Will America Continue Down a Road of Ignorance and Demise?

Will America Continue Down a Road of Ignorance and Demise?   
By: Adam Busuttil
12-30-12

With only 38% of Americans being able to name all three branches of government; legislative, executive and judicial, it is no surprise that our liberties are constantly being compromised and reduced from the original intention of our founding fathers to protect this nation. In fact, 33% of American’s were unable to name even 1 branch of government in the same study, which polled over 1200 people nationally. A more recent and larger study shows that 71% of people received a failing grade with an average score of 49% on a basic 33 question civic literacy quiz. In this study, those who have held elected office positions even lacked basic civic knowledge with 43% unaware that the Electoral College is a “constitutionally mandated assembly that elects the president”. One out of five people who have held positions of elected office believes the Electoral College "trains those aspiring for higher office" or "was established to supervise the first televised presidential debates." It is obvious that there is a severe epidemic of economic, political and historical ignorance in our country.

Young Americans reap the effects of this ignorant culture, as they are led by the blind only to be soon abandoned in darkness. Recent reports from the National Assessment of Education Progress are a clear example of this with just 13% of high school seniors, 18% of eighth-graders and 22% of fourth-graders showing “solid academic performance” in American history, which was the lowest scoring category out of seven. Scores seen seven years prior are very similar. Education Secretary Arne Duncan commented on the matter by saying “These results tell us that, as a country, we are failing to provide children with a high-quality, well-rounded education." Education experts report that a heavy focus on reading and math under the federal “No Child Left Behind” law has led to lagging performance in subjects such as history and science. Educators say history is vital to students learning how to become better citizens and understanding how the country's political and cultural systems work. Students need to not only recognize leaders like Martin Luther King Jr. and Abraham Lincoln, but also understand why they were essential to the development of the country. This in itself is just one example of how federal government is being permitted by its people to mislead our country’s future while the vast majority simply except it or tune out. Former state schools superintendent for West Virginia Steven Paine, said it well when speaking out on the matter by saying; "Overall the quality and success of our lives can only be enhanced by a study of our roots”.

In the midst of this ignorance, more American’s watch NFL football than vote in the presidential elections (approx. 63% in 2008), let alone follow or become active in more important and influential local politics. A Recent study at Princeton University found that most people judge a political candidates competency within seconds of seeing their face, without any knowledge of the candidate’s background or stance on important issues. This demonstrates that Americans at large are not only ill informed and ignorant to politics, they also would simply rather not be involved with politics, which is one of the easiest ways to have our liberties fall to compromise and forfeit. If Americans don’t understand the importance of their distinct liberties or are not familiar with how difficult it was to achieve these inimitable liberties just two-hundred and sum years ago, then it would make logical sense that they will not take heed to exercise or defend their liberties.

Unfortunately it is evident that years of this has already allowed for legislation to compromise our liberties and mislead Americans for the worse. Some examples of this are the Federal Reserve Act, the Patriot Act, the National Defense Authorization Act, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, as well as, past and current gun legislation, to name only a few. In fact Texas Congressman Ron Paul stated today in his weekly update on his website; "Most legislation violates key provisions of the Constitution in very basic ways". These unconstitutional laws that get passed one by one are only part of a slow gradual process of small steps, but all of which will sum to a large loss in the end. It has been the common trend that many, if not all of these kinds of laws, get passed by talking people into giving up liberties in times of tragedy and chaos, when people are most vulnerable, in the name of safety, which cannot be obtained through government. Many people are not only unaware of what these laws are about and how greatly they impede and undermine our constitutional rights, but also how this will play out and affect all of us by allowing the transfer of power from citizens to government, putting the basic ideologies of our country at risk.    

