Imagine If There Weren't....

Imagine if we didn't have photography. Even 100 years ago when photography was new and rarely used. Imagine if we didn't have that.

Our sermon this morning was talking about Romans 8 and the distinction of our decaying bodies and our spiritual body. An illustration was used of a photographer who has taken an annual picture of his wife and three sisters since 1975. And watching the aging process in these women. It's a fascinating process to watch.

On the way to church, the husband and I discussed politics, like we do often. We discussed the "image" of two candidates running. He made a great point. Think to 100 years ago, if the entire electorate elected based upon the shallow "looks" of a candidate, Lincoln would have lost. He was not an attractive man! Husband makes a great point.

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So as I am listening to this sermon, my mind wandered. Yes, I know, I'm a heathen. But even in our own lives, think back 20 years. Can you remember what your middle school math teacher looked like? Exactly? Could you pick them out of a line up today? I would have to honestly say no. As I have lived with my husband for 20+ years, and I have watched him age before my eyes, would I recognize him from 20 years ago if I had no pictures of him? Gotta think no.

So imagine what life was like before the discovery of photography. I almost think it might have been an unknown luxury. I would not remember what I looked like, and maybe there might be less bemoaning and comparing my looks to younger years. Instead of bemoaning what I, or anyone else in my life looked like, it would almost force me to live more in the moment. People in front of me, in all their glory, is all we had to go by. That is a game changer, especially for those we have known for a long time. Sketchy memories would be all I had to compare to.

Would you recognize the husband and I from 1991?

I also would do a lot of things differently. Voting is a great example. I dare everyone to take their voter's guide when they receive it, and have their kids cut out all the pictures first before reading it. Vote completely based upon what is written, not by the picture. Interesting idea.

I can't do it this time around because I do know what everyone looks like. And that brings up another point, we almost cannot decide the merits of a person, candidate, issue, idea, etc without having the image of a person attached to it. It would be almost impossible to choose the voting idea I mentioned because we are thrust pictures of candidates in all kinds of media.

There are benefits to having photography, I am not saying let's get rid of it. But this morning's discussion and sermon gave me pause for thought. It's been interesting to consider.

"I'm From the Government and I'm Here to Help"

That famous quote from Ronald Reagan, "The nine most terrifying words in the English language are, 'I'm from the government and I'm here to help.'

My very first important memory of Reagan's words played out in reality on a big scale was Hurricane Katrina. I watched as those who understand this quote and it's intentions lived out one side or the other of this quote. There really is no middle ground.

On one side, you have people that understand in their daily lives, the government is not prepared to be at the people's beck and call. Those were the people that evacuated early. If they couldn't evacuate, they prepared by stockpiling supplies, hoarding generators, and knowing every detail of how to survive a hurricane. Now does this kind of preparedness prepare anyone for the kind of hurricane Katrina was? Does it guarantee survival? No. However, we all saw these people on the news. They were the ones who had a newscaster's microphone in their face saying, "Yep, we have extensive damage, and the house is a loss. But we have tents in the backyard, cans of food, and two generators." They were fine.

There was no middle ground on this issue, there was only the other side. That was the side that got mad at George Bush for not getting the National Guard into the ravaged area within moments. I would contend that would have actually been a governor's and city mayor's job to beckon the President to make that call, which they didn't, but Bush suffered the consequences. Why do I say that? Because our republic has a system where state's rights are more important the Federal rights. The Feds just can't swoop in and take over, yet that is what this side of this issue believed would just happen with no question. It was amazing to me how these unspoken expectations, and serious lack of knowledge of a state's responsibilities, ended up harming people.

I saw the same newscaster put the microphone to these people, and I remember one man saying, "I have worked all my life, paid my taxes, and now I have nothing." I remember distinctly asking myself, "Since when does working and paying taxes guarantee you won't be hit by a hurricane and then guaranteed you will have compensation when you are?"

So here we are, years later, and this mindset is hitting us fast and furious, daily in the news. Here are a few examples:

*Friend of mine lives in Southern California. A city ordinance states there are to be no laser tag games in public parks because it might scare children because the laser tag guns look real. Well, I would contend, kids already know what real guns look like. I also contend it's not the government's responsibility to regulate if a kid gets scared or not. I thought that was a parent's responsibility? Do you see that once we abdicate it away to the helpful government, suddenly we don't have it anymore? As you read more, we probably want to keep the responsibility to ourselves and think twice before giving it up.

*In my city, last fall, city ordinance passed forcing me to compost. I was already an avid composter voluntarily before that, but that didn't count. Now, I have to compost. So since I have to compost, I only need garbage pick up every two weeks. Try keeping your garbage bin to one bin every two weeks with a family of four. Remember, the government is "helping" me here. Trust me, I didn't want to give that responsibility up, in fact, I was doing my part in spades. And in fact, shame on my city's council who shoved that decision through, foisted it upon the city, with little or no voter input. Sometimes the decision is taken away from us, and we should scream a little louder, but I digress.

*How about the countless stories I have heard (just google this kind of story and you will find them). Intruder in the house, home owner in the house is on the phone to 911 begging for the police to arrive and get this intruder out, home owner is terrified as they hear the intruder approach the owner's hiding place, and one of two things happens here. One, the home owner is armed and uses their right to defend themselves against their intruder. Two, the police don't make that fifteen minute drive fast enough, and the intruder wins, the homeowner loses their life. There is also one I know of in this scenario where the wife was against the husband having guns in the house, yet he did. Intruder is beating the husband and the wife shoots the intruder as he is beating her husband. The family of that intruder is still in litigation today over a wrongful death lawsuit. But they are alive.

