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Grizzly Mama

There's a Grizzly who has escaped the City of Brotherly Love..(and she's going back to homeschooling!!)

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Location: Out of Philly, Pennsylvania, United States

"All who have meditated on the art of governing mankind have been convinced that the fate of empires depends on the education of youth." Aristotle - Greek Philosopher.

Friday, March 31, 2006

Aesop's Fable Friday

The Wolf and the Lamb

A Wolf was drinking at the head of a river when he saw a Lamb at a small distance downstream. Having decided to eat her, he needed to cause a quarrel.

"How dare you spoil my water?", he demanded.

"How can I spoil the water, since it goes from you to me, not me to you?", asked the Lamb.

"Never mind that", said the Wolf, "a year ago you called me many bad names!"

"A year ago I was not even born yet!", said the trembling Lamb.

"Well', replied the Wolf, "if it wasn't you, it was your father. It's no use trying to talk me out of my supper"; and he grabbed upon the helpless Lamb and ate her.

Moral of the story: The tyrant always finds an excuse to injure the innocent.


It also goes to show that it is no use trying to reason with a tyrant, doesn't it?!

Monday, March 27, 2006

Continuing on With Cubed's Excellent Essays

The Grizzly Sloth has mostly recovered from our influenza episode. We made it through the last INSANE week - a week which included CCD, guitar/piano lessons, 2 nights of Karate, reading group at the library, game day at the library, the two days of state testing required by Pennsylvania for the 4th grader, a visit from the next door neighbor's grandson 'Tom-Tom', and a 2 nice afternoons of tree climbing and bike riding with the neighborhood kids. Did I hear someone say my kids are 'isolated'? LOL!

Anyhoo - on to Education and Jihad, Part V.

This is some deep stuff for the Grizzly Mama - a product of the American Public School system - who was never formally schooled in Philosophy or Economics. (I did take a Macro-Economics class in college and was fascinated by it.) Cubed contends that there are two subjects that our children are not taught in school that are critical to their ability to reason and their understanding of "how to guide their own futures and the future of the country." These two subjects are Philosophy and Economics.

"Here are some examples of what various philosophies have wrought: Philosophy gave birth to the United States; it made us what we are, and it made Islam what it is. Philosophy gave us the Constitution, the Nazi Party, the Bill of Rights, Communism, the Magna Carta, the Boston Tea Party, the end of slavery for the first time in human history, the process that produces Nobel Prize winners, and, of course, Islam. Different philosophies produce different results. They are not the impractical, harmless hobbies of old scholars.

While the best philosophy (that'’s ours) will win in the long haul, the one that won'’t win (that'’s Islam) can do a lot of damage in the meantime..."


The five major branches of philosophy are:
  • Ethics - what constitutes 'the good'.

  • Epistemology - how human beings acquire knowledge.

  • Esthetics - beauty and the significance of art.

  • Politics - the application of ethics to social behavior.

  • Metaphysics - studies the question of whether all of existence follows natural laws.

  • Cubed highlights what Islam teaches about the Metaphysics part: "Islam teaches that Allah creates each moment independent of the next, and that “anything can happen” (sounds a lot like some of our nihilistic philosopher friends here in the West). A kitten in this moment can become an oak tree in the next; there is no relationship between an effect, —let'’s say, '“cold'”--and anything causing it; what happens in one moment is at the discretion of Allah'’s whim, and has no relationship to what happens in the next moment, which also is at the discretion of Allah's whim, and everybody hopes that Allah is in a good mood." An example of the teaching of Islam on this subject is:...deep in their frightened minds, they aren'’t at ALL sure that unless Allah wills it, that something will or won'’t happen - —one cannot predict that a flame, for example (this is a real example that they use), will burn cotton.

    Yikes, eh?! The girls already know the basic idea of the scientific principle behind heat, flame, combustibility of certain substances. Heck - our 1 year olds know they are not supposed to play with matches! Onward and upward.

