Utterly Off Topic Wednesday: Saying Goodbye to Five Star Service in Trenton

I am not now, nor have I ever been, an Obama supporter.

But I grow more incredulous daily as I read about the strange and terrible things that are happening in this country I love since he became President.

Like the closing of Chrysler dealerships.

We have a dealership here locally - in fact, I bought my 2000 Chrysler minivan from them. Since 1972, Irv Roth's Hamilton Chrysler has provided Mercer County, NJ with Five Star Service.

Big deal, what is a Five Star dealership, anyway? According to the home page of Quinn Chrysler Dodge in Bartlesville, OK:

In order to make that claim, the dealership must comply with the Five Star quality program as set forth by Chrysler. It should be noted that there are no official one, two, three, or four star Chrysler dealerships.

To qualify, a Chrysler dealership must:
- Contact every sales and service customer for feedback after the sale or service.
- Survey dealership employees on a regular basis.
- Act on feedback given by customers and employees.
- Maintain high survey ratings.
- Provide training to employees.
- Keep the dealership grounds up to standards.

The Chrysler Five Star quality program has no outside source of certification, and is handled completely within Chrysler. Chrysler pushes its dealers to create a continuous cycle of improvement and measurement in order to counter customer dissatisfaction. The benefit to the consumer is that they can rely on the Five Star program to ensure that they are purchasing products and services from a dealership that has met the rigorous requirements of the program and is focused on customer satisfaction. The benefit to Chrysler is increased quality and satisfaction reports, increased profits, customer retention, and improved relations with their high-standard dealerships. The benefit to the dealership includes increased satisfaction reports, increased profits, customer retention, access to the Chrysler lead generation program, and access to additional incentives for sales.

Well, no problem, then. Hamilton Chrysler has been this, and more, since at least 1987 when I moved into the area. They have an A+ rating with the BBB. So I was fairly certain that they would not be on the chopping block when I heard that Chrysler was closing dealerships. So I was stunned - and mystified - to discover that they were closing after all. Why??

Hot Air reports some strange goings-on in the continuing saga of the Chrysler dealerships that are being abruptly shut down in just about two weeks.

Actually, Hot Air's post references Doug Ross @ Journal, who asks "does it seem odd that the list of closed dealerships appears to have contributed a grand total of $200 to Barack Obama and millions to GOP candidates/causes?"

Please tell me you are kidding.

By the way, I don't have any idea who Mr. Roth or the folks at Quinn Chrysler may or may not have supported. But if these allegations are true, this bodes ill for our beloved country. It's Nixon's enemies list all over again. The list in question actually reveals that these dealers did not support only Republican candidates, but any candidate other than Obama.

If this doesn't upset you, it should. This is just one more evidence that dissent is being stifled in this country. Where is the press? I have not heard a whisper of this in the mainstream press.

Why are Americans not fighting back? Are we asleep? Or worse, are we dead already?

Why we celebrate Memorial Day, and apologize to no one

Our American troops sacrificed everything for freedom and never gave any apology speeches. One of our country’s greatest moments was saving Europe from Germany in World War II. As a tribute them, here are twenty Europe cemeteries dedicated to U.S. WWII soldiers. If we added correctly, the count is 104,366.Apologize to no one. Remind those of our sacrifice and don’t confuse arrogance with leadership. As Americans, let’s all look forward to the next elections - to find a President who doesn’t think we need to be ashamed.

Apologize to no one.

read more digg story

From: I Hate the Media

TGIF - God's Preparation for Moving Out

God's Preparation for Moving Out
TGIF Today God Is First Volume 1 by Os Hillman
Friday, May 22 2009

"In this way the man grew exceedingly prosperous and came to own large flocks, and maidservants and menservants, and camels and donkeys." - Genesis 30:43

Jacob left his homeland after suffering a broken relationship with Esau for stealing the family blessing. He went to work for his uncle Laban where he stayed for 20 years. It came time for him to leave, but he had no physical assets to show for those years under Laban. Laban had taken advantage of his nephew in every way. (In some ways, Jacob was reaping the seed he had sown his entire life as a manipulator and controller.) Nevertheless, God's hand was on Jacob, and He had plans to prosper him. However, Jacob had one problem - he had no resources of his own. For Jacob to launch out on his own, he would need resources. In those days, resources often meant large flocks of animals. God gave Jacob a dream that resulted in a strategy for creating wealth by multiplying his sheep. Even though Laban sought to thwart Jacob's efforts, God overcame the evil in Laban to allow Jacob to prosper.

