President Obama makes colleges rethink tuition hikes

I have long ranted about how colleges abuse their monopolization on education by forcing unnecessary tuition hikes year after year.  It had come to the point that I actually touted them as holding our lives for ransom under degrees that are often overestimated in worth and exaggerated in need.

 

This may seem completely contradictory to my love for learning and ascertainment that “Knowledge is power,” but it simply is not.  One can easily teach themselves how to do virtually anything in our media millennium.  Unless it’s surgery or piloting a plane, & yeah ok, I’ll concede a few other ambitions, most specialties can be honed at home.

While society is a long way from bowing to my point of view, degrees are nearly a prerequisite – although not a reassurance of – employment for now and the future.  Given this, I have already informed my children that 1) yes, you’ll go to college, but 2) there’s no way your father & I can afford it.  At least they have no misconceptions ahead of time and realize that effort, diligence, and scholarship (probably multiples, in fact) will be expected.

However, President Obama did just step up for a startling reality check to the higher education industry:  control your tuition or lose federal funding.  It parallels quite *nicely* with doctors and hospitals overcharging in 1 form or another simply because they know Medicaid/Medicare will cover the cost.  Of course they have to be extra sly, so they will push or exaggerate certain diagnoses like mental illness, diabetes, and heart disease into receiving treatments that have actually been proven to make the problem (or others) worse.

President Obama also addressed the abuse of inflated interest rates on student loans.  I never would have thought when I was in high school that any bank or lender could possibly legally take advantage of someone via student loans.  Thank God I never made it an option for myself, because stories abound of people going bankrupt — yes, bankrupt — for having done so.

Taxes, child support, and student loans are the 3 types of debt that cannot be wiped off your credit report for non-payment.  So naturally when you put this fact together with federal funding, subsidized tuition via grants like the Pell Grant, a workforce that no longer trusts itself to train its workers (read — too cheap to train their own workers), & tuition rates set by the very people paid the highest within an institution of higher learning, then of course abuse would be rampant.

Netflix offers an excellent revealing documentary “Frontline:  College, Inc.” discussing this very matter.  A well-versed viewer gives it 3 out of 5 stars & then comments:

A narrow expose that does not address the broader problem and its root causes. The factors driving the growing demand for advanced degrees – of any kind, from any university – deserve scrutiny. What was once a cost-benefit decision is now a foregone conclusion: You must get a college degree. Like all bubbles, the college bubble has been pumped to excess by societal and market failures. Among these: the societal failure that for many, a public high school education is often inadequate or irrelevant; and the market failure created that distortions in the market for a college education – principally, tax-payer funding – has produced an artificial demand for it and facilitated its costly supply. (In an environment where super-loose monetary policy already encourages malinvestments in education, fiscal distortions are the last thing you need.) This documentary could have focused on the common problems affecting the entire advanced education complex, but instead simply focused on the failings of the latest entrant, the for-profit sector. It could also have cited studies that show that much of the performance gap among sectors is due to differences in demographics. To be fair, this narrow expose still allows an open-minded viewer to see a broader problem and diagnose a common cause. He or she would have been able to (a) compare and equate problems afflicting students and institutions in the private sector system with analogous problems in the public systems, and (b) conclude that misplaced State-involvement appears to be a growing common factor in both systems. Yet, the documentary does not attempt to broaden the discussion or to explore common causes. Worst, in an attempt to speculate about a solution to the problem of private sector colleges, the documentary appears to suggest…even more taxpayer funding funding for Community Colleges. Is this what being educated without learning is about? Humh. Watch instead CATOs online panel Profit from Ivory Towers of 11/30/10.

More information:

Obama to High-Priced Universities: ‘You’re on Notice’

Call NC reps NOW – voting to turn holistic health providers into FELONS

Urgent:  This matter will be open for debate again in 20 minutes!  Scroll down to find out how to contact NC reps NOW — even if you don’t live in NC.

Update:  NC House has closed business today & will reconvene tomorrow 4/7/11 at 1:15pm.  Emphasis on – it is not too late to act now.

The 1st business of the day on my priority plate was to track the progress of this freedom stifling piece of legislation:  SB 31 titled to “Clarify Penalties for Unauthorized Practice of Medicine.”   Let’s quickly get down to business so that you too, can spread the word — FAST.

We all know how bills, acts, campaign slogans, and government agencies often title themselves in a confusing manner – almost as if it were meant to intentionally mislead.  So, let’s start there.  

1)  NC refuses to license alternative health care practitioners.  Since bill SB 31 also applies to out-of-state licensed holistic healers, then that also means they cannot perform their specialty within the state of NC without suffering the same penalties. 

