Caroline B. Glick: The rigged game

This explains so much of the attitude toward Israel. I've never understood how people can look at the violence against Israel and say it is Israel's fault. I have come to the conclusion that the only possibility is it being anti-semitism. Are there any other possibilities? Can you help me out on this one?

Caroline B. Glick: The rigged game

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Faith Healing

I have a word to say about faith healing. Really, I probably have about 2 million words to say about faith healing, but I'll try to keep it short.

I am of the belief that our bodies are amazing and wonderful things. I believe that our bodies have the ability to heal themselves in many circumstances. I believe that our bodies were made that way. I believe that it is better to allow your body to fight an infection than to give it medicine, if at all possible.

But, you see, I also believe that doctors and medicine are essential in the world we live in. I believe that when you are sick, and your body is not healing itself, you should go to the doctor. There are so many illnesses that are easily curable with a doctor's help. Take, for instance, appendicitis. This is an illness that most bodies are not going to cure on their own, but that a doctor can cure in less than an hour by removing the appendix. But, if you don't go to the doctor, that appendix will not be removed, and you will die.

So, where does faith healing fit in? Most people that believe in faith healing believe that God will heal them. They also seem to believe that sickness is a test of their faith. They believe that if they just have enough faith, God will heal them. Going to the doctor means not having enough faith in God. And this is where we part ways. My grandmother believed strongly in faith healing. She had something wrong with her eye (I believe it was a cataract) that caused her to be blind on one side. A cataract is something that is treatable by surgery. But, my grandmother went around half blind for a good 10 years waiting for God to heal her. She firmly believed that if she just had enough faith, God would heal her. I have never met someone with more faith than my grandmother. Yet, God never healed her. Why didn't he?

Time and time again, I have heard the phrase, "Unless God moves, it's just a matter of days before ******** dies." Then, there's my favorite, "God really moved last night. Today, my headache(or other common illness) is completely gone." Why must God move on a molecular level to heal you? Why can't he put in place a team of doctors to help you? Have you ever thought that the reason God doesn't heal more often isn't because your faith isn't great enough, rather it's because you won't use the avenues that he's already put in place to heal you? If you have a child and the child won't eat his food because you're not feeding it to him, yet he's able to feed himself, do you blame the child or yourself? The fact of the matter is that the child had the ability to feed himself, yet didn't, because he had faith in you to feed him.

Why is healing different than every other aspect of your life? You ask God to provide a job, but don't expect Him to work it for you. You ask God to provide food (through said job), but don't expect Him to cook it. You ask God to provide a spouse, but don't expect Him to marry the man/woman for you. You ask God to give you children, but don't expect Him to raise them for you. You ask God to protect you on your way to work, but you still drive carefully. You ask God to heal you, but you refuse to utilize the things He has put in place to heal you. You refuse to acknowledge the fact that He might have had some hand in the discovery of that vaccine or medicine. Yet, you think He has a hand in everything else in the world. Why is there such a disconnect?

And, why do you think that God is like some butler in the sky, waiting to fulfill your every request? Didn't God put you here, give you free will to live your life, and set you free? What makes you think that he just sits up there waiting to serve you? Is it that whole "God is love" thing? Because, really, I'm not seeing it. Just because I love my children doesn't mean I do everything for them. I don't even get all their bandages for them. Why should I? They have the ability and free will to do it for themselves. They don't need me waiting on them hand and foot. No, in fact, they need me to teach them to be independent. Maybe, when God doesn't answer your prayer, He's wanting you to figure something out on your own. Have you ever thought of that?

Don't come crying to me when a loved one dies while waiting for God to heal them. I'll be grieving, too. After all, I loved that person, too. But, you know what? I'll be angry at the same time. I don't believe in 'faith healing', so don't talk to me about it. Don't talk to me about how much faith this person had. Don't talk to me about how noble they were. Just let me grieve. I loved them, and, chances are, they killed themselves. Heaven will wait for you. Go to the doctor.

Texting While Driving

This video is very graphic.

I Love Day by Day

Things I've Learned

I've learned a lot in my very short life. Since I am such an exceptionally nice person, I'm going to share some of the wisdom I have gathered over the past 32 years.

1. Do not give your dog your favorite name. Chances are, you'll have a child and want to give it the same name you gave your dog. It's not nice to name a kid after a dog.

2. There's a reason rednecks name their dogs "Old Blue" and "Old Red." That way, they can still name their kids Billy Jo, Joe Bob, and Bobby Sue.

3. If you have to go to your family tree (IE name your dogs after cousins) for dog names, you need to find another source of amusement or a better imagination. (Jack and Cindy are only names for dogs if Jack and Cindy are not related to you. ;)

4. If you're playing Monopoly and need to use the restroom, be sure to ask someone to watch your properties. If no one is responsible for your properties, no one has to pay you rent.

