When I was 17 and in my last of a string of foster homes (and one of the few GOOD foster homes, I might add!), I was having a conversation with my foster parents, whom I was just beginning to know. Over the last few years, we had both experienced personal loss. They had lost a son, I had lost a brother that my siblings and I had spent a great deal of time helping to raise. When my foster mother discussed losing her son, I said I understood because I had lost a brother. This upset her ...
Tina Ponce thought she was doing the right thing. She was suffering from bipolar disorder and couldn’t take care of her children. She also was too poor to get the help that a middle class family can count on. So she did the only thing she could think of: She asked the State of California to keep her children in foster care until she got better. Rather than provide Ponce with mental health services, the state “put the children first.” They made a “child-focused d...
When I went to the post office yesterday, I pulled out a letter that was hand printed and had no return address. Because many of my customers commonly send tips this way, I thought nothing of it. I opened it and out slid a pink piece of stationary with a butterfly on it. My appreciation for it ended with the reading of the first sentence. It was hate mail. I will decline to share the text with you, as it bears no relevance to the topic of this discussion and, frankly, it still stings. But...
While I am a hardcore Libertarian, I want to go on record as stating I know the Libertarian Party isn't perfect. There are issues with it, as well as with ANY political party. But while I am hoping to reform some of those issues at least, I remain firm in my commitment to the party. Why? Well, the same reason Democrats stay loyal to their party, despite the fact that most members will concede flaws; and the same reason Republican stay loyal to the GOP despite seeing obvious flaws in the party...
OK, these are subjective opinions, but this is how I see Bush's foreign policy grades so far: Afghanistan: B+ (that little snafu in Tora Bora kept this from being an "A" Iraq: C (this one might go up, if democracy holds North Korea: D Saudi Arabia: A- (the handholding picture with Prince Abdullah was a nonissue and libs should be ashamed. Bush has handled this country reasonably well). Syria: A Israel: D (Sharon is as bad as Arafat Russia: C The EU: A+++ (The one area wh...
I found the following yahoo! News story intriguing. Perhaps it explains why the Dems didn't press too hard to examine the Ohio election returns, which they claimed to be fraudulent: MILWAUKEE - A task force looking into potential voter fraud on Election Day said Tuesday that it found more than 200 felons voted illegally and more than 100 instances of people voting twice or using fake names and addresses. The investigators found hundreds of fraudulent votes in all and counted 4,600 ...
Somebody "erred on the side of the child" and placed Corey Greer of Treasure Island, Florida, in a foster home that would later be described by police as "filthy and overcrowded." The home was licensed for four children. By the time Corey Greer died in his crib of dehydration, 12 were living there. The foster mother was convicted of manslaughter and third degree murder. Corey Greer might have survived the overcrowding, if only he had been white. According to a witness at the foster mo...
China Marie Davis was placed in foster care in Arizona when she was a little over a year old. Someone decided to "put the child first" and take her from her parents. They made a "child focused" decision. They "erred on the side of the child." Ten months later, China Marie Davis' autopsy revealed two broken collarbones, a broken left arm, a broken right rib, two fractures of the left upper arm, a fracture of the right upper arm, broken left wrist, a broken left hand, a broken left fore...
As I have watched the debate unfold on JoeUser over the "RealID" the government is pushing through the backdoor, I am fearful in my concern that the opinions on JoeUser may reflect the opinions of the nation at large. The recent poll in which high school seniors viewed the first amendment as going too far would indicate to me that it is. And that is sad. Am I the only one who finds irony in the fact that the Republican party, which has long supported the NRA's position against registering ...
Interesting test. Not enough choices, though Your Political Profile Overall : 50% Conservative, 50% Liberal Social Issues : 25% Conservative, 75% Liberal Personal Responsibility : 75% Conservative, 25% Liberal Fiscal Issues : 100% Conservative, 0% Liberal Ethics : 25% Conservative, 75% Liberal Defense and Crime : 25% Conservative, 75% Liberal How'>http://www.blogthings.com/liborconquiz/">How...
The following press release is from the Libertarian Party website ( www.lp.org ): All Americans Must Denounce the Real ID Act Libertarian Party Calls on the U.S. Senate to Remove H.R. 418 RFS from the Appropriations Bill America is hours away from implementing universal measures of identification for every citizen of this nation. Today, the U.S. Senate will be voting on the Real ID Act ( H.R. 418 RFS ) which has been quietly slipped into an $82 billion dollar ...
The old state mottos are tired and worn. It's time for some new state mottos, and here are a few I'm proposing (some are lifted from other sources, most are mine): Wisconsin: Smell our Dairy Air Nevada: When California falls into the ocean, we'll be beachfront property, baby! Arkansas: Someone has to be 50th in education Ohio: Our National Guard hasn't shot a student in 35 years Indiana: "More than Corn in Indiana" my ASS! Georgia: Our wide open spaces are bigger than Ted Turne...
The old state mottos are tired and worn. It's time for some new state mottos, and here are a few I'm proposing (some are lifted from other sources, most are mine): Wisconsin: Smell our Dairy Air Nevada: When California falls into the ocean, we'll be beachfront property, baby! Arkansas: Someone has to be 50th in education Ohio: Our National Guard hasn't shot a student in 35 years Indiana: "More than Corn in Indiana" my ASS! Georgia: Our wide open spaces are bigger than Ted Turne...
Another in my series of stories detailing problems with the Child Protective Services. This case history was pulled from the website of the National Coalition for Child Protection Reform ( www.nccpr.org ): Authorities in New York City thought Caprice Reid wasn't being properly supervised by her mother. So they decided to "put the child first" and put the child in foster care. They made a "child focused" decision. They "erred on the side of the child." Eleven months after placem...
This is another in my series of articles directed towards the reform of child abuse and neglect laws in this country. All statistics are taken from the National Coalition for Child Protection Reform's website, unless otherwise noted. The issue of poverty is one of the most pressing problems with the "child protective services" system in America. The poor are unlikely to be able to afford representation, and, because CPS cases are considered "civil" cases (although the consequences of their ou...