Portland Public Schools has failed its English language learners

OFIR members and supporters:

After five or more years learning English as their second language, (ELL, ESL), in Oregon schools, 75 percent of those students still are not proficient in English according to a report out today.

In the Salem-Keizer School District 84 percent of the students in their ELL program fail to meet minimum standards.

The Oregon Department of Education, (ODE), gives an extra $2700 per ELL student to each school district. Despite spending 50 percent more per student there is a 75 percent failure rate. Obviously spending more money doesn’t equate with success.

Until the Oregon Legislature deals with the failures and waste of money by the Oregon Department of Education, OFIR will urge voters to reject any increase in taxes. We urge members to vote against Measures # 66 and # 67, the tax increases that will be on January ballot.

If you wish to call the Oregon Department of Education the number is: (503) 378-3600.

The headquarters of the Salem School district is: (503) 399-3000.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Most Oregon schools slow to get English learners proficient

By Betsy Hammond, The Oregonian
December 10, 2009, 5:00AM

After five or more years learning English as their second language in Oregon schools, 75 percent of those students still are not proficient in English according to a report out today.

Portland Public Schools has failed its English language learners for so long that the state this fall cut off federal funding for students with limited English proficiency, a loss of more than $600,000 a year to the state's largest district.

The Oregon Department of Education says it's crucial that schools help students gain proficiency in English, and the U.S. Department of Education says five years should be enough time for a typical student to master the language.

But most districts aren't coming close to that target.

Half the state's English language learners are concentrated in just seven school districts, including Portland and Beaverton. And in four of those -- Hillsboro, Reynolds, Salem-Keizer and Woodburn -- fewer than one-quarter of the students are fluent after five or more years, according to today's accountability report.

In Salem, which has more English learners than any other district -- 5,700 -- only 16 percent mastered English after five or more years in English as a second language classes, the state reported.

State monitors are upset with Portland's performance because the state notified the district in 2005 that it was violating federal education law. The district fixed the problems to the satisfaction of state monitors in 2006, but when the state checked again in 2009, the district had slipped back into some of its old ways.

Among the problems found in early 2009 and still not fixed to the state's satisfaction: Some Portland schools don't give English learners enough language support to learn the core subject matter for their grade level, and not every student is being taught English language development using research-backed techniques.

Assistant State Superintendent Colleen Mileham notified Portland in late September that the state would withhold federal funds, a step it rarely takes, to communicate how important it is to consistently serve English language learners well.

Schools across the state generally do a good job helping students progress through the early stages of speaking, reading and writing English, the state report says.

The problem occurs when schools try to move students to advanced and proficient levels so that they can exit the English as second language program. Helping students master complex verb tenses, idioms and advanced academic language is challenging, says Kim Miller, statewide coordinator of English as a second language programs.

Under the federal No Child Left Behind law, the state expects schools to get half their English language learners proficient within five years. Only 16 of the state's 200 school districts managed to do that, and only two of them -- Redmond and Eugene -- served a large number of English language learners.

Martha Hinman, Redmond's director of student services, said teachers there make sure they spend enough time and concentrate on the right skills to get students up to speed in academic English. For non-native English speakers, mastering academic language in math, science, health and literature, as required, is "really tough," Hinman says.

The state education department is supposed to require big changes in school districts that chronically fall short. If a district fails to succeed with its English learners for four straight years, federal law gives the state two options. It can require a district to change its "curriculum, program and methods of instruction" or it can withhold funding and require that educators responsible for the poor results be replaced.

Oregon mainly opts to require curriculum and teaching changes, says Jake Weigler, communication director for the agency. Portland is the only district ever to have its English proficiency funds withheld, he said.

Schools guide

» Search for your district

- Betsy Hammond betsyhammond@news.oregonian.com

http://www.oregonlive.com/education/index.ssf/2009/12/most_oregon_schools_too_slow_g.html

Write your local newspaper!

Barack Obama's " Organizing for America " has put the call out for people to email their local papers and write a letter to the editor. They have created a VERY easy and fast way to write all your local papers with just a few key strokes. PLEASE take a minute to do this today and jump behind enemy lines to help kill the bill. Forward this to everyone you know.

Here's what we need to do :

1. Go to: http://my.democrats.org/page/speakout/posthouseLTE

1. Put in your Zip code. You will be redirected to a page where you enter all your address information.

2. Check all the boxes for all of your local papers. But, DO NOT CLICK NEXT or you'll send someone else's message.

3. NOW CAREFUL THIS IS THE IMPORTANT PART ! DO NOT CLICK NEXT. Instead Click " 2. Compose Letter " this is in the top middle of the page. This will allow you to compose your own letter to the editor against the healthcare bill.

4. Write your letter to the editor against the healthcare bill.

5. Now click Next

6. Preview your letter to the editor and click Send Email

Source: my.democrats.org

The rest of the email

Tax his land,
Tax his bed,
Tax the table
At which he's fed.

Tax his tractor,
Tax his mule,
Teach him taxes
Are the rule.