5. As a result of number 4, I've learned that it is advisable for landlords to always have a representative. Never leave your property unattended.

6. If you have brothers, sisters, or cousins (or really good friends) eating at the same table as you, do not leave the table for any reason without making someone responsible for keeping your glass free of foreign objects. This applies no matter what age you are.

7. If you're going on vacation with three sons, know where the nearest emergency room is. Chances are, you'll want that information.

8. Cats are slow learners. If you want them to go outside, you have to teach them that the litter box is no longer an option... by putting it outside. If you want them to use a cat door, you have to push them through it. And, if you're unlucky, they'll figure out how to get out it while you're on vacation, but not back in.

9. Boys will be boys. That means that they'll figure out at the ripe old age of 2 that farting and burping is funny, all by themselves.

10. Hair gets everywhere, and so do mosquitos.

11. Don't walk around barefoot on hot cement.

12. No matter what it is about, stereotypes don't fit everyone they're meant to explain. And, no matter what group of people it is, someone will get upset about a stereotype.

13. Deaf people are not quiet. In fact, they throw some of the noisiest parties I've ever been to.

14. If you make lists and like your things to be organized, people will assume you have OCD.

15. Everyone has their pet pathology. Some people have ADHD, some OCD, and some bipolar. But, they ALL like to apply that to half the people they meet.

16. If you watch a lot of TV, you'll feel consumed with the need to go to your doctor and get tested for all kinds of diseases. Plus, you'll feel the overwhelming need to buy a multitude of feminine hygiene products.

17. If you hate a song, someone will sing it and get it stuck in your head. This is an especially wonderful punishment for children who are annoying you. Don't let anyone tell you that you are running your very own Gitmo in your home if you choose to do this. This is a perfectly legitimate form of punishment.

18. If you answer one question, you'll come up with 20 more. This is certainly true for children, but in your own mind, too. The best option is to not answer any questions. This way, you go through life with only 10 unanswered questions, rather than exponential number of questions rolling around in your head, running into each other and driving you crazy.

19. If you do answer a question, you should do your best to give a wrong answer. For example, when asked the question, "What makes the wind blow?" a good answer is always, "The trees moving makes the wind blow." This creates perpetual confusion, causing people to always be searching for the truth, which in turn causes people to learn more. This, of course, is in direct contradiction to number 18.

20. Life is all contradiction, and if we don't have fun with it, it gets boring and long.

21. Life may be short, but only if you are having fun. So, have fun. When you get to the end, you don't want to say that life was long, even if you live until you're 200. You want it to be short.

22. Love is not a feeling, it is an action. If you're not feeling love, you need to start living love. You'll start feeling it again soon.

23. If you have children, they will make sure that you always have something to clean. They do it because they love you. They are taking action. More than likely, they think you like to clean. See number 22.

24. Don't wear short skirts to bowl in, no matter what your husband says. There will be other men there. They will notice when you bend over to bowl. I'm just sayin'...

25. Know what Poison Ivy looks like. If you have to take a bathroom break in the woods, you'll want to know.

Finally, a note about my learning experiences. I did not learn all these firsthand. That last one was learned by a woman I never knew, when I was a young child. Unfortunately, she was pregnant when she learned it. However, I have always gone by the motto of learning from others' mistakes. It's better that way. Go forth and be wise.

I Guess I'm Just Not Very Compassionate to Murderers

Lockerbie Bomber Freed From Prison on Compassionate Grounds

Battle for the Brain: Junk vs Good Literature

Round One: The child doesn't want to read. The parent says, "Well, let's give him this junk easy book to get him interested. After all, any reading is better than no reading!"

Round One goes to Junk.

Round Two: The child only wants to read graphic novels. The parent says, "This is what all the kids are reading these days. We need to change with the times."

Round Two goes to Junk.

Round Three: The teacher wants the child to read a classic. The child finds a Spark Notes and cheats.

Round Three goes to Junk.

Round Four: Child graduates. He no longer needs to read.

Knock out punch. Junk Wins!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

A few questions, people. Would you feed your child junk food if they didn't want to eat, just so that they would eat? Would you encourage them to get a tattoo because everyone else is doing it? (I've got nothing against tattoos, I'm just sayin'!) Would you want your child to cheat because they've been taught to be lazy? Do you want your child to read for life, because he loves books, or do you want him to give it up as soon as possible?

Please, don't get me wrong. My children read junk. I just minimize their access to junk, just like I minimize their consumption of junk food. My children understand the concept of moderation. They understand that so long as the majority of the food they consume is healthy, it is okay to consume junk occasionally. The same applies to the things they read. So long as the majority of what they read is good literature, they are allowed to read junk the rest of the time.

