Thursday, May 25, 2006

It's coming....


I am excited and nervous about my trip out to CA... Excited, because it is going to be an awesome experience for me.... and nervous, because I have no idea what the summer will bring.... who will I meet? What will I do, exactly?
I know what's on my job description... but what will transpire for me this summer? It is definitely going to be quite an experience....


I don't know what will happen, but whatever happens will be good.-- because everything works together for good... no matter how nasty the circumstances, how unpleasant the tasks at hand, or how disappointing an outcome is... God uses it all for his glory... and I am SO glad- I can't mess his plan up- because it's bigger than me!


Friday, May 19, 2006

home...

Yeah.. I got home now. and I am glad. Glad to be done with school for the summer... glad to be going to camp in a little while, glad that I get to go back to school in the fall.. glad that some of my friends are still going to be in OR 2W next semester with me... and just overall, glad for a break!
I arrived last night at around eight thirty... then I played a lot of games of Dutch Blitz, against my sisters, (and lost... except for twice or so...) had lots of fun, munched on some snack mix, and talked in the dark with my sister for awhile before we went to bed. Today we played MORE Dutch Blitz, planted some seeds in the garden, and lazed about my house, (heh- I just looked it up to see if "lazed" was a word...) doing nothing much, other than looking through my things and attempting to put them into order a bit... made a lot of progress, by the way!

I have also been thinking about my preparations for camp- figuring out what I have to pack, what I need to bring, (waiting for a packet from the camp, still... hope I get it soon!) etc... Camp's coming up soon... I leave on June 6! and I still have SO much to do... and it just seems to be coming so very soon... I don't want camp to come as soon as it is- but I am excited that it is coming, just the same.
I am also slightly less disappointed about the fact that I have to be in CA for 10 days after camp is over, because I have been succeeding, I believe, in talking my sister Brita into coming out to CA for her birthday, which is right after camp ends.. .and spending that last week with me... :-) that would be a lot of fun...

So many things have been happening... and it is now time for me to sleep... or rather, my sister wants to turn off the light... :-)

Wednesday, May 17, 2006

Lovely evening...

Done with finals for they semester, went down to the Late Night Breakfast Feast in the basement.. at some French Toast... :-) and watermelon... talked to my friend Jenny, who I don't actually get to talk to very much- seems that she is usually closed up in her room or something... or else I am busy... but that was fun...

I am glad I am done with finals... but at the same time, I am sad- because I really do like this environment and all of the nice girls here- and I just don't want it to end!

But Fall will come quickly enough... :-)

~Danette

yay... my final is done!

My Anthropology Final is written, and sent off to my teacher. I also played around with this nifty feature on Goolge- Google Page creator.. it even has free web-hosting.. .so play around with it... doesn't look like there are even any ads on there!
so yeah- my anthropology final is posted on Google pages... :-) Yeah- I know that's kind of geeky...
(click on the title to reach the page..)

:)

Danette

Monday, May 15, 2006

But for the grace of God....

Oh wow.

Yesterday and today I made a couple of major blunders... and God was far, far too merciful to me, in keeping them from affecting me.

