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June Book of the Month - "The World Turned Upside Down" by Melanie Phillips

 

Is there a world-wide cultural collapse?  Is the United States no longer a culture of success?   Has England become a satellite for Moslem extremists?  Is multiculturalism a Trojan horse for cultural relativism and anything goes?  Have we lost our ideals that promote a strong work ethic, an independent spirit, and the primacy of the family? 

 

If these questions intrigue you or arouse your curiosity, you will want to read the SWIVL recommendation for June 2010, The World Turned Upside Down by Melanie Phillips.

According to Phillips, the West is losing both its rationality and its freedoms. The West is succumbing to a "soft totalitarianism," which not only is creating an ugly mood of intolerance but is undermining its ability to defend itself against Islamic aggression. While the Islamists are intent on returning the free world to the seventh century, the West no longer seems willing or able to defend the modernity and rationalism that it brought into being.

The basic cause of all this unreason is the erosion of the building blocks of western civilization. We tell ourselves that religion and reason are incompatible, but in fact the opposite is the case. It was Christianity and the Hebrew Bible that gave us our concepts of reason, progress and an orderly world-the foundations of science and modernity.

The loss of religious belief has meant the West has replaced reason and truth with ideology and prejudice, which it enforces in the manner of a secular inquisition. The result has been a kind of mass derangement, as truth and lies, right and wrong, victim and aggressor are all turned upside down. In medieval-style witch- hunts, scientists who are skeptical of global warming are hounded from their posts; Israel is ferociously demonized; and the United States is vilified over the war on terror-all on the basis of falsehoods and propaganda that are believed as truth.

Thus the West is losing both its rationality and its freedoms. It is succumbing to a "soft totalitarianism," which not only is creating an ugly mood of intolerance but is undermining its ability to defend itself against Islamic aggression. While the Islamists are intent on returning the free world to the seventh century, the West no longer seems willing or able to defend the modernity and rationalism that it brought into being.

With cold, perceptive, exhaustive and persistent passion, Melanie Phillips dissects the phenomenon among disparate movements, to reach disturbing but compelling conclusions about the erosion of modern progressive society – a society based on personal responsibility, independence, and self-reliance - by ideologies whose surprising interconnections are meticulously identified. One can only hope that her book will penetrate the information cocoon into which many of our intelligentsia have have sealed themselves."  Continue reading.

What Daniel Pearl's decapitation means to Barack Obama

Even given Obama’s ever more terrifying and lethal performance in office, his comments about the jihadi murder of Daniel Pearl, and in front of Daniel’s bereaved family, are simply astounding. This is what Obama said:  ‘Obviously, the loss of Daniel Pearl was one of those moments that captured the world’s imagination because it reminded us of how valuable a free press is.’

Daniel Pearl was not murdered because he was a journalist. He was decapitated because he was an American Jew. Khalid Sheikh Mohamed cut off his head in an act of unimaginable barbarism, which was videoed in order to incite other Muslims to similar acts of barbarism and to destroy the will of the west to defend itself.  Continue reading.

CA Cities Can Now Boycott Each Other

California's penal code section 834b requires, not merely permits, law enforcement to attempt to verify the immigration status of people who are suspected of being in the US illegally.

But there are basic differences.

The California law requires verification of immigration status when a person has been arrested. Under section 834 of the Calif. Penal Code, that means when a person has been taken into custody. Arizona requires verification when there has been "any lawful stop, detention, or arrest." Note that HB2162, the amendments to the original Arizona law, inserted "any lawful stop, detention or arrest" in place of "contact .Arizona requires verification when there is "reasonable suspicion" that the person being stopped, detained, or arrested might be in the US illegally. California does not require "reasonable" suspicion. Verification is required only if it is "suspected" that the person is in the US illegally.

But one difference stands out. Nothing in the California Penal Code Section 834b prohibits police from basing their decision on a person's race or ethnicity the way HB2162 explicitly prohibits Arizona police from considering "race, color, or national origin" when carrying out their duties "except to the extent permitted by the United States or Arizona Constitution." Again, Arizona's SB1070 prohibited police from solely basing their actions on "race, color or national origin." HB2162 deleted the word "solely," which means that the police cannot consider these factors at all unless it is permitted by the US and Arizona Constitutions.