The idea that reading junk is somehow going to turn a child into a reader is beyond me. The only way to enjoy good literature is to train your brain to read it. You cannot teach your brain to think in short, chopped up sentences and one day suddenly expect it to be able to understand the long old English style of writing. You cannot read books that contain the vocabulary of a 6 year old until you're in high school, then suddenly expect to be able to understand the vocabulary of Shakespeare. These are things that must be built on gradually. It needs to start at birth, or even before, with good picture books, rather than junk written for mass market by authors whose vocabulary and writing style seems to be that of a kindergardener. Step up, parents! Teach your children's minds to love the English language. Teach your children the beauty of poetry. Teach your children the wonder of reading alliteration. Prepare your child to enjoy reading the following passages:

It had a perfectly round door like a porthole, painted green, with a shiny yellow brass knob in the exact middle. The door opened on to a tube-shaped hall like a tunnel: a very comfortable tunnel without smoke, with panelled walls, and floors tiled and carpeted, provided with polished chairs, and lots and lots of pegs for hats and coats- the hobbit was fond of visitors.

Filled with anger Zeus who marshals the storm clouds answered her at last:
"Disaster. You will drive me into war with Hera. She will provoke
me, she with her shrill abuse. Even now in the face of all the immortal
gods she harries me perpetually.........

......And suddenly Hera taunted the Father, son of Cronus: "So, who of the gods this time, my treacherous one, was hatching plans with you? Always your pleasure, whenever my back is turned, to settle things in your grand clandestine way. You never deign, do you, freely and frankly, to share your plots with me--never, not a word!"

The father of men and gods replied sharply,
"Hera--stop hoping to fathom all my thoughts. You will find them a trial,
though you are my wife. Whatever is right for you to hear, no one, trust
me, will know of it before you, neither god nor man. Whatever I choose to
plan apart from all the gods--no more of your everlasting questions, probe and
pry no more."......

...."Maddening one...you and your eternal suspicions--I can never escape you. Ah but tell me, Hera, just what can you do about all
this? Nothing. Only estrange yourself from me a little more--and all the worse for you. If what you say is true, that must be my pleasure. Now go sit down. Be quiet now. Obey my orders, for fear the gods, however many Olympus holds, are powerless to protect you when I come to throttle you with my irresistible hands."

The Thousand injuries of Fortunato I had borne as best I could; but when he ventured upon insult, I vowed revenge. You, who so well know the nature of my soul, will not suppose, however that I gave utterance to a threat. At length I would be avenged; this was a point definitively settled-but the very definitiveness with which it was resolved, precluded the idea of risk. I must not only punish, but punish with impunity. A wrong is unredressed when retribution overtakes its redresser. It is equally unredressed when the avenger fails to make himself felt as such to him who has done the wrong."

But bid life seize the present?
It lives less in the present
Than in the future always,
And less in both together
Than in the past. The present
Is too much for the senses,
Too crowding, too confusing-
Too present to imagine.

Fill your bookshelves with Robert Frost, J.R.R. Tokien, Edgar Allan Poe, Homer, and Shakespeare. Don't forget Thornton Burgess, Robert Louis Stevenson, Rudyard Kipling, and Holling C. Holling for young children. There is an excellent list of books for very young children (pre school age) at Ambleside Online. Cut out the junk. You'll think yourself for it when your children are reading Tolkien instead of Captain Underpants.

You get bonus points if you can identify the preceding passages before I post the credits for them.

Shopping in Texas?

Gotta love it!

Signs, Signs, Everywhere Signs

Earlier this week, a friend posted this video on Facebook. It reminded me that my children need my patience.

Then, another friend posted about a boy being missing. This was a 14 year old, autistic, homeschooled boy who had gone camping with his father. They searched for him. Devastatingly, he was found dead in a lake, nearby. This reminded me that my children could be taken from me at any time and that I need to give them an extra hug.

Tonight, I watched "Click." I remembered seeing the previews for it, but really didn't remember what it was about. I spent about 15 minutes crying.

Is it just me, or are all the signs pointing to my needing to slow down and take the time to appreciate my family?

Please, pray for the family that lost their son. It will be an extremely trying time for them. I know what it felt like when my brother drowned, and he was 24, ten years older than this boy. My heart goes out to them.

Attention Feminists: Stay Away From My Sons!

I grew up in a family where the father was a man that most, if not all feminists would consider to have been a chauvinist. He liked to tell sexist jokes. As we all know, that is the mark of a man that does not respect women. Well, that is what feminists would have us believe, anyway.

Rather, I believe that he was a man that could joke about anything. He used to say that he was intelligent by birth and a red neck by choice. The thing is, even though I grew up listening to him making comments like, "Every woman has a place, under some man's thumb," I always knew that he was joking. I always knew that he truly believed that I could do anything I set my mind to. He believed that every person in America has the freedom to make the choice to become what they want to become.

