Second, I was an active participant in all of the early planning meetings, email chats, and online networking that was happening the first year of Tea Party Activism in 2009.
Point being that I was not just a casual attendee or helper, I was one of the main organizers in Colorado.
Third, I was so disgusted by the disorganized mess that was the Tax Day Colorado Tea Party on April 15th, 2009, the various infighting, posturing for power, kowtowing to party politics, and general disorganization, that I made the decision to organize my own event for the 9-12-2009 Constitution Celebration that was being promoted by Glenn Beck.
Please note, I did not have any guidance, instruction, financing, or outside help while organizing this event, despite Nancy Pelosi calling us astroturf. Â Tea Partiers tend to hate both political parties at about the same level.
Fourth, I was angered but not surprised when my online registration form at the IRS web site was rejected with the words Tea Party in the form.
Fifth, the blowback on me and my family was a reminder that political dissent was no longer acceptable in Obamas world. I will not outline the different tactics that were used to disuade me from my activism, but if a financial audit had happened, I would not have been surprised based on the subtle but real intimidation that was already taking place.
Sixth, the IRS should be abolished as soon as possible before Obamacare ensures that all American Citizens walk in daily terror of the Federal Government. Â Steve Forbes flat tax is looking pretty good about now.
This first video is an excellent overview of the whole Common Core Agenda.
Today this clip made the rounds on Twitter. It is a short video taken at a Missouri Common Core Community Meeting on May 2nd 2013.
The video is unique because it shows the Delphi Technique in action. It also depicts the response from the crowd, which was negative. Those who attended were obviously frustrated because the questions they had were not being addressed.
America was built on the principle of open and honest debate. Roberts Rules ruled all townhall meetings for centuries. In the past few decades various tactics have been developed to create the impression that input from the community is being achieved while in truth those who take the time and energy to attend and be involved in the community are being shut out of the process. This has been especially true in Education Circles for many years.
The cool thing is that the Delphi Technique can be diffused with just a little bit of effort. Here is a quick primer:
The Delphi Technique was originally conceived as a way to obtain the opinion of experts without necessarily bringing them together face to face.  In recent times, however, it has taken on an all new meaning and purpose.  InEducating for the New World Order by B. Eakman, the reader finds reference upon reference for the need to preserve the illusion that there is “…lay, or community, participation (in the decision-making process), while lay citizens were, in fact, being squeezed out.”  The Delphi Technique is the method being used to squeeze citizens out of the process, effecting a left-wing take over of the schools.
A specialized use of this technique was developed for teachers, the “Alinsky Method” (ibid, p.123).  The setting or group is, however, immaterial; the point is that people in groups tend to share a certain knowledge base and display certain identifiable characteristics (known as group dynamics).  This allows for a special application of a basic technique.
The change agent or facilitator goes through the motions of acting as an organizer, getting each person in the target group to elicit expression of their concerns about a program, project, or policy in question.  The facilitator listens attentively, forms “task forces,” “urges everyone to make lists,” and so on.  While s/he is doing this, the facilitator learns something about each member of the target group.  S/He identifies the “leaders,” the “loud mouths,” as well as those who frequently turn sides during the argument — the “weak or noncommittal”.
Suddenly, the amiable facilitator becomes “devil’s advocate.”  S/He dons his professional agitator hat.  Using the “divide and conquer” technique, s/he manipulates one group opinion against the other.  This is accomplished by manipulating those who are out of step to appear “ridiculous, unknowledgeable, inarticulate, or dogmatic.”  S/He wants certain members of the group to become angry, thereby forcing tensions to accelerate.  The facilitator is well trained in psychological manipulation.  S/He is able to predict the reactions of each group member.  Individuals in opposition to the policy or program will be shut out of the group.
The method works.  It is very effective with parents, teachers, school children, and any community group.  The “targets” rarely, if ever, know that they are being manipulated.  Or, if they suspect this is happening, do not know how to end the process.
The desired result is for group polarization, and for the facilitator to become accepted as a member of the group and group process.  S/He will then throw the desired idea on the table and ask for opinions during discussion.  Very soon his/her associates from the divided group begin to adopt the idea as if it were their own, and pressure the entire group to accept the proposition.
This technique is a very unethical method of achieving consensus on a controversial topic in group settings.  It requires well-trained professionals who deliberately escalate tension among group members, pitting one faction against the other, so as to make one viewpoint appear ridiculous so the other becomes “sensible” whether such is warranted or not.
