Here is the article written by Mr. Nelson.
Erik Sean Nelson Article about Sarah Palin and the Retardation Platform
And now....
Erik Sean Nelson's wimpy apology
I read The Huffington Post quite often and if Ms Huffington does not take a stand on this and fire this goof ball right away then I will try my best to become a big headache to their company.
Fire him and make a donation to The Arc of The United States and The National Down Syndrome Society and let's get back to what is important.
This guy's lame excuse was he was trying to be funny......well my old line for years has been....there are a 100,000 comedians out of work and this dumb ass thinks he is funny......
Give me a break.....
Peace Dude.
Monday, July 06, 2009
Sunday, June 14, 2009
The we need $14 million family.
Guess now that they have sent all thier kids to private school they now need $14 million to take care of thier daughter with Down syndrome.....give me a break.
Click here and read page 6
Peace Dude.
Click here and read page 6
Peace Dude.
Sometimes people just need smacked in the head!
Rare prenatal testing case raises ethical questions
by Aimee Green, The Oregonian
Saturday June 13, 2009, 9:45 PM
In the months before their daughter was born in 2007, Deborah and Ariel Levy worried the baby might have Down syndrome.
They say a doctor at the Legacy Center for Maternal-Fetal Medicine assured them that a sample of tissue taken from the placenta early in the pregnancy ruled out the developmental disability, despite the results of later testing that showed the fetus might have it.
But within days of the birth of their daughter, the Southwest Portland couple learned the baby did have Down syndrome. Had they known, they say, they would have terminated the pregnancy. Now they're suing in Multnomah County Circuit Court, seeking more than $14 million to cover the costs of raising her and providing education, medical care, and speech and physical therapy for their daughter, who turned 2 this month. The suit also seeks money to cover her life-long living expenses.
READ ENTIRE STORY HERE
I will be very interested in your thoughts on this case folks. I for one think these people and their attorney are a joke.
Peace Dude.
by Aimee Green, The Oregonian
Saturday June 13, 2009, 9:45 PM
In the months before their daughter was born in 2007, Deborah and Ariel Levy worried the baby might have Down syndrome.
They say a doctor at the Legacy Center for Maternal-Fetal Medicine assured them that a sample of tissue taken from the placenta early in the pregnancy ruled out the developmental disability, despite the results of later testing that showed the fetus might have it.
But within days of the birth of their daughter, the Southwest Portland couple learned the baby did have Down syndrome. Had they known, they say, they would have terminated the pregnancy. Now they're suing in Multnomah County Circuit Court, seeking more than $14 million to cover the costs of raising her and providing education, medical care, and speech and physical therapy for their daughter, who turned 2 this month. The suit also seeks money to cover her life-long living expenses.
READ ENTIRE STORY HERE
I will be very interested in your thoughts on this case folks. I for one think these people and their attorney are a joke.
Peace Dude.
WoofStock
We headed out yesterday to a fund raiser for the Hamilton County Humane Society called WoofStock. It was held at Deer Creek Amphitheater which I still call it instead of referring to it by it's corporate sponsorship name. WoofStock was a blast and I hope they raised alot of money for the cause.
Nash and Seger sure had a great time.
Peace Dude.
Saturday, May 16, 2009
Inclusion.....it does work!
Just had a chance to see a great web site with a kick butt ad campaign. To bad it's from Canada and not from here. Maybe if we could ever get all the national disability organizations on the same page we could come up with a campaign like this here in the US.
Please click on the link below and check out the site. You will like it.
No Excuses
Peace Dude!
Please click on the link below and check out the site. You will like it.
No Excuses
Peace Dude!
Sunday, May 10, 2009
I think The Indy Star has been reading this blog!
May 10, 2009
A call to action to improve school performance
State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Bennett calls the situation facing Indiana's schools urgent. He has ample reason to be alarmed.
When the state last week issued its annual rankings of public schools, nearly half of them landed either on academic probation or the watch list, the two lowest ratings. Two-thirds of school districts were cited for poor performance.
Many educators bristle at the federal government's rating system, largely pegged to standardized test scores. The state model, they say, better reflects reality. Yet, this year the two ranking systems produced similar results.
