Would you like some anti-convulsants or mood stabilizers to go with your water?

Clean, pure, and unpoisoned drinking water is a basic human need.....and right. It's a need and right we strive to bring to people all over the world and work hard at attaining for those in poverty-stricken third-world countries.

But do we even have it here?

An AP article published in my local newspaper this morning says that no, we don't. And not only have our drinking water supplies been proven to contain traces of major pharmaceuticals, there is absolutely no legislation requiring water treatment plants to test for these pharmaceuticals, or even do anything about it.

"A five-month-long inquiry by the AP National Investigative Team found that many communities do not test for the presence of drugs in drinking water, and those that do often fail to tell customers that they have found trace amounts of medications, including antibiotics, anti-convulsants, mood stabilizers and sex hormones.

As part of its effort, the AP surveyed 62 metropolitan areas and 52 smaller cities, reporting on positive test results in 24 major cities, serving 41 million Americans. Since release of the AP investigation, other communities and researchers have been disclosing previously unreleased local results, positive or negative.

In Yuma, Ariz., for example, city spokesman Dave Nash said four pharmaceuticals — an antibiotic, an anti-convulsant, an anti-bacterial and caffeine — have been detected in that city's drinking water. In Denver, where the AP had reported undisclosed antibiotics had been detected, a Colorado State University professor involved in water screening there e-mailed the names of 12 specific drugs that had been detected."

What ever happened to just a plain old wedge of lemon to flavor our water?

Freakish Wind Storm

A truly freakish wind storm just blew through here. It had been breezy and gusty today, but because our house is built into a hill that rises behind us in the North - we usually don't experience strong wind. I was on the phone with a friend when out of the blue I noticed it was getting tremendously windy. I noticed things flying by the windows and got a funny feeling so I hung up the phone (sorry to the friend!) and yelled for Tim to come quickly, and just like that I looked out the window to see poles and trees bending and got to watch our big, beautiful 50' pine tree uprooted like it was a dandelion.

I am incredibly sad. Our pine tree was a dear friend that provided hours of shelter and fun beneath it's beautiful bows....

It's Becoming a Scarier and Scarier World

I am duking it out on a message board with some other moms right now. We are having a rather vehement argument about a recent incident at an Ohio public charter school in which a 6yr-old was suspended for having a mohawk haircut. Administration officials claim that the haircut violated their dress code, but I read that dress code from their website and it says nothing about mohawks being prohibited. Merely states that "grooming practices" cannot "materially interfere or disrupt" the educational program.

It seems, the majority opinion on this message board is that is a perfectly acceptable move for the administration of this school to make. And that is truly shocking and downright scary to me. When did it become okay for our government to tell us how we should and shouldn't cut our children's hair?

This is a public charter school - which means that while it is an option available to parents in lieu of the standard public school down the road their children would normally attend, it is still a public school subject to the same non-discrimination laws, regulations, legislation, etc. as that standard public school down the road.

And this is clearly discrimination. Though the moms on this message board would have me believe that a mohawk haircut is disruptive and distracting to the point that the rest of the class will be unable to learn anything because of little Johnny's haircut - I don't buy it. Not for a single second. Frankly, I think 6yr-old's would find boogers in someone's nose far more "distracting and disruptive" than a haircut because of the perfect mocking material dangling snot makes in that age group.

Perhaps we should start banning kids from producing snot now in order for them to attend the local public school?


In the spirit of civil disobedience and rebellion against this type of government control, I am posting the picture of my currently mohawked child. I realize that it makes more sense to civilly disobey and rebel by sending a mohawked child to school - but we homeschool precisely so we can avoid government control over our family, so the best I can do is post it here.