Absolute Arrogance

NBC, CBS, ABC, and CNN are silent.  Why are most media outlets silent when the head legal officer in the country criticizes a law that he hasn’t even read.  Despite repeatedly voicing concerns about Arizona's new immigration enforcement law in recent weeks and threatening to challenge it, Attorney General Eric Holder said Thursday he has not yet read the law, which is only 10 pages long.  Continue reading.

Volunteer with SWIVL

Become a Southwest Institute for ViolenceFree Learning (SWIVL) Volunteer. Become part of a growing movement for ending the cycle of violence.  Unlike other programs and strategies that focus only on animal abuse, child abuse, or domestic violence, SWIVL takes the approach that violence is indivisible and that animal, child, and domestic violence are cut from the same cloth.   Formed in 2003 as a 501(c)3, SWIVL is a nonprofit organization established to respond to the growing state of violence and discord in our families, communities, nation, and world.  SWIVL believes the first place to start is with the torture, abuse, and animal abandonment. 

SWIVL has no paid staff.  All contributions go directly to SWIVL programs and services.  Please contact SWIVL if you are interested in volunteering for any of the activities below:

• Volunteer and learn how to be a humane educator in the classroom.
• Volunteer to develop and maintain farmed animal habitats.
• Volunteer as a community organizer to help build a sanctuary for dogs that are abandoned in the desert.
• Volunteer as a veterinarian to provide free spade and neutering clinics in the Arivaca, AZ community.
• Volunteer as an intern to assist in the general health and welfare of farmed and companion animals.
• Volunteer as part of the SWIVL speaker’s bureau for community events and meetings.
• Volunteer as a guide for individuals and groups that visit SWIVL.

Please contact SWIVL if you are interested in volunteering for any of the above activities.

Factory Farms: It's Time to Shut Them Down

Factory Farms cause disease and provide no value to society.  Factory farm food is not healthy and has been found to cause cancer, diabetes, and heart disease.  Factory farms cause pollution and are dangerous to our environment.  Factory farms are large-scale industrial operations that houses thousands of animals raised for food and treat them with hormones and antibiotics to maximize their growth and food output.  Here are a few specific reasons why factory farms should be illegal and should not subsidize by tax dollars:

 

- Factory Farms harm the human immune system - Feeding animals antibiotics on a consistent basis may cause the humans that consume them to lose some of their ability to fight certain strains of bacteria.

 

- Factory Farms mutilate animals - The beaks of chickens, turkeys and ducks are often removed in factory farms to reduce the excessive feather pecking and cannibalism seen among stressed, overcrowded birds.

 

- Factory Farms impose unnatural practices on animals - Animals are often force bred to produce young at unnaturally accelerated rates, causing them exhaustion and stress.

 

- Factory Farms torture animals on a regular basis - Animals headed for slaughter who become too sick or injured to walk unassisted are forced onto slaughter trucks, often with a bulldozer.

 

- Factory Farms pollute the local community and environment - Confining so many animals in one place produces much more waste than the surrounding land can handle. As a result, factory farms are associated with various environmental hazards, such as water, land and air pollution.

 

- Factory Farms are dangerous to people - People who live in close proximity to factory farms often complain of high incidents of illness.

 

- Factory Farms chain animals their entire life - From birth to slaughter at five months, calves used to produce "formula-fed" or "white" veal are confined to two-foot-wide crates and chained to inhibit movement. The lack of exercise retards muscle development, resulting in pale, tender meat.

 

- Factory Farms starve animals - Egg-laying hens are sometimes starved for up to 14 days, exposed to changing light patterns and given no water in order to shock their bodies into molting, a usually natural process by which worn feathers are replaced. It’s common for 5-10% of hens to die during the forced molting process.

 

- Factory Farms slaughter animals for no reason - After one or two years of producing eggs at an unnaturally high rate, female fowl are classified as "spent hens.” No longer financially profitable for factory farmers, they are slaughtered.

 

With the government’s emphasis on universal health care, it only makes sense that the food we eat should be healthy.   Factory farm food has been shown to be both unhealthy and dangerous.  Factory farms torture animals and pollute our environment. It’s time for our elected leaders to recognize that a healthy population begins with our food.  It’s time to shutdown factory farms.

Source: ASPCA

The Dependency State and the Growth of Violence

Is global interdependence really global dependence?  Recent events suggests that if a country goes bankrupt, due to excessive spending and entitlements, other countries – tax payers – will bail you out.  However, most experts will tell you that the trillion dollar give away to Greece will not solve the problem.  Because there are no guarantees that Greece will dramatically restructure its dependency policies, we are likely to see more handouts, entitlements and most of all violence.