The Delphi Technique is based on the Hegelian Principle of achieving Oneness of Mind through a three step process of thesis, antithesis, and synthesis.  In thesis and antithesis, all present their opinion or views on a given subject, establishing views and opposing views.  In synthesis, opposites are brought together to form the new thesis.  All participants are then to accept ownership of the new thesis and support it, changing their own views to align with the new thesis.  Through a continual process of evolution, Oneness of Mind will supposedly occur.
The theory of the Delphi and the reality of the Delphi are, obviously, quite different — the reality being that Oneness of Mind does not occur but only the illusion of Oneness of Mind with those who refuse to be Delphi’d being alienated from participating in the process.
While proponents of education reform feel they are quite justified in this, the effect of this unethical manipulation of people is to create polarized camps.  In an effort to maintain the process, advocates have marketed a plethora of publications (such as What’s Left After the Right, No Right Turn and If You Don’t, They Will) intended to label, castigate, and alienate anyone who does not go along with them.  As a result, parents come to understand that their role in education reform is merely perfunctory; that the outcome is preset, that they are not but the rah-rah team so when opposition does arise, advocates of education reform can say, “we had community input.”
To make sure that the situation is controlled, only those parents who agree with the process are allowed on the restructuring teams.  New participants are carefully screened to ensure that education reform goes forward unquestioned.
If measurable opposition persists, advocates are told, get the local ministers on board.  Take steps to neutralize, by whatever means necessary, the opposition.  In some places, opponents have been harassed, both at home and on the job, personal property has been damaged and vandalized, people have lost their jobs.  Anyone who does not go along with the restructuring of our society is susceptible to the totalitarian tactics of those promoting education reform – whether it be parents, teachers, principals, superintendents or board members.  The need exists for advocates to maintain an iron grip on the process.  They cannot, for instance, withstand open public debate of the issues.  Therefore, they do not partake in public forums.  They cannot withstand the criticism, so they close every avenue for parents to address the issues.  They are rapidly creating, through their divisive tactics, a volatile situation.  America is being torn apart.
Parents, citizens, teachers, principals, superintendents who are opposed to the new purpose being given our American education system need tools to withstand the process being used to bring it in — against the Delphi Technique and consensus which, through their basis in the Hegelian Principle, have Marxist connections and purposes.
First, no opportunity must be left untaken to expose this unethical, divisive process.  Second, when this process is used, it can be disrupted.  To do so, however, one must be able to recognize when the Delphi Technique is being used, and how to disrupt it.
With thanks to Sandy Vanderberg, Peg Luksik and others.
Ground rules for disrupting the consensus process (Delphi Technique) — when facilitators want to steer a group in a specific direction.
1)    Always Be Charming.  Smile, be pleasant, be courteous, moderate your voice so as not to come across as belligerent or aggressive.
2)    Stay Focused.  If at all possible, write your question down to help you stay focused.  Facilitators, when asked questions they don’t want to answer, often digress from the issue raised and try to work the conversation around to where they can make the individual asking the question look foolish, feel foolish, appear belligerent or aggressive.  The goal is to put the one asking the question on the defensive.  Do not fall for this tactic.  Always be charming, thus deflecting any insinuation, innuendo, etc, that may be thrown at you in their attempt to put you on the defensive, but bring them back to the question you asked.  If they rephrase your question into an accusatory statement (a favorite tactic) simply state, “that is not what I stated, what I asked was… (repeat your question).”  Stay focused on your question.
3)    Be Persistent.  If putting you on the defensive doesn’t work, facilitators often resort to long drawn out dissertations on some off-the-wall and usually unrelated, or vaguely related, subject that drags on for several minutes – during which time the crowd or group usually loses focus on the question asked (which is the intent).  Let them finish with their dissertation/expose, then nicely, with focus and persistence, state, “but you didn’t answer my question.  My question was… (repeat your question).”
Remember…
always be charming,
stay focused, and
be persistent.
