general study notes 10/25-11/5/2010

Spanish-The key is to success is to develop a schedule and ritualize it every day, every week, every month, every year.~KLGC~Unofficially, this has been my motto, since I learned how to organize my home and life. But I've always had a "have to" to keep me on track. Being semi-retired now, I've developed a schedule, because I want to. In the mornings, I get up quite early, exercise, shower, and settle into devotions. Quite naturally Spanish scripture study has fallen into place directly after devotional and then on to Rocket Spanish, First Step Espanol, Madrigal's Magic Key, English Grammar for Students of Spanish, and a Spanish Classic. Right now I'm reading and translating Don Quijote de la Mancha. I've been surprised that all of this takes less than 60 min.

Many people ask why I study Spanish "at my age". They go on to say they would never learn it, because the immigrants need to learn to speak English. While it is true that they should learn English, trends indicate that by 2015 more than 15% of US residents will be native Spanish speakers with English as a second language. World wide it is the second most widely used language only behind Mandarin. English is rapidly becoming obsolete as the language of business in the US and UK. Additionally, 5 million of God's children speak Spanish including many of my friends in AZ and WA. How can we be friends, if we can't speak to each other? We smile and wave and say hello/hola and speak what few words we possess in the other's language. I want that to change.They are learning and so am I.

A History of the American People-no new insights..talks a bit about the war and designing of the constitution

Bluestocking Economics-Whatever Happened to Penny Candy?-Economics: A Free Market Reader-I'm amazed at how much more I'm learning this time through, because I don't have to worry if my students got it. True, some of my distance students are working with these resources, but it is not the same as talking things over in the living room.The history of our monetary system is fascinating as well as sad.

"All major problems are problems in ethics. when we begin using ethics to attack problems, we will have real, lasting solutions." Richard Maybury-Whatever Happened to Penny Candy?

Dollar=1 oz. ingot of silver
Money=the most easily traded thing in a society. Economists call it the most liquid commodity.
Coin=a wager of disk of precious metal. True coins usually have three markings, weight, fineness, and name of mint
Hallmark=the mint-mark of a coin. Tells who made the coin...trademark
 Banknote=today, paper money. Originally, an IOU from a bank, usually for gold or silver
Legal Tender Law=provides for the punishment of anyone who refuses to accept the legal tender of money
Fiat Money=legal tender money

Good money must be small, easy to move, widely desired, corrosion-proof, scarce, and hard to copy.Throughout the centuries gold and silver have had these things. Even so shells, beads, stones, furs, grain, and salt are some of the items used as money throughout the centuries. Coins were invented to tell a person the weight or quantity of gold or silver they own. In this way they would know exactly how much gold or silver to exchange for a product or service.

Dollar comes from the word thaler which was a shortened form of the word Joachimthaler, a one-ounce silver coin minted in Joachimthaler, Bohemia during the middle ages.

Silver certificates are slips of paper representing one dollar banknotes which could be exchanged for silver if you took them to the US Treasury. Silver certificates did not have legal tender statements. Instead they said: "This certified there is on Deposit in the Treasury of the US of America On Dollar in Silver Payable to the Bearer on Demand." Silver certificates disappeared during the 1960s. Federal Reserve notes have replaced Silver Certificates and are being printed in huge quantities. They are not backed by any precious metals. They are just paper. Because of this our money is worth less today than when it was made of gold or silver. The legal tender law gives Federal Reserve Notes their value. If you refuse to accept Federal Reserve Notes in payment of a debt, the debt is canceled. Article 1, Section 10 of the US constitution says that "no State shall make any thing but gold and silver coin a tender in payment of debts."

Gold coins stopped circulating in the US in the 1930s. Silver coins stopped circulation in the 1960s. By allowing the government to forbid the circulation of gold and silver, and requiring everyone to accept paper money, the value of America's money fell and the price of goods and services rose.

Dictators do not want to be overthrown through revolution by taxing people too much. Instead of raising taxes, they print more money or inflate. People want to be reelected in a democracy. If taxes are too high a politician might be voted out of office. Instead of raising taxes, a democratic government is likely to print money or inflate. Besides using money to inflate, modern politicians use banks and the Federal Reserve to inflate.

The Fallacy Detective-A genetic fallacy condemns an argument because of where it began, how it began, or who began it. A person uses this fallacy by using the difficult past of his opponent or his opponent's idea as a weapon. Just because the source of an argument may not be stellar, but that does not necessarily prove that the idea is flawed.

Tu Quoque is Latin for "you too." This sort of argument dismisses someone's viewpoint on an issue because he himself is inconsistent in that very thing. A perfect example of this is a parent who says do what I say and not what I do. The child discounts the parent's advice. The child dodges the issue by shifting attention to someone else's sins. This fallacy says that two wrongs make a right. So the point that the action all right because everyone else is doing it, is wrong. What is the moral, common, or written law? That should be the guide.

