Dr. Ileana Johnson Paugh

Verona, the Marmorina

Of all the Italian cities I have fallen in love with along the way, Verona has a special place in my heart, a romantic place where Roman and modern history intertwine. From the cobblestoned piazza where the Arena presides like the perfect jewel of the crown, the best preserved Roman amphitheater, to the majestic medieval cathedrals and palaces, my walks took me to the most fascinating sights. Piazza Bra is home to Arena di Verona. The magnificent Arena was turned into a lavish outdoor summer opera venue that seats 22,000 people. The very same architectural wonder that had witnessed gruesome gladiatorial fights between freed men and beasts, men and enslaved men, its sand soaked from the blood of thousands, is now a center of music and art.

Common Core and CSCOPE Education

In the late seventies, Americans were very proud and fiercely protective of their freedoms granted by the Constitution, of the United States, and of their standing in the world as a capitalist nation. Just the mere notion that someone came from a communist country raised eyebrows and pointed questions about one’s allegiance. Then on October 17, 1979, President Jimmy Carter signed into law the Department of Education Organization Act, the U.S. Department of Education began operating on May 4, 1980, and things started to change. People’s patriotic behavior and protectiveness of their culture, of their language, of the capitalist system in general that made them the most prosperous nation on earth, began to erode more and more overtly. Among the culprits were teachers who advanced personal socialist agendas to impressionable youth who believed every word they said.

“We’ve Become Rich Plundering the Planet”

I do not watch TV much anymore. There is too much propaganda and re-engineered information to advance the progressive agenda. Historical facts have fallen victim to political correctness and the war on truth is waged on all fronts by progressive liberals from academia, the main stream media, and Hollywood.

Communism Alive and Well through UN Agenda 21 and Fabian Socialism of the West

I parked the rented beige Jetta under the tall tree that I had planted as an 8 year old, a life time ago. The entire street was shaded by poplars, painted white half way up the trunk to prevent insect invasions. The lush green trees have grown taller than the five story buildings surrounding them.

Comprehensive Immigration Reform, Disguised Amnesty

Politics and court decisions are driving the immigration debate. It is no longer considered illegal to cross the border into our country, it is economical, moral, and “socially just” to inhabit a country that you have no legal claim to, a country that gives you the title of “undocumented, in the shadows” citizen, with all the benefits and no responsibility, a country whose language you have no desire to learn, whose history, traditions and culture you reject.

Cyprus and the European Union Excesses

For the past two years, the EU has struggled to keep its tenuous union intact, a union based on a common currency adopted by some of the members. As Italy, Spain, Greece, and Portugal economies downturned, it did not surprise many because their admission into the EU was questionable at the time – there is a reason why they were called the PIGS (Portugal, Italy, Greece, and Spain) - they never ran their socialist economies responsibly, spending on social welfare with abandon.

The Last Day at CPAC 2013

The third and last day at the Conservative Political Action Conference 2013 had not lost any of the initial steam and enthusiasm. The music, the robust energy, the youthful excitement were vibrant and bursting at the seams. The speeches were fiery and motivating.

Day One of CPAC 2013

As novice to the 2013 Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) media pool, I was excited to attend. As we approached the venue in Maryland, the Gaylord hotel, the multitude of buses were discharging throngs of young people dressed in their best, happy and excited to be there. Security was tight everywhere and nobody could sneak in without a pass.

Education Gone Berserk

During my 30 years of teaching, I have experienced plenty of irrational teaching methods and behaviors coming from liberal teachers and administrators bent on controlling every move that students or faculty members made.

Let’s exercise, so we can die healthy

When the university adopted a wellness program seven years ago, Maribel rallied the faculty with a humorous phrase that always brought laughter and smiles, even on the gloomiest days, “Let’s exercise, so we can die healthy.” Like a bundle of pent-up energy, Maribel walked really fast. I could barely keep up with her on our walks around the campus between classes. In spite of my pain, she always managed to make me laugh.

Green Scam, I am

More and more liberal MSM outlets and environmental groups with deep bank accounts and lavish support from Hollywood celebrities are expanding their propaganda and indoctrination of GREEN to the low information Americans who only hear sound bites delivered with such assurance and expensively made videos that the information seems true. But I see the scam of GREEN, the Green Growth of wealth being redistributed by Uncle Sam, with the help of environmentalists with an agenda that coincides with U.N.’s Agenda 21.

Socialist Work Ethic

One of the first things that pleasantly surprised me about Americans upon my arrival in 1978 was the strong American work ethic, “the belief in work as a moral good.” The Webster’s Dictionary claims that the word “work ethic” was first used in 1951. I was contrasting it with the socialist workers’ paradise work ethic I saw in my twenty years of life under the communist party regime – “we pretend to work and they pretend to pay us.”

You Can Never Have Enough Progressivism

One of the many solicitations I received in the mail today asked for $5 donation in order to meet their modest $15,000 goal. The letter was asking me to help them support the not-so-modest “progressive vision for America.” Their vision for America was spelled out in the first line:

So Tolerant, We Are Stupid, or Vice Versa

John Kerry said to a crowded internet café in Berlin, “In America you have the right to be stupid, if you want to be... and we tolerate that.” Let me translate. Conservatives, you have the right to be wrong, and we, liberals, tolerate your right to be wrong. I would like to add that you also have the right to open your mouth and eliminate any doubt of stupidity.

The Overnight ‘Greening’ of Washington, D.C.

The Green Growth Sustainability of U.N. Agenda 21 has finally arrived in our nation’s capital. Mayor Vincent C. Gray announced last week his “Sustainability D.C.” plan to make the District of Columbia “the healthiest, greenest, and most livable city in the United States” by 2032.

Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello

The hilltop estate of Monticello is not easy to reach. The current owners allow foot traffic but most visitors prefer buses. When clouds cover the sky, access is denied for fear of lightning strikes. The lush vegetation and old majestic trees seclude the manor, making it invisible from the bottom of the mountain. Monticello’s storied existence was advertised in 1921 as a “dignified country home” overlooking Charlottesville, Virginia. In 1923 the Thomas Jefferson Memorial Foundation purchased the estate from Jefferson Levy for $100,000 in cash and a note of $400,000.

The Affordable Care Act Nobody Can Afford

I was just handed the Phreesia computer tablet by the receptionist under the guise of updating my medical and insurance information. I had seen this orange notebook in another doctor’s office and I became suspicious. Is this really meant to verify, as the website claims, my insurance eligibility automatically and help doctors collect on their insurance while easing the load of paperwork? Or is it forced electronic data compliance to Obamacare? As soon as I started reading each screen, I realized that it was asking me to consent to third parties to obtain my medication prescription history from my pharmacy and to my entire medical history.

The Irony of Green Propaganda

The supporters of global warming met in Washington, D.C. on February 17, 2013 to pressure President Obama to stop the Keystone XL pipeline. The irony was evident to the rest of us. The green environmentalists were bundled up to their eyeballs since it was the coldest day this winter, 16 degrees Fahrenheit if you factored in the wind chill.

The Starving Goose

My friend sent me a story that explains quite succinctly what happens to people who are so eager to become enslaved to more government and to communist utopia.

The Insidious Globalist Control

The State of the Union address, however disingenuous, contained two interesting seeds of truth. I had mentioned them in my book, "U.N. Agenda 21: Environmental Piracy." The two seeds of truth are universal child care and equal pay for women, contained in Section III, Chapter 24:3.