Generation 9.12

Misfit Politics CPAC Podcast …goooood times

Sun, 19 Feb 2012 01:25:32 -0500

Misfit Politics CPAC Podcast …goooood times

It's not about contraception

Sat, 18 Feb 2012 15:41:00 -0500

Originally posted on glennbeck.com

“Government is instituted to protect property of every sort… [and] conscience is the most sacred of all property.” James Madison

The current attack against the Catholic Church from the Obama administration is not about birth control. Freedom is under attack across the globe, and has been under attack since long before America’s founding. It wasn’t until the United States Constitution was written that freedom was sewn into the roots of any nation. America’s founding documents protect the God-given rights of the people from an oppressive government.

These Truths that are sewn into the fabric of America allows the individual to correct course when the leaders and institutions around them go astray, not depend on the leaders and institutions to solve all of the problems. This is why America is known for it’s people not necessarily it’s landmarks or leaders, and why faith and The Church have always played a large role in its history. America has been great, because Americans are good. But, with God being labeled as “taboo” by the media, while the unique religious freedom of America continues to be disregarded by its federal government, people of faith need to take a stand soon or everything could change.

Throughout America’s history it has been our people of faith and our religious institutions that have started the movements causing real positive change in the American people and our laws. For example, Martin Luther King, a Baptist Preacher, lead the Civil Rights Movement. Our Judeo-Christian values have set the tone for our country, allowing Americans to better themselves throughout history.

This is not simply an attack on the Catholic Church, reproductive rights, or a push for better “women’s health.” Contraception is not a right. The ability of a church to uphold its doctrine–that’s a right, and it’s clearly stated in the First Amendment of our Constitution. I women think it’s the job of their employer to provide them free birth control pills in the name of ‘gender equality,’ they can find an employer outside of the Catholic Church. (side note: nothing says strong, independent female like begging for free birth control pills…).

The contraception mandates the Obama Administration is attempting to place on Catholic institutions would force these them to break Catholic Doctrine–a direct violation of their freedom of religion protected by The Constitution.

Thomas Jefferson said, “No provision in our Constitution ought to be dearer to man than that which protects the rights of conscience.” Also stating, “our rulers can have no authority over such natural rights only as we have submitted to them. The rights of conscience we never submitted.”

It has taken progressives over one hundred years to paint people of faith as extremists and blur the divide between good and evil, but they did, and I’m afraid that many Americans either don’t see the battle we’re in or think it’s not their battle to fight. Conservative politicians, political pundits, disenfranchised voters, religious leaders and others are pointing the finger at the White House, outraged that they believe they have the authority to force the Catholic Church to break with its doctrine—but before that finger is pointed at the White House, we all need to pick up a mirror and point it at ourselves.

The church in America has had a weak influence on our culture in recent years. All you have to do is turn on a TV to notice that “God” is used in vane far more than in any other instance. Our music, movies, advertising, and most other tools of messaging have gone completely secular. It’s not rare to hear someone apologize “for all the God talk” or say “I don’t mean to preach, but,” before openly bringing up their faith or God in a conversation. Politically correct is quickly transforming into morally bankrupt.

We have allowed society to remove the church from the mainstream, and have sat quietly in our “appropriate pews” on Sundays while the country continues down its path of self-destruction. The church is not standing up to the evil growing across the country. Should we really be shocked family values have taken a backseat in society when the church is taking a backseat in our daily lives?

How does a nation that proclaims to be ‘one nation under God,’ allow itself to be run by a group of progressives that have such high levels of animosity towards faith and God, and claim that “you can’t legislate morality?” Of course we can, but not until the people move in a moral direction. Morality is always a step ahead of policy. Did we not outlaw slavery and segregation, give women the right to vote, or put an end to child labor? The higher our moral values are the freer we will be.

History has not been kind to countries that have ignored blatant evil and strayed from their values. In Germany little things started happening between the state and the church. It always starts small–a little nudge. Then the state started to bully the churches. They enacted laws restricting religious education and institutions, and no one spoke up until it was too late. Evil always starts small, but history has proven that government overreach will eventually affect every single one of us, if it isn’t already.

It is time for a movement towards goodness. Whether you’re Catholic, Protestant, Mormon, Jewish, etc. it’s our job to protect our rights, not only by speaking out when they’re under attack, but by living them in our daily lives, so they stay in the mainstream. We should hold one another and ourselves accountable to what we say we believe and how we live our lives. If we don’t live our faith in the good times, our faith will be too weak to make it through the bad times.

In 2009 the right of conscience of pro-life doctors and nurses who wouldn’t perform abortions was under attack, today it’s the doctrine of the Catholic Church. If doctors are made to perform abortions that are in direct violation of their beliefs, churches are being mandated to break with their doctrine to comply with the law, and the attack on our faith continues, we will be headed in a very disturbing direction.

