kind of kid who asked a lot of questions of my school and church teachers, and even got into debates with them at times. I have always been an avid reader, who loves to learn. The best thing I ever learned in school was how to read in the first grade! I am free to learn whatever I wish as a result.

What is the solution for the public school fiasco? I think abolishing the Department of Education and return all authority to the states is the first step. Get the federal government and it's insane propaganda out of education! But, I don't think that's going to happen.

Therefore, it's up to parents to educate themselves as to what is best for their kids, and then do it, making whatever sacrifices are necessary.

Our government has been infiltrated by the enemy!

2010-06-14T13:44:00.006-04:00

Here is some incredible information about the infiltration of our government by homegrown Marxist terrorists groups. Whew! We have many enemies both here and abroad, who abhor freedom and liberty for all. Why? I don't know. I'm still trying to figure that out. I can't imagine why anyone would not want to live in a free nation.

From YouTube:
October 24, 2008 — Ayers and Obama have worked together on books for at least 21 years, and have cooperated in funneling tens of millions of dollars to leftist indoctrination progammes for youth. All this you may have already known. What is even more chilling is this expose' on how William Ayers is planning to implement their mutual Marxist ideology, should Ayers attain influence on Obama through their long standing relationship. Larry Grathwohl penetrated the Weather Underground to bring this fist hand account of Ayers' (and the Weather Underground's) plans. As you may know, Ayers remains unrepentant to this day, and lives just a few houses away from Barack Hussein Obama. Obama's flimsy and ever-shifting denials of his relationship with Ayers have all but completely disintegrated. Furthermore, the prime backer of Obama, Khalid Al Mansour, was a legal assistant to the Black Panther Party (with an office next door). It is known from testimony of Weather Underground members that the BPP and Weather Underground worked "very closely" together. Therefore it it likely that Mansour (who was advising Obama even before he moved from Hawaii, under the tutelage of Communist agent Frank Marshall Davis), was working with Ayers and Dohrn simultaneously.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6GrCHctYyWA&feature=player_embedded

Here's what Glenn Beck had to say on this subject. Incidentally, I posted a link to the below article on Facebook, and then mysteriously had all my comments I made after the link disappear and then reappear. One would disappear, so I'd leave another, which would disappear, and so on. Sometimes all, none, or some would be there to read. It was very disturbing as I felt that my comments were being read by someone who has access to my Facebook account. I mentioned this on a 9-12 message board that I frequently read and was told this:

"Does no one recall that around one year ago the govt claimed that it had a right to legally access and possess all content posted on both Facebook and Twitter? Their motive was described as a need to keep track of ALL conversations and store them at the Library of Congress so that they (the govt) can go back years from now and "study" social interactions of America. Everything you post IS reviewed and saved."

Scary events are upon us. I like to listen to Glenn, and he sees a repeat of the same scenarios prior to WWI and WWII. He fears the Jews will come under persecution again. Christians are daily persecuted throughout the world. (I need to work on a blog post about that!)

http://www.glennbeck.com/content/articles/article/198/41773/

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Glenn Beck: Audio from 1982 that will blow your mind

Audio Available:

June 11, 2010 - 12:11 ET

GLENN: I'm going to play some audio for you that I played last night that I have to tell you something. After I played it, I went into commercial break and I said to my floor crew, and I said it again on television, I don't know what else I can do. I don't know my fellow countrymen. I don't know who my country is. I don't know who these people are that are my neighbors, that when they hear this, they don't stand up and say, wait a minute, wait a minute, wait a minute. Show this to me again? Tell me this again? I don't know who you are this is from 1982. This is a video of a former FBI agent. He was the only person to successfully infiltrate the Weather Underground. This is in 1975 and 1976. The Weather Underground, Bill Ayers, Bernardine Dohrn. Don't even take it to Van Jones. Don't even take it to the communist, Maoist revolutionaries in the White House. Don't even take it to there. Just think of this with what's happening in Israel and they were part of the Free Gaza movement and then let that sink in because maybe just that you can get your arms around. Maybe your neighbors can get just their arms around maybe somebody wanting to round up Jews. And then think of the ramifications. When your neighbors can get their arms around that, maybe you take it to your neighbors then again and say, okay, you have your arms around that? Now let me show you the people that surround this president. This is a former FBI agent from 1982 exposing for the first time what he found while sitting in a room full of Weather Underground leaders, including Bill Ayers. Listen and remember.

VOICE: I brought up the subject of what's going to happen after we take over the government. You know, we become responsible then for administrating, you know, 250 million people. And there was no answers. No one had given any thought to economics, how are you going to clothe and feed these people. The only thing that I could get was that they expected that the Cubans and the North Vietnamese and the Chinese and the Russians would all want to occupy different portions of the United States.

They also believed that their immediate responsibility would be to protect against what they called the counterrevolution and they felt that this counterrevolution could best be guarded against by creating and reestablishing reeducation centers in the southwest where we would take all the people who needed to be reeducated into the new way of thinking and teach them how things were going to be. I ask, well, what is going to happen to those people that we can't reeducate, that are diehard capitalists? And the reply was that they would have to be eliminated. And when I pursued this further, they estimated that they would have to eliminate 25 million people in these reeducation centers. And when I say eliminate, I mean kill. 25 million people.

GLENN: Here's what you have to decide, America. You have a choice to make because this has been out since 1982. This is an FBI agent. These details are in FBI reports. So you have to make this choice. I have to believe that William Ayers and Bernardine Dohrn and those in that room have more credibility than the FBI agent who documented these things in the 1970s and then spoke out about them in 1982 for the first time. I'm betting my friends' life or my Jewish friends' life or the possibility of my Jewish friends' life or my capitalist friends' life, I'm betting that Bill Ayers is a changed man, that Bernardine Dohrn is a changed man, that the people around the president that listen to William Ayers and dismiss Bill Ayers, as we approach a time of economic catastrophe, I'm betting my Jewish friends' life that he's a changed man or that this FBI guy is somehow or another exaggerating. Make the choice. Choose carefully.

Congressman assaults student!

2010-06-13T15:46:00.002-04:00

Wow! Watch Congressman Bob Etheridge from South Carolina immediately respond with violence and intimidation when asked this question by a college student, "Do you fully support the Obama agenda?"

Why I chose homebirth

2010-06-08T00:42:00.007-04:00

I recently threw in my two cents on a midwife friend's Facebook discussion board, which asked the question, "Why did you choose homebirth?" I wrote one of my "novellas," which is what my husband calls my lengthy Facebook comments, and I thought this would be great to share here as well. Time to get on my soapbox! :)

I have so many reasons for choosing to birth at home! My first was born in a birth center, but I wanted to birth at home then, too. I asked the birth center if they did homebirths when I very first called them, and they said no. I didn't know anyone else or any idea how to find any homebirth midwives, and at that time, I didn't even consider birthing without a midwife. So, I went the birth center route, and was very happy with the midwives, and my overall experience. I never considered wanting pain meds even during hard labor. It just seemed to me that labor is what you go through to have a baby. I did wind up with an episiotomy, and in retrospect, after 2 homebirths, I think it is because my labor was interfered with. I was sitting on the toilet when my water broke. The midwife, nurse, and doula suggested I get on the bed and had me on my back, which I hated, but was too tired to say so! I've never heard of the stranded beetle position that Sarah mentioned, but that sounds like how they had me! On back with legs up and pulled back while pushing for a long time, maybe an hour, I think I was told. Yuck! Anyway, baby's heart rate got too low and they had to cut me to hurry up and get him out for his safety. I felt like I'd been run over by a truck the next day, but did feel fine the following day. I am convinced that if they would have left me on the toilet, I would have birthed fine, and not had to have an episiotomy. Another thing that I didn't like was that they immediately cut his cord. I had wanted to wait until it stopped pulsating, but didn't even have a chance to say anything as it all happened so fast. I'm still surprised and disappointed by that. With his low heart rate, he especially needed his cord blood, although all babies should have their cord blood, except for when an actual dire emergency demands immediate separation, which is very rare.

My next 2 babies were born at home (I had found a homebirth midwife by then, although the last baby arrived before the midwife did!) I did whatever I felt like doing during my labors. I didn't push either time, but both were born in 3 contractions (after reaching the "pushing" stage) on their own as my body moved them down and out. (We also waited, while I held our new babes, until their cords turned white to cut them.) Again, I was sitting on a toilet with one and squatting in front of a toilet with the other. If I would have gone and laid down on my back when my body was trying to birth, I would have greatly thwarted my body's innate ability to birth. I also felt great right away after those births.

So, there's a little background on my birth experiences. For my many reasons to choose home, let's see...

1. Labor and birth are VERY intense experiences. If I am going to have a VERY intense experience, OF COURSE I'm going to want to be HOME where I feel safe and comfortable! Just like if you're sick or dying (varying degrees of intense experiences), you want to be HOME. I can not fathom WANTING to give birth in a hospital. It's not a fun place.

2. You MUST be relaxed to birth. Mammals will only give birth when they feel safe. If a laboring mammal is disturbed, she will stop laboring until she feels safe again. How on earth can any laboring woman feel safe and relaxed in a HOSPITAL of all places?! You'd be much better suited to birth in a quiet field or forest than in a hospital filled with strangers popping in and out, machines, bright lights, noise, and bad odors. This is absolutely NOT the safe, relaxing environment necessary to birth. Stress and tension, which a hospital is full of, directly interferes with the opening of the cervix, which is a sphincter muscle. We are all familiar with another sphincter muscle, and readily understand that this one only opens when a person feels safe and relaxed and alone, or at least with only very trusted people nearby! The cervix is the same, yet we expect a woman to be able to tune out the many incredible distractions in a hospital, and birth that baby. It is no wonder women wind up with so many interventions in hospitals. Think of all the times a laboring woman arrives at the hospital, and labor stops, and then she gets pitocin to artificially cause contractions, which are so strong they can cause uterine rupture! Think also of all the times women wind up with c-sections due to "failure to progress." These are all results of the same cause: SHE DOESN'T FEEL SAFE AND SHE CAN"T RELAX!!! Personally, I am amazed by women who have natural birth in a hospital.

3. No interventions at home! If laboring women are left alone to do whatever their body wants them to do, almost all will have a normal, uncomplicated birth. The reason why there are so many interventions in a hospital is BECAUSE of the interventions. Inducing labor, which seems to be the way OBs treat every woman nowadays, is ASKING for further interventions! Except for the few homebirth moms I know, every single pregnant lady I know of is induced BEFORE her due date! It would be bad enough to induce at all, but BEFORE the due date?!!! The baby is NOT READY TO BE BORN!!! Now that you've got labor off to a horrible start, go ahead and throw in some continuous fetal monitoring (nothing like a sharp corkscrew in baby's head to get him ready for a mean, cruel world), and confine the woman to the bed (lying down, of course), prohibit any food or liquids (let her have a few ice chips so you don't seem like a completely heartless ogre), give her an epidural (which causes chronic back pain for 20% of women, and may numb the wrong half of her body or give her a killer, incapacitating headache for a week, and always removes her body's ability to push out her baby), give her some pain killers (which makes for a very groggy, drugged baby who will likely not want to nurse), and after you've squashed all natural ability to birth, give her an episiotomy and use forceps to get that baby out, or better yet, do a c-section. Hey, why even bother with all the trouble of labor anyway? Let's just schedule a c-section when it's convenient for everyone! Ahhh... nothing like the miracle of birth! (Don't forget lots of formula to feed the groggy baby who is too tired to nurse.)

4. As if all the above weren't enough, hospitals are full of GERMS! I've read horror stories of women (and their new babies) contracting staph infections while in a hospital to birth. We hear all the time of people going into a hospital for one thing and getting some sort of infection FROM the hospital. Why have a newborn baby in a place full of deadly disease?

5. The "agony" of childbirth is far overrated. Natural childbirth is not some superwoman feat of amazing achievement. Giving birth is a totally normal physiological function, which God perfectly designed our bodies to do well. People watch these fake TV shows with a woman acting like she's being tortured while in labor. Our society has the idea that childbirth is at least equal to torture and who could ever be expected to endure something so horrendous? Well... how have women managed to give birth every day for thousands of years with no drugs? Our bodies are perfectly capable of giving birth! Sure, it can hurt, but I'd take a day of pain (more like a few hours) anytime over a lifetime of pain! Remember the 20% of women with chronic back pain following an epidural? Also, people endure far worse pain and live through it. Many people live with excruciating, chronic pain. Labor pain is temporary and very doable. The longest contractions are 60-90 seconds. Anyone can stand some pain for a minute! You just take one contraction at a time, and then you get a baby! By the way, I had fantastic results with my last birth using acupressure points: http://www.childbirthsolutions.com/articles/birth/acupressure/index.php/. I never had any hard labor, and all my contractions were very short and not very painful at all! I used BL 32 only and held the points myself during each contraction, but there are many other points described in the article. Then there are the many horrible effects upon baby from the pain meds. I don't want to drug my baby so I can avoid pain.

6. Baby is MUCH safer! Not only does the hospital want to interfere with mom, they want to get their hands on the new baby! First, they immediately cut the cord, which deprives baby of much oxygen rich blood, just when he is taking his first breaths! They separate baby from all he has ever known, Mom, to do whatever kind of tests and observation they think he needs, when what he really needs is MOM! They put some sort of stinging stuff in his eyes to protect him from Mom's STDs, whether she actually has one or not! They give him a Vitamin K shot, a hepatitis vaccine (which has killed babies), and half of the boys have part of their penises removed, which is excruciatingly painful and traumatic. Unless Mom is adamant, baby will most likely be given formula and pacifiers and kept in the nursery at least part of the time so Mom can "rest." Hospital staff can be very intimidating to parents who want to protect their babies from these routine interventions. I've seen new parents threatened that their baby was going to get invasive digestive tract tests if they couldn't get a groggy c-section baby (induced labor) to consume more formula. I read about a man holding his new baby who was zapped with a tazer by a security guard for daring to try and take his child home before the hospital said they could leave! I think I'd be a nervous wreck trying to protect my new baby from the typical hospital procedures.

7. Birth is NOT an emergency! Hospitals, doctors, and machines are not needed! True complications and emergencies can arise, but they are very rare in un-interfered with natural labors. It's such a blessing that we have hospitals IF we need them. They are major overkill for most births and cause the very emergencies they are intended to prevent! I find it ridiculous that women who are trying to birth are told to wait for the doctor! What?! Any one of the nurses, or mom or dad could catch the baby!!! You'd have to be drugged not to birth when it's time! When my last 2 came out on their own, I sure couldn't have stopped them!

Well, I guess I about covered everything! I am now a huge proponent of un-interfered with natural birth, preferably at home or another comfortable place. I strongly believe that if a woman is left alone and doesn't fear birth (which would interfere with the necessary relaxation of the muscles and of the mind), then her body will instinctively know what to do.

Indeed, a peaceful birth is such a special experience for a woman and her family. The non-drugged, alert baby being gently welcomed into the world with love by his parents and family, and held closely and showered with kisses and smiles and tears of joy, still connected while his cord continues to give him oxygen rich blood, is a very sacred time. There's no comparison between that scene and a typical hospital birth. I think that if people knew the facts, many more would choose homebirth.
Happy birthing! :)

P.S.
I must add more info on an excellent reason to choose natural birth that I only briefly mentioned earlier, the effects of a drugged birth upon the baby. Please read this superb article on the lasting effects of birth upon people. For instance, drugged babies are more likely to become drug addicted adults, and babies who suffer violent births are more likely to become violent criminals. All babies deserve peaceful births.
http://www.natural-pregnancy-mentor.com/birth-and-the-origins-of-violence.html

Crime, Inc. overview

2010-06-01T14:43:00.004-04:00

Here is the latest Crime, Inc. info. It's a great overview, and I highly recommend everyone to watch and find out the insane web of government corruption. It's a huge scam for a few very powerful people to get extremely rich off of us!!!