Tax his work,
Tax his pay,
He works for peanuts
Anyway!
Tax his cow,
Tax his goat,
Tax his pants,
Tax his coat.
Tax his ties,
Tax his shirt,
Tax his work,
Tax his dirt.

Tax his tobacco,
Tax his drink,
Tax him if he
Tries to think.

Tax his cigars,
Tax his beers,
If he cries
Tax his tears.

Tax his car,
Tax his gas,
Find other ways
To tax his ass.

Tax all he has
Then let him know
That you won't be done
Till he has no dough.

When he screams and hollers;
Then tax him some more,
Tax him till
He's good and sore.
Then tax his coffin,
Tax his grave,
Tax the sod in
Which he's laid.

Put these words
Upon his tomb,
Taxes drove me
to my doom...'

When he's gone,
Do not relax,
Its time to apply
The inheritance tax.

Accounts Receivable Tax
Building Permit Tax
CDL license Tax
Cigarette Tax
Corporate Income Tax
Dog License Tax
Excise Taxes
Federal Income Tax
Federal Unemployment Tax (FUTA)
Fishing License Tax
Food License Tax
Fuel Permit Tax
Gasoline Tax (currently 44.75 cents per gallon)
Gross Receipts Tax
Hunting License Tax
Inheritance Tax
Inventory Tax
IRS Interest Charges IRS Penalties (tax on top of tax)
Liquor Tax
Luxury Taxes
Marriage License Tax
Medicare Tax
Personal Property Tax
Property Tax
Real Estate Tax
Service Charge T ax
Social Security Tax
Road Usage Tax
Sales Tax
Recreational Vehicle Tax
School Tax
State Income Tax
State Unemployment Tax (SUTA)
Telephone Federal Excise Tax
Telephone Federal Universal Service Fee Tax
Telephone Federal, State and Local Surcharge Taxes
Telephone Minimum Usage Surcharge Tax
Telephone Recurring and Non-recurring Charges Tax
Telephone State and Local Tax
Telephone Usage Charge Tax
Utility Taxes
Vehicle License Registration Tax
Vehicle Sales Tax
Watercraft Registration Tax
Well Permit Tax
Workers Compensation Tax

Not one of these taxes existed 100 years ago, and our nation was the most prosperous in the world. We had absolutely no national debt, had the largest middle class in the world, and Mom stayed home to raise the kids.

What in the hell happened? Can you spell 'politicians?'
And I still have to 'press 1' for English!?

As received in an email... Love these

545 vs 300,000,000

EVERY CITIZEN NEEDS TO READ THIS AND THINK ABOUT WHAT THIS JOURNALIST HAS SCRIPTED IN THIS MESSAGE. READ IT AND THEN REALLY THINK ABOUT OUR CURRENT POLITICAL DEBACLE.

Charley Reese has been a journalist for 49 years.


545 PEOPLE
By Charlie Reese

Politicians are the only people in the world who create problems and then campaign against them.

Have you ever wondered, if both the Democrats and the Republicans are against deficits, WHY do we have deficits?

Have you ever wondered, if all the politicians are against inflation and high taxes, WHY do we have inflation and high taxes?

You and I don't propose a federal budget. The president does.

You and I don't have the Constitutional authority to vote on appropriations. The House of Representatives does.

You and I don't write the tax code, Congress does.

You and I don't set fiscal policy, Congress does.

You and I don't control monetary policy, the Federal Reserve Bank does.

One hundred senators, 435 congressmen, one president, and nine Supreme Court justices equates to 545 human beings out of the 300 million are directly, legally, morally, and individually responsible for the domestic problems that plague this country.

I excluded the members of the Federal Reserve Board because that problem was created by the Congress. In 1913, Congress delegated its Constitutional duty to provide a sound currency to a federally chartered, but private, central bank.

I excluded all the special interests and lobbyists for a sound reason.. They have no legal authority. They have no ability to coerce a senator, a congressman, or a president to do one cotton-picking thing. I don't care if they offer a politician $1 million dollars in cash. The politician has the power to accept or reject it. No matter what the lobbyist promises, it is the legislator's responsibility to determine how he votes.

Those 545 human beings spend much of their energy convincing you that what they did is not their fault. They cooperate in this common con regardless of party.
What separates a politician from a normal human being is an excessive amount of gall. No normal human being would have the gall of a Speaker, who stood up and criticized the President for creating deficits.. The president can only propose a budget. He cannot force the Congress to accept it.

The Constitution, which is the supreme law of the land, gives sole responsibility to the House of Representatives for originating and approving appropriations and taxes. Who is the speaker of the House? Nancy Pelosi. She is the leader of the majority party. She and fellow House members, not the president, can approve any budget they want. If the president vetoes it, they can pass it over his veto if they agree to.

It seems inconceivable to me that a nation of 300 million can not replace 545 people who stand convicted -- by present facts -- of incompetence and irresponsibility. I can't think of a single domestic problem that is not traceable directly to those 545 people. When you fully grasp the plain truth that 545 people exercise the power of the federal government, then it must follow that what exists is what they want to exist.

