Frame of Reference Example

Several blogs ago, Frame of Reference was the topic.  I received an email from a friend about Thomas Jefferson.  It is such a good example of building a frame of reference that I thought it would be good to include it in this blog.
                              Who Was Thomas Jefferson?
Over the years the world has seen many brilliant people-and then there was Thomas Jefferson.  Here is a snapshot of his background.  Brilliant does not begin to describe him.
Thomas Jefferson was a very remarkable man who started learning very early in life, and never stopped...

• At 5, began studying under his cousin's tutor.
• At 9, studied Latin, Greek, and French
• At 14, studied classical literature and additional languages.
• At 16, entered the College of William and Mary.
• At 19, studied Law for 5 years starting under George Wythe.
• At 23, started his own law practice.
• At 25, was elected to the Virginia House of Burgesses.
• At 31, wrote the widely circulated "Summary View of the Rights of British America" and retired from his law practice.
• At 32, was a Delegate to the Second Continental Congress.
• At 33, wrote the Declaration of Independence.
• At 33 took three years to revise Virginia's legal code and wrote a Public Education Bill and a statute for Religious Freedom.
• At 36, was elected the second Governor of Virginia succeeding Patrick Henry.
• At 40, served in Congress for two years.
• At 41, was the American minister to France and negotiated commercial treaties with European nations with Ben Franklin and John Adams.
• At 46, served as the first Secretary of State under George Washington.
• At 53, served as Vice President and was elected president of the American Philosophic Society.
• At 55, drafted the Kentucky Resolutions and became the active head of Republican Party.
• At 57, was elected the third president of the United States.
• At 60, obtained the Louisiana Purchase doubling the nation's size.
• At 61, was elected to a second term as President.
• At 65, retired to Monticello.
• At 80, helped President Monroe shape the Monroe Doctrine.
• At 81, almost single-handedly created the University of Virginia and served as its first president.
• At 83, died on the 50th anniversary of the Signing of the Declaration of Independence along with John Adams.

Thomas Jefferson was the finest mind in the colonies, his "Frame of Reference was extensive.  How did he obtain such a frame of reference?  First, he was fortunate to come from the upper class and had time to read, take part,travel, use his mind, body and senses. When he looked at a situation, because he had worked so hard in his research, his frame of reference engulfed what ever he was receiving and he could weigh the strengths and weaknesses better than anyone, people relied upon his judgement. Jefferson amassed the largest "library" in the colonies( his library would later become the beginning of The Library of Congress)  Remember, books were expensive and hard to obtain.  A person of wealth could spend that kind of money and he had the time to read and strengthen his "Frame of Reference".
He also studied previous failed attempts at government.  He understood actual history, the nature of God,his laws and the nature of man. 
John F. Kennedy said it best:
He held a dinner in the White House for a group of the brightest minds in the nation at that time.  He made this statement: "This is perhaps the assembly of the most intelligent people ever to gather at one time in the White House, with the exception of when Thomas Jefferson dined alone."

Being a citizen in a democratic republic takes education, constant updating of knowledge, travel--America is beautiful, but it also has physical problems that it's citizens need to engulf, an active curiousity and the ability to get involved in civic events.  Learn to serve as a volunteer, join a service club,  group that helps the homeless , get to see all your neighbors.  There is much more, however this example of Thomas Jefferson shows you what made up his Frame of Reference--it took a great deal of work.  Are people going to rely upon your decisions?

Empty Exercises II

Empty Exercises © was originally phrased in 2005 by John Nichols, then The Nation's Washington D.C. Correspondent in an article called "An Empty Exercise in Deceit" on Friday, January 21, 2005.  The article was about President G.W. Bush's second inaugural address
It discussed the first term of GWB and he suggested that the second term wouldn't be any better.  He discussed Iraq and Bush's deliberate misreading of intelligence information that lead us into that situation, and he thought that there was no indication whatsoever that he had learned from the mistakes and misdeeds of his first term.
Mr. Nichols brought out Empty Exercises by Mr. Bush:  "America will not impose our own style of government on the unwilling."  Sounds great doesn't it?  But, "did anyone read that as an abandonment of the doctrine of preemptive war that served as an excuse for the unilateral invasion and occupation of Afghanistan and Iraq during the President's first term?  The article goes on to explain several areas where Americans were deceived. 
The article brings forth several areas that we citizens must watch our  politicians and our wallets.
A concept that is common of politicians everywhere:  The Hallow Law.  A politician's constituency is upset about a specific problem in his district.  Let's say, tainted water by a chemical plant that is harming the people down river.  The people organize, an interest group, they do everything correct; they bring their problem to their representative. The politician is concerned about the problem and takes their concerns under advisement and will get back to them as soon as possible.  What the interest group doesn't know is, the owners of the chemical plant gave the Congressman money for his campaign, the Congressman owes them a favor, so, the Congressman calls the owner of the factory and the owner is asked to write a bill for a  law prohibiting the chemical factory from putting chemicals in the river.  The interest group sees the bill move forward and moves smoothly through Congress and is signed by the President.  After the bill is enacted, the interest group people test the water and see that the chemical plant is still putting chemicals into the river.  They are furious--they haven't been active for a while and can't get too many people excited about something they thought they had solved.  When the interest group goes to the representative and asks why they are still putting chemicals into the river, the Representative looks over the signed bill and finds a small paragraph explaining that this bill applies to chemical plants with more than 20,000 square feet of operation, the plant up the river from the people only has 10,000 square feet, thus the bill does not apply to that plant because it falls under the 20,000 sq.ft floor.
The people did everything correct, except having a watchdog go over the bill before it was adopted, having paragraphs ready for insertion into the bill and having the watchdog make sure it was inserted, checking on the size of the plant, and making sure their representative worked for them.
The bill, now a law looked great from the outside, just as a hallow log looks, but the inside of the log was deteriorated by ants, termites small and large animals just as members of "Free Enterprise" eat away at perfectly well-intentioned "bills" so that they are protected from the "rule of the citizens".  The reason they wanted the chemicals dumped into the river was:  1.  It was easy, 2. It was cost effective, 3.  They didn't care for where ever or whomever was damaged, all they cared about was the bottom line profit. 
If you know any "Empty Exercises" that you would like to comment about, please feel free to discuss them in the comment section below.

