The Language of the Double Standard - Are You a Victim?

Here is a test to show you how strongly the media shapes the way we think and what we have come to believe as "truth". Be honest with yourself, and see how conscious your are to the current propaganda, and how that has affected your position:

If you're a minority and you're selected for a job over more qualified
candidates you're a 'token hire.'

If you're a conservative and you're
selected for a job over more qualified candidates you're a 'game changer.'

If you grow up in Hawaii you're 'exotic.' (Obama)
Grow up in Alaska eating mooseburgers, you're the quintessential
'American story.' (Palin)

Similarly, if you name you kid Barack you're 'unpatriotic.'
Name your kid Track, you're 'colorful.'

If you're a Democrat and you make a VP pick without fully vetting the
individual you're 'reckless.' A Republican who doesn't fully vet is a
'maverick.'

If you spend 3 years as a community organizer growing your
organization from a staff of 1 to 13 and your budget from $70,000
to $400,000, then become the first black President of the Harvard
Law Review,create a voter registration drive that registers 150,000
new African Amerian voters, spend 12 years as a Constitutional Law
professor,then spend nearly 8 more years as a State Senator
representing a district with over 750,000 people, becoming chairman
of the state Senate's Health and Human Services committee, then
spend nearly 4 years in the United States Senate representing a
state of nearly 13 million people, sponsoring 131 bills and serving
on the Foreign Affairs, Environment and Public Works and Veteran's
Affairs committees, you are woefully inexperienced. (Obama)

If you spend 4 years on the city council and 6 years as the mayor
of a town with less than 7,000 people, then spend 20 months as
the governor of a state with 650,000 people, you've got the most
executive experience of anyone on either ticket, are the
Commander in Chief of the Alaska military and are well qualified
to lead the nation should you be called upon to do so because
your state is the closest state to Russia. (Palin)

If you are a Democratic male candidate who is popular with
millions of people you are an 'arrogant celebrity' (Obama). If you are a
popular republican female candidate you are 'energizing the base' (Palin).

If you are a younger male candidate who thinks for himself
and makes his own decisions you are 'presumptuous' (Obama). if you
are an older male candidate who makes last minute decisions
you refuse to explain, you are a 'shoot from the hip' maverick (McCain).

If you are a candidate with a Harvard law degree you are
'an elitist 'out of touch' with the real America (Obama). if you are a
legacy (dad and granddad were admirals) graduate of Annapolis,
with multiple disciplinary infractions you are a hero (McCain).

If you manage a multi-million dollar nationwide campaign, you
are an 'empty suit' (Obama).If you are a part time mayor of a town of
7000 people, you are an 'experienced executive' (Palin).

If you go to a south side Chicago church, your beliefs are 'extremist'.
If you believe in creationism and don't believe global warming is man
made, you are 'strongly principled'.

If you cheated on your first wife with a rich heiress , and left your
disfigured wife and married the heiress the next month, you're a
Christian.(McCain!)

If you have been married to the same woman for 19 years with whom
you are raising 2 beautiful daughters you're 'risky'. (Obama)

If you're a immigrant single mother of 4 who waits for 22 hours after her
water breaks to seek medical attention, you're an irresponsible parent,
endangering the life of your unborn child.

But if you're a white married mother who waits 22 hours, you're spunky.

If you're a 13-year-old Chelsea Clinton, the right-wing press calls you
'First dog.'

If you're a 17-year old pregnant unwed daughter of a Republican, the
right-wing press calls you 'beautiful' and 'courageous.' (Palin! LOL)

If you kill an endangered species, you're an excellent hunter.
If you have an abortion you're not a christian, you're a murderer
( forget about if it happen while being date raped)

If you teach abstinence only in sex education, you get teen parents.
If you teach responsible age appropriate sex education, including the
proper use of birth control, you are eroding the fiber of society.

Just Things I Want Us All To Think About.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SAMANTHA DREW!

So my girl turned 11 on Sunday the 24th. She had a dance performance that same night for Team Millenia Tots. If you didn't get a chance to go or get tickets, here she is: (She's the one with the grey scarf)

(If you still can't find her, she's the one that goes off at the end...heehee)
Posted by a proud parent - Chanda

Our Grandpa and Grandma - AMANG AND ENANG (Grandma Cion's Dad and Mom)



And on to....... Grandpa Pete and Grandma Cion

I finally found time to sit and post my first blog! In spite of juggling my busy life with four demanding aspects in my life - my three teenagers (Jessica, Carla, and Calvin) and my career, I'm here sitting, almost midnight, and actually creating something that is very special, not about me or my kids, but for the two most important people to all of us and the true reason for this family blog - GRANDPA PETE and GRANDMA CION. Enjoy these pictures and memories of them. We love and miss you both!
































I finally had a chance to gather these pictures from a box full of pictures Grandma Cion left behind. Enjoy these precious pictures of Grandpa and Grandma and the memories they have instilled in all of us.

I'll have more surprises yet to come (remember, I have the box)... Mher - the 4th sister, known as Auntie Mher or Mommy Mher.

How to post on this blog

Hello Valdez family this is Calvin Manosa.