If the tax code is unfair, it's because they want it unfair.

If the budget is in the red, it's because they want it in the red ..

If the Army & Marines are in IRAQ, it's because they want them in IRAQ.

If they do not receive social security but are on an elite retirement plan not available to the people, it's because they want it that way.

There are no insoluble government problems.

Do not let these 545 people shift the blame to bureaucrats, whom they hire and whose jobs they can abolish; to lobbyists, whose gifts and advice they can reject; to regulators, to whom they give the power to regulate and from whom they can take this power. Above all, do not let them con you into the belief that there exists disembodied mystical forces like "the economy," "inflation," or "politics" that prevent them from doing what they take an oath to do.

Those 545 people, and they alone, are responsible.

They, and they alone, have the power.

They, and they alone, should be held accountable by the people who are their bosses.

Provided the voters have the gumption to manage their own employees.

We should vote all of them out of office and clean up their mess!

Charlie Reese is a former columnist of the Orlando Sentinel Newspaper.

What you do with this article now that you have read it.......... Is up to you.

The Constitution Party

I have been rethinking my political affiliation and I know the Republican party no longer represents the true Conservative. I have looked at the Libertarians, Republican and the Constitution Party. The Constitution Party seems to hold a majority of my values to heart. There are a few values I do not fully agree with but NO party exactly matches my beliefs. What to do? I will retain my registry as a Republican for voting purposes, in hopes that one day a TRUE Republican will return to be elected. Because the restrictions of voting in the primaries pretty much eliminates 3rd parties.

Our Country has lost its way and is in the process of eliminating out Constitution. what made this country great is the constitution. What is destroying this country is bastardization of the intent of the founding documents. The words are clear. The intent is clear. The founders knew government would take away the very rights they had written into the document if they were not specific.

Q:Is the Constitution Out of Date?

A: The Constitution was written to specifically define the powers granted (by the people)to the federal government.The powers enumerated in the Constitution, were set forth after grueling deliberation by the Framers who were living under the tyranny of British rule.The rights guaranteed under the Constitution dealt with basic rights that derive from "Natural Law" (i.e. God's Law) and those basics don't change over time regardless of how advanced technology or society becomes.

Natural law and unalienable rights are timeless.

The Founders knew that governments tend to become tyrannical if they have unchecked power which is why the basic freedoms of Life, Liberty and Property were codified as the framework of American liberty.

All of the rights mentioned in the Bill of Rights were specified because our Founding Fathers knew that each on would be necessary to reign in the central government. From freedom of speech, to the right to own guns, the right to a fair trial, the right not to be searched without a warrant, these enumerated guarantees stand the test of time because without each one, liberty would be compromised. Over the years the Constitution has been ignored and the problems our country faces are the direct result of allowing the federal government to have powers not granted to it by the Constitution.The question best asked is this: "Which amendment would you be willing to give up?"

Please read The Constitution Party platform

Read the Libertarian platform

Decide for your self.
I would link to the GOP and the DNC but neither party represents the platform the were founded on or the people they were elected to represent. They are out of control self proclaimed royalty that needs to be stopped. They need to be fired. Some need to be prosecuted for treason and crimes against America. You decide.

Read this and then take action

Read the link and then take action! Call your representatives! Elected officials need to know we are done! Enough destruction of free speech. Enough destruction of the Constitution! Democrats and Republicans alike! If they do not stand up against it, they are for it. Tell them how you feel.

Bill would give president emergency control of Internet

...would allow the president to "declare a cybersecurity emergency" relating to "non-governmental" computer networks and do what's necessary to respond to the threat. Other sections of the proposal include a federal certification program for "cybersecurity professionals," and a requirement that certain computer systems and networks in the private sector be managed by people who have been awarded that license...

I'M NOT UNITING

I received this email and it so closely resembles my thoughts, I waned to share it:

"I have noted that many elected officials,
both Democrats and Republicans, called upon America to unite behind
Obama. Well, I want to make it clear to all who will listen that I AM
NOT uniting behind Obama!

I will respect the Office which he holds,
and I will acknowledge his abilities as an orator and wordsmith and pray
for him, BUT that is it!!! I have begun today to see what I can do to
make sure that He is a one-term President!

Why am I doing this?
It is because:

I do not share Obama's vision or Value
system for America;
I do not share his Abortion beliefs;
I do not share his radical Marxist's concept
of re-distributing wealth;
I do not share his stated views on raising
taxes on those who make $150,000+ (the ceiling has been changed three
times since August);
I do not share his view that America is
Arrogant;
I do not share his view that America is not
a Christian Nation;
I do not share his view that the military
should be reduced by 25%;
I do not share his view of amnesty and
giving more to illegal's than American Citizens who need help;
I do not share his views on homosexuality
and his definition of marriage;
I do not share his views that Radical Islam
is our friend and Israel is our enemy who should give up any land;
I do not share his spiritual beliefs (at
least the ones he has made public);
I do not share his beliefs on how to re-work
the healthcare system in America;
I do not share his Strategic views of the
Middle East, and certainly do not share his plan to sit down with
terrorist regimes such as Iran.

