Thursday, December 10, 2009

Glenn Beck’s Gold Interest

Glenn Beck is a misleading, liar who can’t prove half the things he says? No way! That can’t be! Oh wait, hold on. It is!


What’s going on in this man’s mind, or lack thereof? The most recent news about conservative commentator Glenn Beck is just adding a little more icing to the cake he has been building upon himself for the past year. Beck is being accused this time of a huge conflict of interests regarding one of his business relationships, in this case the relationship between he and the precious metals company called Goldline International.


Critics are saying that Beck, who has shows both on TV and on the radio, is guilty of misleading his audience by advising them to buy gold in advance because of the potential threat of the US dollar losing value on the world market. But the thing that’s so bad about this is that Beck isn’t an economist, nor does he know anything about where this economy is going and how much better we are doing, but it has to do with the fact that he is a paid spokesman for Goldline International.


This has been going on for a while though, in fact ever since Beck was on CNN. His on air promotions for buying gold include advising people to build “fruit cellars” and follow the “three G system” which is “God, Gold, and Guns.” Beck has even had the CEO of Goldline International on his radio show to talk about the future of America after an apocalypse of epic proportion which will leave the economy in ruins, and the only ones who will be able to survive are those who bought gold. Here is a quote from Beck’s show:


When the system eventually collapses, and the government comes with guns and confiscates, you know, everything in your home and all your possessions, and then you fight off the raving mad cannibalistic crowds that Ted Turner talked about, don't come crying to me. I told you: get gold.


Wow, scare tactics much? I like how he says the government is going to come and take away everything you own. Sounds like a Bush administration to me and the destruction of the middle class. Beck is not just guilty of being an ignorant TV personality who is a paid spokesman for gold, but he should also be guilty for trying to spread panic throughout the USA.


But what’s more is the fact that Fox News strictly prohibits on air personalities from making paid product endorsements. But when Fox was contacted about this issue a strange answer was given…



FROM THE ARTICLE:


…the network "makes an exception for its commentators who are also radio hosts," adding that they knew upfront that hiring Beck came with the understanding that he was also a radio host and that they "had to be accepting of certain elements of that." Nevertheless, a Fox spokeswoman said that the company is addressing the matter with Beck's agent, George Hiltzik.



Beck actually responded to this issue though saying, “So I shouldn’t make money?”


Beck is shown in a video clip that was made by Air America saying that the value of the dollar is slipping (hello FED anyone?) and that the two ways you can stop this are by purchasing gold and joining…a tea party. He’s just jumping on the “Obama is a bad socialist guy” routine, like every other Republican who wants you to believe that Obama will be the cause of New World Order and the rise of a new currency.


Come on America, are we all that blind? We all know it was Bush, who signed the North American Union pact that will usher in a new world order. But it’s not just Republicans or Democrats who are behind this; it’s the Federal Reserve Bank. Beck is no smarter than any other Republican commentator on Fox.


Rather, he and Hannity, and O’Reilly and the rest of the conservative commentators on Fox are all just puppets. They will say anything they have to in order to make you scared so they can earn crazy amounts of money. I mean, do you really think that Beck is going to be hurting if the economy does fall? Of course not, he’s got all the money he will need because he sold his soul to the devil of Fox News.


Check out the video made by Air America, and keep in mind that you’re real masters are not in the government, but rather they are in the Federal Reserve. I’m not saying that gold is a bad investment; I’m just upset that no one knows anything about our economy or how money is made. By all means go out and buy some gold and stash it. Don’t do it because you think you can trust Glenn Beck…




Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Lou Dobbs Quits CNN

It’s about time we got this guy off the air. According to Lou he has reached an agreement where he will be released from his contract to go explore new opportunities. Can anyone say Fox News?


FROM THE ARTICLE:


“Over the past six months it’s become increasingly clear that strong winds of change have begun buffeting this country and affecting all of us, and some leaders in media, politics, and business have been urging me to go beyond the role at CNN and to engage in constructive problem solving as well as to contribute positively to the great understanding of the issues of our day. And to continue to do so in the most honest and direct language possible.”


I’ll give Lou Dobbs this, he did cover the North American Union and the new world order thing, but continues to slam Obama and things like immigration and healthcare reform. Bush was the one who sign the North American Union in and yet it’s all Obama’s fault to him now these days.


Hey Lou, if you’re going to play the new world order card just remember that both sides are apparently in on that, not just democrats.


I honestly think this has more to do with MSNBC’s anti-Lou Dobbs ad that they were running last week. Well congratulations MSNBC you did it! You got Dobbs off the air!



Murdoch’s In Deep

The Fox Noise Network is still at it, proliferating lies about President Obama. And now their owner Rupert Murdoch is jumping into the ring to protect his network’s commentators with absolute nonsense.

Murdoch must be going senile, or he’s just stupid enough to say that Fox commentators never drew comparisons between President Obama and Stalin. I did a big scoop on Glenn Beck a while back where he’s trying to proof that Obama is a socialist for one, and for two Fox news commentators take the chance to call Obama Stalin-like or Hitler-like every chance they can find.

So why try and lie about it Murdoch? Why say that none of your commentators have ever called Obama Stalin? There is a few videos at the bottom I would like people to watch to proof my point.

Murdoch is also in very deep with his statement defending Glenn Beck. Back in the summer Beck called Obama a racist, and said that he believes Obama has a problem with white people. Such a stupid comment seeing as how Obama is half black half white…

So wait, I really need to know what makes Obama a racist in these people’s heads. What was it that he said? Can anyone remember what he said or did to make a news organization think he is a racist?

In the video, Murdoch is being asked about Glenn Beck and how he called Obama a racist and Murdoch agrees with Glenn Beck. Murdoch says that Obama “did make a very racist comment…about blacks and whites and so on.” He goes on to say that it was a comment that probably shouldn’t have been used against the President, but if you assess what Beck was saying you’d realize he was right.

Unfortunately there was more to the video that Media Matters for America cut out for some reason. But they showed the same interview on MSNBC and the interviewer asks Murdoch what the racist comment was that Obama used and when it was used. Murdoch couldn’t answer either of those questions.

Now a spokesperson for Fox is spreading the word that Murdoch does not believe that Obama is a racist.

FROM THE ARTICLE:

News Corp. chief Rupert Murdoch has drawn criticism following an interview with Sky News Australia, where his comments were interpreted by some as being in agreement with Glenn Beck's view that President Obama's "a racist."


But News Corp. spokesperson Gary Ginsberg tells POLITICO that Murdoch did not intend to suggest that he had the same opinion as Beck.

"He does not at all, for a minute, think the president is a racist," Ginsberg said.

Murdoch, in the interview, said that the president "did make a very racist comment" and seemed to indicate he thought Beck was right in making the controversial claim. Media Matters, and others, quickly seized upon the interview as evidence that Murdoch shared the same view as the Fox News host.


“Seemed to indicated?” Murdoch’s own words were, “And, you know, that was something which perhaps shouldn't have been said about the president, but if you actually assess what he was talking about, he [Beck] was right.”

So Glenn Beck was right in calling Obama a racist, and Murdoch agrees that if you assess what Glenn Beck said you would realize he is right. And yet Murdoch does not think the president is a racist?

Is Murdoch trying to promote Beck from the football team’s water boy position to Sean Hannity’s cheerleading position? Or does he want to make him quarterback in place of Bill O’Reilly?

Lets get back into reality can we please? There is no proof, NONE WHAT SO EVER, that Obama ever made a racist comment against white people. There is also no proof that he is a socialist or a Nazi (which are too different things…funny how people have no idea what either of those words means these days).

Glenn Beck goes on TV and lies about the president and loses sponsors. Until this man can come up with any proof to back up his claim he is a lame duck. And Murdoch is even lamer for going one step further than Beck by saying that Obama made a racist statement which no one can seem to remember.

If he did make a racist statement then why isn’t Fox covering that and presenting proof? If Obama did slip up during a speech why isn’t there any video/audio for it? Why is it that no other media source, not even Fox has the proof of this claim? A better question, why are these people calling themselves journalists when they concocted lies and stories? People like to say that MSNBC and other networks do the same which is untrue. And if any of those commentators on MSNBC did in fact say something that wasn’t true they always apologize the next day and correct the error. I have NEVER seen Fox make a correction based on a story they broadcasted that wasn’t factual.

Get Glenn Beck off the air and make Rupert Murdoch air a correction on behalf of his entire “news” organization. Fox is not news, it’s a 24/7 political operation.



Tuesday, November 10, 2009

My Friend’s Tragedy


Saturday night was a terrible night for my good friend Kelly.

On Saturday around 7:30 pm in a sports bar in Vail Colorado, Kelly’s father Dr.Gary Bruce Kitching, was shot to death by a Vietnam veteran who apparently suffered from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.


The shooter was a longtime Vail resident, Richard "Rossi" Moreau, age 63. Witnesses say that Moreau was being escorted out of the bar by staff members when he rushed back in with a pistol and started shooting.


Moreau shot multiple people in the bar injuring most, but killed Kelly’s father Dr. Kitching.


Kelly was terribly distraught at our favorite watering hole Silky Sullivan’s. We all came to comfort her.


Kelly’s father was shot to death in a sports bar right in front of her mother, by a man who was not mentally stable. No motives have been discovered for Moreau’s actions other than an argument he had.



FROM THE ARTICLE:

Witnesses told investigators that Moreau, a Vietnam veteran who suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder, was being escorted out of the bar by bar staff at about 7:30 p.m. when he pulled out a semi-automatic .45-caliber handgun and started shooting. Moreau had been argumentative and disruptive, they said.



My heart goes out to my friend Kelly and her mother, who lost a father, husband, man of medicine, and man of love in their life.

Friday, November 6, 2009

Fort Hood Victims Remembered


We now know who the victims of major Hasan’s attack yesterday are. They were all men and women who joined the military to serve their country, only to be brought down by one of their own people.

Velez: 21, preparing to return home to Chicago.

Nemelka: 19, of Salt Lake City.

Pearson: 21, from Chicago.


Hunt: 22, spend 3 ½ years in the Army and served in Iraq.

Krueger: 29, joined the Army to hunt Osama Bin Ladin.

Xiong: 23, of St. Paul Minnesota.

These are half the people that were killed by major Hasan yesterday at Fort Hood Texas.


FULL ARTICLE HERE

Ft. Hood Shooting Update


So yesterday was one crazy day. Army major Nidal Malik Hasan, just before going on his rampage at Ft. Hood killing 12 people and injuring 31 more, gave leftover frozen broccoli to one of his neighbors and called the other to thank him for his friendship, as if he was going off war. At 1:30 pm yesterday he began shooting at fellow soldiers and was thought to be killed. Then we found out that he wasn’t dead, merely just wounded and in a coma while under military guard.


More developments have been made in these horrible tragedies which do shed some light on the issue. But of course there are those out there who have no regard for people and like to twist facts and spread rumors. Mainly the Bucks County Conservative Examiner Doreen Alli Linder, who most likely doesn’t even read her own material before or after posting it.


FROM THE ARTICLE:


According to Jihadwatch.org Maj. Halik Nidal Hasan was a on a Homeland Security Panel advising the incoming Obama administration. Hasan, was a psychiatrist and army Major who gunned down 43 people yesterday at Fort Hood Army Base in Texas. Hasan participated on November 6 in Homeland Security Disaster Preparation, a transition task force last year.


According to Jihad Watch the panel was, "The task force was not officially affiliated with the White House. It was a project of the Homeland Security Policy Institute, an independent think tank housed at George Washington University, aimed at drafting policy recommendations for the incoming Obama administration."


Doreen Alli Linder is suggesting that major Hasan was on the Homeland Security Panel which was advising the Obama administration. There are absolutely no facts to back this statement up except for a link she posted on her blog that doesn’t even work because she doesn’t know how to make hyperlinks correctly. I got to the site she wanted to share and it’s the jihadwatch.org site. Yup, the highly conservative, highly religious, Christian fundamentalist website that tries to take itself seriously by sounding intelligent. Too bad they can’t back this up with any proof.


This man was pushed by people who hated him for his faith and persecuted him. His actions were deplorable, but let’s use this opportunity to take a look at our actions. Hasan’s car was damaged by a fellow soldier who came back from Iraq. The soldier keyed the car…


FROM THE ARTICLE:


According to a Killeen police report in August, an Army employee was charged with scratching Hasan's car, causing $1,000 in damage. Apartment manager John Thompson said the man charged was a soldier back from Iraq, who objected to Hasan's faith and ripped a bumper sticker off the major's car that said: "Allah is Love."


Perhaps if people could be more understanding things like this wouldn’t happen. Or not, who knows. Hasan is in a hell of a lot of trouble either way now, and might not come out of this coma alive anyway. Why he really did I’ll never know. Maybe he really did lose it and felt betrayed by President Obama for not pulling out of the wars. Too bad Hasan, you could have been a great Army major psychiatrist, but you threw it all away and took 12 people with you.

Thursday, November 5, 2009

Fort Hood Shooter Alive!

This is just too crazy to pass up. It seems that the Fort Hood shooter Army Major Nidal Malik Hasan is indeed alive. Hasan is a 39 year old psychiatrist and 8 year Army veteran.

Hasan was shot and thought to be dead, but in reality he is wounded and alive under military guard. He was transferred from Walter Reed Medical Center to Fort Hood in July, and received a poor performance evaluation.

A retired colonel told Fox that Hasan was about to be deployed to Afghanistan, and elaborated on Hasan’s frustration with President Obama for not pulling the troops out of Afghanistan and Iraq. Hasan apparently also got into arguments with others in the military that were for the wars.

About two hours ago President Obama addressed the situation called it, "a horrific outburst of violence."

More on this story as it develops.


FULL ARTICLE

Beck Compares Healthcare Reform to 9/11

Just when you thought Glenn Beck couldn’t get dumber, he did. I guess I don’t mind too much, seeing as how the dumber he acts the more people will see through him and stop listening to him.

Beck is trying to compare healthcare reform to the acts committed on 9/11. I know, it’s so funny you can’t believe it. Actually it’s so stupid you can’t believe it. Yes, Beck is trying to say that healthcare reform is bad, and he’s making it sound like support for healthcare reform will spell out certain doom for us all on a scale that we only know because of you guessed it, 9/11.

The video was absolutely funny I must say. At first he’s talking about how in the 1990’s he was on the radio talking to people about the dangers of Osama Bin Ladin. Of course, he never really makes it clear what parts of the 1990’s he was talking about Bin Ladin until later, and totally tries to blame it all on Bill Clinton’s affair with Monica Lewinsky.

Glen says he wasn’t a super smart man (that we know) that he just listened to Obama’s words and believed them. Wow Glenn! Where were you when we needed you man? Condi totally screwed everything up, but you actually would have believed that memo would you? You wouldn’t have just passed it along like she did? Man, if only you were there to protect this nation against Condoleezza Rice and Osama Bin Ladin, because 9/11 would have never happened.

What’s so funny is the fact that Glenn I saying that he truly believed that Osama Bin Ladin would attack the USA, but that it wasn’t on the top of the list because we were all too worried about fat interns and the definition of ‘is’.

OK Glenn, as I recall it was the Republicans who made a big stink about Clinton’s affair so why aren’t you mad with your own party? Not only were they the ones wasting time with oral sex and impeachment but they were also the ones who let Osama Bin Ladin attack in the first place!


FROM TRANSCRIPT:



KEAN: You didn't see any memos to you or any documents to you?

RICE: No, I did not.


Really, is that so? How odd because when it was discovered that there was a memo and that you read it you claimed it was no smoking bullet. Then when asked what the memo said all you could say was, “I believe it said Osama Bin Ladin determined to attack.” Wow, and yet Glenn Beck has been warning all of you guys for so long!

Beck then goes on to say that on 9/11 we experienced something we never experienced before when those buildings went down, because when those building came down so did our markets and our economy. And that at that moment we Americans realized we weren’t invulnerable.

And then he goes on saying that it was a decade ago he was trying to warn us about Osama Bin Ladin and terrorist attacks, and that he is doing the same thing warning us that our economy is weak and some how he fits spending into all of this and says that we can’t afford to spend any more money continuing

down this “progressive” path.

Wait a second…President George W. Bush was the one who created this spending problem, and he spent all that money when we didn’t have it to spend. After 9/11 the market was so messed up and needed time to heal, and he thought the best way to do that was to do the country in a deficit and try to destroy the middle class. Where were you and you’re great ideas then Glenn?

Conservatives are awake now? Well it’s about damn time! Oh wait, you’re still all crazy and protest the government on the day after 9/11. Yeah, that’s pretty crazy. Blame Democrats and our current President for 9/11 and the tactics of the previous administration. Yes, and do it all in the name of the horrible terrorist attacks that occurred on 9/11/01. And I’m pretty sure you 9/12ers as you call yourselves aren’t actually reading the healthcare reform bills every weekend.

The thing that Glenn Beck is trying to do is make it seem like a public option and corporations competing against each other is bad…because that’s what the public option is all about. But many are upset with affordable healthcare.

