Soldier, Sailor, Airman, Marine- Thank-you

Taps

Day is done,
gone the sun,
From the hills,
from the lake,
From the skies.
All is well,
safely rest,
God is nigh.

Go to sleep,
peaceful sleep,
May the soldier
or sailor,
God keep.
On the land
or the deep,
Safe in sleep.

Love, good night,
Must thou go,
When the day,
And the night
Need thee so?
All is well.
Speedeth all
To their rest.

Fades the light;
And afar
Goeth day,
And the stars
Shineth bright,
Fare thee well;
Day has gone,
Night is on.

Thanks and praise,
For our days,
'Neath the sun,
Neath the stars,
'Neath the sky,
As we go,
This we know,
God is nigh.

Listen to TAPS: Click on the link in the title, scroll down, and on the right hand side of the page choose the format you want (of the options, I preferred the Real Audio version).

The FYG's Bridge Photograph

She took this shot as we were driving across another bridge, and we think it turned out rather well:

Armed 'Peace Activists' fight IDF, lose with heavy casualties

Word filtered out last night that there had been casualties, including some deaths, on the pointless, Turkey-backed flotilla attempting to break the Israeli blockade of Gaza. The "peace activists" had been warned that they must divert to Ashdod where the supplies they intended to deliver would be searched for weapons and then trucked to Gaza.
They refused, choosing to make a political statement rather than deliver much-needed food and medical supplies to Gaza. They got their wish. The IDF released this video (embedded below) of the so-called peace activists attacking IDF soldiers as they board one of the ships. They attacked with guns, knives, and improvised weapons.

More at Ace of Spades, including video footage

Video footage here as well

Step by step eyewitness account here

HotAir has more:

The preferred media headline so far this morning has been “Israelis kill 10 peace activists in Gaza flotilla,” but that’s not quite what happened.  The IDF attempted to head off a number of boats attempting to run the blockade on Gaza, a blockade necessitated by Hamas’ repeated attacks on Israel.  They boarded the lead ship by helicopter, expecting to either convince the occupants to turn back or to commandeer the boat themselves.  What they didn’t expect was to find armed “peace activists,” and a bloody melee ensued...

Much more at the link.

Decoration Day

Remembering those who have fallen...

HON. W. BOURKE COCKRAN.

THE character of a nation is often known by its festivals. The character of the festival we celebrate to-day is the most unique in the history of the world. We celebrate in all its entirety the sublime epoch when fidelity to the Republic triumphed over the dangers that comprised the Civil War, and we emerged from the conflict radiant with the light of liberty established and indestructible American institutions, with the undying vigor of American patriotism. The conflict in which we engaged was not made by the generation in which we live. It was a legacy handed down by the fathers of the Republic after the foreign invader had been driven out.

But the Union soldier was great in peace as well as in war. His was not merely a triumph of arms ; it was a triumph of heart and mind, for the Union soldier won the love of the foe that he vanquished. To-day, throughout the length and breadth of the country, there is a love for the flag of the Union. To-day the Union stands, not defended by armed force or by frowning fortresses. Its foundations are laid in the hearts of our citizens, South as well as North, and it will be durable and eternal because of that foundation. But although the vigor of the Union soldier in taking up arms was creditable to him, he also deserves credit for the manner in which he laid down his arms. Never before did a victorious army so lay down its arms at the behest of civil rulers without the slightest disturbance throughout the length and breadth of the land.

The lesson which this day teaches above all others is that no matter what difficulties may arise, the patriotism of this republic will be able to surmount them. No matter what dangers may threaten our institutions, there is always to be in reserve the American patriotism sufficient to solve every question and surmount every difficulty. The victory of the Union soldiers proved the capacity and the power of this patriotism which underlies American citizenship. No sooner had the smoke lifted from Southern battlefields ; no sooner had the rivers that had run red with blood once more resumed their course clear and pellucid to the sea, and the South was seen humbled, than the men of the North turned with charity and brotherly love to the aid of the men with whom they had fought. The victory which was achieved for the Union was thus made a permanent one for the union of these States.

The lesson of the Union was not ended in 1865. The mission of the Union soldier did not close with the war. It continues to-day as a patriotism which is the best security of the government. We are reminded of the survivors as we turn today from the graves of the brave men who were the heroes of the war.

On the Capitol at Washington, surmounting the great dome where Congress is in session, there may be seen a bright light high above all else on the building. And as you recede from the place, and the turrets and fluted columns of the edifice disappear in the darkness, the light at the top seems to be higher and higher, and finally seems to blend with the horizon until finally only this light marks the temple of freedom of our beloved Government. And, as we celebrate this Decoration Day, looking back on the martyrs of the Civil War, their deeds shall be to us the brilliant light which shall grow ever brighter and brighter, and illumine the pathway of the RepubUc to liberty, prosperity, and happiness.

Born in County Sligo, Ireland, he was educated in France and in his native country, and emigrated to the United States when seventeen years of age. He was a teacher in a private academy and principal of a public school in Westchester County, New York. He studied law, was admitted to the bar in 1876 and commenced practice in Mount Vernon, New York; two years later he moved to New York City and continued the practice of law.- from Wikipedia

How To Observe Memorial Day

The "Memorial" in Memorial Day has been ignored by too many of us who are beneficiaries of those who have given the ultimate sacrifice. Often we do not observe the day as it should be, a day where we actively remember our ancestors, our family members, our loved ones, our neighbors, and our friends who have given the ultimate sacrifice:

• by visiting cemeteries and placing flags or flowers on the graves of our fallen heroes.
• by visiting memorials.
• by flying the U.S. Flag at half-staff until noon.
• by flying the 'POW/MIA Flag' as well (Section 1082 of the 1998 Defense Authorization Act).
• by participating in a "National Moment of Remembrance": at 3 p.m. to pause and think upon the true meaning of the day, and for Taps to be played.
• by renewing a pledge to aid the widows, widowers, and orphans of our falled dead, and to aid the disabled veterans.

More here

DECORATION DAY ON THE PLACE

DECORATION DAY ON THE PLACE.

by James Whitcomb Riley

Its Lonesome—sorto' lonesome,—its a Sund'y-day, to me,
It 'pears-like—more'n any day I nearly ever see!
Yit, with the Stars and Stripes above, a-flutterin' in the air,
On ev'ry Soldier's grave I'd love to lay a lilly thare.

They say, though, Decoration Days is ginerly observed
'Most ev'rywhares—espeshally by soldier-boys that's served.—
But me and Mother's never went—we seldom git away,—
In pint o' fact, we're alius home on Decoration Day.

They say the old boys marches through the streets in colum's grand,

A-follerin' the old war-tunes theyr playin' on the band—

And citizuns all jinin' in—and little childern, too—

All marchin', under shelter of the old Red White and Blue.—

With roses! roses! roses!—ev'rybody in the town!— And crowds o' little girls in white, jest fairly loaded down!— ' Oh! don't The Boys know it, from theyr camp acrost the hill ?—

Don't they see theyr com'ards comin' and the old flag wavin' still ?

Oh! can't they hear the bugul and the rattle of the drum ?— Ain't they no way under heavens they can rickollect us some ? Ain't they no way we can coax 'em, through the roses, jest to say

They know that ev'ry day on earth's theyr Decoration Day ?

We've tried that—me and Mother,—whare Elias takes his rest,
In the orchurd—in his uniform, and hands acrost his brest,
And the flag he died fer, smilin' and a-ripplin' in the breeze
Above his grave—and over that,—the robin in the trees !

And yit its lonesome—lonesome!—It's a Sund'y-day, to me,
It 'pears-like—more'n any day I nearly ever see!—
Still, with the Stars and Stripes above, a-flutterin' in the air,
On ev'ry Soldier's grave I'd love to lay a lilly thare.

The Holy War, Cont.

