Just Ramblings, Now With Pictures

No, we are not striking a pose. We are striking, however, to not wear that skirt. All I heard today at church and after church and after nap and after dinner was, "I di-dent wanna wear dat outpit." Or "You made me wear dat and I di-dent want to." My sister, Godloveher, picks up the cutest outfits for G but her belief in child rearing is a bit different than mine. Rather maybe I should say I am lazier than she is when it comes to clothing on children.

See my niece would balk at an outfit picked out by my sister only once then she would wear it thanks to the smack on the leg. G balks and balks and continues on ad nausea and knows she can wear me down smack or no smack. We attempt compromise but her compromise is this- you don't make me wear that and I will let you escape my wrath, mkay? I am too tired to fight the clothing battle; plus I know what it is like to not want to wear something only to be forced so I just don't.

So my sis picks up skirts or skorts and G refuses to wear them. I also get the "You shouldn't give her opinions, bad mommy" comments from her and my mom. So this morning I struck a deal that I have yet to live down. This deal was that after this pic and wearing it to church she will never have to wear the skirt again, AMEN! Anyway these were the best pics I got because in her strike, she refused to smile.

I asked her why she doesn't like to wear skirts and her answer was, "It makes me jealous with people." I asked her if she knew what jealous meant and she said no. I asked if she thought people were jealous of her looking cute and she said yes. She can't stand for someone to point out how cute she is in her outfits. That is the bottom line, she doesn't like the attention. Anyway, the t-shirt is really cute with jeans so it is a keeper.

She told me also that "It would make you sad if you were me and you weared dis outpit." Yes she can come up with some sad faces too. And after church we had to go to wally'sworld for a new mattress pad because last night was the first really bad bed wetting accident (don't tell her I told you because she will be very embarrassed) and I had no way to change my whole bed (and good momma blogger took no pics). So I had to rig up the mattress pad with towels and baby mattress pad thingies. I decided we needed two mattress covers, one to stay clean at all times in case of bad accidents like last night.

I also must say I didn't get upset but here is a secret about me, if I have been asleep and am woken up I am overly emotional and want to cry. I caught myself feeling that lump in my throat last night. It is just pure exhaustion not for any reason other than being awake late.

Poor baby didn't mean to and I know it. I also have sympathy for her for I too was a bed-wetter, extremely heavy sleeper and could not wake up. G, I don't believe, is a bed wetter. For not wearing pull-ups to bed since August and having this only one major-sheet-changing-accident, I think she will not be classified as a bed-wetter.

Anyway, sorry about the bed wetting side track but I had to set the scene. While driving home from wallyworld, G fell asleep so hard that I put what I bought up, moved her from the car to the bed, made a tomato (and pepperoni pie), changed clothes, got in bed with her and we took a good two hour nap. No lunch in there. She was so tired, and a bit sick with a low grade temper temper, yeah! just in time for the holidays, snark.

Boxes are so much fun! These boxes became the center for play this evening before Grammie and Grandad picked her up for church. She sat in one and had a tea party on the other. She wondered where they came from (her Christmas came in them and no the gifts are not that big) but I of course told her I had no idea (and said it with a straight face). At age 4 she believes that, heh.

Oh Isn't That Cute?

One of our neighbors is a hunter and killed 6 ducks Friday morning. G was outside whild grandaddy put up the lights at our house when this hunter came home.

His little girl asked if G wanted to see the ducks. Then both of his girls (one older than G and one younger) touched the dead ducks which made G want to do so.

So I being a germaphobe really good mom said not in this lifetime she could and since I am a really good mom who blogs I had to take pics for the blog. Then I told her to touch nothing at all until we sterilized washed her hands.

As we were leaving the ducks she said, "Awww those are really cute." Then she asked why her grandad didn't hunt to which he replied (from the roof), "You have to get up to early to do that." hee hee.

Some Of G's Artwork

G drew a pic of a beach scene complete with sand, water, people, beach umbrella and beach ball. Since it was on the doodle pro I decided to document it with pics. Also she is showing her A+ sticker on her coloring pic and her pilgrim and Indian for one of many of her Thanksgiving pics.

She and Grandad put lights up on our house Friday morning. I was making coffee and getting ready to go to my parents where she spent the night. I looked up toward a noise I thought I heard and low and behold in walks G. Sort of startled me. She wants to spend another night there but doesn't want me to come out there. I am not sure why but she also wanted me to leave early Thanksgiving day. I left around 2ish and took a long nap, waking up to watch Holiday Inn and going back to bed to read until 11:30ish. Perfect holiday I say!

Strange G Conversations

Overheard while G looked at her picture we taped to the wall: "Oh yeah it's covered up wiff bwood." When I said, "What?" She broke out into hysterical laughter and an "Oh I am wired" comment. I keep forgetting to a four year old bodily fluids and gas are very funny!! Not sure what movie she got that from.

Then she started falling on purpose. Who gave her sugar? I know I didn't!! I think it is time for the go to sleep medicine!! Now she is spelling her name with her fridge leap frog alphabet. If any of you are waiting or expecting that leapfrog fridge alphabet system is wonderful!! I have no idea when she might out grow this but so far so good she has played with it for 3 years so far.

Typed on Wednesday evening before bedtime.

Enough!

"Black Friday took a grim turn when a Walmart employee in New York died after bargain hunters broke down the doors to the store.

The 34-year-old male employee was pronounced dead one hour after shoppers broke down the doors to the shopping center in Valley Stream, N.Y., and knocked him down at around 5 a.m. Friday, police said.

A 28-year-old pregnant woman was also taken in for observation and three other shoppers suffered minor injuries during the incident, police said."

Why? Why is it so important to ruin the holidays for that one low priced item? If you have to wait until the price drops on something, you probably don't need it anyway. Now a man is dead an three others were injured when shoppers couldn't wait to get into a store! Couldn't wait until the doors were actually opened? This needs to stop. Humans are more valuable than items even low priced ones. This is our world? killing people for stuff? Merry Christmas, huhn? Or rather Bah Humbug!

I am calling all Christians to come back to the reason for the season. I am calling all those who celebrate Christmas to think of others. I know I lamented my own inabilities to make G's Christmas sprakle-ie and bright. Thankfully she is not at the age to want and demand things; it is not her personality.

We can't keep up this materialistic view of Christmas or in general our lifestyles. Life is valuable. That 34 year old man had a family, he was a mother's son and now the day after Thanksgiving he is dead because people were so selfish and self interested they pushed the door in and killed him!! Nothing like a death to realize what this season should be about and that is life, family, and God (first). Even Hanukkah celebrates life and G-d's salvation in the saving of the Jews and restoring of the temple by the Maccabees.

Let's remember in all the stresses of this time the reasons we celebrate and say a prayer for this man's family through this time. If we didn't shop on Friday after Thanksgiving the stores wouldn't have a reason to rush on this day.

Attachment from the Adoption Seminar

A few weeks ago I attended an adoption seminar and was asked to post about the attachment section, so here it goes.

First, here are two links to the speaker and his school: David Cross and TCU child site

David Cross, Ph.D. co-authored the book The Connected Child with Dr. Karen Purvis.

First he talked about the behavior systems of the body which are 1) affiliative (egaging other humans other than attachment figures), 2)Exploratory system (works with #3), 3)attachment, and 4) fear weariness system (I hope I wrote that right b/c I can't read my writing).

In children you can see the systems work as the child with good attachment will use his attachment figure (mother or father) as the homebase from there to explore his world always using homebase as a barometer of his world.

He used the word Tapestry to define healthy attachment and said attachment is about emotions.

Truth- it is more important for a child to know what he feels rather than what he should feel. A child must learn to recognize emotions.

Attunement-works in unisome as a couple like child/mom. We had watched two short videos of a mom and child and watched the progress of the child measuring the mom for sign that it was safe to return to play.

Play is the method of operation and is safe. Play is the antetedote to fear meaning a child in fear will not step out and play. Play is very important for health.

Empathy towards your child remembering from where he comes. The legacy of fear is the driving force of all maladaptive behaviors in foster care and adoptions. Children will either become the center of the universe wreaking havoc (control) or withdraw from the universe

Trust is the manifistation of the above, built in attachment cycle.

