State police report supports Kitzhaber email whistleblower

I finally got motivated to read through the 1,502-page report from the Oregon State Police on the witch hunt into the whistleblower who refused to delete former Gov. John Kitzhaber’s emails. --One of the things that kept bothering me as I read it was how wrong it all seemed. Looking at this from the perspective of “a regular Oregonian,” here’s what it looked like. It looked like powerful people in Oregon government, including the former governor and first lady, were engaged in activities that should have been investigated but weren’t – going back to at least October of 2014 when Willamette Week did the work our government should have been doing. Where were the Oregon State Police and Oregon attorney general then? Why no investigation then? During the months and months of additional reporting and the stonewalling by the now former governor, where was the investigation?

Read more at the Oregon Catalyst
(Hat tip: KimR) Read More......

Oregon's signature solar energy project built on foundation of false hopes and falsehoods

Dignitaries gathered on a dry Klamath Falls hillside in August 2011 to celebrate the launch of the largest solar power project ever attempted in Oregon.  As then-Gov. John Kitzhaber and others dug their golden shovels into the hard ground, they were adamant that this was not another state-sponsored green energy boondoggle. This $27 million collection of solar arrays would be a boon for the economy as well as the environment.  For nearly $12 million in tax credits, state officials said, taxpayers could expect the project developer to buy local and hire local, creating a virtuous circle of energy savings, reduced greenhouse gases and jobs.

Read more at Oregon Live Read More......

Oregon to abandon 'Cover Oregon' exchange

According to health watch writer Elise Viebeck at The Hill, Oregon is set to become the first state to drop its ObamaCare exchange and transition into the system managed by the federal government. ✧ The decision follows months of severe technical issues that have made Oregon's marketplace one of the worst in the country. ✧ "Cover Oregon" is the only ObamaCare enrollment system that won't let registrants buy coverage and qualify for tax credits in one sitting. It remains mired in glitches almost seven months after a rocky launch.

Read more at The Hill Read More......

Your Children and Governor Kitzhaber's Triple Threat

(Hat tip: KimR) - Governor Kitzhaber has put himself in charge of Oregon's Education System and Oregon's healthcare network:  the Oregon Health Authority.  As a result of this double take-over, there is a Triple Threat to our children and their families.  That threat includes the Network of School Based Health Centers (SBHCs); the grades K-12 Comprehensive Sexuality Education Standards that the Oregon Department of Education (ODE) promotes; and the Annual Adolescent Sexuality Conference in Seaside (ASC).  ...And what makes this Triple Threat even more unreasonable is that the governor is using our money to pay for it!

One part of the Triple Threat:  The SBHCs are sold to communities as basic healthcare for children.  However, as SBHC advocates are working toward implementing a clinic within your school, and as their Grant-Funded (your money!) planning continues, parents and school supporters learn that this “basic healthcare” actually and must include the offering of contraception, abortifacients, abortion and other medical services touted as treatment for the sexual health of youth, and parents are not kept informed as their children are accessing these treatment(s).  If parents research the Oregon SBHC Standards for Certification, they will learn that HIPAA law and Minors' Rights require that these treatments or referrals be part of a School Based Health Center.  SBHC advocates may tell communities that the clinic can be designed to reflect local values and not offer reproductive/contraception services.  THIS IS NOT THE TRUTH.  Advocates attempted this ploy in Clatsop County, but with months of persistence and research, parents and school supporters were able to expose the truth about the SBHC agenda, and were successful in stopping the implementation of a clinic in Astoria High School.

Another part of the Triple Threat:  In 2012, revisions to Oregon's grades K-12 Human Sexuality Education Standards (OAR 581-022-1440) were initially passed by the ODE and hidden as a “consent item” at their meeting.  Brad Victor, ODE's Sexuality Education Specialist at the time, bragged about being able to “Push the Envelope One More Time, Bingo Boom” with this consent process.  Mr. Victor also brags that Oregon's Sex Ed. Is one of the “most progressive in the country”.  These comments were made at the Adolescent Sexuality Conference along with Ms. Monica Rodriquez' comment that Oregon Sex Ed. “does not go far enough”!

This July, after adopting the extremely controversial curriculum deemed “ODE approved” in the Scappoose School District, one of the School Board members told parents who spoke strongly against the curriculum that, “You just have to trust the teachers”! (what if the curriculum itself is not trustworthy?)

A third part of Gov. Kitzhaber's Triple Threat to our children is the Annual Adolescent Sexuality Conference held in Seaside, OR.  This is a two (school) day event (next one already scheduled for April 7&8, 2014) in which students are encouraged to attend the conference, be “trained” in sexual behavior and choices, then return to their school to “educate their peers” and advocate for SBHCs.  The conference promotes the theme of “Empowering Youth” to make important decisions about their sexual behavior, and that they do not have to include their parents in these decisions!