*Or how about this funnier one in my community. My mayor seems to think we'll all put away our cars and ride our bikes hither and yon very soon. He wants to eradicate cars. So two years ago, to make things easier for bikes, he spent $38,000 to stamp bicycle symbols on our city's streets. I guess cyclists don't know where it is appropriate to ride their bikes and need a white stamped symbol to show them the way?? Remember, the government is helping. To show a cyclist where they can ride their bike to the tune of $38,000 isn't helping anyone. It's wasting my hard-earned tax dollars.

I could go on and on and on.

Here are my thoughts to you. Be prepared. I believe that as a member of a republic in a society that recognizes individual rights and responsibilities, we have to take our responsibilities seriously. Here's a few:

1) Be prepared for an emergency. Period. Does that mean knowing the location of the sleeping bags in your house? No. It means much more than that. It means each household needs to have supplies of everything to sustain their household for a week if that household were to suddenly lose everything in a disaster including shelter. It means you can take care of your family if Katrina hits your house. What does that mean for this family. Food supply for a week, water supply for a week, shelter enough to shelter all four of us, power supply, home defense (with disasters comes looting), sanitation, ability to reach outside family for help, fuel, clothing, ability to create heat and light, etc. It isn't just making sure we know where the Coleman stove is. We also need to make sure we know where these items are and also be prepared some of it could be destroyed in said disaster. This is serious business. Why? The government won't be coming in a few hours to cart us households away to our safe place. It doesn't exist. We, you and I, are the most highly motivated to take care of ourselves to the very best of our abilities. The governement cannot, and historically hasn't, taken care of it's populace as well as individuals can.

Let me repeat that.
The government cannot, and historically hasn't, taken care of it's populace as well as individuals can.

Ask Katrina survivors.

2) Be prepared for safety on a daily basis both in your home and on your person. Why? Crimes happen in a split second, police and security take several minutes to arrive. That is the difference between life and death. So it should alarm us when we have our gun rights whittled away on a daily basis by our government that won't allow us to defend ourselves. Repeat Reagan's quote. No, taking away those rights isn't helping. In fact, it is deadly.

3) Here's an interesting story. Several years ago, in front of my in law's home a deer was struck by a car and was wounded. My father in law was a gun-toting veteran. Normally, he would have grabbed a gun and put the animal out of it's misery and possibly even checked to see if the meat could be harvested. It's a fresh kill after all. But of course, in Oregon, a law was passed......So he called the local municipality and said this suffering deer needed to be put down, please come take care of it. No one came. Deer suffered a horrible death, good venison went to waste, and rotted on the side of the road. He decided after that, if that happened again, he wouldn't be calling for the help that wasn't really there.

4) Example of a recent friend of mine who works for a car manufacturer. I am so guilty of this one. Your "check engine" light on your car. How many of us drive around with that thing on? I am raising my hand too. Did you know some municipalities are considering making a law where if you are pulled over by an officer, and your "check engine" light is on, you could get cited? Now, when my light goes on, do I panic and pass out? No, but I do get it checked eventually. However, we all know those people who drive around for years with that light on, and that is what that new law would be targeting. Let's just think for a moment, let's not let our "check engine" light go so long and maybe some brilliant law maker won't have cause to pass more helpful legislation. Oh, also have you noticed, when that kind of legislation passes, it's punitive with a fee attached to it that we must pay the helpful government.

So my point is to ask, which side of this quote are you on.The one where I expect my tax dollars to take care of all my needs, or that I respect that my government is limited and I have responsibilities? I also recognize if I don't take care of my responsibilities, I am just asking for the government to come and babysit me, take care of me in a way that isn't helpful, and is in fact, expensive.

Let's Think This Through Just A Little

So yesterday was International Women's Day or something like that.

I have a friend who hasn't liked my sentiments on the subject because she thinks I don't appreciate the amazing suffering women internationally have experienced.

Oh let me speak.
I understand that as an American woman I have access to rights, privileges, and equality unmatched by my peers in other countries.
* I can vote.
* I own property.
* I am married in a legally equal partnership, I am not owned.
* My husband can't legally rape me.
* Worse, a man can't rape me then claim me as his wife because of his actions. Sick!
* I can create my own wealth and destiny and not depend upon a male to do that for me.
* I can hold public office.
* I can practice my own religion.
* It is illegal to victimize, maim or hurt me sexually or otherwise. I can also prosecute anyone who tries. 

That is what I can think of in the last ten minutes, I am sure there is more in my brain, give me a minute.

Here is where my pro-life irritation comes in. Especially in light of recent headlines.

Women's reproductive rights. Right now there is the big Rush Limbaugh vs Fluke verbal sparring. She is a Georgetown student who wants free birth control. Well, let's be honest, she wants it free, but for someone else to pay for it. Our current government is in a battle with the Catholic church over forcing a religious organization to pay for birth control for it's employees when it smacks in the face of the foundations of their beliefs. We also have Rush Limbaugh giving an apology to the Georgetown woman for calling her names, because she (it seems to me) is going broke over her birth control. There is a question to be begged there that I won't entertain here......but I digress.

And I am getting vilified because I put this post out there and laughed about it. Now I will warn you before you read it 1) it is not for young eyes 2) it is intended to be funny 3) it will make you uncomfortable until the very end when the message is hit home, with a home-run I might add. Please take a moment and read it to the end then read my rant.