Reafference is the feedback from effects of one's own actions- natural consequences. Dr. Cross recommends having "redo" until the child comes away successful in a positive interchange. (I started trying it with G until she said she didn't want a redo. Maybe it is the age?)

Yourself-Take care of yourself, get involved in the adoption community

Then he said that attachment tapestry is made of people, process, skills and changes:

of people babies can attache to 5 adults. It is better to have attached and lost than never to have attached.
of process- affecting, emotional, cognitive, behavioral
of skills- kids choose peers like their parents (good news y'all)
of changes- emmerges at 7 months, different at 1 than 2 etc.
Fundamentally about comfort and nurture in times of distress. And I shouldn't have waited so long to do this as I have forgotten what was said.
So I am going to use this and the first one I posted around the beginning of the month (too lazy to look) and submit it for our FCC newsletter!

Dennis Prager, Right Again

"Why Reporters -- and Judges and Professors -- Are Biased
by Dennis Prager

"That the news media were biased in the 2008 presidential election is now acknowledged by fair-minded people, left or right

"As Time Magazine’s Mark Halperin said this weekend at a Politico/USC Conference on the 2008 election: 'It's the most disgusting failure of people in our business. … It was extreme bias, extreme pro-Obama coverage.'

"Given how obvious this bias is, the question is not whether liberals in the media tend to offer biased reporting. The question is why? Why can’t liberal news people report the news without any slant?

"The answer is that for people on the left, all -- I repeat, all -- professions are a means to an end, not ends in themselves. That end is the social transformation of society, meaning the promoting of “social justice” as the left understands that term.

"For most liberal news reporters, therefore, the purpose of news reporting is not to report news as objectively as possible. The purpose of the media in general and of reporting specifically is to promote social justice and the social transformation of society.

"For most liberal judges, the primary purpose of being a judge is to promote social justice and transform society. That is why liberal judges are so much more likely to be judicial activists than conservative judges. Most liberal judges do not see their roles as merely adjudicating a dispute according to the law. They see their role primarily as using the law and their power to rule on the law to promote social justice.

"For most university professors -- and many high school teachers, as well -- outside of the natural sciences and math, the same holds true. The task of a teacher is to teach, i.e., to convey the most important information as honestly as possible. But, again, this conflicts with the social justice goal of the left. History teachers who merely teach history are of little use to the left.
History -- and English and political science, and sociology and other liberal arts -- teachers must use their classroom to produce young people who will wish to engage in society-transforming work for social justice.

"For most liberals in the arts (there are very few conservatives in the arts) there is no denial of their having an agenda. They state quite candidly that the purpose of the arts is to challenge the (conservative) status quo, to raise political and social consciousness by advancing a “progressive” political and social agenda. The artist whose agenda is merely to produce beautiful art is looked upon as a reactionary buffoon, and is not likely to be taken seriously -- no matter how talented -- in the worlds of music, dance, painting, and sculpture.

"Even the natural sciences are increasingly subject to being rendered a means to a “progressive” end. There was the pseudo-threat of heterosexual AIDS in America -- science manipulated in order to de-stigmatize AIDS as primarily a gay man’s disease and to increase funding for AIDS research. There are the exaggerated secondhand smoke data popularized so as to decrease smoking and fight “Big Tobacco.” And now we have the scientifically questionable belief in man-made carbon emissions causing global warming leading to natural catastrophe – and recommended “solutions” many of which, if adopted, will serve the goal of undermining corporate capitalism.

"The best analogy of the directing of all human endeavors toward a left-wing purpose would be those early medieval centuries of European life when just about everything man made was supposed to reflect a religious consciousness. Virtually nothing stood apart from the Church. The arts were religious, the sciences were handmaidens of theology, and schools were religious in nature.

"Most moderns look upon that period as a dark age -- perhaps a bit unfairly at times. But the people who most scorn what they deem the religious “Dark Ages” are trying to building a secular-left dark age in our time. Because the left is a religion, a substitute for the Christianity it seeks to displace."

Bold/Italics are blog admin's editorial addition.

Thanksgiving Miracle

Remember All Life Is Valuable!

"'Miracle' turnaround in Delaware euthanasia case

"The Alliance Defense Fund has reached a favorable settlement in a lawsuit that pitted a divorced father and mother against each another over whether their 24-year-old daughter should live.

"Lauren Richardson sustained a severe brain injury in August 2006, according to an Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) press release. The doctors then declared she would be in a "persistent vegetative state."

"ADF attorney Matt Bowman tells OneNewsNow Lauren's mother was fighting to have Lauren's feeding tube and water discontinued, but she had a change of heart. "The miracle inLauren Richardson's case is that both of her parents came to realize that life should be protected," he explains. 'It's inherently valuable, and just because Lauren has a severe disability doesn't mean that her life is not valuable.'

"Lauren's mother became a born-again Christian and visited her daughter at her hospital facility, which Bowman believes was quite eye-opening. 'And then an amazing thing happened,' he notes. 'She told Lauren that Lauren would be cared for, and Lauren started crying, and they cried together and she realized that her daughter was really there and was really responding.'

"Lauren was also responding to pain, music, family members' voices, touch, and assisted exercise. The parents have agreed to settle the case and share joint guardianship of Lauren.a'

Thank God (for He provided this miracle) she didn't end up like Terri Schaivo.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving to my bloggy friends. If you are traveling, do be careful and enjoy your time with your families.
This has become one of my favorite holidays of the year though I dislike the foods associated with it. It took a long time to come to this realization, and it seems that this Thanksgiving has a black cloud over my head for no discernible reason. I actually enjoy the time with family without the stress of pleasing people with gifts. It is a time to truly look to the One (and not "that one") Who has provided for us all year long with promise to never leave or forsake us.

As much as I have come to appreciate this holiday I have realized that this holiday also may be the holiday that has caused me the most grief when speaking of food. I am one of the most picky eaters around though I like things that my family doesn't like (so who really is the picky one, hmmm?). I have brought food to the family feasts in the past only to be met with disdain and totally full leftovers. So I don't bring food anymore or make cooking suggestions. Apparently my tastes are so well ahead of everyone else they can't enjoy the tasty morsels I bestow on their lowly taste buds ::snort::.

Family members tend to comment the most on what I do or do not eat and criticize my mom for buying different foods for me or fixing different foods for me. Never mind that I don't ask her to do this as I am just as quick to snack on chips, cheese or side dishes than to eat something set before me. For me it is the camaraderie of the season not the food so much. Mom also tends to mention to everybody that she has purchased different foods for me which doesn't help the situation.

The precedent of different but equal (foods that is) was set early as my paternal grandmother always made (along with the turkey dinner stuffs) a complete fried chicken meal with gravy/biscuits and mashed potatoes (ummm). And again family members, who would partake in both meals at the same time, always begrudged teased celebrated with me the fact that my grandmother mainly fixed both because I wouldn't eat the turkey stuffs. But lest you think I am so special, my grandmother made things for other family members too and yes, like is the custom, we picked on celebrated with them too.

Due to the traumatic comments as a child, now as a grown up I can't stand for people to mention or talk about what I do or do not eat or say something at all about what I am eating. This happens more frequently than you might imagine and it isn't because I eat such odd things. I really can't explain it other than an attempt of some to connect with me over food but due to circumstances unknown to the commenter, it drives me ape shi ite batty! One particular woman from a previous employment would come into the break room at lunch and always comment on what I brought for lunch. I really got to where I just wouldn't go when she was there. By comments I mean things like, "Oh that smells good, what is it?" "Umm hotdog?!?" heh.

So now we head into another Thanksgiving time of way too much food and about that much family and I am feeling a bit more stress. Oh and yes my mom did purchase the ham and cheese loaf, brand- oscar myer, for me, and she told some relative on the phone within my hearing. So I will have a sandwich of ham substance and cheese substance and chips being very Thankful that I am not having to eat the turkey dinner (but would have made due otherwise). And yes ham and cheese loaf is my fav sandwich meat, if you can call it that.

Oh and G doesn't like Turkey either she tells me and is quite glad that I don't either. Just one more way she and I connect in her mind. She will eat more on the table than I will, though. She is an excellent eater! Obviously not due to anything I have done as my mother also likes to point out, if I cooked she may eat more and even better. Harumph! I can only cook what I am in the mood for and cooking for one adult and one 4 year old is tres difficile!