I just wanted to inform all of you a really easy way how to start posting on our family blog!

First you are going to need the email and password from any of these people:

Antonio Valdez: antoniokey@gmail.com

Chanda Alicante: chanda@mycreativewedding.com

Calvin Manosa: Cmanosa@gmail.com

After you have received the E-mail and password click "sign in" on the top right-hand corner of the page.

The following page will look something like this:



Now from here enter the E-mail and the password it will take you to this page:



Now click new post and start writing your story.
Hope we'll all hear from you! (Mommy Mher)




(Click image to enlarge)

Alexa's and Sam's Birthday celebration! AND Family Reunion INFORMATION!

Alexa turned two yesterday! Since Sam and Alexa's birthdays are both in the month of August we decided to celebrate their birthdays together at Knott's Soak City Waterpark in Anaheim.

The kids enjoyed the day. It was such a nice day to be there. The sky was clear, the young kids had a blast and all the adults lounged under the shade with food and good conversation. We're missing Uncle Sar and our other cousins. I wish I knew that they were in town! I would have loved to have them be there with us.

While there, we decided to plan a family vacation for next year in Mexico. We want to have everyone try to save so that we can all be together! Isn't it sad that we only get together when someone passes? When was the last time we've all been together? Grandpa Pete's funeral? Let's all get together for a good occasion! Our first family REUNION in the summer of 2009!

I've been to Cancun/Rivera Maya/Playa Del Carmen three times now. It's beautiful there! By far Mexico is the best value. And I would recommend staying at the Palace Resorts.

They have many resorts around the Cancun/Rivera Maya area. If we are planning a Family Vacation, I think that the best palace to stay at would be the Moon Palace. Most resorts in the area are ALL-INCLUSIVE. Which means your meals and drinks (including alcohol) is included. There are also many other free items that the hotel offers in terms of tours, depending on the package that we pick. They best part about staying in the Palace Resorts is that they offer shuttles that go from your hotel lobby to other Palace Resort lobbys to enjoy the benefits of the other resorts (food, drinks and resort) in Cancun or Rivera Maya included in your costs. So we are not stuck to one resort! I always book through Costco for the Palace Resorts because they tend to be the cheapest. For example, this year they had a 5 day stay for $918.00 not including airfare. This special also included a free Cozumel tour and $125 Costco Cash! Airfare will vary from where you are traveling from. I just did a quick check on Expedia:
Roundtrip LAX to Cancun leaving June 27, 2009 and returning on June 31, 2009 non-stop ran about $582.
$918 + $582 = $1500 Your looking at trying to save at least this amount per person. Children 12 and under stay for free.
Since it will be too hard to try to collect money from all families that are interested in going. We will post what the final dates and hotel that we are choosing, and it will be each of the families responsibility to reserve and book flights.
Other ways to get a deal is to check Craig's List for people sharing their Palace Resort time share. They come in 7 days/8 nights increments. If I find a person willing to sell some weeks to us, I'll pass the information around. Leave me a comment on this posting if you have a specific week that you'd like to vote for and also if you are interested in coming. I would like to gauge how many people are interested.

ALSO!!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY JORDIS! WE LOVE AND MISS YOU!!!

Valdez Family This is Your Call to Action!

Remember when I told everyone to Vote? 8 years ago...then 4 years after that...because of all our apathy and careless neglect we allowed George Bush to become our commander in chief. How much irreparable damage has this caused? You be the judge.

1. U.S. from a nation of prosperity to an Economy knee-deep in Recession. He has passed bill upon bill that has allowed Corporate conglomerates to monopolize business competition by offering unfair pricing--> killing local businesses that cannot compete with the corporations' cheap pricing. Then these Corporations shut down domestic auto and manufacturing plants and outsource work to 3rd world countries where they pay they workers pennies to the dollar for the same job-- ->this effectively causes hundreds of thousands of blue collar workers to lose their jobs-->directly affects consumer spending & kills our economy--> and ironically places an even bigger consumer reliance on Corporate monopolies like Wal-Mart, Home Depot, Best Buy due to their cheap pricing.

2. A nation that has no plan for alternative fuel sources, leaving us at the mercy of the Middle East. Oil (Fossil Fuels) is a FINITE resource. Meaning it is a diminishing resource that it is soon to run dry. Did you know that? These OPEC nations (the middle east) then sets crude oil barrel prices at whatever they deem is a "reasonable price"...and people wonder how oil barrel prices have risen from $80 a barrel to over $150+ in recent years. The U.S. alone is spending over $700,000,000 a DAY directly to OPEC nations for fuel. We are DEPENDANT on oil to fuel the machines that create and process our food, clothes, build our houses, and power our automobiles. If you do not believe me buy the documentary "Crude Awakening" it will blow your mind back on how reliant we are to fossil fuels. Thanks for warning us George! If we would have invested the Trillion dollars that you spent fighting the war in Iraq towards figuring out alternative fuel options, we would probably all be riding around in full-electric or solar power vehicles by now. By the way, do you want to know where all your gas money went? If you all didn't know, Exxon Mobile enjoyed it's most profits ever last year...over 35 Billion in profit! The CEO received a 30 million dollar bonus on top of his salary last year.

