To Catch a Predator: Part One

There are all types of predators out here. For the sake of our well being and that of our families, responsible Americans need to be on the look out for all types of predators at all times. This "To Catch a Predator" (borrowed from NBC) blog series will discuss matters of predators and prey.


Part One: Online Child Predators

These online predators are really sick...I watched the last installment of "To Catch a Predator", and it only reminded me that when my son gets older, he will NOT be using the internet alone for a very long time (he's just a toddler now).

I see it this way: internet access is so vast a territory, its like letting your child loose in the big city by himself or herself. If you honestly think that your child is old enough, competent enough, and responsible enough to run errands in the big city by themselves and still make it home on time with the agreed upon agenda accomplished, then maybe that child can be trusted alone on the internet. However, not many kids younger than 16 could pull it off, either in the real world or in cyberspace. Most elementary school and junior-high school students just aren't grounded enough to handle such exposure without falling into curiosity and temptation.

So I will be monitoring my child's internet access until he can legally drive. If I am overprotective for that, then oh well. But I tell you what, my baby is not going to be lured into a private chat with a sicko molester because I wasn't there parenting like I should. I hope Dateline has helped many underexposed and undereducated parents realize the extent of their responsibilities concerning children and technology access.


What do YOU think?

I.C. Jackson
http://northstar.icjackson.com

Capitalists Don't Complain - They Gain

Liberals have tried to make “capitalism” a four-letter word. Too many underprivileged Americans have bought into it. Why? Because it’s much easier to complain than it is to get off of your hump and take responsibility for your own future. If Johnny has a bigger house than you and a thriving company to pay for it, that doesn’t make him the Devil. It makes him someone you should look to for clues on how to get what you want out of life.

Although as a Christian, I do not believe in waste or excessive carnal indulgence, I do understand that people usually only have a problem with prices when they can’t afford to pay them. Mr Big’s shiny new car wouldn’t make you mad if you could afford to get one. The prices of gas and food wouldn’t matter so much to you if you had the money to get all that you needed. Does that make price gouging right? No; it doesn’t. However, sitting around, standing around, walking around, or even marching around complaining about it and demonizing those who have the means to enjoy the finer things in life won’t put any food on your table, either – that is, unless you are the worst capitalist of all – the pseudosavior who gets paid to focus on problems and “oppressors” without ever coming to real solutions.

Free thinkers know the solution – go out and get enough money so that you don’t have to suffer. Ben Stein just published an article for the New York Times that really performs – not only does he admonish people that “You Can Complain, or You Can Make Money”, but he even tells young capitalists what pitfalls to avoid and what industries to consider on the road to wealth.

With disturbing statistics and practical advice, Ben Stein gives any conservative thinker whose ship has not yet come in another reason to put forth more effort today than yesterday toward becoming economically free.

Check it out:

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/15/business/yourmoney/15every.html?em&ex=1161230400&en=7da3d33729fdfa3f&ei=5087%0A

Stay active and driven,

I.C. Jackson
http://northstar.icjackson.com

What's Your Motivation?

It has been an interesting journey so far, on the road to freedom...

I think freely, and therefore learn to live freely...but it takes time to get adjusted. Living and fraternizing with slaves for so long, it really wears on your soul and your perspective. You can have a grand awakening, and then smaller, subsequent awakenings after that for the rest of your life.

I was talking to a wise man (the first thing you need to travel the road), and as we discussed public education, I asked a question that had been pressing on my heart for a long time:

As a product of 'gifted and talented' public schools, I actually received a competetive education, and am intellectually competant, unlike many to most (depending on who you ask) public school graduates in this country. My elementary/middle school in particular was created to compete with private schools, and the curriculum was much more demanding. It was standard to take pre-Algebra in the 6th grade, and I felt like that was a little late...

Higher achievement was a standard, and the curriculum works. Many of the graduates of both my primary and secondary schools go on to Yale, Harvard, and the like. So my question was, 'why then, if there is a curriculum in public schools that is working, is it not just standardized? White public schools in my state use similar curriculums; are 'gifted and talented' Black students only as good as average White students? If this program wis working with Black children, why not open it up to all?'

Then the wise man said something that made me think deeply. He said, 'You are still under the assumption that they want your children to learn.'

I must admit, I have been one to wear the rose-colored glasses, and I, as a former slave, had not though much about the business of poverty and ignorance before I beagn to seek out freedom. It didn't occur to me that those in charge who claimed that they were doing all they can were not. I understood that there was and is still systemic racism, but I did not understand how deep those roots had come to grow. I never thought that people, even on the ground and grass-roots levels, were really as unconcerned with the development of young Black minds as others had accused them of being.