G Conversations, Other Ramblings and YUCK!

School grade and school picture and yes she is in pink silk short set. Who knew. It was a hand-me-down from a cousin and I didn't pay that much attention, heh. At least she was changed into regular clothes after that.




Okay the YUCK first. I am sitting at the dining room table where I have the computer set up and the dog is under the table licking on my ankle, YUCK! Slimey dog tongue!!


Now on to the G Conversations:



Monday night G said she wanted to "Read my fova islands." If you want to make this a fun game, tell me what she meant and I will send you real live G "ark work" signed by her and everything.


G and I had a pre-Thanksgiving Chinese dinner tonight at the Chinese restaurant in town. At dinner G looked at me and said "Can you just not wait until I can show A how to swing on the tire swing?" Of course that is another month away!

Just said, "Guess what? When I get mahrwied (married) I'm gonna kiss."
Me: "You are?"
G: "Yes, that is what you do when you get mahrwied."

Since I was off work early I even got some Christmas shopping done, 4 puzzles, 3 activity books (clearance), 1 color book (clearance), a large sticker set and a loom (2.99) to make potholders and bracelets (do you remember those?). It is all in the back of the SUV away from peering eyes. Fred's dollar store had this all for under $20.

G is not very observant. When we came home last night there was a package at the door. She didn't see it and I convinced her to lets go in the back door to let the dog out (for no other reason than to let me hide the package because I think it is her race car set or legos, not sure) and she agreed without question. Ooo this Christmas maybe a snap! Two DVDs came in, and although she saw the packages she has all but forgotten them by now, heh!

Now the shopping for my last niece and nephew is not going well, meaning I have no idea what to get them. And at what feels like the last minute one sibling has asked to draw names for the grandkids cause they are flying in and I don't blame them but Thanksgiving is too late for some of us. The gifts I have gotten so far won't wait another year. I told them I didn't really care but half of the gifts were already purchased or made. I need a frame for the parents to put some pics of G in and I can call that done. The sibs are getting homemade ornaments from G and Me. Oh that could so be a great name of a store, G and Me. And I am copyrighting it right now, heh.

Mom's bday is Dec 1. This past spring when I still had renter's I got 10 peony bushes (on sale from a flower mag she gets) so 5 of those were hers and 5 mine. G will make her a card and I am calling that one done too! I am going to start (have started) addressing the Christmas cards. I will know after getting them addressed how many extra I have and if you are interested I can send one. I may end up with 20 or 30 cards. I well over ordered but got a really good deal on cards this year from Shutterfly.

Two more holidays to get through and her A Year in the Life of G book for her SWI will be completed. I will order one for us eventually and pair it down a bit for the SWI, I mean they don't need pages of pics of the animals from the zoo do they?

Okay, now my car has been smelling like burning rubber after I drive it. So since I was off early today I stopped by a garage (closed) then the oil change place. I went in and said, "I don't want an oil change but can you tell me what in my car is making it smell like burning rubber?" The mechanic (manager I think), said he couldn't smell anything since he was a smoker and "maybe you should take up smoking." I kid you not. He told me I should take up smoking so I can't smell the burning rubber!!! Anyway, two other mechanics couldn't smell it either and so I went ahead and got the air filter changed because it needed it and has for at least a year, oops.

Wednesday and Why I Like Third Thing

For those of you who are newish to the blog, Third Thing is a reference to the third employment opportunity I have had since leaving the psychologically damaging place in 2006 (not including the job I left pd for). And today is Wednesday the day before Thanksgiving. And Third Thing is giving us the day off at 3pm if our workload is finished. And despite my addiction to blogs, I am actually finished for the day! YEE HAW!

Can I just tell you how happy that makes me? I am going to go get a latte/breve and sit a spell to soak in the wonderfulness of this place. Though there are a few things that could be bad so far I am extremely happy to take any day or hour off work early!!

Ken Connor Shares Wise Words On Paulson's Ignorance

"But Regulation IS a Good Thing
by Ken Connor
"Do to others as you would have them do to you." (Luke 6:31 NIV)

"Henry Paulson, Secretary of the Treasury and Chief Architect of the Wall Street Bailout, is dazed and confused. At least, that's the conclusion one can't help but arrive at after reading the recent two part story on him run by the Washington Post. The Post portrays Paulson as flip-flopping on his previous economic beliefs and making it up as he goes, all while aggregating an immense amount of power. Apparently many of Paulson's former colleagues are shocked by his quick reversal from a hard-nosed advocate of deregulation to a proponent of massive government intervention. One hedge fund manager mused, 'What happened to the Hank Paulson we knew?'

"What will be the outcome of Paulson's efforts to inject massive governmental involvement in the financial markets? Even he doesn't claim to know. But one thing is clear: Paulson's understanding of the markets he now seeks to short circuit is flawed because he ignores the importance of social ethics.

"The term "market" has been bandied about often of late by members of the chattering class in Washington, D.C. and New York City. It is a "catch-phrase" for libertarians who put all their faith in unregulated markets and for liberals who want government to control the markets. What both sides fail to recognize is that the "market" is nothing more than the sum of individual human transactions in the marketplace. The responsibility for our current economic meltdown does not lie with some amorphous "market system" or a few obscure, but powerful, CEOs. No, the real responsibility lies with the myriad transactions of the millions of people who make up our economy.

"In the aggregate, these transactions involve buying, selling, and trading. Each individual transaction is fraught will moral implications. All parties to a transaction have a moral responsibility to deal fairly and honestly with each other. The failure to live up to this responsibility on a massive scale has led to the crisis that now befuddles Secretary Paulson and threatens to be America's economic undoing.

"It is easy to get bogged down in the complex details of possible "fix it" plans, but the root of our economic troubles is clear: People are selfish and greedy—they often ignore the good of their fellow man in pursuit of their own economic gain. Old-fashioned dishonesty in business gave birth to our current disaster.

"We should not be surprised by rampant selfishness and dishonesty. The Founders were well aware of human corruption when they were establishing our political system. James Madison understood the nature of man, declaring, "If men were angels, no government would be necessary." Since men are quite obviously not angels, they require the help of government in maintaining justice and fairness. But no economic or political system can produce justice if the culture as a whole ceases to care about these virtues. No system can be superimposed on culture which will magically produce justice out of corruption. If the hearts of the people turn from justice and they refuse to embrace the Golden Rule, no governmental system can check or balance that corruption. Once the broad-based cultural rot of individualism and moral relativism sets in, justice and honesty will crumble and our markets will not be the only thing to suffer.

"The best check on injustice is to be found in the shared values of local society. When the people who make up communities generally agree on proper standards of conduct, the few who would violate those standards feel the opprobrium of the entire community. Often the force of shame itself can restrain avarice. As the sense of local, shared morality degenerates, however, the external force of government becomes necessary to fill the void. When selfishness and relativism tear apart our social fabric, chaos ensues. And since people will not live in chaos, they inevitably look to the government to reestablish order.

"The late theologian Harold O.J. Brown understood this point well when he wrote, "We may say quite simply, the greater the individual responsibility shown, the less the need for government controls. Where responsibility fades into nothingness, controls become absolute. To the extent that citizens assume responsibility in society, the government can leave them free from elaborate controls." People need order, and that order will either come from within or without.

"For too long in our Republic, too many Americans accepted no-holds-barred, laissez-faire business dealings. They refused to regulate themselves. "Let the buyer beware" became the mantra, and we are seeing the fallout from dishonesty and selfishness. Now those same people are crying for the government to save them. Financial players like Secretary Paulson, who once touted absolute deregulation, now want to impose stringent controls. People like Paulson seem to be without guiding moral principles. They drift like a ship without a rudder. In the end, their only goal is their own self-preservation.

"A truly free market requires honesty and transparency on all sides of any transaction. Unwritten cultural rules are the bastion and preserver of freedom. Self-regulation by the participants is the best way to preserve a free market. But when community standards disappear, government inevitably steps in to quell the chaos. Neither markets nor people can truly be free unless they govern themselves. To the extent they fail to do so, government will have to do it for them."