While America doesn't participate in "in your face" victimization of women, I would contend we do and we do it really well, secretly. For example:

* Telling our middle schoolers (12-15 year olds) they need birth control and mandating birth control based education in public schools. Why not hand them a loaded firearm? Oh wait, that might kill them. Folks, so will the sexually transmitted disease (STD) that birth control doesn't protect them from either. Keep reading.
* Indoctrinating women that abortion is a "reproductive right". It isn't. It kills a fully developed human being that just needs to get bigger. Period.
* Feeding our young women that sex is entertainment, and since we are a an entertainment based culture, get it all while you can.
* We are all "sisters" and it's "us" against "them".
* Men? Men who?
* Birth control is a right, and not a responsibility.
* Sex trafficking of our own youth. In our own communities. I live in one of the worst cities in the country for this, and it's absolutely shocking and shameful. But it is a byproduct of making sex entertainment, instead of a loving, intimate act between two people who are committed and love each other.

So while a few of my friends are angry at me that I don't appreciate what is happening to our "sisters" around the world, I answer back that they are not paying attention to our "sisters" and even worse, our "little sisters" here at home.

How about this, while Americans continue to think having entertaining sex without consequences is their right, let's stop and think about how this idiotic message is harming our little sisters. We are forgetting to remind our sisters of these consequences:

* One in three people walking on American soil right now, has an STD and doesn't know it.
* One in three pregnancies end in abortion.
* In the state of New York, one half of the population has an STD and doesn't know it.

So I may not be all over the international map caring for our sisters in the Middle East or Africa or South America. But do NOT accuse me of not caring for women, when I have spent the better part of ten years of my life trying to save our youth from our own culture's message. Try again.

I do appreciate men! I love how they are wired so differently than myself. As a result, when you read that alphabet list in the above link, I can appreciate a man wrote it, and that he is enjoying the differences in men and women as well. And truthfully, he is acting like a man, and it's kind of fun to read for that reason alone.

The video makes me sick. Why? Since when is it one man's responsibility to apologize for the last millennium's worth of wrongs done to women? How about all the wrongs done to men? How about the learned men of the Jewish nation who were slaughtered because they were educated? How about the educated men who lived under Saddam Hussein's regime and were slaughtered because they were educated? How about the African slaves who were beaten, slaughtered, maimed, and harmed because they were black? And were also separated from their wives and children for their value as livestock? And yet master's wives stood by and watched? Oh wait, I apologize as a woman for not appreciating the masculine god-ness.......sorry, I can't do it.

Folks, we live in a fallen, sick, and diseased world where violence and oppression is not gender specific. I certainly don't celebrate and I will always speak out against it, and I won't make it gender specific. I will declare it wrong, no matter what, every single time. I won't be chastised, and I won't receive chastisement for celebrating that God created us differently.

I won't be made to feel guilty for not having enough compassion for women in other countries when we need to take care of our own, and deal with our own overt oppression on our own soil.

I love men. I love that my husband loves me. I am not a form of entertainment for him, and he isn't entertainment for me.

The Sacrifices For What I Have

Because soldiers in US wars set aside time in their lives to fight for freedom and suffered, I have a lot of freedoms. They may have been permanently injured physically or psychologically. They may have lost the loyalty of a lover at home, or the chance at a college scholarship, or high school graduation. US soldiers are laying in unmarked graves on foreign soil right now, so that I could enjoy the comforts I have right now. Missing soldiers are places where truly only God knows where they are, because that soldier read their history books and decided having a free republic was worth the sacrifice.

I am so ever thankful, my simple words on a website cannot express.

Here are the things I have because a soldier sacrificed:

As an American woman, I own a business, make profit, and can live independently. In a lot of other countries, I would be a criminal.

I have adopted children from a different race. In the United States only in the last few hundred years, those same children were considered property, not family members. Thank you to our soldiers.

I own property. One of the biggest signals of a free society, and one of many reasons a rag tag bunch of people hopped on a boat and came to America, only to find themselves fighting the best army in the world to keep that right during the Revolution.....was property ownership. Own it, and be proud, and don't ever let it go. Ever. Blood was shed on that soil for the right to own it.

I have the right to bear arms. Another signal of a free country, the right of the citizenry to defend themselves not only from foreign enemies, but those from within. Remember, possession is 90% of the law. Once you let that right go, you may never get it back. Again, thousands of soldiers took up arms, defended that right, and died so you could have that right. I am thankful.

I have the right to walk our streets and show my face. In other countries where our soldiers are fighting right now, women are punished harshly for that. Just yesterday a woman and her daughter were stoned to death in the Middle East for such a silly offense. To my military, I am thankful. 

I have the right to earn a paycheck, and do whatever the heck I want to with it. 

I have the right to say what I want to say. I understand this is a privilege and with it comes responsibility. I won't walk down the street yelling things that push people's buttons and inflame them like what I am seeing in the news these days. God also has given me the marching orders to consider my words wisely and speak with discernment. However, I can speak those words without suffering any kind of reprisals from my government, and I thank our soldiers for that right.

I am thankful that our military is the best of the best. I have been unique places and seen unique things in my life that only the daughter of a military man could see. I realize as a grown woman now, those things I saw as a child.....all children should see. There is a missing link in our culture today. I appreciate, love and honor our military and country because I saw things firsthand and understood the cost of freedom from when I was a toddler. Everyone needs that missing link. Our country's military would be an even better military if everyone saw the things I saw. Our government would be a better government if they saw the things I saw.

But they didn't. I did. I know all of our soldiers past, present and future wish we had. I appreciate you  I hurt for you and your lifetime of hurts you have ahead of you because of your service. In this woman's heart and mind, I appreciate all you have done.