Diabolus, having now obtained entrance in at the gates of the town, marches up to the middle thereof, to make his conquest as sure as he could; and finding, by this time, the affections of the people warmly inclining to him, he, as thinking it was best striking while the iron is hot, made this further deceivable speech unto them, saying, ‘Alas! my poor Mansoul! I have done thee indeed this service, as to promote thee to honour, and to greaten thy liberty; but, alas! alas! poor Mansoul, thou wantest now one to defend thee; for assure thyself that when Shaddai shall hear what is done, he will come; for sorry will he be that thou hast broken his bonds, and cast his cords away from thee. What wilt thou do? Wilt thou, after enlargement, suffer thy privileges to be invaded and taken away? or what wilt resolve with thyself?’

Then they all with one consent said to this bramble, ‘Do thou reign over us.‘So he accepted the motion, and became the king of the town of Mansoul. This being done, the next thing was, to give him possession of the castle, and so of the whole strength of the town. Wherefore, into the castle he goes; it was that which Shaddai built in Mansoul for his own delight and pleasure; this now was become a den and hold for the giant Diabolus.

Now, having got possession of this stately palace or castle, what doth he but makes it a garrison for himself, and strengthens and fortifies it with all sorts of provision, against the King Shaddai, or those that should endeavour the regaining of it to him and his obedience again.

This done, but not thinking himself yet secure enough, in the next place he bethinks himself of new modelling the town; and so he does, setting up one, and putting down another at pleasure. Wherefore my Lord Mayor, whose name was my Lord Understanding, and Mr. Recorder, whose name was Mr. Conscience, these he put out of place and power.

Discussion questions:

1. Who is Diabolus and what is his background?  What are his goals?  Why?
2. What can you tell me about King Shaddai?
3. What are the names of the  five gates of Mansoul and what do they represent?
4. Who are some of Diabolus' companions?
5. Who do they decide they must destroy first in Mansoul?
6. Why are they so afraid of him?
7. Why would Diabolus want to put Understanding and Conscious out of place and power?

Bonus: find Bible references for verses that informed Bunyan's allegory. For example, on questions 5 and 6, James 4:7 is probably a verse Bunyan used to name this character Diabolus and companions are so afraid of.

Other ideas for suggestion:
How could you guard your own five gates?  How might Diabolus slip past? 

the Oil Spill

Ace points out an interesting discussion:

There's an interesting and useful debate among conservatives about whether to maintain their own intellectual consistency or demagogue the hell out of this, as liberals have done and will continue doing until the end of time. Should we note that the President is not all-powerful, and that sometimes things are simply beyond his control, and that it's a childish view of the world to believe the President can fix serious problems simply by thinking real hard about them, being smart, and barking out orders in a clipped and authoritative voice?

More at the link. I'm one of those who doesn't think Obama should be blamed for the oil spill or the clean up- he should shut-up and get out of the way while BP cleans up and pays the consequences. But apparently, the President doesn't agree with me.  He says the White House is responsible:

  President Barack Obama defensively and sometimes testily insisted on Thursday that his administration, not oil giant BP, was calling the shots in responding to the worst oil spill in the nation’s history.
“I take responsibility. It is my job to make sure that everything is done to shut this down,” Obama declared at a news conference in the East Room of the White House. The Gulf of Mexico oil spill dominated the hour-long session. [...]
The president’s direct language on being in charge of the spill response, which he repeated several times, marked a change in emphasis from earlier administration assertions that, while the government was overseeing the operation, BP had the expertise and equipment to make the decisions on how to stop the flow. 

On Monday the top federal official in Obama's White House was specifically denying that the Federal Government was in charge.  Perhaps it is a response to dropping poll numbers  that has changed the tune the White House is whistling:

“The American people should know that from the moment this disaster began, the federal government has been in charge of the response effort,” Obama said. He was reacting to criticism that his administration has been slow to act and has left BP in charge of plugging the leak.
Obama said many critics failed to realize “this has been our highest priority.”
“My job right now is just to make sure everybody in the Gulf understands: This is what I wake up to in the morning, and this is what I go to bed at night thinking about. The spill.”
“There shouldn’t be any confusion here. The federal government is fully engaged,” he said, underscoring his central point.

He claims that BP is operating at the direction of the White House, so I guess he is responsible.


 He is so engaged he even had a sham clean up crew bussed in for his photo-op appearance at a Louisiana shore:


The workers' clothing was even color coordinated.
Writing for The Times-Picayune, Richard Rainey reports:

BP, the oil company taking flak for its inconsistent response to the massive oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico, bused in 400 extra cleanup workers to Grand Isle during President Obama’s visit today, Jefferson Parish Council Chairman John Young said.
“It appears to have been a PR stunt by BP, not to say we don’t appreciate the extra participation,” Young said. “We certainly need them, but we don’t need them for just one day that happens to coincide with a visit from the president.” Obama made his second visit today to Louisiana’s oil-stricken coast, stopping in Grand Isle and Port Fourchon.
Young said he saw the workers dressed in red shirts, blue jeans and black shrimp boots mulling across the beaches and in the mess hall during the president’s appearance. They were uniformed in a way “which you don’t normally see workers dressed like that,” Young said.
After Obama’s departure, Young said, the work crews all but vanished. “This is a total shame that a mockery has been made of this visit by the executives of BP,” Councilman Chris Roberts said.

He also claims:

Obama said the federal government “has acted consistently with a sense of urgency” on the spill. But, he acknowledged a “sense of complacency on the government’s part in planning how to deal with the worst-case scenario” before it happened.

 Speaking of a sense of complacency, his own budget calls for drastic cuts in funds for the Coast Guard, as well as reductions to clean up teams and operations, and "decommissioning a strike force coordination center in North Carolina, which supports specialized teams in charge of responding to oil spills and the release of hazardous materials."

Just three months ago " the Obama administration proposed downsizing the Coast Guard national coordination center for oil spill responses" prompting some strong objections:

Accidents happen, "but what you're seeing here is the government is not properly set up to deal with this kind of issue," said Robbin Laird, a defense consultant who has worked on Coast Guard issues. "The idea that you would even think about getting rid of catastrophic environmental spill equipment or expertise at the Department of Homeland Security, are you kidding me?"
"Cutting a strike team is nuts," said Stephen Flynn, a former Coast Guard commander and now president of the Center for National Policy, a Washington think tank. "Whether it's an accident of man or an act of terrorism, it requires almost the exact same skill set to clean it up."

Kitchen Theology

I got out a pen to add some things to the store list. I do this about five times every day. But this time, as I wrote "bread" and "black beans" on my little pad of paper, it hit me: I am doing something really, really amazing here. Out of the blue, I suddenly saw writing items on my grocery list in a completely different light: I realized what an incredibly -- almost unimaginable -- luxury it is to be able to simply write down what I want to feed my children, and be able to go get it. Quickly. Easily. Cheaply.

Can you imagine my great-great grandmother watching me do this? Or anyone who lives in a poverty-stricken part of the world today, or who lived more than 70 years ago? Imagine what their reaction would be to the concept that you can create your dream list of the food you'd like to put on your table, and have it there within the hour if necessary.

From the Conversion Diary

It reminded me of two kitchen poems found in an old cookbook I have:

Lord of all pots and pans and things,
since I've no time to be a great saint
by doing lovely things,
or watching late with Thee,
or dreaming in the dawnlight,
or storming heaven's gates,
make me a saint by getting meals,
and washing up the plates.
Warm all the kitchen with Thy Love,
and light it with Thy peace;
forgive me all my worrying,
and make my grumbling cease.
Thou who didst love to give men food,
in room, or by the sea,
accept the service that I do,
I do it unto Thee.
Amen

And this one:

Thank God for dirty dishes
They have a tale to tell
While other folks go hungry
We're eating very well
With home and health and happiness
We surely shouldn't fuss
For by this stack of evidence
Life's been good to us.