Bottom line, my America is vastly different
from Obama's, and I have a higher obligation to my Country and my God to
do what is Right!

For eight (8) years, the Liberals in our
Society, led by numerous entertainers who would have no platform and no
real credibility but for their celebrity status, have attacked President
Bush, his family, and his spiritual beliefs!
They have not moved toward the center in
their beliefs and their philosophies, and they never came together nor
compromised their personal beliefs for the betterment of our Country!
They have portrayed my America as a land where everything is tolerated
except being intolerant!

They have been a vocal and irreverent
minority for years; they have mocked and attacked the very core values
so important to the founding and growth of our Country!

They have made every effort to remove the
name of God or Jesus Christ from our Society! They have challenged
capital punishment, the right to bear firearms, and the most basic
principles of our criminal code; they have attacked one of the most
fundamental of all Freedoms, the right of free speech!

Unite behind Obama? Never!

I am sure many of you who read this think
that I am going overboard, but I refuse to retreat one more inch in
favor of those whom I believe are the embodiment of Evil!

PRESIDENT BUSH made many mistakes during his
Presidency, and I am not sure how history will judge him.
However, I believe that he weighed his
decisions in light of the long established Judeo-Christian principles of
our Founding Fathers!!!

Majority rules in America , and I will honor
the concept; however, I will fight with all of my power to be a voice in
opposition to Obama and "his goals for America ."

I am going to be a thorn in the side of
those who, if left unchecked, will destroy our Country!! Any more
compromise is more defeat!

I pray that the results of this election
will wake up many who have sat on the sidelines and allowed the
Socialist-Marxist anti-God crowd to slowly change so much of what has
been good in America !

"Error of Opinion may be tolerated where
Reason is left free to combat it." (Thomas Jefferson)

God bless you and God bless our Country!!!
(Please, please, please. Pass this on if you agree.)

Thanks for your time, be safe. "In God We
Trust"

'If we ever forget that we're one nation
under God, then we will be a nation gone under.'
- Ronald Reagan

I WANT THE AMERICAN WAY OF LIFE BACK.....

Maybe my brother is right

The other night my brother asked me a question worth pondering:
"Does it half to be so black and white. That there is two teams? Why can't we all just get along and work together to dig our asses out of this deep hole we are ALL in."

And it got me thinking. What am I pissed off about? Who am I pissed off at? The answer is the elected officials of the United States. They are the ones that started this "them vs us" mentality. They are the ones that push the American people to take sides, and we eat it up! It is no longer about what side you agree with or disagree with. It is now about who will stomp on your values and morals less.
America is great because of our God given rights that government can't take away. But we have a government that is hell bent to do just that.

Democrats and Republicans in Washington DC are pushing thru legislation without knowing what they are agreeing to and refusing to listen to and interact with the people they are elected and paid to represent. We The People! I am angry that our children and our childrens children will be paying for the debt created in just the last 6 months alone. I'm angry that neither party stood up and said this is unconstitutional and illegal. I'm angry that racism in our government is only challenged when a white person commits it. It is intolerable from all people! I'm angry that our President has not defended America in a single speech in other counties but apologizes for our greatness. I am angry that I have to worry that my son will see the fall of America and the rise of communism or European socialism in America like that never seen before.

I'm angry that our national guard is hiring and training for internment camp personnel. I'm angry that I can't trust our government to do what is right for Americans and so many Americans are blind to it. I'm angry it has been like this for years and it is just now that Americans are standing up and getting angry in public, and it might be too late.

Our Democrat and Republican leaders are to blame for this. It is their job to protect our rights and represent us. To enforce the constitution and the Bill of Rights. To protect American land and people against enemies inside and out. To enforce the laws we have, not create so many that we loose our freedoms.

I am angry that the people of America don't realize that it is competition and the human element that drives the success of America. Because we are competitive and capitalism represents the true human drive. There are winners and losers. There are have and have not. There are smart people, dumb people and everything in between. There are people that will only be able to scrub gutters and others that will cure cancer. There are those that are truly in need of assistance and those that are just lazy.

This country was made great despite of political correctness and will be destroyed by it. We make our country strong by helping those truly in need and reprimanding the lazy for taking from them. We make this country great by being the best we can be and living with what we earn and not by demanding that those that worked smarter or harder, to support us or share what they earned. The wealthy have always been envied. They have always had more then the poor and they have always been the creator of jobs and helping others become wealthy.

Our government is becoming or has become what our founding fathers tried to protect us from. Our government has forgotten its place. We the people have forgotten their place. It is time the government remembered who we are and what they are supposed to do. It is time We The People stop blaming each other and started holding the elected official accountable.