There are many important lessons for us in this story. First, when God decides it is time to move you into a larger place of His calling, He has the ability to provide the resources you need to support the call. God gave Jacob a dream that resulted in a strategy never used before to build wealth. It was totally from God's hand. It was creative and new. God called Jacob to move out after he had demonstrated his faithfulness in 20 years of serving Laban. He learned to live under authority and served Laban faithfully, even though he knew he was being taken advantage of.

God will do the same for you and me. However, a word of caution: Be sure the strategy is born from above, and not from self-effort. The difficulty for most of us workplace believers is to learn the difference between the strategies born of God versus the strategy of self-effort.

Photo Credit: www.agaritacreek.com

Reprinted by permission from the author. Os Hillman is an international speaker and author of more than 10 books on workplace calling. To learn more, visit http://www.marketplaceleaders.org/

ACTION ALERT - NJ Assembly Bill A3477

I received this action alert today from the New Jersey Family Policy Council. The sort of ultrasound images you see here have saved babies from being aborted, particularly when the pregnancy is far along and the woman is considering a late term abortion. A3477 would prohibit pregnancy care centers from purchasing or operating an ultrasound machine.

Assembly Bill #A3477 is moving today in the General Assembly and does not contain an amendment which we have offered. The New Jersey Family Policy Council, New Jersey Family First, NIFLA (National Institute for Life Advocates) and the League of American Families are working together to see that this amendment gets added to A3477.

Without the amendment Pregnancy Care Centers (PCC's - formerly known as Crisis Pregnancy Centers) will be prohibited from securing or operating ultrsound machines. The amendment will insure PCC's can purchase and operate these ultrasound machines that save babies from being aborted.

PLEASE CALL THE ASSEMBLY MAJORITY OFFICE AT 609-292-7065 & THE ASSEMBLY MINORITY OFFICE AT 609-292-5339

Tell the person who answers the call to inform the Assemblymen/women to support the amendment to Assembly bill 3477 which retains the right of pregnancy care centers to purchase and operate ultrasound machines.

PLEASE MAKE THESE TWO CALLS FOR LIFE RIGHT NOW!!! THANK YOU! WE ARE IN TRENTON TODAY LOBBYING FOR THIS AND YOUR CALLS COULD BE THE TIPPING POINT WE NEED.

Utterly Off Topic Wednesday: Gallup Poll Shows Majority of Americans are now Pro-Life

A new Gallup poll shows that a majority of Americans are now pro-life. This is the first time that has happened since Gallup began asking the question in 1995!

Source: Gallup Organization

Until now, the highest percentage of adults identifying themselves as pro-life was 46%. The number of people who say abortion should be illegal under all circumstances is now the same as those who say it should be legal under all circumstances - 22%. Click here to see additional graphs and statistics from this interesting article.

This is exciting for the pro-life movement, and an interesting development to be occurring in the administration of the most pro-abortion president in history.

Sincere people have actually looked me in the eye and made the incredible statement, "But President Obama is not pro-abortion!"

If they believe that, I have some swampland in Florida I would like to sell them also.

I am sure there are some readers who think I am exaggerating when I say that Obama is the most pro-abortion president in history. For you, here are some highlights (From US News) of the President's anti-life agenda since his election:

November 19th, 2008 President-elect Obama nominates pro-abortion former Senator Tom Daschle (D-S.D.) as his Health and Human Services Secretary.

December 10th, 2008 The Obama transition team publishes a wish listfrom radical pro-abortion groups of pro-abortion actions they would like to see from the Administration.

November 25th, 2008 President-elect Obama appoints Melody Barnes, former board member for the pro-abortion EMILY's List and executive vice president for policy at the George Soros-funded Center for American Progress, as director of the domestic policy council.