First of all, yesterday I forgot to move my car from its spot in the resident lots (where I could have it during the weekend, but not during the week, since I don't have the right permit) to a student lot on lower-campus.. I realized this at 1:30 in the morning... and seriously contemplated moving it... but then I decided that if I were to move it, I wouldn't have had enough sleep last night, and then I would feel dead during my finals today- so I decided that I would just deal with getting a ticket on my car- it would only be five dollars, after all... (never mind that I only have $4.50 to my name...)
My alarm went off at 6:55 in the morning, and I switched it off, and lay back to wake up... I didn't. I fell asleep. But in my switching off of the alarm clock, I somehow managed to switch the SECOND alarm on- which buzzed promptly at 7:45... 15 minutes until my first final of the day.
I did not grab my backpack, or anything... and I didn't shower, wash my face, brush my teeth, etc... I used some mouthwash, brushed my hair, got dressed.. and ran outside... to my car, which just because of my stupidity the day before... was in the parking lot outside of my dorm... WITHOUT a ticket!
I was nearly two hours past the ending of the "permit-free" parking... (Friday 3pm, through Monday 6AM) and my car did not have a ticket. I climbed in, and drove the path that brought me past the top of the hill... and it was open??
Open? It is NEVER open at 7:50AM... but it was. So I got to take the short-cut route, of driving down the hill, rather than having to get on Clairemont and driving around the campus and down.
Furthermore, at this time of the morning, it was nigh impossible that I would find a parking place in the Phillips parking lot, because it's the most convenient parking lot on lower-campus... but with everything else God was doing for me... I decided to check it out. So I did... and then I was amazed again- as I found a parking place right away.
Then, I realized I didn't have a pen with me- and for finals, I definitely needed a pen! But there, on the floor of my car, was a pen- actually a nice one, that works, and I liked!

When I got to the building my final was in, one of my classmates was standing outside- the class hadn't started yet... and so I went climbing up the stairs, to my ENGL 225 class... and to make everything even better- my teacher brought breakfast to class- bagels and donuts and juice and cream cheese. :-D

My final went wonderfully, too. There was one question that I didn't know.... but most of them were easy- and my essay topic was something that I was familiar with discussing- free speech on college campuses- and my teacher even let us use our books! I had left my book (and my whole backpack, for that matter) in my dorm- but my teacher had an extra copy of the book sitting out :) So I had one to use.



So to recapture: God gave me way more grace than I deserved for all of my stupidity this morning... and I am so thankful!

Saturday, May 13, 2006

icky.

I am being delinquent, and taking a quick break from studying.. I am going through all of my notes and things for a paper I have to write by Wednesday... ick. I guess I will get to write it mostly tonight, and then finish up tomorrow... wait- oh yeah- I have Tuesday, as well.. yay!
yuck. I have too much to do- a lot of articles to go through and read, and high-light things in, and then make notes of what I highlighted, and then put it all together in the paper... my essay question?

Why is the question of bilingual education for LEP (Limited English Proficiency) students such an emotional issue? What are the main arguments raised by proponents and opponents?

not that hard to reiterate for my teacher... but try to make me cite references for it? eew. And not being able to write in first-person voice? eeww again. I am glad that I still have time to write it...

Gotta get back to the paper- even if I don't want to... :-(

about homeschooling...

I had someone post a comment on my blog about homeschooling- saying that her husband was concerned about the social aspect of homeschooling... so I am posting this entry to assuage any doubts about the subject.

http://www.hslda.org/research/ray2003/Socialization.asp
http://www.hslda.org/docs/hshb/30/hshb3011.asp
http://www.hslda.org/docs/nche/000000/00000068.asp
http://www.hslda.org/docs/news/washingtontimes/200406010.asp
http://www.hslda.org/docs/news/washingtontimes/familytimes/199706100.asp
http://nche.hslda.org/docs/news/washingtontimes/familytimes/200006060.asp
http://www.hslda.org/docs/study/ray1997/default.asp

These are all good articles from the Homeschool Legal Defense Association, that talk about socialization, and why/how well homeschooling works...

Socialization isn't an issue- if anything, being homeschooled has helped me develop better social skills to interact with adults, instead of just with my peers- and I will be an adult much longer than I have been a child... so why is the childhood socialization (learning to be part of the "grade" herd) so important? It just means that I didn't get seduced in high-school, or middle-school, or have to deal with people doing drugs and being immoral- I got grounded firmly in my faith at home.. and now I am at a public university- and what an experience it is. Everyone is always aghast at how easy I say it was to adjust to college life.

http://www.hslda.org/docs/nche/000000/00000017.asp
http://www.hslda.org/docs/nche/000001/00000147.asp
http://www.hslda.org/docs/news/hslda/200204301.asp
http://www.hslda.org/docs/news/hslda/200301/200301310.asp
http://www.hslda.org/docs/nche/000002/00000229.asp
http://www.hslda.org/docs/news/hslda/200301/200301161.asp

these are documents showing how homeschoolers do in college, and how it is to get into a college, as a homeschooler.

