Where They Stand

I pinged 4 of the 5 members of the IUSD school board (I have no use for one member in particular). I asked where they stood on signing the Governor's education reform petition.

It's a simple yes or no.

Both Sue Kuwabarra and Sharon Wallin said they wouldn't sign. Michael Parham has already signed it (no surprise there). Gavin Huntley-Fenner wouldn't answer. He acknowledged my contribution to 3rd grade class size reducation, but did not answer the question. So I will take that as a "yes" he signed. Since Carolyn McInerny has previously voted in favor of NOT blasting the Governor for breaking his word on Prop 98 funding, I'll go out on a limb and say she'll sign the petition too.

Nice.

Three of the five IUSD board members support the Governor's "reforms" for education whic is exactly the opposite position of the PTA in Irvine. Nice....

Recall election anyone?

My friend Mark.....

Mark Urbin is one of the best pals I have in technology.

I remember having a idea for a new product and asking Mark how long it would take to build. He pondered and said "about nine engineering months." Which I replied, ""Great, if we can get you nine engineers can we get it in a month?" And Mark, in his dry wit, grinned and said, "No Dan. Nine pregnant woman can't produce a baby in one month."

I use that story often.

Mark plugged my blog, so I will plug his and given insight to my friends and neighbors in the OC how someone from Beantown perceives us.


http://eclipseweb.blogspot.com/2005/03/plugging-for-my-friend.html

Keep challenging those Birchers surrounding you. It's for their own good. :-)


And Mark used to be Liberal, but the Clinton's got to him. Still, Mark is a good friend. Friends help you move. Good friends help you move bodies.

Hannity: repeat a lie long enough and its true

Listened to Sean Hannnity's pathetic rant on the Schaivo case. He claims there is a medical dispute in regards to Teri's condition and with the right treatment, she can recover. Where was this guy for the past 15 years?

The woman is alive not not living. No higher brain functions (which qualifies her to be a conservative radio talk show host).

But Hannity is like a terrier; he grabs hold of something (even if its wrong) and refuses to let go. It's true because he says so. Too bad Sean keeps forgetting to bring up how the GOP controlled House cut medicare funding that would have benefited patients in a progressive vegetative state. Would stem cell research help Teri? Oh, Sean's on the "wrong side of history" for that too. But the cool thing was listening to Sean praise Jesse Jackson for intervening on behalf of Teri's family even though it was killing him to say something (anything) positive about Jesse Jackson.

I actually hope that the Clinton's come down and voice support for the family so Hannity can choke on his own bile for a change.

Arnold skates today

Getting lots of email from my PTA groups on protesting the Governor's appearance at the Pond in Anaheim this afternoon. The Govinator wants signatures for petition initiatives for his ballot measures that will change pension systems, redistrict legsilative areas, and screw over the school system.

The Governor, like many Republicans and Conservatives, need an enemy. So its him and people against the special interests, which just happen to be Teachers, Nurses, and Parents with kids in public school.

The problem with Arnold is simple: He's a liar. He went back on his word to back the Prop. 98 funding deal he brokered with educators last year.

He's a hypocrite: he rails against special interest while collecting more special interest money than Gray Davis ever dreamed of. If you have a checkbook out, the Governor will see you. If all you have is a vote, he's not interested because he can use his star power to get votes he needs.

In public appearances, he hams for the camera and says "I want to hear from you, California," and as soon as the speech is over he's out the door before he can hear a word.

It's Arnold's way or the highway. The voters need to hold him accountable.

Parham: No Ethics violations

I wrote to IUSD the other day and asked about Board member Michael Parnham accepted what amounted to a $1,000 donation by being a businessman's guest at the Governor's fundraiser in Irvine last week (netting $3.1 million).

Mike was cleared and even wrote me that my questions were fair and then went on to document all his filings (don't get defensive Mike, it was just a question).

Mike then proceeded to let me know about a meeting he was involved in with Arnold and other community leaders. While Mike is taking every oportunity to lobby the Governor here, let's be honest. The Schwartzenegger isn't listening and only wants to hear from people who will support what he wants to do.

