Are You Riveted Like Me?

Have you been reading the story of Jaycee Dugard? Click here for the full details. Basic summary is she was kidnapped in 1991 at the age of 11, and taken as a sex slave by a man, with full cooperation from his wife. Jaycee was kept in this man's backyard, in tents and out buildings, since then. She has been his sex slave and gave birth to two children in her early teens. Both of those children are now preteen age. From what I can tell, those two children were born in the backyard, never attended school of any kind, seen a doctor, etc. However, the psycho who kidnapped Jaycee seems to take these two children with him on errands, which is how this whole heartbreaking story was discovered.

Here is what I brainstormed today. A snippet of the history that Jaycee has missed since being kidnapped:

1) George H. Bush was the United States President when she was taken. Both Bill Clinton and George W. Bush have served two terms in office since 1991.

2) The bombing of Oklahoma City in 1994.

3) The whole O.J. Simpson mess. And his subsequent mess that has him in jail now.

4) All things preteen now. Hannah Montana, Jonas Brothers, Pokeman, etc.

5) The only Star Wars Jaycee knew were the original three. Star Wars, Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi.

6) There were no such things as Amber Alerts in 1991.

7) I wasn't married in 1991. I was only four years out of high school in 1991, and I am looking to turn 41 here in a few weeks. Most of my adulthood has been while Jaycee was in captivity.

8) There was no internet in 1991, or if there was, it was not for the masses.

9) Cells phones? Yes, those big bricks with the huge antennae coming out of them that only executives used.

10) I still had big hair and bangs.

11) The year that Jaycee was kidnapped was the year that the high school graduating class of 2009 was born. Those students entire k-12 school years was while Jaycee was in captivity.

12) Desert Storm was the war in the Middle East, and Saddam Hussein was our biggest threat.

13) When Jaycee was kidnapped, her mother and stepfather were married. Her stepfather became the prime suspect and could never truly prove himself innocent until this week. This marriage took a toll with Jaycee's kidnapping, and they are now separated. Jaycee's parents are harmed for life as well.

14) Jaycee missed 9/11/2001.

I am not sure why this story has just broken my heart. I think this kidnapper and his wife are just sick beyond reason. An interview with him is just a rambling mess. He claims when his story is told it will have a great story of redemption at the end. I think he thinks that may be for himself but I don't care a rip about him. Jaycee's life has been permanently scarred and altered, as well as her two daughters and her parents.

There is no recompense for them. There is no suing this guy for anything that would have value enough to pay her back for the deep scars on her family and her soul.

I am just thinking she has lived outside for 18 years, what is must be like to sleep inside. What it must be like to not use a porta-potty (as described in the link above)? What it must be like for her daughters to have someone else to play with? What happened when the weather was horribly bad? It is just sickening to think of hot 100+ degree days in a tent! Or super cold temperatures in the California winters when it does occasionally drop below freezing, in a tent. Click here for the raw video of the shed/tent/junkyard that has been her home for this long. And then just the constant abuse she suffered at the hands of this man. Sick.

I pray for Jaycee and all of her family. I pray out of ashes and mourning comes healing and truth. I pray Jaycee sees her freedom (praise God she got it finally, how long could her captivity continued, who knows?) as a rebirth and an opportunity. I pray out of her success and healing comes her best revenge on her captors in this lifetime. I have no idea what special judgment God has for such incredibly sick, deranged people.

Welcome home, Jaycee.

First Day of Soccer

It's one of those "firsts" that have come further and further apart as the kids get older. Today was our youngest's first soccer practice. He has been excited about it all week. He deserves it. This little guy has sat on the sidelines watching his older brother play soccer since infancy.

Oh the cute little blonde girl? That is our pastor's daughter. These two little munchkins are only months apart in age, and we are thinking of making it an arranged marriage of some kind. They love each other dearly. If you ask BH at the right time, he'll tell you she is his girlfriend.

School days, school days.....sing it with me!

It starts....tomorrow 8/27! Are we excited. I am, the kids, not so much!

I am excited for several reasons:

1) Occupy my restless kids! Running around the house all day is getting tedious.

2) I love the learning process. Even if appears like my kid hates it, I still want to show him joy in learning. That may be a delayed reward since he is at the age where any sort of school is icky to him.

