Dr. Ileana Johnson Paugh

An Army of One and Fiscal Uncertainty

In a January 24, 2013 breakfast speech, Gen. Raymond T. Odierno warned his audience that “Today, the greatest threat of our national security is fiscal uncertainty.”

Elitism and Arrogance

A few years ago, I was taking a small group of students on a 10-day trip to Italy. Fascinated by its rich history and archeological sites, the most inquisitive of my talented students were ready to try their language skills. Since our group was small, the tour organizer decided to merge us with another group in order to fill a large bus. It was simple economics; the cost would have been lower for everyone.

The Global Warming/Climate Change Alarmists: Forward or Bust

As the huge winter storm Nemo (“nobody” in Latin) blanketed the Northeast with 40 inches of snow, causing power outages to 650,000 homes and a spectacular snow, thunder, and lightning show in New York, the global warming/climate change alarmists were preparing to gather in D.C. on February 17 to “pressure President Obama to stop the flow of tar sands through the Keystone XL Pipeline, and build real momentum to address climate change.”

Permanent Legal Immigration vs. Amnesty

In 2011 1.1 million aliens received legal permanent resident (LPR) status on the basis of family ties (65%), employment (13%), as refugees and asylum seekers (16%), and as diversity migrants (5%), a category established arbitrarily since we already are the most diverse nation.

“The City of Lights”

The Parisian nickname has nothing to do with the electricity from 276 monuments, hotels, churches, fountains, bridges, and canals that illuminate the city every night, it refers to the light of knowledge coming from intellectuals, poets, writers, artists, sculptors, painters, writers, and musicians of the 1920s when Paris became the cultural center of Europe and of the world.

The Ads and Lights of the Super Bowl

The Super Bowl always runs very expensive, funny, entertaining, and sometimes outrageous ads. The half-time show is a mixture of glitz, glamour, pyrotechnics and lights, plenty of lights, fanciful choreography, whimsical and skimpy costumes, loud music, beautiful dancers, and popular entertainers. Sunday’s Super Bowl XLVII exceeded all expectations.

How Many People Can the Planet Sustain?

As a college student I was fascinated by David Attenborough’s Living Planet. He was my hero. I was certainly disappointed when I learned that he has joined the chorus of global warming alarmists who turned into climate change scaremongers when it became evident that the planet has actually cooled in the last sixteen years. Of course the planet’s climate has changed for billions of years and it has nothing to do with human activity or their existence.. Climate change environmentalists choose to mix catastrophic weather events with climate whenever it is convenient to their message, so long as there is a progressive faux science “consensus” and their global warming/climate change guru, Al Gore, agrees. Never mind that science is based on fact not on “consensus.” And the facts and data must not be manufactured to fit political agendas.

Immigration Reform - Why Immigrate to the U.S.

We are a country of immigrants – we all came here legally or illegally for different reasons, to escape political and religious oppression, unfair taxation, to find wealth and prosperity, for personal safety, to buy land, to farm, to find a wife, a husband, to educate oneself, to escape tyranny, to escape the law, to escape hanging. Whatever the reason was, freedom and economic opportunity became the principal common denominators.

The Killing of the Smart Meter Bill

I did something uncharacteristic of me and out of my comfort zone – I testified in the Virginia Senate in support of SB 797, The Smart Meter Bill, on January 28, 2013. It was an interesting lesson in “government for the corporatists” that will stay with me for a long time. No longer do I trust that all of those we elect are going to do the right thing for the people who elected them.

Virginians Fight Back Against Smart Meters

People across the country are rejecting the installation of the advanced metering system (Smart Meters). If you think that you are free to choose and keep your analog meters, think again.

The Boneta Bill in Virginia to Protect the Right to Farm

Martha Boneta never dreamed that she would be at the center of a battle in Virginia that will have implications for every small farmer in America. I met her last year and wrote two articles about her battle with the board of supervisors in Fauquier County. I have featured Martha in my book, “U.N. Agenda 21: Environmental Piracy.”