December 1st, 2008 President-elect Obama nominates pro-abortion advocate Senator Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.) as Secretary of State and pro-abortionad vocate Susan Rice as Ambassador to the United Nations.

December 20th 2008 President Obama nominates Harold Varmus and Jonathan Moreno, both of whom advocate for destroying human embryos for experiments and human embryo cloning for experiments, to the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology.

January 6th, 2009 President-elect Obama nominates Thomas Perrelli, attorney who argued on behalf of Michael Schiavo pro bono in the assisted homicide case of Terri Schiavo, to be Associate Attorney General.

President Obama nominates Dawn Johnsen, former Executive Director of radical pro-abortion group NARAL who has argued against the policy of "reducing abortions" and has compared pregnancy to slavery, to be Assistant Attorney General.

January 22nd, 2009 In one of his first written public statements,President Obama releases a statement celebrating the anniversary of the Roe-v.Wade decision that allows for unlimited abortion.

January 23rd, 2009 President Obama issues his Executive Order overturning the Mexico City Policy, freeing up taxpayer funds for groups that perform and promote abortions.

January 26th, 2009 President Obama's nominee for Deputy Secretary of State, James B. Steinberg, testifies that he believes the Constitution guarantees abortion should be funded by taxpayer funds.

February 3rd, 2009 President Obama nominates David Ogden, a lawyer for the porn industry who has argued that girls as young as 14 do not need parental notification when seeking an abortion and that abortion is a form of family planning that should be eligible for taxpayer funding, to be Deputy Attorney General.

Now these are just the things he did as president-elect, and up to the first week he was in office! You can see the rest of the list of things he did in his first 100 days here. He has found other things to do since then.

Actions speak louder than words, and even his words are clear enough that it is hard to understand how anyone could have gotten the idea that he was not pro-abortion.

Choice Sought in Driver Training

by J. Michael Smith
President, HSLDA
Washington Times Op-Ed

Although homeschoolers have won their freedom to teach their children at home in every state, one issue continues to be a problem. It’s whether parents should be allowed to teach their children how to drive.

Despite the freedom to teach every other subject at home, parents in most states are forbidden to teach classroom driver’s education. (Maryland does not allow parents to teach the classroom portion of driver’s education, but Virginia does. The District of Columbia has no classroom requirement.)

Home School Legal Defense Association strongly supports the position that since parents are able to teach all the other subjects and parents are responsible for the well-being and safety of their children, they also should have the right to teach their own children the classroom part of driver’s education.

It was not always this way. In the 1940s and ’50s, parents were the primary driver’s education teachers for their children. In the 1960s and ‘70s, the focus shifted to school-taught driver’s education programs. This shift was made in the hopes of assisting teenagers with their driving skills and tests. However, this has not improved teenage driving safety.

More 16-year-old drivers are dying in vehicle crashes than ever before, even though the number of traffic deaths has declined among the driving population in general. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, in 2006, 6,964 people were killed in crashes involving drivers age 16 to 20, and 3,374 drivers age 16 to 20 were killed in 2005.

The crash risk is particularly high during the first year a teenager is eligible for a driver’s license. The problem is worse in the United States than in many other countries because we allow teenagers to get driver’s licenses at an earlier age, and licenses are inexpensive and easy to obtain.

If there’s a better method of training teens to drive, shouldn’t parents be allowed to make that choice?

In October 2000, the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs conducted a research project on the effectiveness of parent-taught driver’s training. In comparing teens who had completed a National Driver Training Institute parent-taught driver’s education program with National Insurance Co. statistics for teen drivers, the study found the parent-taught teens had fewer speeding tickets, fewer accidents, fewer tickets for driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs and fewer traffic fatalities.

The insurance industry and many state legislatures have been moving toward a system of graduated driver’s licenses, in which a student has certain restrictions imposed—they must drive with an adult in the car, for example—until they reach a certain age. The requirement for driver’s education has been maintained in many states as part of this program. Also, due to financial challenges, many public schools are dropping their driver’s education programs. This forces parents to pay for commercial driving schools when they could just do the job themselves.