The following articles have to do with statistics concerning homeschooling, and the academic ability of homeschoolers.
http://www.hslda.org/docs/nche/000010/200410250.asp
http://www.hslda.org/docs/study/rudner1999/default.asp
http://www.hslda.org/research/default.asp
http://www.hslda.org/docs/study/comp2001/default.asp
http://www.hslda.org/research/ray2003/HomeschoolingGrowsUp.pdf
http://www.hslda.org/docs/study/comp2001/HomeSchoolAchievement.pdf

Note: even though all of these addresses begin with "HSLDA".. that does not mean they are all written by the same people, nor are they all from the same place- but HSLDA has done a good job of compiling this information.. so I use their site.

Have fun reading thist stuff.. :-)

~Danette

Almost there.

Finals are two days away... Five days from now, I will be done with them entirely. My schedule is as follows...

  • Monday, 8AM: ENGL 225 final- and BREAKFAST! my teacher's bringing breakfast! (can you tell I am actually looking FORWARD to this?) (cumulative- vocabulary)
  • Monday, 10AM: CSD 378 "final"- we meet because we have to... but we had our final test this past Thursday. (was cumulative)
  • Monday, 1:30PM: MUSI 108 "proficiency"- piano proficiency- takes a grand total of: 10 minutes. (cumulative)
  • Monday, 7PM: ANTH 315-not final... final time, and the time when I have to turn in a paper to my teacher.
  • Wednesday, 3PM: ENGL 125 final- what fun... cumulative Grammar....
  • Wednesday, 7PM: BIO 196 final- non-cumulative, nutrition.
Lovely... after this I am done- except that Thursday, I have to work... from 9AM to 2PM, on Thursday... I wish I didn't... but oh well. I get paid for it.

The cafeteria has opened for breakfast... so I am going to go and eat some food.

~Danette

Tuesday, May 09, 2006

some funny things that you more likely than not, will not "get"...

Not all of these are completely true of every home-schooled person..... a lot are not true of me myself... but I know people for whom they are..... :)

~Danette

(if you want to learn more about homeschooling... ask me- because I have a whole document I've put together talking about it- complete with government statistics proving that homeschooling provides a better education on average than public schools)