Human health risks from Electromagnetic Fields and Radio Frequency Radiation Real

Bioinitiative 2012 has just released its 2012 report on January 7, 2013, an update of the 2007 version. It includes approximately 1,800 new studies on biological effects and adverse health effects from electromagnetic fields such as power lines, electrical wiring, appliances, hand-held devices, and from wireless technologies such as cell and cordless phones, cell towers, Wi-Fi, wireless laptops, wireless routers, baby monitors, surveillance systems, and wireless utility meters (smart meters).

Debt Ceiling Fear Mongering

Alan Blinder, former vice chairman of the Federal Reserve, and co-author of a very popular Economics college textbook, believes that although the fiscal cliff was serious, the “debt ceiling is scarier.” Allowing the economy to go over the fiscal cliff would have resulted in a 4.5 percent contraction of GDP. The upcoming debt ceiling impasse could shrink GDP by more than 6 percent, force a 26 percent reduction in government spending, and a “swift descent into recession.”

Bureaucracy Gone Wild and Stupid

People have asked me over the years to what I attribute my interest and talent in foreign languages. It was hard to explain in a few short sentences that people are born with strengths and weaknesses in the eight types of intelligence that Harvard professor Howard Gardner had identified in 1983 in his book, “Frames of Mind: The Theory of Multiple Intelligencies.” Human beings are a lot more complex in their ability to learn than previously thought.

A January Day

The forest is wet and misty. A dense fog hangs on top of the river like a fluffy blanket. I hear twigs snapping in the distance. A couple of white tail deer are eyeing us with curiosity. In a few days the forest rangers are going to cull the herd. There is not enough acreage to support all the wildlife. My hubby is walking ahead leaning on his Gandalf stick, his silhouette disappearing in the mist. The drizzly rain shapes diamond droplets in my dark hair like a nature’s tiara. My breathing is labored. I have not been out of the house in two weeks - the flu really sapped my energy. The hard to discern trail winds gently downhill all the way to the railroad bridge that crosses the river. The return will be much harder, going uphill. I watch my steps carefully - the twisted tree roots bulge out of the ground but are hidden underneath a thick cover of dead leaves.

The Progressive Global Sharing Economy

U.S. taxpayer, meet the newest liberal scheme to lighten your pocketbook of your hard-earned cash: the Global Sharing Economy. If you think this is not serious, consider the billions that you are already contributing to friends and foes across the globe in aid via United Nations and other myriad of nonprofits under the umbrella of our generous federal government.

Patients and Physician Practice under Obamacare

As if health care was not undergoing enough fundamental transformation in this country, Democrats are now attacking the profits that hospitals and doctors make in the delivery of their services. Why should doctors and hospitals make obscene profits or any profits at all? An article in The New York Times, “Health Care and Profits, a Poor Mix,” by Eduardo Porter, claims that nonprofits (hospitals and clinics) deliver better care.

Progressives as “moral superiors” who like to play God

The most famous eugenicists were the Spartans. Their newborns were allowed to live only if perfectly healthy. The state did not want to be burdened by imperfect babies.

The War against U.N. Agenda 21 Just Got Hotter

The war against U.N. Agenda 21 just got hotter in Virginia. Thinking Americans understand now what U.N. Agenda 21 is and are not backing down from fighting the anti-American, anti-prosperity, wealth redistribution scheme of the United Nations against our way of life. The U.N. has deemed commercial agriculture unsustainable and has used taxpayer dollars and local supervisors to re-zone, re-shape, and prohibit land use for local agriculture or building that is not approved by their bio-diversity plan of limiting human habitation – all in the name of saving the planet.

The Inconvenient Gypsies

Who are the Roma? They have nothing to do with Rome and are not Roman. Roma, as the politically correct crowd calls them, are what history and tradition have called for generations, “gypsies.” The term “gypsy” is also incorrect since they were erroneously assumed to be nomadic tribes from Egypt. They are nomadic tribes from Northern India.