What’s even worse is many times when people do become informed on these issues, they are faced with their own psychological defense system of denial and/or avoidance. This occurs when a person is faced with a fact that is too uncomfortable to accept and despite what may be overwhelming evidence; they reject the matter, insist that it is not true, dismiss it, or perhaps in this case even downplay the seriousness of the matter thinking it will not apply or affect them. Without the ability to not only seek out, understand and accept the facts, but also to act out effectively in response to them, America will continue down a road of demise, compromised liberty and more government control, while being fed the temporary illusion of progress and safety through government legislation.   

 Sources: 

Guardian of Democracy: The Civic Mission of Schools. 2003. The Leonore Annenberg Institute for Civics of the Annenberg Public Policy Center at the University of Pennsylvania and the Campaign for the Civic Mission of Schools.  http://www.civicmissionofschools.org/the-campaign/guardian-of-democracy-report

Armario, , Christine. Report: Students don't know much about US history 'We are failing to provide children with a high-quality, well-rounded education'. 6/14/2011 Associated Press. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/43397386/ns/us_news-life/t/report-students-dont-know-much-about-us-history/#.UN-E1qzNmU4

Study: Americans Don't Know Much About History There's an epidemic of historical and political ignorance, says report. 1/26/09 NBC Southern California. http://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/local/Study-Americans-Dont-Know-About-Much-About-History.html

2 in 3 Adults Watch NFL. 10/14/11 Marketing Charts Staff. http://www.marketingcharts.com/television/2-in-3-adults-watch-nfl-19687/

 Ron Paul’s New Year’s Message to Congress: Follow the Constitution. By: Ron Paul. 12/30/12 http://www.ronpaul.com/

Voter turnout. Wikipedia.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voter_turnout

Denial. Wikipedia.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denial


© 2012

Eastern Alternative Medicine Leads By Example Curing 68 People With HIV or AIDS

Eastern Alternative Medicine Leads By Example Curing 68 People With HIV or AIDS

By: Adam Busuttil

12-12-12

Gambian President Yahva Jammeh has developed a blend of boiled herbs that have been reported responsible for curing 68 people of either HIV or AIDS beginning since 2007. The 68 people  cured at Gambia’s Presidential Alternative Medical Treatment Program (PAMTP) is yet another example of the proven effectiveness of eastern alternative medicine, but western nations still tend to not only ignore and discredit natural remedies, but also fight against the practices, making them less accessible or not even an option under most health insurance policies. A clear example of this can be seen as the United Nations (U.N.) and the World Health Organization (WHO) has continued to battle against the success of Gambia’s PAMTP’s treatment claiming that it “puts patients at risk”.

Western medicine has made some progress in the 30 years of the HIV and AIDS epidemic, but it has been very limited progress at best. For example, there is the popular case of the “Berlin patient”, where Timothy Ray Brown had been claimed to be the first person “cured of HIV” by western mass media earlier this year, despite the earlier reports dating back to 2007 from Gambia’s PAMTP and doubts to Brown’s case from doctors. Steven Yuki at the University of California spoke about Brown’s case at the International Workshop on HIV and Hepatitis Virus in Spain earlier this year and said; "There are some signals of the virus, and we don't know if they are real or contamination", "and, at this point, we can't say for sure whether there's been complete eradication of HIV." The key treatment in Brown’s case relied upon bone marrow stem-cell transplants.

There has been 2 reported cases this year in the U.S. involving the use of stem-cell transplants, which have seen progress. Over the course of this process, the patients endured several treatments for lymphoma, then several stem-cell treatments while staying on their HIV drugs. Dr. Daniel Kuritzkes of Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston stated; “We found that immediately before the transplant and after the transplant, HIV DNA was in the cells. As the patients’ cells were replaced by the donor cells, the HIV DNA disappeared,” Both patients have been reported as HIV-free for over two years, but when asked if the patients can be told that they have been cured Kuritzkes said; “We’re being very careful not to do that”. Both patients still remain on AIDS drugs and are considered to still be under “experimental conditions”.

Despite this limited progress in western medicine’s success of curing the HIV epidemic, stem-cell procedures are so difficult and expensive that most agree it is unlikely that it will be used. Dr. Kuritzkes stated that “We’re never really going to be able to do bone marrow transplants in the millions of patients who are infected”.  There are approximately 34 million people infected with HIV and 25 million who have died from it globally.