The spread of violence through Greece should be a strong warning to other nations that a dependency state will ultimately lead to chaos, destruction, and terror.  Fortunately, many European leaders are beginning to recognize that a culture of dependency will lead to disaster.  We can only hope that President Obama and the Congress will get the message.  The handwriting is on the wall. 

Below are some important indicators of why we need to move from a state of dependency to independence, self-reliance and personal responsibility.

1) When the public believe the deck of cards is stacked against them – It’s time to end government regulated programs that favor one group of people over another.  With the election of the first African American President, there is no need or logical reason to maintain rules and regulations that are not based on competence, expertise, and personal responsibility.  Given the amount of money that is being allocated to our urban schools, government entitlements, and the government’s control over college grants, all legal United States citizens have an equal opportunity to be successful.  

2) When the government assumes the responsibility of the family – The government has no constitutional authority to assume the role and responsibility of the family.  Yet, each day, more and more elected officials at all levels of government believe that they have an ethical responsibility to take care of our children.  From food to recreation, government bureaucrats believe they know best.   Families are primary to our democracy and represent the foundation for the core values that have made the United States an exceptional country.  A government bureaucrat can never take the place of a parent and it’s time for elected officials to put an end to this dangerous trend.

3) When people are viewed as a means to an end – We are a nation of producers where a strong work ethic is fundamental to the culture of success created since the founding of the United States.  Throughout our history, Americans have rejected the notion that must depend on the government for our success.  Rather, Americans want government to stay out of their way.  While grounded in law, our country is also driven by a social contract where each citizen is responsible for their own destiny.  Most important, people are independent and free to act based on the simple, powerful philosophy of the Golden Rule.

4) When a dependency state is created by government – The more individuals, groups, and organizations believe that others – in this case the government – will take care of them, the more likely they will be dependent on the government and less self-reliant and resilient to act on their own behalf.  Personal responsibility and independence does not happen in a vacuum.

The above four factors create a state of dependency and encourage a culture of victimization.  Within this culture personal responsibility and the capacity to act is greatly inhibited.  People and their institutions are frozen, unable to act, waiting for someone else to provide support, assistance, or help.  When people are victims, patronage, pandering, and manipulation dictate the relationship between the people and their government.  As long as the government continues to provide support, the people are content.  However, if a reduction in services occurs and the dependency state is interrupted, individuals do not know how to respond as they are ill equipped and have little capacity to rely on their own talents and strengths.  As we have seen in Greece, a dependency state must continue to seek out external support and resources for its continued existence.  In this case the people of Greece have been treated as victims by their government and ironically Greece now is victim to the world community.

THE WITNESS – One Person’s Journey to Say No to Violence, Cruelty, and Fur

For the month of May, SWIVL is proud to recommend a film that portrays both the best and worst of the human spirit while offering hope, renewal and the miracle of transformation.  THE WITNESS, one person’s journey that can change the world, shows how each person has the power to do good things and change the living conditions for those among us that are abused, tortured and left to die alone and afraid.

In the award-winning documentary, THE WITNESS, Eddie Lama explains how he feared and avoided animals for most of his life, until the love of a kitten opened his heart, inspiring him to rescue abandoned animals and bring his message of compassion to the streets of New York. With humor and sincerity, Eddie tells the story of his remarkable change in consciousness.

THE WITNESS has been an official selection in 32 film festivals where it has received eight awards for Best Documentary and two for Best of Festival.  The film has been translated into 11 languages, including Russian and Chinese. 

Best of all, you do not need to go to your local video store to view THE WITNESS.  Click here to begin viewing.

Look how the White House treats our friends

Jewish Community Beginning to Question President Obama’s Decisions and Motives towards Israel

For those who were thrilled by President Obama’s decision to distance the United States from Israel and to treat Jewish neighborhoods in Jerusalem as illegal settlements, the recent “charm offensive” by which the White House has sought to deflect the growing criticism from friends of the Jewish state has to be a downer. With recent polls showing that a majority of American Jews disapprove of Obama’s handling of the Israel-Palestinian conflict, and with most of the centrist leadership of American Jewry expressing dismay over the president’s positions on Jerusalem, the left’s assertion that the president can count on Jewish support for his pressure on Israel has been effectively debunked. Continue reading.