I've had a number of email chats with Mike over the past few months and I believe his heart is in the right place, but I am not convinced he hasn't gone to the Dark Side when it comes to going to bat for Irvine's kids. Tough to do that when you're telling people how passionate the Guv is....

p.s. This is what I get for voting for a conservative Republican; Chuck DeVore's whining editorials about wasteful taxpayer spending on tourism and no action from him on schools. But should a hardened criminal want conjugal visits in jail, Chuck is all over that one.

who's side is he on? The Passion of the Governor

IUSD school board member Michael Parham has already voted to not condemn the Governator for breaking his promise to schools on Prop 98 funds. Now, per today's Irvine World News, we find that Mr. Parham attended the $1,000 per plate fundraiser for the Governor in Irvine (as the guest of a businessman). In the IWN, Parham spoke about the passion of the Governor and how passionate he is on issues and how passionate the parents and teachers who were protesting in the passionate rain were. How he wishes everyone could have heard what the Governor had to say. I only wish the governor would hear what we have to say.

Parham went on to identify the "who's who" of OC Republican leaders in the room. All of which wound up donating $3.1 million to the Governor's coffers to "reform" education. Imagine what an extra $3.1 million would do for IUSD. I think Michael ought to focus on his job and not fawning all over the governor.

Just wondering

In the Schiavo case, and it's a total tragedy no matter what the outcome, I was just wondering if stem cell research might be useful in helping people in a progressive vegative state? Just asking. Because that would be in conflict with the Bushies approach.

The woman may be alive, but she has no quality of life. If I ever get that way, my family can yank the plug and have doctors harvest what's left that someone else can use.

Blog Upkeep

What's that phrase again, being busier than a one armed coat hanger?

The regular season for IYBL has wrapped up and now we're mobing on to all-star stages. I had lots of last minute running around to do to take care of missing paperwork and new photos for players. But, Irvine will have 4 boys 7th grade teams competing this weekend.

My team has three games. Versus Yorba Linda at Yorba Linda. Versus Tustin at Tustin. Versus Santa Ana at Santa Ana. Just who did we piss off?

I like our team and our chances to make it to San Diego.

Caught up with Pat DiCaprio from Rome, NY recently. He has been in Orange County for a number of years. We both played high school ball for Stan Evans at Rome Free Academy and both have the same opinion of Coach E. I also played youth basketball on a team with Pat's counsin, Robert...so we have less than six degrees of separation on a number of fronts.

IUSD Board does something right

Teachers get a 4 percent raise; not much at the end of the day, but a start. John Jaegar, one of the all-time champion letter writers in the Irvine World News, has a letter today botching about how top of scale teachers make $85K for 9 months of work.

I taught a junior achievement class for 4 hours one day. It was all I could do to keep the kids engaged and interested. The prep time alone was 4-5 hours. Now, multiply that by 6-7 hours a day, 5 days a week and then add a few hours a day to grade papers. If its high school or junior high, add a few more hours.

I think John Jaeger ought to pull his head out of his ass and commend teachers for sacrificing opportunities to make lots more money in order to serve a higher purpose and teach our kids.

basketball update

For those of you following the exploits of my basketball team, we got knocked out of the tournament Sunday. We played a surging Rockets team that was just plain bigger than us and we were missing a key player (with 8 kids per team, every kid is a key player).

We will still earn some hardware for finishing the regular season in second place. I really loved this team. I have been lucky my last two seasons. Maddie's soccer team was awesome and fun; Alex's basketball team this year was equally enjoyable and fun.

Since I'm comissioner, I'd like to pass a rule that says I can keep this same team together next year. I can't, of course...but it doesn't mean I wouldn't like to.

Terminating the Petitions

Got this email from Wendy Bokota. She's the head of our PTA Legislative Action committee.


I'm stoked by what she did. Read all about it.


Today I experienced democracy at its best and gave my kids the best civics lesson they could get. I took my kids to lunch at Red Robin in Costa Mesa in hopes we might catch a glimpse of the Governor. At the very best I thought we might be able to shake his hand. In fact, we not only got to shake hands with him but I engaged him in a one-on-one debate over the education budget.