3) I am excited for the new curriculum ORCA is using this year. It is much more web based with online classes and videos. I am hoping it causes JM to turn that corner where he is more of an independent student without me watching over his shoulder.

4) BH and I are doing a loosey goosey kind of preschool together. He said constantly last year he wanted to do school at home. So I have some good workbooks for him (thanks to my homeschools moms out there). My goal, to have him reading full sentences by the time he turns five next May. I am about 90% certain that is going to happen easily. He already sounds out words.

5) I am ready for summer to end, and let the monotony of the school schedule take over instead of me coming up with constant entertainment every day. Although Tyrone, the kitten formerly known as Spawn of Satan, is doing well filling in that gap. Many times we just sit on the couch and watch him zoom around the room at break neck speed......for hours.

6) My goals for our house almost were done this summer. One of those was purging the boy's room of everything unnecessary. I have tried this numerous times before but with all the boys in the household standing nearby, not as much was purged and the bedroom was still full to the brim. Since they were all out of town last week......the purge happened according to my standards. Here is what is cool. Very little is actually gone at this point. Only broken things hit the garbage. A lot of it is put out of sight just to see if there is absolutely something that is missed. I am thinking a swing by Goodwill is in the works now that nothing is missed at all.

Looking forward to school. Blessings and success I wish to all of you, whatever school choice you have made for your family. I relish knowing that our kids will be our future and we have a huge honor and responsibility now to make sure they are ready. It gives me hope.

Truth About Cap and Trade, Finally

There is a local conservative group here in Portland I am beginning to pay close attention to. I am looking forward to a bbq with some of these folks this weekend. Here is a trailer they have put together highlighting an upcoming documentary regarding Cap and Trade. Please set aside four minutes and watch it. Steve Buckstein, founder of the Cascade Policy Institute, says that he would be happy to show the full documentary to any group and feel free to pass this link along. If you need to reach Mr. Buckstein, please let me know and I'll get you in touch with him.

Last Summer Hoorah

We went to the beach. We had a lot of fun.

When a four year old gets tired on the beach....he just kind of lays down in the warm sand.

Four year old pouring sand on my legs and feet. My own pumice type of pedi.

Got some sand in our mouth. Ewe!

Boys...must....dig....in....their.....genetics......

My little waterdog. If I let him, he would run out in the ocean and arrive in Tokyo.

Let's Realize How Smart the Guy Is

I spoke with a friend of mine recently about our illustrious and entertaining mayor, Sam Adams. She is a certified petition collector for his recall campaign. In her dealings with several officials in this grassroots efforts someone told her, "One of Sam Adams best attributes is that is he the smartest guy in the room and knows it. One of his worst attributes is that he is the smartest man in the room."

I haven't met Sam Adams, have no need to, but now I am curious. I would love to sit back and watch him "work" a room.

Anyway, new development, are we surprised? A local county here is Oregon just lost it's sheriff. He was caught with his pants down, literally, with someone not his wife in a vehicle at a popular makeout place. Click here for the details. The sheriff also asked his deputy who found him to be quiet and future growth in the sheriff's department might include this lucky deputy. If I were the deputy, I would still be back at "I just saw my boss's........"

What is becoming glaringly obvious, this sheriff misused his power as a public official by asking a deputy to lie and then offering a job promotion if he did lie. The state's attorney asked this sheriff to resign, and he did.

Okay, Sam Adams, although not guilty of any criminal act, has been found to have lied and covered up his whole fiasco. It is also confirmed that he used his office to offer perks to those who covered it up.

So the poll to the left asks and truly, begs the question. Why? So please take the poll. I am so stinkin' frustrated by our mayor. I truly believe he has slicked so many hands to keep his job, it's completely unnerving how much power he has. And yes, that would be an abuse of power under Oregon law.

Irked to No End

Our state just concluded a bungling mess of a legislative session in June. One of the big hairballs that our state is now going to choke on is a huge business tax. Why does this bother me so much?

Because I find articles like these, not in my local press. I find it in other state's press. Click here.

Bottom line--Denver wooed a wind turbine company away from Portland with tax incentives. Twenty five current jobs are going to Denver, with the potential of up to 45 more in growth. Why am I irked so much? This is not the first time this has happened to Portland, not by a longshot.