If a bill is so complicated a lawyer can't figure it out and interpret it, chances are it is dangerous and needs to be scraped. If our elected officials have created so much chaos in the way the system works, then they need to be eliminated and the system reworked. Return to the simple wording. Make the bill about one thing. Do not reference 50 other documents from different branches of the government to bury the true meaning of the bill. State simply the result desired and the means to get there.

I will continue to be pissed at "the liberal" because that is who I see as supporting huge government and squashing the rights of the people. I do not believe in being politically correct to spare the feelings of a few while the rights of many are stomped. I will not be quiet and watch the people be marched to the gas chamber. I will remain pissed at the republican party for not standing up and demanding the laws of this great nation be respected. I will remain pissed that the people we elected to defend us have only found ways to fatten their wallets at the detriment of We The People! I will be vocal when I see an injustice.

There is a revolution coming. It will be bipartisan. When else in history have you seen so many people join together to confront our politicians about the job they aren't doing? Never before have conservatives stood up to be heard so loudly or in such mass. When politicians pay people to fill the meetings in their support, to make it look like they have more support than opposition, they need to be taken down. when the people are locked out of these discussions because they are "being disruptive" but aren't allowed access in any other way, the politicians need to be taken down. Next election, all of these self righteous, egotistical blowhards need to be unemployed and stripped of their golden benefits and life long salary. They need to be like the rest of us, you get fired and it all goes away. They are us! They were hired by us and need to respect us!

So maybe my brother is right, maybe we all need to get along. The way I see it, we can all get along just fine when all Americans are treated equal and politicians remember we are their boss. Stop the corruption! Stop the self designated royalty! Take back our government together! Enough us vs them mentality and find the actual balance that made this country great.

We need to join together and take back our country. We are Americans. Our ancestors fought for our rights to be a free country. To be free of socialism and communism. To be a capitalist nation. where those that work hard get ahead and those that don't, don't. A country where the government is intended for infrastructure and defense, not welfare and control. We tell the government what to do, not the other way around. They represent us, not themselves.

The clunker problem

The cash for clunkers program is flawed in so many ways, I can only hit a few at the moment.
We are destroying the opportunity for our young and lower paid citizens to own an affordable vehicle.

When the vehicles are traded in, they are crushed. This removes the low cost used cars available to purchase and sell. It eliminates the used car industry effectively shutting them down, kills the u-pull it style junk yards and adding to our unemployed. Looking for a cheap car to get to and from work or school? Looking for that cheap car as a first car for the kids? Need an older car to teach your kids or yourself how to work on a car? They will soon not exist. Obama is putting a huge wall between the haves and have nots.

Not everyone can afford a car payment and even less should. The way to financial freedom is to live within your means and that includes owning an affordable vehicle for transportation. Crushing our used vehicles is not the answer.

what really happens to those cars? They are "crushed whole and shipped to china for recycling". You betcha! It has been reported in Europe that many of the cars are being resold in Africa. But even if they are crushed and recycled, it isn't happening in the United States. We are shipping them to a country with the worst environmental controls, to melt them down and resell them to us in other forms.

Why aren't the vehicles being stripped of usable parts and separated out into differing recyclable parts? Why are we allowing a country with horrible environmental controls do anything? It has been proven the air pollution from china flows over the ocean and into the central United states and contributes to the air quality damage. America can and will recycle safely and be less environmental damaging. It would also create jobs in America. This could be a win for American, but instead it is a loss in every aspect.

Americans will see a huge amount of these new cars purchased under this program be repossessed. More Americans will have damaged credit an increased feeling of failure. That will lead to a bigger dependency on government and that's what it is all about.
If you are forced out of your cars and on to public transportation, the government will control when and where you go. Think about it. They are already pushing for tracking devices in our cars for tax reasons. The Gov now owns OnStar. You think they wanted GM? They wanted OnStar and its access. Now they have it.

Mexican oil

I finally understand why the state and fed are so opposed to blocking illegal Mexicans and why they are blocking making English the official language. Mexico and Venezuela supply the most oil to the United States and our elected officials don't want to risk slowing it down.

Total Imports of Petroleum (Top 15 Countries) (Thousand Barrels per Day)
Country	May-09	Apr-09	YTD 2009	May-08	YTD 2008
CANADA	2,206	2,281	2,395	2,367	2,539
VENEZUELA	1,341	891	1,168	1,171	1,160
MEXICO	1,186	1,289	1,292	1,220	1,319
SAUDI ARABIA	1,079	1,021	1,109	1,604	1,543
RUSSIA	813	779	649	460	421
NIGERIA	600	733	649	918	1,106
ANGOLA	505	462	566	476	478
BRAZIL	386	278	367	338	233
VIRGIN ISLANDS	313	290	313	340	341
ALGERIA	272	612	489	620	546
IRAQ	263	484	490	583	670
UNITED KINGDOM	250	424	261	237	211
COLOMBIA	243	347	277	278	210
ECUADOR	193	237	233	162	203
NORWAY	171	112	129	183	117

Note: The data in the tables above exclude oil imports into the U.S. territories.