Circumcision info

2010-06-01T13:43:00.031-04:00

I want to issue a disclaimer first. I am not sharing this info to make any one feel guilty or to judge anyone. I want to share this primarily for parents who are trying to decide whether or not to circumcise their sons, and for parents who need concrete information to show those who are pressuring them to circumcise. Sometimes one parent wants to, and the other doesn't. Or, relatives and friends may be insisting that "it's no big deal" and "he should look like his dad."

When you actually research the issue, it's painfully obvious that it is a very big deal. We tend to be rightfully outraged when we hear of female genital mutilation around the world. Yet, Americans still routinely circumcise (which is male genital mutilation) their newborn sons. About half of American baby boys are circumcised soon after birth.

I have three intact sons. I never even considered removing part of their perfect penises. Man can never improve what God creates. As a follower of Jesus Christ, I am thankfully free from the Law, which required circumcision. The Bible tells us that what we truly need is spiritual circumcision of our hearts. Like many events in the Old Testament, physical circumcision was used both to set Jews apart as God's chosen people, and to foreshadow the coming of the Messiah, who would cleanse us from our sins. We are absolutely not required to circumcise to follow Christ. I Corinthians 7:19 says, "Circumcision is nothing and uncircumcision is nothing, but keeping the commandments of God is what matters."

I invite you to browse the links below, but be warned, the truth about circumcision is extremely disturbing.

This website contains a plethora of learning resources: many articles, recommended books, video clips, and tons of links to other informative websites. This is an incredible site that also includes lots of info on other aspects of "peaceful parenting," such as breastfeeding and co-sleeping, and also exposes the "cry it out" technique of popular parenting.
http://www.drmomma.org/2010/01/are-you-fully-informed.html

Learn about the incredible value of the foreskin, both as protection against contaminants and as the most sexually sensitive part of the penis here: http://www.drmomma.org/2009/09/functions-of-foreskin-purposes-of.html

Here is great site: http://www.doctorsopposingcircumcision.org/

Another very informative site:
http://www.stopcirc.com/

Another great site on natural parenting info:
http://iinformedparenting.blogspot.com/2010/01/male-circumcision-more-excellent-info.html

This site has more links and also a reply by me to the blogger's post, in which she described her extreme guilt over circumcising her sons. In my reading, I found many more such letters by anguished parents, who can never undo a choice they made that they deeply regret.
http://onedayatatimenicole.blogspot.com/2010/05/circumcism.html?showComment=1275677894912_AIe9_BEmXuafDv-Hy_OQA-MlM-tnIWNSegya1n8ycxaoLyQBjYlqNNOr23B4STeMXT72AVXbh03s-MxEgGohAQajKcYEIpFBhcxtBZ4B7JoZsibeVioxLaDFrvxStK8Hqao9CiZQQ-oSNnEtH9pCB1nmXccpiHCyruMYM3QJ0BtaK9zSExNwLmNUBsV_8Syy2gB9w7bkwadxSL78O4liugW-nzEr-A9vi3B_dAJhgbnllxmq2ffUzYg#c3283016944928089809

Here is my reply to her post:
Thank you for sharing. I've read before that "we make the best choice we can with the information we have at that time." We can't change the past. You've surely saved many baby boys from the same fate by speaking out about a heartbreaking topic that so many Americans never even consider.

We have three intact sons. My husband and stepson are circumcised. Initially, my husband wanted to circumcise our firstborn. He was concerned about him being "different" from himself. There was no way I was going to allow my brand new, perfect baby to have part of his penis removed!!! My husband didn't have strong feelings one way or the other at the time, so thankfully, he was willing to leave our son intact.

My husband has since said many times that he wishes he still has his foreskin, and our intact boys are mortified at the thought of part of their penis being cut off. My mother in law told me that when she had her boys, the hospital just automatically circumcised them and didn't even ask the parents!

As we bring this issue into open discussion, many more parents will actually think about it, and hopefully research. I can't imagine how anyone who educates themselves on circumcision could still choose one for their son. This elective surgery still persists as "normal" because many people do not question it and think nothing of it.

Just like baby shots and hospital births, formula and day care, many common child rearing practices are NOT good! Just because "everybody does it" doesn't make it good and healthy for our children.

When we take time to learn about these things, we realize it's best to leave things alone. There is no reason to interfere with what God creates. Momma is designed to grow and birth and feed and care for babies who don't need to be injected with poisons and their body parts removed to be better than they were at birth.

PS
I found another excellent link at http://www.mothering.com/discussions/showthread.php?t=112410. This is a discussion thread, from moms who regret circumcising their sons. It has been going strong for over five years, and currently has over 560 posts. I do hope and pray that my sharing this crucial info about the truth of what is inflicted upon these helpless babies will save babies from this horrendous fate.

Democracy versus Republic: What's the difference and why does it matter?

2010-05-29T15:07:00.006-04:00

Here is a superb article contrasting a republic and a democracy. Americans are continuously told that we are a democracy by our teachers, and leaders, and even our president. It is crucial for Americans to understand that we are NOT a democracy; we are a republic. There is a huge difference.

In a democracy, the majority rules, and can usurp the rights and freedoms of the minority, and of the individual. Mob rule reigns, and the majority can, and often does, use economic and even violent methods to pressure and intimidate others to vote for them in the "free" elections.

In a republic, the rights of all people are protected under the Law, or Constitution. America is a nation of laws, to which all people, including the leaders, are subject. At least, that is our official form of government. Tragically, greedy politicians have trampled our Constitution, and govern as though they are above the Law.

Thankfully, as we watch our nation and liberties being swept into a socialist abyss, many Americans have developed a renewed love for our country and its freedoms. We are educating ourselves as to our true history and intended form of government. Despite many decades of being lied to, we are researching, and teaching ourselves and others the truth.

By God's grace, we intend to restore our beloved nation to her correct foundation, "with liberty and justice for all.”

"As Ronald Reagan emphasized, America is a shining city upon a hill whose beacon light guides freedom-loving people everywhere."^[1]

http://www.lexrex.com/enlightened/AmericanIdeal/aspects/demrep.html

An Important Distinction: Democracy versus Republic

It is important to keep in mind the difference between a Democracy and a Republic, as dissimilar forms of government. Understanding the difference is essential to comprehension of the fundamentals involved. It should be noted, in passing, that use of the word Democracy as meaning merely the popular type of government--that is, featuring genuinely free elections by the people periodically--is not helpful in discussing, as here, the difference between alternative and dissimilar forms of a popular government: a Democracy versus a Republic. This double meaning of Democracy--a popular-type government in general, as well as a specific form of popular government--needs to be made clear in any discussion, or writing, regarding this subject, for the sake of sound understanding.

These two forms of government: Democracy and Republic, are not only dissimilar but antithetical, reflecting the sharp contrast between (a) The Majority Unlimited, in a Democracy, lacking any legal safeguard of the rights of The Individual and The Minority, and (b) The Majority Limited, in a Republic under a written Constitution safeguarding the rights of The Individual and The Minority; as we shall now see.

A Democracy

The chief characteristic and distinguishing feature of a Democracy is: Rule by Omnipotent Majority. In a Democracy, The Individual, and any group of Individuals composing any Minority, have no protection against the unlimited power of The Majority. It is a case of Majority-over-Man.

This is true whether it be a Direct Democracy, or a Representative Democracy. In the direct type, applicable only to a small number of people as in the little city-states of ancient Greece, or in a New England town-meeting, all of the electorate assemble to debate and decide all government questions, and all decisions are reached by a majority vote (of at least half-plus-one). Decisions of The Majority in a New England town-meeting are, of course, subject to the Constitutions of the State and of the United States which protect The Individual’s rights; so, in this case, The Majority is not omnipotent and such a town-meeting is, therefore, not an example of a true Direct Democracy. Under a Representative Democracy like Britain’s parliamentary form of government, the people elect representatives to the national legislature--the elective body there being the House of Commons--and it functions by a similar vote of at least half-plus-one in making all legislative decisions.

In both the Direct type and the Representative type of Democracy, The Majority’s power is absolute and unlimited; its decisions are unappealable under the legal system established to give effect to this form of government. This opens the door to unlimited Tyranny-by-Majority. This was what The Framers of the United States Constitution meant in 1787, in debates in the Federal (framing) Convention, when they condemned the "excesses of democracy" and abuses under any Democracy of the unalienable rights of The Individual by The Majority. Examples were provided in the immediate post-1776 years by the legislatures of some of the States. In reaction against earlier royal tyranny, which had been exercised through oppressions by royal governors and judges of the new State governments, while the legislatures acted as if they were virtually omnipotent. There were no effective State Constitutions to limit the legislatures because most State governments were operating under mere Acts of their respective legislatures which were mislabeled "Constitutions." Neither the governors not the courts of the offending States were able to exercise any substantial and effective restraining influence upon the legislatures in defense of The Individual’s unalienable rights, when violated by legislative infringements. (Connecticut and Rhode Island continued under their old Charters for many years.) It was not until 1780 that the first genuine Republic through constitutionally limited government, was adopted by Massachusetts--next New Hampshire in 1784, other States later.

It was in this connection that Jefferson, in his "Notes On The State of Virginia" written in 1781-1782, protected against such excesses by the Virginia Legislature in the years following the Declaration of Independence, saying: "An elective despotism was not the government we fought for . . ." (Emphasis Jefferson’s.) He also denounced the despotic concentration of power in the Virginia Legislature, under the so-called "Constitution"--in reality a mere Act of that body:

"All the powers of government, legislative, executive, judiciary, result to the legislative body. The concentrating these in the same hands is precisely the definition of despotic government. It will be no alleviation that these powers will be exercised by a plurality of hands, and not by a single one. 173 despots would surely be as oppressive as one. Let those who doubt it turn their eyes on the republic of Venice."

This topic--the danger to the people’s liberties due to the turbulence of democracies and omnipotent, legislative majority--is discussed in The Federalist, for example in numbers 10 and 48 by Madison (in the latter noting Jefferson’s above-quoted comments).

The Framing Convention’s records prove that by decrying the "excesses of democracy" The Framers were, of course, not opposing a popular type of government for the United States; their whole aim and effort was to create a sound system of this type. To contend to the contrary is to falsify history. Such a falsification not only maligns the high purpose and good character of The Framers but belittles the spirit of the truly Free Man in America--the people at large of that period--who happily accepted and lived with gratification under the Constitution as their own fundamental law and under the Republic which it created, especially because they felt confident for the first time of the security of their liberties thereby protected against abuse by all possible violators, including The Majority momentarily in control of government. The truth is that The Framers, by their protests against the "excesses of democracy," were merely making clear their sound reasons for preferring a Republic as the proper form of government. They well knew, in light of history, that nothing but a Republic can provide the best safeguards--in truth in the long run the only effective safeguards (if enforced in practice)--for the people’s liberties which are inescapably victimized by Democracy’s form and system of unlimited Government-over-Man featuring The Majority Omnipotent. They also knew that the American people would not consent to any form of government but that of a Republic. It is of special interest to note that Jefferson, who had been in Paris as the American Minister for several years, wrote Madison from there in March 1789 that:

"The tyranny of the legislatures is the most formidable dread at present, and will be for long years. That of the executive will come it’s turn, but it will be at a remote period." (Text per original.)

Somewhat earlier, Madison had written Jefferson about violation of the Bill of Rights by State legislatures, stating:

"Repeated violations of those parchment barriers have been committed by overbearing majorities in every State. In Virginia I have seen the bill of rights violated in every instance where it has been opposed to a popular current."

It is correct to say that in any Democracy--either a Direct or a Representative type--as a form of government, there can be no legal system which protects The Individual or The Minority (any or all minorities) against unlimited tyranny by The Majority. The undependable sense of self-restraint of the persons making up The Majority at any particular time offers, of course, no protection whatever. Such a form of government is characterized by The Majority Omnipotent and Unlimited. This is true, for example, of the Representative Democracy of Great Britain; because unlimited government power is possessed by the House of Lords, under an Act of Parliament of 1949--indeed, it has power to abolish anything and everything governmental in Great Britain.

For a period of some centuries ago, some English judges did argue that their decisions could restrain Parliament; but this theory had to be abandoned because it was found to be untenable in the light of sound political theory and governmental realities in a Representative Democracy. Under this form of government, neither the courts not any other part of the government can effectively challenge, much less block, any action by The Majority in the legislative body, no matter how arbitrary, tyrannous, or totalitarian they might become in practice. The parliamentary system of Great Britain is a perfect example of Representative Democracy and of the potential tyranny inherent in its system of Unlimited Rule by Omnipotent Majority. This pertains only to the potential, to the theory, involved; governmental practices there are irrelevant to this discussion.

Madison’s observations in The Federalist number 10 are noteworthy at this point because they highlight a grave error made through the centuries regarding Democracy as a form of government. He commented as follows:

"Theoretic politicians, who have patronized this species of government, have erroneously supposed, that by reducing mankind to a perfect equality in their political rights, they would, at the same time, be perfectly equalized and assimilated in their possessions, their opinions, and their passions."

Democracy, as a form of government, is utterly repugnant to--is the very antithesis of--the traditional American system: that of a Republic, and its underlying philosophy, as expressed in essence in the Declaration of Independence with primary emphasis upon the people’s forming their government so as to permit them to possess only "just powers" (limited powers) in order to make and keep secure the God-given, unalienable rights of each and every Individual and therefore of all groups of Individuals.

A Republic

A Republic, on the other hand, has a very different purpose and an entirely different form, or system, of government. Its purpose is to control The Majority strictly, as well as all others among the people, primarily to protect The Individual’s God-given, unalienable rights and therefore for the protection of the rights of The Minority, of all minorities, and the liberties of people in general. The definition of a Republic is: a constitutionally limited government of the representative type, created by a written Constitution--adopted by the people and changeable (from its original meaning) by them only by its amendment--with its powers divided between three separate Branches: Executive, Legislative and Judicial. Here the term "the people" means, of course, the electorate.

The people adopt the Constitution as their fundamental law by utilizing a Constitutional Convention--especially chosen by them for this express and sole purpose--to frame it for consideration and approval by them either directly or by their representatives in a Ratifying Convention, similarly chosen. Such a Constitutional Convention, for either framing or ratification, is one of America’s greatest contributions, if not her greatest contribution, to the mechanics of government--of self-government through constitutionally limited government, comparable in importance to America’s greatest contribution to the science of government: the formation and adoption by the sovereign people of a written Constitution as the basis for self-government. One of the earliest, if not the first, specific discussions of this new American development (a Constitutional Convention) in the historical records is an entry in June 1775 in John Adams’ "Autobiography" commenting on the framing by a convention and ratification by the people as follows:

"By conventions of representatives, freely, fairly, and proportionately chosen . . . the convention may send out their project of a constitution, to the people in their several towns, counties, or districts, and the people may make the acceptance of it their own act."

Yet the first proposal in 1778 of a Constitution for Massachusetts was rejected for the reason, in part, as stated in the "Essex Result" (the result, or report, of the Convention of towns of Essex County), that it had been framed and proposed not by a specially chosen convention but by members of the legislature who were involved in general legislative duties, including those pertaining to the conduct of the war.

The first genuine and soundly founded Republic in all history was the one created by the first genuine Constitution, which was adopted by the people of Massachusetts in 1780 after being framed for their consideration by a specially chosen Constitutional Convention. (As previously noted, the so-called "Constitutions" adopted by some States in 1776 were mere Acts of Legislatures, not genuine Constitutions.) That Constitutional Convention of Massachusetts was the first successful one ever held in the world; although New Hampshire had earlier held one unsuccessfully - it took several years and several successive conventions to produce the New Hampshire Constitution of 1784. Next, in 1787-1788, the United States Constitution was framed by the Federal Convention for the people’s consideration and then ratified by the people of the several States through a Ratifying Convention in each State specially chosen by them for this sole purpose. Thereafter the other States gradually followed in general the Massachusetts pattern of Constitution-making in adoption of genuine Constitutions; but there was a delay of a number of years in this regard as to some of them, several decades as to a few.

This system of Constitution-making, for the purpose of establishing constitutionally limited government, is designed to put into practice the principle of the Declaration of Independence: that the people form their governments and grant to them only "just powers," limited powers, in order primarily to secure (to make and keep secure) their God-given, unalienable rights. The American philosophy and system of government thus bar equally the "snob-rule" of a governing Elite and the "mob-rule" of an Omnipotent Majority. This is designed, above all else, to preclude the existence in America of any governmental power capable of being misused so as to violate The Individual’s rights--to endanger the people’s liberties.