Bennett, who took office in January, described the poor ratings as a "call to action,'' not just for teachers and students, but for the entire state.
Yet, educators haven't been exactly sipping coffee in the break room while their students slip out the backdoor. Nor have government, business and community leaders ignored the challenges facing schools across the state.
Taxpayers continue to pour tremendous resources into the educational system -- K-12 education is the largest single recipient of state dollars, and that doesn't take into account all of the federal and local tax money devoted to schools. And the pressure on teachers and students to improve has never been more intense.
Not all of the signs are discouraging. The graduation rate is increasing. More students are attaining at least base-level mastery of key skills.
But much more work remains, and Bennett is right when he insists that the entire state must push for better results.
What needs to change? To start, the adults in charge need to find a way to work together. That means cooling the more heated rhetoric, setting aside tired arguments that go nowhere and placing on hold agendas that don't directly contribute to better student achievement.
Hoosiers also need to re-evaluate their priorities. Sports consume outsized portions of money, time and attention in too many districts. Do high school football players really need to compete on artificial turf in multimillion-dollar stadiums? Are Olympic-size swimming pools necessary at a time when districts are eliminating teaching positions?
It's not that sports don't have a proper place in schools; athletics can contribute to an overall climate of excellence and achievement. But too often the pursuit of glory on the field or court has been allowed to push aside striving for excellence in the classroom.
Bennett and others also will have to battle a culture that historically has not placed enough emphasis on education. For decades, one of Indiana's greatest strengths, its manufacturing base, shielded Hoosiers from a growing reality: Without a solid education, workers are unlikely to earn enough money to sustain families.
As manufacturing has eroded, Indiana has been unable to create enough good jobs to keep wages from declining relative to other states. One result of that trend is that the gulf between well-educated workers and those with fewer skills is broadening. The most realistic way for Hoosiers to start catching up is to significantly deepen the skills of is work force. And that must come through better education, starting in early childhood and continuing through college.
Has progress been made? Yes. Is the current state of education acceptable? Not even close.
Urgency is indeed warranted, not just in every classroom but in every home in every community.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A call to action to improve school performance
State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Bennett calls the situation facing Indiana's schools urgent. He has ample reason to be alarmed.
When the state last week issued its annual rankings of public schools, nearly half of them landed either on academic probation or the watch list, the two lowest ratings. Two-thirds of school districts were cited for poor performance.
Many educators bristle at the federal government's rating system, largely pegged to standardized test scores. The state model, they say, better reflects reality. Yet, this year the two ranking systems produced similar results.
Bennett, who took office in January, described the poor ratings as a "call to action,'' not just for teachers and students, but for the entire state.
Yet, educators haven't been exactly sipping coffee in the break room while their students slip out the backdoor. Nor have government, business and community leaders ignored the challenges facing schools across the state.
Taxpayers continue to pour tremendous resources into the educational system -- K-12 education is the largest single recipient of state dollars, and that doesn't take into account all of the federal and local tax money devoted to schools. And the pressure on teachers and students to improve has never been more intense.
Not all of the signs are discouraging. The graduation rate is increasing. More students are attaining at least base-level mastery of key skills.
But much more work remains, and Bennett is right when he insists that the entire state must push for better results.
What needs to change? To start, the adults in charge need to find a way to work together. That means cooling the more heated rhetoric, setting aside tired arguments that go nowhere and placing on hold agendas that don't directly contribute to better student achievement.
Hoosiers also need to re-evaluate their priorities. Sports consume outsized portions of money, time and attention in too many districts. Do high school football players really need to compete on artificial turf in multimillion-dollar stadiums? Are Olympic-size swimming pools necessary at a time when districts are eliminating teaching positions?
It's not that sports don't have a proper place in schools; athletics can contribute to an overall climate of excellence and achievement. But too often the pursuit of glory on the field or court has been allowed to push aside striving for excellence in the classroom.
Bennett and others also will have to battle a culture that historically has not placed enough emphasis on education. For decades, one of Indiana's greatest strengths, its manufacturing base, shielded Hoosiers from a growing reality: Without a solid education, workers are unlikely to earn enough money to sustain families.