The wise man said, 'Think about it; as young as you are, if you can see that, don't you think that those with the power to do what you asked can see it, too? They don't care about your children; they care about theirs. And they don't make money when your children are adequately educated...'

The ordeal causes me to remember some really good advice a friend gave me a few years ago. She told me, when confronted with people or issues with the potential to affect me, to ask, "What's Your Motivation?" There are lots of people who claim lots of things, but you can sift out the lies and the liars by simply analyzing what a person's motivations must be.

I must admit, I had only been applying the formula selectively. I am back on the investigative hunt, seeking the truth more fervently, with a renewed sense of purpose. No one cares about my baby but my husband and me, so, although he is much too young to attend school, I have to get back on the ball, checking these places out now. I started when I was pregnant (I moved to a new city not long before I became pregnant), but I admit, I had become slack in those efforts.

But no more - my motivation is the welfare of my family. The powers that be don't care about my family a bit more than the man in the moon - and they're not supposed to. That's my job. So, I am off to work for the sake of what motivates me.

What's your motivation?

I.C. Jackson
http://northstar.icjackson.com

Michigan Governor's Race - Slave vs. Free

**Warning – This post is informal and conversational; this is not for the faint of heart or the pseudointellectual bourgeoisie**


So I’m talking to my husband earlier tonight, and one of these crap campaign messages comes on. It’s Jennifer Granholm, (D, MI), governor of Michigan, making a new appeal to the brain dead and hopeless of our state. I’m still pretty heated, so excuse me if I’m ‘insensitive’ right now – blogs are for venting, aren’t they?

Well, this new commercial is some lame attempt at taking the ‘high road’ (HA!) on the issues, since all of her previous mudslinging has not gotten her anywhere in the polls (the race is about 50-50), and she is now an advocate for education. Granholm asks us, ‘if your child isn’t doing well in school, don’t you want to know about it?’ She then says that she will pass a law that forces teachers to contact parents when the kids aren’t doing well in school, because she really cares about the children and the future of Michigan. Excuse me? If you need a teacher to call you and tell you that little Johnny is stupid, you are, too! You ought to KNOW whether or not your child is doing well in school, and if you have to pass a law to get teachers to do their jobs, then you need to gut out the entire school system and try to figure something else out. This is some crap, it just makes me sick to my stomach.

She tries to paint this picture of her opponent, Dick DeVos, son of Amway co-founder Rich DeVos, like he is a shady dealer who only wants to be governor to line his own pockets because he doesn’t care about Michigan workers, only the rich. She lies and says that he lobbied in Washington and donated about $1M to the Republican National Committee so that he could get a $19M tax break for Amway and that, catch this, she actually asks Michiganders, “and what did YOU get? The bill”. Did I? I don’t remember getting that bill. I also don’t remember tax breaks being for anyone who does not create JOBS, so why would I be mad at this man again? Her entire mud slinging campaign (more on that in this MySpace Blog: CLICK HERE) has centered around making Michiganders believe that Dick DeVos is evil because he knows how to make money, and apparently, most of us don’t. Although she has been getting paid to care about Michigan workers and Michigan jobs for the past four years and hasn’t gotten us anywhere, she accuses him of not caring because when he was not getting paid to care, he laid some people off. Lay offs happen in every business – so what? Its not nice, but this man is supposed to do what’s best for his business. If his business is Amway, he should do what’s best for Amway. If his business is Michigan, he should do what’s best for Michigan. Right?

So I continue to talk to my husband about how only someone with a slave mentality would think that Dick DeVos is low down because he isn’t standing on your doorstep begging you to come on and get some of his money. We live in a capitalist nation, and these Democratic socialists keep trying to make successful people apologize to your poor behind for not being poor with you. I told my husband that this race is like a recurring circumstance when we go out to eat. He always orders what he wants, and when our entrées arrive, he complains that my food looks better than his. Then, he ends up eating some of mine. I told him that the reason that always happens is because my husband (with his large stature and even bigger heart) orders based on what he thinks will get him full instead of what looks good. Then, when he realizes his dish isn’t as appetizing as something more exotic (like I usually get), he’s disappointed, and still doesn’t get full off of it. I suggested that if he, or anyone else for that matter, wanted to get full, don’t demand that the restaurant put more food on your plate for the same price – you just bring some more money so that you can get an appetizer and a dessert, and get full the old fashioned way. I think that if more people subscribed to a conservative view in day to day life, they would understand why we subscribe to it politically. Governor Granholm is trying to appeal to people who still think that somebody owes them something, and points the finger saying ‘Dick DeVos won’t give you what you need and deserve, but I will’. What’s worse than her philosophy is the fact that she is a liar. She said that before and we didn’t get anything. Not that I needed anything from her like that, but deliver what you promise, whatever it is.