I believe we were the last customers to get inside the restaurant, we ate our lunch and then about an hour later he appeared. I give him credit. He took the time to approach every table to shake hands and engage in discussion. I shook his hand and thanked him for the work he’s done and asked him to help me teach my kids how to keep a promise, I asked him to help me give my kids the best education possible. He proceeded to tell me he’s giving education $3 billion. I interrupted him to say in fact he was not giving $3 billion, that with the cost-shifting of teacher retirement, vehicle license fees, mental health costs, etc.. education was not receiving all that money. He went on to rhetorically ask me where I thought the money was going. He answered his own question by rattling on about collective bargaining unions. For fear my time would be up soon, I interrupted him again and told him regardless, it’s not enough, that we are not being funded appropriately, that our district is significantly under-funded, that the district is managing its money, and still my kids’ school might lose their librarian! I again told him to keep his promise.



He realized he wasn’t going to get another word in with me so he diverted his attention onto my 8-year old daughter, Larisa. He shook her hand, and she handed him a hand-written letter describing all the important people at her school, including her teacher and principal, the nurse and librarian. The letter also explains how disappointed she would be if her school lost those important people. He said thank you, took the letter and handed it to a staff person. I then told him I had over one hundred letters from concerned parents and I handed those to the staffer. Arnold once again said thank you and moved on, without giving me any of his ‘reform’ flyers. I was then approached by a young twenty-something asking me to sign a petition. I let him know that I would not sign because I felt this was a waste of money in a time of crisis.



In my daughter’s words, “it was awesome”. We then walked out the front of the restaurant to find a pseudo-rally taking place between Arnold supporters and education supporters. I only hope he heard the chanting “Save our Schools” outside the restaurant because that message was not as loud inside the restaurant. His presence alone was enticing enough to get unsuspecting customers to sign willingly without understanding the impact of the initiatives. I hope parents like myself will educate themselves before signing any petition. I’m hoping my few minutes of time with him gave him pause, and I truly hope he reads my daughter’s letter. If it doesn’t touch him, maybe Maria will read it.



For anyone that says our voice isn’t being heard, I was heard today, and I have to say, he listened!





Wendy Bokota

IUSD PTA Legislative Action Chair

Gavin's Letter in today's Irvine World News

Nice note in the IWN today from Gavin. Very humble. But you again missed the opportunity to reach out to the voters who wanted someone else.

Just remember. You were appointed, not elected. And you got 4 votes, not 100,000. And it didn't cost you a dime to run.

When you do run for election in 2006 (its not re-election because you haven't been elected), you will still have a child with special needs, so you might want to start crafting the response now about why you're running in '06 when you didn't in '04...I believe my Republican friends would call that a flip-flop.

Rush on Hunter

Listened to the Rush Limbaugh show the other day and he was chattering on about Hunter Thompson's suicide. Rush claimed Hunter blew his brains out because he was depressed about the swing to the right the country has taken.

First of all, that hasn't been reported as a reason for the suicide.
Secondly, a 4 percent edge in the election doesn't mean the country has swung to the right, only that it leans right (for the moment).

Just because Rush says it, doesn't make it so....

OC Register Letters to the Editor/on the Oscars

I laughed so hard at the letters complaining about the Oscars in this morning's OC Register. "Why must Hollywood bash Bush?" and "Hollywood's Hidden Message" in films like "Million Dollar Baby" and "The Cider House Rules."

Hollywood pokes fun at whoever is in office, Republican or Democrat. And if you don't want to see a movie about assisted suicide or abortion, read some reviews about the movie first and make choices. No one is holding a gun to your head and says, "watch this or else."

In regards to "The Cider House Rules," its obvious that the letter writer missed the underlining tone of the movie. The Homer Wells character believes the fetus has a soul and the abortion he willingly performs was on an incest victim. The John Irvine book, which is excellent, goes much deeper into the clinic/orphanage where pregnant woman come and either leave behind an aborted fetus or an orphan.

Look, freedom of speech also means the freedom to make choices about what you want to see, listen to, or read. I prefer stuff that makes me think. My friends will tell you I am a proud liberal Democrat, yet I read Ann Coulter, and listen to Sean Hannity and Rush Limbaugh. I particular find it humorous to have them tell you how Liberals think. The only thing they are qualified to tell you is how Conservatives believe Liberals think.