Showing posts with label Constitution. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Constitution. Show all posts

Greetings Mayor Pagano

Public letter to the current Mayor of St. Peters, MO

I've been looking at your actions and writing about them.

I intend to write much more. I also intend to see that you are removed from office as soon as possible. You are a threat to the Democracy of this country. You have already taken it too far. If you would have read the constitution of your state you would have seen that at no point, ever, are the citizens of the State of Missouri ever relieved of their power. You looked at Missouri Revised Statutes -- Chapter 71 Provisions Relative to All Cities and Towns  
It would have been advisable to begin at Chapter 1

State Constitution Challenge


I can't believe I actually thought Missouri's Constitution was a bit soft last night. I've read over its protections from its own government several times now and ... wow. I even posted Washington's as a comparison. -- no comparison.

Which gave me an Idea. I'm going to make a tour of the State Constitutions, and look at their individual protection measures from the Legislation of the State. Citizen Protection from Government Dictatorship are built-in measures most of the state's have in their State Rights. I am told by a fairly reliable source that every state has this written into the constitution, and that it was one of the things every state had to have. Like each state had to have a Blaine Law.

Excuse me...
but You Have
Snot In your Brain

Take a look at this...Low Interest Story on Traffic Lights As you can tell, I don't really care about the damn traffic lights or this county in Missouri. In fact, I was deep-searching the alec.org web site to see what they were cooking up for local legistrators this week, and had done another search prior, which brought this traffic light story up -- just a normal irrelevant search result (SERP). I was about to close it when this line caught my attention.
City leaders argue that the 69,469 residents who voted for the measure had no business limiting the right of local politicians to use automated ticketing machines.
The voters... The Voters had no right telling the politicians what they could and could not do.

Freedom of the Press - Freedom without Protection


"A critical, independent and investigative press is the lifeblood of any democracy. The press must be free from state interference. It must have the economic strength to stand up to the blandishments of government officials. It must have sufficient independence from vested interests to be bold and inquiring without fear or favour. It must enjoy the protection of the constitution, so that it can protect our rights as citizens." - Nelson Mandela
I realized as I read this quote from Nelson Mandela, that we do not have a "A critical, independent and investigative press" any longer.  The cynical will tell me we never did, but that's not true. We did have a strong News system during in years past. Now, however, nearly every news source available to us is fully corrupted by outside interest and inside bias.

Every reporter will naturally have some bias.  This is the first thing taught to serious history students. No matter how hard you try, some bias will exist in your findings, because of the experiences and knowledge obtained by our individual backgrounds. We see more clearly those things which we have previously agreed are important before. We hear more clearly those words we have  previously heard and understood before -- but this is not the level of bias I am pointing out. I'm speaking of the level of bias that creates a News system whose reports are over 40% wrong, lies, or deceptions. I'm talking about a bias which will ignore important events because they are inconvenient for their constituents. I am talking about a bias of willful and orchestrated ignorance.

Jon Stewart of the Daily Show: Slams the Koch Brothers

Daily Show viewers are likely to be the most -- moderately informed, if not best informed -- viewers (viewers being the people who still bother to watch the tripe produced for cable TV these days). This is because, Jon Stewart (and Stephen Colbert on his show), will slam anyone who is acting stupid, or trying to gloss over a heinous activity. Historically, these two shows don't really care if their targets are Democrat or Republican, or Tea Party or in the seat of the White House ... or advertising on the time slot of their show, as the Koch brothers found out this week. Basically the message is, "we care about our viewers, and if you are going to imply that we condone your actions, you are leading with your chin."  





Thank you Jon Stewart for Doing It Right!

If you would like answers to baffling questions like these:

Why is America 83% in favor of health insurance companies being required to accept pre-existing conditions, yet only 43% in favor of Obamacare?

Why after six years of growth on Wall Street, lowering Unemployment, bringing healthcare reform and encouraging public schools with unprecedented resources for teachers which will minimize the unpaid "at home" hours they are required to engage in, is Obama's acceptance level only 43%?