Thank you. Enjoy your Veterans Day. You have earned it.

I've Been Elected.....Twice!

Okay, so one thing that you almost HAVE to be elected for to run for office is your precinct's PCP. PCP is Precinct Committee Person. Depending on where you live that is usually a few block radius of your house. You're in charge of it regarding elections. Getting literature to people, getting to know people, asking them to vote, etc. I was elected to that position when I ran for office. Since I was running for my district, as I look back now, I honestly focused more on my whole district than my precinct.

Now I've been elected to something that makes me more excited. I am officially the Secretary for the Multnomah County Republican party. We have new officers in positions, and I know who they are, and I am excited. We have a lot to do for 2012.

Fun stuff!

I Am Back....

It has been several months since I posted, and I promise it won't happen again in the foreseeable future.

You might remember, or you might not at this point, I agreed to run for House District Representative in my home district. Election Day was November 2nd, and like most first time runners, I lost. I am not devastated, and I had my mind set that I would lose. I am tired, but fired up.

I thought I would share with you some of life's lessons along the way:

* We live in a great country. We live in a place where people give their lives to live.

* I was amazed and excited at how our country realized the path it was going on, and changed it's direction in one election. This all despite what the media, naysayers, name callers, and just plain dirty politics all said.

* I am amazed at how crooked ALL of our politics are. I am a conservative Republican. I won't hide that, although in my district it can get you assaulted. Any time I looked at a policy, a law, a bill, a proposal, etc. It's crooked. Truly all of us need to beware.....if someone says a bill is benevolent and meant for the betterment of mankind....peel back the onion and find out who is greasing what hand. There is no such thing. You truly do have to pick your battles, and you do need to recognize the powers in the room and who had a "dog in the fight".

* I am a more jaded, pessimistic, glass half empty person as a result of this process.

* I am fearful of our children's future. I am fearful of their ability to make a living and build a life for themselves in our current state of affairs. Unless the new Congress make strides to commit to a free market, principles our founding father's committed to that have made our country great for 300+ years that no other country has achieved....we are doomed to become just another socialist state. Ask Greece and France how that is working out for them.

* I am thankful to get back into my normal routine. It's been an adjustment. I have been breathing politics for over a year now.

* I am not done. I have our state's charter school law to continue to fight for. I have our legislature to continue to fight for to be more balanced, instead of the super majority it was that just whizzed through legislation without regard for consequences. We have broken that in our state, but it is tenuous at best, and we have a dolt for a governor. How do I know this? He served eight years, eight years ago, during an economic boom, and left office with an increase in unemployment of 65%....during a boom. Welcome to Oregon. Did I mention I am more pessimistic these days? I call 'em as I see 'em.

* I am looking forward to reacquainting myself with my family. Enjoy my dog. Hug my kids for moments longer. Having fuzzy cats warm my lap. Not wake up cranky and go to bed cranky.

I am thankful. We as Americans have much to be thankful for and to continue to fight for.

Thank you to all of our veterans, young and old, male and female, present and past. Fallen and living, but especially fallen. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for fighting for freedoms myself and my family enjoy daily. You humble me, and this day is to remember you.

I Might Be Pushing Some Deep Buttons

It has been yet another whirlwind week for our family. It hasn't been easy at all.

On Easter Day, six days ago, we noticed a slight limp on our dog. She is an older dog, and so I thought to myself, "She is showing her age. We should probably start looking at arthritis meds." I took her to the vet Monday afternoon and left her there so they could anesthetize her and take comprehensive xrays of her hips. My husband picked her up later and got the diagnosis that truly none of us expected. She has bone cancer in her hips and it's a progressive kind. I had him bring her home so the kids could have some time with her.

And it's been a hard week of saying goodbyes. Enjoying her. Crying. The kids have definitely grieved in their own way, and always at what seems like strange times to me. But I understand that deep down inside grieving is incredibly personal and intimate.

So last night, as a family we took our final heart-wrenching trip to the vet. Incredibly, she has responded to pain meds all week and of course was bubbly and jumpy when we got there. I hate it when pets don't seem sick but you know they are--and you have to sign that piece of paper.

So I am working on a photo album of our most wonderful dog. She has been a faithful companion, couch potato, cat toy, protector, and slobberer for five of her eleven years in our home. We are honored to have been able to walk with her in her golden years.

As I took the picture I just posted with her leash and collar I had the most strange thought process. It's all factual, and trust me, I know someone will get offended, but at this point in my process I don't care.

For some odd reason it reminded me of slavery. We have all seen pictures of the leashes, collars and shackles that slaves endured. We have all heard the stories of how slaves were documented and considered property just like pets and livestock. We all know there were good and bad slave owners just like there are good and bad dog owners. Did slave owners grieve when their "livestock" died? Did they grieve like their slaves were people or their slaves were livestock? I try to put myself into the shoes of slave proponents and I can't do it. Maybe it's because of my kids but I don't think so. I can't make myself think of someone as a pet when they can talk, follow orders, work, think, reason, etc. I can't do it.

I still miss my dog tremendously and we will move on. I would be suicidal if one of my kids were to perish.

It's Just a Bill.....Right??

What We Give We Can Expect? Nope!

I got one of those forwarded emails today that I want to share. I normally don't but every now and then, you gotta admit, you get a gem. Here you go:


Dear Mr. President:

I'm planning to move my family and extended family into Mexico for my health, and I would like to ask you to assist me.

We're planning to simply walk across the border from the U.S. into Mexico, and we'll need your help to make a few arrangements.