The Things You Learn in Marriage Class

The congregation Shasta and Equuschick are a part of has been doing a class for young married couples. It hasn't been going on for very long, but the thing about marriage is that anytime you put anything in it you're bound to get something out. Sometimes, you get surprises.

The other day Shasta and The EC were going through the questions and they were each supposed to tell each-other one or two things that we defined as "most important" or "most crucial" or something.

Ok, ok. The EC forgets the question, but you were supposed to answer with things that were important to you. She chose security and something else which she's also forgotten, which shows it wasn't that important. Heh. And SHasta chose...Peace.

That's it, just Peace. The EC found the Peace concept a little vague so she asked for more details. Less controversy? Silence? Security?

"Yeah," he said "all of that, I guess. You know, just to be able to come home to a happy family and the house picked up..."

And The EC must admit, that last one bowled her over and offended her dignity somewhat in a "Good grief, why can't the man find internal peace whether or not he's tripping over the baby toys and falling into the dog hair? Piffle" sort of way.


But this clearly violated the spirit of the marriage study, so she decided simply to recognize that this sense of external peace was very necessary to a man who grew up in a household that never knew a spirit of internal peace at all, especially when you consider that any sense of internal calm Shasta was ever able to achieve on his own was irretrievably shattered in Iraq.

In other words, considering all the above The EC accepted his perspective and decided to renew her efforts at some form of the art known as house-keeping.

And she discovered something that she;d sensed before but had never quite been able to grasp.

Picking up the house for Shasta's peace of mind is alot easier than serious house-cleaning. Just the day before The Equuschick had tried to catch up on all the laundry, all the dirty dishes, and all the good ol' bathroom scrubbing stuff, because as far as she was concerned, that's what is called "Cleaning the House."

Needless to say, she wasn't able to accomplish all she'd planned on and when Shasta came home, he was quite literally having to step his way gingerly through the maze of baby toys I'd been trying to distract The Pirate with.

But after this conversation, she attempted a paradigm shift. Instead of cleaning house to achieve, well, what she would call a clean house, she put herself in Shasta's shoes as he walked through the front door looking for Peace and she started from there. Literally. She started from the front hallway and worked her way out picking things up and putting them away so that when Shasta came home, the house looked "picked up." He liked it.

Good grief, that was so much easier than she thought it would be. And the end result also (don't laugh, you natural cleanies) looked alot more like a clean house than the house had when she'd been trying to clean it.

But The Equuschick's discoveries (and lessons) were only just beginning. Today they were each supposed to pick one unselfish thing they would do for the other this week, and tell each-other about the times or activities when they felt most close to each-other.

Taking walks was The Equuschick's, and going for long drives. Shasta seconded the long drives.

Then he said "Oh, and taking naps."

Shasta and The Equuschick have had this conversation before, but she truly had no idea he felt it deeply enough to bring it up in a serious study.

"SERIOUSLY?" she demanded. "We're ASLEEP!" (You see that The Equuschick has been violating the spirit of this study left and right.)

"But we're snuggling," he said.

The Equuschick does apologize to anyone who gets the "taking naps together is such a close and bonding thing to do" idea, but sorry, she still feels like that is the dumbest thing.

YOU ARE NOT CONSCIOUS. There is no conversation, no communication. Just this vague sense of snuggling, but since you're asleep how do you even know you're snuggling?

The Equuschick's brain just can't handle this equation.

However! We are not called to understand every aspect of our spouse, only to accept and respect their position. The Equuschick tried to remember that.

They wrapped up their study and went on a long walk. When they got back Shasta sat down to read and The Pirate was asleep in his stroller, and like any self-respecting mother of an 8 mos. old The Equuschick left The Pirate asleep in his stroller so she could get ahead on the day. She started a load of laundry, did the dishes, and got some chicken cooking.

It was about the time she started the chicken that she looked over and saw that Shasta had put down his book and was...

taking a nap.


*groan*

Immediately, the Voice of Conscience started interfering where The Equuschick felt it had no business. "You should go sit down next to him", something whispered in her head. "No!" she said indignantly. "I'm busy! I'm making chicken salad for his work lunches."

"You can finish later," her conscience persisted. "Shasta would like it if you just went and sat down next to him."

"I just have to finish this chicken."

"The chicken can cool off while you're sitting next to him."


It so happened that The Equuschick hadn't yet settled on a truly unselfish thing she would do for Shasta this week, and something told her if I missed this, well, it would be a sad commentary on her attitude and that was all there was to it.

So she did it. She wasn't tired enough for a nap, but she put her kitchen shears down and went and sat down next to Shasta and did absolutely nothing. For ten minutes.

It was weird.

Shasta loved it.


Sometimes we're called to sacrifice in strange and surprising ways. This post linked at Spiritual Sundays

Summer Salad Luncheon Vegetable Pizza

We love this on a hot day.

GARDEN VEGETABLE PIZZA

4 pkg. crescent rolls (8)
4 (8 oz.) pkg. cream cheese, softened
1cup c. mayonnaise
about 1/2 cup Ranch style dressing mix or sour cream
2 tsp. dill weed
garlic to taste
About three cups of grated cheese (more or less)
Chopped fresh vegetables, around six cups, maybe more. We like cucumbers, grated carrots, cherry tomatoes, mushrooms, green onions and broccoli slaw. Okay, I like all those things, and so does the HM. The progeny all like cucumbers and grated carrots. All but one of them like mushrooms and cherry tomatoes. Olives are also good. Any vegetables you like to eat raw would be tasty.

Unroll all crescent rolls and pat onto a greased cookie or pizza pan to form a large crust, pinching their seams together. Pierce all over with a fork. Bake at 350 degrees about 10 minutes, until golden brown. Cool.
Combine cream cheese, mayonnaise, dressing mix and dill weed; mix well. Spread over cooled crust. Press vegetables into cream cheese topping. Top with grated cheese. Cover and chill. Cut into squares and eat, and eat, and eat.

This does make enough for a light supper for all nine of us. Smaller families will need to reduce it.

Frugal and healthy variation: Make butterhorn dough from scratch, using whole wheat flour

This post linked at Beauty and Bedlam's Tasty Tuesday

Books Read Recently

The Jedera Adventure by Lloyd Alexander- fun, but not as good as the Prydain books

The Iron Ring, Lloyd Alexander
The Remarkable Journey of Prince Jen, Lloyd Alexander
 As you can see, I was on a Lloyd Alexander kick.  Two of these books were really the exact same story, just dressed up with different trimmings (one set in India, one in China).

The House Gobbaleen- this is just a picture book, but I hadn't seen it before, even though it's by Lloyd Alexander. This is a cute picture book.  School library journal says:

A wise cat rescues his dimwitted master from a cantankerous, conniving goblin in this turnabout tale of luck and the folly of wishes. A perfect marriage of waggish dialogue and droll art.

Ostrich Feather, by Miriam Romm- I got this book from the publisher, who asked me to review it.  It is an autobiographical account of a Jewish woman's search for information about her father, who disappeared in Poland during WW2.  Polish Jews who fled Poland when she was just a child, Miriam and her Mother flee Poland and forge a new life in Israel, and her mother remarries.  The new husband adopts Miriam.   Although she was five or so at the time her mother remarried, Miriam does not remember that she is adopted, and is devastated when she overhears a remark from a neighbor about it.  She begins secretly searching for information about her father, and when she is a grandmother herself, returns to Poland to see what she can discover.  This story was interesting, but the retelling is slow, sometimes disjointed, and the literary device used to move much of the story (an old man she meets in Poland, and wonders if he could be her father) doesn't really work, although all these defects may be a translation problem since the book is not originally written in English.

Men of Iron, Howard Pyle, an excellent book of swashbuckling adventure, full of nobility, courage, honor, loyalty, duty, and swordfighting.  highly recommended. 

