A little while ago, my 3-year-old boy hurt his elbow. We were playing around, and suddenly he experienced pain. He had had Nursemaid's Elbow before, two years ago, so I knew what this was (and yes, I should have been a bit more careful). Nursemaid's Elbow is a common incident where a little child's elbow becomes slightly dislocated.

We went to the ER to have it fixed. All it takes is a certain controlled movement of the elbow--you turn the palm up, make the hand into a fist, then push and completely bend the elbow. That pops it right back in and the pain is instantly gone. There isn't even any swelling involved.

We spent six (6!) hours in the ER.

Today, the Oregonian published a story on a little boy who was just treated in an operation unlike any that was ever performed before.  It happened here in Oregon, at the Oregon Health & Science University ("OHSU").  And the hope that the little boy and his family now have are thanks to stem cell research.

I sincerely hope that this boy's story, which choked me up (hey, I'm a dad, and soft-hearted at that) for all the right reasons, will be widely publicized throughout the nation to show people just what stem cell research can do.  Not in the abstract, but for specific people with specific diseases.  Like Daniel and his Batten disease.

This diary deals with the specific facts in Oregon, where utilities have collected hundreds of millions of dollars in electric rates for income taxes that they never paid to the government.  However, these utility income tax scams are done on a national level. Several states have taken action to close this loophole, however, many have yet to recognize the extent of the problem. I urge you to do some research for your state with regards to your utility and see if you, too, are being scammed.

This is also a diary in favor of voting for Ted Kulongoski. While I am not 100% impressed with his overall performance, Ron Saxton would deliver a devastating blow to Oregon's regulatory environment that could derail efforts to protect consumers from the kind of utility scam that I'm talking about.  In the legislature, the efforts to protect utility customers like you and me are driven by Sen. Metsger and Sen. Walker, which is further proof that we need to strongly support our Democratic representatives that will fight against big interests, including utilities.