We plan to skip all the legal stuff like visas, passports, immigration quotas and laws.

I'm sure they handle those things the same way you do here. So, would you mind telling your buddy, President Calderon, that I'm on my way over?

Please let him know that I will be expecting the following:

1. Free medical care for my entire family.

2. English-speaking government bureaucrats for all services I might need, whether I use them or not.

3. Please print all Mexican government forms in English.

4. I want my grandkids to be taught Spanish by English-speaking (bi-lingual) teachers.

5. Tell their schools they need to include classes on American culture and history.

6. I want my grandkids to see the American flag on one of the flag poles at their school.

7. Please plan to feed my grandkids at school for both breakfast and lunch.

8. I will need a local Mexican driver's license so I can get easy access to government services.

9. I do plan to get a car and drive in Mexico, but, I don't plan to purchase car insurance, and I probably won’t make any special effort to learn local traffic laws.

10. In case one of the Mexican police officers does not get the memo from their president to leave me alone, please be sure that every patrol car has at least one English-speaking officer.

11. I plan to fly the U.S. flag from my house top, put U S. flag decals on my car, and have a gigantic celebration on July 4th. I do not want any complaints or negative comments from the locals.

12. I would also like to have a nice job without paying any taxes, or have any labor or tax laws enforced on any business I may start.

13. Please have the president tell all the Mexican people to be extremely nice and never say critical things about me or my family, or about the strain we might place on their economy.

14. I want to receive free food stamps.

15. Naturally, I'll expect free rent subsidies.

16. I'll need Income tax credits so although I don't pay Mexican Taxes, I'll receive money from the government.

17. Please arrange it so that the Mexican government pays $4,500 to help me buy a new car.

18. Oh yes, I almost forgot, please enroll me free into the Mexican Social Security program so that I'll get a monthly income in retirement.

I know this is an easy request because you already do all these things for all his people who walk over to the U.S. from Mexico. I am sure that President Calderon won't mind returning the favor if you ask him nicely.

Thank you so much for your kind help. You da man!!!

More Jabs......tee hee!ll

Okay, you know my ongoing saga of watching our mayor just do one thing after another.

Summation so far. Our illustrious mayor, Sam Adams, is openly gay. No, he is not the patriot. Different Sam. Our Sam was engaged in a sex scandal before he was elected and hid it until he was elected. Many Portlanders feel they were duped. Subsequent investigation found nothing conclusive because the participants in the affair were not cooperative. It's hard to find evidence if people hide their laptops from investigators for months. There has also been a subsequent personal finance debacle and a fender bender. It just doesn't stop, but makes for great blogging fodder though.

What now you may ask? Oh this is just politically stinky, and welcome to Portland where politics are just plain stinky these days.

There was a volunteer recall campaign effort started last summer to oust this louse. That fell short. Now there is some business backing and there is a more financed recall effort going on, and yes, they have my signed petition as I type this.

Because this is a financed effort, they have rented retail space in an office space downtown. The office space was subleased from someone else for six weeks. The campaign only needs it for six more weeks during the signature gathering time. Click here for a local news outlets summation. I am not finding much in local outlets either. Interesting.

Now here is the crux. The building is owned by the city. It is run by some entity called the Portland Development Commission. I have never heard of that commission until now. But guess who is on that commission? You got it--Sammy Adams.

And guess who is being evicted from their office space now? You got it, Sammy's recall effort, who by the way says the signature effort this time is a "slam dunk".

I listened last night on a local radio hosts interview with Teresa McGuire, leader of this effort. Couple of things you should know about this office space. It is in a building that already has empty space. She also says that in checking with other tenants, they have signed month to month contracts, not long term contracts.

These two points are in direct contrast to several statements from this commission. First, they want long term tenants. Well, then why aren't their other tenants under long term contracts? Second, if they want more tenants, why is the other available space not being offered?

Bottom line. The city of Portland would rather conduct themselves with sour grapes. For six weeks, our city is willing to give up income on a property, and evict someone who disagrees with them. If they wanted to act with class, they would just hush up for six weeks, and leave well enough alone.

Great interview with Teresa last night. Her thoughts? Sam Adams doesn't want to know once and for all if he won that election fair and square. He would rather know that he won that election on his cover up of a scandal. If he wanted to know the truth, he would just be quiet until the recall effort is over, and then see how the cards fall.

Politically he also has other headlines right now. His pet project is this huge money bleeding bike path project in Portland to the tune of bazillions of dollars. Where is he getting that money from? Our water bills. I thought my water bill was supposed to pay for water and all the maintenance that entails. Apparently not. I am now paying for bike paths that people in Portland only use about half the year because of the weather. I am also to expect my water bill to double in the next few years. Do you know what that means? Well right now I pay about $200 a quarter. The water bill is another story! Misusing public funds sure won't get him re-elected.

And the saga goes on.....

The Drama....

Where have I been lately? It's been beyond hectic, no where else than mostly in my brain lately.

I can't hide it anymore, I will tell you, my faithful followers of my blog. The rubber hit the road. I am running State Representative in my district, House District 45, of North East Portland. I was asked to do it, much prayer, consternation, and consideration was taken into account. It was not an easy decision. I am official though....this week, the final paperwork was submitted to the state for my officially throwing my name in the hat.

I am going to try to start a different blog from this one for the "politics". Why? I really enjoy this one for the simplicity of life, vignettes, stories, creativity. I am finding the political side of me has that as well, but it gets dicey, political and snarky. I will definitely need to nurture my creative, nicer side. The jadedness of politics has stepped in and I can feel my deep desire to look for the beauty in the simple. This whole political side of life is not simple and it isn't beautiful, but it is necessary.