You know you’re a homeschooler if:
Your walk to school means just going downstairs.
You end up doing more schoolwork on snowdays because you’re snowed in.
You can't do a Jumping Jack to save your life!
Your “school desk” is the dining room table, the kitchen counter, the car, or the floor!
Your classmates range from 20 to 2.
Your foreign exchange student is an Australian Shepherd.
Your teacher can't send you to the principal’s office because he isn't home from work yet!
You have ever "gone" to school in your pajamas/nightgown. LOL! Plus, if you are sick, if you don't feel too bad, you can still do school, cuz you can lay down and rest anytime!
You get excited to go to the orthodontist!!! (You get to get out of the house!)
Your penpals are some of your best friends!!!
Your linen closet is filled with school books.
You own more than four bookshelves.
You can choose to have recess at any time.
You don't have to get a pass to go to the bathroom!
The walk to school is 20 feet from your bedroom.
You get along better with adults than with children your own age.
You have an unusually large vocabulary.
You have no idea what a track and field day is.
You go all day without leaving the house.
Your electric pencil sharpener has also been used to sharpen crayons, AND carrots.
Your siblings all started reading at eighteen months
You wake up in the morning, get dressed, and when you go to the kitchen for breakfast, you find out that you not only match your sister(s) but your mom also!
You sleep in till 9 am on weekdays but get up at 7 am on Sundays.
You enjoy the pastime of watching public school kids walk home from school.
The teacher can kiss the principal, and no one thinks it's unusual.
You have ever finished your schoolwork before breakfast.
Shop class includes watching your brother fix his car.
You actually want to receive books on your birthday.
When people ask you where you go to school and you say the name of a school they've never heard of and wait awhile to tell them that that is the name of your homeschool.
If people find out that your mother teaches 6 grades.
The only people you know are your mom's friends or people from your church :)
The people in your 'class' are all in different grades than you.
You can do a good joke on your newest friends with homeschool. They ask what school your from and you can say "I don't GO to school." I did that once and shocked the life out of him
Your idea of a fun time with your family is combing over battle fields!
A trip to a history museum is the highlight of your school year!
You do Earth Science and astronomy from your van on the way to the Grand Canyon.
You have your diploma BEFORE your divers license!
Your stack of books to check out is taller than the librarian
Your father has ever told the check out lady at Wal-Mart, "We're on a field trip"
You have to move dirty laundry off your desk before you can start school
The signatures on your diploma all end with the same last name
Your first real date is on your honeymoon
Your yearbook is also your baby book
A snow day means you shovel the driveway after you finish your school work
You have to look at the clock to see if you can call your public school friends yet
You have to decide what year you want to graduate
You get to school and the teacher asks you if you've done all your chores
If your bedroom floor is littered with "home” work.
If when people ask what school you go to you say “I don’t know.”
If you spend more time doing school work then playing.
If you have a better relationship with your parents then your friends.
If when you say I do Abeka people think you are nuts.
You think that Anglo Saxon is a math book.
If your dining room table is used for a desk, science experiments, and every once and awhile, a place to eat.
If when someone asks you what grade you are in you can't remember.
You are one of the best people in the world! 


a quote that makes you think...

"Don't say you don't have enough time. You have exactly the same number of hours per day that were given to Helen Keller, Pasteur, Michaelangelo, Mother Teresa, Leonardo da Vinci, Thomas Jefferson, and Albert Einstein." - H. Jackson Brow

sad that it's true... I really do want some sort of excuse... are you sure the days aren't shorter now? feels like they must be... 'cause otherwise... what is it that makes me feel like I have no time for anything?

:-) Today I have time, though- no sign language class... so I actually had time to hang out with Hanne and Rachel for awhile... we did virtually nothing... and I don't know if Rachel had any fun at all... but Hanne and I had a good time.... :-) I have to say that I selfishly decided to ignore for the most part whether Rachel was having a good time or not- there seem to be so few things that she will act like she is having a good time doing... that I have given up- she can choose to have a good time doing what Hanne and I are doing, for once... and it seemed a lot more fun afterwards, too... I haven't had much time to spend with Hanne- I haven't had much "fun" with her at all in the past year- primarily because she's a bookworm.. and I have been gone at school a lot....

hmm. a firetruck siren.. I wonder where it's going.... I am sitting outside Zorn Arena across the street from Hibbard- waiting for my English 125 class at 3:30... and writing. I forgot to bring my English book down to lower campus with me... so I am at a loss of what I am going to do about the assignment for today... my teacher never collects them or grades them... so I have no problem with that- I guess I will do it in class, as Gloria Hochstein goes over all of the stuff we're talking about today, and reviews the stuff for the worksheet....


I am listening to "My Savior, My God" by Aaron Schust... good song.. :-)


I am not skilled to understand
What God has willed, what God has planned
I only know at his right hand
Stands one who is my savior

I take him at his word and deed
Christ died to save me this I read
And in my heart I find a need
For him to be my savior

That he would leave his place on high
And come for sinful man to die
You count it strange, so once did I
Before I knew my savior

My savior loves, my savior lives
My savior's always there for me
My God he was, my God he is
My God he's always gonna be

Yes, living, dying; let me bring
My strength, my solace from this spring
That he who lives to be my king
Once died to be my savior

That he would leave his place on high
And come for sinful man to die
You count it strange, so once did I
Before I knew my savior

My savior loves, my savior lives
My savior's always there for me
My God he was, My God he is
My God he's always gonna be

:-) and the melody gets stuck in my head...

raining now.. gotta go inside...