Two years ago, Freightliner, huge international manufacturer of big rig trucks moved away from Portland to South Carolina, and took over 1,000 jobs with it. It moved a gargantuan employee base at huge expense to do it too. Why? It was cheaper to move all those people at a huge expense than to continue to pay the taxes this city puts on big business.

Let's go back to the turbine company that took 25 jobs to Denver. It is not just jobs that go to Denver. Here is my brainstorming list of what else goes to Denver:

1) For each one of those jobs, there is a spouse, girlfriend, or boyfriend that also moves away.

2) When a person, in this case let's assume 50 (including the significant others) people, move away, they are taking with them their ability to pay taxes in this city. Taxes the city already receives through property taxes, etc.

3) Any of those couples that move that children with them, take their school enrollment with them as well. That is fewer children to enroll in our local school, also generating enrollment dollars. Especially with Race to the Top dollars that Obama is flashing in front of states right now. Enrollment is key. Those children are gone to another state for their enrollment.

4) Local businesses that rely on these 25 people and their families are now affected. Grocery stores, hair salons, lawn mowing services, gas stations, banks, etc. They have now lost a small consumer base to Denver as well.

5) Let's not forget the housing market. Portland is one of the most defunct real estate markets in the country right now. Yes, it's showing signs of improvement, but it's not vibrant by a long shot. Because these people are moving, we have a good handful more houses sitting vacant waiting for buyers. Denver just gained 25 potential homebuyers. Those homebuyers will also be paying income taxes in Colorado as well as property taxes upon purchasing their home.

6) We also don't want to forget one other important detail, this company has a growth projection of 45 more jobs. That means 45 fewer people will be using Colorado's government assistance for the unemployed. That means the unemployment number for Colorado will change a little bit in the right direction. Portland now has the continued cost of not having 45 people gainfully employed.

Keep in mind, if anyone hasn't driven up the Columbia Gorge lately beyond the town of The Dalles, we have a huge potential in Oregon for wind energy. Look at the horizon after passing The Dalles (which I do at least once a week for my work) and what do you see? Wind turbines by the hundreds. Where? Mostly on the Washington side of the gorge, not the Oregon side. The Oregonians in those communities, most recently Seven Mile, have run wind turbines companies out. Why is the gorge, specifically that section of the gorge, so great for wind turbines? It's farmland that is constantly windy. The turbines are not on wildlife refuges, National Parks, bird sanctuaries, etc. They are on private land, and those landowners are making hand over fist in income leasing their farmland to these turbine companies and grazing their cattle or farming their land. Oregonians along the gorge, as well as here in Portland with the high business taxes, have run wind turbine companies out of our state.

In the last two weeks the hill between this road and the ridge has about 12 new turbines on it. See those spaghetti looking roads? They are the roads that lead up to the new turbines that are there now. All of these pictures are taken in Washington, not Oregon--by me.

Okay, so these farmers now are in a higher tax bracket, paying higher income and property taxes, paying off their debt, not foreclosing on their farms, etc. Keeping people not only gainfully employed, but downright wealthy. Because they are farmers, they are also hiring workers and keeping them and their families employed. I personally know of several farmers, because they are leasing their land, are now retired making six figures a year. Show me someone who can say that in this economy? Better yet, show me someone in Portland that has that kind of wealth as a blue collar worker.

And we are letting a wind turbine company slip through our fingers? The potential to bring that kind of industry to Oregon. I am not talking jobs, but an industry.

Not only that, we Oregonians claim to be so "green", we are running an obviously "green" industry right out of here. I am not joking, this is happening, has happened, and I am hoping it doesn't keep happening.

I can pick this apart even more, but I have a headache now as I remember this is one of many many businesses uprooting from Portland, going elsewhere. All because this city can't seem to realize that heavily taxing a business upfront means a chain reaction of lost revenue at a higher cost in the future.

Can someone get our illustrious mayor, Sam Adams, out of the bathroom and show him my blog?

Remember the Old Days

Okay, I am reaching far back in my memory here to when I was a little girl and there was only one phone company available to American consumers. Here is what I remember:

* I remember my dad slamming down the corded phone onto the receiver when he was disputing a bill that Bell wouldn't negotiate on. My dad doesn't slam down receivers on phones. For those of you who have met my dad, you surprised?