Never, under any circumstance, become angry.  Anger directed at the facilitator will immediately make the facilitator “the victim.”  This defeats the purpose which is to make you the victim.  The goal of the facilitator is to make those they are facilitating like them, alienating anyone who might pose a threat to the realization of their agenda.  [People with fixed belief systems, who know what they believe and stand on what they believe, are obvious threats.]  If the participant becomes the victim, the facilitator loses face and favor with the crowd.  This is why crowds are broken up into groups of seven or eight, why objections are written on cards, not voiced aloud where they are open to public discussion and public debate.  It’s called crowd control.  It is always good to have someone else, or two or three others who know the Delphi Technique dispersed through the crowd; who, when the facilitator digresses from the question, will stand up and say nicely, “but you didn’t answer that lady’s/gentleman’s question.”  The facilitator, even if suspecting you are together, certainly will not want to alienate the crowd by making that accusation.  Sometimes it only takes one occurrence of this type for the crowd to figure out what’s going on, sometimes it takes more than one.
If you have an organized group, meet before the meeting to strategize.  Everyone should know their part.  Meet after the meeting to analyze what went right, what went wrong and why, and what needs to happen the next time around.  Never meet during the meeting.  One of the favorite tactics of the facilitator, if the meeting is not going the way he/she wants, if he/she is meeting measurable resistance, is to call a recess.  During the recess, the facilitator and his/her “spotters” (people who wander the room during the course of the meeting, watching the crowd) watch the crowd to see who congregates where, especially those who have offered measurable resistance.  If the “resistors” congregate in one place, a “spotter” will usually gravitate to that group to “join in the conversation” and will report back to the facilitator.  When the meeting resumes, the facilitator will steer clear of those who are “resistors.”  Do not congregate.  Hang loose and work the crowd.  Move to where the facilitator or “spotters” are, listen to what they have to say, but do not gravitate to where another member of your team is.
This strategy also works in a face to face, one on one, meeting with anyone who has been trained in how to use the Delphi Technique.
With thanks to Sandy Vanderberg, Peg Luksik and others
Roberts Rules of Order were designed to be the way that our Republic was supposed to function at every level from local up to the Federal Level.  So if you as a Taxpayer attend a Common Core informational meeting and the setup of the room is round tables and note cards with little follow through and even less accountability from those moderating the event, just know that you have been Alinsky’d with the Delphi Technique and DEMAND that the room be reconfigured according to Roberts rules with open microphones for the audience and open and honest debate COVERED BY THE PRESS.  If the press does not bother to show up and report, create your own citizen reports and post them on the internet.
This is the way for our Republic to be restored from the ground up.
So today, I am minding my own beeswax comfortably blogging about soccer and social networking about other “safe” topics like islamic terrorism when out of the blue I feel this overwhelming impression from Heavenly Father that he wants me to do a “From the HOMESCHOOLING Trenches” series of essays on my Blog.
Initial response to the prompting…”No Way…No FREAKING Way”. Â Then I get this even stronger impression that someone, somewhere out in the hinterlands of the internet needs my words, insights, and thoughts to motivate them to take on this seemingly impossible task of teaching the kiddos themselves.
I really have not written much about our education adventures because school, like childbirth, is a minefield of neverending explosions of opinion, cat fights, Â blog wars, chat room temper tantrums, and mommy blogging mud wrestling the likes of which civil society has never witnessed.
I experienced this rage during my oldest daughters first pregnancy 25 years ago, and while the climate for homeschooling is a little more tolerant today, the emotion, ego, and defensiveness on all sides of the educational spectrum continues on…
I have about zero desire to take a cannoball leap back into the digital pool as some sort of a child rearing educational expert on all topics relating to Homeschooling. Â Yet, I have a near insatiable desire to listen when the Holy Spirit prompts, and hey, if the Master of the Universe believes I have something of value to offer to the Dialog around education, well, who I am to question HIM.
So this series will be tagged Uncommon Lore. Â I will be writing for those families who are feeling the tug to do something else with their children scholastically.
I titled it Uncommon Lore simply because I plan to just cut to the chase and write what I really think, rather than waste any time attempting to write the words that will make me “fit” into a certain homeschooling philosophy or educational theory.
I also want to publicly rebuke, mock, and heckle the Common Core curriculums that have quietly been implemented around the states the past few years and a riff on Common Core with Uncommon Lore felt like a good way to tag this category.
So tune in often to read my essays on Homeschooling and if you are “the one” who needed to read my thoughts on this topic…curse yo…no did not mean to type that. Â Its just that my life seems to be one big series of traumatic events tied to me opening my big fat mouth, and here we go AGAIN.
Anyway, food for thought…
My homeschooling friend Anette upon hearing that I was planning to send my children to the best public charter school in Colorado…
“Jenny, it would be better for you to lock yourself in your bedroom and let your children run wild for two years rather than send them to an institution”.
