My daughter just posted on Facebook - her husband's cancer scan came out clean - he's still free of cancer.
After a rocky spring last year, chemo treatments in the summer and fall, and having to stop treatments because of the side effects (nerve damage), this is GREAT news!
Thursday, December 12, 2013
Tuesday, December 10, 2013
To Live Together, or NOT?
Mona Charen wrote about The Marriage Divide - the fact that the lower classes, and, increasingly, the lower middle classes are choosing to build their families without marriage. She, and I, think that's a bad thing - for reasons that she makes clear in her post.
Mona cites the advice of Carolyn Hax to a young woman asking when she should think about moving in with her boyfriend (of 5 months). Carolyn sneers at the mom's advice. I started to reply on the site, but didn't want to bother with registration.
My take:
The mother is sensible - she suggests that the girl wait until it appears that marriage is seriously considered. The girl ties her arguments to what married people have advised; clearly, she is NOT just looking for a wild time. She is serious about her personal feelings; she at least envisions marriage as a possibility.
There is NO indication that the boy in the scenario is anticipating marriage in any serious way.
Like it or not, women have a "sell-by date" - the tick of the biological clock makes their time precious, and short. If, as many women do, she wants to have a family, it makes sense to hedge her bets until at least a ring is offered (Not that I'm all that crazy about a hunk of pressurized carbon. I think it's ridiculous to spend several months gross salary on a piece of jewelry. But, it does put some financial legs into a vague promise of a future together).
[I wrote that above, realizing that there are some women who will use that phrase "sell-by date" as an excuse to trash the whole argument. I'm simply suggesting that biological fertility is a perishable item.
Men, not having biological pressures, tend to let time slip by. It makes for an uneasy situation, where one is more and more pressured to marry by the clock, and the other lazily resists a final step, because - well, he CAN.
Nothing to do with cows and milk. The mother isn't suggesting that the girl stay a virgin until the day of the wedding (Although, it's not, as you suggest, a bad start to a marriage. At the least, you're limiting the spread of diseases that antibiotics and modern medicine are reaching the end of their ability to curb.)
The mom is just stating the obvious - by staying in her own place, the girl retains a lot more power in the relationship - including the option to break it off without a hassle, date others, if desired, and occupy herself how she likes without worrying about what her boyfriend will think. It may well be the TRUE liberated woman's solution to single life.
Mona cites the advice of Carolyn Hax to a young woman asking when she should think about moving in with her boyfriend (of 5 months). Carolyn sneers at the mom's advice. I started to reply on the site, but didn't want to bother with registration.
My take:
The mother is sensible - she suggests that the girl wait until it appears that marriage is seriously considered. The girl ties her arguments to what married people have advised; clearly, she is NOT just looking for a wild time. She is serious about her personal feelings; she at least envisions marriage as a possibility.
There is NO indication that the boy in the scenario is anticipating marriage in any serious way.
Like it or not, women have a "sell-by date" - the tick of the biological clock makes their time precious, and short. If, as many women do, she wants to have a family, it makes sense to hedge her bets until at least a ring is offered (Not that I'm all that crazy about a hunk of pressurized carbon. I think it's ridiculous to spend several months gross salary on a piece of jewelry. But, it does put some financial legs into a vague promise of a future together).
[I wrote that above, realizing that there are some women who will use that phrase "sell-by date" as an excuse to trash the whole argument. I'm simply suggesting that biological fertility is a perishable item.
Men, not having biological pressures, tend to let time slip by. It makes for an uneasy situation, where one is more and more pressured to marry by the clock, and the other lazily resists a final step, because - well, he CAN.
Nothing to do with cows and milk. The mother isn't suggesting that the girl stay a virgin until the day of the wedding (Although, it's not, as you suggest, a bad start to a marriage. At the least, you're limiting the spread of diseases that antibiotics and modern medicine are reaching the end of their ability to curb.)
The mom is just stating the obvious - by staying in her own place, the girl retains a lot more power in the relationship - including the option to break it off without a hassle, date others, if desired, and occupy herself how she likes without worrying about what her boyfriend will think. It may well be the TRUE liberated woman's solution to single life.
