National (Upside Down) Flag Day
By Cathy Jameson
June 14th, Flag Day
Dear Diary,
Wherever we lived when I was a child, we had a flag. At one house, where we had a flagpole in our front yard, one of us kids had the job of raising the flag each morning. Some days it was a chore for me because I didn’t give myself enough time to raise it as slowly or respectfully as I should’ve. But as a military brat, it truly was an honor to fly the flag. Years later, when I was off on my own, I learned about Flag Day, a day when Americans can take a moment to honor Old Glory and what it stands for. A proud American, I’ve always looked forward to June 14th.
I always remember one of my students on this day, too. It’s her birthday today.
Now in her late-twenties, I think back to that class she was in, which was one of my first (and favorite!) classes, and wonder where she and some of her classmates are. Through the grapevine, I’ve heard that she may be married. What a treat to know that “my kids” have matured and blossomed into adulthood! I’ve kept in touch with a handful of other kids that I’ve taught and am always so touched that they keep in contact with me. Several of them are parents now, and surely, other of my former students will follow in that role in the years to come. Like that flag of ours, I’ve always been proud of the kids I’ve been blessed to watch grow up.
I’ve begun to worry about them, though, Diary.
The older I get, and the more freedoms I see being taken away, I can’t imagine what sort of world their kids are going to grow up in. Already across several states, young parents will not be allowed to parent as I have. One single woman who I’d taught many years ago reached out to me when she’d read that the CDC’s MMR vaccine study was not accurate and was published with manipulated information. Not yet a parent, I could understand why she was distraught. She’s a young black woman. Always so upbeat and kind, I didn’t want to scare her, but I had to make sure she knew the truth. I confirmed that what she’d read, that the CDC lied to the public and misrepresented their autism findings in young black boys, was the truth. Would this information change anything for her and for her or her future children?
I’m sure it would.
Another young African-American single woman I know recently told me, ‘I don’t know if I’ll ever want kids anymore. There are too many things to worry about these days – school shootings, modified food that’s not even food, and the vaccine stuff? Why are they forcing them on people so much these days! I used to want a family, but I can’t even think about bringing a child into this world right now.’ I was crushed. Both of these gals are strong, independent, amazingly beautiful women. They are natural care givers and have big hearts. They’d make great parents! But the trend I’m hearing from them, and one I’m actually seeing in other young people I know, is that they are not willing to sacrifice their children to society.
They can’t even entertain the thought of having kids any more.
I thought about that as I left an appointment earlier today. A young man and I spoke at length about how today is so different from when we were kids. Granted, he was about 20 years younger and lived a different childhood than I did, but he could appreciate how quickly “times have changed”. Already a parent himself, he shared that he has to be more vigilant as a young parent (than I ever had to) and that he has to work around more negative societal input (than I ever thought possible). ‘Who needs that? Why can’t we all just get along? Do what’s right for you, and stay out of each other’s business…’ He had a lot of wisdom, but he also carried a heavy burden thinking about his kids’ growing up years. His kids are so young, too—he has just a two-year old and a baby! He should be enjoying these next few years with them, not have to worry about what he can and can’t do as their dad.
I want to escape to another time, another place, where life was simpler and when parental rights were respected.
Driving home, I saw some American flags as I went through town, but I didn’t have that joyful feeling today that I used to feel seeing the stars and stripes every on June 14th for the last 2+ decades. Instead, I thought of those 2 young women and that young man I just met. All 3 have ties to New York. Oh, Diary, New York surprised me this week. I’ve only ever witnessed genuine diversity and extreme individuality being celebrated there. In all my years, never have I ever seen it conform. But that’s exactly what it did.
Our country fought hard for freedom, but elected officials are bending over backwards greedily taking away those existing freedoms.
New York State passed a law that will revoke religious freedom. That law, in turn, will revoke parents’ rights and will deny children access to their education. I had questions once I heard that news, but they were all rhetorical: Are they serious? Have they no shame? Who’s driving this grotesquely pro-vaccine and undeniably anti-parent push? Of course, I could take a stab at answering those questions: They know what they are doing, they are boldly doing it right under our noses, and they have more than enough financial backing to keep going after other parents in other states.
