Well, I did it, folks! For better or worse, I decided to continue my education, through distance learning (ack!) to advance my career. While I am continuing to work at writing, I have done a good deal of considering what goes into a career, and realized that there is a career out there where my skills are much needed and where I fit in well. Since I've considered it for some time, it's hardly an impulsive decision. First, there has to be a need for that field...there is. Second, you have ...

Well, first things first. This title has nothing to do with OUR case, where CPS has backed off since we stood our ground, but with the case of fellow activists. Last week, I shared a letter from their young daughter, who spoke her mind about the treatment they had received at the hands of CPS. After a long drawn out court battle, the family won and the charges were dismissed unfounded. Within 24 hours, CPS was back at their door. Family members that initiated the earlier false allegations...

Every social reform program has a catalyst, a story that sparked interest and fueled growth. The Child Protective Services movement is no exception. In the case of CPS, the catalyst was a little girl named Mary Ellen. Mary Ellen was found so abused by her mother that the Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals was called to protect her, as there were no child abuse statutes on the books at the time, and the government rightly looked to some way, ANY way, they could help this girl. Mary E...

I love my gmail account. Of my personal email accounts, it is by far my preferred option. But after having the account for many months, I am amused by the occasional article offering "invites". While I got my account through such an article, I am pretty well aware now that all I would have had to do was ask if anyone had an invite and I'd have one just as quickly. Now, this looked like smart marketing on google's part when it started the service. But now, it's just plain silly. There's no ...

As a diehard Seattle Mariners fan, I'm drooling. The Chicago White Sox have bought out Frank Thomas' contract for 2006, meaning the slugger is eligible for free agency. Although Thomas has been plagued by injuries, he still remains a slugger that pitchers are inclined to fear when he steps to the plate. He has a lethal bat that can reach the cheap seats in any ballpark on any given at bat. His biggest liability is being prone to injury. But injuries don't often affect designated hitters...

As a Libertarian, I find many of my colleagues enamored with the concept of Instant Runoff Voting (IRV). I'm not one of them. To those not acquainted with the concept, I'll give you an overly simplistic explanation to get you started. The concept of IRV is that, when you vote, you vote for your candidates in order of preference. Points are assigned based on the candidate's standing, and if no candidate wins a majority on the first ballot, they filter out candidates based on points until one e...

The following article is NOT mine; it is the work of Christopher J. Klicka, Senior Counsel for the Home School Legal Defense Association (relevant because homeschoolers are disproportionately the subject of spurious calls to CPS). It is part of the research I am doing to educate and inform families who are wrongfully targetted by CPS action: The Social Worker At Your Door: 10 Helpful Hints By Christopher J. Klicka, Senior Counsel for the Home School Legal Defense Association More an...

Imagine being accused of a crime. Everything that is dear to you is stripped away and you are left daily living the nightmare of separation from those dearest to you without ever knowing when or if you will have those children returned to you. Now imagine this was brought about due to an anonymous caller. Someone at work who hated you and wanted to see you suffer. An ex spouse out for revenge. A neighbor who disagrees with your lifestyle. One call and uniformed officers come into your house, ...

I'm having a hard time understanding how I was EVER a leftist as I listen to some of the proposals put forth in our current economic crunch. One of the most glaringly stupid proposals? The suggestion that we TAX oil companies and apply the income to helping low income families heat their homes. Now, I realize some of you reading this may think it's a good idea, and on the surface it appears to be so. But let's take a look BEYOND the surface and realize why this is perhaps the WORST solutio...

For most of my life, I have considered myself somewhat of an environmental minded individual. Being part of the generation of Woodsy the Owl and other seventies environmental mascots, I have always felt that it was vitally important to be environmental stewards of our resources. As I have come to understand how economies work, however, I've come to see why a free market economy is FAR superior than a socialist based economy to achieve those goals, and nothing could have made that clearer than...

As many of you know, I participate actively on the message boards at fightcps.com. The following is a story from the child's perspective of a family that has been affected by the actions of CPS. I have tried to eliminate the usernames, although this piece is reprinted with permission (the author is young, so forgive the spelling errors, which were intentionally left intact. Other than removing screen names, the piece appears unabridged): this is xxx's granddauther and xxx's dauthe...

Link I blogged about Katie Wernecke's situation sometime ago, when CPS unscrupulously abused the Texas Amber Alert situation to hunt her down and bring her into state's custody. Katie, if you'll remember, has cancer, and her parents disagreed with some doctors as regards treatment. CPS hunted her and her parents down like fugitives, and kidnapped her against her parents' will. On Monday, she was allowed to go home, although some doctors believe her chances of survival have fallen due to...

As the debates rage on about oil companies and their absurd profit margins, I am outraged by the number of Americans demanding government intervention to regulate oil companies' profits. It's the political "cause du jour" sponsored by the left, and, like the majority of the left's platforms, it stinks like rancid 2 week old catfish on a hot July day. See, what these leftist leaders are convincing me is that they're unable to read their own writings. As they sneer at the lady with 6 kids ...

As I roam about the internet, I am often confronted with macabre counters that enumerate the deaths in the Iraq war. Though well intentioned, those counters miss several major points. As Brad pointed out, the number (2037, according to the most recent list I checked) is over 2 1/2 years since war was declared in Iraq. And, while the death of EVERY soldier matters, it must be placed in context. 6603 American troops lost their lives on a SINGLE DAY on June 6, 1944 (D-Day)...important because we...

OK, folks, this is a secondhand story, but I thought it was an interesting one nonetheless: Link Texas Pastor Electrocuted During Baptism Posted: Monday, October 31, 2005 WACO, Texas — A pastor performing a baptism was electrocuted inside his church Sunday morning after grabbing a microphone while partially submerged, a church employee said. The Rev. Kyle Lake, 33, was standing in water up to his shoulder in a baptismal at University Baptist Church when he was electrocuted...