Having attended the 2013 event, I can tell you that vendor displays included explicit images and “suggestions” and that the break-out/training sessions included subjects such as the fascination of Porn with discussions and materials which compromise the health and safety of the youth attending.  There is concern that some Oregon Revised Statutes may have been violated at this conference.  In one of the breakout sessions titled, “I Say Porn, You Say Porn”, sponsored by a youth empowerment group based in Eugene, YEPSA (Youth for the Education and Prevention of Sexual Assault), adults suggested that teen girls could safely send nude pictures of themselves as long as it was to their boyfriends and not to just everyone.  There have been recent cases in Florida and Montana in which teens have sent such pictures then, because of resulting harassment, have committed suicide.  There was even a case locally in Clatskanie in which a teen girl was severely harassed and physically bullied after sending such pictures.  This was a front page story in the Oregonian, August 6, 2013.  Those receiving these pictures are in possession of Child Porn.  There is currently a lawsuit (filed 10/15/13) in the U.S. District Court against  Clatskanie School District #6J and a School Administrator at the time of the harassment, Jeff Baughman.

Update on the 2014 Adolescent Sexuality Conference, ASC, Seaside, OR:  One of the keynote speakers at the conference is Cory Silverberg, co-founder of “Come As You Are” cooperative in Toronto, Canada.  This is a Sex Toy & Education Shop in Toronto, but this fact is not mentioned in Mr. Silverberg's bio for the Conference.  He will also be the presenter for a workshop at the conference titled:  “From Texting to Teledildonics:  Is Technology Changing Sex?”  (note: “Teledildonics cannot be found in the dictionary!?) This workshop is intended for “Youth & Adults”.  Mr. Silverberg is also writing a 3-part “inclusive” series of books for children about gender and sexuality.  We have also learned that an organization called “Center for Sexual Pleasure & Health” (CSPH) is promoting the Seaside Adolescent Sexuality Conference on their website.  This Center is located in Rhode Island-- One wonders why  an East Coast entity is interested in the ASC, thousands of miles away!?

There are 39 Work Sessions within the Conference and several General Assembly presentations.

You can access the ASC listing of 2014 workshops at www.oregon-asc.org/2014-conference/workshops

If you review the written summaries of these workshops, you will seriously question how Governor Kitzhaber's Oregon Health Authority and his Oregon Department of Education can possibly consider this “Best Practice” for the education of our youth.  Please ask them! 

I believe that if School Boards, School Administration/Staff and parents were actually asked to make the choice to spend millions of public dollars on SBHCs, Sexuality Education, and the Adolescent Sexuality Conference, or to spend those dollars on the Education which we expect and which our children need and deserve, that the choice would overwhelmingly be for the latter!  I also believe that Governor Kitzhaber's Triple Threat is a glaring reason to strengthen Oregon's Charter School law and the use of vouchers.

For more detailed information, contact:  www.parentsrightsined.wordpress.com 

Christine Bridgens

Warrenton, Oregon
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Oregon's Sad Focus on 'Happiness'

By Joel Kotkin
Oregon is a beautiful place, and, for many of the state's well-heeled residents, including many refugees from equally beautiful but overpriced California, economic growth not only is unimportant but is even a negative. Rather than create opportunity, the real issue, according to Gov. John Kitzhaber, is making sure the state ranks high on “the happiness index.” Forget sweating the hard stuff, and cozy up with a hot soy latte. ✧ There's a problem with this. Oregon's unemployment rate remains above the national average and underemployment – the measure of people working part-time or well below their skill level – stands at nearly 17 percent, behind only Nevada and California. Since 2007, the state has lost over 3.4 percent of its jobs, a performance much worse than the national average and even California. ✧ “You have to wonder about the rhetoric of happiness,” suggests economist Bill Watkins, who predicts the state won't be back to 2007 employment levels till next year. “You need jobs for people to be happy, you would think.”

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CPI: The Not So “Cool School” Initiative

CASCADE POLICY INSTITUTE by Michael Bastasch - The Oregon “Cool Schools” Initiative (House Bill 2960) directs the Oregon Department of Energy to provide zero to low-interest loans and grants to school districts for energy efficiency building improvements. Governor John Kitzhaber, the bill’s main proponent, argues that HB 2960 will create healthier, more energy efficient schools and create jobs. However, given the propensity of government to overestimate the benefits of its programs while completely understating the costs, the economic impacts of HB 2960 most likely will yield the opposite results of what Gov. Kitzhaber claims.

Luckily, Oregon has a case study in Washington State... Read more at CPI. Read More......

OR House approves creation of health insurance exchange, coverage for all

THE OREGONIAN, 06/07/2011 posted by Bill Graves

he Oregon House today gave final passage to a bill that will create a government-regulated health insurance marketplace called an exchange, extending coverage to nearly all residents. Senate Bill 99, which creates the Oregon Health Insurance Exchange as a public corporation governed by a nine-member board, passed easily by a 48-to-12 vote this afternoon. The bill is on its way to the desk of Gov. John Kitzhaber, a supporter, for his signature. Rep. Jim Thompson, R-Dallas, co-chair of the House Health Care Committee, introduced the bill during a 30-minute debate and noted that the federal government will create a health insurance exchange for Oregon if the state doesn't build its own. Read moreat OregonLive...

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Tracking Gov. Kitzhaber's campaign promises

OREGONLIVE.COM, 1/8/2011 by Ryan Kost, The Oregonian - During the campaign for governor, John Kitzhaber made more than a couple promises to the voters. By our count, he made at least 34 of them. Over the next four years, PolitiFact Oregon reporters will be tracking whether he keeps those promises. Read more at Oregonlive... Read More......