And from my friend Patricia who discovered that I was encouraging Jeffrey to drop out of that same charter to join the Marine Corps a few years back because he was sick of the Marxist indoctrination…
“Jenny, he will never be able to amount to ANYTHING if he does not get his diploma and go to college.”
So, these are two ends of the educational spectrum and I plan to share all sorts of thoughts on those ends and EVERYTHING in between.
The organization, Kicks, that offers spring soccer emailed a few weeks ago to let us know that no one had signed up to be the coach for Bens team and unless if Paul or I agreed to do it, the team would not be able to play and we would not get a refund as they had already purchased the uniforms.
So with those parameters as our starting point, I looked at Paul and said, “I am not doing it, I don’t even understand what off sides means.” In all the years of our kids playing soccer I still don’t get it, don’t care to get it, and really just show up to cheer until I am hoarse, especially if one of my own manages to kick that little bit of leather into the goal posts.
So Paul, being mister perfection that he is, emailed the gal and told her he would do it. Allison agreed to help him here and there despite her being involved in the busiest year of her college career. She is a junior at SUU, is up to her eyeballs in the most difficult classes of her program (Athletic Training), and coaches gymnastics hours every week on top of maintaining a reasonably busy social life and a somewhat active LDS spiritual life. (She does not go to every activity offered by her ward, but she does manage to make it to church every Sunday and all of the firesides etc..)
Paul had scouts the night they had the coachs meeting (yes, he is the 11 year old scout leader in our ward, as I said, he is perfection). So I went. While there I engaged another Mom in a conversation and she told me that they were desperate for referees and then laid out what that entails.
Apparently many adults who ref soccer make bank by doing it as a second career on the weekends. She said some of these guys pull in thirty to forty thousand dollars per year.
Who knew?
So, I told Andy what was up and he immediately went to the training. Â He will make fifteen dollars per game this season. Â He really enjoys doing it and as he gets better at it he can work up to doing the Utah Summer Games at thirty dollars per game and maybe even head down to St. George where I hear they make sixty dollars per game, thirty as a line judge. Â Ben also was able to certify as a junior ref and although he cannot make any money until he is twelve, he gets paid ten dollars per game in local merchants coupons.
So both of my youngest sons are happily employed doing a job that no one wants to do and making some serious money doing it.
Andy almost signed up for the Utah Summer Games as a soccer ref, cause we heard he could make $800.00 over the two weeks of the games, but the guy in charge told me that the psycho parents and coaches make it a very sketchy endeavor and even some of the adult refs have a hard time with it, so he encouraged me to let him get a couple years of reffing local stuff down first before he gets tossed into the lions den of sports insanity. Â I agreed with him.
Some of the behavior of the some of the parents last fall made me wonder if we were still in a Mostly Mormon community. Â Ack!
Ben is excited to red card some adult some time. Â He is literally dreaming of the day when he can order some adult off the field for bad behavior. Â I am not quite sure how to respond to this dream of his, but all I can figure is that as the youngest son of our family he has had about enough of being ordered around my his siblings and longs for the day when he is in charge and can use his power to keep the field a safe place to play.
So anyway, they have played three games and lost all of them. Â Not for lack of trying to get a good team spirit going and not for lack of effort…the other teams just play better. Â Anyway, after last nights game a Mom came over to me and said that she was putting together a team of ten year olds for the Utah Summer games and wondered if Ben would be interested in being on the team. Â He was so excited! Â I said he would be very interested. Â I thought about organizing a team myself, but since I have not experience, desire, or skills, figured it would not be a good idea, but I had no idea how to go about finding a team for him to play on. Â Luckily the team found us! Â Since Cedar City hosts the games every year and the soccer fields and stadium are literally down the street from us, it should be fun to have that experience without the expense and stress of travel, a definite home team advantage!
So, we are officially into my so called soccer life 2013!
As a family we have come a long way from Allison calling from school and telling me she was joining the Peak to Peak soccer team. Â Her 8th grade friend told her they needed people and so she just up and joined. Â The friend explained the rules to her on the bus as they drove to the first game. Â Up until that point all she had really cared about was gymnastics…
But as she grew in the sport and finally ended up playing varsity for the Peak to Peak soccer team, a real tradition of Hatch family soccer began.
Ben pretty much grew up attending all of his siblings games and the hours he spent kicking the ball around with his siblings in our front yard almost from the time he could walk, are some of his happiest memories of his toddlerhood.