Empty Exercises

Empty exercises, those exercises of political, economic, religious, whatever, that "fake out" their constitency, but show their efficacy in doing a job that they have been put in place to represent their constituency, team, whomever, and make themselves valuable and stay in their positions.
A prime example is the Republican Party in the majority within the current U.S. House of Representatives.  Another would be the Republican Party in the House that voted to impeach then President William J. Clinton. 
The current Republican Party in the House, has introduced bills that they know will never pass the Senate or the veto process of the President.  They are doing what they were elected to do by their constitutency, and their political party.  What these political people are forgetting is; they were put in their positions to represent the people.  They are supposed to receive the information presented to them in Congress and vote for the greater good instead of taking their preconceived ideas of their constituency and party to vote in a block.  They need to acheive the passage of bills that will actually pass through the House/Senate and President.  It is ideally why they were put into office.  Empty Exercises WASTE TIME! 
When you are thinking about who you want to support for a political party, insure you watch their previous performances, their support for legislature, their language in the public.  There is a Senator who recently made a statement of fact, in a speech, but when shown that he had made a error, he simply said that any of his public speeches are not statement of fact.  I think he needs to re-think that statement, our representation is in those positions to gather in all the data, make a judgement on the issue and state to his constituency what he has found out and why he agrees or disagrees.

Victory does not have to include violence!

Victory, victory, victory!!!  The Egyptian population, led by youth and technology led a non-violent revolution to oust their leader of nearly three decades.  This revolution is setting the example for the Arab world.  It can be done without weapons!! Congratulations to all the people who participated in the win and the clean-up.  Did you see everyone cleaning up after themselves?  EVERYONE pitched in!!  Yahoo!!!!
Now the hard work begins.  With the assistance of the military, the civilian population can now start the very difficult job of organizing political parties, having committees seek out what needs changing within the government/Constitution, organizing fund raising, seeking people to run for office, ensuring safety for all concerned, GETTING THE ECONOMY BACK ON IT'S FEET, putting many of the unemployed college educated people into jobs where they can use their learning as an asset and help get the country back on it's feet.  The effort before them is daunting, it will take every fibre of strength within their bodies to make this all work.  But, if they can make a revolution go off as well as they did this one, WORKING TOGETHER IS ALREADY A GIVEN!!

Tucson Tragedy demands gun control

Common Dreams.org is a wonderful addition to the internet.  One of the latest articles is from Harvey Wasserman, Jan 13, 2011 "The Second Amendment Demands Gun Control."  Mr. Wasserman is senior advisor to Greenpeace USA and the Nuclear Information Resource Service, and writes regularly for http://www.freepress.org/.
The Second Amendment supports the control of guns--not slaughter that compromises our security.
The debate that has occurred during the past few months from Sarah Palin and her "crosshairs" on certain "districts" and the Foxnews opinionists is long overdue.  Perhaps a suggestion that may help both sides of the debate.
Here is what the Second Amndment actually says:
     "A well-regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free state,
       the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed."

According to Mr. Wasserman:  "...the right to bear arms is granted only in the context of a well-regulate militia and thus the security of a free state."
"A National Guard, yes.  Heavily-armed lunatics roaming the streets unregulated?  Never."