* I sketchy remember when the whole debate was before Congress to de-monopolize the Bell system and allow for other phone companies to compete for phone service.

* I remember if you needed/wanted a new telephone, you went to the Bell store and got to choose from the eight models they had. Most families chose a desk or wall mounted model in white, cream or black because it was the cheapest. When some of us became teenagers, our families bought the 18 foot curly que phone cord so us teens to stretch it to the hall closet and have privacy.

Remember those days? What has happened since the de-monopolizing of the phone system

* Technology has increased more in the last 25 years in telecommunications that it did in the 25 years before the de-monopolizing. Telephone companies are now competing for my dollars and I want the latest and greatest in my phone service.

* Technology includes, cordless phones, caller ID, cell phones and that encompasses, satellite phone services, choices in phones and what they can do for our individual needs, free long distance is as a standard, etc. None of that was even on the horizon as a thought to offer consumers in the 25 years preceding the de-monopolizing of Bell. Why? Bell had no reason to make phones better at all. They just provided their service and if you didn't like it, tough.

Why go down history lane and talk about this piece of modern history?

Simple......

Why in the world would I want to rely on a government monopoly of health care for my health care?

Scary.

Not because I am afraid I would lose the ability to use caller ID.

Maybe because when I need have a medically cutting edge need for health, I'll have more than the Bell customer service gal on the other end telling me "tough!" because companies are competing for my health care dollars, thereby having cutting edge technology for my needs.

Just a thought.

Key Town Hall Meeting 8/19

All my conservative/moderate readers who have been following the virtual school shenanigans with me. It's starting to rev up again. Why? Part of SB767's mandate was to create a task force to "study this issue for the purposes of governance". All of us think the state board of education is doing a fine job of that and that a bunch of representatives and senators aren't qualified to figure that out.

That task force is on the verge of being formed, and it's becoming political in the jockeying to who gets what spot. Of course, we as parents want it to be a fair mix of people. The writer's of this bill are making it very heavy towards their leanings that virtual schools don't serve a purpose. There is a whole lot going on with that I won't talk about so as to not inflame the situation, but suffice it to say, it seems to be getting a bit messy. It was supposed to be seated with members by August 1st. It hasn't been seated yet. That is where we are at.

Key for all of you!! We have an opportunity in front of us! There is a key town hall meeting next Wednesday the 19th with several key people involved in this whole thing. I am getting details right now about it. But my understanding is that the main person is Senator Devlin, the main sponsor of this bill and someone else.

Here are the dynamics:
Senator Devlin has not once engaged in a conversation with anyone that I know of on this issue. If emailed, he gives a cut/pasted pat answer that appears he is sympathetic. However, he has pushed this legislation like a Sherman tank through the legislature. He is not sympathetic. Additionally, in the past, when asked at town hall meetings about this issue, he refuses to answer the questions or engage. Personally what do I think? He is a pansy to sponsor such legislation and then not take the heat for it. If you're going to sponsor it, put on your big boy pants and act like a man. Did I say that?

The other legislator at this meeting, and I can't find/remember his name, is somewhat sympathetic to us. He has spoken with us and will listen and learn about the issue. However, Devlin is this powerhouse of the two. We do want to engage him in a conversation, not Devlin who is a lost cause.

So do we walk into this town hall and start giving Devlin direct questions? No. We engage the other legislator in friendly, teachable conversation. We convert him and the audience on the importance of school choice.

That is the basic strategy I have right now for this key town hall meeting. I need to find out time and location. We are planning to be very purposeful about this. I will have more details on the strategy in a few days.

Just a thought here, does anyone know how to do a podcast, livecast sort of thing from such a location? I am not saying this is what we want to do, but just wondering more than anything. I am not a pro at stuff like that. I am just now curious about Blackberry phones.

Who wants to join me? I will be there. My kids and hubbie are out of town. Oh what a woman can do with a full night of sleep and no distractions!

I'll also have my Sam Adams recall petition with me. Tee hee! Registered voters in Portland, Multnomah County, please come looking for me.