Why, even after the Speaker of the House has admitted to the public that it is Congress who is holding up Immigration Reform (for the last six years) and even after the elections in November will continue to hold up Immigration Reform for another two years -- is the News Industry still pointing their finger at Obama?

Why, after Obama wrote an executive order directing activities which will insure the proper adoption of ACA by companies who have between  50 and 100 employees, which is well within his job description, and historically not even close to being a over-reach -- did Congress (while blocking, and fighting to make ACA fail) sue Obama with cheers coming from across the Internet?

Why, with only an 8% approval rating for their performance for the last two years, and the culture of obstruction they have created, do any of the Congressmen coming up for election in November have any chance of wining? Let alone, in some states, an edge in winning?

For answers to these and other troubling questions tumbling around in the educated minds of America, the Koch Brothers are a good place to start.

The goals of the Koch brothers, truly, do not have your best interests in mind. Here's a list that has been complied and researched.

Lessons Learned : Obama Sued By Congress

Lessons Learned is for teachers who wish to add into their curriculum lessons from current events which are highlighted in the news and a focus their students are interested in. There are many very good resources out on the Internet now for focused, well made, professional CCSS aligned lesson modules. From these resources, I try to find a few so that teachers can review them and use them in their classrooms. 


Current Event : For the first time in History, Congress (as Congress) is suing the President of the United States.


When, on July 2, the Obama Administration announced a one-year postponement of the January 1, 2014 effective date for the Affordable Care Act's requirement that large employers provide their workers health insurance or pay a tax, affected businesses "cheered." But anti-"Obamacare" advocates and politicians howled. They saw a "blatantly illegal move" (Brietbart.com pundit Ken Klukowski), a government acting "as though it were not bound by law" (CATO Institute economist Michael Cannon), and an unconstitutional "refus[al] to enforce" a democratically enacted law (Congressional Joint Resolution #45, introduced July 10 by New Jersey House Republican Scott Garrett). In the Wall Street Journal, Stanford Professor Michael McConnell, formerly a George W. Bush appointee to the federal bench, huffed that the decision "raises grave concerns about [President Obama's] understanding" that, unlike medieval British monarchs, American presidents have, under Article II, Section 3 of our Constitution, a "duty, not a discretionary power" to "take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed." Following up in the Journal this Monday, David Rivkin and Lee Casey, who helped lawyer last year's legal challenge to the ACA individual mandate, darkly intimated that the new employer mandate delay could trigger litigation that could result in "the whole statute fall[ing] while the president's suspension is in effect."


Constitution Ariticle 2 sec 3 clause 3

He shall from time to time give to the Congress Information of the State of the Union, and recommend to their Consideration such Measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient; he may, on extraordinary Occasions, convene both Houses, or either of them, and in Case of Disagreement between them, with Respect to the Time of Adjournment, he may adjourn them to such Time as he shall think proper; he shall receive Ambassadors and other public Ministers; he shall take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed, and shall Commission all the Officers of the United States.

Lessons for Class: 

In this blended lesson supporting literacy skills, students learn about the three branches of the United States government. Students develop their literacy skills as they explore a social studies focus on the powers that the Constitution assigns to each branch—legislative, executive, and judicial—and how the three branches work together. During this process, they read informational text, learn and practice vocabulary words, and explore content through videos and interactive activities.
CCSS: Strong alignment with adaption from k5-k12


NOTE: The lesson looked so good and engaging that I am listing it but it is not aligned with Common Core. Perhaps a little bit of adjustment could make it so.
In this lesson, students will examine the duties of the President as written in the Constitution and what the Oath of Office means.
CCSS: None - only National Alignment 


This course covers American Government: the Constitution, the branches of government (Presidency, Congress, Judiciary) and how politics works: elections, voting, parties, campaigning, policy making.  In addition we’ll look at how the media, interest groups, public opinion polls and political self-identification (are you liberal or conservative, Democrat or Republican or something else?) impact politics and political choices.  We’ll also cover the basics in economic, social and foreign policy and bring in current issues and show how they illustrate the process.
CCSS: None. This is a College Level Open Course for Government


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