3. Deterioration of the Public School system: If you don't want to listen to how your president political effects your personal financial outlook, then at least listen to how his administration has severely effected the future of YOUR CHILDREN and YOUR CHILDREN'S CHILDREN. During the Bush Administration's tenure college and university officials have grown accustomed to being disappointed by the Administration's budget cuts for higher education, community college officials have been frustrated by the administration’s continued assault on funds for career and technical education, research advocates disappointed by his flat-line budget for the National Institutes of Health, and supporters of the Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant and Perkins Loan Programs, which the administration once again recommends exterminating. (*Note* Without these loans I would NOT have been able to afford College!).
The result is a flawed education system that is NOT keeping pace with the majority of 1st world countries to remain intellectually competitive. Even more pertinent, our education system is one that favors predominantly the rich. Rather than opting to place their trust in the unreliable public school system, wealthy families can afford to send their kids to private schooling, thus perpetuating the cycle of social inequality-->The Rich pay for their kids to get into better school where they receive top-rate education-->this facilitates their admission and graduation at the best colleges-->allows these students the best & most high paying jobs after college--->the Cycle repeats. Poor remain poor...the rich stay rich. I thought the U.S. was a place of "The American Dream", where those that worked hard (despite their current economic condition)...could realize riches. Bush definitely does not believe in that type of American Dream for you or I.

Though there are a few exceptions (Program for Additional Curriculum Experiences program @ Long Beach Poly High School to name one), Public education these days is a shame (I am a bi-product of it so I can testify first hand).
-Overcrowded Classrooms. 35+ students (at Stanford my largest class was 14 students...lol)
-Overworked, Underpaid, & Uninspired Teachers. They lack the motivation or incentive to maximize the potential of each student. Their lack of guidance & motivation often transfers to the students who do not take the value of a good education seriously.
-Out of Date, Poor Resources. From Old Books, to Old Technology, to Old learning Methods...Public Schools lack the financial resources they need to compete on a global scale with countries like Japan, China, and Germany in regards to education the new generation of youth

With all this said, I wanted to state a case for all of my family to take action in the politic contest s that are relevant to their lives. Whether it is at the local, state, or national level. Your voice matters! VOTING is a right that many people have sacrificed and died for so that you can have a choice to exercise that right. Do NOT be lazy and do nothing. Grandma and Grandpa sacrificed all they had so that we all could live a better life. We are enjoying that better life now. Let's make sure they we do our best to make sure that the lives of our children and the lives of our grand children are EVEN BETTER than ours!

I know everyone has their opinion about who should be the next president of the united states, and you all are entitled to that. Before you make a judgment and your vote. I challenge you to really research the candidate that you vote for:

1. Research their Background -What is their educational background (Where did they go to school)? What inspired them to get involved into politics? What is there track record of success? How in touch are they with current times?
2. Understand they politic positions on important matters like: 1. The Economy 2. The War 3. Education 4. Healthcare 5. Religion 6. Government
3. Ask yourself how does their belief system in alignment with or in contrast to my set of beliefs about government?

If you can effectively answer each of these three questions with sincerity and validity, you have official discovered your political standpoint for the November Election...and I will respect it without question. Make sure you do your homework...bc I am rallying the family out this year (all who are 18+) to VOTE. Be INFORMED!

If you don't do your research, I will simply bombard you with Barack Obama Messages all day. If you want to see what the future of our country should look like, listen to one of the most preeminent and poised leaders of our generation explain h
is plan for Iraq and National Security. This is the type of leadership and intellectual capacity we should have leading this nation. The Time for Change is upon us. Take Action


-Antonio descendant of PETE & Maria Valdez via way of TING :)

Where do I start.......it seems as if my whole life after High School has been about being in the Navy, being away from home, being away from family, being gone on deployments for months at a time and just being someone that was trying to discover himself.

Today, it's not about being, it's about the man I have become. I called this blog "Top Secret" because that is pretty much my life since left the Navy in 2005. Everything I do is Confidential to the point of signing 50 year confidentiality agreements. I work for a firm that is elite in the Personal Protection Industry. I'm a Executive Protective Agent with the firm. I worked for this company for a year in 2006, left and moved to Texas to work at the U.S. Weapons Facility in as a Police Officer for a year in 2007, and now with the Personal Protection firm I should have never left for 2008. To make a long story short I love being a Executive Protective Agent. Everything that evolves around it comes natural to me, as if I were training for years in this field. But I'm pretty sure it's just because I have had a lot of great people to emulate in my life.

I know that I haven't been able to spend time much time with the family over the past decade but that's my fault for not making time. I feel as if I have disconnected from the family for some time. Every time I do get the chance to see everyone I feel so far behind, but that should change now that you all have started this Blog. I'm probably jumping from subject to subject trying to condense a million thoughts into a Blog or it could be that I'm still Jet Lag from being in Rome, Italy & Tokyo, Japan for the last month working.

Whatever it may be, I'm still going to post this Blog as a starter. I miss all of you and maybe one day I'll really be back in So Cal.