Like I Need This Right Now

Have you ever tried to do something nice for someone and it backfires in all kinds of ways? Not that I don't ever want to stop doing nice things for people, but when something like this happens, you find yourself hesitating the next time something like this comes up. You may even put in place a little personal policy in your head to prevent the same outcomes from happening again. All of my Facebook buddies know all about this, and it's been fun reading everyone's comments. I thought I should post more of the detailed story side over here. I purposely do not put detailed personal stuff on Facebook. Facebook will own it forever, and they just don't need to. Here is my last ten days, ready?

Tue. 7/28: Talking to a friend on the phone. She exclaims that suddenly a little kitten comes scampering into her home. Both are quite startled. The summary of that call, if she can't find the owner, I know a friend who runs a cat rescue and could take the kitten there if needed. That was the nice thing I offered that started this whole turn of events.

Wed. 7/29: Friend calls and asks if I can come and take kitten to the rescue. She warns me he is a little frightened and maybe a bit wild. I should have listened. Friend has to work but assures me her young roommate will open the door and help me. Turns out the roommate is terrified of cats. However, roommate moves a piece of furniture and little bundle of fuzz comes out and I grab him. He in turn wiggles around and drives his needle sharp teeth into my left index finger. I take my other hand and scruff him, take my bloody hand and hold the back of his body so his hind legs don't shred my arm. What in the world? This thing is as big as one of my hands. I have never in my life seen such a small kitten act so incredibly wild.

The roommate brings me my cat carrier and I toss him in. I also borrow her sink and soak my bloody left hand. I take him home and leave him in the carrier, in our basement and collect my thoughts.

I call my doctor's office asking how seriously I should take this bite. The secretary asks me "Can you come in right now?" Seriously? Yes, seriously.

After much phone calling, turns out the little turkey is feral. No one takes feral cats, except our local animal control, who will put him down. I call the feral cat people, and they will fix him and vaccinate him, then turn him loose. Well, okay. Hands down, everyone I spoke to said it was such a shame for that to be his lot in life since he is so young, and could be rehabilitated if someone just gave him the time.

Hubbie comes home after I call him telling how my being helpful has just turned into a nightmare. I have a cat bite from a cat that no one, even us, wants. The hubbie was very clear, "He is your project." No one in our house wanted anything to do with the kitten we had named Spawn of Satan at that point. Why? Well, if you approached the cat carrier from about 3 to 5 feet, he hissed and scrambled. He was scary to be around.

Thu. 7/30: I go to get a round of antibiotics and an updated tetanus shot.

I looked all over for help. I posted to craigslist that this guy needed a home or he was going to animal control. I got a great offer from a gal who would take him as a barn cat on her property if I could get him fixed.

Now we're getting somewhere. I call the feral cat people and they can fix him and will allow me to free him as a barn cat. Again, so sad because such a young kitten could be tamed.

In the meantime, he is on full cat carrier arrest. I am scared to death to open the carrier, put food in, take the little cat litter box out, etc. However, I do it. Spawn seems to be chilling out and doesn't once lunge at me. He hisses, but even that starts to dissipate.

Spawn of Satan in the first 24 hours.

Sun. 8/2: The worst happens. The little stinker got loose in our basement. Fears? Lots. What if he attacks one of the kids or one of our other animals? If your basement is anything like mine, it is cluttered from floor to ceiling. How am I going to catch this guy? I close off the basement to everyone and go to bed hoping that nothing else worse happens.

Mon. 8/3: Sitting in my office, in the basement, I can hear him moving around me. Ever seen Cujo? Yeah, kind of afraid this is the cat version of that about to take place. Is he going to take a flying leap at me and gouge my eyes out?

Suddenly I see this little paw behind a box playing with a cord to a purse as a toy. He's playing?? He hasn't done that once since his capture. Interesting. I might have a lure here.

My plan, don't feed him. When he is good and hungry I will put the most luscious food in the carrier and string up a line to pull the door shut to capture him. It worked, but didn't. The little guy actually lunged against the door and pushed it open after I pulled it shut.

That evening, after the kids were in bed. I was sitting at my computer, and he came up to a shelving unit looking down at me. Not hissy and mean, but let's remember Cujo. He hesitatingly tries to approach me. I put my leather glove on. He finally falls off the computer console onto my inbox, and I grab him. Howling, yowling, biting, scratching, etc. I have him by the tail, and I rush to put him in the cat carrier, where he, again, throws his little body against the door to escape. Smart!