There is a country where all males between the ages of 18 and 65 belong to the "Militia". The largest national celebration is the "National Turkey Shoot", where the nation finds out who is the best shot.  To accomplish this Turkey Shoot, all males are issued the latest rifle, army uniforms, helmet, etc.  the militia meets periodically in there own "locale" plus serve a "tour of duty, usually two weeks during the summer--there are no exceptions, when your tour of duty comes up, you must go.  As a militia member you are expected
to know all about your military, including gun safety.  The country is the best defended, best equiped military in the world.  Airplanes are hidden in small hamlets and use streets to take-off and land, artillery positions are within false-fronted mountains, supplies are within false-side walls, all roads and bridges are tank-trapped and have hidden explosive charges that can be exploded from a central command post, the entire population takes part in assisting, and the government has planned for the protection of the population.
In all major cities, there are underground shelters fully stocked with rations, beds, hospitals, sanitation,water, you name it, for the entire city population. 
This nation has a proud heritage in their military.  At one time, their troops were the highest paid mercenaries, because they always won battles.  Currently, their troops are still paid warriors, Paid by the Vatican.  Yes, those young men standing guard in the black and orange pantaloons with a pike for protection(a long stick with a metal point).  These positions are passed from father to son.  Their heritage is Swiss.
Yes, Switzerland is the country referenced here.  They protect there country so well, that when Hitler was looking to move into France in WWII, he had two choices, one was Switzerland, the other was Belgium.  He knew he would never make it through Switzerland because of their preparation, so he chose the other route.  Switzerland is known for it's neutrality, banks, wonderful food, and nice people.
Perhaps, our government could glean some of what the Swiss do and apply it to our 2nd amendment situation.  It would take plenty of work, however, it would take care of our "gun situation" and it would take care of our "men" situation.  All men between the ages of 18-65 would be in the militia.  We could still have a voluntary army such as we currently have, however, the only way you could get into the "voluntary army" would be to have served in the militia and obtained skills that could be used in the "voluntary army".   If you let your imagination run away with yourself, this would eliminate many problems.  For example: Young men would not be allowed to go to college without serving say, 18 months after they graduate from high school in the militia, then they could go to college, say with money from still serving in the militia, or scholarships from the militia for being the best rifleman, the best mechanic, etc. 
Problem youths would be eliminated.  The militia would establish military discipline and the young people would come into the college world invigorated and excited to accomplish their next level.  Oh, you say, no one does that to their youth.  Germany does.  German 18 year-olds are required to do just as I have described above.  Except for those 18 year-olds that have passed the Arbeitur.  That is the exam all German youth's must take to graduate from Gymnasium, or high school.  Those student's have their entire college education paid for by the state. Real incentive to achieve!!
All students would have the opportunity to attend college.  Rich alumni's children would not be the only ones attending college's.   I think you see where this could continue.  You don't have to believe what I have written.  I have placed a link for your viewing about the Swiss Army and it's preparation.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vEOLonBfaD8
The Swiss have the luxury of being able to trust their government and the government has the luxury of being able to trust their people.

Republicans signal intentions--but, are they going to be productive?

The Republican Party will be assuming control of the House of Representatives soon, but their early messages from newly appointed committee chairmen indicate stall tactics and wasted time.
There has been word from these committee chairmen that they are going to call all the Democratic Administration Cabinet Officers in to their committees to explain why they spent so much money in the past two years. In my opinion, this is a waste of time. The Republicans only want a stage from which to present their particular views against what the Democrats accomplished--but notice, absolutely nothing will be presented to "correct" what the Democrats have accomplished.
They are going to attempt to repeal the Health Care Bill, that has already been signed,sealed and delivered. They might get a repeal measure through the House, but won't get it through the Senate, remember, the Senate has a Democratic majority, plus they won't get it past President Obama's veto and there are not enough votes to override the President's veto in Congress (there must be 60% in each house to override a Presidential veto).
This is the kind of thinking you must develop if you going to be an EDUCATED CITIZEN. The Republicans are doing the same thing they did with former President Bill Clinton and his impeachment. EVERYONE KNEW THERE WAS NOT ENOUGH VOTES TO CONVICT PRESIDENT CLINTON in the Senate, but the Republicans wanted to put a black mark on President Clinton's presidency, so they proceeded with the impeachment and trial. The Republicans are going to have their hands full with the new Tea Party members that were elected this term. The Tea Party members are upset with everyone, including the Republicans. Look at their pledge to America last year, they listed many items they wanted to do, but did not list one single way to correct the situation, they wanted to call for a meeting of constituents and have them find out how to correct the situation. That is not leadership.
One other small point, President Clinton's presidency gave GWB $282 Billion in surplus. After eight years of Bush, Obama was faced with the largest deficit since the Depression, you might ask, where did all the money go? Hummmm, let's see, contracts being let to "friends" without the bidding process, two questionable wars--off budget--filling the pockets of lobbyist and friends, the list goes on and on. It will be interesting to see how the Republicans jump on Obama's spending. The Republicans are going to open the proverbial can of worms.

Now, that's more like it.

The efforts of Congress this past week, passing crutial bills, working together, compromising, looking out for Americans, that's what a Congress is supposed to look like. Look how much they accomplished in one week, what if they would work that hard at what else is on their agenda and actually clean up the legislation, clean up the I.R.S. write-offs, not pay our vendors until the actually complete the work as designed, stop the over-runs. This mid-term election was a wake-up call for all politicians--they still must account to the people. The voters CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE.