As we marvel at the idiocy of school boards and administrators who openly violate state laws of their choosing (Arlington school board originally voting 3-3 over recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance) and wishing to distribute condoms to grammar school kids without parental notification, it may be instructive to re-visit “The Professors, The 101 Most Dangerous Academics in America”.

The Professors by David Horowitz was first published in February, 2006 and was republished with a new preface as a paperback in June of 2007 (Regenery Publishing, Inc., Washington, DC).

The book is a compendium of 101 mostly Marxist professors who believe “that political activism SHOULD be an integral part of university curricula.” (emphasis mine) Gone are neutral professors giving both sides of an issue, requiring students to engage in critical thinking in order to develop their own views.  Gone are the tenets of the Scientific Method and the search for truth, long held to be the touchstones of a classic liberal education.

Instead we have the following two examples:

Professor Michael Vocino at the University of Rhode Island who, according to one student, introduced himself in his first lecture as, “My name is Michael Vocino and I like **** ( a part of male anatomy.” He then asked a student , “Are you queer?” and another whom he knew to be a Christian why Christians “hate fags.”

Professor Frederic Jameson of Duke University, an admirer of Mao, who wrote in his seminal work The Political Unconscious; Narrative as a Socially Symbolic Art “the political perspective (is) the absolute horizon of all reading and interpretation.” Students are urged to approach literary texts not as works of intrinsic merit but rather as “socially symbolic acts.” In another text he bewailed the “baleful” spread of global capitalism.  In a post 9/11 forum he stated “the Americans created bin Laden during the Cold War.”

The introduction alone to The Professors is worth reading.  It reviews the uproar that ensued at Hamilton College when a student took it upon himself to let the world outside the college know that Ward Churchill had been invited to speak at Hamilton.  Churchill was a professor of Ethnic Studies at the University of Colorado.  After 9/11, he had written that the victims of 9/11 were “little Eichmanns”. His visit to Hamilton would have been the fortieth campus to which he had been invited to speak in the three years after 9/11.

Since 1934, the University of California “Academic Personnel Manual” had a statement that ” the function of the university is to seek and to transmit knowledge and to train students in the processes whereby truth is to be made known. To convert, or to make converts, is alien and hostile to this dispassionate duty”.  In 2003, 69 years later, by a vote of 43-3 of the Faculty Senate, this passage was removed from the Berkeley personnel manual. In its place was inserted  ”academic freedom requires that the Academic Senate be given primary responsibility for applying academic standards.” In other words, as David Horowitz writes, academic freedom is whatever the faculty says it is.

If you’ve got kids going off to college, you might take interest in their courses and syllabi.  In any event, if you read The Professors, you’ll realize just how entrenched the Left is in academia.

Monday, August 9th (and Monday August 23rd) –

Northborough Tea Party “The Political, Economic & Social Impact of Illegal Immigration” presented by Jessica M. Vaughan, Director of Policy Studies, Center for Immigration Studies This is a two-part series, August 9th & 23rd.

7:00 – 8:15pm Northborough Free Library, 34 Main Street, Northborough, MA RSVP required – northboroughteaparty@gmail.com

Wednesday, August 11th –

Merrimack Valley Tea Party Statewide & Congressional Candidate Forum  6:30pm – ? VFW, 32 Park Street, North Andover

Quincy Tea Party Candidates’ Night  7pm – ? The Inn At Bay Pointe, 64 Washington Court, Quincy

Thursday, August 12th -

Greater Boston Tea Party Meeting  7:30 – 9:30pm, Green Dragon Tavern, 11 Marshall Street, Boston, MA Join us for a social evening – no agenda, just conversation.

Wednesday, August 18th –

Constitution Ride Across America Rally  3:00 – 4:00pm, MA State Capitol Building, 1 Beacon Street, Boston, MA RSVP on Facebook or visit Constitution Ride Across America.  If you would like to join the ride, email Mike at northboroughteaparty@gmail.com. He is organizing a ride from central MA to Boston earlier in the day.

Saturday, August 21st -

Salisbury Tea Party Rally with North Shore Tea Party  At the crossorads of US Route 1 and Elm Street, Salisbury, MA Come one, come all and help Salisbury locals make a big splash! Bring your flags and patriotic signs (in good taste) and show your support for freedom. NorthShoreTeaParty.org

Wednesday, August 25th –

Merrimack Valley Tea Party State Senate and State Rep Candidate Forum  6:30pm – ? VFW, 32 Park Street, North Andover

Oak Point Veterans’ Association Candidate Forum, featuring Andy Card  7:00 to 9:00pm, in the Ballroom at Oak Point, 200 Oak Point Drive, Middleborough, MA

Sunday, August 28th –

10:00am  Andover Memorial Library,  2 North Main Street, Andover, MA                                                                   Merrimack Valley Tea Party is hosting a Restoring Honor Rally to Celebrate America by Honoring our Heroes, Our Heritage and our Future.  This is an opportunity to inform the public about some of the important values that the Tea Party cherishes.

Wednesday, September 8th –

7:00 – 8:00am Arlington High School, 869 Mass Ave., Arlington, MA  Join fellow citizens in reciting the Pledge of Allegiance in support of Sena Harrington, who fought AND WON his battle with the School Committee to ensure the pledge was recited daily in his high school. Congratulations Sean – we will see you on September 8th.

In an effort to promote and spread our conservative message, we’d like to encourage Tea Party members to write Letters to The Editor to your local papers.  Don’t be intimidated by them.  Editors are looking for your opinion so you don’t have to be an expert.  They are not difficult to write and are read by a great many people.

Editors prefer for you to respond to a previous article or opinion piece.  You can refute or support the piece or address pertinent facts that were ignored.  You can also address current legislation or an issue that’s been in the news.  You can respond to a positive or negative piece written about a candidate you support.   Basically, you can take any state or local policy issue or piece of legislation and apply the Tea Party Mission Statement.  Look for ways to promote the following:

• Limited government
• Free markets
• Free speech
• Individual liberty
• Personal responsibility

It’s not necessary to identify yourself as a Tea Party member if you prefer not to although most of us are proud to announce our support of the tea party values.  You may merely wish to reference the TP such as:  “maybe the Tea Party is on to something” or something similar.  Try to avoid social issues – stick with fiscal ones.  Social issues have a way of being divisive — even among Tea Party members.  We can usually all agree on the fiscal issues.

These tips will help:

You must include your name, address and daytime phone number with your letter. Instructions for submitting a letter to the editor are usually at the bottom of the page where they appear or on the paper’s Web site.  Find out from your local paper the best way to send a letter.  Some papers like them mailed, others prefer faxes, while others favor e-mails.

Do not send attachments. Include the letter in the body of the email.  Address it “Dear Editor.”

Make one clear logical argument. The piece should be in favor of or critical of a particular position taken by the paper or described in an article.  Support your statements with statistics, anecdotes or results of studies.  Editors cut from the bottom, so make your point at the beginning.

If responding to an article, cite the article. Be sure to mention the title and date of the article you’re responding to in one of your first two sentences.  For example “Dear Editor, Your recent coverage of the issue of the uninsured (“Healthcare in America,” May 13, 2005) was a thoughtful piece…”

Be brief. Generally, four to six short paragraphs are ideal.  It’s best kept between 150- 200 words.  If you can’t contain the piece to that length, consider asking someone to help you edit it or write a 750-word op-ed instead.

Try humor, if the piece lends itself to that.

Express your opinion with conviction and passion. But do avoid vitriolic or disrespectful language.  Such letters will likely not be published and if they are will turn readers off.

If appropriate, mention your Representatives and/or Senators or a candidate. This will ensure the message will reach them.  Staffers monitor media “hits” – sometimes on a daily basis.

Proofread! If possible, have someone else look at it.  They may find a mistake you overlooked.

Consider sending a similar letter to different papers. The letters can be similar but should not be identical.  Do not cc other papers in your email.  Send them separately.

Below is a list of the larger papers in the Greater Boston area.  This is only a partial list and may not include smaller community papers.  Also consider church publications if the letter is appropriate for such a venue. Please let us know if you find a publication that is receptive to our conservative message, and we will add them to our list.

• Andover Townsman (Andover) nfater@andovertownsman.com
• Athol Daily News (Athol) adn@atholdailynews.com
• Barnstable Patriot, The (Hyannis) letters@barnstablepatriot.com
• Beacon Hill Times (Boston) editor@beaconhilltimes.com
• Bedford Standard Times (Bedford) Letters@s-t.com
• Berkshire Eagle (Pittsfield) letters@berkshireeagle.com
• Boston Globe (Boston) letter@globe.com
• Boston Herald (Boston) letterstoeditor@bostonherald.com
• Cape Cod Chronicle, The (Chatham) letters@capecodchronicle.com
• Cape Cod Times (Hyannis) letters@capecodonline.com
• Christian Science Monitor (Boston) letters@csmonitor.com
• Daily Free Press (Boston University) dfpletters@gmail.com
• Dorchester Reporter, The (Boston) letters@dotnews.com
• Eagle Tribune (Haverhill, North Andover, Lawrence) awhite@eagletribune.com
• Gloucester Daily Times (Gloucester) gdt@gloucestertimes.com
• Hampshire Gazette (Northhampton) opinion@gazettenet.com
• Haverhill Gazette (Haverhill) editor@hgazette.com
• Herald News (Fall River) pluce@heraldnews.com
• Inquirer and Mirror (Nantucket Island) mstanton@inkym.com
• Jewish Advocate (Boston) Stevem@thejewishadvocate.com
• Landmark, The (Holden) editor-at-thelandmark.com
• Martha’s Vineyard Times (Vineyard Haven) lettertotheeditor@mvtimes.com
• Newburyport News (Newburyport) mbuchs@newburyportnews.com
• Patriot Ledger (Quincy) editpage@ledger.com
• Reminder, The (East Longmeadow) News@ReminderPublications.com
• Salem Evening News (Salem) nbenton@salemnews.com
• Standard Times (New Bedford) Letters@s-t.com
• Sun Chronicle, The (Attleboro) mkirby@thesunchronicle.com
• Taunton Daily Gazette (Taunton) eic@tauntongazette.com
• Telegram and Gazette Online (Worcester) letters@telegram.com
• Valley Advocate (Springfield, Hatfield) tvannah@valleyadvocate.com
• ValleyPatriot (Merrimack Valley) (monthly) ValleyPatriot@aol.com
• Vineyard Gazette, The (Edgartown) news@mvgazette.com

No, we were not up against insurmountable odds.  No, we did not change a lot of minds.  In fact, many of you reported back to me that your call was the first your legislator had even heard of the amendment!  This is big news.  We showed Beacon Hill that we are paying attention, we do care what happens at the Statehouse and we will no longer allow them to rule over us based on special interests and tyrannical agendas.

This stealth attack on our ability to petition our fellow citizenry and our legislature to bring issues to the ballot box is a most sacred right.  When our legislature fails (or refuses) to do what is in the best interest of the citizens of the Commonwealth, we can take matters into our own hands and vote!  Some in the current legislature tried to take that right away from us today but because of our persistence – and our partnership and information sharing with other Tea Party groups, liberty groups, tax reform organizations, etc, we stopped them.  Not only did we stop them, we embarrassed many of them by being better informed and better prepared to defend our rights.

Here is the play by play from Statehouse News of what happened at the Constitutional Convention today -

CONVENES: Sen. Rosenberg gaveled the Constitutional Convention to order at 12:59 p.m.

Sen. Rosenberg recognized Sen. Menard, standing in the center of the well.

Sen. Menard moved that the convention be dissolved.

By voice vote, motion adopted.

DISSOLVES: Sen. Rosenberg declared the Constitutional Convention dissolved at 12:59 p.m.

I hope you are enjoying this moment as much as I am.  I ask you all to share this story with family and friends here in MA and beyond.  Let’s share this victory with newly awakened political activists across the nation.  Sure we lose some but oh, does it feel good when we win.  And again, this was a big one!

This is a powerful lesson for us all.  When we unite behind common principles that we share – limited government, free speech and individual Liberty – we win!

There are only two days left in the legislative session (Thank goodness!) then our legislators begin their 5 month vacation – which many of them will spend campaigning for another term and/or creating new legislation.  Go find them.  Tell them you found this attempt to steal our freedoms right from under us abhorrent.  Find out where they stand on all issues.  If they are deserving, help them.  If not, go find their opponent(s) and help them.  It is all hands on deck come August 1st.  It is time to take back our state – and our country!

Bring on November!

Melt the Phones!

From our favorite political activist, Barbara Anderson of Citizens for Limited Taxation, comes this concise and direct message to our current representatives, who are considering abolishing the Citizen Initiative in MA.

Please call your legislators, both House and Senate, with a simple “I’m not going to argue with you” message: Leave the initiative petition process alone.

“I would normally assume that the Massachusetts Legislature, during the last week of the session, in a volatile election year with many angry voters, would not attack the initiative petition process beloved across the political arena. Yet, there it is, Senate 23, a constitutional amendment from Cynthia Creme and 20 co-sponsors on the Thursday constitutional convention agenda. If passed by two conventions and the voters, it would add this language to the items prohibited by the present initiative process:

This is silly; our constitution already prohibits any initiative attempting to change the Bill of Rights. This language threatens all citizens who use the petition process: certainly it could be used to argue against all tax limits and tax cuts.

The only reason I take it seriously is it comes to the ConCon with a favorable report from the Judiciary Committee, not the Election Laws committee that usually gives an ”unfavorable” to attacks on the initiative process. Clearly proponents are trying to sneak it past all the groups who have traditionally opposed assaults on the initiative, and this stealth attack could include a quick vote in the ConCon during a busy week.

Well, now that we’ve noticed, there will be a fight as petitioner allies oppose moving Senate Bill 23 to the top of the calendar for that quick vote. Give it up, petition-haters; the people will not easily give up their defense against the likes of you.”

Please call your legislators, both House and Senate, with a simple “I’m not going to argue with you” message: Leave the initiative petition process alone.

As the President raises the stakes in the immigration debate, I highly recommend the website of the Center for Immigration Studies  www.cis.org.  It is a veritable treasure-trove of facts, statistics, research papers, and questionniare results that are given great credence by nearly all parties in the debate.

A few excerpts and condensations from some of the more interesting polls and articles follows:

A 2009 Zogby opinion poll taken IN MEXICO found:

* A clear majority of people in Mexico (56 per cent) thought giving legal status to illegal immigrants in the US (amnesty) would make it MORE LIKELY that people they knew would go to the US illegally. Only 17 per cent thought it would make Mexicans less likely to go.

* At present 12-13 Mexican-born people live in the US.   36 per cent of Mexicans (39 million people) say they would move to the US if they could.

* 69 per cent of Mexicans thought the primary loyalty of Mexican-Americans (Mexico and US born) should be to Mexico.

* According to Homeland Security, in  2008 one of six new legal immigrants was from Mexico; six of ten illegal immigrants was from Mexico.

MINORITY VIEWS ON IMMIGRATION

In contrast to the leadership of many ethnic advocacy groups, most members of minority groups think immigration is too high.  56 per cent of Hispanics, 57 percent of Asian-Americans, and 68 per cent of African-Americans say immigration is too high and only 7 (Hispanic), 5 (Asian-Americans) and 4 (African-Americans) say it is too low. 14-18 per cent of the minority groups say it is just right.

Most members of minority groups do not feel that illegal immigration is caused by limits on legal immigration as many ethnic advocacy groups argue; instead, minority members feel it’s due to lack of enforcement (61 per cent of Hispanics cite inadequate enforcement; 69 per cent of Asian-Americans and 70 per cent of African-Americans).

TEENAGE UNEMPLOYMENT

Teenage summer employment has declined dramatically over the past fifteen years. In the summer of 2007, in the ten occupations employing the most US-born teenagers, one in five workers was an immigrant.

IMMIGRATION AND THE NEW CALIFORNIA

This study states that in 1970 California had the 7th most educated work force in the country (measured by per cent of its workers who had graduated from high school). By 2008 California ranked dead last – 50th- as a direct result of immigration.

www.cis.org. has a wealth of information and position papers.  Well-worth a visit as the immigration issue heats up.

Personally, I’m married to an immigrant and cherish both her and the achievements and industriousness of the many immigrants who enrich the US.  But I do believe in the rule of law and that a prime responsibility of any government is to protect its country’s borders.

July 12, 2010 | For immediate release

Greater Boston Tea Party releases statement on Senator Scott Brown’s decision to vote YES on Financial Reform Bill.

Boston – The leadership and members of the Greater Boston Tea Party, along with tea party and conservative activists across the Commonwealth are greatly disappointed in Senator Brown’s announcement that he will vote yes on the Financial Reform Bill.  After weeks of debate and a thorough investigation of the bill and its possible effects on the economy, small businesses, community banks and consumers, we are at loss as to what redeeming qualities Senator Brown found in the bill worthy of support.

Scott Brown promised in the fall of 2009 to stand up for free markets and constitutional principles.  A yes vote on this bill  – a bill that disregards Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, greatly expands executive authority and reach, creates a perpetual and permanent bail-out system and fosters the creation of even more bureaucracy – defies the commitment he made to thousands of activists and donors across the nation who swept him in to office in January in one of the biggest political upsets of all time.

Tea party activists will continue to independently support candidates and current representatives that adhere to our constitutional principles of limited government, free markets and individual Liberty.  If Senator Brown wants our continued support, he must consider how legislation he supports upholds these principles.

###

would like to invite you to the first seminar in our Speaker Series

featuring:

Loren Spivack “The Free Market Warrior”

A free society cannot survive unless the people understand what is going on.  Loren Spivack, The Free Market Warrior, has committed himself to helping an entire generation of Americans understand how economics works.  The information is given in straightforward accessible format, with the goal of preparing a new “army” of regular Americans ready and equipped to fight for freedom, in that area where freedom is most crucial: our economic lives.

The seminar is given over two evenings and divided into four parts:

1. Intellectual and Historical Roots of Socialism: Understanding its broad appeal.
2. The Intellectual and Historical Roots of Capitalism: Why we’ll starve without it.
3. The Source of Value: Two contrasting views and their implications.
4. Applying the Principles of Freedom to the Problems of Today.

Where: Woburn, MA 01801

When: July 21^st and 22^nd

Time: 6:30 – 10:00 PM

Space is limited so RSVP by emailing:

edu@greaterbostonteaparty.com

“Time wisely spent.” -Jon Reynolds, Charlotte NC

“This seminar is worth more than most college educations!”- Drew Kelly, Mooresville, NC

Our own Christine Morabito attended the seminar when conducted in Lowell and filed the following report:

Did you know that the theory of Keynesian economics was disproven long before John Maynard Keynes was even born?  Keynes just rediscovered and repackaged the kooky theory in the 1930’s and people thought it was a new concept.  Apparently, you can do that in economics.  Seems like reverse evolution to me.

Loren A. Spivack, The Free Market Warrior, has been busy schooling folks all across the country about the miracle of the Free Market.  His brilliantly conceived, flawlessly executed seminar is coming to a Tea Party near you.  I highly recommend his 2-part Economic Literary Seminar which demystifies economics and presents clear, common sense, free market principles in a witty and entertaining way.

Spivack champions the benefits of Capitalism to the world at large and explains why Socialism, while appealing to a great many people, ignores human nature and defies all logic and common sense.  Find out why sociology professors are disproportionately liberal yet the university’s football coach is most likely a Republican.