Today the battle is against the Catholic Church, but the war is being waged against all people of faith and man’s freedom.

Senator Roy Blunt (MO-R) has proposed an amendment called the Conscience Protection Measure. This is a small battle in a big fight, but holds the power to make a big statement to the country and the globe that we won’t stand idly by while our faith is under attack. Click here for more information on how to help push this measure forward and protect our freedom of religion.

The Weekly Fix via @future_voices

Fri, 17 Feb 2012 16:54:28 -0500

The Weekly Fix via @future_voices

He’s 100% right. Regardless of the intention or the...

Tue, 07 Feb 2012 18:50:45 -0500

He’s 100% right. Regardless of the intention or the direction, this is how these things start.

#nyc (Taken with instagram)

Sat, 04 Feb 2012 23:39:06 -0500

#nyc (Taken with instagram)

So good… (Taken with instagram)

Sat, 04 Feb 2012 16:16:35 -0500

So good… (Taken with instagram)

This is awesome - Do good.

Sat, 04 Feb 2012 15:54:41 -0500

This is awesome - Do good.

Taken with instagram

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 16:14:49 -0500

Taken with instagram

Whoa… I’m not sure if this is sad or depressing

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 16:00:13 -0500

Whoa… I’m not sure if this is sad or depressing

This is great …in a really really really depressing way

Thu, 02 Feb 2012 22:26:47 -0500

This is great …in a really really really depressing way

An old friend of mine went on what appears to be the most...

Thu, 02 Feb 2012 01:37:00 -0500

Colorado

Hiking in Puerto Rico

Puerto Rico

Amazing beach in Puerto Rico

Sunset in Puerto Rico

Amazing shot in Puerto Rico

Hiking in Puerto Rico

Abandon tank in Puerto Rico

Puerto Rico

An old friend of mine went on what appears to be the most amazing & diverse vacation of all time…so of course I have to help him out with the pictures…(next time I expect to be taken on the vacation for my photo services)

Bryant Park (Taken with instagram)

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 07:37:05 -0500

Bryant Park (Taken with instagram)

On behalf of my generation… I’m sorry …at least...

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 01:10:46 -0500

On behalf of my generation… I’m sorry …at least we’re not the generation that brought you Newt Gingrich and Barack Obama?

(H/T @bennyjohnson)

Awesome NYC Timelapses

Tue, 31 Jan 2012 00:43:00 -0500

Nyc timelapse w/ 9.11 tribute

New York City Time Lapse from Blueglaze LLC on Vimeo.

New York city portrait, HD time lapse

New York city portrait, HD time lapse, April 2006, music by Moby from Max Moos on Vimeo.

Mindrelic - Manhattan in motion:

Mindrelic - Manhattan in motion from Mindrelic on Vimeo.

Rochester NY - quick preview of “Iceflow”

Rochester NY - quick preview of “Iceflow” from Mindrelic on Vimeo.

Good morning Rochester

good morning Rochester - 5-22-10 from Mindrelic on Vimeo.

Rochester, NY - winter timelapse

Rochester, NY - winter timelapse from Mindrelic on Vimeo.

Is it morally wrong to take a life? …YES!

Tue, 31 Jan 2012 00:34:32 -0500

My latest…originally published here.

This morning on radio Glenn read an article from the Journal of Medical Ethics titled, “Is it morally wrong to take a life? Not really, say bioethicists.” Now to those of us that live in the wonderful world of absolutes, where good vs. evil and right vs. wrong exist, the answer to that question is not “not really,” it’s an overwhelming “YES.” This article is disturbing for a few reasons, the first being the authors that raised this question are from Duke University and The National Institute of Health, where you think they would be rather familiar with the Hippocratic Oath that states “first do no harm.”

A little over a year ago I was a student at a medical college in the Southeast studying to be a Doctor of Physical Therapy. I was accepted right before “Obamacare” passed, after which I obviously had some major concerns. While researching the ridiculously lengthy bill, the most shocking discovery I made was no one else seemed to think it was going to affect the way they care for their patients. How any rational person thinks 2,000 pages of legislation focused on their field of study isn’t going to affect the way they do business is beyond me, but that was and probably still is the case.

Today on radio Glenn tied the similarities between the article he read on air to Obama health care policy advisor, Ezekiel Emmanuel’s concept of healthcare rationing, The Complete Lives System . As shocking as The Complete Lives System sounded on radio this morning, imagine running across this document during a class presentation stating that Obamacare is fantastic and will allow poor people better healthcare, while making billing more efficient. Again, how 2,000 pages of legislation makes anything more efficient is beyond me.

Emanuel’s “Principals for allocation of scarce medical interventions,” which explains his Complete Lives System, is one of the most alarming documents I have ever read, and it is written by a man who sits on one of the “expert health panels,” as Obama calls them, that are going to help you get a “higher quality of care.” Since Ezekiel and the average doctor clearly hold a different interpretation on “first do no harm,” I would be interested in hearing what President Obama means by “higher quality of care,” and who exactly it applies to.