As manufacturing has eroded, Indiana has been unable to create enough good jobs to keep wages from declining relative to other states. One result of that trend is that the gulf between well-educated workers and those with fewer skills is broadening. The most realistic way for Hoosiers to start catching up is to significantly deepen the skills of is work force. And that must come through better education, starting in early childhood and continuing through college.
Has progress been made? Yes. Is the current state of education acceptable? Not even close.
Urgency is indeed warranted, not just in every classroom but in every home in every community.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sunday, May 03, 2009
When Pride Still Mattered!
As a kid growing up I lived a pretty good life. I got to spend time with my grandparents who all made good livings that would be hard to accomplish today.
One set of granparents lived in Gary and my Grandfather worked at "The Mill" also know as United States Steel, Gary Works. My grandmother was a stay at home mom. I would visit thier house on 2nd Avenue and never worried about anything. My great grandmother lived around the corner and I could go over there anytime I wanted when I was in town. And sometimes I got to go to Southern IL where by grandfather was from to visit my great grandmother down there and hear stories about my family and the coal mines. You see my grandfather left southern IL when the coal mines slowed down to go to work at "The Mill".
My other granparents lived the American dream in my beloved Deleware County Indiana where the best sweet corn in the world is grown. My grandfather built his house down the road from his parents and he farmed the land with his wife and son's. My Grandmother was also a registered nurse and helped deliver many of her 16 grandkids including me. My grandfather was a tough old man who farmed during the day and worked at the glass factory in town at night. I have no idea when that man slept.
Both set's of grandparents raised thier kids and lived a good life and were able to do many of the things they had wanted and saw both my parents graduate from college. Both my parents have masters degree's and are educators.
As a kid growing up in Yorktown the neighborhood I lived in was nothing fancy but it was nice. It was safe and clean and all the kids had fun. I think back and most of the neighborhood was filled with teachers, small business owners and automobile factory workers. My best friends parents were a GM guy and a registered nurse.
What is my point. I am scratching my head trying to figure our where we have come in the last 25 years and where we are going. And bottom line as I have said before the problem with our country is Wall Street and the goof ball analysts that know nothing about business that have been driving performance based on profit instead of sound business practices.
We can blame it on the politicians, the R's or the D's, they conservatives and the liberals, the unions, the teachers, the universities, the parents, the kids......whatever you want to do......but here is the real problem......it's a lack of visionary leadership.....
All we have are a bunch of followers in government doing what ever the party tells them to do.....I love how they blame it on lobbyistst.....well if that was the case we would get things done instead of gridlock based on party lines....this is true at every level of governement from school board the the white house......
It's time for things to change folks.....or maybe I am missing all the opportunities for the middle class today?
Please enlighten me.....and don't bring sorry stories about our education.....we have the smartest people in the world here and we exclude no one from school so get over yourself on that one. And ISTEP was designed with a 40% failure rate so we are gettng the exact results we asked for......let's talk career centers and options other then college as the college dream is not not affordable.
Peace Dude.
One set of granparents lived in Gary and my Grandfather worked at "The Mill" also know as United States Steel, Gary Works. My grandmother was a stay at home mom. I would visit thier house on 2nd Avenue and never worried about anything. My great grandmother lived around the corner and I could go over there anytime I wanted when I was in town. And sometimes I got to go to Southern IL where by grandfather was from to visit my great grandmother down there and hear stories about my family and the coal mines. You see my grandfather left southern IL when the coal mines slowed down to go to work at "The Mill".
My other granparents lived the American dream in my beloved Deleware County Indiana where the best sweet corn in the world is grown. My grandfather built his house down the road from his parents and he farmed the land with his wife and son's. My Grandmother was also a registered nurse and helped deliver many of her 16 grandkids including me. My grandfather was a tough old man who farmed during the day and worked at the glass factory in town at night. I have no idea when that man slept.
Both set's of grandparents raised thier kids and lived a good life and were able to do many of the things they had wanted and saw both my parents graduate from college. Both my parents have masters degree's and are educators.
As a kid growing up in Yorktown the neighborhood I lived in was nothing fancy but it was nice. It was safe and clean and all the kids had fun. I think back and most of the neighborhood was filled with teachers, small business owners and automobile factory workers. My best friends parents were a GM guy and a registered nurse.