As a musical theatre mom who was constantly frustrated by my childrens lack of interest in performing, it has been wonderful to see them try something else and do well and make friends and memories. Â Paul was a jock in High School, playing basketball and a variety of other sports, but I was raised in the anti sport family, and really did not know anything about what went into athletics. Â I tried to get my children interested in theatre and made them sing in the school choirs, but it really has not stuck with any of them. Â Andy did make the elite choir for his school next year though, so maybe he will be my professional singing son…
As for me?
I can’t think of anything I would rather have the boys doing with their time.
Jeff emailed two pictures taken at the MTC in Provo. It looks like he has a great group of men and women in his district.
Here is his most recent letter:
Dear family,
I love you all so much. This week was amazing. General conference was so great. I felt like every speaker wrote their talk just for me. They told us here to go into general conference with a question in mind. I hadn’t ever done that before but it was really helpful. Elder Oaks answered my question. Also Sunday night Vocal point from BYU came and sang for us. They were so great. We did a hymn share which is where they picked a song and we joined them after the first verse. They also sang three songs on their own. Come thou fount, come come ye saints mixed with an African song and I need thee every hour. I felt the spirit so strong. I have been so blessed here to have a district that loves to sing. I know the lord’s hand is in my district being who they are. They are testing me and building me up in so many ways. I am constantly learning from them. We are now half the size of a normal district with only six. Another Hermana got transferred to the Spain MTC. But the Lords ways are not my ways and I wouldn’t have it any other way. We sing all the time and there is no greater way to bring the Jesus the Christ this week spirit. I started reading and it is such an amazing book. I never knew there were so many things I never knew. I have learned so much and I’m only on chapter seven. I love getting to know my savior more. Talmage has such a way with words. I know that book is inspired and that I need to read it.
Can you believe it’s already been three weeks? I leave for Honduras in 17 days. It feels like only yesterday I was writing you all but that was seven days ago. I get to go to the temple today which is going to be soo cool. It is the highlight of my week.
I appreciate your letters so much and also you’re prayers. We had a devotional last week and the speaker said that any time you feel discouraged just picture you’re parents or siblings kneeling in prayer on your behalf. After devotionals we have a district sharing meeting where we all say what we liked about the devotional. I said that when he said that I pictured Ben, kneeling by his bed praying and I lost it. I started crying. First time in a long time. It was actually really embarrassing but the branch president thanked me for it afterward. So thank you again.
I know I am where the lord wants me to be. I am learning Spanish so fast because of his blessing. I am learning there a lot of holes in my testimony that I didn’t even know existed. This mission is testing me in ways I thought I was strong and showing me I really am a week person. That’s OK because it is the small and simple that do the work of the Lord.
I hope you’re all doing well and I will keep you in my prayers. I know my letters are all over the place and I apologize for that.
Much love,
Jeffrey
I am already feeling the many blessings pouring from Heaven because of Jeffs choice to serve this mission. So much to be thankful for…
First, I gave the opening speech at the first Colorado Tea Party back in Feb. of 2009, a few weeks after the first Obama inauguration.
Roberts Rules of Order
were designed to be the way that our Republic was supposed to function at every level from local up to the Federal Level. Â So if you as a Taxpayer attend a Common Core informational meeting and the setup of the room is round tables and note cards with little follow through and even less accountability from those moderating the event, just know that you have been Alinsky’d with the Delphi Technique and DEMAND that the room be reconfigured according to Roberts rules with open microphones for the audience and open and honest debate COVERED BY THE PRESS. Â If the press does not bother to show up and report, create your own citizen reports and post them on the internet.
This is the way for our Republic to be restored from the ground up.
Download a PDF of this Essay 
I experienced this rage during my oldest daughters first pregnancy 25 years ago, and while the climate for homeschooling is a little more tolerant today, the emotion, ego, and defensiveness on all sides of the educational spectrum continues on…
So we signed Ben up for spring soccer.
So, I told Andy what was up and he immediately went to the training. Â He will make fifteen dollars per game this season. Â He really enjoys doing it and as he gets better at it he can work up to doing the Utah Summer Games at thirty dollars per game and maybe even head down to St. George where I hear they make sixty dollars per game, thirty as a line judge. Â Ben also was able to certify as a junior ref and although he cannot make any money until he is twelve, he gets paid ten dollars per game in local merchants coupons.