2)  What’s the penalty?  FELON.   Yes, they actually seek to increase the penalty from a misdemeanor (which is still a violation of civil rights and natural law) to FELONY status.  That means:  no more voting rights, forget applying for a job (if you can find one outside of allopathic drug based healthcare, military, banking to begin with in this state), total disqualification for ANY government employment from park maintenance to secretarial, postal, or education…I think you understand the gravity of this criminal status.

3)  Even though Asheville, NC is 1 of the most popular and renowned cities in our entire continent, as well as the most progressive towards green, eco-friendly, organic lifestyle and health modalities – therefore provides plenty of proof of efficiency and safety in their own geographical corner of the state – SB 31 still has not been shutdown entirely.

4)  Holistic medicine encompasses a wide range of specialties from nutrition, herbs, acupuncture, to energy work like chakra therapy or reflexology, and includes Chinese Medicine practitioners.  Every single faction of alternative health is nothing new, experimental, or drug dependent.  On the contrary…it in fact is based on natural law (quite simply:  how natural substances relate to each other), and comes from a vast world of knowledge that has been known since the beginning of time, tried and tested throughout the ages by Asian and Native American cultures, yet may just be coming to light in your neck of the woods thanks to the Internet allowing us to share and store infinite amounts of this knowledge.

What has been happening in the medicine field in our country is akin to the strangling cultural breakdown of Native Americans once they were 1st forced from their homes and then later beaten for even speaking their native language or practicing their own traditions as children were seized from their families and forced into government boarding schools.  Within 1 generation, eons of knowledge collected over the course of their history nearly disappeared entirely.  Even basic things like what was good to eat or how to connect spiritually to our Great Creator and each other as well nearly vanished from their mindset. 

NC is leading the country on none other than a witch hunt.  At a time when other states are recognizing the now scientifically proven benefits of natural medicine, they are regressing back into the Stone Age pockets of corporate greed.  They are afterall, 1 of the leading states in modern medicinal research containing 3 prominent med schools.

Which brings me to this little known fact about med schools.  Only 8 out of 128 med schools in the entire nation even offer nutrition.  Granted, there is more to alternative medicine than just nutrition, but the proper knowledge of vitamins, minerals, enzymes, fats, proteins, and carbohydrates is the very basis of life, health, and thus by extension – medicine.

Here is a personal example from my own life of how atrocious SB 31 is and the detrimental effects of passing it could have:

My husband broke both the ulna and radius of his left arm.  He went to an orthopedist who had practiced in NC for years.  Every 4-6 weeks for 8 months, he visited this orthopedist (bone specialist), receiving x-rays each time that sadly confirmed there was NO sign of healing or bone fusing whatsoever.  I began worrying that he was indeed diabetic. 

During this 8 months of orthopedic visits, he had to turn down 2 different high paying job offers as an electrician because they saw him as an immediate liability.  (He had been laid off >1yr when the break occurred.)

Having seen my chiropractor (the man was phenomenal) and learning that he bases his treatments on getting to the core of problems through nutrition v.s. relying on prescribing pain pills or muscle relaxers, I gained immense respect for him.  When I realized he was also an acupuncturist, I began thinking maybe he could help my husband. 

The acupuncture consultation was free.  Let me repeat:  FREE.  He viewed x-rays taken 2 weeks prior and immediately asked J, “Do you drink sodas?”  Again, my mind starts thinking, “Oh no, diabetes!”  My husband replied, “Maybe 1 or 2  20 ounce bottles a day is all.”  Our alternative healthcare provider’s instant response:  STOP NOW.  

I told him, “Sure, no problem, but you have my curiosity picked, so could you please explain why?”   The answer:  Phosphates keep your body from using calcium, so even if you take supplements, the calcium remains free floating in your bloodstream and isn’t able to be used to rebuild bone.  Sodas are full of phosphates due to phosphoric acid as an ingredient. 

Guess what?  My husband quit cold turkey and FOUR WEEKS later was 98% healed.  We were never charged a dime for that visit, yet we owe the incompetent orthopedist for 2 surgeries, 8 months worth of visits, and an additional $2500 for an useless machine that he promised would cost only $800-$1000 and would be returnable.  The machine – even though for external use only – is non-returnable. 

Back to business though:  Time to GET ON THE HORN and let NC state representatives know that what they are doing steps on your freedom, blackmails your life by holding your wallet and mortgage for ransom, and creates criminals out of truly good Samaritans who in fact do know what they are talking about and who also seek to empower the “patient” – not create a dependency on any system, much less any chemical artificial substance proven to ruin health and destroy lives.

Think I’m going overboard by saying the modern Western medicine practices hold your life or mortgage at ransom?  How about considering we are THE ONLY developed nation in the world where foreclosures are soaring in large part due to unpaid medical costs. 

You do not have to live in NC to get your voice heard or to state the case supporting alternative healthcare.  Please call now.  Then, email. 