Monday, May 08, 2006

one more week...

Yay. All I have left of school, is this week- and then three days of finals- well, actually two- monday and wednesday... and then a few hours of work on Thursday...

I don't have enough money, it feels like- but I know I have probably $100 coming Friday of finals week... and then another chunk will be coming two weeks after that, (weird delay things...)... So I guess I just need to actually sub for some people, so I can get more hours... I will see today, if the finals week schedule at work still has room on it- I COULD work all day on Thursday.... that would be eight hours of work- six times eight equals 48... so that would earn me 48 more dollars... Grr. Benjy makes too much money- he made twice that working with my dad the other day, because he got paid by my dad, AND the farmer whose house they were at....

Alas... college jobs pay poorly.... and I have an expensive plane ticket to CA this summer.... rather than a really cheap one... because I waited too long to get it... :-(

Sunday, May 07, 2006

hah.. I won....

I had a fight with my computer tonight about emailing a powerpoint file... 12 slides- very few pictures or graphics... and it claimed that my file was 27MB... while the limit for emailing things was 10MB.... hmm.. That was way too big a number for my little powerpoint... so after about a half of an hour of fiddling with it... I did the unthinkable: I went to the computer help desk...

I was really glad when I got there that the transgender guy wasn't working... he creeps me out- I know I have to show Godly love... I am sorry, but I have to admit that I would usually just choose to skip going to the help desk and figure things out... instead of feeling so weird in the computer help desk place.... (I did go in once.... but it was... strange to say the least....

it took probably 15 minutes to get everything straightened out with the computer tech guy... I basically knew as much about my problem as he did... but he came up with a few different things to try... and after doing them... and finding out they didn't work... (somehow, deleting the few pictures that were present, made the file BIGGER??? that does not compute...) then we figured out how to solve the problem... it was so simple it was stupid- we copy/pasted the entirety of the powerpoint into another file and saved it... Surprise: the file size was now 2.3 MB...... Far below the limit....


Problem solved. At 9:45PM. An hour after I started trying.... and a solution so simple...

Saturday, May 06, 2006

another success for adult stem cell research...

Teen May Walk Again After Adult Stem Cell Transplant, Opposes Embryonic
Waverly, IL (LifeNews.com) -- Teenager Jacki Rabon was paralyzed from the waist down a couple of years ago in an automobile accident. She thought her life was over until the pastor of her church watched a television special about adult stem cell transplants using stem cells taken from a patient's nose. After her church raised funds for her, Rabon went to Portugal to have the surgery. She's already been able to walk some with assistance and her goal is to be able to walk with the use of crutches by the end of the year. The procedure Rabon had in Portugal is called olfactory mucosa transplantation and involves removing cells from the nerve that transmits the sense of smell to the brain, according to Baptist Press. Because of how adult stem cells have already helped her, Rabon told BP she thinks embryonic stem cell research is wrong. “I’m still really against abortion, so I’m not for embryonic stem cell therapy. But anything else that doesn’t involve killing a baby is great,” she said. “I think they should do [olfactory transplantation] in the States because it's just from my own body.”



yeah......

Currently, the score of adult vs. embryonic stem cell research is: 65 different diseases treated by Adult stem cell therapy... versus, ZERO treatments with embryonic stem cell therapy, with only "supposed" advances decades into the future..... which one of these sounds more promising?

(see... http://www.stemcellresearch.com for lots of cool information and news on stem cell research.)

weekend..