Intolerant Prop 8 Opposition Rears Its Ugly Head Yet Again

"Benton Out of Shape on Proposition Eight
by Mike S. Adams

"Pepperdine University President Andrew Benton recently interjected himself into a controversy concerning a commercial in support of California Proposition 8. His ostensible purpose in doing so was to quell a wave of outrage from radical gay activists in California. If anything, his actions will embolden those who prefer intellectual terrorism over civil political discourse as a means of shaping public policy. His actions will also further diminish the reputation of Pepperdine as a conservative Christian university.

"The controversy began when Law Professor Richard Peterson appeared in the following television ad.

"President Benton responded with the following:

'I want to provide an update on an issue that weighs heavily on many of our minds: encouraging academic freedom while refraining from political endorsement by Pepperdine University. As most are aware, Yes on 8 ads airing on television and radio feature one of our professors. The Pepperdine name is prominently displayed in the current round of ads and many vocal supporters and opponents of Prop 8 see the opinions expressed as not only the professor's, but Pepperdine's as well.

'Many of our professors write op-eds, books and give speeches; and they are appropriately identified with Pepperdine University. My first reaction to this series of television ads was that Pepperdine was too prominent. Many on the faculty disagreed, some agreed strongly. At the faculty conference I learned that a disclaimer would satisfy the professor and others who were involved. We offered language that was simple and clear, and while we knew the firestorm would continue in some quarters, we felt a straightforward disclaimer would allow the professor his right to speak and our right to remain outside any role of endorsement in the political fray. The next day, I learned that the professor and those promoting Proposition 8 preferred to withdraw Pepperdine's name completely. We agreed. It was a change from a position announced just the day before, but it seemed a stronger measure and appropriate.

'Just prior to running a second ad, the campaign announced to us that in their opinion it would be more effective if Pepperdine's name was back in. They added a disclaimer, albeit so small and bare, that most do not see it. It was not the language which we had suggested. They did not ask us; they told us what they were going to do, and they did it.

'Without any involvement in the campaign, Pepperdine has been lionized and vilified. We have been given credit where it is not due and blamed beyond anyone's wildest imaginings. I, and perhaps many of you, continue to receive words of praise and condemnation from people who are either thanking us, or sharply criticizing us. Whether the writers are for or against Prop 8, I take no comfort from either position as it puts us where we don't belong -- in partisan politics.'

'President Benton has made - if you have not yet detected it – a gross error in characterizing the Proposition 8 controversy as one involving “partisan politics.” Proposition 8 passed in California because virtually every Republican and a very sizeable proportion of Democrats supported a reaffirmation of the simple belief that marriage should be confined only to the union of one man and one woman. The fact that measures like Proposition 8 always win when subjected to popular vote – even in the most liberal states – shows just how un-controversial the issue really is.

"Just as the issue of the definition of marriage not partisan, it is not even political in the truest sense of the word. Just as God created man and woman, God also created the institution of marriage. Therefore, God alone has the power to define marriage. No one who disagrees with that simple principle can rightly define himself as a Christian. And no university that retreats from that principle can rightly define itself as Christian. The issue could hardly be less confusing or less controversial.

"But Andrew Benton simply cannot think his way through this very simple issue. When, during the commercial, Professor Peterson’s affiliation with Pepperdine was (briefly) displayed beneath his name it was not seen by anyone as an endorsement of Proposition 8 by the university. It was seen by fringe gay radicals as an opportunity to vilify a Christian university for having the audacity to employ a professor who holds traditional Christian beliefs.

"But too much emphasis has been placed on the supposed black eye given to Pepperdine in the wake of the Proposition 8 commercial controversy. President Benton should be far more concerned with what has happened to Professor Peterson’s reputation than what has happened to Pepperdine’s.

"Indeed, Professor Peterson, who does legal advocacy for handicapped children, has been branded as a pedophile by opponents of Proposition 8. This defamation was done in the name of tolerance by those claiming intolerance of hatred. The story is just too strange to pass for fiction.

"There are only three appropriate ways to respond to the gay lunatics who attacked Pepperdine and Professor Peterson: 1) Sue for defamation every gay activist who has accused Peterson of pedophilia. 2) Arrest for trespassing anyone who bothers Professor Peterson at his place of work. 3) Shoot and kill anyone who comes to Professor Peterson’s home to cause physical harm to him or to any member of his family.

"What is not appropriate is trying to appease these radicals. Gay activists are never satisfied and they are never happy. It is far better to side with their opponents. That way, a majority of people (Remember: Proposition 8 supporters are a majority) could have been satisfied. By trying to please everyone, Benton has succeeded in pleasing very few people in the short term.

"And the long term consequences of riding the fence on this issue are far worse. As you read the final three paragraphs of President Benton’s mass email to all faculty and students at Pepperdine, try to imagine what those long term effects will be:

'This is a very challenging situation. We believe that the right to freedom of expression must be balanced with the fact that universities cannot endorse political candidates and propositions. We can host debates, we can educate, but we can't endorse.

'We regret when anyone supposes that we are inappropriately involved in a political issue when we are not. We will take whatever measures we deem appropriate to correct the misunderstanding. I will be writing to alumni and donors to explain the delicate nature of the balance we strike. We must not chill the right to free expression, but we must also avoid the appearance (intended or not) of political partisanship.

'You can be of service to our institution by helping us clear up this confusion with those who may ask. I appreciate your understanding, your assistance and your patience.'

"President Benton could be of greater service to his institution if he only knew something about the nature of gay political advocacy. The idea is to attack all Christians and Christian institutions expressing agreement with the Bible’s very clear teachings on homosexuality. When they are ignored they go away. When they are taken seriously they come back.

"Because the Gaystapo has successfully gotten under the skin of Andrew Benton, Pepperdine’s days as a Christian university are numbered. And the number of places where parents can send their children for a Christian education is shrinking."

Scattegories

SCATTERGORIES. ..it's harder than it looks! Use the 1st letter of your name to answer each of the following. They have to be real places, names, things…nothing made up! You CAN'T use your name for the boy/girl name question.

WHAT IS YOUR NAME: Beverly
BOY NAME: Bob
4 LETTER WORD: barn
GIRL NAME: Bella
OCCUPATION: belly dancer
A COLOR: blue
SOMETHING YOU WEAR: britches
BEVERAGE: beer
FOOD: bread
SOMETHING FOUND IN A BATHROOM: brush
A PLACE : Bloomington, IN
REASON FOR BEING LATE: Bank Holdup
SOMETHING YOU SHOUT: Bam!

Your Turn:

Okay, This Is Very Scary To Know Just How Uninformed Obama Supporters Are

This is ridiculous. We are in the beginning of a long 4 years and what a dark dank place it will be. Thanks main stream media for bringing in the "light" that will put out freedom's fire in our country. I only respect the office of president but I don't respect the president elect who is so not humble he had his own pres-elect seal created. Oh US we are in such trouble.

Atheism Has a Long Road to Hoe Or Grasping For Straw

"When Science Points To God
by Dinesh D'Souza

"Contemporary atheism marches behind the banner of science. It is perhaps no surprise that several leading atheists—from biologist Richard Dawkins to cognitive psychologist Steven Pinker to physicist Victor Stenger—are also leading scientists. The central argument of these scientific atheists is that modern science has refuted traditional religious conceptions of a divine creator.

"But of late atheism seems to be losing its scientific confidence. One sign of this is the public advertisements that are appearing in billboards from London to Washington DC. Dawkins helped pay for a London campaign to put signs on city buses saying, “There’s probably no God. Now stop worrying and enjoy your life.” Humanist groups in America have launched a similar campaign in the nation’s capital. “Why believe in a god? Just be good for goodness sake.” And in Colorado atheists are sporting billboards apparently inspired by John Lennon: 'Imagine…no religion.'

"What is striking about these slogans is the philosophy behind them. There is no claim here that God fails to satisfy some criterion of scientific validation. We hear nothing about how evolution has undermined the traditional “argument from design.” There’s not even a whisper about how science is based on reason while Christianity is based on faith.

"Instead, we are given the simple assertion that there is probably no God, followed by the counsel to go ahead and enjoy life. In other words, let’s not let God and his commandments spoil all the fun. “Be good for goodness sake” is true as far as it goes, but it doesn’t go very far. The question remains: what is the source of these standards of goodness that seem to be shared by religious and non-religious people alike? Finally John Lennon knew how to compose a tune but he could hardly be considered a reliable authority on fundamental questions. His “imagine there’s no heaven” sounds visionary but is, from an intellectual point of view, a complete nullity.