I came away from that exchange very sad. I saw the soft side of him and I took that little bit of trust away by manhandling him like I did. So sad.

Tue. 8/4: We allow Spawn to be free in our bathroom so that he does get out a bit. I have figured out a way to corral him back into the carrier without a leather glove. We figure this is a good thing. The huge rule to all household members--you must close the bathroom door. If you go in with him, he hides. He won't go after anyone, so you're fine, but you must leave the door closed.

As we are getting ready to leave for our summer day camp I walk past the boy's bedroom and see a glimpse of a tail going under a dresser. Yep, the boy's left the bathroom door open. Now, we have to do the capture thing again. I am upset.

The day wears on and I realize the little squirt has gotten himself into the top drawer of a dresser. If I open it a bit, he sees me, and comes up to me sniffing. No hissing. The hubbie comes home and gets the leather gloves. No luck, Spawn escapes to the dark recesses of the bottom side of the bunk bed. However after I leave for work, the hubbie does the whole grabbing, howling, yowling, scratching, biting capture that is upsetting.

And what are we waiting for in all of this? For the little guy to get a smidge bigger so we can get him fixed and outta here!

8/4-8/7: The change emerges.
The routine becomes this. Spawn stays in the carrier at night. During the day, he gets the bathroom. I am the bathroom monitor to prevent any open doors.

I also purchase a cat toy with a bell on it. Spawn is frightened of it at first. After a few hours, you can hear the tinkling of the bell in the bathroom. He begins playing with it.

He also stops the hissing as we approach the cage. Spawn is still quite jumpy and distrustful. Won't let you pet him. But the violent fear is gone. He is getting to know us. As we see small signs of him becoming more tame, the hubbie says to me, "Hmmm.....maybe we should tame him? What do you think?" Wow! Okay, let's try it. However, I reserve the right to back out at anytime. I also still keep looking for an owner, it could be us, but not going to determine that yet. I am still back at "maybe we should tame him?"

Fri. 8/7: I have given Tyrone (no longer Spawn of Satan) the same wicker basket that Pablo and Tasha had when they first arrived. I have also put a cushion in it with some catnip on it. Interesting effect with that. Usually we would walk into the bathroom, and you would see his tail disappear under the cabinet. With this basket and catnip, he would stay in the basket as you came and left. Interesting, he is getting used to us. He also likes catnip.

Tyrone you ask? Yes, well, it's hard to sell the idea of a kitten to someone if Spawn of Satan is their name. The kids, in keeping with the tradition of naming our pets after Backyardigans characters decide on Tyrone. We are running out of Backyardigans characters, so maybe we'll stop taking in pets like the local pound!

Tyrone under the bathroom cabinet.

Tyrone enjoying the basket that has catnip.

Late late this night I go into the bathroom and turn the light on. Tyrone looks up at me blinking at the light, purring. At this point, he has been purring at us for a few days, usually in association with food. I reach down and the following video came from that exchange:

I am utterly amazed at what ten days has done to this feral kitten. You can totally see he isn't all lap cat and snuggles. He is quite tentative and cautious. But what a change in ten days! I went to bed with tears in my eyes. I think this little guy won't get the gas chamber or the barn! I think we might have a success story on our hands.

This week, which began today, is to put up an old baby gate that we have to the bathroom. We want all the animals to see and sniff each other without injury. Hoping we don't have any huge skirmishes with this endeavor. We are also hoping that Tyrone having a view of us coming and going will continue to help him see and trust humans. We definitely want to keep building on that success.

Next week, my hubbie and kids will be gone. I'll have the house to myself and the pets. The plan is to let Tyrone have our office space (not basement) to explore. I can sit and do work in it from the laptop. I am hoping we can just keep this success growing. My hope is to have him trusting enough to sit on a lap purring by the end of that week.

I'll keep you posted.

Think of this story when you offer to do a favor next time. You could end up on a course of antibiotics, a band-aid on your arm, and a feral cat that steals your family's heart. Good grief!

More School Numbers

Okay, I know I go on and on about this. But it is important. New numbers were just released to the media in the last few days giving Oregon's numbers for school standardized testing results. And it's not good. Click here.