With regard to the republican form of government (that of a republic), Madison made an observation in The Federalist (no. 55) which merits quoting here--as follows:

"As there is a degree of depravity in mankind which requires a certain degree of circumspection and distrust: So there are other qualities in human nature, which justify a certain portion of esteem and confidence. Republican government (that of a Republic) presupposes the existence of these qualities in a higher degree than any other form. Were the pictures which have been drawn by the political jealousy of some among us, faithful likenesses of the human character, the inference would be that there is not sufficient virtue among men for self government; and that nothing less than the chains of despotism can restrain them from destroying and devouring one another." (Emphasis added.)

It is noteworthy here that the above discussion, though brief, is sufficient to indicate the reasons why the label "Republic" has been misapplied in other countries to other and different forms of government throughout history. It has been greatly misunderstood and widely misused--for example as long ago as the time of Plato, when he wrote his celebrated volume, The Republic; in which he did not discuss anything governmental even remotely resembling--having essential characteristics of--a genuine Republic. Frequent reference is to be found, in the writings of the period of the framing of the Constitution for instance, to "the ancient republics," but in any such connection the term was used loosely--by way of contrast to a monarchy or to a Direct Democracy--often using the term in the sense merely of a system of Rule-by-Law featuring Representative government; as indicated, for example, by John Adams in his "Thoughts on Government" and by Madison in The Federalist numbers 10 and 39. But this is an incomplete definition because it can include a Representative Democracy, lacking a written Constitution limiting The Majority.

From The American Ideal of 1776: The Twelve Basic American Principles.

The wizard behind Crime, Inc.

2010-05-21T14:24:00.007-04:00

Glenn Beck has fingered Joel Rogers as the "Wizard" behind Crime, Inc., the web of government corruption and deception. I would have guessed George Soros, who is quite entrenched nonetheless.

Below is a link to a video of Joel Rogers speaking, with some highlighted quotes listed.

http://www.fusionfx.net/index.php/2010/04/30/crime-inc-joel-rogers-the-new-green-deal/

Crime inc.~ Joel Rogers & amp; The New Green Deal
2010 April 30

by Greg Hedgepath
Listen to this article. Powered by Odiogo.com

The New Green Deal – Take Back America 2008

Well here is Joel Rogers and you can pick the Marxist policy out of every sentence the man speaks. He even tells you in your face the WE CANNOT FIX the climate but we can take over government. And don’t get to excited about the money yet.

Here is what to watch for and when he states it.

Joel rogers is introduced at 31:32 seconds into the video.

33:42 it extends our politics into the organization of the economy.
34:02 …redistribute opportunities to people…
34:11 Climate, not just the thing we are responding to but the profitability of it.
34:27 you can do everything you want to in the US to reduce greenhouse gases and it wont make much of a dent frankly in world wide climate change. Its only 22 %….
35:00 He goes after the constitution, how to get around it.

35:36 Think of carbon as not just another commodity that we will be willing to let people bribe us to spend but think of it more like a neurological poison, like Mercury.
36:08 …carbon trading markets should apply to our appliances transportation machinery and other sorts of things.
36:20 we should re-authorize transportation safety bill and drive the money to the MPOs, The Metropolitan planning Organizations…
38:14 and we should not only spend money on the Federal land….
38:25 ..well on your way to greening the American economy,. You will grow the wealth and GE and Cisco and he other people that are announcing great plans should be relatively happy with that.
38:35 any environmentalist that is not concerned with the distribution of that wealth should be relatively happy too.
39:15 the deal in American politics I would recommend to all of us is sort of a new mantra on Federalism is we should all be for progressive federalism….
39:54 we do in fact need a movement out there which is pushing for that all the time. And very vigorously and very loudly.
40:01 we heard this morning from the Reverend Jackson…..
40:31 …I hope you all realize that you could eliminate every power plant in America today and you can stop every car in America today. Take out the entire power generation sector. Take out all of the transportation sector. And you still would not be anywhere near below 80% below 1990 levels. You would be closer to around 60% it would be around 68% percent and that is with bringing the economy to a complete halt. Basically.
41:16 to get these 4 different groups, this is what Apollos one contribution is. I think it is important contribution to get progressive business, Labor and environmentalist, essentially white dominated labor uh……
41:40 you know your winning when the opportunist climb on board and we are now winning. But we are now mainstream. And we should really move with authority of being in the mainstream and begin to use that power.
42:00 Van, (Van Jones) and Majora and I tonight are to get BIG AWARDS as LEADERS of this movement.
42:10 I think Vans operation is still about 60 or 80 people…… Majora over 4 years….. has 10o people or is it 85 people……
42:40 and the infrastructure we need… for an effective movement, you need better communications, methods for recruiting YOUNG people……clear….we can build that infrastructure.
43:50 the pay-go environment we are going to be in

Joel rogers is introduced at 31:32 seconds into the video.
Joel goes on for about 12 min until 44:10 into the film.
Joel speaks again 46:50 until 50:31 w/ even more shocking requirements

56:01 - Originally recorded 2 years ago

The Chicago Climate Exchange was suddenly sold on Friday.. 4 days after this story broke (for 1/3 of it's value from 6 months ago). They are trying to make a rapid exit.

Nutrition and natural health for pregnancy (& lots of good stuff for everyone else, too!)

2010-05-17T23:41:00.007-04:00

I found this article, and since it has so much excellent nutritional information, I wanted to add it to my "online filing cabinet", aka blog. Although written for pregnancy nutrition needs, it is loaded with general info that would benefit everyone.

http://vaccineresistancemovement.org/?p=3270

VRM: Pregnancy Tips
20th April 2010 - By Joel Lord

I was recently alerted by a newly pregnant mother of a child with Autism for tips on minerals & vitamins to help strengthen her immune system during the coming months. She believes vaccines were the cause of her child’s Autism and has begun a shift away from her GP.

Based on all my research thus far this is what I sent her:

I would recommend you find as many natural sources of vitamins and mineral that you can. Best source of FOLIC ACID comes from RAW Organic leafy greens. Make this a frequent snacking food. Seek out the darker organic varieties from your local co-op; however avoid Iceberg lettuce which has zero nutritional value.

Natural sources always provide the healthiest benefits to the body. You also want to consider store bought folic acid does have certain side effects for some including nausea, insomnia, decreased appetite, flatulence, abdominal distension, difficulty concentrating and some bitter taste in the tongue. It has been said that taking too much folic acid can lead to B-12 deficiency masking that can possibly lead to irreversible damage. Also, overdose can be quite dangerous to epileptics as they have been seen to cause seizures. Allergic reactions have also been reported in a few cases.

Some other restoratives that should be high on your list:

VITAMIN C & D3 (both are EXTREMELY important and you should be taking a high quality brand of each)

NOTE: Vitamin D is actually a steroid hormone, VITAL, will give your fetus a real fighting chance during early development and stave off future signs of cancer.

VITAMIN E, the natural form that is high in gamma-E will help dampen immune reactions and reduces several of the potential inflammatory cytokines.

CURCUMIN is recommended as an anti-inflammatory, also clears the Amyloid Plaques of Alzheimer’s Disease and prevents neuro-degenerative disease. Another AMAZING power source that will give your child a big boost in life and stave off a host of disorders including Autism. Found in Tumeric.

SELENIUM IS CRITICAL. USE IT EVERY DAY. ALSO NIACIN, OMEGA 3 FATTY ACIDS, ZINC & MAGNESIUM. NORWEGIAN COD LIVER OIL IS A VERY GOOD SOURCE OF OMEGA 3.

PS. Obviously I also recommend you avoid ALL vaccines from here on in. you have to protect your Placenta & your baby. Also stop using Fluoride immediately (if you are in the habit of using it). Sodium Fluoride is actually a toxic by-product of Aluminum. You MUST make a concerted effort to keep all Aluminum, Mercury & other toxic heavy metals completely out of your body. Activated Charcoal will fully cleanse your system of many such toxins. N-Acetyl Cysteine is also highly touted for chelation.

Some other foods – eat KALE, CILANTRO & CELERY every day. RAW. Kale is an amazing source of anti-oxidant. The best. Cilantro is one of the best natural ways to absorb heavy metals from the body. Celery, not dairy, constitutes the true source of Calcium bones need for healthy development.

LAETRILE is very significant to overall health. Try to eat APPLE SEEDS (or apricot, peach, plum, cherry, nectarine, almond seeds) as often as possible.

Laetrile or Vitamin B17 technically belongs to a family of compounds called cyanogenic glycosides. The FDA officially banned Laetrile from interstate commerce in 1971 – probably because it works so well and is readily available in your garden. You won’t need a doctor’s permission slip to access this self-styled curative.

In the middle of a peach or apricot is a hard shell. If you break open the hard shell with a nut cracker, pliers or hammer, you will find a small seed/kernel in the middle that looks like an almond. However, it is much softer than an almond and certainly does not taste like an almond. It is this seed that is rich in natural laetrile.

CASE REPORTS: http://campaignfortruth.com/Eclub/230304/CTM-cancer%20is%20laetrile%20useless.htm

While you’re still breast-feeding by the way you need to boost your own system with Potassium daily. BANANAS!!

I personally use this regime every day to maintain my immune system:

COLLOIDAL SILVER – super natural antibiotic, aids in prevention of Morgellans Disease, counters barium damage from chem-trails
http://www.rense.com/CS/cs1.htm

ORGANIC OIL OF OREGANO – counters harmful bacteria
http://www.rense.com/general38/fight.htm

ORGANIC COCONUT OIL – natural detoxifier, anti fungal agent
http://www.naturalnews.com/z026433_coconut_oil_health_moisturizer.html

NONI JUICE – amazing product, life giver, restores the Pineal Gland neutralized by exposure to Fluoride
http://www.consumerhealth.org/articles/display.cfm?ID=19990303205600

ORGANIC APPLE CIDER VINEGAR – reduces high blood pressure, restores alkaline balance in body
http://www.rense.com/1.mpicons/acidalka.htm

These are also excellent considerations for your regular regime,

ASTAXANTHIN – Miracle Antioxidant, anti-Inflammatory nutrient, king of the Carotenoids
http://www.naturalnews.com/026325.html
http://www.naturalnews.com/023177.html

CULEVIT – cancer fighter/natural treatment alternative to chemotherapy, best used in conjunction with Noni Juice
http://healing.fit-leader.com/catalogue/drugs_1.shtml#3
http://www.cancerprev.org/Meetings/2004/Symposia/991/410

ORGANIC PROBIOTIC YOGURT (OR KEFIR IF YOU WANT TO AVOID DAIRY) – rebuilds bacteria lost in process of cleansing

ORGANIC GARLIC – anti fungal agent

TEA TREE OIL – topical, add drop to your Tom’s Fluoride free toothpaste to eradicate bacterial build-up in mouth, also good for the hair

STAR ANISE – natural anti viral protection
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2005/11/1128_051128_star_anise.html

Sugar free diet is also essential – Refined sugar triggers a gyroscopic mineral imbalance. Also avoid Trans Fats, and empty your fridge of all GMO food.

The Thyroid is weakened & neutralized by processed food & white sugars, All sorts of problems can occur. Diabetes 2 is common amongst the youngest & most vulnerable. So that means a healthy Thyroid on your part will also greatly benefit your baby. Take heed.

The Thyroid Gland is key to overall health. Produces T3 & T4 hormones (Iodine Atoms). T3 & T4 regulate body temperature & metabolic rate of every cell in the body (biochemical reactivity).

Absolutely no Tylenol or Aspirins. This is important so read carefully.

“Tylenol uses up glutathione (GSH) stores and metabolites of acetaminophen accumulates causing direct damage to liver cells. You want their glutathione levels to be optimum because GSH main purpose is for detoxifying and eliminating heavy metals and other environmental toxins. It is essential for the function of the gut, maintains Vitamins C and E, maintains mitochondrial integrity, protects against intracellular viruses and so much more. Anything that compromises the level of glutathione needed to maintain health like Tylenol should be avoided.” Brian Jepson, MD

‘People who take NSAIDs (aspirin) for prolonged periods of time can develop several GI side effects, such as stomach aches, indigestion, or even ulcers. Ulcers can eventually lead to GI bleeding or may even perforate, spilling the contents of the stomach or small intestine into the sterile abdominal cavity. Every time they come in with bleeding, they have a 10% chance of dying.’ Dr. Joseph Mercola

For those concerned the synergy of the various ingredients in the regime will take care of any fever naturally. Anti-inflammatory supplements are key. Your standard headache medication not only suppresses the fever (which is critical to getting well again – an essential part of the body’s own natural healing process) but it also destroys the liver over time, can cause sudden bleeding & depletes the lungs of Vitamin C by depriving their white blood cells & lymphicides of it.

That being said there is an alternate method for a more urgent solution to headaches/pain:

Cayenne Pepper Ointment – Natural Pain Reliever

1. Add – pinch Cayenne Pepper, 1 ounce Bees Wax or lard
2. Blend in hot water & apply contents on sore area topically

5 of the best ways to chelate accumulated heavy metals out of body: 1) Activated Charcoal, 2) Chlorella, 3) Zeolite Rock Powder, 4) Kale, 5) Cilantro.

Also comb through these links in particular for further products to AVOID as well as safe alternatives to vaccines necessary to maintain optimum health throughout your pregnancy.

Health Matters: http://vaccineresistancemovement.org/?p=825

Safe Alternatives To Vaccines: http://vaccineresistancemovement.org/?p=662

EVERYTHING ON THIS LIST SHOULD BE HIGH QUALITY AND STRICTLY ORGANIC. IF YOU USE PILLS TRY TO GET VEGETABLE GELATIN TYPE. AVOID ANIMAL GELATIN.

NOTE: It isn’t necessary to take all of these supplements to reap the optimum benefits. But the synergy of those that you do choose will hopefully be very healthful. It’s a question of balance.

Much more on Crime, Inc.!

2010-05-17T13:52:00.021-04:00

In the interest of preserving and sharing this extraordinarily crucial information about the utter depths of corruption in which our government is involved, I am re-posting the following blog post. Talk about a tangled web of deception!

http://romanticpoet.wordpress.com/2010/05/06/does-crime-at-the-highest-level-of-government-and-their-connections-bother-you/

Does Crime(?) At The Highest Level of Government and Their Connections Bother YOU?

The following contains a WEALTH of information that connects the web of Crime Inc. in Washington,D.C.

CRIME INC.

Obama biggest recipient of BP cash

By ERIKA LOVLEY | 5/5/10

While the BP oil geyser pumps millions of gallons of petroleum into the Gulf of Mexico, President Barack Obama and members of Congress may have to answer for the millions in campaign contributions they’ve taken from the oil and gas giant over the years.

BP and its employees have given more than $3.5 million to federal candidates over the past 20 years, with the largest chunk of their money going to Obama, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. Donations come from a mix of employees and the company’s political action committees — $2.89 million flowed to campaigns from BP-related PACs and about $638,000 came from individuals.

On top of that, the oil giant has spent millions each year on lobbying — including $15.9 million last year alone — as it has tried to influence energy policy.

During his time in the Senate and while running for president, Obama received a total of $77,051 from the oil giant and is the top recipient of BP PAC and individual money over the past 20 years, according to financial disclosure records.

An Obama spokesman rejected the notion that the president took big oil money.

“President Obama didn’t accept a dime from corporate PACs or federal lobbyists during his presidential campaign,” spokesman Ben LaBolt said. (?)(?)

“He raised $750 million from nearly four million Americans. And since he became president, he rolled back tax breaks and giveaways for the oil and gas industry, spearheaded a G20 agreement to phase out fossil fuel subsidies, and made the largest investment in American history in clean energy incentives.”

In Congress, Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.), who last week cautioned that the incident should “not be used inappropriately” to halt Obama’s push for expansion of offshore drilling, has been one of the biggest beneficiaries of BP’s largesse. Her comments created some blowback, with critics complaining that she is too blasé about the impact of the disaster, even though she was among the first lawmakers to call for a federal investigation into the spill.

Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0510/36783.html#ixzz0n9hLzYDm

Al Gore:

All profits made go to the (non-profit) Alliance for Climate Protection

The Alliance for Climate Protection Connections Map: (courtesy of http://www.muckety.com/) (use link to view map) http://www.muckety.com/A92DA89D8FCEC6BA14528CF0EBCFC5FD.map

Of interest on this map:

Al Gore is the Chairman of the Alliance for Climate Protection

Carol M. Browner: Obama’s Energy Czar AND is a Director of APX Inc.

APX Inc: Investors Include GOLDMAN SACHS, Kinetic Ventures, and the Woodside Fund.

Carol Browner and APX Connections: (use link to view map)
http://www.muckety.com/22B15C13E4BAC4D16DEBD6F57E0804F1.map

Carol M. Browner is Married to Thomas J. Downey a former member of the House of Representatives and currently is connected to J STREET (map of his connections: http://www.muckety.com/7787B32D5BAFF9CDCE91C29005AFD433.map)

Joseph Stiglitz: Director of Resources for the Future

Maggie L. Fox: Married to Senator Mark Udall of Colorado

Orin S. Kramer: Was an Admininstrator at the EPA and is currently Chairman of the New Jersey State Investment Council.

And so on and so on……

**Map is interactive at link above**

========================

Continuing ON:

Map of Apollo Alliance Connections: (use link to view map)
http://romanticpoet.files.wordpress.com/2010/05/apollo-alliance.jpg

The Apollo Alliance and the Alliance for Climate Protection Connections: (use link to view map)
http://romanticpoet.files.wordpress.com/2010/05/apollo-alliance-and-alliance-for-climate-protection.jpg

***The Connection to BOTH is Carl Pope of the Sierra Club***

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Continuing on again:

Mineral Management Services Map (MMS) (use link to view map)
http://romanticpoet.files.wordpress.com/2010/05/mineral-management-services-map-mms.jpg

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ABOUT the International Monetary Fund:
History

The IMF was established in 1945, having first been conceived at the Bretton Woods Conference in New Hampshire, USA in 1944. That conference saw representatives from forty four allied nations gather to to craft new rules and institutions to regulate the chaotic global economy – blamed for the Great Depression and for helping cause two World Wars. The outcome was the Bretton Woods Agreement which created two new multilateral institutions: the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), now known as the World Bank, and the International Monetary Fund.

The creation of the IMF was a ‘compromise’ between the proposals put to the Bretton Woods conference by head negotiators from England and the USA: John Maynard Keynes and Harry Dexter White. Keynes advocated the establishment of a global bank called called the International Clearing Union, which would have divided the responsibility for balance-of-payments imbalances between both the debtor and creditor nations. But the United States was at the time not just the most economically powerful nation in the world, but also the world’s largest creditor. As a result, it was White’s proposal for a Fund which favoured creditor nations – by placing the world’s debt burden solely on debtor nations – which won out in the end, altered only slightly by a few concessions to Keynes.

Roles

At its establishment, the IMF was to given a number of interconnected roles, set out in Article 1 of its Articles of Agreement. In essence, the IMF’s two main roles were to:

* Monitor an international system of fixed exchange rates based on the value of the US dollar which would be pegged to the value of gold, with the goal of ensuring international monetary stability; and
* Provide short-term loans to nations in danger of balance-of-payments crises (ie: when there is not enough hard currency to pay for imports). The loans were to be made from a large gold reserve, and from contributions from the Fund’s members, based on the relative size of their economies.

But in 1971, the US ended fixed US dollar/gold convertibility due to a variety of factors, including inflationary pressure and the cost of fighting the Vietnam War. This move resulted in the collapse of the system of fixed exchange rates which the IMF was established to oversee, and the Fund lost one of its two main roles. This provided the impetus for the change in focus which occurred during the 1970s and 1980s. By the 1980s, the IMF had refocused to a large degree on lending to developing countries, both on providing finance and encouraging policies to stimulate growth. 1982 was the last year in which a member of the OECD used an IMF loan facility.

Accompanying this change in focus was a change in method. Former World Bank Chief Economist Joseph Stiglitz notes that originally, “the IMF was based on a recognition that markets often did not work well – that they could result in massive unemployment and might fail to make needed funds available to countries” (Stiglitz 2003, p. 12). But in the 1970s and 1980s, “the Keynesian orientation of the IMF, which emphasized market failures and the role for government in job creation, was replaced by the free market mantra of the 1980s, part of a new ‘Washington Consensus’” (Stiglitz 2003, p. 16).

The Washington Consensus was so named because it was a common ideology of the IMF, World Bank and US Treasury – all based in Washington – that markets, free from government intervention of any kind, held the key to development in rich and poor countries alike.

READ MORE:

http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=International_Monetary_Fund

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The IMF ties to the Group of Thirty:
Group of 30
From SourceWatch

The Group of Thirty, often abbreviated to G30, is an international body of leading financiers and academics which aims to deepen understanding of economic and financial issues, and to examine consequences of decisions made in the public and private sectors related to these issues.

The group consists of thirty members and includes the heads of major private banks and central banks, as well as members from academia and international institutions. It holds two full meetings each year and also organizes seminars, symposia, and study groups. It is based in Washington, D.C.
The Group of Thirty was founded in 1978 by Geoffrey Bell at the initiative of the Rockefeller Foundation, which also provided initial funding for the body. Its first chairman was Johannes Witteveen, the former managing director of the International Monetary Fund.

The Bellagio Group, formed by Austrian economist Fritz Machlup, was the immediate predecessor to the Group of Thirty. It first met in 1963, to investigate international currency problems, particularly the balance of payments crisis which faced America throughout the early 60s.

The current members of the Group of Thirty are:

Paul Volcker – Chairman of the Board of Trustees; former Chairman of the Federal Reserve
* Jacob A. Frenkel – Chairman; Vice Chairman, American International Group

* Geoffrey L. Bell – Executive Secretary

* Leszek Balcerowicz – President, National Bank of Poland
* Jaime Caruana – Governor, Banco de España
* Roger W. Ferguson – Vice Chairman, Federal Reserve Board
* Stanley Fischer – Governor, Bank of Israel
* Mervyn King – Governor of the Bank of England
* Guillermo Ortiz Martinez – Governor, Banco de México
* Jean-Claude Trichet – President, European Central Bank
* Tommaso Padoa-Schioppa – Member of the Executive Board, European Central Bank
* Zhou Xiaochuan – Governor, People’s Bank of China
* Yutaka Yamaguchi – Former Deputy Governor, Bank of Japan

* E Gerald Corrigan – Managing Director, Goldman Sachs<<<< * Andrew Crockett – President, JP Morgan Chase * David Walker – Chairman Morgan Stanley * William R. Rhodes – Senior Vice Chairman, Citigroup * Jacques de Larosière – Conseiller, BNP Paribas * Guillermo de la Dehesa – Director, Aviva Group * Arminio Fraga – Partner, Gávea Investimentos * Domingo Cavallo – Robert Kennedy Visiting Professor in Latin American Studies, Department of Economics, Harvard University * Martin Feldstein – President, National Bureau of Economic Research * Peter B. Kenen – Walker Professor of Economics & International Finance, Department of Economics, Princeton University * Paul Krugman – Professor of Economics, Woodrow Wilson School, Princeton University * Lawrence Summers – President, Harvard University * Marina v N. Whitman – Professor of Business Administration & Public Policy, Ford School of Public Policy, University of Michigan * Ernesto Zedillo, Director, Yale Center for the Study of Globalization, Yale University * Gerd Häusler – Counsellor and Director, International Capital Markets Department, International Monetary Fund * Toyoo Gyohten – President, Institute for International Monetary Affairs * Abdalatif A-Hamad – Chairman, Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Group_of_30

======================

Remember what Obama said about the “Volker Rule”?

From the Federal Reserve Bank’s own website:

January 2009
Timothy F. Geithner

Timothy F. GeithnerTimothy F. Geithner became the ninth president and chief executive officer of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York on November 17, 2003. In that capacity, he serves as the vice chairman and a permanent member of the Federal Open Market Committee, the group responsible for formulating the nation’s monetary policy. President Obama nominated Mr. Geithner to be the 75th Secretary of the Treasury and the U.S. Senate confirmed him to the position on January 26, 2009.

Mr. Geithner joined the Department of Treasury in 1988 and worked in three administrations for five Secretaries of the Treasury in a variety of positions. He served as Under Secretary of the Treasury for International Affairs from 1999 to 2001 under Secretaries Robert Rubin and Lawrence Summers.
He was director of the Policy Development and Review Department at the International Monetary Fund from 2001 until 2003. Before joining the Treasury, Mr. Geithner worked for Kissinger Associates, Inc.

Mr. Geithner graduated from Dartmouth College with a bachelor’s degree in government and Asian studies in 1983 and from the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies with a master’s in International Economics and East Asian Studies in 1985. He has studied Japanese and Chinese and has lived in East Africa, India, Thailand, China, and Japan.

Mr. Geithner serves as chairman of the G-10’s Committee on Payment and Settlement Systems of the Bank for International Settlements. He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and the Group of Thirty.<<<< http://www.ny.frb.org/aboutthefed/orgchart/geithner.html

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End notes:

WHY would Al Gore give all profits to the Alliance for Climate Protection? Because HE is the CHAIRMAN of this alliance. So Al Gore is investing in himself?

Carol M. Browner, Obama’s Energy Czar is a Director at the Alliance for Climate Protection.

Maggie L. Fox is CEO & President of the Alliance For Climate Protection is married to Senator Mark Udall of Colorado.

and so on…..and so on……..

WHY was Timothy Geithner’s connection to the Group of 30 “scrubbed” from the Group of 30′s website after his confirmation as U.S. Treasury Secretary?

Paul Volker is connected to Obama.

Larry Summers is connected to Obama.

Larry Summers: Director Of National Economic Council, Top Adviser To Obama

=============================

Now you have the information; spread this to your family and your friends; then have them forward the information to their extended family and friends……

The MSM’s are mum about these connections; Glenn Beck is being chastised by the LEFT.
WHY?

=================================

NOT RACIST.

NOT VIOLENT.

JUST NO LONGER SILENT.

War On The Dollar Exposed
Get The Shocking Bulletin Obama & Bernanke Do Not Want You To Read!
UncommonWisdomDaily.com

Crime, Inc.

2010-05-14T14:38:00.005-04:00

Glenn does it again! As a rare, true journalist today, he has uncovered a web of corruption so deep and wide that it makes your skin crawl, especially when this web of corruption is our own government!!! Help us Jesus! We are lost and undone without You!

Inside the Tea Party

2010-05-08T23:40:00.007-04:00

I wrote this in response to a friend's Facebook post which took a very poor view of the Tea Party movement. I felt compelled to reply since I have become very active in trying to preserve, protect, and restore our freedom and nation. It's in two parts as he responded to me and then I replied again.

I like your new pic! Are you including me, too? I'm a tea partier! I have to do what I can to attempt to restore this nation to our Constitution for my future and my kids' future. How can I look them in the eye down the road knowing I didn't do everything I could to try and stop our great nation from becoming socialist? I'm not trying to create civil unrest or sabotage anything, and I'm definitely not a racist or an anarchist or even a republican or independent. I'm registered "no party." What am I supposed to do as I watch the government take control of everything? I see our freedoms quickly slipping away. I greatly cherish my freedom and can not remain silent.

I don't want to make you mad at me for holding such an opposite view of yours, but I wanted to let you know that you are wrong about the "tea party" movement. It is a term applied to the broad group of people from all walks of life, all races, religions, ages, and political persuasions who are all upset enough at the loss of our nation and our freedom to get up and speak out and try to do something about it while we still can. We don't care what color the president is despite the continuous cries to the contrary. I'd love to see Alan Keyes for president and he's 100% black. I don't even know anyone who is racist and I know tons of people. If people are racist, I sure never hear anyone say so.

I don't know anyone trying to sabotage anything or cause any civil unrest. We are just regular people who do NOT want a socialized country. We are working within the system, sharing information, contacting our elected officials, and working to get politicians in office who will truly uphold the Constitution, not just swear to and then promptly disregard it.

Since you have an opposite view, maybe you can clue me in on something that I can't figure out. Why would anyone NOT want to remain free? Is is that you and others like minded don't believe that we are losing our freedoms? Or, do you want sacrifice freedom for promised government care? I have really wondered about this as I can't figure out why anyone would choose to live in a socialist country. People around the world are trying to get HERE because we are free and have unlimited opportunity.

Don't be mad at me for identifying myself in a group of folks you don't like. I still love you! :)

(Second post)
Thanks! I'm glad you are not offended by my opposite view and that you are open minded. I thought I'd address a few of your points since you love dialog. Me too! I'm often concerned about offending friends by sharing my thoughts. You know me and how I like to get along with everyone. :) Anyway, I can't keep silent with everything going on and just hope I don't upset anyone.

I don't think the tea party is an official political party. It's just the name tacked onto the folks who have had enough with the country being socialized so they've become politically active and are going to town hall meetings and their state capitols and the national capitol, and so on.

I went to DC last Sept. 12, which was the largest gathering to date of fed up Americans, aka tea party folks. I also went to our state capitol the past two April 15ths. I am also active online and just now there seems to be a local group forming. Since I have been involved with tea party people for over a year, I can give insight into it.

I'm sorry to hear about the anarchists crashing the tea party gathering. That is a definite problem: people who really do want to sabotage the tea party movement. I had not heard of that in Portland, and I don't know what their purpose was. Of the gatherings I've attended, including the giant DC one with well over a million in attendance, I saw no anarchists or any violence. There was no vandalism and no arrests. They even picked up all their trash. I saw regular people of all ages and colors. Many had homemade signs, and they had come from all over the country.

I have also found these people to be very politically informed. Many have been reading lots of books on history, the founding of America, how our government is supposed to be run, and the Constitution itself for example. We are reading and teaching ourselves things that we never learned in school. Schools don't teach our true history or system of government. Politicians constantly call us a democracy, for instance, and we're not; we're a republic. Here's a great free e-book regarding the education system: http://deliberatedumbingdown.com/.

So, I would say that most of these people are very aware. The current administration has pushed a socialist agenda so fast and so hard that it has caused people to become politically active as we watch our freedom quickly slipping away. We are actually reaping seeds sown over 100 years ago. This attempt to crush America and socialize it has been ongoing for a very long time. It has been so gradual though, that people accepted the changes. Now we realize what has been happening. As they move forward with the final crushing blows, we are speaking out. We do not want to become socialist/communist/ fascist/Marxist. We want our nation restored to our Constitution. We want to be a free people, not enslaved to a government that watches and controls us.

If McCain would have won the election, the slow socialist agenda would have continued, and most would still be asleep. Obama/Reid/ Pelosi and company are so radical and have moved so aggressively in taking over the private sector that it has woken up millions of Americans. Actually the thing that seemed to first set lots of people off was the passage of the TARP stimulus bill back when Bush was still in office. Despite the outcry of a great many Americans to Congress, they passed it anyway. A massive bill that we can't afford loaded with special interest pork projects. And, that was only the first such bill. We've now passed several more. Congress is spending money that we don't have. Our national debt is now almost 13 trillion dollars!!! It is unsustainable and will wind up bankrupting us. It's very scary. We will never be able to pay it off because of the massive interest on such a gigantic sum of money. A real time debt clock is here: http://defeatthedebt.com/.

We have a Congress who refuses to listen to the people and is hurtling us to an economic collapse with its massive spending. Tea party people are exceedingly concerned for our nation and our future. We've taken to the streets attempting to get our representatives to listen. Yet, most don't. So, we are greatly hoping to get politicians elected to Congress this November who are committed to the Constitution, in deed as well as oath, which they all have to take but few follow.

The overwhelming majority of people who participate in tea party events are regular people who who much rather be doing something else and have never been politically active before. However, they see what is happening and see no other choice. We can't go down silent. We may go down anyway, but we know we must do all we can for our future and our children's future. I can't stay silent and uninvolved when my country is on fire.