“The Complete Lives System” is a system of that defines what the “just” allocation of healthcare should be to “satisfy all ethical requirements,” in situations of shortages. Emmanuel uses five principals: youngest-first, prognosis, save the most lives, lottery, and instrumental value.

“As such, it prioritizes younger people who have not yet lived a complete life and will be unlikely to do so without aid. Many thinkers have accepted complete lives as the appropriate focus of distributive justice: “individual human lives, rather than individual experiences, [are] the units over which any distributive principle should operate.” Although there are important differences between these thinkers, they share a core commitment to consider entire lives rather than events or episodes, which is also the defining feature of the complete lives system.”

This is a system that discriminates against the very young and the elderly, but because, as he sees it, “allocation by age is not invidious discrimination; every person lives through different life stages rather than being a single age.” In other words, if you have to decide who gets a heart transplant, a 25 year old or a 65 year old, the heart would go to the 25 year old, because the 65 year old has already lived through that “life-stage.” Regardless of the fact that the 65 year old may have been on the transplant list a longer amount of time, they may be in more critical condition and need the transplant quickly, or have the money to pay for the organ without help from the system; they aren’t given priority of the organ.

Physical Therapy has a growing number of geriatric patients with the increasing and improved technology of hip or knee replacements, treatment for back problems, mobility issues, and other common ailments among the elderly. Physical Therapy is not an effective tool to treat injuries that need surgery or would be better managed with surgery. Rather, to prevent the need for surgery, or to improve strength and mobility after surgery.

However, when discussing healthcare reform during the health care legislation debate two years ago President Obama made comments like giving grandma “a pill” instead of pacemakers, and wasn’t sure if hip replacements are really necessary for those nearing the end of their life… because who wouldn’t rather take habit-forming, debilitating pain-killers instead of have one of the most successful surgeries among older patients… His limited understanding of how impactful the ability to move around pain free can be on an older person is alarming. Something as simple as a hip replacement can give a formerly immobile 70 or 80 year old woman the ability to exercise, improving her health and outlook on life—adding years onto their life.

I raised this issue with my peers and my professors, and received the typical “oh, that will never happen” response Glenn viewers and listeners are all too familiar with. Without getting too boring on you, many states PT’s are under the direction of the M.D. of a particular patient—in other words, referral based. If care were being rationed, a very realistic concern would be more and more doctors sending patients directly to PT and side-stepping orthopedic surgeries or procedures that would be much more beneficial to the patient.—which may be good for the PT’s wallet, but very bad for their patient quality of life.

Those are the types of things you can expect to see if “Obamacare” isn’t repealed. And one of a few reasons I changed career paths. The main thing my professors taught me while I was in DPT school was that above all else it’s a PT’s job to be a strong advocate for their patient. That’s the number one job of all doctors. Under Obamacare, doctors run the risk of losing their ability to effectively do that.

While the article Glenn read this morning focuses on the idea of organ donation, judging from the authors’ view on the “sanctity of life”—that it doesn’t exist—their line of morality could be applied to any type of shortage. Patients would become numbers and statistics based off of principals like Emanuel’s: youngest-first, prognosis, save the most lives, lottery, and instrumental value.

“[I]f killing were wrong just because it is causing death or the loss of life, then the same principle would apply with the same strength to pulling weeds out of a garden. If it is not immoral to weed a garden, then life as such cannot really be sacred, and killing as such cannot be morally wrong.”

…yes, they did just compare human life to weeds.

…if Newt somehow wins…. once we have to impeach him...

Sat, 28 Jan 2012 23:41:00 -0500

…if Newt somehow wins…. once we have to impeach him for doing something stupid like a moon colony, can this guy take over?

The greatest speech on immigration I’ve ever heard...

Sat, 28 Jan 2012 23:22:49 -0500

The greatest speech on immigration I’ve ever heard …and a great speech in general

Breed Breedlove’s message - The story NBC & the...

Fri, 27 Jan 2012 12:36:23 -0500

Your browser does not support iframes.

Breed Breedlove’s message - The story NBC & the mainstream media didn’t tell you…

I haven’t heard any of the men on stage (including...

Thu, 26 Jan 2012 23:27:23 -0500

I haven’t heard any of the men on stage (including self-described Constitutionalist, Ron Paul) speak so clearly on the documents that founded this country and make it so unique and exceptional. If you don’t really believe in what Santorum says in this clip, you’re not going to understand your role as President of the United States. I haven’t heard anyone sound like this the entire primary race. If you don’t think Santorum has “zeal” or is unelectable, think twice. This is how a president should sound when talking about their faith in God and the founding of America. Here’s hoping the Tea Party was listening.

Amazing

Tue, 24 Jan 2012 01:52:59 -0500

Amazing