The truth is that this bill isn’t even finished. It has been put up to vote, voted down, rewritten by both Republicans and Democrats, repackaged and voted on again, voted down again, and rewritten again. Leave it up to stupid people spreading lies about the bill to scare people in to crazy ideas like forced euthanasia, mandatory abortions, and free healthcare for illegal immigrants.

And leave it up to Glenn Beck to distort the truth and lying and telling half truths and omit certain facts. Like for instance, he says he’s been talking about Osama for ten years now and that it was overshadowed because of Bill Clinton, when it was Republicans who turned that issue into a big deal.



Solider Shooting Spree at Fort Hood

Something terrible has happened today at Fort Hood in Texas. A soldier went on a shooting spree and killed 12 fellow soldiers and injured 31. This happened right about 1:30pm and there was no known motive for the shootings right away, an online news report said.


According to the news the shooting broke out in the bases Readiness center where troops prepare themselves for deployment or go through medical screenings. The suspect was Army Major Malik Nadal Hasan, and was soon shot and killed after he opened fire on the base. Hasan was an Army mental health professional and was most likely a psychologist or psychiatrist.


Officials making statements at the base are saying that it was unclear what Hasan’s religion was and it is still be determined whether or not Hasan is his birth name or not. The base has since been on lock down and the wounded are being treated at different hospitals across Texas.


There were two other soldiers who were apprehended and treated as suspects, but they were soon released.


Why this man would go on a killing spree at an Army base in still unknown. We know he was possibly Muslim but would that matter? The man was a 30 some year old Major in the US Army and a mental health professional, so why would he do this? We may never know unless he kept some type of record around.


This was a terribly tragic event, and I will keep everyone posted as new details come in.

Wednesday, November 4, 2009

Gay Rights Pushed Back Again


Well it’s happened again everyone. Gay rights were given the boot out of Maine last night because of this hateful campaign lead by the religious right wingers who believe that marriage is reserved for straight people only. It wasn’t only a set back for gay rights, but human rights as well.


A year ago yesterday we went through the same thing here in California when Prop 8 was passed, and we all had such high hopes for Maine. It was a very upsetting night and of course the smearing continues from the right wing. I found an article today on a right winged website that argues that gay marriage and gay rights are not the same thing. Oh I’m sure, just like a black’s right to marry a white person or Latino person fifty years ago wasn’t an issue of civil rights.


FROM THE ARTICLE:


Some people are claiming this as a sign, as a resounding referendum on this nation’s views of same-sex marriage. You know what? It’s hard to argue with that. Gay marriage isn’t gay rights; it’s the thorniest splinter of the thorniest national social issue this side of abortion.


What’s funny is gay rights have been compared to a lot of crazy things in the past such as bestiality, incest, and even child molestation and pedophilia. And now they are comparing it to abortion, because we all know gay people would much rather see a child be aborted then adopt one. Just like we know that gay people can’t reproduce so they are trying to recruit straight people’s children to the gay side of life and spit in god’s eye. I mean, they talk about it at all the meetings don’t they?


Now this next excerpt from the article upset me the most, as the writer claims that religious right wingers (which make up most of America according to this author) do not oppose gay rights.


FROM THE ARTICLE:


That’s an important distinction. Those who worry about the “silent majority” of gay rights opponents, the people you rarely meet in the city but see in the news holding signs and public prayers, have little to fear. America does not oppose gay rights. Or, to be more specific, a majority of this country does not oppose ensuring that queer citizens receive the same rights as anyone else. That’s a fact, yes.


OK, after reading this person’s full article I realize he isn’t 100% right wing whack job, but he still made a lot of poor comments. Like saying at the end that no one is acting gay marriage or gay rights. Yeah right, that’s why gays are always told that they’re life style is wrong and disgusting and a sin and that they are going to hell. No, you see these people are just trying to protect that paradigm that they are used to.


The results of Prop1 were very close, so I do not believe that the majority of Americans believe that it’s not time for gay rights. EQCA has said that California will push for gay marriage again in 2012, which I believe is a great idea. It will give the community time to regroup and by then many more people will realize how important it is to get involved.


On another topic, Halloween was this past Sunday. I went to my local bar’s Halloween party as a Lieutenant in the Navy with a patch on that said “don’t ask don’t tell”. The reason being I hate the ‘don’t ask don’t tell’ policy. It was a bit cryptic I know, but a lot of people liked the idea and were very good sports about playing along with it.