Yesterday, Benjy came to spend the afternoon with me; or rather, I spent the morning/early afternoon with Brita, Hanne, Rachel, my mother, and Benjy... and then Benjy came to campus with me... We went to the mall, went shopping, (the "Games by James" store, and "Durham Sports"... where I got Dutch Blitz, and a Nalgene bottle, respectively) and then we tried to go rent the movie "Hoodwinked." One Blockbuster... all checked out. Another Blockbuster....gone.... then we went to the "Premiere Video" store- and struck gold- they had at least 10 copies still there.... so we got it. Good movie- especially Twitchy the squirrel... :-) We got a frozen pizza from the front desk, (and had it cooked,) and ate that for dinner, and watched the movie. That was nice. And we taught my friends Leah and Jenna (my roommate) how to play Dutch Blitz, too...
I just finished returning Benjy to my grandparents' house, where he is going to work outside with my grandfather until tomorrow.

My grandmother is trying to bug me to go to church with them tomorrow while Benjy is there... but I don't want to. I like Jacob's Well. I like it, and, besides that, I have already offered to give some of the other girls a ride to church there... so I can't just desert them to go to my grandparents' church... which, by the way, never has seemed very friendly- it may have changed- but I don't feel like I need to go there... for one, it's THEIR church... they are there... and I will be seen as connected to them... rather than being myself... and I love my grandparents, but I am enjoying the whole "autonomous" bit of being a college student- not meaning that I never need anyone, but that I am making my own decisions, and I don't have family around me all the time. It's kind of nice. I don't think my grandmother likes it very much, though. And maybe her insistence is because my new church is not "Fundamental Independent Baptist"... but Southern Baptist.... well.. to me... duh... um... what's the big difference? F.I.Baptists in general seem a little bit too separatist... nothing unbiblical has been taught at my new church so far.... and it's only 5 years old, but has a couple hundred people at least that come to the services- and about 150 members... it's just so... alive.

I've probably been too blunt with my grandmother though, telling her that I don't want to go to her church... I hope she doesn't take it as an insult to her.... but, as she keeps trying to get me to go, I feel like my subtle "no thank-you"s haven't been communicated- either that, or they aren't listened to. today she was asking me again... I wouldn't mind, if she just asked me, and accepted my "No, I am going to my church, because I am bringing people there, etc..." as an answer... rather than continuing to try to talk me into it... it's not like my church is evil, or not preaching God's Word... so why should I go somewhere else? But she is insistent... and I have no intention of returning to her church any time soon.

Well, I need to stop complaining, and go do my schoolwork; sorry if it sounds a bit whiny today. :-(

~Danette

Wednesday, May 03, 2006

To The Curmudgeons That Changed My Class Times....

a few things that I feel like saying right now, about the fact that my class schedule got changed, so now two classes that I kind of need are in conflict with each other... (which I registered for while they were at different times, by the way... and nobody contacted me when the times were changed,) grrrrr...... how pernicious of them!




Methink'st thou art a general offence and every man should beat thee.
Taken from: All's Well That Ends Well

Hence, horrible villain, or I'll spurn thine eyes like balls before me; I'll unhair thy head, Thou shalt be whipp'd with wire, and stew'd'in brine, smarting in lingering pickle.
Taken from: Antony and Cleopatra

[Thou art] as loathsome as a toad.
Taken from: Troilus and Cressida


[Thou art] sick in the world's regard, wretched and low, a poor unminded outlaw sneaking home.
Taken from: Henry IV, part I


You scullion! You rampallian! You fustilarian! I'll tickle your catastrophe!
Taken from: Henry IV, part 2

Out of my sight! Thou dost infect my eyes
Richard III

You speak unskilfully: or, if your knowledge be more, it is much darkened in your malice.
Taken from: Measure for Measure


What trick, what device, what starting-hole canst thou now find out, to hide thee from this open and apparent shame?
Taken from: Henry IV, part I