So tell me, is it really a humanitarian effort like the left has so aggressively pushed? Or is it really using the citizens of Mexico as currency?

If you are convinced and offended that the war against terror is really about oil, then you should be appalled at the trade of human life for oil. This goes much deeper. Our government is trading the American sovereignty for petroleum. They are giving our tax paid education, welfare system, jobs, language, homes and everything else that belongs to the American people to citizens of another country in trade for oil. Where is the American pride? Where is the American "We The People"? Why are we allowing our elected government trade our America for oil and their own wealth? Be angry that human life is being traded for oil.

What can you do about it? Demand drilling in America for American oil. Demand secure borders and demand the deportation of all illegals from everywhere in the world. Demand that Americans come first for education, welfare, jobs, homes and everything! It is OUR country and we pay the taxes to support it.

Why isn't the left up in arms about this oil deal? What the hell? hypocrites!

Please watch this. If you value you're freedom, you will NOT visit this government site.
Love or hate Glenn Beck, you need to watch this.

Democrats are preventing Republican House Members from sending a mailing

Democrats Block GOP Health Care Mailing

Democrats are preventing Republican House Members from sending their constituents a mailing that is critical of the majority’s health care reform plan, blocking the mailing by alleging that it is inaccurate.

House Republicans are crying foul and claiming that the Democrats are using their majority to prevent GOP Members from communicating with their constituents.

The Chart

NRA-ILA ::

NRA-ILA :: "Encoded Ammunition"/Bullet Serialization

Shared via AddThis

Gun Controllers Target Ammunition

Gun Controllers Target Ammunition
Below is an exert from the above link. If they fail to steal your gun, they will try to steal your ammunition.

"People would be required to forfeit all personally-owned non-encoded ammunition. After a certain date, it would be illegal to possess non-encoded ammunition. Gun owners possess hundreds of millions of rounds of ammunition for target shooting, hunting and personal protection. Consider that American manufacturers produce 8 billion rounds each year.

Reloading (re-using cartridge cases multiple times) would be abolished. There would be no way to correspond serial numbers on cartridge cases, and different sets and quantities of bullets.

People would be required to separately register every box of "encoded ammunition." This information would be supplied to the police. Most states do not even require registration of guns. Each box of ammunition would have a unique serial number, thus a separate registration.

Private citizens would have to maintain records, if they sold ammunition to anyone, including family members or friends.

The cost of ammunition would soar, for police and private citizens alike. The Sporting Arms and Ammunition Manufacturing Institute estimates it would take three weeks to produce ammunition currently produced in a single day. For reason of cost, manufacturers would produce only ultra-expensive encoded ammunition, which police would have to buy, just like everyone else."

Really Mr President?

Tonight I did my best to listen to the President's rant on health care reform as he sees it.

Tonight I almost lost my appetite. Yeah, almost!

I hear all kinds of fear mongering and hype with zero actual facts. Jobs saved and created by the stimulus plan? Really? Can you offer proof? Can you state what jobs? Since your stimulus plan, our unemployment rate has jumped better than 2% and all the other promises have been empty. Banks and many industries have gone bankrupt. Now you want to fast track thru a massive health care program that will change the reality of health care in America. It will destroy the future of America? How?

Let's see. Socialized medicine, Government owned banks and major industry. Massive programs pushed thru unread by our elected officials that affect our great grand childrens' debt. The elected officials have made such a mockery of our government they hired a speed reader to read the thousands of pages of a bill on the floor so fast nobody could understand it. And no one had time to actually read it. Reality Mr President, We the People are getting pissed! We like America as it was intended to be, not how you desire it to be.

We are a democracy and our economy is based on capitalism. We are not socialist or communist. We declared Independence from those forms of government long ago. Do we have to do it again? We will. Get your greedy hands off our money, our jobs and our freedoms. We will revolt and take it back. It is the American way. Our military is made up of Americans; they will NOT support your hostile takeover of our government. They will defend America. They will defend We The People!

Keep pushing thru every communist or socialist program you can before you are found incompetent. Why else would you try so hard to pressure everything thru so fast before anyone can read it and question it? You know your time is limited.
Joe the plumber is the perfect example of what happens when you question the President. This is America! We are free to question you!

Socialized medicine will increase the gap between the haves and have nots. There will be the health care the elected officials and uber-rich have and then the health care the rest of us have. There will be the American royalty (those in currently elected office and those that are very rich) and then the rest of America. Sounds and looks like The Soviet Union to me. The very wealthy that all have a hand in government and then the rest of us. Next is waiting in line for toilet paper. Government run Medicaid / medicare, Social Security, Veterans care, IRS, you name it, is out of control and not effective.

Government has proven every single time to be a failure! How about our education system, roads and other infrastructure? In what instance has the government actually been successful? It is time the government focus on the intent of government and leave the rest alone. Infrastructure, defense and basic law. Read the Constitution, the Declaration of Independence. Limited government! Restricted government! Enough Mr President! You're right, it isn't about you. It's about We The People! You were elected by us to to the job we told you to do. Enough of your corruption and underhanded tactics. It has been 6 months and you have already spent more money then any other president in history.