Also, I met a few people at the bar I haven’t seen in a while. A lot of them were very supportive of my efforts, and a lot of them really liked my idea about the free reading program. Thanks everyone!


I say down with all these hateful people and down with ‘don’t ask don’t tell’. And come on people, if you believe in this stuff it’s time to get involved and do something!

Thursday, October 1, 2009

Jealous Hannity on Smear Campaign


So when I got up and took a shower this morning I thought about all the Glenn Beck insanity that has been going on in recent months. In fact, at the beginning of this week I posted the Glenn Beck SNL spoof on my FaceBook page and someone called me a loser for covering Glenn Beck and his hateful smears. The person said that if I want to silence partisan opposition I should begin with my own.


First off, I really don’t think this person knows what the word ‘partisan’ means. But that aside it made me think of other right-wing pundits out there that are no where near as bad as Beck has been. This isn’t just about some right-winged guy on TV that I don’t like, it’s about a crazy person who’s making up lies and trying to spell things out like “oligarh”.


Here’s an interesting piece of information for everyone. I would much rather watch Hannity on TV on a daily basis (which I used to do anyway) then hear Glenn Beck’s voice anywhere.


So back to my story, I was in the shower thinking about these pundits when I thought, “Wow, Sean Hannity must be pissed off that Glenn Beck is getting so much more attention than he is”. Then I got on the computer and found this lovely article on Media Matters for America about Sean Hannity’s new smear campaign against a Department of Education official Kevin Jennings.



FROM THE ARTICLE:

Just last night, Hannity claimed (citing a Washington Times report) that Jennings covered up a "statutory rape." But evidence indicates the episode in question was not statutory rape -- the individual involved was at the legal age of consent.

Falsely accusing someone of covering up the rape of a minor is a pretty sleazy move, even for Sean Hannity. Sean Hannity doesn't have much credibility outside the right-wing fever swamps -- but he probably has more than Beck. For now. Sargent thinks Hannity's jealousy may be getting him in trouble.


Sean does have credibility oddly enough in the fact that he isn’t an insane invalid. I’ve never seen Sean running around the studio with crazy conspiracies, or screaming at someone on his radio show and acting like he was just going to go crazy. Although he does scream at a lot of people I must say he never seemed like he was going to pop a gasket and be sent off to the funny farm. That’s not Sean’s MO. He’s a bully and a spin expert and can probably spin just about any subject in the world. He’s not a very good story teller though.

I think we can expect to see a lot more of this though. Knowing Sean I’m very sure he could get more attention if he pursues it with the same energy in which he destroys. He’ll have to work hard though because Beck has all of the attention, and it’s all bad attention which is the kind of attention people like to follow. So come on Hannity, come on Bill! Do something absolutely crazy and maybe the spot light will be back on you guys!

I’m sorry but Glenn Beck is insane. He even admitted to being suicidal at one point and honestly I’m not surprised by the way this guy acts.

I’m not sorry that some out there think I’m a loser for trying to get this stuff through people’s heads. If you can’t see the facts about this venomous, insane TV personality then what do you see exactly?

Watch this video from the Young Turks, you’ll hear Glenn Beck losing his mind and then you will see Glenn admitting to being suicidal at one point.



Wednesday, September 30, 2009

My Reading Program Idea

A lot of people have been asking me how my idea for a free reading program in Fountain Valley’s schools was coming along. I’ve had to outline my entire plan at least three times and I’m tired of it. I need to get this down on paper and in the public’s eyes and ears.


For those of you who didn’t know, I am making some pretty big plans to run for a public office in Fountain Valley in the next few years (like 2 to 3). I’m actually thinking about getting a chair at a school board.


You see my whole thing is educating the newer generations around my home town, and getting them involved in their community. But my main focus is reading. I don’t think people read enough to begin with, but total illiteracy is unacceptable and has to be combated.


So my idea to get started off in Fountain Valley politics is a free reading program. Orange County has a county wide program where children can go to a library and have volunteers help them with their reading. Well my plan is to bring the volunteers to schools on certain days for certain classes, and have an hour long reading session with the students.


I thought it would be a great idea because you not only teach kids to read, but you encourage continued reading, and it gives you as the volunteer a chance to open a child’s eyes to a book that he/she has never heard of before.