This is a clear example of how, in many cases, western medicine creates several problems in the practicality of cures as it strictly affirms the almost exclusive use of expensive drugs and treatments for medical care, despite their many side-effects or failures. So why then has there been so much resistance in the western medicine society to alternative remedies? Author Joel Skousen, says that it is due to the claim of its proof of effectiveness, which comes from governments and medical boards whom only accept evidence in the case of random control, double-blind studies which are very costly and are often subject to skewed results by professional bias. Skousen states in his book, Strategic Relocation, that “Because none of the drug companies have any incentive to prove the efficacy of alternative therapies, the world’s body of knowledge comes mostly from anecdotal evidence, coupled with a lot of trial and error on the part of the user. “ Skousen goes on to explain that one of the greatest dangers of personal liberty is the tendency of western nations to legally restrict or prohibit people’s access to and use of natural health remedies-even when found to be more effective in practice and that the passage of Obamacare was a considerable step in this direction.

Sources:

Benson, Jonathan. "President of Gambia says special herbs cured dozens of patients with HIV, AIDS”. 10/13/12.  Naturalnews.com. http://www.naturalnews.com/037530_Gambia_herbs_AIDS_cure.html#ixzz2EtUHMtg4

McClellan, Liza A. M.D. “'Berlin Patient' Timothy Brown Says He Is Still HIV-Free”. 7/24/12. Abcnews.go.com. http://abcnews.go.com/Health/berlin-patient-timothy-ray-brown-hiv-free/story?id=16846827#.UMlM76zNmU4

 

Fox, Maggie. “Two more men with HIV now virus-free. Is this a cure?” 7/26/12. NBC News. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/48338421/ns/health-mens_health/t/two-more-men-hiv-now-virus-free-cure/#.UMk9lqzNmU4

 

Skousen, Joel M., Skousen, Andrew L. Strategic Relocation North American Guide to Safe Places 3^rd Edition. Printing Resource, Lindon, Utah. 2010.

 

© 2012

Washington Sneaks In New Obamacare Tax

Washington Sneaks In New Obamacare Tax

By: Adam Busuttil
12-11-12

With much debate in Washington over the Bush tax rates, little attention has been given to the new Obamacare tax set to take effect the first of the year.  Could this be an attempt to focus attention away from the new Obamacare tax? An article by Fox News claims that while much of the talk in Washington has been focused around the Bush tax rates, the fee’s in the new Obamacare tax has been “largely overlooked”.       

The IRS released a report earlier this month outlining the fee’s and rules of this new tax.  One of the overlooked fees is the new medical device tax. Georgia Congressman Tom Price said in a statement; “Now, everything from latex gloves to pacemakers will become more expensive and in some cases, more scarce,” Congressman Price also added; “The tax on medical devices harms America’s ability to conduct the necessary research and development to maintain our global competitiveness, resulting in the loss of tens of thousands of jobs and fewer groundbreaking innovations in this field. With millions of Americans unemployed, this simply makes no sense.”

While there are several fees involved in the new tax, the medical device fee alone imposes a 2.3% tax on certain medical devices, but that figure is based on gross sales and how that will impact actual earnings is said to be inaccurate and estimated to be closer to 15%.  The new tax has already caused new medical facilities to cancel plans to open, such as Cook-Medical in Indiana who had plans to open 5 new facilities. 

Regardless of whether Bush tax cuts are extended or not, tax rates will increase do to this new Obamacare tax and the cost of medical expenses will likely increase with it.

Earlier this year the House voted to repeal the tax, but the Senate never took it up.  

 Sources:

Deal or no deal, ObamaCare taxes poised to hit next month. December 08, 2012 FoxNews.com. http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/12/08/deal-or-no-deal-obamacare-taxes-poised-to-hit-next-month/

© 2012