    Although I've never been formally schooled in philosophy - it appears that I do HAVE a philosophy - and so do you. We have acquired our philosophies in a very casual manner. It's not a good way to learn something. We wouldn't want to learn math by just picking up bits here and there, would we? No! As Cubed points out: Philosophy is the roadmap that guides us through life, so it had better 1) be valid, and 2) be well studied.

    It appears that there has been a deliberate drive by our government - over the long haul - to dumb down our children. Reason-based philosophy is bad and the children will be kept far from it. Nihilistic philosophy is great and we have seen much evidence of this lately - Churchill, Bennish. Don't give the kiddies too many facts either - facts fuel thinking.

    We will win the war faster if we teach our kids a reality based philosophy. Kids can be taught philosophy in an age appropriate manner. The goal "is to accurately identify reality, to make everything CLEAR." We must arm our children to continue this fight. It will be up to them to save the Republic and continue this war.

    ON TO ECONOMICS!

    The study of Economics is not limited to monetary issues! The study of Economics is "the means by which an entire society creates prosperity or poverty for its people, depending on the way they organize their economies." In addition, "The exchange of knowledge, the exchange of skills, the exchange of favors, or—of course—the exchange of money for goods and services, are ALL based on economic principles." We influence our economy by voting - and we haven't been schooled in economic principles! What, pray tell, can happen by our being ignorant? Bad decisions, I tell ya - BAD DECISIONS!!

    Cubed goes on to desribe a non-monetary economic problem involving mass casualties and having limited resources to deal with that. What that would involve would be making decisions on whose life is most likely to be saved and allocating the resources to do that. A difficult process. When going through triage training in the military (I was an O.R. Tech in a Combat Support Hospital) I had a hard time with this at first. It required letting the critically injured casualties who had little chance of survival (even with a massive use of resources) die and attending to the casualties who had a better chance of survival. The slightly injured had to sit and wait. I was not used to thinking in these terms - I was used to thinking in terms of saving the most critically injured first no matter what. In a critical and emergency situation though - things have to be viewed a bit differently. The resources have to be allocated in the most efficient way so that they are not wasted. It's a different story, isn't it, when the lone ambulance pulls into the ER where staff is waiting and plenty of equipment is available. Massive use of resources will be employed even if the chance of survival is slim.

    What ARE our children being taught in school? Capitalism is bad. Wealth redistribution is good. It's a bunch of crap of course - but they don't know that. Heck - I've recently had communications with supposed intelligent, thinking adults that can't seem to grasp it. The facts don't matter. The history doesn't matter. They are products of our leftist controlled education system. Furthermore - capitalism isn't just a monetary system, it is a social system.

    "As a social system, capitalism is based on the recognition of individual rights. In fact, its very name comes from the Latin “caput,” meaning “head,” meaning “individual,” as in “head count.” In a capitalist society, the rights of the individual are supremely important, and relationships are voluntary, not forced. People deal with each other through persuasion, discussion, and debate, not force. They voluntarily form mutually agreed upon contracts with each other, the terms of which cannot violate individual rights." About individual rights, Cubed has this to say: "There are only two ways that rights can be violated (this is one of those lessons the kids learn in philosophy class), and they are 1) the initiation of the use of physical force, and 2) the use of the intellectual equivalent of force, which is fraud or deceit."

    A good social system promotes productivity, prosperity, the room for creativity and innovation, individual freedom, good health care, housing, general well-being. Islamic governments micro-manage their populations and stifle freedom. Islamic governments attempt to control EVERYTHING a person in that country does, from how to take a crap to how to have sex to how to dress - disallowing the questioning of the 'knowledge' that has supposedly been 'revealed' in the Koran. Half of the population (women) subjugated and unable to contribute except by breeding. It's no wonder their societies are a failure producing much misery and hate and unhappiness and abuse.

    "Teaching our children proper philosophy and proper economics can help us fend off the Leftist fellow-travelers of Islam who have the shared, classically nihilistic goal of our destruction. We have a lot of catching up to do, since the Postmodern Leftist nihilists have a real head start in their goal of dumbing us down and infusing the schools with their destructive philosophy."