Jeremiah, The OT, even more highly recommended

Queen of the Dark Chamber by Christiana Tsai, a Chinese convert tells her story, and it is a very interesting story.  Born as Cai Sujuan in 1890 China, the 18th of 24 children to the vice governor of her province, Christina Tsai was converted to Christianity when attending a missionary school for the purpose of learning English.  At first her family rejected her conversion, keeping her imprisoned at home and refusing to let her return to school until she rejected that Christian nonsense, but her cheerful faith in the face of adversity (and her stubborn adherence to it) became so obnoxious they finally sent her back to school.  Eventually, her entire family would be converted (some 55 people).  Then she contracted a devastating case of Malaria and was bedridden for decades.  Still, she continued to minister to people from her bed, with the help of an American missionary who helped take care of her.  However, in WW2 the American missionary was imprisoned in a Japanese concentration camp, and Christiana was left largely alone, caring for herself by crawling on the floor to reach the things she needed, and eating what little bit friends could bring in to her.
After the war, the American missionary returned the US, broken in health herself, and brought Christiana with her.  Christiana continued to minister to others from her bed through prayer and talks with visitors who came to see her from all over.  That is where Queen of the Dark Chamber was written.

For more in depth reviews of books, see Semicolon for Saturday's Review of Books

Nod and Me

Nod is three, very bright, quite the chatter box, very full of himself, very adorable, and very adverse to me.

Last night we had a crowd of people over, and after the HM went to bed, they went for a walk, taking Nod's brother Blynken with them. Nod had to stay behind, and this did not please him. He cried a bit while the HG and STrider were here, telling them he was not too little to go on a walk that late at night and he wanted to go home to his mother, covering his face with his hands in a heart-breaking picture of grief. Taking him home to his mother really isn't an option, so I offered to read to him, Strider handed him over and they left.

Nod looked around the living room and said in a disgusted voice, "Nobody is here except you."
"I know you don't like me," I said cheerfully as I blew his nose. "That's okay, I like you anyway. But I am curious, why don't you like me?"

"Because," he said, glowering darkly, "You tell me stuff to do. Like go to bed."

"That is true, but the FYG also tells you to go to bed, and you like her," I said.

"No, I don't," he said. "I don't like anybody except Blynken, E. and my mother." E is a little girl who had been here playing with him but had to go home.

"And anyway," he said, "I wanted to go on the walk. How come I couldn't go?"

"Because they have their hands full with your brother and Donovan," I said, "And because you are only three years old and your mother doesn't like it when you are out at 11:00 at night. You're too little."

He scowled again, and I ignored it and read him The Owl and the Pussycat, illustrated by Jan Brett, and Wee Willie Winkie, illustrated by the Haders. I read them to him twice because he liked them, although he argued all the way through The Owl and Pussycat about whether or not there was a pig in the book. When we started he was sitting stiffly, straight up, in my lap but not of it. By the time we finished he had leaned back, relaxing his head against my shoulder.

He wanted to take off the band-aid on his knee, and I said he could if he would go throw it away. He said no, he was too "'cared to get up."

His mother doesn't like him to mispronounce words, so I asked him if he could say 'sssss.' He knows that game, and said nope, he could not.

"C'mon," I teased. "Ssssss" is a great sound. You need it to say super, supper, silly, sandwich, strawb-"

"And 'cared," he said. "Dat is the sound in 'cared."

I laughed.

"What?" He asked. "Ssss is the sound in 'cared."

He stretched out in my lap, wriggling his toes comfortably.

"You are a very little boy," I remarked. "What do you want to be when you are bigger?"

"A boy who goes on walks," he said.

A Few News Links

O'Keefe, the conclusion of the latest matter- not what the media is reporting, there's a surprise. Of course, the government actually omitted very relevant information from their press release.

From the UK:

The M3 money supply in the United States is contracting at an accelerating rate that now matches the average decline seen from 1929 to 1933, despite near zero interest rates and the biggest fiscal blitz in history.

Do check out the Gates of Vienna Newsfeed which has links from all over the world.

Remember asking your parents or grandparents (or great-grandparents) about the Depression? Now might be the time to start keeping a journal for your descendants so you'll remember the answers to the questions they will be sure to ask, should the Lord tarry and the financial crisis and upheaval not prove fatal.

Goverment warns authorities that a Somali terrorist may be trying to cross the border from Mexico to enter the US

Housing and the Financial Crisis

Very fascinating article Cat sent me:

FHA Facing "Cataclysmic" Default Rates:

The Federal Housing Administration (FHA) has guaranteed about 25% of all new U.S. mortgages written in 2009, up from just 2% in 2005.

The key phrase here is "borrowing," not "home ownership." The key feature of State support of housing is not legitimate "home ownership," it is the enabling of massive new sources of income and transactional churn for lenders and Wall Street loan and derivatives packagers.

Home "ownership" when there is no equity in the purchase and no equity being built via principal payments is a simulacrum of ownership.

If a buyer puts almost no money into the purchase--even now, FHA and VA loans can be had with a mere 3% down payment--and the loan is of the interest-only or adustable-rate (ARM) variety favored during the housing bubble's heyday, then there is no principal payment being made and thus no equity being built.

These "buyers" don't "own" anything; all they're doing is renting the money in the hopes that rising home prices will create equity for them out of thin air. What they "own" is essentially an option on a property which they "rent" monthly. If the government manages to reinflate the housing bubble (it won't, but hope and greed spring eternal), then the option will pay off handsomely. The "owner" put no money into the speculative bet, but they can then sell their option for a huge profit.

Well worth reading the whole thing. Keep in mind how regularly we see that unemmployement levels or other bad financial news is 'unexpected' month after month, and get ready for a rocky ride.

It's okay because "The government can just print money..."

In case you were in any doubt, no, Obama's government truly does not understand basic economics:

Our government leaders are faced with the same risk today. At what level of government debt and future commitments does government default go from being unthinkable to inevitable, and how does our government think about that risk?

I recently posed this question to one of the president’s senior economic advisers. He answered that the government is different from financial institutions because it can print money, and statistically the United States is not as bad off as some other countries. For an investor, these responses do not inspire confidence.

What happens when the government just 'prints money' to get out of debt? They glut the market with worthless pieces of paper with no true value behind them. The reduce the value of the money already in your pocket. They wipe out confidence in those flimsy pieces of paper they're printing. There's another name for when the government trashes the currency like that. It's called inflation.

Recommended reading: Whatever Happened to Penny Candy

New Jersey Teacher VS Governor

and teacher vs the truth as well.

She told the Chris Christie, the NJ governor who is battling the teacher's unions for refusing to accept a pay freeze, that she is not fairly compensated. She said that if she got 3.00 an hour for each child in her class, she'd be making 83,000 a year, and she's not.

The governor told her she was making more than that if she counted all the benefits and pension she was getting. She then switched tactics and said she wasn't being fairly compensated for her Master's Degree. The governor told her that she didn't have to teach if she didn't think it paid enough. Then she switched tactics again and said it was all about how much she loved the children. Then why the complaints about a job she just tacitly admitted was worth over 80K once benefits were factored in?

Problem. She was telling the truth when she said she wasn't getting 83,000 a year. She gets at least 86,000 (possibly an more with a co-curricular stipend) in salary, and with the benefits package she has that's closer to 100,000 dollars a year- and that's with those long summers off. And she's complaining about a broke state asking her to make do without a pay increase this year? People living on social security aren't getting a COLA increase this year, but she's entitled?

Then there's this question- did she lie about her salary, or does she really not understand how much she makes? Does she think she should be making 83,000 after taxes?

More here.

Baby's Cochlear Implants Activated. See Him Smile

Watch this baby's face as his cochlear implants are activated:



Watch it more than once to really let the impact sink in.

via Laura at Ace of Spades. Turns out there are tones of videos on youtube showing kids getting their implants activated. Here's a video explaining the procedure.