Friday, December 6, 2013
Some Disturbing Information About "What Muslims Believe"
I was taking a break from housework (yes, I do it - no, I don't like it), and found a link - I'm glad I followed it. It's a fairly comprehensive examination of Muslim writings that are often misinterpreted by non-Muslims.
Just one part, about how the Crusades were an "unjustified invasion and slaughter of innocent Muslims".
Really?
The Facts:
Read the whole thing - it's worth the time.
Just one part, about how the Crusades were an "unjustified invasion and slaughter of innocent Muslims".
Really?
The Facts:
The first Crusade began in 1095… 460 years after the first Christian city was overrun by Muslim armies, 457 years after Jerusalem was conquered by Muslim armies, 453 years after Egypt was taken by Muslim armies, 443 after Muslims first plundered Italy, 427 years after Muslim armies first laid siege to the Christian capital of Constantinople, 380 years after Spain was conquered by Muslim armies, 363 years after France was first attacked by Muslim armies, 249 years after the capital of the Christian world, Rome itself, was sacked by a Muslim army, and only after centuries of church burnings, killings, enslavement and forced conversions of Christians.
By the time the Crusades finally began, Muslim armies had conquered two-thirds of the Christian world.
Europe had been harassed by Muslims since the first few years following Muhammad’s death. As early as 652, Muhammad’s followers launched raids on the island of Sicily, waging a full-scale occupation 200 years later that lasted almost a century and was punctuated by massacres, such as that at the town of Castrogiovanni, in which 8,000 Christians were put to death. In 1084, ten yearsbefore the first crusade, Muslims staged another devastating Sicilian raid, burning churches in Reggio, enslaving monks and raping an abbey of nuns before carrying them into captivity.
In 1095, Byzantine Emperor, Alexius I Comneus began begging the pope in Rome for help in turning back the Muslim armies which were overrunning what is now Turkey, grabbing property as they went and turning churches into mosques. Several hundred thousand Christians had been killed in Anatolia alone in the decades following 1050 by Seljuk invaders interested in ‘converting’ the survivors to Islam.
Read the whole thing - it's worth the time.
Saturday, November 23, 2013
Please Shop at These "Good Guys"
...companies that DIDN'T force their employees to work on Thanksgiving Day. I only know of a few, so far (in alpha order):
Please send me information in the comments if you know more companies to add to the list.
Also, there's a petition to boycott those stores that WON'T close. Head to the link if you agree.
American Girl
Apple
BJ's Wholesale Club
Burlington's
Costco
Dillard's
DSW
Home Depot
Marshall's
Nordstrom's
Patagonia
Radio Shack
REI
Ross
T J Maxx
Please send me information in the comments if you know more companies to add to the list.
Also, there's a petition to boycott those stores that WON'T close. Head to the link if you agree.
Sunday, October 20, 2013
After the Shutdown
I've been too busy with RL to do more than observe the posturing of various politicians over the last few weeks. I have, however, a few remarks to make about this time:
- Both sides bear some blame.
Various factions of the Republican Party are jockeying for position, leadership, and media attention. As a result, some important points about the future of this country are getting lost. Lets make this less about the individuals, and more about the nation, OK? - My major comment about the Democrat party is that they seem to exhibit remarkable cohesion on their party discipline, and, as a result, their message does reach the voter clearly.
Too bad that their message is: We won, so all y'all taxpayers have to cough up as much cash in taxes as we want - forever. If we run out of money to pay off our campaign donors, just suck it up and give us more. NO reduction of spending - no matter how wasteful or ridiculous - can EVER be considered. If you protest, we're gonna talk about starving babies and homeless old people. - I'm so excited that average citizens stood up to the Park Service Nazis, and put those Barrycades on the White House sidewalk. That's the sort of American Action I like to see - in this country, the Government doesn't tell law-abiding citizens where they can go.
- The settlement may be the best we can hope for. We should use the next few months to educate the American public about the dangers of long-term debt. I'm working to put together a Youtube presentation about it - it'll be a first for me.
- TV is boring. They don't actually analyze any of the issues. They just look for cool soundbites.
- I haven't read a newspaper in months. Most of my information is gotten from websites (OK, they are sometimes web editions of newspapers, such as the Wall Street Journal or Fortune), TV news, government sites (well, until the shutdown).