If you live in a state that doesn’t provide for parent-taught driver’s education, the only way to change the law is through the legislature. At a time when our country needs to see more parent-child interaction, parent-taught education is the right step to encourage more quality time for parents with their teens.

We have no doubt the effectiveness of parent-taught driver’s education will become evident because of the same principles that make homeschooling successful academically. The tutorial method with the low student-teacher ratio and individualized instruction produces outstanding results.

The bottom line is that no one cares more about the safety of their children than the parent as no one has more to lose than the parent when a child is ill-prepared to receive a driver’s license.

If you would like to see your state adopt parent-taught driver’s education as an option, contact HSLDA by email or at 540/338-5600.

Michael Smith is the president of the Home School Legal Defense Association. He may be contacted at (540)338-5600; or send email to media@hslda.org.

Other Resources

TGIF Being a Person Under Authority

Being a Person Under Authority
TGIF Today God Is First Volume 1 by Os Hillman
Sunday, May 17 2009

..."I tell you the truth, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith." - Matthew 8:10

The centurion came to Jesus and told Him of his servant who was paralyzed and in terrible suffering. He came to Jesus because he believed He could heal him. He told Jesus of the matter, and Jesus was willing to come with the centurion. But the centurion would not have it. He knew that Jesus, being under the authority of Heaven itself, did not have to see the servant to help him. The centurion understood authority. He understood that he himself had certain rights that his position granted him to have power over situations and people. He also was a man under authority. The centurion understood Jesus' position and what power that position held in Heaven - the power to heal his servant if He chose to exercise that authority.

When Jesus saw that the centurion understood this principle of authority and that He did not have to visit the servant to heal him, He acknowledged the centurion's faith. Jesus knew it took great faith to understand authority and whether He had the authority to do what was being asked.

God has placed a system of authority in our world that requires faith to operate under its boundaries: fathers over sons and daughters, employers over employees, government leaders over the people, church leaders over church members. These are authority structures God has placed in our lives to protect and guide us to His will. Some confuse position with worthiness or qualifications of that position. It is the position that God works through. The fact that an authority may not be a Christian may have no bearing on whether God can work through him as your authority. It is only when that authority counsels against a biblical mandate that we should not follow that person's guidance. The hand of the king is in the hand of God.

Today, we find few who understand this system of authority God has ordained. It requires great faith to operate in this realm. Yet Jesus said that when we understand this, we demonstrate the kind of faith that He rarely sees. Be a person of rare faith. See the authorities placed in your life as those God is using to protect you.

Reprinted by permission from the author. Os Hillman is an international speaker and author of more than 10 books on workplace calling. To learn more, visit http://www.MarketplaceLeaders.org

For Minors in New Jersey, Abortion Easier than Giving Blood

Weekly Trenton Musings
NJ Family Policy Council
Posted May 8, 2009

Wednesday, Governor Corzine signed into law A3580 / S2513, which allows minors who are 16 years of age to donate blood with parental consent. Specifically, the bill states, “Any person of the age of 16 years may donate blood in any voluntary and noncompensatory blood program with the written consent of at least one parent or the person’s legal guardian or other legally responsible adult, as appropriate.” It passed the state legislature with overwhelming support.

Ironically, a 16-year old needs to get consent to donate blood, but in New Jersey, children 16, 15, 14, 13 … and younger … need no such permission to have an abortion. In fact, children don’t even need to tell their parents that they’re having a highly-invasive and potentially dangerous surgical procedure!

In 1999, the New Jersey state legislature passed parental notification legislation, which required a minor either to notify a parent before having an abortion or obtain a court order waiving the requirement that she do so. Note, this law didn’t require parental consent but merely parental notification. In response, the ACLU filed a lawsuit to prevent implementation of the new legislation.

Read more of this disturbing article here.

What does this have to do with homeschooling?

Everything. It is this kind of happy horse manure that responsible parents should be trying to protect their children from.

Homeschooling is a huge commitment, but the fate of one or more of your grandchildren may be decided by legislation like this.

Give blood, give life. Have an abortion, take life. Something is wrong with this picture.