    Cubed doesn't think that the government school system will produce what we need to fight this war - an intelligent, thinking populace armed with the facts. I agree with her. As they say - go and read the WHOLE THING!!! Mine is but a lame attempt at recapping what Cubed so eloquently presents.

    Links:
    Deliberate Dumbing Down of America.

    Basic Economics and Applied Economics by Thomas Sowell.

    Wealth of Nations by Adam Smith.

    Economic Policy by Ludwig von Mises.

    Aesop's Fables.

    The Children's Book of Heroes, The Children's Book of Virtues and The Children's Book of America, all by Bill Bennett.

    God Bless America. God Save the Republic! AND Thank you, Cubed.

    Link

    Friday, March 24, 2006

    Aesop's Fables Friday

    The Quack Frog

    Once upon a time a Frog came forth from his home in the marshes and proclaimed to all the world that he was a learned physician, skilled in drugs and able to cure all diseases.

    Among the crowd was a Fox, who called out, "You, a doctor! Why, how can you set up to heal others when you cannot even cure your own lame legs and blotched and wrinkled skin?"

    Moral of the story: Physician, heal thyself.


    I love this one - it cracks me up. However I'm not sure that I agree with the moral of the story. There isn't a thing wrong with that frog - his legs and skin are exactly the way they are supposed to be, right? So shouldn't the moral be more about the Fox's inability to understand that differences between species are normal? Like - that Fox just thinks everyone should be like him? Help me here. Grizzly Mama is having a hard time grasping this one. Perhaps there is nothing to grasp other than the humor of it? I need to let go. Breathe. Enjoy.

    Wednesday, March 22, 2006

    MamaGeph at 'Still Odd' has tagged me...

    She has very cool kids and is a homeschooler. Thank you MamaGeph - I will do my best.

    1. Who or what inspired you to start blogging? Was it a whim, or a carefully thought out leap?

    Gosh - I'm not sure. The very first blog I ever read was Iraq The Model. Those brothers in Baghdad saved me - SAVED me I tell ya. I was totally down on the war and very discouraged and depressed. They renewed my faith in the Iraqi people and in our efforts to liberate them. I found A Tangled Web through ITM and discovered Brits who actually like America! I was shocked and gratified. I commented on both of these blogs for a long time before it dawned on me that I could have my very own blog. So I did it. I had also been in communication with Blonde Sagacity via ProtestWarrior and she started HER blog - and several months later I started MINE and she was very encouraging and linked to me and I to her. I thought I'd write about being a mother and how important home educating was becoming to me. Little did I know that I had very strong feelings about all kinds of crazy things - - - so that's what I do. Just vomit onto the page for your entertainment! I have since found many other blogs and I just completely enjoy making my rounds almost every night.

    2. What bloggers inspire you now? Why?
    Inspiration. Inspiration. Inspiration. Hmmmmmm. Different blogs do at different times. There is so much out there and most of it fascinating. I go on different tears depending on a lot of things. Take a look at the sidebar - great stuff.

    3. What subjects do you enjoy writing about most? What subjects are the easiest?
    I enjoy writing about my kids and husband and our life together. That is always easy and fun to do. I like relating my experiences of the world around me. Encounters with strangers and acquaintances. My perception of many things that are happening in our world.

    4. If you could pick only one post to print, frame, and say, "That's me," what would it be?
    It's Lord of the Flies Out On the Block. (Not a very flattering picture - but it's the truth.)

    5. What is your favorite flavor of cheesecake?
    PLAIN! Okay - I'll take cherry cheesecake but I'll scrape all those slimy cherries off and eat the cheesecake and the red goo.

    Thank you MamaGeph! You got the electricity in the grey matter going - trying to make those connections and that is always good when one gets to be my age! 'If you don't use it - you lose it', they say.

    Oh! I have to tell EVERYONE who happens to land on my little piece of the world - the girls broke their first boards in TaeKwonDo tonight. Grizzly Mama was amazed. Those little things just cut through those pieces of wood like they were butter. BAM! Board broken with no bones about it. LOL! They are a trip these girls of mine.