"If you want to know why atheists seem to have given up the scientific card, the current issue of Discover magazine provides part of the answer. The magazine has an interesting story by Tim Folger which is titled “Science’s Alternative to an Intelligent Creator.” The article begins by noting “an extraordinary fact about the universe: its basic properties are uncannily suited for life.” As physicist Andrei Linde puts it, 'We have a lot of really, really strange coincidences, and all of these coincidences are such that they make life possible.'

"Too many “coincidences,” however, imply a plot. Folger’s article shows that if the numerical values of the universe, from the speed of light to the strength of gravity, were even slightly different, there would be no universe and no life. Recently scientists have discovered that most of the matter and energy in the universe is made up of so-called “dark” matter and “dark” energy. It turns out that the quantity of dark energy seems precisely calibrated to make possible not only our universe but observers like us who can comprehend that universe.

"Even Steven Weinberg, the Nobel laureate in physics and an outspoken atheist, remarks that “this is fine-tuning that seems to be extreme, far beyond what you could imagine just having to accept as a mere accident.” And physicist Freeman Dyson draws the appropriate conclusion from the scientific evidence to date: 'The universe in some sense knew we were coming.'

"Folger then admits that this line of reasoning makes a number of scientists very uncomfortable. 'Physicists don’t like coincidences.' 'They like even less the notion that life is somehow central to the universe, and yet recent discoveries are forcing them to confront that very idea.'

"There are two hurdles here, one historical and the other methodological. The historical hurdle is that science has for three centuries been showing that man does not occupy a privileged position in the cosmos, and now it seems like he does. The methodological hurdle is what physicist Stephen Hawking once called “the problem of Genesis.” Science is the search for natural explanations for natural phenomena, and what could be more embarrassing than the finding that a supernatural intelligence transcending all natural laws is behind it all?

"Consequently many physicists are exploring an alternative possibility: multiple universes. This is summed up as follows: “Our universe may be but one of perhaps infinitely many universes in an inconceivably vast multiverse.” Folger says that “short of invoking a benevolent creator” this is the best that modern science can do. For contemporary physicists, he writes, this “may well be the only viable nonreligious explanation” for our fine-tuned universe.

"The appeal of multiple universes—perhaps even an infinity of universes—is that when there are billions and billions of possibilities, then even very unlikely outcomes are going to be realized somewhere. Consequently if there was an infinite number of universes, something like our universe is certain to appear at some point. What at first glance seems like incredible coincidence can be explained as the result of a mathematical inevitability.

"The only difficulty, as Folger makes clear, is that there is no empirical evidence for the existence of any universes other than our own. Moreover, there may never be such evidence.
That’s because if there are other universes, they will operate according to different laws of physics than the ones in our universe, and consequently they are permanently and inescapably inaccessible to us. The article in Discover concludes on a somber note. While some physicists are hoping the multiverse will produce empirical predictions that can be tested, 'for many physicists, however, the multiverse remains a desperate measure ruled out by the impossibility of confirmation.'

"No wonder atheists are sporting billboards asking us to “imagine…no religion.” When science, far from disproving God, seems to be pointing with ever-greater precision toward transcendence, imagination and wishful thinking seem all that is left for the atheists to count on."


It takes more faith to be an atheist than to believe in a Creator. Man is the special creation of this Creator made in His image. Genesis is the foundation of faith without it nothing can be believed in the Bible.

G Conversations

Our conversation in church Sunday morning:

G: "What are dey doin'?" (about the acolytes)
Me: "They are bringing in the light of the Lord for worship."
G: "Well, can I just have the brai-ed not the dip?"
Me: ?? "Oh you mean communion? You can't have either yet."
G: "I know what you are talkin' about, the brai-ed and the medcine."
Me: "Yeah I am talking about the bread and the medicine (grape juice) and you can't have them until you are older and understand."

Did you ever think the grape juice looked like medicine? It does in the communion cups sort of, heh.

Friday Morning and Other Ramblings

Let me tell you what happened Friday morning. When I got up and headed to the kitchen I smelled something electrical and heard something not good. The dishwasher that I had started the night before got stuck in cycle and basically for all intents and purposes almost caught fire. I am not sure how much longer it would have gone without erupting. The little dial-y timer thingy stopped working. I think that is the mechanism that tells the dishwasher to do the next thing and if it gets stuck well, there you go.

Now let me tell you, I am a a lot wee bit paranoid of the house catching fire anyway. I think I inherited my grandmother's fear of that. We are living in her re-done house as it is. I am mainly afraid of losing my pictures, videos (of G), her COC (um yeah it should be at the bank in a lock box), did I mention pictures? Not to mention my souvenirs from all of the places I have visited. I can't imagine losing my pictures and souvenirs!! Everything with sentimental value is what I do not want to lose.

Anyway, I was a lot wee bit freaked out about it. And the dishwasher baked the soap scum onto my stainless steel French press that I use every morning. Now it looks ugly. Tell me what to clean stainless steel with?

And Friday night (when I am actually typing this) I almost killed my dog with an absent minded dumb move. I dumped my chicken bones in the trash without even thinking. The dog got it out and ate every bone. Chicken bones split and can stick in the throat of dogs. How stupid was that? I didn't even notice how excited she got when I did that. She knew immediately what I was doing! I can't be out smarted by a dog; I already am by the 4 year old.

Third Thing update that is well overdue. So the company where I am currently employed is owned by 4 guys. One is the money only and in it by name only. Three others actually work there. One is the operations guy and took back over the financial area. One is only supposed to do admin stuff and get standard operating procedures in order and one is the sales guy. So the operations guy is sort of a tough, harley riding, navy vet, dude. He is nice enough but seems to like to stir stuff up a bit. The sales guy is rarely there and the admin guy was my boss then wasn't my boss but I still deal with him on a regular basis.

Anyway, the operations guy has been out due to a surgery. Today he came back just for a bit. There is an office girl who is young and immature but she believes she is his favorite (and may well be). So she decorates his door today with color printed pics off the Internet of Harley's and other pics. Well one of the pics was of a for all intents and purposes a nekkid woman on a harley. Oh yes she did. See what I mean about immature? She even told him not to take the pic home because his wife might not appreciate it. Now I am just thinking and I really could be wrong, but if you have to tell someone not to take it home b/c of the spouse, do you really think it would be appropriate to put on the door of an office?!?!?!?

I e-mailed him and asked (not quite so innocently) why he had a "na*ked woman" on the door. I wanted him to know without saying so how offended I was by it. And yes I was. And wanted to point out how ridiculous that was on a door of a CEO (which he is). I wasn't so much bothered by the whole decorations or idea of welcome back decorations until I saw that one. The company is small right now, but receptionists usually don't have that kind of access to the office doors of CEOs. If you want a large professional company then you have to encourage everyone to act in a professional manner!!
And everyone pretty much scoots out on Fridays well before 5pm. I know I am late in the mornings (but that was my employment agreement) but I do make my time up over lunch because I rarely go out. I work late some evenings and eat lunch at my desk working (or reading blogs) so I am not the job police or the professional police. I do get my stuff done though and wouldn't dream of putting up nekkid pics of women (scantily clad males now that is a different story, heh). But really, no skin please-male or female in a place of business. Save that for your own home!

Other than that, 3rd thing is going well and I am kind of liking it. We did have one GAWD AWWFUL payroll last week while I was training my "backup" where he didn't have all the appropriate security needed to actually process all of the checks nor did he have the appropriate access to sign (computer sign) the checks so over 500 checks were printed without signatures! Oh yes they were. That sent me into a slight tizzy because it appeared to me that if one of the owners wants someone to back me then they needed to have figured out what security level was needed to do this.

Book Meme

Mrs. Broccoli Guy tagged me for a book meme. I am truly honored to be tagged by this conservative blogging mom. And she even has a new spot for us conservative mom's to hang out (on the web of course). Go check it out. Okay so the book meme.

The rules are very simple:
1. Grab the nearest book.
2. Open it to page 56.
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the text of the sentence in your journal along with these instructions.
5. Don’t dig for your favorite book, the cool book, or the intellectual one: pick the CLOSEST.

