This could have been me....

Being the bull at a gate that I am and relentless advocate of the rights of my children. A friend sent this to me and says specialist teachers throughout the Ed Dept are applauding this action

Lets hope they get more out of her than I did after a FOUR month wait for a reply. This is one of the very reasons my son would have been left high and dry in a public school, even though we had to fight, at least he gets some funding. SLD's cannot be lumped into the English as Second language ( ESL) cart and bundled into one lot of funding, teachers are not speech pathologists nor should they be expected to add the child's speech requirement s to the curriculum. SLDs are notjust a language issue but lead to learning issues, social issues and the education department has a obligation to be proactive in this area, not reactive a decade later when you have a 15 year old with the reading level of a 6 year old.
Although the line taken by the schools is that they only have "an obligation to see a child has Grade one reading and comprehension levels" ( as told to my friend by her child teacher and principal)
What hope have kids like this got???
I wish them every success and notice that our tax dollars are being spent on a QC for the Dept of Ed and Ms Allen, who probably will send a lackey to attend as she never seems answerable to anything on a individual basis.

How Come?

Some salient thoughts I have been pondering in my moments of oddity, which some may argue are many.

How come the dentists; whose face they cannot show on television in the toothbrush ads, always brush their teeth after a shower with only a towel around them?

How come the same dentists always have bathrooms that resembles something out of Design Digest?

Why is it that my 9 year old can sing all the lyrics and know all the dance steps to just about every song in "High School Musical" but struggles to remember to hand her school bank book in?

Why is it that when you go in the express line at the supermarket, that the person in front always has an item without a price or a fruit or vegetable the cashier doesn't recognise?

Why, when you are always in a hurry, do you get a nana/pops Volvo driver attempting to paralell park in a space the car will not fit into without a shoehorn and 10 litres of lubricant?

Why do you always see sports cars in the "Parents With Prams" parking spots, with no child seat or room for a pram?

How come your kids will always get their good clothes dirty 5 minutes before you have to leave for somewhere and all the washing is still in the machine?

How come you dog will always decides to give you a welcome home kiss after he has been chewing on a week old bone and has been digging holes?

Why doesn't the kid in the Subway ad; who drinks all the milk so he can have a Subway brekky; have toast instead or fruit?

I'm being silly, I know, but what are you for reading it all.........................

Caninism

This is the beginning of dog owners fighting for the right to be allowed their lifestyle choices. For too long the rights of the so called, thinking species, has outweighed the rights of the "poor dumb" animal who was once seen and a worker, friend and protector who; now due the media hype and the minority of iditotic owners, pet shops and backyard breeders; have been reliquished to backyards, enclosed runs and designated off lead areas.
Local government act in adjunct subjectivity, legislation is passed without community consultation and as a knee jerk reaction, the erosion of the rights of the responsible people in the community are eroded and gradually abolished.
Breed Specific Legislation ( BSL) is a prime example ,as it is without reason nor justification, it is based on the premise that a certain breed of dog attacks ipso facto that breed is a danger and needs to be outlawed. JUDGE THE DEED NOT THE BREED. The issue should be a case by case scenario not linked implicitly to one or six or whatever breeds. If we are allowed to judge and legislate on such issues, based on appearances, what next? "All Muslims believe in jihad, all Koories are welfare dependent"...You can argue that it is different with humans, we don't judge and label like that, but many of society already have with the two tradgic stereotypical comments I quoted.
Dogs were once seen as a right of passage for each child, now there are children growing up without dogs ;a very sad indictment on our world it seems. Dogs once wondered the street in which we lived and played cricket with us, followed us on our bikes and walked us to school. Yes, some of us got bitten and there was always the dog behind the gate at no 8 that barked and was a nasty bastard, but that was life.
Now we live in such litigious times that even to look at someone the wrong way can insight an attempted assault charge, let alone a dog might bark in their direction ( dangerous dog) or jump at them for a pat ( dog attack). We forget that we have denied children the passage of growing up with dogs and we forget that dogs are not as socialised as they were when we were young. As the owner, handler and trainer of many dogs over the majority of my life I can vouch for the difficulty faced by dog owners in socializing and acclimatising dogs to much of what was learnt "on the hoof" when out and about in the past. Responsible owners socialise and acclimatise their dogs, some owners do not have the time nor the knowledge; this does not make them necessarily irresponsible, just un aware.
Then we have the children who have grown up without dogs but who love them just the same, they run up to the dog who only walks to the shop to get the paper with his elderly owner and hey, presto, you have a dog attack and a dangerous dog label.
It amazes me that the proactive instead of reactive approach has not been taken more often, yes, the Responsible Pet ownership program is funded by dog and cat registrations and is active in schools upon request, programs such as these should be COMPULSORY.
For these reasons, for my children's right to own a dog, for my freedom of lifestyle choice and for the future of endangered breeds, I annouce myself a Caninist.

Bruce Springsteen & Melissa Etheridge Thunder Road

Pure stardust, pure magic, PEFECTION

Melissa Etheridge Sophie Hawkins Duet - Damn I Wish...

Now if only Bono and Melissa would duet on Elvis's "Suspicious Minds"......