I honestly don't know why more people aren't involved. I don't know if it's because people don't realize what's going on, or they don't care, or they feel helpless, or they hate America and want to see her demise. I suppose there are people in all those categories.

As far as race goes, I know that's all you hear is tea party people are racist, but that is not the least bit true. I vote for politicians based on policy, not race. I didn't vote for Obama because he's pro-abortion, and I only vote for pro-life candidates. If I can't trust a politician with the lives of babies, I can't trust them with anything else.

And speaking of people casting racist votes, I think many, many people voted for Obama solely because he is part black, and that is being a racist. Anyone who votes for someone based on their skin color is racist. What a superficial way to decide who will run the country! I look at their past voting history, and if I agree, they get my vote. Skin color is meaningless to me. I think tea party people are called racist as the critics are grasping at straws trying to discredit us and that's the best they can come up with. Here's a great video interviewing some black tea partiers: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P1CLPhz0DHM&feature=player_embedded.

I know this is really long, but I'm thankful for the chance to explain what is behind the tea party. It is honestly comprised of ordinary people like me compelled to action by an out of control government.

I hope all is well with you. I'd love to hear your point of view as well. :)

More insane depopulation quotes!

2010-05-01T19:47:00.007-04:00

Here is another utterly insane collection of depopulation quotes by people who wield power in this world. I recently posted elsewhere that these people should be in an asylum, muttering to themselves about how the world should be, and instead they are running everything!!!

I am comforted as I know Who is TRULY in control! These evil people, deluded by satan, plan our demise, yet our times are in the Lord's hands. Thank You Jesus!

By the way, I used to say, "I don't mean to be a conspiracist, but it almost seems like they really do want to kill us." Now, I know it's true. After all, 'just because you're not paranoid, doesn't mean they're not after you.'

http://recyclewashington.wordpress.com/2009/12/21/test/

December 21, 2009
De-Population
Posted by Savant Noir

The basis for the depopulation agenda is a standard all elitist’s hold dear. This standard is called:

The Hegelian Dialectic:

Problem – Reaction - Solution

Create the Problem, Cause a Reaction, Offer a Solution

You will see exactly how they have created the problem; caused a reaction so widespread it is really quite impressive how successful they have been; and offered a solution: A deadly solution.

I ask that you please make an attempt to distribute this paper everywhere you possibly can. The time grows short and so many are going to be caught unawares. By getting the word out, you may be able to prevent someone from needless pain and suffering.

William Benton, Assistant U.S. Secretary of State at UNESCO 1946: (UNESCO is the United Nations Education, Science and Cultural Organization)

“As long as a child breathes the poisoned air of nationalism, education in world-mindedness can produce only precarious results. As we have pointed out, it is frequently the family that infects the child with extreme nationalism. The schools therefore use the means described earlier to combat family attitudes that favor jingoism (nationalism)…we shall presently recognize in nationalism the major obstacle to development of world mindedness. We are at the beginning of a long process of breaking down the walls of national sovereignty. UNESCO must be the pioneer.” (Emphasis mine throughout)

Club of Rome, The First Global Revolution, 1991:

“In searching for a new enemy to unite us, we came up with the idea that pollution, the threat of global warming, water shortages, famine and the like would fit the bill (this is absolute proof that man made global warming is a fabrication)…. But in designating them as the enemy, we fall into the trap of mistaking symptoms for causes. All these dangers are caused by human intervention and it is only through changed attitudes and behavior that they can be overcome. The real enemy, then, is humanity itself.”

Mikhail Gorbachev:

“We must speak more clearly about sexuality, contraception, about abortion, about values that control population, because the ecological crisis, in short, is the population crisis. Cut the population by 90% and there aren’t enough people left to do a great deal of ecological damage.”

Aldous Huxley, Brave New World 1946:

“There is, of course, no reason why the new totalitarians should resemble the old. Government by clubs and firing squads, by artificial famine, mass imprisonment and mass deportation, is not merely inhumane (nobody cares much about that nowadays); it is demonstrably inefficient and in an age of advanced technology, inefficiency is the sin against the Holy Ghost.”

Aldous Huxley, Lecture named Population Explosion 1959:

“…Let us ask ourselves what the practical alternatives are as we confront this problem of population growth. One alternative is to do nothing in particular about it and just let things go on as they are…The question is: Are we going to restore the balance in the natural way, which is a brutal and entirely anti-human way, or are we going to restore it in some intelligent, rational, and humane way…Try to increase production as much as possible and at the same time try to re-establish the balance between the birth rate by means less gruesome than those which are used by nature – by intelligent and human methods?…There are colossal difficulties in the way of implementing any large-scale policy of limitation of population; whereas death control is extremely easy under modern circumstances, birth control is extremely difficult. The reason is very simple: death control – the control, for example, of infectious diseases – can be accomplished by a handful of experts and quite a small labour force of unskilled persons and requires a very small capital expenditure.”

Barry Commoner, Making Peace with the Planet:

“There have been ‘triage’ proposals that would condemn whole nations to death through some species of global ‘benign neglect’. There have been schemes for coercing people to curtail their fertility, by physical and legal means that are ominously left unspecified. Now we are told that we must curtail rather than extend our efforts to feed the hungry peoples of the world. Where will it end?” Secretary of Defense William S. Cohen, April 28, 1997, Testimony before Congressional Committee: “There are some reports, for example, that some countries have been trying to construct something like an Ebola Virus, and that would be a very dangerous phenomenon, to say the least. Alvin Toeffler has written about this in terms of some scientists in their laboratories trying to devise certain types of pathogens that would be ethnic specific so that they could just eliminate certain ethnic groups and races; and others are designing some sort of engineering, some sort of insects that can destroy specific crops. Others are engaging even in an eco-type of terrorism whereby they can alter the climate, set off earthquakes, volcanoes remotely through the use of electromagnetic waves. So there are plenty of ingenious minds out there that are at work finding ways in which they can wreak terror upon other nations. It’s real, and that’s the reason why we have to intensify our efforts, and that’s why this is so important.”

Jacques Cousteau UNESCO Courier 1991:

“In order to save the planet it would be necessary to kill 350,000 people per day.”

Jacques Cousteau, Population: Opposing Viewpoints:

“If we want our precarious endeavor to succeed, we must convince all human beings to participate in our adventure, and we must urgently find solutions to curb the population explosion that has a direct influence on the impoverishment of the less-favoured communities. Otherwise, generalized resentment will beget hatred, and the ugliest genocide imaginable, involving billions of people, will become unavoidable.”

“Uncontrolled population growth and poverty must not be fought from inside, from Europe, from North America, or any nation or group of nations; it must be attacked from the outside – by international agencies helped in the formidable job by competent and totally non-governmental organizations.”

Bertrand Russell, The Impact Of Science On Society 1953:

“I do not pretend that birth control is the only way in which population can be kept from increasing… War… has hitherto been disappointing in this respect, but perhaps bacteriological war may prove more effective. If a Black Death could be spread throughout the world once in every generation survivors could procreate freely without making the world too full… The state of affairs might be somewhat unpleasant, but what of that? Really high-minded people are indifferent to happiness, especially other people’s… There are three ways of securing a society that shall be stable as regards population. The first is that of birth control, the second that of infanticide or really destructive wars, and the third that of general misery except for a powerful minority…”

Henry Kissinger, 1978:

“U.S. policy toward the third world should be one of depopulation.”

David Rockefeller, 2000:

“We are on the verge of a global transformation. All we need is the right major crisis and the nations will accept the New World Order.”

David Rockefeller: Memoirs 2002 Founder of the CFR:

“We wield over American political and economical institutions. Some even believe we are part of a secret cabal working against the best interests of the United States, characterizing my family and me as ‘internationalists’ and of conspiring with others around the world to build a more integrated global political structure, one world, if you will. If that’s the charge, I stand guilty, and I am proud of it.”

David Rockefeller, Co-founder of the Trilateral Commission:

“We are grateful to The Washington Post, The New York Times, Time Magazine, & other great publications whose directors have attended our meetings and respected their promise of discretion for almost 40 years. It would have been impossible for us to develop our plans for the world if we had been subject to the bright lights of publicity during those years. But, the world is now much more sophisticated and prepared to march towards a world government. Thomas Ferguson, the Latin American Case Officer for the State Department’s Office of Population Affairs (OPA) (now the US State Dept. Office of Population Affairs, est. by Henry Kissinger in 1975): “There is a single theme behind all our work -we must reduce population levels,” said Thomas Ferguson, the Latin American case officer for the State Department’s Office of Population Affairs (OPA). “Either they [governments] do it our way, through nice clean methods or they will get the kind of mess that we have in El Salvador, or in Iran, or in Beirut. Population is a political problem. Once population is out of control it requires authoritarian government, even fascism, to reduce it. “The professionals,” said Ferguson, “aren’t interested in lowering population for humanitarian reasons. That sounds nice. We look at resources and environmental constraints. We look at our strategic needs, and we say that this country must lower its population -or else we will have trouble."

“So steps are taken. El Salvador is an example where our failure to lower population by simple means has created the basis for a national security crisis. The government of El Salvador failed to use our programs to lower their population. Now they get a civil war because of it…. There will be dislocation and food shortages. They still have too many people there.” (1981)

Secretary of Defense William S. Cohen, April 28, 1997; Testimony before Congressional Committee:

“And advanced forms of biological warfare that can target specific genotypes may transform biological warfare from the realm of terror to a politically useful tool.”

Sir Julian Huxley, UNESCO: its Purpose and its Philosophy:

“Political unification in some sort of world government will be required… Even though… any radical eugenic policy will be for many years politically and psychologically impossible, it will be important for UNESCO to see that the eugenic problem is examined with the greatest care, and that the public mind is informed of the issues at stake so that much that now is unthinkable may at least become thinkable.” In the early 1950’s, former Communist Joseph Z. Kornfeder expressed the opinion that UNESCO was comparable to a Communist Party agitation and propaganda department. He stated that such a party apparatus ‘handles the strategy and method of getting at the public mind, young and old.’ Huxley would lard the agency with a motley collection of Communists and fellow travelers.

President Richard Nixon believed abortion was necessary as a form of eugenics to prevent interracial breeding.

Theodore Roosevelt to Charles B. Davenport, January 3, 1913, Charles B. Davenport Papers, Department of Genetics, Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y.:

“Society has no business to permit degenerates to reproduce their kind…. Any group of farmers, who permitted their best stock not to breed, and let all the increase come from the worst stock, would be treated as fit inmates for an asylum…. Some day we will realize that the prime duty, the inescapable duty of the good citizens of the right type is to leave his or her blood behind him in the world; and that we have no business to permit the perpetuation of citizens of the wrong type. The great problem of civilization is to secure a relative increase of the valuable as compared with the less valuable or noxious elements in the population… The problem cannot be met unless we give full consideration to the immense influence of heredity…”

“I wish very much that the wrong people could be prevented entirely from breeding; and when the evil nature of these people is sufficiently flagrant, this should be done. Criminals should be sterilized and feebleminded persons forbidden to leave offspring behind them… The emphasis should be laid on getting desirable people to breed…”

By Carl Teichrib:

“The Georgia Guidestones, a massive granite edifice planted in the Georgia countryside, contains a list of ten new commandments for Earth’s citizens. The first commandment, and the one which concerns this article, simply states; “Maintain humanity under 500,000,000 in perpetual balance with nature.”

Robert Walker, former chair of PepsiCo and Proctor & Gamble on water:

"Water is a gift of nature. Its delivery is not. It must be priced to insure it is used sustainably."

Ted Turner makes the radical statement that, “A total population of 250-300 million people, a 95% decline from present levels, would be ideal.”

Margaret Sanger (founder of Planned Parenthood, funded by the Rockefellers) said in her proposed “The American Baby Code”, intended to become law:

“The most merciful thing that a family does to one of its infant members is to kill it.”

This is the woman (Margaret Sanger) whom Hillary Clinton publicly declared she looked up to, during the 2008 presidential debates.

Here is a short list of some advocates of eugenics; Alexander Graham Bell, George Bernard Shaw, H. G. Wells, Sidney Webb, William Beveridge, John Maynard Keynes, Margaret Sanger, Marie Stopes, Woodrow Wilson, Theodore Roosevelt, Emile Zola, John Maynard Keynes, John Harvey Kellogg, Winston Churchill, Linus Pauling, Sidney Webb, Sir Francis Galton, Charles B. Davenport, Futurist Barbara Marx Hubbard (who wanted to create a Dept. of Peace):

“Out of the full spectrum of human personality, one-fourth is electing to transcend…One-fourth is ready to so choose, given the example of one other…One-fourth is resistant to election. They are unattracted by life ever evolving. One-fourth is destructive. They are born angry with God…They are defective seeds…There have always been defective seeds. In the past they were permitted to die a ‘natural death’…we, the elders, have been patiently waiting until the very last moment before the quantum transformation, to take action to cut out this corrupted and corrupting element in the body of humanity. It is like watching a cancer grow…Now, as we approach the quantum shift from creature-human to co-creative human—the human who is an inheritor of god-like powers—the destructive one-fourth must be eliminated from the social body. We have no choice, dearly beloveds. Fortunately you, dearly beloveds, are not responsible for this act. We are. We are in charge of God’s selection process for planet Earth. He selects, we destroy. We are the riders of the pale horse, Death. We come to bring death to those who are unable to know God…the riders of the pale horse are about to pass among you. Grim reapers, they will separate the wheat from the chaff. This is the most painful period in the history of humanity…”

Henry Kissinger

Alexander Haig is quoted referring to the US State Department Office of Population Affairs, which was established by Henry Kissinger in 1975. The title has since been changed to The Bureau of Oceans, International Environmental and Scientific Affairs:

“Accordingly, the Bureau of Oceans, International Environmental and Scientific Affairs has consistently blocked industrialization policies in the Third World, denying developing nation’s access to nuclear energy technology–the policies that would enable countries to sustain a growing population." According to State Department sources, and Ferguson himself, Alexander Haig is a “firm believer” in population control.

Although the above stated quotes should be sufficient to prove that the elitists in power have definite intent to depopulate this planet to what they deem to be a sustainable level. Some will argue these are only opinions and are of no real consequence. I will now move on to providing bits of documentation showing this is a plan that has a worldwide scope of influence.

Most of these documents are at least 10 years old, some older. That however, does not take away from the seriousness of the content. Do not think them invalid due to their age. It takes time to foment plans on such a grand scale. But, if you are honest with yourself you can see glimpses of these things happening today.

I am going to cover some issues stemming from the UN Treaty on Biological Diversity (Agenda 21), which Bill Clinton signed into law in 1993 before it was sent to the U.S. Senate for ratification.

EPA Internal Working Document Ecosystem Management:

“The executive branch should direct federal agencies to evaluate national policies…. in light of international policies and obligations, and to amend national policies to achieve international objectives.”

“In other words, our federal bureaucrats are writing U.S. law, independent of Congress who has Constitutional authority to do that. They are changing regulations and creating laws out of thin air.”

“They are no longer working for the people of the United States. They are working for the international community. There are so many treaties written up that they have (effectively) bound the United States. Whereas a few of the treaties were not a problem, the abundance (100’s) of them have now taken control over all of our lives” -Michael Coffman

UN Treaty on Biological Diversity Assessment on Desirable Culture:

“…Traditional societies have considered certain sites as sacred, where most human activities are prohibited.”

"That is the heart of the Convention on Biodiversity. Locking up nearly 50% of the land area of the United States is their idea of protecting biological diversity." -Michael Coffman

UN Treaty on Biodiversity Diversity Usage of Fertilizers Not Sustainable:

“That fertilizers have played an essential part in producing the world’s harvests is undisputed. (It) is estimated that if the use of fertilizers ceased, the world’s harvests would be cut almost in half. However, the negative side of the equation is that the nitrates from fertilizers seep into ground water aquifers and they are seriously implicated in the eutrophication of lakes, rivers and coastal ecosystems causing often drastic changes in the fauna and flora.”