Lynn Truss' "Talk to the Hand"
p. 56, line 5: "...court, but we can't manage without it. We implode..."

Now for the tagging of three other people: Supermommy, Everyday Mom Designs, and Life with Kerri. Now if you would like to do this because you believe a particular book you are reading is good, go ahead and leave your link in the comments.

The Treatment of EHarmony Is Wrong On So Many Levels As Pointed Out By Michelle Malkin

"The eHarmony Shakedown
by Michelle Malkin

"Congratulations, tolerance mau-mauers: Your shakedown of a Christian-targeted dating website worked. Homosexuals will no longer be denied the inalienable "right" to hook up with same-sex partners on eHarmony. What a landmark triumph for social progress, eh?

"New Jersey plaintiff Eric McKinley can now crown himself the new Rosa Parks -- heroically breaking down inhumane barriers to Internet matchmaking by forcing a law-abiding private company to provide services it was never created to provide. "Men seeking men" has now been enshrined with "I have a dream" as a civil rights rallying cry of the 21st century. Bully for you, Mr. McKinley. You bully.

"Neil Warren, eHarmony's founder, is a gentle, grandfatherly businessman who launched his popular dating site to support heterosexual marriage. A "Focus on the Family" author with a divinity degree, Warren encourages healthy, lasting unions between men and women of all faiths, mixed faiths or no faith at all.

"Don't like what eHarmony sells? Go somewhere else. There are thousands upon thousands of dating sites on the Internet that cater to gays, lesbians, Jews, Muslims, Trekkies, runners, you name it.

"No matter. In the name of tolerance, McKinley refused to tolerate eHarmony's right to operate a lawful business that didn't give him what he wanted. He filed a discrimination complaint against eHarmony with the New Jersey Division on Civil Rights in 2005.

"To be clear: eHarmony never, ever refused to do business with anyone. The company broke no laws. Their great "sin" was not providing a politically correct service that a publicity-seeking gay plaintiff demanded they provide. For three years, the company battled McKinley's legal shakedown artists -- and staved off other opportunists as well. The dating site had been previously sued by a lesbian looking to force the company to match her up with another woman, and by a married man who ridiculously sought to force the company to find him prospects for an adulterous relationship.

"This case is akin to a meat-eater suing a vegetarian restaurant for not offering him a rib-eye, or a female patient suing a vasectomy doctor for not providing her hysterectomy services. But rather than defend the persecuted business, the New Jersey attorney general intervened on behalf of the gay plaintiff and wrangled an agreement out of eHarmony to change its entire business model.

"The company agreed not only to offer same-sex dating services on a new site, but also to offer six-month subscriptions for free to 10,000 gay users, pay McKinley $5,000 and fork over $50,000 to New Jersey's Civil Rights division "to cover investigation-related administrative costs." Oh, and that's not all. Yield, yield to the grievance-mongers:

"Additional terms of the settlement include:

"-- eHarmony, Inc. will post photos of same-sex couples in the "Diversity" section of its website as successful relationships are created using the company's same-sex matching service. In addition, eHarmony, Inc. will include photos of same-sex couples, as well as individual same-sex users, in advertising materials used to promote its same-sex matching services;

"-- eHarmony, Inc. will revise anti-discrimination statements placed on company websites, in company handbooks and other company publications to make plain that it does not discriminate on the basis of "sexual orientation";

"-- the company has committed to advertising and public relations/ marketing dedicated to its same-sex matching service, and will retain a media consultant experienced in promoting the "fair, accurate and inclusive" representation of gay and lesbian people in the media to determine the most effective way of reaching the gay and lesbian communities.

"I have enormous sympathy for eHarmony, whose attorney explained that they gave in to the unfair settlement because "litigation outcomes can be unpredictable." The recent mob response to the passage of Proposition 8, the traditional marriage measure in California, must have also weighed on eHarmony management's minds. But capitulation will only yield a worse, entirely predictable outcome: more shakedowns of private businesses that hold views deemed unacceptable by the Equality-at-All-Costs Brigade.

"Perhaps heterosexual men and women should start filing lawsuits against gay dating websites and undermine their businesses. Coerced tolerance and diversity-by-fiat cut both ways."

I actually hope Eharmony just closes the doors. They should have never gotten into this fight. There are too many other sites that gays and lesbians could have gone too. This is not the tolerance of which they speak, this is demanding recognition for a behavior. Behaviors should never be the basis for rights!!

Grandfather Genes

G is so much like her grandfather (my dad). She is spacial. She has always understood where she is in relation to things. She never bumps her head when she crawls under something and didn't even as an 18month old. She seems to understand about her relationship to objects. Unlike me she doesn't run into walls unless she had spun around and gotten dizzy, but doesn't that happen when you spin round and round? She doesn't normally just fall walking normally (hasn't everyone or is that just me?) She would not be considered a klutzy kid.

Of course her grandad is very spacial too. He can pack a car with suitcases and not waste space, making room for everything. It truly is a feat to behold esp growing up because there were 4 kids and two adults in the family to go on family trips etc. It must have something to do with the ability to do puzzles, and they both can do puzzles very well.

Last night G packed her suitcase to spend the night with her grandparents (tonight) and I took pics of her packing her suitcase. She would look up after placing something just so and say, "Didn't I have a good idea?"

And yes the bears go every trip to the grandparent's house. Then they stay in the suitcase until the next trip!! These bears are always ready to go on a trip.

An Understandable Definition of Socialism

"Evil Concealed By Money
by Walter E. Williams

"Evil acts can be given an aura of moral legitimacy by noble-sounding socialistic expressions such as spreading the wealth, income redistribution or caring for the less fortunate. Let's think about socialism.

"Imagine there's an elderly widow down the street from you. She has neither the strength to mow her lawn nor enough money to hire someone to do it. Here's my question to you that I'm almost afraid for the answer: Would you support a government mandate that forces one of your neighbors to mow the lady's lawn each week? If he failed to follow the government orders, would you approve of some kind of punishment ranging from house arrest and fines to imprisonment?

"I'm hoping that the average American would condemn such a government mandate because it would be a form of slavery, the forcible use of one person to serve the purposes of another.

"Would there be the same condemnation if instead of the government forcing your neighbor to physically mow the widow's lawn, the government forced him to give the lady $40 of his weekly earnings? That way the widow could hire someone to mow her lawn. I'd say that there is little difference between the mandates. While the mandate's mechanism differs, it is nonetheless the forcible use of one person to serve the purposes of another.

"Probably most Americans would have a clearer conscience if all the neighbors were forced to put money in a government pot and a government agency would send the widow a weekly sum of $40 to hire someone to mow her lawn. This mechanism makes the particular victim invisible but it still boils down to one person being forcibly used to serve the purposes of another. Putting the money into a government pot makes palatable acts that would otherwise be deemed morally offensive.

"This is why socialism is evil. It employs evil means, coercion or taking the property of one person, to accomplish good ends, helping one's fellow man. Helping one's fellow man in need, by reaching into one's own pockets, is a laudable and praiseworthy goal. Doing the same through coercion and reaching into another's pockets has no redeeming features and is worthy of condemnation.

"Some people might contend that we are a democracy where the majority agrees to the forcible use of one person for the good of another. But does a majority consensus confer morality to an act that would otherwise be deemed as immoral? In other words, if a majority of the widow's neighbors voted to force one neighbor to mow her law, would that make it moral?

"I don't believe any moral case can be made for the forcible use of one person to serve the purposes of another. But that conclusion is not nearly as important as the fact that so many of my fellow Americans give wide support to using people. I would like to think it is because they haven't considered that more than $2 trillion of the over $3 trillion federal budget represents Americans using one another. Of course, they might consider it compensatory justice. For example, one American might think, 'Farmers get Congress to use me to serve the needs of some farmers. I'm going to get Congress to use someone else to serve my needs by subsidizing my child's college education.'

"The bottom line is that we've become a nation of thieves, a value rejected by our founders. James Madison, the father of our Constitution, was horrified when Congress appropriated $15,000 to help French refugees. He said, "I cannot undertake to lay my finger on that article of the Constitution which granted a right to Congress of expending, on objects of benevolence, the money of their constituents." Tragically, today's Americans would run Madison out of town on a rail."