What is my point. I am scratching my head trying to figure our where we have come in the last 25 years and where we are going. And bottom line as I have said before the problem with our country is Wall Street and the goof ball analysts that know nothing about business that have been driving performance based on profit instead of sound business practices.
We can blame it on the politicians, the R's or the D's, they conservatives and the liberals, the unions, the teachers, the universities, the parents, the kids......whatever you want to do......but here is the real problem......it's a lack of visionary leadership.....
All we have are a bunch of followers in government doing what ever the party tells them to do.....I love how they blame it on lobbyistst.....well if that was the case we would get things done instead of gridlock based on party lines....this is true at every level of governement from school board the the white house......
It's time for things to change folks.....or maybe I am missing all the opportunities for the middle class today?
Please enlighten me.....and don't bring sorry stories about our education.....we have the smartest people in the world here and we exclude no one from school so get over yourself on that one. And ISTEP was designed with a 40% failure rate so we are gettng the exact results we asked for......let's talk career centers and options other then college as the college dream is not not affordable.
Peace Dude.
Monday, April 27, 2009
DId you hear that?
Did you hear that sound?
It's the money being taken from your pocket....
Who is taking it?????
The schools are raiding half of the additional funds for IDEA. They say they can't provide inclusion and services needed due to budget constraints.
But when they get the money they use their rule to use the money for other things so they can keep blaming the budget, the state, the feds and their unfunded mandates and oh ya the parents.....but never oh never themselves....
Peace Dude!
It's the money being taken from your pocket....
Who is taking it?????
The schools are raiding half of the additional funds for IDEA. They say they can't provide inclusion and services needed due to budget constraints.
But when they get the money they use their rule to use the money for other things so they can keep blaming the budget, the state, the feds and their unfunded mandates and oh ya the parents.....but never oh never themselves....
Peace Dude!
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Beware of the 50% Factor
Schools tell parents they can't get things done in Special Education because of the lack of funding......
Parents push for more funding during IDEA 2004 reauthorization.....
Congress starts talking about increasing funding...
Superintendents Association runs to Congress saying if you send us money too fast we may not be able to spend it and have to send it back......actually they send quite a bit back now.....
Congress adds the MOE 50% rule which says this:
If the IDEA allocation exceeds the previous year IDEA allocation, district MOE may be reduced by up to 50% of the amount of the increase.
Funding does not go up in appropriations....
Candidate Obama promises to fund IDEA....
President Obama includes $13 billion in IDEA funding in stimulus bill....
Superintendents push funds thru CO-OPS......why? The board for the Co-Ops are the Superintendents....not the school boards....
First thing they do is exercise the 50% rule and move half the money over to other school funding......
Then they whine about not passing AYP because of Special Education.....
Isn't that SPECIAL....
Folks call you Superintendents and ask them how they are going to spend the IDEA money from the Stimulus package and then ask them if they are going to use it all for special education or use the MOE 50% rule....
They are allowed by law to do this but THEY DO NOT HAVE TOO......
PEACE DUDE
Parents push for more funding during IDEA 2004 reauthorization.....
Congress starts talking about increasing funding...
Superintendents Association runs to Congress saying if you send us money too fast we may not be able to spend it and have to send it back......actually they send quite a bit back now.....
Congress adds the MOE 50% rule which says this:
If the IDEA allocation exceeds the previous year IDEA allocation, district MOE may be reduced by up to 50% of the amount of the increase.
Funding does not go up in appropriations....
Candidate Obama promises to fund IDEA....
President Obama includes $13 billion in IDEA funding in stimulus bill....
Superintendents push funds thru CO-OPS......why? The board for the Co-Ops are the Superintendents....not the school boards....
First thing they do is exercise the 50% rule and move half the money over to other school funding......
Then they whine about not passing AYP because of Special Education.....
Isn't that SPECIAL....
Folks call you Superintendents and ask them how they are going to spend the IDEA money from the Stimulus package and then ask them if they are going to use it all for special education or use the MOE 50% rule....
They are allowed by law to do this but THEY DO NOT HAVE TOO......
PEACE DUDE
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