What a sad day for those who’ve fought so bravely and who’ve lost so deeply.
Those 2 women who’ve questioned what is going on in the world today and that young dad who was uncertain about his kids’ future all understand that freedom comes with a price. It always has. But it should never come at the price of its own people.
Land of the free!
Home of the brave!
Long may she wave!
Upside down if she must.
When the flag is flown upside down, it signifies instances of extreme danger to life or property. Pharmaceutical companies and officials working alongside them may not be willing to share this, but, Diary, you and I know that all vaccines come with risk. We, and those pharma companies and our government, also know that vaccinations are considered unavoidably unsafe. The potential for liability-free pharmaceutical products to cause extreme danger to life is real. Officials don’t care to state that publicly and won’t stand behind those proven statements. Instead, they’re using everything in their power to fuel an intense vaccine mandate push as just happened in New York.
I look around and see that I’m still right here in America, but I’m living in a place that now has more restrictions than ever before.
I’ll always be proud that I was born in the USA, but I am ashamed at how this country and many of its representatives are behaving lately. It’s so completely un-American of them. The worst part is that they know it. People may be upset to see that American flag upside down here, especially at the end of National Flag Week, but flying it that way sends as clear a message as when it’s flown upright. If more states in our nation work as hard as New York did to take religious freedom away in order to mandate risky, unavoidably unsafe, liability-free vaccines as quickly as they did, we are in for some extremely dangerous times ahead. Mark my words, Diary, it’s going to get even worse before it can ever get better again.
Until next time…xo, Cat
Cathy Jameson is a Contributing Editor for Age of Autism.
Witnessing how Americans came together in the months following the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, my French wife exclaimed how much she loved how much Americans loved being Americans. Our national pride was palpable. A couple years later our daughter was diagnosed with severe autism. Our lives have changed considerably since. Along with the continual emotional distress from 24/7 monitoring of our child (now an adult) and exhaustion of our savings seeking the right diet and possible cures, the failure of governmental, medical and educational institutions to truly help families like ours and their ever-increasing repression of our liberties has resulted in widespread belief that the country is not what it once was. In 2001 it would have a been a non-starter for large progressive states like California and New York to refuse a child a public education if the child hadn’t gotten a measles shot, especially when that vaccine neither has been proven effective nor safe for a substantial subset and that 99.9 % of children who get measles recover and acquire lifelong immunity.
This is one small example of how one might conclude the terrorists are winning. They hate our freedoms, especially the freedoms that women in America enjoy. Terrorists also welcome Americans acting like victims of their social class, racial-ethnic, religious, age, gender or geographical group. They will do whatever they can to divide us and foster intergroup dissension and civic laziness. Yet parents have the wonderful opportunity to raise their kids to fight back to preserve our essential freedoms while bringing civility and mutual understanding to our communities. Victimhood and passivity have never worked in America. We must, instead, ACT to ensure that our institutions serve us and not the other way around. How can you tell? Just follow the money!
Posted by: Barry Stern | June 17, 2019 at 06:02 PM
A flag upside down means, “nation in distress”. The fact that I am an American mother and my children’s access to an education is in jeopardy makes me stressed. Let me just repeat that for those in the back; I am an American mom and the situation in the United States of America is so dire that my children should not have access to an education. Where certain children in other countries are not allowed to go to school because they are female, here, I desperately need Amy Goodman and Rachel Maddow to think about how my 11yr old daughter will not be able to continue to access an education until she is injected with multiple products from the pharmaceutical industry. If
Ellen DeGenerous were 11, she could not go to school. Amy and Rachel would be calling her mother stupid.
Posted by: annie | June 16, 2019 at 10:08 PM
The present CDC vaccine program provides about 160 new Autism cases each and every day.. plus nearly 10 times that number going on ADHD meds so they might function in schools.
The school systems are still confused why Special Ed classes have exploded by a factor of nearly 10 from 30 years ago.
Those in power know exactly what is happening and do not vaccinate their own children, the medical system also enjoys nearly 500 billion dollars in "backside treatment revenues" for the damage that they create.
I would guess there are nearly 20 million American anti-vaxxer families if not more, more than half the nation is now "vaccine hesitant."