Calling Things By Their Right Names by Bill Murchison

"The placard in the photo of a recent rally favoring gay marriage asks, bluntly, "Family. Isn't It About Love?"

"Well, hmm. You might indeed incline to such a view. Then, again, you might wish to broaden the perspective, in keeping with normative modes for understanding the foundational human structure we call family.

"You'd want to begin with the acknowledgement that where norms exist, there's generally a reason for them: the sounder the reason, the more tenacious and enduring the norm, the more deeply lodged in heart and soul and mind. You need more than a placard to uproot such norms.
You need compelling reasons.

"The voters of California, Florida and Arizona on Nov. 4 saw no such reasons. They enacted formal bans on so-called gay marriage. Thus, the scattered if occasionally sizable protests of a few days ago. The protesters don't like the old marriage norms -- one man, one woman. They want new norms, insisting on love as the only thing that matters.

"End of debate. We want -- so give it to us. Now. Very post-1950s American, don't you agree?
The protesters use the language of civil rights. To quote the chant at a rally last weekend in Washington, D.C.: 'Gay, straight, black, white; marriage is a civil right.'

"No, it's not -- not in the sense that desire equals lawful claim, binding on the whole community. To make such a claim is to argue for the dissolving of whatever underlies our life together, and for its replacement with any flickering want or wish.

"One reason society guards traditional marriage with a certain jealous care is that marriage orders and regularizes the basic condition of life, namely, the male-female relationship. Society sets boundaries around marriage, establishes rules and rights, lets the parties know what they may expect, and what is expected of them in turn.

"A second reason: Family is future. A mother, meaning a woman, and a father, meaning a man, bring life into the world. There's no other way to do it. Even in Dr. Frankenstein's experiments, a human body was the starting point.

"The language of the gay marriage protesters is deliberately subversive. All they want, supposedly, is a crack in the legal door wide enough to admit partners of the same sex. That would be "marriage"? Not at all. It would be something wholly new in human experience, with consequences beyond imagining. You might as well call a lamppost a bottle of chardonnay as call the union of two gay people a marriage, howsoever kindly the two parties involved, howsoever generous and public-spirited. It's not about them; it's about us all.

"Words like "honor" and "truth" -- yes, and "marriage" -- aren't just combinations of vowels and consonants. They have lives of their own. They point to how a thing is, not in opinion merely, but in reality. The joy of renaming a thing, of course, is that of reinventing it, substituting a wholly new 'reality.'

"A non-normative marriage, once allowed, undermines the normative kind just by inference. If the norm no longer is the lifelong union of a man and a woman, we may count on the imaginative faculties of those most concerned to come up with new understandings. I don't think the proponents of gay marriage have in mind the extension of the matter to polygamy, but when you think it over, why not? It's what some people want. Shouldn't they have what they want? To deny a 21st century American his wishes (unless he's some Christian rightist or other) would be cruel and hateful.

"It's some century all right: great in various particulars, awful in others, such as those touching on the care and conservation of the great truths that once joined all men and women, mind linking with mind, generation with generation. The other side of it is, Californians, when challenged on the point, knew what to do, and so did Floridians and Arizonans. As the Unsinkable Molly Brown would have it, we ain't down yet."

It's Priceless by Thomas Sowell

"Wouldn't it be wonderful to live in a world where there were no prices?

"If you happened to want a Rolex or a Rolls-Royce, you could just go get one-- or two if you wanted-- and not have to worry about ugly little things like price tags.

"There is such a world. It is the world of political rhetoric. No wonder so many people are attracted to that world. It would be a great place to live.

"After Arthur Goldberg had served on the Supreme Court, he lamented that more of society's problems could not be dealt with as that court dealt with them-- by reaching a decision and then declaring, 'It is so ordered.'

"Politics offers something similar. Theoretically, political decisions are limited by budgets. But for many experienced politicians, that limit is mostly theoretical.

"Government budgets, after all, are only projections of what is supposed to happen, not a hard and fast record of what has in fact happened. And seldom will the public or the media do anything so mean-spirited as go back and compare what the budget said would happen with what actually happened.

"Moreover, politicians can put certain large expenditures "off budget" for any number of noble-sounding reasons. And if you have long experience in using political rhetoric, nothing is easier than coming up with noble-sounding reasons.

"If you could put it "off budget," wouldn't you buy a second home at the beach or maybe a yacht to go out on the water? Why not live a little-- or a lot?

"Politicians have more ways of escaping from prices than Houdini had ways of escaping from locks. When savvy pols want to hand out goodies, but don't want to take responsibility for raising taxes to pay for them, they can tax people who can't vote-- namely the next generation-- by getting the money by selling government bonds that future taxpayers will have to redeem.
Even such deficit spending leaves a record, however-- a national debt that is the ghost of Christmas past. But politicians can even get around that.

"The most politically painless way to hand out goodies, without taking responsibility for their costs, is to pass a law saying that somebody else must provide those goodies at their expense, while the politicians take credit for generosity and compassion.

"Employers are ideal targets for such mandates, since there are always more employees than employers, and that is what counts on election day. Whether it is health insurance, time off with pay or whatever, these mandates on employers can be washed down with a little rhetoric about business' 'social responsibilities.'

"Where those "social responsibilities" come from is not a problem. It sounds good, and that is good enough for politics.

"Some people may go away mad if they are ignored. Costs are not like that. You can ignore them all you want and they still won't go away.

"While you are enjoying all the goodies that politicians are sending your way, you may notice that your taxes are going up or that the money you earn or the money you have saved won't buy as much as it used to.

"Costs that are passed on to businesses can get passed on again to their customers in higher prices. Money that the government prints to spend itself reduces the value of the money in your wallet or in your bank account.

"If you are someone looking for a job-- maybe a young person entering the labor force or a woman coming back into the labor force after spending a few years taking care of a small child--- you may find that there aren't as many jobs available as there used to be before employers had to pay for "social responsibilities," in addition to paying for the value of an employee's work.

"Desperate times can call for desperate measures, so maybe you will try to find out from some economist what is going on. You may not get any much better explanation than "There is no free lunch"-- which is one of many reasons why economists are not popular.

"But there really is no free lunch, except in the world of political rhetoric, a world that so many want to be in, where they can play Santa Claus without even the cost of buying a costume."

Today's Pics of G

Okay the second was taken without flash but yo ucan see her sweet personality. Something made her giggle. Her shirt says, "I Am A Princess" and I agree. When I woke her up this morning she said, "Why was I so sound asleep?"

Pictures of G's Molluscum

This is her inner-elbow. The first pick you can see the red of the area and the second one you can see the actual bumps. I need a new camera lens to really take close-ups.

This is her neck and it is really red too and you can see the bumps there too.

This is on her torso near her underarm, and this is def self explanatory. This tends to be the main area the virus attacks, but it can attack elsewhere. Putting the cortisone cream on is a battle of wills. I am winning so far but she claims it hurts. No real definition of how it hurts but she instructs me to "blow on dem." I know it is very painful or rather irritating.

The medicine I give her at night helps her sleep through the night but I don't give it to her during the day. Dr. told me too but I just can't let her be grabby and tired at school. She claims she doesn't itch at school.

So there you go. I took some of her legs but with another camera and they didn't turn out so well. These were the worst spots anyway.

Wise Words From Dennis Prager

(As always when I post a piece from another, the link to it is in the title of the post)

"Is Gay the New Black?
by Dennis Prager

"Gay is the new black is one of the mottos of the movement to redefine marriage to include two people of the same sex.

"The likening of the movement for same-sex marriage to the black civil rights struggle is a primary argument of pro same-sex marriage groups. This comparison is a major part of the moral appeal of redefining marriage: Just as there were those who once believed that blacks and whites should not be allowed to be married, the argument goes, there are today equally bigoted individuals who believe that men should not be allowed to marry men and women should not be allowed to marry women.

"It is worth noting that the people least impressed with the comparison of the gay struggle to redefine marriage with the black struggle for racial equality are blacks. They voted overwhelmingly for Californias Proposition 8 which amends the California Constitution to define marriage as being the union of a man and a woman.

"One reason given is that blacks tend to be socially conservative. But another, less verbalized, reason may well be that blacks find the comparison demeaning and insulting. As well they should.