The Complete Book of Marvels-Popocatepetl...an ancient Aztec place of human sacrifice...the temple was torn down and replaced by a Christian church by the Mexican people. I really didn't enjoy reading this story, nor would I want to go there.

Empires Lost and Won-America and Vietnam-I love Albert Marrin history books. Although I've been interested in history for some time, it wasn't until I read my first Marrin book that history came alive for me.Even though I detest all the violence, I enjoy discovering what makes people tick. To begin to understand the nature of man is to embrace empathy and love for all my fellow men. This makes it easier to love my enemy and pray for those that despitefully use me.

Although I think the Inca Corichancha must have been beautiful, I don't believe it rivaled any of God's creation. All it did was to drive the greed of the conquistadores. As a native of Arizona, it is funny to me that they thought it contained golden cities. Yes, it is beautiful in the eyes of some, but its beauty lies in the land not gold and such. The idea of the pueblo is fascinating. Since I grew up in AZ, I have seen a few of these such as the famous Montezuma Castle.

The study of history confuses me to no end. Why do some people feel the need to control or dominate others?

Reading these two books again but simultaneously gives me a strange feeling. Nothing has changed in all these years. Strong men trick weak men into committing monstrosities upon even weaker people in the name of God and country, when it is really greed that drives them. "Our enemies were people like ourselves, sharing with us the bright and dark sides of human nature. They loved their wives and children and friends. The were just as upset by harm coming to their loved ones as we are. But, as with all peoples, they were able to suppress their humanity for a cause they saw as just and noble and sacred." Albert Marrin-America and Vietnam

The Making of America-An Evening a Month for America-The right given to every American in the first sentence of Article I in the Constitution, All Legislative or lawmaking powers granted by this Constitution shall be vested exclusively in the Congress of the United States, gives us the right NOT to be subject to any federal law unless it has been reviewed and approved by a majority of the people's representatives. The founders envisioned we would need few federal laws. They wanted proposed legislation to be scrutinized by the House of Representatives, because the laws would affect the people.

The federal government has gradually encroached upon state sovereignty by passing laws that preempt state functions and  through the 17th amendment. This weakened the rights of the states, because the Senate no longer represented State's rights. The Supreme Court did not stay within its bounds of interpretation of the laws strictly within the bounds of the constitution. Instead the SC legislates from the bench according to personal preferences of the judges and not the constitution. Additionally, the SC has consistently favored federal encroachment on the states by all three branches of government. Federal money was used as the proverbial carrot to "force" states to accept federal standards.

The president's issuing of executive orders has passed through various stages since the founders' time. First executive orders were just instructions to the Presidential cabinet, which did not affect the public. As time went on, the Strong President stage actually saw executive orders issued by presidents to demonstrate the power of the President to take independent action. From here the idea was that the president could do whatever wasn't specifically prohibited by the constitution instead of doing NOTHING except that which the constitution authorized. "I decline to adopt the view that what was imperatively necessary for the Nation could not be done by the President unless he could find some specific authorization to do it. My belief was that it was not only his right but his duty to do ANYTHING that the needs of the Nation demanded unless such action was forbidden by the Constitution or by Law. Under this interpretation of Executive power I did and caused to be done many things not previously done by the President and the heads of Departments. I did not usurp powers, but I did greatly broaden the use of Executive power." Theodore Roosevelt

Once unleashed the president's usurped powers only grew. During WWI "Woodrow Wilson used the war powers to impose administrative law as executive orders on almost every phase of American life." This was called implied authority. Then another Roosevelt came along and gave us the new deal, which was just socialism with a sugary new name, the New Deal. Now there were so many executive orders that they were by law published in the Federal Register--there are well over 50,000 now. Starting with the Yalta Agreement during WWII, secret executive orders became the norm. While we believe we live in a free and open country, we are sorely mistaken. Secret Executive Agreements are now used by the president to make laws.


As I touched on above the federal judiciary began to make new laws, called judicial activism. They claim there are social needs not being addressed by the states or Congress and they feel compelled to step in. This is often called establishing public policy. But this is certainly not the job of the courts, it is legislative. Also they reversed decisions of previous SC.

The two safety nets erected by the founders in the Constitution to protect the people from unconstitutional activities by either the Congress of the courts: 1) the power granted in Article V to state legislatures to reverse decision s of Congress or courts by amending the Constitution 2)common law juries that could bring a verdict of not guilty when they thought a law was unconstitutional.

The House of Representatives and the Senate originally helped to establish a perfect balance in government of "the one, the few, and the many."

Instacert is great. It really shows me my weaknesses in the subjects I'm trying to master. Sometimes I get a little irritated at its accuracy and my lack thereof.