“They are willing to take a course of action that will reduce the world’s food supply by half, or more, as they will likely reduce the use of pesticides knowing full well how many people this will kill”. -Michael Coffman

UN Biodiversity Assessment on Sustainable Human Population; US Senate September 9, 1994:

“A reasonable estimate for an industrialized world society at the present North American material standard of living would be one billion people. This must be implemented within 30-50 years, 2/3’s of the population must be cut.”

“The UN says property rights are not absolute and unchanging, but are there for the convenience of whatever government wants to do.” – Michael Coffman

“Nobody owns biodiversity, so everything we do impinges on biodiversity. Property rights become meaningless. At the Rio De Janeiro Summit it was decided that the Global Environmental Facility would be the depository of all property rights.” – Michael Coffman

UN Biodiversity Assessment The Worldview of Western Civilization Section 12.2.3, Page 835:

The western “worldview is characteristic of large-scale societies, heavily dependent on resources brought from considerable distances. It is a worldview that is characterized by the denial of sacred attributes of nature… (which) became firmly established about 2000 years (ago) with the Judeo-Christian-Islamic religious traditions.”

This same treaty considers rocks to be living beings on an equal plane with human beings. Rocks, many believe, will reincarnate into lower life forms; and gradually into human beings.

Bureau of Land Management Internal Working Document

“Soylent green is… humans.”

Human Dimensions of Ecosystem Management Objective/Purpose: “All ecosystem management activities should consider human beings as biological resources…” (Reminiscent of Soylent Green)

This document was brought before Congress. This statement created such an uproar that it was removed. Regardless of its removal, it still serves to prove the mindset of these people; and just because this was removed from a document it does not mean it was removed from the thoughts and the intended goals of those who penned it; or who believe it.

“For the elite to be able to have management of the ecosystem, humans would have no more value than a rock.” – Michael Coffman

UN Biodiversity Treaty UN Global Biological Assessment Sustainable Human Populations:

“Population growth has exceeded the capacity of the biosphere” (i.e. the earth) “It is estimated that an ‘agricultural world’ in which most human beings are peasants should be able to support 5 to 7 billion people.”

Now I feel is an appropriate time to cover some other areas of government, as well as private organizations that would like to see the population of the world decrease at an astounding rate (up to 90%). This is a dark, bloody agenda that will cause terrible hardship and pain upon millions of people."

World Wildlife Fund, World Resources Institute International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN):

The IUCN involves the EPA, US Fish & Wildlife Service, the National Park Service, the United States Forest Service, Sierra Club, the Nature Conservancy, the National Wildlife Fund, the National Audubon Society, National Resources Defense Council, UNESCO, the Environmental Defense Fund, the U.N. Environmental Program, etc.

IUCN 1992

Covenant On the Environment and Development: “Eventually a wilderness network would dominate a region and thus would itself constitute the matrix, with human habitations being the islands. The remaining half of the US would be used as buffer zones.”

“The night before this treaty was ratified, Senator Mitchell withdrew it from the calendar and it was never voted on. It took four men, devoted to God in prayer to stop this treaty. The treaty still waits in the wings. Upon ratification, the US will have no ability to protect its own citizens.” -Michael Coffman

Henry Kissinger had a similar plan to use food as a weapon in 1974, found in the National Security Study Memorandum 200: Implications of Worldwide Population Growth for U.S. Security and Overseas Interests; which was adopted as official policy by then President Gerald Ford in November of 1975. This Memorandum outlined a covert plan to reduce population growth in lesser-developed countries by means of birth control, and implicitly, war and famine. Brent Scowcroft, who had by then replaced Kissinger as National Security Advisor, (the same post Scowcroft held in the Bush Administration), was put in charge of implementing the plan. CIA Director George H.W. Bush was ordered to assist Scowcroft, as were the Secretaries of State, Treasury, Defense, and Agriculture.

This document has never been renounced, only certain portions have been amended, leaving it as the foundational document on population control issued in the U.S. Government.

The major players in the founding of this document are as follows:

Henry Kissinger, Richard Nixon, Margaret Sanger, Paul Ehrlich, Werner Fornos, Timothy Wirth, The United Nations Population Fund, The United States Agency for International Development, Planned Parenthood, Federation of America, International Planned Parenthood Federation, The Club of Rome, UNICEF, WHO, United Nations. World Bank

The document can be read here in its entirety, along with the other organizations and individuals complicit in this abomination:

http://www.usmutes.com/NSSM200.htm

Adolph Hitler

Let it be noted that Adolph Hitler also used food as weapon, stating that food is “a beautiful instrument…for maneuvering and disciplining the masses.” Food has been used as a weapon of war for centuries. Why then would it be outrageous for the elite to use food as a weapon, both a physical and a psychological weapon, in a declared war on overpopulation? It would not be outrageous at all. As has been said time and time again, history repeats itself.

Now we will cover the Earth Charter.

The Earth Charter; A Radical Global Religion, created by Mikhail Gorbachev and Michael Strong: “The Earth Charter initiative reflects the conviction that a radical change in humanity’s attitudes and values is essential to achieve social, economic and ecological well-being in the 21st century… The commission…plans to circulate a final version of the Charter as a People’s Treaty beginning in mid-1998. The Charter will be submitted to the U.N. General Assembly in the year 2000…(where it will) ensure a very strong document that reflects the emerging new global ethics.” This is unprecedented (it is) the first component of an authentic global governance. We are working for dialogue and peace. We are demonstrating our ability to assert control over our fate in a spirit of solidarity to organize our collective sovereignty over this planet, our common heritage.”

The American people were not allowed to see this. Americans as a whole do not want the UN to be the head of a world government. The one thing the majority of this country values, above most everything else, is their freedom. Or the semblance of freedom we have left should I say.

At the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, the Presidential Council on Sustainable Development in 1996 came to the conclusion that the world’s human population should not exceed 500 million people. That is a 93% reduction in population!

According to the UN video, “Armed to the Teeth”; and also in the Freedom From War Policy -put into effect by JFK in 1961-general and complete disarmament and US military power was given over, in full, to the UN. This is a loss of the sovereignty of America. (Read this document at http://www.scribd.com/doc/5009662/Freedom From-War).

The Earth Charter (1992), A Spiritual Vision: “A consensus has developed that the Earth Charter should be…the articulation of a spiritual vision that reflects universal spiritual values, including, but not limited to, ethical values …a people’s charter that serves as a universal code of conduct for ordinary citizens, educators, business executives, scientists, religious leaders, non-governmental organizers and national councils of sustainable development; and a declaration of principles that can serve as a “soft tax” document when endorsed by the UN General Assembly. ”

In its original form, The Earth Charter failed miserably due to open, blatant pantheistic approach. Gorbachev and Strong have worked diligently to change the language and make it appear less obvious. You may be wondering what the Earth Charter has to do with depopulation. It has everything to do with it. Here is a very brief synopsis of what the Charter holds for us.

According to the Charter, we must:

* “Recognize that all beings are interdependent and every form of life has value…” (Unborn children, of course, are not included in the UN’s definition of “every form of life.” The Earth Summit II documents continue to support the UN’s pro-abortion policies.)

* “Affirm faith in the inherent dignity of all human beings.” (UN agencies, however, support policies of euthanasia for those determined not capable of living a “quality” life.)

* “Adopt at all levels sustainable development plans and regulations….” (This is a prescription for global socialism in a super-regulated global state.)

* “Prevent pollution of any part of the environment…” (Enforcing this dictum would mean stopping virtually all human activity.)

* “Internalize the full environmental and social costs of goods and services in the selling price.” (This seemingly harmless sentence would empower the state to price, tax, and regulate all production and consumption.)

* “Ensure universal access to health care that fosters reproductive health and responsible reproduction. (This is a thinly disguised call for that includes abortion and population control.)

* “Eliminate discrimination in all its forms, such as that based on race … [and] sexual orientation.” (This provision is clearly aimed at criminalizing those who refuse to accept homosexuality as positive and good.)

* “Promote the equitable distribution of wealth within nations and among nations. (See: http://www.thefreelibrary.com/The+new+world+religion:+presented+to+the+world+as+a+mystical...-a091968392 for the full article)

Earth Charter

The Earth Charter has not been ratified. Do not make the mistake of assuming it has not been interwoven into our society, however! It is being taught in our schools and promoted shamelessly by Hollywood, the UN, NBC (owned by GE), ABC, CBS, CNN, HLN & all the Fox owned stations, with the exception of Fox News in order to keep the supporters blinded to the machinations of Rupert Murdock. Do not be deceived!

The ability to freely procreate is soon to be removed from us, much as it has been in China for many years. Not only will we not be allowed to have children, anyone who is termed a “useless eater” (A term coined by Henry Kissinger) will be euthanized: Mercilessly culled.

In Sweden , the “Sterilization Act of 1934″ provided for the voluntary sterilization of some mental patients. The law was passed while the Swedish Social Democratic Party was in power, though it was also supported by all other political parties in Parliament at the time, as well as the Lutheran Church and much of the medical profession. -Wikipedia

America is scheduled to become compliant to Codex Alimentarius (CA) as of December 31, 2009.

Codex Alimentarius is going to regulate virtually anything that you put into your mouth that is not a pharmaceutical. The World Trade Organization (WTO) has accepted Codex Alimentarius and any nation that is a member of the WTO must become compliant with CA. In any dispute between 2 countries, the one that is Codex compliant automatically wins. This is quite an incentive for all nations to become compliant. – Rima Laibow

CA guidelines set for vitamins & minerals are said to be voluntary, however, they are scheduled to become mandatory on December 31, 2009. In 1994, Codex Alimentarius declared nutrients to be poisons: See the Dietary Supplement Health Education Act (DSHEA). Yet fluoride is acceptable! Why? It creates complacency. Proper nutrients will ensure a longer, healthier life. Not at all in keeping with a depopulation agenda.

From Esoteric Agenda, a documentary by Ben Stewart:

“In 1962 it was decreed that there would be a move toward total global implementation of Codex Alimentarius. The date set for implementation is December 31, 2009. WHO and FAO are the commissions in charge of CA. They fund it and run it at the request of the U.N.

According to WHO & FAO, epidemiological projections, it is estimated that according to the vitamin and mineral guideline alone; when CA goes into global implementation on December 31, 2009, it will result in a minimum of 3 billion deaths; 1 billion due through starvation. The next 2 billion will die from preventable diseases due to malnutrition.”

“The U.N. has put out dozens of reports calling for an 80% reduction in population (most put the number at 90%). At the 1997 Women’s World Conference in Beijing, the head of the U.N. Food Program said, “We will use food as a weapon against the people.””

In conjunction with Codex Alimentarius, food will be limited and water consumption will be decreased to 10 gallons per day, per person. The average American uses 140 gallons of water every day. The food provided will be Genetically Modified and nutrient deficient.

As of the Codex Alimentarius (CA) implementation date of 12/31/09, if there were a famine anywhere in the world, it will be illegal to send any high nutrient density biscuits. Or to distribute them!!

Once a country becomes CA compliant, CA can never be repealed. Membership with the WTO robs the member nations of any and all sovereignty. Germany is now CA compliant.

Codex Alimentarius goes hand in hand with Agenda 21 and the Kyoto Treaty. The deadline to implement both Agenda 21 and the Kyoto Treaty is 2012.” (Rima Laibow)

Agenda 21 was birthed out of the Rio Summit 1992. Agenda 21 (A 21), a.k.a. Smart Growth, Regionalism, Visioning Processes, Action Plans, Shared Values; 20/20, Best Practices; Community Festivals & Public/Private Partnerships. These are the names you will hear A 21 called, the buzzwords.

Every county must set up a council to oversee the implementation of A 21. A 21 is Sustainable Development. Steven Rockefeller set up the Earth Charter, referenced above. The Earth Charter is the new One World Religion: Earth worship. The earth is considered to be ‘sacred’, and its protection is a ‘sacred trust’. Global responsibility will demand basic changes in values, behaviors and attitudes of government, the private sector, and civil society.

Under Sustainable Development man is considered to be responsible for the pollution of the planet and is subordinate to all other living creatures. This is a direct contradiction to the Bible where God placed man in a position of dominance over the entire earth. The elite will worship and serve the creature, rather than the Creator.

“The environmental agenda is a spiritual agenda with earth worship at its root. As such, the following practices are all considered to be unsustainable: Fossil fuels, artificial fertilizers, modern systems of agricultural production, irrigation water, herbicides, pesticides, farmland, pastures, grazing of livestock, consumerism, dietary habits, salt, sugar, private property, paved roads, dams, reservoirs, logging activities, fencing of pastures”. – Joan Peros

“Every environmental resource must be measured. What can be measured can be managed under the Millenium Ecosystem Assessment Project.” – Joan Peros

Among the things considered to be unsustainable, as listed above, these are included: Monotheism and the family unit. The health care plan of President Obama is under A 21. Under this health care plan, the family unit is very much being attacked. Anyone over age 65 must undergo ‘end of life counseling’ by their doctor every 5 years. Abortion will be pushed that much harder, especially with the Science Czar wanting sterilants put into our water supply! One of the new appointee’s to the Obama Administration once said in a book he co-wrote that a child could be killed up to the age of 2 years old! What kind of a monster could think that is acceptable?

Nearly the exact language used to define Sustainable Development was taken from the 1977 Soviet Constitution!

The Family Dependency Ratio, under the United Nations, will look at every household. They will gauge what that household has produced in accordance with what it has used (i.e., resources) by the water bills, energy bills, etc. Are you using more than you are producing? Are you adding to the collective, or merely taking away? This is how the powers that be will determine whether you are a productive citizen, or, in the words of Henry Kissinger, “A useless eater”.

In 1990, Prince Charles formed The Prince of Wales Business Leaders Forum to bring together 50-60 of the world’s topmost multi-national/transnational corporations to start buying up governments around the world. This is Public/Private Partnerships: This is the very definition of fascism.

I must stop here. At the rate things are now moving, I could add to this daily. But, December 31 is not so far away now, only 4 months. I must get this out now. Time is short.

Survival and preparedness info

2010-05-01T09:54:00.012-04:00

Here are some great sites with tons of information on being prepared for whatever the future holds. These crazy times have many seeking to be ready for the possible loss of the way of life to which we are accustomed. An unsustainable national debt, a radical government legislating loss of our freedom, terrorism, seemingly increasing natural disasters, a worldwide push for a global government, broken borders, and so on, have many on edge.

I think we should most importantly be walking with Christ, living for Him, and ready to die for Him. He will give us grace and strength. We need not fear, as our times are in His hands!

http://www.survivalblog.com/

http://www.backtobasicsnc.com/index.html]

http://www.ssrsi.org/index.htm

http://www.outdoorsurvivalinfo.com/

http://www.1800prepare.com/pages/Information-and-Advice-Center.html

http://www.grandpappy.info/index.htm

http://www.emergencyfoodstoragepros.com/

http://www.wilderness-survival.net/

http://www.natureskills.com/index.html

http://blog.totallyready.com/about/

http://thesurvivalmom.com/

http://www.grandpappy.info/manual/MarineManual.pdf

http://thesurvivalwire.com/about/

beprepared.com

preparedplanet.com

http://www.backwoodshome.com/

http://www.pioneerliving.net/

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Bakersfield-MO/Back-to-the-Basics-Hope-for-the-best-Prepare-for-the-Worst/274062066080?ref=ts#!/pages/Bakersfield-MO/Back-to-the-Basics-Hope-for-the-best-Prepare-for-the-Worst/274062066080?v=wall&ref=ts

How do I homeschool with little kids?

2010-04-27T10:54:00.001-04:00

The lady who posted on a local homeschool forum asking how to teach kids to read then asked what to do about her little ones who make it hard for her to have uninterrupted one on one teaching time with her oldest. I am by no means an expert, but I did attempt to give her a few ideas.

Little kids makes for an extra challenge indeed! One thing I've read about others doing is to keep some toys, or whatever the little kids like, just for when you need to work with the older ones. The special toys only come out when you teach the older. That way the little ones are excited to get to play with toys they usually don't see, and you have a better chance of them leaving you alone. :)

Our boys are almost 8, 4, and 18 months. As long as I give them all something to do, they are usually content. That means giving them all paper to write on, or everyone has books to read, or everyone gets blocks to play with, etc.