"One has to either be ignorant of segregation laws and the routine humiliations experienced by blacks during the era of Jim Crow, or one has to be callous to black suffering, to equate that to a person not being allowed to marry a person of the same sex. They are not in the same moral universe.

"There is in fact no comparison between the situation of gays in America in 2008 and the situation of most black Americans prior to the civil rights era. Gays are fully accepted, and as a group happen to constitute one of the wealthiest in American life. Moreover, not being allowed to marry a person of the same sex is not anti-gay; it is pro-marriage as every civilization has defined it. The fact is that states like California already grant people who wish to live and love a member of the same sex virtually every right that marriage bestows except the word married.

"A certain number of gay men will feel better if they can call their partner husband and some lesbians will enjoy calling their partner wife, but society as a whole is not benefitted by such a redefinition of those words. Society as a whole does not benefit by removing, as California did, the words bride and groom from marriage licenses and substituting Partner A and Partner B.
But hoping that the more radical gays and straights of the gay rights movement will ask what benefits society? before what makes some gays feel better? is useless.

"And so, the movement appropriates the symbols and rhetoric of the back civil rights struggle when that struggle and the movement to redefine marriage have next to nothing in common. How can a seriously moral individual compare forcing a black bus rider to sit in the back of a bus or to give up his seat to a white who demands it, or prohibiting a black human being from drinking from the same water fountain or eating at the same lunch counter as a white human being, or being denied the right to vote, or being prohibited from attending a school with whites, let alone being periodically lynched, to either the general gay condition today or specifically to being given the right to redefine marriage for society?

"The vast majority of Americans, including those who oppose same-sex marriage, know that the homosexual is created in Gods image every bit as much as is the heterosexual; and acknowledge that the gay man or woman has a right to love whom he or she wants and that commitment has the right to be given legal protections.

"But radically redefining the most important institution in the life of a civilization; and routinely labeling as the moral equivalent of racists every individual who does not want children regularly asked whether they will marry a boy or a girl when grown up, and who rightly fears that every traditional religious community will be labeled as a hate group -- these are not commensurate with civil rights.

"Gay and straight activists who liken their demand to redefine marriage to black suffering under Jim Crow merely cheapen historic black suffering. Most blacks know this but for the sake of their political coalition wont say it. They should. Rosa Parks is in a different moral category than the protestors against Proposition 8."

Update on the Molluscum

Took G to the doc yesterday because, well, she wasn't technically supposed to be in daycare without a note from the doc and because she was up from 2a.m. Monday morning crying in pain and itching. So the doc doesn't think all of the bumps are molluscum though if you compared the pics to her legs it does look like molluscum. He thinks she has had an allergic reaction to something but who knows what. He said m.c. doesn't spread as fast as her bumbs did and that her skin is also reacting to the zymaderm around the mc bumps. So I am staying off the zymaderm until the body wash gets here. He gave us an Rx for a very strong antihisitmine that causes G to be the devil and an Rx for cortisone cream.

He said if things haven't cleared up before Thanksgiving he would send us to a dermatologist. Okay so that is a bit more than a week. He asked me to keep my mind open to other possibilities. I took pics of her bumps last night but forgot to bring them to work to post them. I will try to post them tonight or tomorrow. These pics are just for free, heh.

Last night she did sleep okay and didn't itch. She still tells me that the lotion burns and tells me to blow on the spots like the back of her neck which I did and she did too. I said, "Where are you blowing?" She said, "my neck." Then I was blowing on her arm and she started blowing in my face, Ugh. Sometimes she isn't the help she thinks she is.

Fw: Everybody, I need your help!!

Forwarded from my sister in law. Please vote for Betsy. Blog Administrator Note from my sis in law: Folks: My very cute cousin, Betsy, is trying to win an on-air spot with her local news station in Indianapolis. They'll be choosing the finalists based on the number of on-line votes she receives. I was hoping the family could continue to submit votes, but it doesn't seem to allow more than one entry per email address. If you'd be willing to cast your vote for her, please follow the link below. Thanks! We keep crossing our fingers that one of us will be famous! :) Jen Note from Betsy the contestant: Okay, so some of you know this, some don't. Here's the skinny. Channel 8 (Wishtv and Wndy) here in Indy had auditions for the New "Face of WNDY" for 2009. It's a year contract where the choosen one will do PR, On Camera Spots, MCing at charity events, and a bunch of other stuff. The initial two rounds were open auditions. Then they chose the top ten.... and..... I made the top ten! SO - the ten of us when into the studio last week and did an on camera spot of why we should be the face of wndy. It was just put on the website this evening. SOOOOO - Please please please go on the website and VOTE FOR ME!!!! :) They will be determining the top five next and then announcing the winner. I think this round of voting goes on through the end of November. So vote vote vote....It appears you can vote as much as you like. (hint hint) And if you don't mind sending the message out to your friends and family. It is time to spread the word! Here's the link. Or you can just go to www.wndy.com and click on the FaceOfMyNDY tab at the top. Thanks so much everyone! Betsy

It Is About Life, Not Politics

"Finally, a Religious Leader with Guts
by Mike Gallagher

"I want you to meet a priest from Greenville, South Carolina named Rev. Jay Scott Newman.
He is the pastor of St. Mary's Catholic Church in downtown Greenville.

"And he has become my personal hero.

"In a nutshell, Fr. Newman told his parishioners that if they voted for Barack Obama, they embraced “intrinsic evil” since Obama's opponent was a “plausible pro-life alternative.” And as a result, those Obama voters need to seek forgiveness from God before they receive Holy Communion again.

"Does this guy have guts, or what?

"Finally, a religious leader comes along and deals with the 800-pound elephant in the room: how do supposedly religious people reject the sanctity of life and support someone who voted against a “Born Alive Infant Protection” law which would protect babies accidentally born alive after a botched abortion?

"Frankly, if that's not evil, I'm not sure what is.

"And it takes a priest in Greenville, South Carolina to rise up against all the moral relativism we face in the world and speak the truth.

"In a letter posted on the church website, Rev. Newman said that Catholics who voted for a pro-abortion candidate should seek penance for their sin before receiving the Holy Sacrament of Communion, 'lest they eat and drink their own condemnation.'

"Of course, he's not just making this up. He cites the Bible as the basis for his message, quoting from I Corinthians that forbids partaking of the body of Christ 'without recognizing the body of the Lord.'

"I'm pleased to report that the response from his congregation has been overwhelmingly positive. According to the priest, church members have approved of his message by a margin of 9 to 1, which leaves me to wonder why those in the minority would see fit to question their pastor.

"When discussing this gutsy priest on my radio show this week, a few liberals called in and complained about him 'mixing politics with religion.'

"It seems to me that life and death issues aren't very political in nature. At least they shouldn't be.

"And the fact that the left has managed to turn the issue of abortion into “politics” is simply a deceitful way to try and make the taking of an unborn baby's life something as mundane and ordinary as taxes or fixing potholes.

"The Catholic Church has certainly had its hands full in dealing with controversies and ugliness. There is no question that many wish the church would have better handled the terrible scandal of sexually abusive priests over the years.

"As a result of that scandal, many Christian- and Catholic-bashers saw fit to condemn the entire Roman Catholic Church with hateful and vicious attacks, despite the fact that millions of loyal, faithful Catholic churchgoers were as appalled by the abusers as anyone else.

"But one thing that can be said with clarity and consistency: the Catholic Church has been a beacon in leading the fight against the destruction of the unborn.

"Say what you will, but few religious faiths and organizations have had the rock-solid conviction to fight for unborn babies like the Catholic Church has had.

"And judging by the actions of this one priest in South Carolina, they're just getting started.
I pray that more priests, ministers, and rabbis follow suit.

"How can a spiritual leader stand at the pulpit every week and ignore the slaughter of millions of innocents?

"Why would a pastor be inclined to defend an individual, politician or otherwise, who could support partial-birth abortion or the destruction of the life of an unborn baby at any stage?

"May a hero like Rev. Jay Scott Newman of St. Mary's Catholic Church in Greenville, South Carolina serve as a wake-up call to sleepy, lazy church leaders who don't want to address this issue, one of the most important issues of our lifetime.

"If our church leaders don't fight for the unborn, who will?"

This Priest is my hero too!!