Progress of Senate Bill 31 [SB 31]

Full text of SB 31

Live Feed of NC General Assembly 

Contact NC representatives

When you’re finished there, another great read: 

North Carolina SB 31 bill seeks to turn healers into felons; but the health freedom backlash has already begun

 

 

Click The Infamous FRIK to visit our homepage and search through other empowering news. 

Make Democracy Work for You – Here’s How

We would like to thank our guest authors at Take Back America for sharing this with us today:

Being an engaged, active, and responsible citizen requires more than casting a ballot on voting day.  Our responsibility as citizens does not end when we exit the voting booth, rather that is the moment at which the true responsibility begins.

Whether or not the person for whom you voted actually gets into office should not deter you from making them work for the people. Remember, our tax dollars pay their salaries; therefore, regardless of whether or not the person sitting in office is the one for whom you voted he/she is still our employee.  As such, it is up to each of us to ensure that they are working for the people.

This requires some effort on our part.  This requires us to keep up on legislation on the floor and to write, call, or email our elected representatives on a regular basis.  We have far more disclosure in our government than many of us may realize. Every bill currently on the floor of our state and federal houses is available for our review. 

State legislation is available for review on your state’s website.  Simply type in your state’s two letter abbreviation and state legislation (ex. pa state legislation) into your search engine and you can browse bills currently on the floor.   Federal legislation can be viewed at thomas.gov.

As much as I want to place all of the blame on the government for failing us and on the rich for bribing this country out from under us, We the People must take some of the blame upon ourselves.  For too long we have remained silent.  We have been complacent.  We have been lackadaisical bosses.

If we want our country back, if we want the political system to work in our favor then we must work for it.  We must make the ultimate sacrifice – our time and energy.  We must take responsibility.  We must take action. 

The rich get the attention because they make the most noise:  they have lobbyist who make phone calls, write letters, and make meetings.  Yet, the rich make up only 2% of the population.  This means that there are over 294 million of us and only about 6 million of them.  Imagine the force We the People could be if all of us performed our duty as citizens; if we each wrote letters, made phones, or sent emails to our state and federal representatives every month.  The squeaky wheel gets the grease, so let’s be the squeaky wheel. 

Time to make some noise!

 

Here are a few examples of sites where you can view state legislation:

PA     NJ     CA     WI 

From each state site you can also find out who your representatives are and how to contact them by entering your zip code.

Then, there’s US Congress, both House and Senate.  From these sites you can find out who represents your district and how to contact them.

To actually view legislation currently debated or introduced in Congress, visit here.  It would be more effective to start here before contacting your reps so that you can have the name/number of the exact bill in front of you as you voice your support or opposition.

The political process will only work for the people if We the People are willing to put in the effort to make it do so.

Please visit and join us on facebook.

Patriotically Yours,

Take Back America 

editor’s note:  Beware that  monitoring and censorship has been known to occur quite frequently lately throughout the entire facebook site.  More info concerning this to come in the future.  Stay tuned by signing up for our FREE email subscription. For now, understand that while fb is a great promotional and sharing tool, relying on it solely to pass on information without backing up your contacts and data puts you in a vulnerable position. 

The Voter Effect

 

Full Audio Recording of Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker Getting Revealing Prank Call

You may have heard the rumors, but have you heard the entire recorded phone call that Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker [R] took where he thought he was speaking to David Koch, mega-billionaire and Republican Party campaign contributor? Thanks to self-made journalist Ian Murphy of theBeast.com, you can now.

This audio has been authenticated from Governor Scott Walker’s office, and defended with, “It doesn’t say anything he hasn’t said in public.” Perhaps…but did he say these things before he was elected? Not a chance.

Furthermore, his own ethical standards are clearly distorted as you’ll note that he threatened to layoff state workers, remarking that he ‘bet that hanging over the Democrats head would get them back in session’. He also sought to trick the Democrats to enter the Capitol Building either to pick up their paychecks being held hostage in the Assembly Office or through “talks – not negotiations – but they all 14 have to be there.”

He even admits the motive was the legal loophole that would allow Republicans to proceed with the vote if the Democrats showed up, then got angry during discussion and left again. He stated that “once they’ve entered a session, should they take a recess, they don’t have to present after that to proceed.” Currently, Wisconsin law states that 20 State Congress Representatives must be present to vote on any issue concerning the budget.

As of yesterday, Walker pushed the vote through anyway without the Democrats being in session. The Democrats do plan to appeal, but while Governor Walker has claimed all along that this was a “budget repair bill,” he is now waivering to claim that it was a vote that didn’t involve “fiscal [budget] responsibility,” therefore the 19 present Republicans were sufficient.

Don’t you love it when a team changes the rules as they go along? Props to Republican Dale Schultz for batting a homerun by opposing his “refusing to budge” Republican Party.

Ahhh, I know. You came here for the audio. Here they are in 2 parts.

The Infamous FRIK n’ FRAK