[Thou art] a very superficial, ignorant, unweighing fellow.
Taken from: Measure for Measure


Why dost thou converse with that trunk of humours, that bolting-hutch of beastliness, that swollen parcel of dropsies, that huge bombard of sack, that stuffed cloak-bag of guts, that roasted Manningtree ox with pudding in his belly, that reverend vice, that grey Iniquity, that father ruffian, that vanity in years?
Taken from: Henry IV, part I


If the cook help to make the gluttony, you help to make the diseases.
Taken from: Henry IV, part 2

You starvelling, you eel-skin, you dried neat's-tongue, you bull's-pizzle, you stock-fish--O for breath to utter what is like thee!-you tailor's-yard, you sheath, you bow-case, you vile standing tuck!
Henry IV, part I

What a morning!

I have to go to work soon, so I shall be brief.....

This morning I got to go to Panera and eat quiche and bagel and coffee for breakfast with my grandmother.... and then we went to Best Buy to look at what they would charge for her computer to be fixed.... and it was going to be $149 to reboot and diagnosticize it.... (created a word there,) not to mention that if she wanted to rescue the information off the hard drive, it would be another $89.... So we left, and went to "RAM Technologies".... where we were told, $75 for restarting/diagnosticizing the computer... and $59.00/hr for backing up the information... which, usually takes 1/2 an hour or so.... So it comes to as he said, about $105 or so. (they say this includes antivirus protection, updates on all the Microsoft programs, etc...)

I still think that this is too much, because if we just had them charge us the $30 to back up the computer, I could have easily rebooted Windows from the install disk... and it wouldn't be that hard to download the updates for Windows, either... I think that the guy we were talking to was a royal pain, because he was saying things that were irrelevant in MY mind... but Grams decided to go ahead and spend the money... (she says, because "finals are coming close" and she doesn't think I'd have time to do it.... but... but... but... Gramps said he would even pay me to do so!!!! sad. So it's being fixed, and they are spending about $75 more than they really needed to, because the computer guy made it sound like we couldn't possibly update Windows and reboot the computer on our own..... I wish I had told Grams it was a waste of money... I kind of said that I thought I could do the rebooting stuff... but the guy made it sound like that was a huge task, ( rather than something that I could easily do, while doing homework).... so he accomplished his task of selling his services to Grams. But I could have done it just as well, for cheaper.

Anyway- that's what I wanted to chatter about. The coffee and food at Panera's was really tasty... and I had a good time with my grandmother. I just wish she would have let me save her the money, because I think that RAM Tech. is being kind of unreasonable. (makes me want to go into computer repair, so I can make money that easily...)

~Danette

Tuesday, May 02, 2006

Mark Green....

Hmm. I just got an email from the "Green Team"- Mark Green's political committee.... I DID ask for the emails... but something in this one bugged me a little bit... Read it and see if you can figure out what....

----------
Child Sex Predators Will Be An Endangered Species Under Governor Green

This past Saturday, Mark was able to spend some time with the good folks of Franklin at a "Meet Mark" event. The residents there have been through quite an ordeal recently. For years now, they have been trying to stop Jim Doyle's administration from placing a halfway house for sex predators in their community. More recently, they found that for a year and a half, one of Wisconsin's most notorious child sex predators – Billy Lee Morford – was making regular visits to their community – TO THE VERY HOUSE HE TRIED TO SOLICIT A SEX ACT FROM A BOY AT!!

The regular readers of the Green Sheet, know how passionate Mark is about protecting our kids from these monsters. Here is a little of what Mark had to say on Saturday about how he'd deal with child sex predators as Governor:

Let me start with a few principles I have.

Government's most important function is to protect public safety – and especially our kids. Making appropriate investments to prevent crime should always be at the top of our priority list.

I don't believe anyone who is a repeat child sex offender will ever be cured or will ever become a good person. As you'll hear, I think there's only one appropriate place for child sex molesters – that's prison.