Sadly, there is a lot of controversy about this procedure in the deaf community. Many deaf people consider it an assault on their culture, and they particularly object to giving CI to babies, believing it is better to wait until they are old enough to choose.

Only the Best...

Last week's Frugal Hacks post was on this topic. You can read it here. I must have gifts on the brain, because this week's post was on a similar topic- keeping a gift stash on hand so you're not spending extra money on gifts when caught unprepared.
Speaking of gifts, my mother had a stash in the top of the coat closet. More than once, btw, I heard her talking to some adult and referring to the sorts of things you buy that you would never buy just for yourself, but you would buy it for somebody else for a gift. I marvel at that, now. Does anybody still think that way? "This is too nice for me to buy myself, but I will buy it to keep on hand for a gift?"

Something else I thought of was my own newlywed days when I worked hard to prepare delicious, flaky biscuits from scratch, hot from the oven for my darling new husband, biscuits so perfect that they would win purple ribbons at the county fair if I wanted to bake them for anybody but my darling husband- only to learn that he preferred storebought biscuits from a can, all the better if they were slightly undercooked and doughy, and he doesn't like his pie crusts or his biscuits flaky. He likes them chewy, the sort of texture that would FAIL at the county fair.

Anyway, I digress (when do I not?). I thought of the Love Language of Gift Giving post when I read a comment from a friend on another forum.

He says his wife's grandparents tell the story of how, when they were first married, she would cut the crusts off his toast for him, because she loved him and wanted to give him only the best.

Guess which part of the bread he thought was the best?

What about you? Have any similar revelations to share? Have you ever worked hard to provide something you thought the other person would adore only to realize you worked hard to provide something YOU loved, but he didn't?

'Tis a Gift to Be Simple, 'Tis a Gift to Be Free...

A few weeks ago, I found a copy of Simplify Your Life: 100 Ways to Slow Down And Enjoy the Things That Really Matter by Elaine St. James (found at a library book sale for $1/bag ~ talk about simple pleasures!). When I was in Europe, I loved seeing how much simpler things were there. I know it's unwise to make gross generalities, but Americans seem to have a love affair with Stuff, Stuff, and More Stuff. If we can afford it and there's room for it in our homes, we seem to want it. If we're thinking about activities, busier is better.

I fall prey to this more than I'd like to admit, but one of the long-term goals I'd like to achieve is figuring out ways to live more freely, with less stuff, and with more time for the things that matter (because, let's face it, taking care of stuff takes a lot of time and energy).

In some ways, this book was encouraging and helpful. St. James divides her 100 ways into short tips; instead of diving into a long book that makes you feel guilty by page 3, you can begin with small steps. Rather than being pressured to get rid of Everything At Once, I found a few key reminders of things I can work on right now (taking my shoes off at the door, for example, to make cleaning the carpet easier or making sure I sort through my mail *immediately* instead of leaving it for later).

St. James was encouraging in ways I don't think she expected, though. As I read this book, I realized my life was, in some ways, already quite simple. I don't have a boat to get rid of, as she recommends in Tip #21. We don't have any credit cards to get rid of per Tip #43. And buying a new car is not something we'd contemplate, so I was able to just skip the section recommending used cars.

Still, complacency isn't ever a good thing, and I still like to read books like these for the reminders they bring. A simpler life is worthwhile. It will not happen suddenly. It will always be a process rather than an achievement, and books like these help the journey along.

Four Moms, Homeschooling Older Kids

Today those of us four moms who are not in active labor (that definitely includes me) are talking about: Teaching big kids: what changes? What do they need that little ones don't and where do you need to give more freedom. How do you make the transition?


As a reminder, my Progeny are between the ages of 27 and 11 (almost 12) and were born in 1983, '84, '87, '89, '90, '96, and '98. In 1992 we lost a baby at sixteen weeks gestation and that is when the '87 and '89 children joined the family.
Our oldest two are married now, and one of them has an eight month old (the adorable Dread Pirate Grasshopper), and the other is expecting and due in December.

Things that change: They are bigger, more independent, able to read their own books (most of the time), more capable (if you've done the hard work of getting them to that point when they were smaller), able to process more complex information, have longer attention spans, they can have more in depth conversations, they begin to develop tastes of their own that are not necessarily yours, as well as skills and talents that may surprise you.

What do they need that the younger ones do not? More in depth information, more structure, more complex discussions, more responsibility, more challenging school work, more formal instruction (not necessarily a lecture or classroom format, but more organized approach to schooling than the years when mucking about in the puddles was school). They are more independent, and they do need opportunities to develop their own initiative, to think independently, to make their faith their own faith and not just yours. They also need time with you, and they need it just as much as the younger ones do, if not more. They need you to keep having fun with them. They need service projects. They need lots of time with the family, not off brooding alone.

Because they are able to do so much more independently, the temptation, or simply the easy bad habit to get into is to hand them their books and let them read them all independently. But just because they can do something is not necessarily a good reason to have them do that thing. Our older children do do most of their work independently, but I tried to save things that they did with us, even if they could do it alone, just so we were doing something together. I did not always do this as well as I could have wished.

Where do you give more freedom and how do you make the transition? Well, that depends on the child and the parents, doesn't it? Don't you hate these evasive answers? Wouldn't it be easier if we could say, "thirty days past the child's eighth birthday you should allow him or her to start choosing his own bedtime. 60 days prior to the 10th birthday you should stop previewing books and movies."

How and where you make the transition will vary based on your family and the people in it, and your standards. The shocking truth is that in our family bedtime was not one of those transitional freedom issues because we almost never had an assigned bedtime (the exception to this is when children have things to do early in the morning). Our kids went to bed when they wanted to go to bed- the only rule being they had to go to bed no later than I did, and I am a night owl. But I previewed their books and movies for them for a very long time- largely because they wanted me to. I handed a book to the Equuschick once, I don't recall now if she was 14 or 16, and she read it, stopped midway, and said, "You did not preview this book for me, did you? And I do not appreciate that." I read it, and while I saw her point, I also thought it was a book she might have read herself, but she disagreed. The HG had me watching a handful of movies for her before she did until she was around 18 and asked me to watch Wit first. I was so traumatized by the experience that I quit the job of previewing anything for her on the spot. I think it is the best movie I never want to see again.

Anyway, for other examples of individual differences, the HG was reading Anne Frank's diary when she was 8 or 9, but gentle Jenny at 21 still has not read it. Otoh, Jenny has read War and Peace, and the HG still hasn't. Some of the children read Seton's Wild Animals I have known when they were eight or nine, and some of them read one chapter and begged off and I let them do it. Nobody in our family has had a cell phone until 18, and then only because they got jobs and were driving (or in the HG's case, driving back and forth to college). The HG got a cell phone before I did because her grandmother thought she needed one (and so did I). But we don't do texting.

Children are individuals, and you have to respect that, even nurture it, while still keeping firm guidelines and boundary lines.

Hopefully, soon they develop their own guidelines. Our nineteen year old surprised and deeply gratified me about a year ago when she told me that she does not listen to music on the radio if she doesn't know the words. If a group she hears from a friend sounds interesting she looks them up online to see if the lyrics are clean enough that she wants them in her head (she cannot 'not' hear the lyrics, whereas I have to work really hard to be aware of them at all) and wants her younger siblings to hear.

Something else to keep in mind is that there is no responsibility without authority. It is grossly unfair to give a child responsibility for something with no authority over that arena. If they cannot handle the authority, they aren't ready for the responsibility. As you gradually transition from one state to the next, watch carefully to see that you are fair about this.

I think it's important to help children learn to take initiative, too. Don't solve all their problems. Give them some of your problems to solve- let them take over dinner or figure out how to fix a problem, and when they are narrating their school books take time to give them meatier discussion points to consider.