    Have a great evening. I will be tackling Cubed's next essay over the weekend and I am adding a new 'feature'!! It will be called 'Aesop's Fable Friday'. LOL! I just found the book on sale and there are so many more fables there than *I* had ever heard of. Always loved Aesop's Fables - you will too!

    Link

    Friday, March 17, 2006

    Grizzly Mama TRIED to tell them....


    But nooooooooo. Big Government doesn't want to hear it from the Grizzly Mama, does he? (I think of Big Government as a 'he'.)

    Years ago when Transportation Security Administration was ramping up with airport security, Grizzly Mama went through the training. What a thankless job being an airport security agent is - and the pressure! God Forbid something gets through and then how many dead innocents would we have on our hands?!

    During her training Grizzly Mama suggested an improvement that would diminish the possibility of firearms and explosives getting through x-ray. My suggestion was to show an x-ray of the baggage from two perspectives simultaneously - one from the top and one from the side. Of course it would cost money. We are the richest nation on the planet with billions wasted every year for Representative's pet projects - - - or just a new lining for their pockets. Millions sent to terrorist supporting states every year. Millions spent on the healthcare of illegal aliens. You get my drift.

    Link

    Happy St. Paddy's Day!

    The wearin' o' the green has commenced. I had lost all track of time!


    The obligatory nasty little leprechaun.

    Off to make the corned beef and cabbage! (yeah - right...)

    Friday, March 10, 2006

    The Grizzly Sloth is a Mess.

    Battling stomach virus, high fevers, Troll's birthday in which my dinner and butterchess pie came out AWFUL (I am NOT a good cook...), chasing puking kids around with pots and tissue and Tylenol, changing beds and pushing fluids - it's starting to look brighter for the little ones. Unfortunately Grizzly Mama (and now Grizzly Papa) are feeling NASTY. Joints sore, fever, yucky cough. Neither the Tylenol nor the Advil seems to be helping.

    Do you know how many years poor Troll has had to put up with terrible meals on his birthday - all with the best of intentions on my part? Many, many, MANY. Sorry Troll.

    I am preparing to do an another entry on Cubed's excellent series on education. I read some last night - Oh! It's good. By the time I was done the symptoms hit.

    I am going to bed. It may be a couple of days.

    Anybody have a good recipe for butterchess pie?! I've been searching and trying different recipes for years - none of them are what I remember eating at ALL. They've all been terrible. Although not a good cook I am usually a very good baker.

    Tuesday, March 07, 2006

    10th Carnival of Homeschooling

    If you click on the title you will be transported to Palm Tree Pundit, a homeschooler in the state of Hawaii. She is hosting the Carnival this week and it is with pride and humility that Grizzly Mama sees one of her entries there. It is an entry that takes a look at one of Cubed's excellent essays. The theme of the Carnival is 'Spring has Sprung' and there are many fascinating entries from homeschoolers across this beautiful land of ours. The range of subjects explored is gimongous. (I know - it's not really a word.)

    Did I hear you say that you wanted to know more about homeschooling in America? I thought so! Follow the link. The wit and wisdom of exceedingly well spoken and intelligent persons will be your reward.

    The next carnival will be hosted by The Common Room. Click here for information on making a submission.

    God Bless America and Homeschool Your Children.

    Link

    Saturday, March 04, 2006

    Grizzly Mama Passes....

    You Passed 8th Grade Math

    Congratulations, you got 9/10 correct!


    Whew! I was sweating it - afraid to see the results. I've been recovering from a little mishap with KrazyGlue. Suffice to say I have finally learned my lesson. Wear protective eyewear even if you look like a total dork. That little suction cup with the hole in the middle of it that is hooked to an IV line which leads to saline solution and then inserted RIGHT ONTO your eyeball and turned on is not something you want to go through. They were laughing at my Three Stooges T-shirt that I happened to be wearing at the time. Ha. Ha. Ha. Laugh at me now ER persons! When my girlies grow up they'll be TONS smarter than their ma!

    So I'm cheating and not giving you a REAL entry. Just a fun one. Thanks to Abe.