Here is another reality: Unemployment numbers reported are not complete. The numbers only represent the current number of people receiving unemployment. It does not include those that are underemployed or have been removed from unemployment because they have used up their extensions. That's right, those that are unemployed and no longer eligible for unemployment aren't counted. They didn't cease to exist, they just ceased to be counted. Your numbers have not panned out since day one. Honesty and transparency is what you promised, where is it? when is it? Who the hell are you? Where were you born? School transcripts? Time and clarity to read bills before voting? All lies!
GET OUT OF MY PRIVATE LIFE AND QUIT DESTROYING AMERICA!

Ouch!

On June 29th I crashed my bike. Took a round-a-bout to fast and didn't anticipate the line right and hit the curb. I was lucky enough to land on the grass between the street and the sidewalk and only did minimal damage to myself and the bike. When the wheel hit the curb I went over the bars and the back of the bike followed.
First the bike: Miss aligned bars, forks twisted, headlight bucket broken and some missing paint.
Me: scraped the side of my helmet slightly and landed on my back right side. Managed to only bruise and dislocate several ribs and broke the toe on my left foot. My guess is I kicked the wheel as it came to an abrupt stop
God was just giving me a reminder that day. Here I am a few weeks later feeling much better. The toe aches a little and only truly hurts when I put too much pressure on it. It is broken in 3 places on the top knuckle. The ribs and muscles attached to them are still pretty messed up but as the bruising subsides everything gets better. I should be up to working on the bike in the next week or so and should be riding again immediately after. Just hope it's not too expensive for some replacement parts.

Obamageddon is Coming!

Added to the box

I painted the box satin black and added some stickers from my favorite coffee shop. Since I do pick up coffee every day I figured it was appropriate and the stickers should make people notice me better. Not the best paint job but I figures I was gonna cover it with stickers any way.
Side note: Satin textured paint is a pain in the butt to get stickers to adhere to.

Tiddler upgrades

I had some time to work on the Tiddler this weekend and thought I would share it.
A friend had an old metal box he got with one of his machine shop tools and never used. I mounted it to the diamond plate he cut for me and now I have a secure metal "trunk" for the Tiddler.

I used allen head bolts from underneath and wing nuts on the inside for security and easy removal. Steve has some great ideas, guess that's why he's the machinist/artist.
While I was at it, the wife has a daily demand for me on the way home from work in the morning (I work nights). She's a little high maintenance and "doesn't care for drip coffee". What ever.
So she demands (let me tell ya, I hear it when I don't do it) her morning iced latte from Dutch Brothers. What the hell? I'm riding a motorcycle from 1969! There aren't any cup holders!
Well now there are.
I cut some thin cardboard from some old packaging I had laying around to fit inside part of the inner frame work of the box. Placed in 2 cups side by side and filled the remaining space with foam insulation from a can. It expands greatly so I had to cut off the excess but now I have 2 cup holders on a 1969 ct90.
And it stores all my crap with room for a strategically placed helmet

Not bad for a little extra time on the weekend.
Yeah, I know the box is blue and the bike is yellow. I didn't take that much time! There are other weekends

Are you kidding me?

I moved away from political blogging for a while, but this head line caught my attention and I have to put it out there:

Killings of 4 Americans in Tijuana sow fear

Then in the article I read "President Felipe Calderon has sent more than 45,000 soldiers to combat drug cartels in the country whose turf battles have killed more than 10,750 people over the last two-and-a-half years."
Compare this to Chicago - 509 people were murdered in Chicago 2008.

People, Mexico is DANGEROUS and the border cities are some of the worst.
We need to do something, because soon, those murders will happen on our side of the border. We need to protect our border and our people. We need to stop this crime from flowing over.

James Bond

Over the last few days I have had the pleasure to watch the original first 3 James Bond movies from 1963 and 1964
The special effects are sometimes laughable to today's standards but that forced them to involve more reality and risk to get the desired effect. A few such laughable are the obvious fast forward during car chases or prerecorded film in the windows to simulate a live chase from inside the car.
Ignoring these, I find these movies more believable then most made today.
the vehicles are real and the weapons, if not real, are plausible. Fight scenes are the best. This is street fighting, not professional martial artists. It's what you expect to see in real life. People tackling eachother, headlocks, missed punches, using what ever is in the room as a weapon like chairs, bottles etc.
The response to being hit is more real then todays super hero type recoveries. You get hit in the head with a bottle, you get knocked out. You take a couple punches to the head, you get knocked out. You get shot you die. In todays movies, it seems the only way to get killed is to be beheaded or blownup and even then thats only a maybe.
There was more reality in the James Bond films. I hope I get to wath the rest of them soon.
James Bond is not a "super Hero" in the sense of super powers etc. He is an attainable human. He fights hand to hand like any other man, uses everyday weapons or what will one day be. He can be injured. He lives to a standard of integrity and honor. He fights the terrorists of the day and out smarts them and out fights them because he is smarter, faster and better. What ever happened to that?
Todays movies it's all about fantasy and super / unattainable powers. No human could perform in such a way. A child could grow up to be James Bond with education and training and practice. And in these films you learn that being hit or shot hurts and there is a deadly consiquence.
Hmmm... Maybe thats what I like about JB, The bad guy loses and there are always consequence for action. Oh, and Bond always gets the sexy woman.