Another great idea I had for this project was a “Book Drive”, where we would collect books or cash toward new books from people and businesses in the community, and give kids free books. This might also benefit the teachers who are suffering from financial cut backs and have barely any books for their students. The “Book Drive” could support both students on a personal level and teachers on a financial level hence everyone wins.


I would get my volunteers from the high schools in the area, because seniors in high school have to do a certain amount of community service hours before they can pass Government class and graduate. Not only will my program be teaching kids to read, and supplying them and our class rooms with books, it will help teens in high school graduate by completing their community service hours as well as teaching them about civic duty and the importance of being involved.


After sometime I could get someone from lets say city council to sit in on one of these reading events and tell me what they think of it. If they like it then I can ask the city council member to honor our program at city hall. You get to take a nice pretty picture and get a neat little certificate showing that the program was honored by the city. That is my first step to getting closer to running for an office.


But how am I going to do this? How can I get this started?


Well first off I have to meet with a man named Reuben Martinez who works at the Santa Ana Library, and did (so I was told) something very similar to my idea which ended up being highly successful. A friend told me about him and that he has a lot of insight and can help me out with some ideas as to how I’m going to get this program into schools.


So I have to talk to Mr. Martinez and get a little more acquainted with this reading program idea. After that I have to come up with a presentation to give to my old teachers that still remember me. If I can win their support I can move up to the next step and start to seriously present the program to schools.


But I need to first find out if I should present the idea to the school board before I go to the schools themselves. Or should I go to the board after getting teacher support? Although it may not be a bad idea to mix all of these ideas together, because I can get teacher support, support directly from the schools, and then go to the school board.


I’m obviously going to be asked how I plan on doing any of this. How do I plan on getting books? How do I plan on getting volunteers? How do I plan on managing this program? When do I plan on doing these on school site programs?


Well, I have a few answers to all of those questions.


First off, I need to build a website that will contain the information of this program like, what it is, who it runs it, where we can be contacted, how to get involved in the program, how to help the program, etc. Once I have a stable median like that it will be very easy to keep people informed with what is going on.


Secondly, I have tons of old children’s books that I have saved since I was a very young boy. I have all kinds of books that are suitable for students from K-5th grade. But, and someone brought this up to me, I have to make sure that there are no “selected reading lists”(notice I called it ‘selected’ and not suggested). I don’t want to read an awesome story to kids yet be told I can’t because the story isn’t on the reading list.


Thirdly, I will be getting my volunteers from the high schools where I have the support, and especially from high schools where I get support from my old teachers. I can ask teachers to suggest to their students to volunteer for the program so they can get their community service completed. I can also go into Government class rooms and talk to students directly.


And then the most common method would be a mixture of all of these techniques, as well as posting fliers on walls and leaving stacks of info/sign up sheets in class rooms. Also, some friends who went to FVHS with me said they would love to help me, and I could certainly use their help in class rooms to help recruit students.


Fourthly, I have no idea how I’m going to manage this program to be honest. I figure it will be an out-of-house operation, meaning that my house will be the programs HQ. Although, I am going to need other people to help me manage the program, and since some old high school mates said they would help I think I will have no trouble finding a team. I will have to form some type of small committee with them basically, which will gather at my house to meet and to plan and brainstorm.


Fifthly, again I have no structure for this problem yet but I do have a few ideas. For one, I was thinking it could be an hour long session in a teacher’s class room (or more than one per day, depending on how many volunteers we have) where we basically break the children up into groups with a volunteer reader. I mean, not only will the kids be learning and totally expanding their minds, their teachers will have an hour of free time to do whatever else they need to do like admin paper work, grades, and even plan lessons for future classes.


But if that idea doesn’t fly I will suggest that the program be an after school program like homework club/study hall. If parents want their children to participate they can just talk to one of the teachers for info, or just tell their kid that they are going to stay an extra hour after school to join the reading program.


Again, this is a free reading program that is comprised of volunteers that want to help teach kids to read and encourage continued reading. No one will be paying for this as it is all community service type of work which will benefit many, so no one has to worry about who the bill will be passed to.


I want to get as much support from teachers and administration staff as possible, as well as parents and school board members. It shouldn’t be too hard, just a lot of planning and presenting of ideas.


It takes a village to raise a child, and I think with this free reading program that’s exactly what we will be doing; getting the village together to raise the children.

So that’s my plan. Again, any support you could give me would be awesome, and if you would like to help in anyway please let me know. And wish me luck.