Whether Dick DeVos is a monster like she claims he is or not, the fact of the matter is that Dick DeVos is a businessman. He knows how to make money. Michigan needs money. He knows how to create jobs. Michigan needs jobs. Case closed. Jennifer Granholm is a lawyer. She knows how to shuck and jive and persuade people to believe her arguments. Does Michigan need any more of that?


Is it really that hard to think freely?


Take care (of yourself),

I.C. Jackson


(If you know someone from Michigan who would appreciate this blog, please email them this URL. Thank you.)

Freedom of the Press Causes Bondage of the Weak

It’s amazing how the “freedom of the press” can actually hinder your personal freedom as a citizen. An industry that fights so hard to be free to tell the truth without fear of government censoring has proven to be the very vehicle for mass brainwashing in America today. Unsuspecting souls watch news broadcasts every day, expecting to be told the truth about current events and political developments locally and nationally. However, what they usually get is spin – someone’s slant on the facts instead of the facts themselves. Those slants produce what is called “public opinion”, a term that is really a misnomer. Most public opinion is actually the opinion of the press imposed upon the people. And what happens then to the people? After a while, whoever controls the media reaps an army of drones, ready to act on emotion, depending on the lies that they have been fed for their daily food.

Think I’m taking it too far? Listen to Hilmar von Campe, former Hitler Soldier. In an interview conducted by Sharon Hughes, she writes, “He recounted what it was like being a Hitler Youth and Soldier, surprisingly telling that there was no formal indoctrination to the Youth or Soldiers. Rather, the indoctrination came via the media (radio and newspaper). Hitler's goal was to indoctrinate the whole German people. Everyone thought they were just getting the news.” (Click Here for full article)

“Are you calling Uncle Sam HITLER?” No, I’m not. What I am saying, however, is that media control is a very powerful thing, so we have to watch and read ‘the news’ with a very discerning eye. For instance, there is much to be gained in Bush-bashing these days; many political ‘leaders’ are getting air time and campaign dollars for spewing the most controversial or creative venom at the President. However, because hating Bush is popular, reporting the things that have gone well during the Bush administration is not only not a priority, it almost doesn’t exist! (Click here for more on that topic) So, when the facts show that the economy is actually growing at a considerable rate and that the deficit is down, the newscasts don’t report it. Although that kind of news would sound like music to the ears of Americans, giving the Bush administration credit for managing some things well does not get ratings, so overemphasizing Bush’s shortcomings and bashing the entire Republican party becomes the way to go.

So why don’t people wake up and begin to seek the facts for themselves, or at least suspect that something has to be off-center? Too much slant, and everything at the other end comes crashing down. Not many people are perceptive enough to smell what’s fishy...but then again, very few people are free...

Freedom 101

Good morning/afternoon/evening to you, wherever you are. If you’re here, it’s because you are looking for freedom – economic freedom, personal freedom, and a legacy of success to leave behind.. Rest assured that you are on the right ‘track’. The New Underground Railroad is opening safehouses, sending out conductors, and helping those who have learned to help themselves grow stronger in their conviction to become victors instead of victors. Former slaves are returning to the plantation with a doctrine of freedom and a road to get there...

But one must take the first steps first. A path has been forged, and those who seek freedom need only to follow the ‘North Star’, or the shining success stories that are already being told. Too many who would be free waste all of their energy pondering the depths of freedom with a limited slave mentality, when the road to freedom is being traveled right before their eyes...

So what do you do? Well, a wise man once said that “success leaves clues” – I choose to study those who are successful, and begin to find my way as I learn the principles. Its not about any particular industry or career path; the success is in the principles, which I found (the hard way) are not intuitive. No one just wakes up knowing the principles of success; they MUST be taught. And how much more must they be taught to someone who has suffered with a slave mentality!

Now here we are, in Freedom 101 – what’s the first thing we need? A textbook! What kind of textbook is there for what a former slave needs to learn? A book written by a former slave who has achieved freedom and success, of course!

Go here to find the most comprehensive manual for Freedom 101 that I have ever seen:

CLICK HERE