For your situation, maybe you could make up a little set of flashcards, etc., for each child, and keep them in a ziploc bag with their name on it.

Some people put in a video for the little ones, but in my case, then my older one wants to watch, so I don't do that.

When trying to teach a young child to read, it's usually best to keep lessons short, maybe 30 minutes a day, and maybe broken up into two 15 minute lessons. I get better results out of setting a timer for 15 minutes and having my almost 8 year old work on math, and then take a break, and then set the timer again.

Boys seem to do better working in short spurts, and then get up and run around, and so on. It's so hard for them to sit still for hours on end, so it's no wonder so many are on medication in school.

Anyway, if you plan to sit with your oldest for 15-30 minutes at a time, you could try to sit the timer for your little ones, give them their special toys and activities, and tell them they can play quietly until the timer goes off while you sit with big brother and teach him. One thing they may really like is if you take a turn with each of them using the timer, even if it's just 5 minutes reading a book. I heard one lady say she spends individual time with the younger ones first and that seems to keep them from clamoring for her attention while she teaches the older ones.

It can be extra challenging, but certainly not impossible to teach several ages of kids successfully. There are lots of great internet sources of teaching tips and encouragement from other moms. If you don't know any, maybe we could all share some favorites. Local co-ops are so nice, too. We just had these people in town to speak and they have lots of great advice: http://www.raisingrealmen.com/

Wait! Don't cut that cord!

2010-04-26T16:32:00.009-04:00

Here is a great video comparing the common hospital practice of immediately cutting the umbilical cord verses waiting until the cord stops pulsating.

My oldest was born in a birth center with a midwife. I had planned to wait to cut the cord, but had not specified that prior to labor. Surprisingly, they immediately cut the cord, and I was too exhausted to say anything. I had been given an episiotomy to hurry up and get him out since they said his heart rate was too low. This, by the way, I blame on the fact that they didn't leave me alone on the toilet where I had been laboring and my water had just broke. They wanted me to move to the bed and had me on my back, which I hated. I believe this greatly hindered my birthing efforts. It led to prolonged pushing and consequently the low heart rate. All this to say that he would have tremendously benefited from his cord blood.

What happens in delayed cord clamping is that the baby takes exactly how much blood he needs from the cord. When it is immediately cut, he is deprived from all that blood and oxygen.

My last two births were homebirths, and we did not cut the cord until the cord had stopped pulsating and turned whitish and cold. The babies got all the blood and oxygen they needed. For the last, I even waited until I birthed the placenta before cutting the cord. The placenta will usually come out about a half hour or so after birth. This works out well since the mom usually wants to rest and hold her baby for a while before getting up to get cleaned up. Of course, waterbirths take care of the cleaning up part!

Waiting to cut the cord is one more way to enjoy a gentle birth free from interferences, and it is much better for the baby.

How to teach your child to read

2010-04-23T22:27:00.006-04:00

I recently answered a question on one of the local homeschool co-op's online forums I belong to regarding how to teach a child to read. Since this is such an incredibly important skill to teach our children, I thought I'd share it here.

In my opinion, reading is by far the most crucial academic thing for me to teach our kids, since once they can read well, they have the rest of their lives to teach themselves whatever they want to learn.

Here's my response:
I have so far successfully taught my oldest to read, so I thought I should chime
in. We started in kindergarten when he was almost 5 1/2. I used all sorts of
reading programs, including Hooked on Phonics, Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons, AlphaPhonics, flash cards, and numerous different early readers. By spring, he was beyond frustrated and I gave up. He just wasn't ready, and I was pushing him too hard.

Next fall and first grade, I again worked with him on reading, this time using
Adventures in Phonics. We skipped the first half of the first book since he was
already familiar with simple three letter words from our kindergarten efforts.
After we went through that book, we worked through the second book, and never needed the third and final book in the series. The difference was that he was ready to sit down and learn to read. By spring, he had really taken off and was reading great!

It's now a year later and he loves to read and reads daily for pleasure and
learning. Just the other day, my father in law was showing me a book he got
from the library thinking I might like to read it. My son picked it up and
started reading it and became engrossed. We even took the book so he can finish reading it. This is a thick book written for adults!

This past fall, I did have him read through the AlphaPhonics book just to make
sure he knew all the different word families, including the irregular words. He
breezed through it. It is amazing what a difference a year can make!

My next son is four and is very interested in spelling his name and letters and
numbers. So, I just very recently started showing him how to spell and write
his name and just a few words like at, cat, and bat using some magnetic letters.
We have a magnetic chalkboard, and I have been writing letters and words and
having him match the magnetic letters like a puzzle. We only do it for as long
as he wants. It's so important not to burn them out and make them hate reading like I was doing to my oldest.

By the way, my oldest just came up and asked me what I'm doing. When I told him someone was asking for how to teach kids to read, he said, "That's easy, just read to them and it will encourage them to read." :) Out of the mouths of
babes! That was actually what I was going to mention next, the importance of
reading to your kids. We have read many books to our kids, and it definitely
helps to instill a love of reading.

It can be intimidating trying to teach a child to read, but you can do it! I
personally like teaching word families. Teach the sounds that letters make and
then how they blend together. Mat, cat, sat, rat, etc., and bed, red, Ted, etc.,
are examples. There are many irregular words, but they are in the minority.
Start out with the simple words and build upon those. There are lots of great
books and reading programs, but you can teach reading with just a pencil and
paper, or just chalk and chalkboard, or just flashcards, and so on.

Show your kids that reading is fun and a desirable skill by reading to them
daily, be patient, and teach them as they are ready.

Disgusting examples of government wasting our tax dollars!

2010-04-19T14:56:00.007-04:00

Here is an outrageous list of government waste, best read sitting down, and not at at all if you have high blood pressure. Keep in mind that these are only examples. There are many more disgusting thefts of our money. Taxing hard working Americans, then essentially throwing our money away, is criminal.

I remember as a kid reading about the government paying several hundred dollars each for toilets seats and hammers. Obviously, a criminal element is at work for this to happen. It sounds to me like some government official is awarding a contract to someone he knows, who then is allowed and encouraged to charge outrageous sums of money that no one in the private sector would ever pay.

I read another story in Reader's Digest a year or so ago about something a couple of guys had invented that the government wanted to buy. However, the government insisted paying far more than what the men charged for this item. Being honest and wanting to do the right thing, the men refused to overcharge the government. They very nearly lost the contract as a result, but in the end, Uncle Sam agreed to pay the same price that everyone else paid.

Our federal government has ballooned into a gigantic, bloated entity that serves very little practical purpose. Like living at the base of a great mountain, it now overshadows every aspect of our lives. Is this what our Founding Fathers intended when they intentionally created a very limited federal government, so as to allow the citizens to govern themselves, as long as they did not infringe upon the rights of others? I believe George Washington and his contemporaries would have had many of our modern day politicians in prison.

A corrupt cesspool of greedy thieves has taken over the nation. They tax us under the guise of necessity in order maintain infrastructure, yet they live lavishly on our dime, and blatantly waste our money on innumerable pork projects, very often spent attempting to get votes from various special interest groups.

Long gone are the days when a politician was truly a public servant, who went into office for a time to represent his neighbors. Now, we see mostly career politicians, far more concerned with doing whatever necessary to remain in office, than actually representing constituents.

http://www.heritage.org/Research/Reports/2009/10/50-Examples-of-Government-Waste

50 Examples of Government Waste
Published on October 6, 2009 by Brian Riedl

Soaring government spending and trillion-dollar budget deficits have brought fiscal responsibility -- and reducing government waste -- back onto the national agenda. President Obama recently identified 0.004 of 1 percent of the federal budget as wasteful and proposed eliminating this $140 million from his $3.6 trillion fiscal year 2010 budget request. Aiming higher, the President recently proposed partially offsetting a costly new government health entitlement by reducing $622 billion in Medicare and Medicaid "waste and inefficiencies" over the next decade. Taxpayers may wonder why reducing such waste is now merely a bargaining chip for new spending rather than an end in itself.

It is possible to reduce spending and balance the budget. In the 1980s and 1990s, Washington consistently spent $21,000 per household (adjusted for inflation). Simply returning to that level would balance the budget by 2012 without any tax hikes. Alternatively, merely returning to the 2008 (pre-recession) spending level of $25,000 per household (adjusted for inflation) would likely balance the budget by 2019 without any tax hikes.

Not Easy, but Necessary

Reducing wasteful spending is not easy. Even the most useless programs are passionately supported by the armies of recipients, administrators, and lobbyists that benefit from their existence. Identifying inefficiencies and abuses is much easier than devising a system to fix them. Many lawmakers focus more on bringing home earmarks than on performing the less exciting task of government oversight. Exasperated taxpayers see the cost of government rise with no end in sight.

Of course, eliminating waste cannot balance the budget. Lawmakers must also rein in spending by reforming Social Security and Medicare and by eliminating government activities that are no longer affordable. Yet government waste is the low-hanging fruit that lawmakers must clean up in order to build credibility with the public for larger reforms.

Congress has allowed government employees to spend tax dollars on iPods, jewelry, gambling, exotic dance clubs, and $13,500 steak dinners. If lawmakers cannot even reduce this kind of waste, fraud, and abuse, taxpayers will be less likely to trust them to reform Social Security and Medicare.

Six Categories of Waste

The six categories of wasteful and unnecessary spending are:

1. Programs that should be devolved to state and local governments;
2. Programs that could be better performed by the private sector;
3. Mistargeted programs whose recipients should not be entitled to government benefits;
4. Outdated and unnecessary programs;
5. Duplicative programs; and
6. Inefficiency, mismanagement, and fraud.

The first four categories are generally subjective, and reasonable people can disagree on whether a given federal program falls under their purview. Yet the final two categories -- duplication and inefficiency, mismanagement, and fraud -- are comparatively easy to identify and oppose. Thus, they are heavily represented in the examples of government waste below:

1. The federal government made at least $72 billion in improper payments in 2008.[1]
2. Washington spends $92 billion on corporate welfare (excluding TARP) versus $71 billion on homeland security.[2]
3. Washington spends $25 billion annually maintaining unused or vacant federal properties.[3]
4. Government auditors spent the past five years examining all federal programs and found that 22 percent of them -- costing taxpayers a total of $123 billion annually -- fail to show any positive impact on the populations they serve.[4]
5. The Congressional Budget Office published a "Budget Options" series identifying more than $100 billion in potential spending cuts.[5]
6. Examples from multiple Government Accountability Office (GAO) reports of wasteful duplication include 342 economic development programs; 130 programs serving the disabled; 130 programs serving at-risk youth; 90 early childhood development programs; 75 programs funding international education, cultural, and training exchange activities; and 72 safe water programs.[6]
7. Washington will spend $2.6 million training Chinese prostitutes to drink more responsibly on the job.[7]
8. A GAO audit classified nearly half of all purchases on government credit cards as improper, fraudulent, or embezzled. Examples of taxpayer-funded purchases include gambling, mortgage payments, liquor, lingerie, iPods, Xboxes, jewelry, Internet dating services, and Hawaiian vacations. In one extraordinary example, the Postal Service spent $13,500 on one dinner at a Ruth's Chris Steakhouse, including "over 200 appetizers and over $3,000 of alcohol, including more than 40 bottles of wine costing more than $50 each and brand-name liquor such as Courvoisier, Belvedere and Johnny Walker Gold." The 81 guests consumed an average of $167 worth of food and drink apiece.[8]
9. Federal agencies are delinquent on nearly 20 percent of employee travel charge cards, costing taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars annually.[9]
10. The Securities and Exchange Commission spent $3.9 million rearranging desks and offices at its Washington, D.C., headquarters.[10]
11. The Pentagon recently spent $998,798 shipping two 19-cent washers from South Carolina to Texas and $293,451 sending an 89-cent washer from South Carolina to Florida.[11]
12. Over half of all farm subsidies go to commercial farms, which report average household incomes of $200,000.[12]
13. Health care fraud is estimated to cost taxpayers more than $60 billion annually.[13]
14. A GAO audit found that 95 Pentagon weapons systems suffered from a combined $295 billion in cost overruns.[14]
15. The refusal of many federal employees to fly coach costs taxpayers $146 million annually in flight upgrades.[15]
16. Washington will spend $126 million in 2009 to enhance the Kennedy family legacy in Massachusetts. Additionally, Senator John Kerry (D-MA) diverted $20 million from the 2010 defense budget to subsidize a new Edward M. Kennedy Institute.[16]
17. Federal investigators have launched more than 20 criminal fraud investigations related to the TARP financial bailout.[17]
18. Despite trillion-dollar deficits, last year's 10,160 earmarks included $200,000 for a tattoo removal program in Mission Hills, California; $190,000 for the Buffalo Bill Historical Center in Cody, Wyoming; and $75,000 for the Totally Teen Zone in Albany, Georgia.[18]
19. The federal government owns more than 50,000 vacant homes.[19]
20. The Federal Communications Commission spent $350,000 to sponsor NASCAR driver David Gilliland.[20]
21. Members of Congress have spent hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars supplying their offices with popcorn machines, plasma televisions, DVD equipment, ionic air fresheners, camcorders, and signature machines -- plus $24,730 leasing a Lexus, $1,434 on a digital camera, and $84,000 on personalized calendars.[21]
22. More than $13 billion in Iraq aid has been classified as wasted or stolen. Another $7.8 billion cannot be accounted for.[22]
23. Fraud related to Hurricane Katrina spending is estimated to top $2 billion. In addition, debit cards provided to hurricane victims were used to pay for Caribbean vacations, NFL tickets, Dom Perignon champagne, "Girls Gone Wild" videos, and at least one sex change operation.[23]
24. Auditors discovered that 900,000 of the 2.5 million recipients of emergency Katrina assistance provided false names, addresses, or Social Security numbers or submitted multiple applications.[24]
25. Congress recently gave Alaska Airlines $500,000 to paint a Chinook salmon on a Boeing 737.[25]
26. The Transportation Department will subsidize up to $2,000 per flight for direct flights between Washington, D.C., and the small hometown of Congressman Hal Rogers (R-KY) -- but only on Monday mornings and Friday evenings, when lawmakers, staff, and lobbyists usually fly. Rogers is a member of the Appropriations Committee, which writes the Transportation Department's budget.[26]
27. Washington has spent $3 billion re-sanding beaches -- even as this new sand washes back into the ocean.[27]
28. A Department of Agriculture report concedes that much of the $2.5 billion in "stimulus" funding for broadband Internet will be wasted.[28]
29. The Defense Department wasted $100 million on unused flight tickets and never bothered to collect refunds even though the tickets were refundable.[29]
30. Washington spends $60,000 per hour shooting Air Force One photo-ops in front of national landmarks.[30]
31. Over one recent 18-month period, Air Force and Navy personnel used government-funded credit cards to charge at least $102,400 on admission to entertainment events, $48,250 on gambling, $69,300 on cruises, and $73,950 on exotic dance clubs and prostitutes.[31]
32. Members of Congress are set to pay themselves $90 million to increase their franked mailings for the 2010 election year.[32]
33. Congress has ignored efficiency recommendations from the Department of Health and Human Services that would save $9 billion annually.[33]
34. Taxpayers are funding paintings of high-ranking government officials at a cost of up to $50,000 apiece.[34]
35. The state of Washington sent $1 food stamp checks to 250,000 households in order to raise state caseload figures and trigger $43 million in additional federal funds.[35]
36. Suburban families are receiving large farm subsidies for the grass in their backyards -- subsidies that many of these families never requested and do not want. [36]
37. Congress appropriated $20 million for "commemoration of success" celebrations related to Iraq and Afghanistan.[37]
38. Homeland Security employee purchases include 63-inch plasma TVs, iPods, and $230 for a beer brewing kit.[38]
39. Two drafting errors in the 2005 Deficit Reduction Act resulted in a $2 billion taxpayer cost.[39]
40. North Ridgeville, Ohio, received $800,000 in "stimulus" funds for a project that its mayor described as "a long way from the top priority."[40]
41. The National Institutes of Health spends $1.3 million per month to rent a lab that it cannot use.[41]
42. Congress recently spent $2.4 billion on 10 new jets that the Pentagon insists it does not need and will not use.[42]
43. Lawmakers diverted $13 million from Hurricane Katrina relief spending to build a museum celebrating the Army Corps of Engineers -- the agency partially responsible for the failed levees that flooded New Orleans.[43]
44. Medicare officials recently mailed $50 million in erroneous refunds to 230,000 Medicare recipients.[44]
45. Audits showed $34 billion worth of Department of Homeland Security contracts contained significant waste, fraud, and abuse.[45]
46. Washington recently spent $1.8 million to help build a private golf course in Atlanta, Georgia.[46]
47. The Advanced Technology Program spends $150 million annually subsidizing private businesses; 40 percent of this funding goes to Fortune 500 companies.[47]
48. Congressional investigators were able to receive $55,000 in federal student loan funding for a fictional college they created to test the Department of Education.[48]
49. The Conservation Reserve program pays farmers $2 billion annually not to farm their land.[49]
50. The Commerce Department has lost 1,137 computers since 2001, many containing Americans' personal data.[50]

Pick the Low-Hanging Fruit

Because many of these examples of waste overlap, it is not possible to determine their exact total cost. Yet it is evident that Washington loses hundreds of billions of dollars annually on spending that most Americans would certainly consider wasteful. Lawmakers seeking to rein in spending and budget deficits should begin by eliminating this least justifiable spending while also addressing long-term entitlement costs.