One in three schools in Oregon do not meet federal guidelines for standardized testing. What is even more sad is that for a school to pass this test "at least 59 percent of its students must be at grade level in math, and 60 percent in reading". Now, honestly, 59% is only 2/3 of the school's population. Sixty percent, when I was in school, was failing.

An objection I hear constantly to these numbers, and I agree with it, is that there is a huge influx of immigrants into our public schools where English is the student's second language.

That gets me all fired up about another issue--closing our borders and giving our public services to citizens only. Our own population of students is suffering because the curriculum is being dumbed down to hit the median levels of a classroom for these populations. My opinion....students who are citizens or in the country legally can use our public school services only.

Rush Limbaugh (don't stop reading please) did a quick summation of Mexico's immigrant laws last April pretending to state how it would be in Limbaugh land if he made the immigration laws. He ends his tirade giving the audience "These laws are not my ideas actually, they are the actual immigration laws to Mexico." Now this is his summation, so it also has his verbiage that I find so testy, but he gets the point across:

“All right, immigration proposals under discussion. Let me add mine to the mix. I want to call this proposal the Limbaugh Laws. …First, if you immigrate to the United States of America, you must speak the native language. You have to be a professional or an investor. [America is] not going to take unskilled workers…There will be no special bilingual programs in the schools, no special ballots for elections, no government business will be conducted in your native language. Foreigners will not have the right to vote…nor will they ever be allowed to hold political office. According to the Limbaugh Laws, if you're in our country, you cannot be a burden to taxpayers. You are not entitled, ever, to welfare, to food stamps, or other government goodies. You can come if you invest here, but it must be an amount equal to 40,000 times the daily minimum wage. If you don't know have that amount of money, you can't come and invest. You have to stay home. If you do come and you want to buy land, okay, but we're going to restrict your options. You will not be allowed to buy waterfront property in the United States. That will be reserved for citizens naturally born in this country.”

“In fact, as a foreigner, you must relinquish individual rights to property… Another thing. You don't have the right to protest when you come here. You're allowed no demonstrations, you cannot wave a foreign flag, no political organizing, no bad-mouthing our president or his policies, or you get sent home. You're a foreigner. You shut your mouth or you get out, and if you come here illegally, you go straight to jail and we're going to hunt you down 'til we find you.”

By the way, he is right. I did a whole bunch of looking up on this issue, and without giving you a link that was just verbose with legal language on what it takes to move the Mexico this seemed to sum it up best. By the way, it is a felony to be in Mexico illegally. You get caught, you go to Mexican jail.

Seems a little unfair if you ask me. Also seems to me that we are taking it in the backside from Mexico who is raking our public services dry, and our students are suffering because we do have bilingual programs in our schools.

I listened to an interview Lars Larsen did a few years ago interviewing an LA police official. The American rules for illegals in our country is this; we don't arrest illegal aliens/immigrants unless they break the law. So as long as they don't break the laws, then they can stay and rake over our public services. I get so incensed by our lack of prudence with this aspect of our tax dollars. Imagine the billions of tax dollars that could be saved if we could only use other country's immigration laws as a model for our own. Forget stimulus dollars, forget cash for clunkers, forget health care reform.....if our country limited public services for legal citizens we wouldn't be where we are now financially as a country. Period.

Now this isn't just Mexico. Here in Oregon we have an influx of other languages too. Lots of Eastern European, slavic people groups are here. They are also part of the problem as well. Most of those I meet, though, are here on work visas and get here legally. I am so willing to be corrected on that with solid numbers if anyone has them.

Our classroom teachers are given thirty kids from all over the world, and are expected for every single one of them to meet basic academic standards. Almost impossible. I don't think those students should be in our classrooms. I think if they are here legally, they get another classroom setting that boosts them up, and doesn't drag down English speaking kids. No, it's not racism. I am not dividing a classroom based upon race, I am dividing a classroom based upon skill level. That is the American way. I am not a brain surgeon because I don't have that skill set. Same for our classrooms. We shouldn't put non English speaking kids in a room where they will fail, or expect our English speaking kids to be patient in their education while others are failing.