Nicks DIY bike bench

After spending too much time laying on the cold cement of my garage and being too cheap to buy a professional lift, I decided to build my own ct90 work bench.
I decided on a work area that is 2'H x 3'W x 7L' I could have gone a little smaller but happy I didn't.
I figured out my wood needs and went to Home Depot to get the materials and have them cut it to length. I know I could have gotten the wood cheaper at a local shop, but I am not so straight with the circular saw and knew Home Depot would chop it for free. A real time saver.
I also decided on screws to hold everything together and because I knew I would mess up something and have to be able to easily correct the error. I'm a klutz and a little dyslexic and a bit A.D.D. so I leave myself an out. It's also good to know that when it loosens up, I can tighten the screws rather than hammer more nails.

Materials list:
(6) 4"x4" cut to 2 feet
(2) 2"x6" cut to 7 feet
(2) 2"x4" cut to 7 feet
(4) 2"x4" cut to 3 feet 3 inches
(4) 2"x4" cut to 3 feet
(1) sheet plywood cut 3 feet x 7 feet
(54) 2 1/2" wood screws
(32) 2" wood screws

The 4x4 are the legs, 2x6 are the side rails with about 1 1/2" lip to keep stuff from falling off, long 2x4 is bottom support rail and the rest are support ribs under and on the ends of the plywood.

After assembly, I lumbered up on the bench and did a little jig. I'm about 260lbs (+/-) and not even a squeak! Then I pulled the bike up and walked around it and still no movement!
I will add a couple 2x4 or 2x2 to the bottom rails to use as ramp storage. I plan to make a 12" x 7' ramp so I can drive onto the bench rather than keep picking up the bike. Unless I find a cheap plastic or metal ramp beforehand.

Reasons for size: I could easily have kept the stock 8 foot length of the boards but I am strapped for garage space and 12 inches actually makes a difference. 3 feet seems wide enough to have room to walk around the bike and a place to set tools and parts. I can roll the front tire to the edge and then pull the ct90 onto it's center stand and I am now centered on the table.
Besides, Home Depot cut the wood for free so I knew I wasn't gonna lose a finger on this project.
2 feet seems to bring the bike to a comfortable height for sitting on a stool or chair.
I will also drop a piece of scrap linoleum down for easy cleanup of the oil I will spill. My battery charger and a few tools will be hung on the rails.

And for those of you that have dogs, just tell your wife you are building a dog grooming table. Great height for trimming fur, nails etc... And then it "doubles as a ct90 parking throne".
All this for less than $60

Recently I acquired a Honda ct90 K1 from my father-in-law.

Being my first motorcycle, I have a lot to learn. First, I have to learn how to get this thing street safe and while I am doing that, I have to learn to ride. Yeah, I know it should be easy but since I have never been on any bike other than as a passenger, I figure I should do it right and then create the bad habits.
If I take Basic Rider Training then I do not have to test at the DMV
I would much rather learn and test from a trained pro instructor than test for some DMV employee. Yeah, never had much luck with DMV testing people. That's another post.

I am told this is a simple bike to work on and riding it should come easy.
On my side links you can find a few sites with parts, history and pictures. Honda Japan is still producing these for Australia for the postal service and they are referred to as posties there.
This ct90 has not been running for about 4 years and yesterday I got it started and drove it around the yard for a bit. It has quit a bit of pep and torque. And I got my first offer to buy it! Not for sale.
They were advertised to the outdoors person with the ads showing men and women driving them in the woods with rifles mounted on the side and secured to the back of campers with a simple carrier.
They are also street legal without modification!

I began this experience by going to the local dirt bike shop and asking if they carried parts or knew anything about the ct90. I was answered with "those things are money pits and I hate them". As you can imagine, I won't be spending any money at that shop.
Since then, I have found great resources on the internet and even a few within 20 miles of the house. I have also learned that far from being money pits, these bikes were (are) known for being almost bulletproof! Like many old vehicles, you can spend more money repairing and restoring than what you can sell it for. But unlike most new vehicles, you can actually work on it yourself and most parts aren't equal to buying a new one.

I joined a Yahoo!! Group that has more resources than I thought would exist.
I figured I would have to scrape the bowels of old book stores and parts houses to find wiring diagrams and manuals etc. But I found them and more with this group.

I’ll try to remember to take pictures as I disassemble and reassemble “old yeller”
If you are interested where I have found parts and info, drop a comment and I will be happy to share my resources.