Brian M. Riedl is Grover M. Hermann Fellow in Federal Budgetary Affairs in the Thomas A. Roe Institute for Economic Policy Studies at The Heritage Foundation.

Show references in this report: http://www.heritage.org/Research/Reports/2009/10/50-Examples-of-Government-Waste

[1]Government Accountability Office, Improper Payments: Progress Made but Challenges Remain in Estimating and Reducing Improper Payments, GAO-09-628T, April 22, 2009, at /static/reportimages/848E2EF8FE88B7FD87B3621E2B5FC0EA.pdf (October 5, 2009).

[2]The Cato Institute estimates that corporate welfare costs $92 billion annually (not even counting the $700 billion TARP legislation). See Stephen Slivinski, "The Corporate Welfare State: How the Federal Government Subsidizes U.S. Businesses," Cato Institute, May 14, 2007, at http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=8230 (October 5, 2009). The White House has requested $71 billion for fiscal year 2010 homeland security spending. See Office of Management and Budget, Budget of the U.S. Government, FY 2010: Analytic Perspectives (Supplemental Materials), May 2009, at /static/reportimages/1FA58FAE61C1A1EBAB37BE76B88C824D.pdf (October 5, 2009).

[3]Office of Senator Tom Coburn (R-OK), "Subcommittee Oversight Efforts Identify $1.1 Trillion in Waste or Questionable Spending," October 19, 2006, at http://coburn.senate.gov/oversight/?FuseAction=OversightAction
.Home&ContentRecord_id=611f1f4c-802a-23ad-475d-223d6490f308 (October 5, 2009).

[4]Figures include all federal programs rated "effective" or "results not demonstrated" by the George W. Bush Administration's Program Assessment Rating Tool (PART) assessment of all federal programs. See http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/expectmore/ and http://www.whitehouse
.gov/omb/expectmore/part.xls.

[5]Congressional Budget Office, "Budget Options, Volume 1: Health Care," December 2008, athttp://www.cbo.gov/ftpdocs/99xx/doc9925/12-18-Health
Options (October 5, 2009); "Budget Options, Volume 2," August 2009, at /static/reportimages/B6358B2C50828DC2865F4C220C0720C5.pdf (October 5, 2009).

[6]Examples are drawn from Committee on Governmental Affairs, U.S. Senate, "Government at the Brink," Vols. I and II, June 2001; U.S. General Accounting Office, "Managing for Results: Using the Results Act to Address Mission Fragmentation and Program Overlap," August 1997, at /static/reportimages/80B40B0A5C314F2221EE8FF7B22D39CB.pdf (October 5, 2009).

[7]Edwin Mora, "U.S. Will Pay $2.6 Million to Train Chinese Prostitutes to Drink Responsibly on the Job," CNS News, May 12, 2009, at http://www.cnsnews.com/public/content/article.aspx?RsrcID=47976 (October 5, 2009).

[8]Government Accountability Office, Government-wide Purchase Cards: Actions Needed to Strengthen Internal Controls to Reduce Fraudulent, Improper, and Abusive Purchases, GAO-08-333, March 2008, at http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d08333.pdf
new.items/d08333.pdf (October 5, 2009); Marc Stewart, "Federal Gov't Questions TVA Spending," WBIR.com, February 27, 2009, at http://www.wbir.com/news/local/story.aspx?storyid=79461 (October 5, 2009); Dan Eggen, "Federal Credit Cards Misused," TheWashington Post, April 9, 2008, at http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/04
/08/AR2008040802718.html (October 5, 2009).

[9]Robert Brodsky, "Report Paints Agencies as Deadbeat Travel Card Holders," Government Executive, May 28, 2009, at http://www.govexec.com
/story_page.cfm?articleid=42837&dcn=todaysnews (October 5, 2009).

[10]Laura Strickler, "SEC Spends Millions to Reorganize Desks," CBS News, April 8, 2009, at http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/04/07/cbsnews
_investigates/main4927475.shtml (October 5, 2009).

[11]Tony Capaccio, "Pentagon Paid $998,798 to Ship Two 19-Cent Washers," Bloomberg, August 16, 2009, at http://www.bloomberg.com/
apps/news?pid=20601070&sid=aY5OQ5xv9HR8 (October 5, 2009).

[12]Ted Covey et al., "Agriculture Income and Finance Outlook," U.S. Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service, November 2006, pp. 40 and 48.

[13]Carrie Johnson, "Medical Fraud a Growing Problem," TheWashington Post, June 13, 2008, at http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article
/2008/06/12/AR2008061203915.html (October 5, 2009).

[14]Dana Hedgpeth, "GAO Blasts Weapons Budget," TheWashington Post, April 1, 2008, at http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article
/2008/03/31/AR2008033102789.html (October 5, 2009).

[15]Christopher Conkey, "Federal Workers Accused of Abusing Business Class," The Wall Street Journal, October 3, 2007, at http://online.wsj.com/
article/SB119136054325946827.html (October 5, 2009).

[16]Steve LeBlanc, "Feds Spending Millions on Kennedy Legacy," Associated Press, May 11, 2009, at http://wbztv.com/politics/tedkennedy/ted.kennedy
.legacy.2.956809.html (October 5, 2009); Bryan Bender, "Kerry Asks $20m for Kennedy Institute," The Boston Globe, September 25, 2009, at http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2009/09/25/
watchdog_groups_rap_20m_earmark_for_kennedy_institute/ (October 5, 2009).

[17]Ralph Vartabedian and Tom Hamburger, "Crimes Suspected in 20 Bailout Cases--for Starters," The Los Angeles Times, April 21, 2009, at http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-tarp-fraud21-2009
apr21,0,2443377.story (October 5, 2009).

[18]These and more examples of recent earmarks are at Brian Riedl, "Omnibus Spending Bill: Huge Spending and 9,000 Earmarks Represent Business as Usual," Heritage Foundation WebMemo No. 2318, March 2, 2009, at http://www.heritage.org/Research/Budget/wm2318.cfm.

[19] Brad Heath, "Gov't Losses Big in Home Market," USA Today, May 15, 2009, at http://www.usatoday.com/money/economy/housing/2009-05-14
-govtown_N.htm (October 5, 2009).

[20] Ira Teinowitz, "FCC Goes NASCAR Racing to Publicize DTV," TV Week, October 2008, at http://www.tvweek.com/news/2008/10/fcc_goes_nascar
_racing_to_publ.php (October 5, 2009).

[21] Louise Radnofsky and T. W. Farnam, "Lawmakers Bill Taxpayers for TVs, Cameras, Lexus," The Wall Street Journal, May 30, 2009, at http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124364352135868189.html (October 5, 2009); Jonathan E. Kaplan and Mandy Kozar, "Lawmakers Spend on Big Screens, Popcorn," The Hill, November 8, 2005.

[22]Dana Hedgpeth, "$13 Billion in Iraq Aid Wasted or Stolen, Ex-Investigator Says," TheWashington Post, September 23, 2008, at http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/09/22/
AR2008092202053.html (October 5, 2009);Dan Friedman, "Report: Defense Department Cannot Fully Account for $7.8B Spent in Iraq," CongressDaily,May 22, 2008, at http://www.govexec.com/dailyfed/0508/052208cdpm2.htm (October 5, 2009).

[23]Associated Press, "Katrina Fraud Could Top $2 Billion," December 25, 2006, at http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15587326/ (October 5, 2009); "FEMA Funds Spent on Divorce, Sex Change," June 14, 2006, at http://cbs4denver.com/national/FEMA.Divorce.Sex.2.268906.html (October 5, 2009).

[24]Government Accountability Office, Expedited Assistance for Victims of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita: FEMA's Control Weaknesses Exposed the Government to Significant Fraud and Abuse, GAO-06-403T, February 13, 2006, p. 11, at /static/reportimages/AD70E579E2C93DD00C8963C3EB7761C3.pdf (October 5, 2009).

[25]Wesley Loy, "Alaska Airlines Takes Flying Fish to a Whole New Level: $500,000 Grant from Federal Funding Pays for Custom Paint Job on Company's Passenger Jet," Anchorage Daily News, October 2, 2005.

[26]Halimah Abdullah, "Who Might Fly Somerset to D.C. and Back?," McClatchey, May 24, 2009, at http://www.kentucky.com/latest_news
/story/806331.html (October 5, 2009).

[27]CBS News, "Beach Restoration: Sending $$$ Out to Sea?," May 26, 2009, at http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/05/26/eveningnews/
main5041144.shtml (October 5, 2009).

[28] Michael Grabell, "Rural Broadband Stimulus Program Slammed in Gov't Report," ProPublica, April 14, 2009, at http://www.propublica.org/ion/
stimulus/item/rural-broadband-stimulus-program-slammed-in-govt-report
-414/ (October 5, 2009).

[29]Government Accountability Office, DOD Travel Cards: Control Weaknesses Led to Millions of Dollars in Unused Airline Tickets, GAO-03-398, March 2004, at /static/reportimages/4ACE73C0DAE4F7DF5A63A1682F144966.pdf (October 5, 2009).

[30]CBS News, "FAA Memo: Feds Knew NYC Flyover Would Cause Panic," April 29, 2009, at http://wcbstv.com/topstories/air.force.one.2.996457.html (October 5, 2009); Committee on Government Reform, U.S. House of Representatives, "The Cost of Presidential and Vice Presidential Political Travel," March 2006, p. 3, at http://oversight.house.gov/documents/
20060316113550-47530.pdf (October 5, 2009).

[31]Government Accountability Office, Travel Cards: Air Force Management Focus Has Reduced Delinquencies, but Improvements in Controls Are Needed, GAO-03-298, December 20, 2002, p. 4, at http://www.gao.gov/new.
items/d03298.pdf (October 6, 2009); Travel Cards: Control Weaknesses Leave Navy Vulnerable to Fraud and Abuse, GAO-03-148T, October 8, 2002, p. 8, at /static/reportimages/40C1D6AB36A6C16873C3BF78605117B8.pdf (October 6, 2009).

[32] Emily Yehle, "House May Get Big Boost for Election-Year Mailings," Roll Call, May 4, 2009.

[33]Department of Heath and Human Services, Office of the Inspector General, "Compendium of Unimplemented Office of Inspector General Recommendations," May 2009, at http://oig.hhs.gov/publications/docs/
compendium/compendium2009.pdf (October 6, 2009).

[34]Christopher Lee, "Official Portraits Draw Skeptical Gaze," TheWashington Post, October 21, 2008, at http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/
article/2008/10/20/AR2008102003627.html (October 6, 2009).

[35]Associated Press, "Washington Sends $1 Food Stamp Checks to 250,000," February 23, 2009, at http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html
/localnews/2008775541_apwafoodstampchecks.html (October 6, 2009).

[36]Dan Morgan, Gilbert Gaul, and Sarah Cohen, "Farm Program Pays $1.3 Billion to People Who Don't Farm," TheWashingtonPost, July 2, 2006, at http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/07/01/
AR2006070100962.html (October 6, 2009).

[37]Anne Plummer Flaherty, "Congress Ready for Its End of War Party," Associated Press, October 4, 2006, at http://www.presstelegram.com/
news/ci_4443037 (October 6, 2009).

[38]Government Accountability Office, Purchase Cards: Control Weaknesses Leave DHS Highly Vulnerable to Fraudulent, Improper, and Abusive Activity, GAO-06-1117, September 2006, at /static/reportimages/59308EC86105AAE6C7692F05D53ECA46.pdf (October 6, 2009).

[39]Jonathan Nicholson, "Congress Seems Unlikely to Correct Gaffes in Budget Bill Costing $2 Billion," BNA Daily Report for Executives, September 25, 2006.

[40]Steve Fogarty, " Stimulus Grant Funds a Quieter North Ridgeville," Chronicle-Telegram, May 22, 2009, at http://www.chroniclet.com/2009/05/
stimulus-grant-funds-a-quieter-north-ridgeville/ (October 6, 2009).

[41]Jonathan Rockoff, "NIH Paying $1.3 Million Monthly for Unused Lab," Baltimore Sun, December 2, 2007.

[42]Bennett Roth and Eric Rosenberg, "The Pentagon Says It Doesn't Need Any More C-17 Jets, but It Is Getting Them--at a Cost of $2.4 Billion--Thanks to the Texas Congressional Delegation," Houston Chronicle, September 30, 2007, at http://www.chron.com/CDA/archives/archive.mpl?
id=2007_4433833 (October 6, 2009).

[43]CNN, Anderson Cooper 360, December 6, 2005, at http://transcripts
.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0512/06/acd.01.html (October 6, 2009).

[44]David Stout, "Medicare Error Sends $50 Million in Refunds to Recipients," The New York Times, August 24, 2006, at http://www.nytimes.com/2006/
08/24/washington/24medicare.html (October 6, 2009).

[45]Griff Witte and Spencer S. Hsu, "Homeland Security Contracts Abused," TheWashington Post, July 27, 2006, at http://www.washingtonpost.com
/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/07/26/AR2006072601683.html (October 6, 2009).

[46]Kevin Duffy, "Why Did the Federal Government Help This Golf Course?," Atlanta-Journal-Constitution, November 13, 2006.

[47]See Brian Riedl, "Congress Should Follow the President and Eliminate the Advanced Technology Program," Heritage Foundation Backgrounder No. 1828, March 1, 2005, at http://www.heritage.org/Research/Budget/bg1828.cfm.

[48]Government Accountability Office, Department of Education: Guaranteed Student Loan Program Vulnerabilities, GAO-03-268R, November 21, 2002, at /static/reportimages/9329EBC1096FB830E7A1C6AA436AD6E1.pdf (October 6, 2009).

[49]The Department of Agriculture's Conservation Reserve Program pays farmers not to farm more than 40 million acres of farmland. See Brian Riedl, "How Farm Subsidies Harm Taxpayers, Consumers, and Farmers, Too," Heritage Foundation Backgrounder No. 2043, June 20, 2007, at http://www.heritage.org/Research/Agriculture/bg2043.cfm.

[50]Associated Press, "Commerce Reports Losing 1,137 Laptops," September 21, 2006, athttp://washingtontimes.com/news/2006/sep/21/
20060921-115116-5387r/print (October 6, 2009).

This must see video details the intended destruction of America

2010-04-19T01:22:00.005-04:00

Please watch this short video for a superb explanation of what is happening to America!

http://apathetic-usa.com/

If we don't do all we can to fight to preserve and restore our freedom and return our nation to our Constitution, how will we ever be able to look our children and grandchildren in the eye knowing we sat complacent while we allowed them to be enslaved?!

Please get involved! We need you!