- For those who think the answer to the government running out of money is to raise the debt ceiling:
Consider a family who spend without regard to their budget, and eventually ran out of money, and maxed out their credit cards. If they then went to their creditors, and said, "We can't pay our bills. Our solution is for you to raise our credit limit."
How many of you think their creditors would think that a good idea? How many would think their response would be, "Find a way to make do with the money you have coming in. Cut out the luxuries and frills."
Thursday, October 10, 2013
THE GREAT OBAMACARE/BUDGET/OVERREACH CRASH
Hard as it is for the dedicated, loyal Obamanuts to imagine, The Great and Powerful O is well on the way to crashing and burning - in a mess of his own making. Some of the most recent ways he is screwing up:
- Obamacare Website Fiasco. Few can get through the initial creation of a sign-on and password. Even fewer can navigate the system to sign on, and select a plan. Those persistent few who WERE successful have NO IDEA how much it will cost them. In the process, they have had to give their financial and medical information to a government that routinely violates privacy protections, agree to let a credit agency release their credit information (and pay more if they have a low credit rating), and passively accept whatever terms the Feds want to give them.
Bad planning, bad coding (by an outsourced CANADIAN company - hey, I thought only the EVIL Republicans/Capitalists did that!), and bad decision-making. - The shift from Friendly Park Service Employees to Terrifying, Brown-Shirted (literally), Uber-Nazis.
See Here, Here, and Here. - For a man that was touted as the MOST INTELLIGENT PRESIDENT OF ALL TIME, Obama sure makes some DUMB moves.
Sunday, September 22, 2013
Cowards!
The following members of the House Oversight Committee didn't have the GUTS to stay there and listen to the testimony of these people:
I decided to see just much interest they display on their websites for the Benghazi investigation - since, according to the official statements, the Democrats would have LOVED to stay and listen to the parents, but, alas, they just HAPPENED to have these scheduling conflicts.
Membership names taken from the House site:
AMAZINGLY, the link to a puff piece about the Rep. receiving an award from the Association of Americans Living Overseas doesn't work - but if you click here, it will. Wonder how those Americans who DIED in Benghazi feel about her not having the guts to listen to their parents talk about how the administration failed them - AND lied about it - AND are STILL lying about it.
Well, Unfailing Support EXCEPT for those people who died in the Embassy attack. Ya know, the peons who don't count.
The above statement on Speier's page is the single most substantive that I was able to find. I give her credit for the support in it.
No Search function on his website
Names include links to their websites - DO GIVE THEM A SHOUT-OUT, won't you? Let them know how you feel about their COWARDICE in leaving the room. AND maybe you can ask those that have NO RESULTS in the search for the term "Benghazi" why that is.
Patricia Smith and Charles Woods. Ms. Smith is the mother of Sean Smith, an information management officer killed in the 9/11 Benghazi attack. Charles Woods is the father of Navy SEAL Tyrone Woods, who was also killed.
I decided to see just much interest they display on their websites for the Benghazi investigation - since, according to the official statements, the Democrats would have LOVED to stay and listen to the parents, but, alas, they just HAPPENED to have these scheduling conflicts.
Membership names taken from the House site:
AMAZINGLY, the link to a puff piece about the Rep. receiving an award from the Association of Americans Living Overseas doesn't work - but if you click here, it will. Wonder how those Americans who DIED in Benghazi feel about her not having the guts to listen to their parents talk about how the administration failed them - AND lied about it - AND are STILL lying about it.
Inscribed on the award is a message that reads, “In Gratitude For Her Unfailing Support For the Rights of Americans Living and Working Overseas.”
Well, Unfailing Support EXCEPT for those people who died in the Embassy attack. Ya know, the peons who don't count.
- Rep. Jackie Speier (CA-12) - aside from the Ranking Member Elijah Cummings, she's the ONLY one that stayed.
The above statement on Speier's page is the single most substantive that I was able to find. I give her credit for the support in it.
No Search function on his website
Names include links to their websites - DO GIVE THEM A SHOUT-OUT, won't you? Let them know how you feel about their COWARDICE in leaving the room. AND maybe you can ask those that have NO RESULTS in the search for the term "Benghazi" why that is.
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