As for strictly academic topics- we've worked through advanced materials together, learning as we go, we've hired instructors (piano), co-opped (biology), done online classes, and done a video course once or twice (our least favorite method). Do not give up on teaching high school at home because you think you can't do algebra. There are several options available.
With our middle two on down we've mainly done Amblesideonline.org, so taking a look over there will give you some idea of how we handle the academics.

Don't sacrifice character for academics, but don't make the mistake of imagining one must choose one or the other, either.


But there is more to teaching big kids than this. While none of us are perfect- at all- there are some things that we think have worked well for us, although the jury is still out. I am holding my breath until the last one is through the teen years, out of the house and still behaving while living independently of us- barring our handicapped child, who will always be dependent on us. We are not fooled into thinking that homeschooling is 'enough' to avoid all the possible

This is a big topic and this post has barely skimmed the surface, and I have a feeling it's rather rambling (still recovering from vacation brain). So what do you think about transitioning from one stage to the next, transferring responsibility, and developing independence? What do you wish I'd addressed?

Visit Connie and her newest baby at Smockity Frocks and see what she has to say (self sufficiency, YES)
Visit Kim at Life in a Shoe, who tells you much more about the nitty gritty of what they do.
Kimberly at Raising Olives blogs about their approach, and yes, yes, yes on discernment and responsibility.


Postscript- because I have a strong feeling that somebody reading here may need to know this:
A link in the BloghHer side bar happened to catch my eye last night and I followed through to read two warning tales that might be important to some of our readers.
Katie Allison Granjou is an attachment parenting guru and mother of four (I believe expecting her fifth), who is currently spending much of her time by her teen-aged son's bed in a hospital. He has been battling a drug addiction for some time, overdosed and was beaten up and left for dead. He will probably, according to the doctors, never be the person he once was but will require extra care and attention for the rest of his life. Katie writes here of what she now sees as a pivotal moment in their lives.
Here Sarah Wurthan Buttenweiser reviews the book Beautiful Boy, another family's story of battling drug addiction and makes some similar observations.

Teaching Older Kids (and raising them in general)

Tomorrow, May 27, those of us four moms who are not in active labor (that definitely includes me) will be discussing: Teaching big kids: what changes? What do they need that little ones don't and where do you need to give more freedom. How do you make the transition?

Sometimes I look at these post topics and wish I could just hand them over to my oldest Progeny and have them write the posts for me. What did I do right? What did I do wrong? What did I do? I don't remember.=)

Learn How!!

Learn how to cast on knitting stitches ( assuming you even know what that is), roast your own coffee, crochet an adorable baby cap, make special Memorial Day cupcakes, make a purse, change a tire- so COOL- these are step by step tutorials all available at Smockity's blog, where you can also see adorable pictures of the newest little Smockity morsel of deliciousness.

news and views

North Korea cuts ties with South Korea.

Member of the media totally obsessed with Palin in a thoroughly creepy way moves in next door to her so he can spy on the family all summer. Random House intends to publish Joe McGinnis' book.

The American Academy of Pediatrics wants hot dogs redesigned, warning labels on foods that are known choking hazards, more government involvement in protecting children from dangerous foods, and more. They started studying (and advocating) for this issue several years ago when 17 children around the world died by choking on the same food (a food since banned from the American market at least.
ANY number of dead children is a very sad number. Around the world is a very big place. And every single year 400 children die in American automobile accidents alone.
I don't let my small kids eat tootsie rolls, grapes, plain raw carrots, popcorn, hot dogs, and a number of other foods- in some cases, like popcorn, I will pull off small pieces of popcorn to share, and carrots I cook or cut up small. Tootsie rolls- well, I had a friend who was an ER nurse with a sad tale to tell. Probably was a freak accident, but there it is. Most of us have some irrational something or other we don't allow because of some uncommon background reason.
Here are the ten most commonly choked on foods for those who want to know. Some of our old meddlesome busy bodies who were involved with the CPSIA show up here as well.

Is there a self serving reason the SEIU sent 500 thugs to 'protest' a bank official's private home (when only a teenaged boy was home)?

Darleen Click notes a topsy turvy state of affairs that simply cannot last:

The great march to “Change” America into a Euro-Socialist Democracy continues apace

Paychecks from private business shrank to their smallest share of personal income in U.S. history during the first quarter of this year, a USA TODAY analysis of government data finds.
At the same time, government-provided benefits — from Social Security, unemployment insurance, food stamps and other programs — rose to a record high during the first three months of 2010.

Those records reflect a long-term trend accelerated by the recession and the federal stimulus program to counteract the downturn. The result is a major shift in the source of personal income from private wages to government programs.

The trend is not sustainable, says University of Michigan economist Donald Grimes. Reason: The federal government depends on private wages to generate income taxes to pay for its ever-more-expensive programs. Government-generated income is taxed at lower rates or not at all, he says. “This is really important,” Grimes says.

Growing the Government dependency class — bug or feature? Discuss.

You know what I find rather frightening? The number of people- mostly progressives, who I suspect simply do not understand that the feds depend on private wages to generate the funds for their entitlement programs.

From Betsy's Page

Just as critics predicted, California's efforts to fund supposedly green jobs has done nothing to help their economy and has had a considerably negative economic effect. As a new study shows, "while the long-term economic costs are 'unknown,' the study finds that AB-32 will raise energy prices, 'causing the prices of goods and services to rise; lowering business profits; and reducing production, income and jobs.'" Meanwhile, businesses are fleeing the state. Just think of how much fun it will be when Obama and the Democrats impose similar environmental provisions on the entire United States.

Which brings us to a story Newsbusters points out in “Daily Kos: Gulf Oil Spill Is The Green Lobby’s 9/11, to Exploit ‘In the Most Cynical, Calculated Way:’”

From the “Did I Say That Out Loud?” Department: “Crashing Vor” on the Daily Kos asserted on Tuesday morning that a good crisis should never go to waste. The Gulf oil spill must be exploited, and the greens must “use this moment, use the deaths of species and the suffering of people who depend on them, in the most cynical, calculated way, as bad as a Republican after 9/11, to make real, lasting change in how we address the costs of our way of life.” That means a command-and-control “climate change” bill. Get it now, before stupid Americans lose interest.

The President has gone almost a year without a press conference, and the White House is editing video footage where the press tries to ask the President questions.


Maryland is keeping social security benefits belonging to orphans.

Friedman looks longingly toward China, as he longs for this government to have the authority the Chinese government has (and Andrea Mitchell agrees with him), Woody Allen wants to let Obama be a dictator for a few years, and The Anchoress writes:

Every murderous totalitarian government of the 20th century began with some insulated group of faux-intellectuals congratulating each other on how smart they are, and fantasizing about how, if they could just install a dictatorship-for-a-day, they could right all the wrongs in the world.

It is the ultimate fantasy of the narcissist. And we’ve got whole generations of them, in control of our media and our government, all intent on “remaking America.”

You should read the rest.

Mark Twain's autobiography will be published for the first time this November.

Is this radish an educational tool, or just a gimmick?

Identify This Photo from Pennsylvania

We squeezed in so much in such a short time that parts of it started to blur together. I can't remember now who this statue represents. I *think* this was either at Valley Forge or Gettysburg, but I could be wrong and it was Philadelphia. What do you think?

Regressed Adults

(slightly edited repost)

Remember what you learned about Henry Ford in school? If your schooling was like my schooling, then you learned that Ford was brilliant because he invented the assembly line.
If your schooling was slightly better than mine, you learned that didn't invent it, but he harnessed it and really mastered its use, and his brilliance was in the fact that he had the vision to see how the assembly line could revolutionize mass production.