I am going to get that started here very soon. You all know "Child of God" who comments here often. She and I want to start a website up, and just need to check with the treasurer person to make sure I am accepting something that is acceptable. Must keep our I's dotted and T's crossed!

I will definitely have a post in the next few days with some fun pics for you, and hopefully a website! Tea Party on the Oregon state capital front steps tomorrow! The pictures shall be fun!

Juxtaposition of Life

We have some issues here in our town. If you aren't on the side of the city council, as a business owner, well then....oh well!

Long story short. A couple of years ago a well established, deep rooted, family business, Schumacher's Furs, had a business in down town Portland. The animal rights activists took them on as a target and harassed, badgered, vandalized, etc. this store right out of business. Absolutely no help from the Portland police or the city council. In fact, Randy Leonard (you know, the one I said was really the mayor a few months ago) told this company to go to an indoor mall where they would have better protection. Randy was blowing smoke. The same freaky activists also targeted and harassed a local pet shop inside a local mall and put them out of business.

Well no matter what you think about the fur trade, to harass a business out of business with some of the obscene and disgusting tactics these groups used is horrible. So here is what hit my headlines yesterday.

Olympic skater, Johnny Weir, has white fox fur on his costume! Gasp! No joke, the dude should be so lucky to not live in Portland. And his statement to the activists? Phhhht! He takes on causes that address human suffering, not animal suffering, because humans matter. Click here. I like this guy! Finally someone with the fortitude to say it like it is, and take on these folks. I am not joking, he is very lucky he isn't here. His house would become activist central, and he would be a target, for a very very long time.

And then we have this guy. Here's how ignorant I am, I had no idea another fur store would have the courage to stay open in this city after what happened to the Schumacher's. Apparently, there is. Yesterday, an apparent extremist decides to douse himself with gasoline, screaming "animals are dying", lights himself on fire and attempts to enter the store while in flames only to find it locked. Local police chased him around the sidewalk with a fire extinguisher. He later dies from his injuries. Click here. Only if you are in a kind of macabre, funky, slightly disturbed state of humor.....read the comments from the local community in this article. I have to admit, a little sleep deprived, I was laughing at some of them last night. It is extremely sad, and someone has lost their life for such a senseless reason. Someone who has parents, siblings, and close friends now have to live with senseless loss.

There you have it. We have people starving in Haiti. Just read the headline this morning that the homeless kids on the streets of Haiti are already being targeted by icky people for human trafficking. We have our men and women living in the sand in the Middle East to defend our rights and protect our country. Our country is in economic depression and there is no fast solution. People are losing their jobs and homes.

And yet for some reason there is a faction of our communities that think animals go to the top of the list, to the point of taking their own life.

I don't get it.

UPDATE:
And to add to the insanity, here is what the anti-fur people emailed to a local news outlet just today. Do I see an outcry as to the tragedy of this young man? Nope. Do I see a grief at the loss of a human life? Nope. I see them saying, "If you feel you must set yourself on fire, then do it!" They are as crazy as this young man was disturbed. It also shows their relentless harassment ('continued their bloody business despite protests for three years now') is fully intended to be constant and won't stop until the business shuts down, and the city doesn't do diddly to help them from such frightening extremism.

Every day is a battle for this legal business to be opened. I still contend, if this were an abortion clinic (and I, by no means, advocate for violent or harassing demonstration like this as a staunch pro-life person) and a protester stepped on one blade of grass on the wrong side of the sidewalk, the Portland police would have them arrested for trespassing. Instantly. I have sat in on a silent, vigil type, peaceful, sit in type of protest at a local abortion clinic. I was quickly schooled in where I was allowed to walk, not walk, stand, sit, etc. I was warned if I crossed those boundaries and was seen, I would be arrested. Those boundaries were very far from the front door. Yet these extremists can break windows, vandalize the building, spray red paint, bang on doors, block doors (seriously that is a huge no-no for abortion clinics--don't block the door), and the police don't do a thing, and refuse to by direction of the city council.

"This unedited email was received by KATU News before Daniel Shaull's death was announced.

The Portland Anti Fur Campaign was just alerted to the action outside Nicholas Ungar Furs earlier today [Wednesday].

We do not know who this person was nor do we know what his intentions were. If his intentions were to raise awareness of unnecessary animal suffering and killing done in the fur industry, and by businesses like Ungar Furs, then we wish him well.We are not saying that we want people to light themselves on fire and run into fur shops, but we do understand that sometimes you have to make noise and make a scene to stand up for the animals. It is really unfortunate that one would feel as if they must take such drastic measures, yet, this Fur Store has continued their bloody business despite protests outside for 3 years now.If the person's motivation was to bring media attention to the issue, they obviously achieved their goal.

Raise your fist, and your voice, Fox and Mink have no Choice!"


I am with Johnny on this one. I value people more than animals, and the glaring juxtaposition of these two stories is disturbing.

A Great Honor

Next week, on Wednesday the 3rd, our little virtual school is coming together with a few other virtual schools in our state and having "Capital Day". It is a fun day for the kids to come together, meet their classmates, see their teachers, have activities, take tours, etc.

Why is this a big deal for me? It was the event last year that opened my eyes. It opened my eyes to Senate Bill 767, that was about to shut our school down. It opened my eyes to the backroom deals the school board and the school unions were making.....using my kid's education as a bargaining chip. It opened my eyes to how awful it is to have a super majority in one's state legislature. It opened my eyes up to my own representative and my own senator, who by the way, has never ever returned my call or given me her ear. Capital Day, last year, put a verb in my step.