You’ll discuss the origins of money and how we don’t need the government to distribute it any more than we need the government to provide our healthcare.  It has been proven time and time again that the free market, if allowed to operate unmolested, can solve virtually every economic problem we can think of.

Find out Loren’s common sense solutions to taxes, healthcare, entitlement programs, and why he feels the government should get out of the education system entirely.

The uber-left have been ringing the apocalyptic bells for decades about running out of natural resources.  Spivack busts the myths about these doom and gloom predictions by citing examples like the fact that in 1910–well before environmentalism– the number of trees was at its all time lowest.  While trotting out the old, tired “But what about the children?” mantra every time we threaten to cut up the government credit card, they continue to squander the fruits of our labor (human resources) on studies like the one funded with a million of our hard-earned dollars to study prostitutes in Ho Chi Minh City.

Please join us!

***ACTION ALERT***

Senator Brown, JUST VOTE NO! Rally

Tuesday, June 29th Noon

JFK Federal Building Plaza, Cambridge @ New Sudbury Street Boston

We, the People say Just Vote NO!

Join us as we rally at Senator Brown’s office. The Financial Reform bill, written by Barney Frank and Chris Dodd, is headed to the Senate. Almost everyone agrees that action is necessary to strengthen consumer protections and reform our financial system. However, the current financial services reform legislation—the Restoring American Financial Stability Act of 2010 (H.R. 4173) will not benefit consumers or small businesses.  Instead, it will restrict our personal financial choice, burden small business and create a massive new bureaucracy with too much authority and little oversight. This bill supports Wall Street, not Main Street. Step up and oppose this legislation!!

I work in the psychiatric field, so very little shocks me.  However, I was completely incredulous to learn of a publishing company putting a warning label on reprints of the Constitution and other historical documents.  The disclaimer, by Wilder Publications, also appears on copies of its Declaration of Independence, Common Sense, the Articles of Confederation and the Federalist Papers.  It reads as follows:

“This book is a product of its time and does not reflect the same values as it would if it were written today.  Parents might wish to discuss with their children how views on race, gender, sexuality, ethnicity, and interpersonal relations have changed since this book was written before allowing them to read this classic work.”

Excuse me, but since when are our founding documents so offensive that they need a disclaimer?  If our core values have changed so drastically since our country was born, it’s certainly news to me.  I have a few questions.  What exactly are they suggesting that children need to be briefed about?  Do our impressionable children need to be shielded from the dangerous concepts of limited government, free speech, individual liberty, personal responsibility and free markets?  Where did Wilder Publications get the asinine idea that such a disclaimer was even necessary?

I consider myself fortunate not to have children in the public school system because God only knows what they’d be learning.  If I did have children, I certainly “might wish to discuss” with them the value of home schooling.  There seems to be an enormous push in schools to apologize for America and accentuate the flaws in our history.   However, the growing popularity of the highly patriotic Tea Parties demonstrates how out-of-touch such “revisionist history” has become.  Sure, we’ve made mistakes, and our founding fathers had their share of flaws, to which many of them willingly admitted.   This is the very reason they believed so strongly in the “Rule of Law” as opposed to the “Rule of Men.”

American Majority published a pamphlet entitled “Why America is Great,”  where they write the following about our founders:

“They looked back and learned from history what worked and what didn’t.  They understood the unflattering aspects of human nature, and instead of glossing over them, they confronted them and built safeguards against them.  They built a new nation on principles that even they imperfectly understood and imperfectly applied.  But they knew these principles were true and that they were worth fighting—and dying—for.  Let us, also imperfect, follow their example… Let us not pin our hopes or try to build our future on the fads or “ologies” or even the movements of the moment, but instead upon the principles that have stood the test of time.  The time has come to renew those principles in our nation—to learn to apply them in the age in which we now live.”

Amazon.com has gotten hundreds of negative reviews from customers regarding Wilder Publications’ disclaimers.   I’m happy to see I’m in good company.