But Henry's brilliance wasn't merely a vision for mass production; it was his vision for creating mass consumption. He believed in lowering the cost of the merchandise and raising the wage of the worker to the point that the workers could afford to buy the merchandise. In doing this, he transformed the automobile from a luxury item into a necessity.

The car was only the first consumer item to crossover. As other business owners watched the success of Henry's ideas, they too began lowering production costs, selling in volume, and marketing to the masses. That marketing to the masses was the key to some rather unpleasant changes in our society as businesses sought to create new markets for their utterly unnecessary and frivolous stuff (which we Common Roomers buy, too. This isn't a holier than thou sort of post).

Which brings us to 1962, when Paul Goodman published his book Compulsory Mis-Education . He wrote of the isolation of youth within the high schools (compulsory attendance in high school was relatively new), where they were compelled to stay, day after day, excluded from interesting adult life and pressured to perform and conform primarily to keep them out of the adult job market and off the streets.

This forced isolation from the real world created a youth subculture, which can be, like institutionalized school itself, viciously self-perpetuating. About that sub-culture Goodman wrote:

"...since the intellectual life of callow boys and girls in isolation from the
grown-up economy and culture is thin gruel, youth interests are vastly puffed up
into fads, disk-jockeys, politically organized gangs and wars, coterie
literature, drugs and liquor, all frantically energized by youthful animal
spirits, and cleverly managed by adult promoters. The teen-age market
is more than $10 billions a year.... It is largely frivolous and arbitrary... and exerts a tremendous pressure of blackmail against
nonconformers or those ignorant of the latest, who will be unpopular. It makes
it hard to talk sense to them, or for them to talk sense, whether adolescent or
adult. And of course there is no chance for intelligent dissent from the
official philosophy and standard of life. Naturally, too, especially in the
middle class, the regressed adults play at and sponsor every teen-age idiocy."

That was then, and it had grown substantially, as just a handful of years previously, the teen market was 'only' 1.5 billion a year.
Now? It's expected to top 200 billion by 2011.
We are not mall sort of people. We go the mall about every three to five years. It's a field trip. We are taking the children to the zoo, basically, but in this zoo the exhibits are out walking through the mall.
The last time I went to the mall I wrote about what I observed, and it brought to mind the above passage in Goodman's book.

We saw the adolescents in full courtship display on their natural hereditary mating grounds. And we saw adult after regressed adult playing at teen-aged idiocy. Parents of small children walked by sporting lips pierced with three and four rings (what are they thinking? do you know what a small child can do to one ring in your lip, let alone five?) I watched haggard women who must be my age, with bags under their eyes that I could pack luggage in, wearing the same fashions and make-up as the dewy eyed teens standing nearby. At least, I think they were dewy eyed. Maybe their makeup was melting. And I looked at all the stuff they were wearing, and the stuff in the stores they were buying, and I wondered, "Who spends twenty bucks for underwear just because it has a picture of a famous rodent on it?"

Honestly, very few of the people we saw looked like they were having any joy out of their day.


And sure, the mass consumption makes for jobs, employment, an economy that's thriving. I know that. But so much of it is so utterly devoid of anything like real beauty or function or meaning.

The conversations I could overhear reflect the same absence of meaning, and Goodman refers to this, too:

"....the small talk drives out real talk. It is incredibly snobbish and exclusive of sincerity and originality. Embattled against the adult world that must inexorably triumph, adolescent society jealously protects itself against meaning."

We isolate the young people within the high school, the youth group, the youth clubs, and we develop and market products specifically for and to them, creating an unnatural world where they think they need that stuff. The kids who grow up in that environment are stunted in many areas, and they develop their own responses to the artificiality of their constricted circle- I referred to it in the posts about Growing Up Brash.

And when somehow we manage to rear teens who demonstrate a lack of interest in typical materialistic teen culture, we view that as immaturity.

This perpetual adolescence is a joke on all of us, but it's not very funny.

We don't have to live like this. I've said that before, but it needs repeating. We don't need this year's haircut or shoes or gadget or color just because it's this year's. It's harmless enough if you can afford it and you like it for its own sake. If both of these are not true, you might try escaping from the youth culture where you've been trapped. Refusing to grow up is not refreshing. Regressed adults playing at teenaged idiocies are not cute.

Beef Boogie Woogie

(cooking times corrected!)

I tore this page out of a Woman's Day magazine several years ago- the name comes from the way the editor's child pronounced Beef Bourguignon. I don't make it much any more because of all the ready made ingredients, but it sure is tasty.


1 can cream of mushroom soup (or make two cups of white sauce, or boil two or three potatoes and onion together and then cream them)
1/2 cup of dry red wine
1 packet of beefy onion soup mix (the kind that comes two to a box)
2 pounds lean beef chunks cut for stew
2 cups baby carrots
2 cups shitake or other mushrooms
1/2 tsp thyme

Put the liquid ingredients and thyme in your crockpot and whisk them well. dd the rest of the ingredients, stir. Cook on low for eight to ten hours or on high for four.

Serve over noodles or potatoes

This post linked at:
Crockpot Wednesdays at Dining with Debbie
All The Small Stuff

Abortion Myths

Ms Magazine put together a list of what they say are the ten worst abortion myths and how to refute them. It is interesting that they don't even address the issue of whether or not the unborn offspring of two human beings is also human. That's because that is the most basic question of all, and it is unpalatable to them. Jill Stanek's readers offer a counter refutation and come up with their own list of the worst pro-abortion myths. Here's one example:

Abortion Myth #5: Prior to Roe and Doe thousands of women died in illegal "back alley" abortion procedures, and if those cases are overturned, thousands more will die.
Response: The first part of this myth (women died in droves from illegal abortions prior to Roe) is a complete lie, made up out of whole cloth. In 1972, one year prior to Roe, thirty-nine women died from illegal abortion procedures. Not thousands. Not even hundreds. Thirty-nine. Even pro-choicers admit that the numbers in which these deaths are reported is outright ludicrous and that most illegal abortion procedures were performed by board certified physicians in good standing, and in sterile hospital rooms. There is simply no reason to believe this has ever been true.
The second part of this myth (thousands of women will die if Roe is repealed) is, like myth 3, a complete guess.

Much more at the link.

On "Lost"

I give you two reviews:
Allahpundit loved the final.

Dr. Zero hated it.

Allahpundit did not watch the previous seasons, but he loved the finale, though he understands why some may not:

You’ve been reading a thousand-page mystery novel that’s gotten more convoluted with each chapter, and on the very last page, instead of the whodunnit — they gave you a poem. The question is, was it a mystery novel or was it something else?

Dr. Zero did watch the show, was a fan, and he did not love the finale:

It’s not merely a question of riddles left unanswered. The show lied to its viewers, repeatedly. Remember Juliet saying “it worked” after the atomic bomb went off, followed by the last season’s opening shot of a submerged island in what appeared to be an alternate timeline? That wasn’t some sort of clever misdirection. It was an outright lie. The reason everyone immediately rewinds The Sixth Sense after seeing it for the first time is that it plays fair. It shows the audience certain things, with complete honesty, and the audience misinterprets what it’s seeing. It’s the difference between pulling a quarter out of someone’s ear with sleight of hand, versus knocking them unconscious and stuffing a coin in their earlobe. The kind of cheating indulged by the Lost writers will cost them their feet, if they ever run afoul of the madwoman from Misery.

What happened at the end of Lost is the betrayal of mystery. Storytelling requires a commitment of trust between author and audience. Lost squandered six years of that trust. None of the plot elements from the first two-thirds of the story had anything to do with its resolution. The end of the story came from out of left field, as if the Harry Potter series had ended with a cop shooting Voldemort dead. Sorry about all the fuss and bother, Harry. Guess that whole “Chosen One” thing was just a dead end. You were still a great character, though! Give our best to Ron and Hermione!

Oh, I love that phrase 'betrayal of mystery.' He has more good stuff which you should click through and read.