It is nostalgic to go back again. It won't be as intense this year, mainly because our school isn't standing at the precipice of the gas chamber about to be snuffed out. But, it is important because there is a special session of the legislature in session and we will need to continue to be in front of lawmakers. That is one of our tasks during these events. Build relationships with lawmakers so they can see us, hear us, and not think of us as a bargaining chip.

With that said, anyone of my Oregonian friends, you are officially invited to this event if you would like to come and bring your children. It's a great civics lesson for them with fun activities. It also shows our legislators that you can support us without having enrolled students.

And here is what brings tears to my eyes......and I mean it. I will be receiving an award from the Oregon Connections Academy Parents Association. They unanimously voted me as "Parent of the Year". Honestly, any parent who would take on the commitment of being a virtual school family is "Parent of the Year" in my mind. But I know the people on this association, and it makes me humble to know they thought of me.

It also gives me fuel. This battle isn't over. The moratorium of SB 767 is still in place. There is still an enrollment cap. The Oregon Education Assocation (OEA), better known as the fourth member of our state's government as a public employee union (yes that was sarcasm) is still in business. Once SB 767 goes away, they will come at us again. They keep going at the regular bricks and mortar charter schools. It is constant. This battle will continue until my kids graduate from high school. My thoughts? We, as non traditional schools, need to keep growing our influence, building relationships with lawmakers, showing the schmarminess of the OEA, etc. When we build our influence, we take theirs away. That has to happen in this state if we are going to have any type of quality of education. That union is insidious, and it's absolutely frightening the unchecked power they have right now.

And so we keep on fighting for a prize we cannot see......the future of our kids.

Just Cause He Gives Me Reason

Okay, more Sam Adams. Our illustrious gay mayor who is trying so hard to shake the image of being a child molester after "allegedly" kissing a 17-18 year old intern in City Hall's bathroom. It is still kind of gray as to whether the kid was 17 or 18, and this sex scandal won't go away.

I have to say, it gives me great fodder as a blogger to just sit back and watch.

So what happened this time? Well, it started snowing yesterday. In Portland, OR, it doesn't snow much at all. When it does, the weather forecasters generally let us know there is something afoot. Not yesterday. It started and it didn't stop. It put down about 3-4 inches of snow by evening time yesterday.

Here is the other thing....since it doesn't snow much around here, if there is even the slightest dusting of snow, the whole city shuts down. This Colorado bred girl was shocked her first winter here as the entire establishment shut down for something that would not even have gotten a late school start where I come from.

However, it makes it that much more important for the city to hit the road with it's gravel dropping equipment (not salt, can't hurt the fish you know, just gravel). There is probably more snow equipment in the city of Boulder, CO than there is in the entire state of Oregon.

So, it snowed, and it caught the city with it's pants down (tee hee!). I am happy to say I wasn't out driving last night, but the reports I hear on the local media.....it was a mess. Over 1000 cars left abandoned because they got stuck and couldn't get out. I hear of people sitting in traffic while their car just runs out of gas. I am hearing of drives that usually take an hour take 8+ hours. It was a mess, and could have been so different had the city been better prepared with crews.

Anyway, here is the mayor's response to the citizen's anger over the traffic snarl last night. If you want to have a good giggle.....read the comments from the readers toward the bottom of the article. You will see a whole lot of reference and innuendo to the mayor's public relations image relating to the City Hall bathroom allegation. Click here.

I can't wait until the next mayoral election.

Preventing Regulation.....and Loss of Life

Photo courtesy of KGW

Okay, here we go again in the Pacific Northwest. It hits the headlines a bit nationally. It seems almost every December, a group of climbers decides to ascend Mt Hood. It is a beautiful peak, and it one of the most hiked peaks in North America. Almost every December, experienced hikers have some major weather close in on them, and they are lost and stranded on the peak. A huge Herculean (expensive to taxpayers) effort is made to find them.

We are there again. Last Friday, three very experienced, trained climbers went. None have returned. One body has been recovered, the other two are completely gone. Yesterday there was a huge window of hope because the weather cleared up for rescue efforts and a good scouring of the mountain happened. Not without danger. Certain areas couldn't be accessed because of avalanche danger. No luck. Today, the rescue effort is completely "on standby" because the weather is so treacherous. It is blizzard conditions on the peak right now. I am sad to say, it is hard to hold out hope right now. I am hopeful that the two still on the peak are maximizing every bit of knowledge they have and have found shelter.

Two years ago, three climbers went up. One body was recovered, the other two have never been found. History goes on and on. It happens every few years.

With new technology, here is the rub.....for $5, climbers can rent a beacon so that if lost, they are pinpointed, and found within minutes. I listened on the radio last night to a gentleman who runs a nonprofit that takes kids up Mt Hood in the summer and takes a beacon so parents can watch their kids with a blip on the internet. They can easily be found just by this silly thing. In some states, climbers are required to carry a beacon and if they don't, they are financially responsible for their rescue. Trust me, that hits the millions fast. Especially when helicopters are used, which is a must on Mt. Hood.

The climbing community has a different take. They tend to take cell phones, not beacons. The argument is that climbers would take more risks if they had beacons knowing rescue could be there so quickly. I don't get that argument. Simply said, I wear a seatbelt just in case I am in an accident. Do I drive more safely without it? Not really. Do I drive more safely when I know that a cop is around and there might be a monetary fine if I don't drive safely? You betcha. Cell phones are good to a point. In the current search we have, the only information given is that there was a cell phone "blip" on Friday afternoon. It can be triangulated, and that is all. Doesn't help anyone one bit right now.