As your governor, I'll do all I can to keep these predators in prison. But, because our laws haven't always been as strong as they are now, if a violent sex offender like Billy Lee Morford is ever released from prison I'll tell you one place they'll never be placed – that's in a residential neighborhood, like here in Franklin! Not on my watch.

I'll also tell you this. That I will instruct my Department of Health and Human Services to not allow any visitations like the one we saw with Morford here in Franklin. That anyone thought it was okay to let this monster go to the same house where he was accused of soliciting a boy is not only an act of sheer incompetence, it is inexcusable. Again, not on my watch.

I want GPS tracking of sex offenders.

I want longer minimum sentences for child sex offenders and child pornographers.

Elect me governor and we'll make the laws we have stronger – and I'll work hand and hand with you to keep evil peoplelike Morford out of Franklin and away from our kids.
You can read the press release Mark issued here.

Mark has been recognized as a national leader on keeping our kids safe from child sex predators. He authored the "Two Strikes, You're Out" law for child sex predators at the state and federal levels, helped implement a nationwide AMBER alert system and most recently coauthored the "Children's Safety Act," regarded as one of the most sweeping child protection bills of the last 20 years.

Included in this bill is a provision called "Amie's Law" that would add juvenile sex predators to state offender lists. This provision was inspired by the tragic story of Wisconsin's Amie Zyla. Nine-year-old Amie was sexually assaulted by a 14-year-old boy, who went on to assault several other children after serving time as a juvenile.

Governor Green will keep our kids safe from these horrible monsters. On his watch, you can count on that.
---------

Ok.. Did you guess it, yet? While I support Mark Green in his run for Governor, (I would support almost anyone to get rid of the Doyle scum that's filling the Governor's office right now,) I have to say that I am disappointed at the dehumanization here; sex offenders ARE GUILTY of very vile nasty things... but they are also human beings that Jesus died for, and wants to restore to Himself.... and it is all too easy to get carried away with labelling them with non-human names, rather than to realize: They are sinners. They are people with fallen sinful natures, who succumbed to their temptations. However, God is good enough and powerful enough to save and forgive ANYONE- even a sex predator... So the statement that they can never change or become better people, is a blow to free will and Salvation- it's a mentality that seems to be connected to the faulty psychological nonsense about doing bad things being a disease.

Every sinful act is a choice. And at any time, can you choose NOT to continue down the path you are on, and to accept God's help in turning around, and going the right direction. Like walking off the path in the wilderness... the farther you get from the path, the harder it will be to find your way back- but you choose to take every step... and you can always STOP progressing away from the path, and turn around. You can get out your Compass and navigate back to the Path. If you realize you've lost the path, and don't know where you are, and accept that you need help, and GET out the compass... you can follow the Compass back... if you refuse to acknowledge that you've gone astray, you will stay lost forever, or until you succumb to the wilderness.

So... basically, this is what bothered me. Calling any person a monster or "evil" is kind of silly, because, while their sins are vile, so are ours- even though we don't molest children... we are still no more worthy of Heaven.

Hebrews 4:14-16

14Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. 15For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet was without sin. 16Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.

-----------

Nice verses to think about.... Jesus really WAS tempted like we are... He knows exactly what you're going through all the time; he lived it! All your struggles, he dealt with. Any discrimination you feel? He went through worse- He, PERFECT and innocent, died, at the hands of those who hated Him..... how often do we feel like we're being sleighted.... and yet, nothing happens to us that even comes close to comparing to death on the cross.... So what if the teacher is bashing your Faith? Show her how real and relevant it is. Or.... if people make fun of you because of your stand on morals, don't let it bother you! Jesus told us that we will be hated by the world... because the world hates HIM... and if it sees HIM through us... we get hated for it. But we need to remember that this is being hated because of what we show- being Christlike....

Be as a star shining in the darkness, holding out the Word of Life.... (see Philippians 2:15-16)