I have not heard of anyone who is leaving the battle.
Posted by: go Trump | June 16, 2019 at 06:32 PM
Pft
Big difference a between free economy and global corporatism.
https://www.ageofautism.com/2017/07/july-4th-best-of-the-american-revolution-and-health-tyranny.html
Posted by: John Stone | June 16, 2019 at 05:56 PM
Perhaps the most important freedom is economic freedom, but the government in its infinite wisdom allowed, indeed encouraged corporations to move production and many good paying jobs offshore. It also encouraged debt and usurious banking practices 30% interest rates are permitted to be charged to the poor after scrapping state usury laws.
Today, those between 18-35 have a net worth 35% less (after adjusting for understated inflation) than those at the same age in 1996. This is the age when most people have the most children, but many cant afford children so have none or have fewer.
When are people going to start to connect the dots. Vaccines, economics, health care expenses are all components of the New Eugenics. Fertility rates are below replacement level so immigration is required to prevent population from declining (thats bad for GDP growth). Life expectancy is declining due to economic and health care expenses, not to mention environmental toxins introduced via vaccines, GMO foods, RF EMF radiation and drugs used to treat the chronic conditions they cause.
Now we also see censorship in the media, internet and academia, and increasing surveillance with cameras everywhere, facial recognition, data collection and sharing, etc which is going to get far more intrusive with 5G and the IoT.
And of course we have lies presented as truth and vice versa in politics and news media. Science has become anti-science with pseudo scientists/doctors crushing scientific truths in a manner the medieval church never could match
1984 is here.
Posted by: Pft | June 16, 2019 at 05:09 PM
I would only add that it is possible and reasonable to be proud of one's country and, at the same time, to be aghast by its government.
Posted by: David Weiner | June 16, 2019 at 02:30 PM
more
https://www.modernhealthcare.com/politics-policy/house-votes-overturn-ban-national-patient-identifier?utm_source=modern-healthcare-hits-friday
"Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) secured his amendment that essentially tells HHS to prioritize its national campaign to encourage vaccines and counter the anti-vaccination rhetoric that has increasingly raised worry in Washington amid measles outbreaks across the country."
Posted by: greyone | June 16, 2019 at 12:51 PM
U.S. wars have almost always been the harbinger of lost freedoms for Americans. See Robert Higgs' book "Crisis and Leviathan" for detailed documentation of that claim.
As RFK Jr. pointed out, the CDC grew out of the Public Health Service, a military organization, and the lack of proper safety testing was rationalized as necessary in order for the military to defend against germ warfare. Needless to say, it was the armed forces who were the first to be forced to take a slew of dangerous vaccines, without recourse for their harm. It is also no coincidence that we have a "Surgeon General" and we see CDC officials in military uniforms.
Freedom is not free, but it does not (usually) depend upon sacrifices made by armed forces. It depends on civilians who refuse to tolerate government tyranny, prevailing or in the works.
Posted by: David Weiner | June 16, 2019 at 10:06 AM
IMHO we have to separate our personal freedoms such as taking away our health choices from the freedoms that our government claims we maintained through wars. In fact, false flag wars the US has promoted and carried out have been the impetus for the removal of such things as our options for vaccines choice. For example, the Patriot Act following the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq were predicated on the false notion that the US needed to keep Americans safe and secure. For me, the American flag and patriotism have nothing to do with the removal of our personal health choices. It only serves as an excuse to control our personal lives. As far as I'm concerned you can put the American upside down, sideways, anyway you want. It adds nothing to our yearning for the ability to be able to decide what drugs can be injected into our own bodies.
Maurine Meleck
Posted by: Maurine Meleck | June 16, 2019 at 08:38 AM
"I’ll always be proud that I was born in the USA, but I am ashamed at how this country and many of its representatives are behaving lately. It’s so completely un-American of them."
Amen to that Cathy .. I would only add alongside the "many representatives" are far too many public health officials, medical professionals, media and corporation CEO's within the vaccine industry .. all of whom are or should be fully aware of the dangerous consequences wreaking havoc throughout the world.
Posted by: Bob Moffit | June 16, 2019 at 06:55 AM