Do I think we need more superfluous laws in our illustrious state that has far too many of those already? No. But as a taxpayer, I am torn. We are shutting down schools, forcing furlough days on state employees, and have one of the highest unemployment rates in the nation. I think these rescues are too expensive for us to not ask for some kind of compensation, or ease in how to rescue folks. Do I think a life is worth this Herculean effort? Absolutely. It would be nice to have the beacon, make one trip up the mountain in a helicopter, and bring down the climbers in one afternoon. Not three days of frustrating, fruitless searching.

At this point, the issue is a standoff. Here is my proposal, please weigh in.

1) Let's not make laws yet.
2) Climbers.....please take beacons, not just cell phones. Please. I am asking you to "police" and self regulate yourselves. Please let people know you have a beacon. Even if you just list it as your equipment when you check in. Or check this out, take my new fancy cell phone. It has gps on it, and I can be found with that because my phone is basically a beacon. It isn't hard, but boy, the results of not having one is heart-wrenching and expensive.

Why? Because taxpayers won't do this for much longer. We can't afford to lose you, and our state can't afford it financially. Such a difference between sending up a rescue helicopter and finding climbers in one afternoon as opposed to days and days of searching, and in some cases never finding anyone....ever again.

Found It!

Okay, I have been looking for this article for a long time. I was sitting in the public library right up the street from my home last summer. While the kids were finding books, I found crinkled up on a table the local extremely liberal rag. You have to read it with caution. The Willamette Week.

However, this is the same rag that interviewed me last summer and brought about the scandal that brought SB 767 to it's knees and turned around the course of that forsaken bill. As a result, our school is still open. I am ever so thankful for their willingness to publish when no one else would listen to us. So, I thumbed through it, after all, let's read the paper that had just interviewed me.

I have become a fan. I know, moderately conservative me actually appreciates this rag. Why? Because they tell the truth! They aren't paid off by a union representative that is asking/paying them to be quiet.

Now, as we went through and scrutinized ORCA to the nth degree in the legislative session, especially "where the money goes", funny how I came across this article at the library during that time. Seriously, I know more about the financial books of our virtual school than I think anyone should know, just by listening to public testimony. It is ridiculous! Why do I think it is ridiculous? I have contended the entire time, and said so, if we are going to scrutinize our virtual schools, then we need to be fair. Let's scrutinize and audit the regular schools. Where they have waste, there needs to be sanctions. When I would say that, what response did I get? Crickets......

Check out the awful waste my local public school system is engaged in. Click here.

I go back just now to try and find it for the millionth time, and actually found it. But I also found this more slightly older (last spring) listing of waste. Click here.

I guarantee you as good as I am sitting here typing, if any of Oregon's virtual schools showed up that kind of waste in any of the three audits they receive weekly, monthly and annually.....there wouldn't be a SB 767. Why? Because the school would have been shut down way before the legislative session. And you know what? I would have agreed wholeheartedly. My taxpayer dollars shouldn't be paying for expensive conference rooms and Blackberry's. My education tax dollars should be paying for reading, writing and arithmetic!

Nothing like knowing, again, 40% of my tax dollars go to public education in my state. So glad to know I can arm administrators with Blackberry's.

Good grief.

Just Remembering a Great Man

"Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn't pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same, or one day we will spend our sunset years telling our children and our children's children what it was once like in the United States where men were free."

–Ronald Reagan, President 1980-1988

Just Thinking Out Loud....on Paper

I just read the headline saying that Rosie O'Donnell and her "spouse" have been broken up for two years. Her spouse moved out two years ago and Rosie doesn't like being single.

Let's remember, Rosie and her partner were legally married in San Francisco awhile back when it was legal for a short time to do so.

Here is what gets me just a bit. This article refers to this couple "breaking up" just like dating partners do.

Has the gay and lesbian community dealt with these questions:

1) How does one dissolve a legalized same sex partnership? How to you get "divorced"?

2) This is my biggest question.....children. Several of Rosie's kids are adopted, one of them I remember was born to her partner. Did Rosie legally adopt all the children, including the one born to her partner? How does child support flow?

I am bugged by how cavalierly the media I am reading makes their "breaking up" sound. I take issue with the fact that there is a gaggle of children in that household that are now subject to the mood swings of the courts as anyone wonders how these sorts of things are handled.

Does anyone have any knowledge on this at all?

And While The Cat is Away.....

Okay, just so you know....nothing major has happened in our city regarding the Mayor Sam Adams (not the patriot....nooooo....the openly homosexual mayor or our city that is rocked in a sex scandal right now....oh how I wish the real patriot could arrive on a horse and save us).

One thing. The volunteer recall effort failed by a slim margin. Now, the business community is stepping in and pumping some funding into the effort. I think it will happen this time.

However, while Sam is quiet. You need to know who is really in charge in our city.

Here is the LIBERAL local rag's take on the illustrious Randy Leonard. Click here.

And what makes me so mad. People like him get foisted into office on a whim because they have union dollars in a liberal city that literally just pops them into office. For those of us who might want a more moderate or conservative person in office, it is literally like running a Republican campaign in Kennebunkport, MA! It is next to impossible!

PS I just did a spell check by right clicking on Kennebunkport I just wrote. I have no idea if it's spelled correctly. Do you want to know the options for words it gave me to replace it with? Outspokenness and Drunkenness.

Now pick yourself up off the floor from laughing so hard at that. I know I am.