Yes, My Kids Have Talent

I know some of you might think I am just the proud parent who "thinks" her kids have talent. Truly all of our kids have talent, for sure. Here is what my two little guys came up with all by themselves this morning.

I don't know, Jonas Brothers, move over. Now if we could only have this kind of enthusiasm when the piano teacher arrives. Then we might have something!

Please don't look at their bedroom....

Grab a Cup of Coffee, Sit Back, Get Ready to Be Afraid

I saw this 20/20 program when it was on a few years ago. I forgot that I had seen it, and now I wonder if it inadvertently shaped me and our school decisions now. It is required viewing if you have a child of school age. It is 40 minutes, so be prepared, but it so worth it.

What Can 28 Cents Buy You These Days

A condescending post card from the Governor. It is best summed up by Child of God when she sat at my kitchen table and flipped it at me, "Thanks for playing!"

But let's do the aggravating math here.

28 cents for just this stupid postcard to me who left a message at the Governor's "citizen concern" phone line. Let's say 10,000 people called during the legislative session with their concerns. I am shooting low here. I wouldn't be surprised if it were more.

That is a cost of $2800 to the tax payer saying "thanks for playing ball."

Waste. Waste of my money.

Because It's Been Way Too Long Since I Have Posted....

Most Embarrassing Medical Exams

1. A man comes into the ER and yells, "My wife's going to have her baby in the cab!" I grabbed my stuff, rushed out to the cab, lifted the lady's dress, and began to take off her underwear. Suddenly I noticed that there were several cabs -- and I was in the wrong one.!!

Submitted by Dr. Mark MacDonald, San Francisco

2. At the beginning of my shift I placed a stethoscope on an elderly and slightly deaf female patient's anterior chest wall. "Big breaths," I instructed. "Yes, they used to be," replied the patient.

Submitted by Dr.. Richard Byrnes, Seattle , WA

3. One day I had to be the bearer of bad news when I told a wife that her husband had died of a massive myocardial infarct.. Not more than five minutes later, I overheard her reporting to the rest of the family that he had died of a massive internal fart.

Submitted by Dr. Susan Steinberg

4. During a patient's two week follow-up appointment with me (his cardiologist), he informed me that he was having trouble with one of his medications. "Which one?" I asked. "The patch. The nurse told me to put on a new one every six hours, and now I'm running out of places to put it!" I had him quickly undress and discovered what I hoped I wouldn't see. Yes, the man had over fifty patches on his body! Now, the
instructions include removal of the old patch before applying a new one.

Submitted by Dr. Rebecca St. Clair, Norfolk , VA

5. While acquainting myself with a new elderly patient, I asked, "How long have you been bedridden?" With a look of complete confusion, she answered, "Why, not for about twenty years - when my husband was alive."

Submitted by Dr. Steven Swanson-Corvallis, OR

6.. I was performing rounds at the hospital one morning. While checking up on a woman I asked, "So how's your breakfast this morning?" "It's very good, except for the Kentucky Jelly. I just can't seem to get used to the taste," the patient replied. I then asked to see the jelly and the woman produced a foil packet labeled KY Jelly.

Submitted by Dr. Leonard Kransdorf, Detroit , MI

7. A nurse was on duty in the Emergency Room when a young woman with purple hair styled into a punk rocker Mohawk, sporting a variety of tattoos, and wearing strange clothing entered. It was quickly determined that the patient had acute appendicitis, so she was scheduled for immediate surgery.

When she was completely disrobed on the operating table, the staff noticed that her pubic hair had been dyed green. And above it there was a tattoo that read, "Keep off the grass." Once the surgery was completed, the surgeon wrote a short note on the patient's dressing, which said, "Sorry, had to mow the lawn."

Submitted by RN no name

AND FINALLY!!!................

8. As a new, young MD doing his residency in OB , I was quite embarrassed when performing female pelvic exams. To cover my
embarrassment I had unconsciously formed a habit of whistling softly. The middle-aged lady upon whom I was performing this exam suddenly burst out laughing, further embarrassing me. I looked up from my work and sheepishly said, "I'm sorry. Was I tickling you?"

She replied, "No doctor, but the song you were whistling was, 'I wish I was an Oscar Mayer Wiener.'"

Dr. wouldn't submit his name.