On the other hand, one of APs commenters did watch all six seasons, and he also loved the final:


Then again, another of AP's commenters liked it with what I think is an important caveat:

Overall I enjoyed Lost’s run. It was a unique experience. But I hope that TV writers don’t take the show as permission to try to replicate its success with similar formulas. Lost still had massive continuity problems, gigantic plotholes, and a meandering sometimes senseless storyline…but it kept us involved with excellent characters and a sense of mystery and adventure. The audience had a lot of good will for Lost as an experiment but the formula isn’t going to work twice. Any copycat will be crushed by expectations of doing it one better.

RAB on May 25, 2010 at 11:15 AM

Here's another comment from somebody who liked it:

In the end, the show was not about the island, but about people. People who were broken. Alone. They had no one else to depend on, so they were unable to ever ask for help. Through the six seasons, the writers were able to take these people, put them through a refiner’s fire, and bring them out the other end in much better condition than they started. Take, for example, Sawyer. He was a con in real life, but had completely changed. Hence why he was a cop in the “afterlife” place. Hurley went from feeling like the most unlucky person on the planet to the exact opposite. Ben went from hurting people to helping them become more than what they were. The list goes on.

This was one of the best endings to a show since, well, maybe MASH or Newhart or Star Trek: Voyager. It was awesome. And I’m glad I took the time to watch it, even when people ridiculed me for it.

jedijson on May 25, 2010 at 2:44 PM

Full disclosure- I watched part of one episode of Lost after it had already been on a couple of years, and I really did not follow most of what I saw and I did not want to get sucked into years of a television show just to see the ending and have all explained, or not. So I have avoided it even while being terribly curious about it. So I don't know what I am talking about, but I enjoyed this explanation as well (from somebody who supposedly knows more of the inside story, if I understood the linked comment correctly:

Still, despite his grand plan, Jacob wanted to give his "candidates" (our Lostaways) the one thing he, nor his brother, were ever afforded: free will. Hence him bringing a host of "candidates" through the decades and letting them "choose" which one would actually do the job in the end. Maybe he knew Jack would be the one to kill Flocke and that Hurley would be the protector in the end. Maybe he didn't. But that was always the key question of the show: Fate vs Free-will. Science vs Faith. Personally I think Jacob knew from the beginning what was going to happen and that everyone played a part over 6 seasons in helping Jack get to the point where he needed to be to kill Smokey and make Hurley the protector -- I know that's how a lot of the writers viewed it. But again, they won't answer that (nor should they) because that ruins the fun.

In the end, Jack got to do what he always wanted to do from the very first episode of the show: Save his fellow Lostaways. He got Kate and Sawyer off the island and he gave Hurley the purpose in life he'd always been missing. And, in Sideways world (which we'll get to next) he in fact saved everyone by helping them all move on ...

Now...

Several commenters at various blogs noted similarities between The Last Battle, The Great Divorce, and Narnian theology in general. Cindy is another who noticed the connections.


I was waiting for Cindy to tell me what to think about it, because even though I did not want to watch Lost, I wanted to know what was going on, and so I always read her Lost posts. She failed me. She only told me what she thinks about it.=) She's not a big fan of the Jack character, but there's more than that. Here's an excerpt:

My first time watching, I was distracted by the stained glass window: The all-inclusive religions of the world. I knew that LOST had explored many philosophies and religions but I always hoped it would end as a Christian metaphor, doubted but hoped. I even thought how silly it was for a man named Christian Shepherd to lead a coalition that included all religions. But in rewatching it last night, I realized that it did end as a Christian metaphor largely due to CS Lewis, I am guessing. Whenever the camera was on the window it always focused on the cross. Not great theology but great story.
[...]
LOST was a great show. Instead of relying on tired old TV ideas it went back to the Great Conversation. The Great Conversation makes a great show. I wonder if it will ever happen again.

Okay, so I gave you more than two reviews. Were you a fan?

Fetuses are 'Repelling'. Who knew?

I understand why pro-aborts object to the showing of photographs of the product of their advocacy, better than they do, I think. But I don't get why passing out to third-fifth graders a plastic image of a fetus at about 12 weeks gestation along with a fact sheet about the development of that fetus up to that point is 'shocking' 'upsetting' causing 'a lot of upset and a lot of outrage' 'clearly inappropriate' and 'repelling,' so much so that people get fired over it. In most fifth grade classes they are applying prophylactics to fruits and vegetables. What is so outrageous about seeing a lifesized plastic image of a healthy, normal preborn baby at 12 weeks gestation? The plastic, life-sized (which means maybe two inches big), doll came with an attached card outlining the stages of development from conception to 12 weeks in an accurate fashion. There is one sentence on the attached card that I think it would have been more politic to remove even though it is a factually accurate statement: 'Some people think that my life began at birth; but my life's journey began long before I was born,' The back of the card contained a list of scientifically accurate information about the developmental stages which a fetus of 12 weeks has typically completed. Oh, horrors. But that one sentence is not what people are objecting to. They object to the unassuming little doll itself, proving, as one commenter at the link above says, that biology carries a clear pro-life message,' and it is abortion itself they favor, not informed choice. I cannot see the outrage and horror over children as young as third grade being shown an accurate, lifesized image of a baby at 12 weeks gestation or being given information on what that stage of development entails. Notice that the objections (you can read them by following the links) are not about the accuracy of the information. Nor do people stop with 'this sentence is clearly a political message from a pro-life point of view, and thus inappropriate' in this context.' No, the responses are largely fact-free, emotional, kindergarten level reactions from people who think an accurate depiction of a 12 week fetus is 'gross' and 'repelling' and are immature enough to say so. Actually, to call that kindergarten level is to insult kindergartners. I showed a model very much like this one to my own children when I was pregnant with our sixth child, and the youngest two were then 5 and 6. They were neither grossed out nor repelled, because you have to have a certain political agenda to find this revolting. Last year a pro-life protester who merely stood across the street from a high school showing pictures of aborted babies was shot and killed. Although the initial statement from the assistant prosecutor said the killer was upset about the graphic signs being shown to children ('children' who could get free contraceptives and abortions without parental consent), later police concluded the killer was just insane. But that did not stop some pro-abortion folks from saying that James Puillon got what was coming to him for the horrific crime of showing people what a legal surgical procedure looks like. As I have said before, nobody would freak out if the guy stood across the street showing pictures of surgically removed tonsils or gall bladders. Think about the deep and self-deceiving hypocrisy there. Abortion is an elective surgical procedure, and about the only one that teens can get without parental consent. And, as the Lila Rose project has shown us, even in states where parental permission is legally required, Planned Parenthood routinely helps minor youth to get around that law, going so far as to break the law on reporting the rape of minors, and helping to hide the identity of adult abusers of children. So it's an elective surgical procedure teens can get without parental consent in most cases. They can keep their parents from ever finding out about this surgical procedure, and Planned Parenthood visits their schools and tells them how to get one, how to avoid detection, and they are taught that the unborn baby is just tissue. So how on earth could a photograph of this 'tissue' be offensive? I know why it's offensive to me- because I know and acknowledge that those photographs are human babies who have been brutally murdered. But if abortion is acceptable to you, then you have no more grounds to objecting to photographs of the results of the abortion than you would objecting to photographs of surgically removed gall bladders and tonsils. Remember when we were shown pictures of human lungs from humans who had died of lung cancer from smoking? Did anybody scream and holler about that? Why does it upset pro-aborts so much to see pictures of the surgical procedure and the very results which they advocate for?

This ad will make a lot of people angry

And personally, I do think it is a tad extreme.  But I wish him well, nonetheless:


Les Philip, running for an Alabama House Primary. If I lived in Alabama I'd have to find out a lot more about him before voting for him, but he is interesting. Thanks to Hot Air, where AllahPundit points out that by today's standards from the left, this counts as high treason or something.