Of course we haven't had a woman president. I, however, don't believe this has anything to do with the women running for president being women. Rather, it has to do with the women being very unlikable. Plus, many of them were... Well, I'm not going to be rude. I've promised myself not to do that.

Let me get to my point. I hear feminists say things like "Dead white men" as an insult. My sons will, one day, grow up to be white men. I hear feminists say things like "Only a woman can truly understand." I guess I want my sons to be able to understand right and wrong, logic and the law even though they are white men.

It frustrates me that those same "Dead white men" that made sure to set in place a legal system that gave birth to the ability for women to have the same freedoms in this country that men have are so denigrated by feminists. It frustrates me that feminists assume that all men are unable to see that they (women) are just as capable as the men. It infuriates me that feminists may hurt my sons' own self worth in the search of their (the feminists) self worth. Why a person must drag down another person in order to make their point, or feel self worth, is beyond me. Perhaps they cannot understand the idea that they really are equal. And, that if they are equal, so are the men. Instead of being equal, they want to consider themselves better in someway. I don't get it. And, I don't want my sons to feel that they must bow before some woman in order to be a good person. I want my sons to be equal to the women they encounter in this life. And, if I have my way, they will be.

So, feminists, STAY AWAY FROM MY SONS! I'll teach them to respect you, even though you can't seem to respect them.

Navy Induced Hang-ups

I was a wee bit of a rebel when I was in the Navy. I knew the regulations and I toed the line quite faithfully. I knew exactly how far I could go and legally get away with it. For the most part, I stayed just on the inside of the line.

The one line that I almost always crossed was the one leading off the sidewalk into the grass. I have always been a barefoot babe. Boot camp was the first time in my life that I had worn shoes for longer than about an hour at a time. I purposefully wore slip on shoes so that I could take my shoes off below my desk in school. I took them off in church. I marched barefoot during marching band practice when I forgot my boots. Then, I went to boot camp and they wanted me to wear shoes any time I was not actually in bed asleep. They even wanted me to wear shoes when I got up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom. I thought I would go crazy. My feet need to breathe! So, the first thing I did when I got to San Diego after boot camp was go to a park, take off my shoes and run around barefoot in the grass.

For the next two months, I was consistently getting yelled at for walking on the grass. But, after two years of being unable to walk on the grass, the Navy managed to get it through my head that grass is not for walking on. Still, when I am on base, or walking through an area that has a sidewalk in public, I have a very difficult time not walking all the way around to the sidewalk and taking it to wherever I'm going, after 12 years of being out of the Navy! While we were in Florida, I actively made the choice to rebel and walk on the grass.

I'm such a rebel.

Lockerbie Bomber May be Released from Jail

Report: Lockerbie Bomber to Be Released From Jail

"He is sick. He has cancer. There is no cure for his case. He told me that he wants to die among his family and friends in his country," said Abdel Atti el-Ubaidi.

Because, obviously, the people who died on that airplane didn't want to die among friends and family in their countries.

Body Image: Part 2

This brings me to the reason I wrote the first post. I have a young friend. She's only 12 years old. This girl is absolutely beautiful. She thinks she's ugly. It amazes me how we take our ideas of beauty from our surroundings. I grew up in a neighborhood and school that was mostly made up of black children. As a result, my idea of beautiful is Halle Berry, Angela Basset, Tichina Arnold, Kimberly Elise, etc. To me, dark black skin the color of ebony is, in fact, the most beautiful skin color on earth. But, I was sufficiently surrounded by white folks that I could still appreciate the beauty of my own skin color. I just couldn't get over the fact that I look awful in cornrows.

This girl, however, is the daughter of Indian immigrants (the kind from India). She lives in a part of the country where she sees white people all the time. She thinks her hair is too black, her skin is too dark, and her body is too fat. She also thinks she is too tall, but since she is only 1/2 an inch taller than my 5' 4", I'm going to have to say that she is jumping off the deep end, there. At any rate, we've talked about her ideas of beauty. They all center around thin and blond.

She wants all the wrong things. My friend will probably never be thin. However, she has the body type that one day will make men fall all over themselves. She will be curvy, not thin. What she wants, though, is thin. She has skin that looks like she is always wearing makeup. Her eyelids are a beautiful shade of bluish brown that contrasts beautifully with her eyes and the rest of her skin color. But she wants pale skin and blue eyes. Her bone structure is one that will carry beauty into the retirement home, but she wants the beauty of a white European.

I wish there were some way for me to make this girl see her beauty for what it is. In the meantime, I just have to live with the hope that one day she will overcome her hang-ups and realize that beauty truly is in the eye of the beholder and that she should stop looking around her for signs of beauty.

Pets and Children

We have three cats, one for each of the boys. However, they pretty much all belong to Dominic. There is one that is marginally Xavier's, but still looks to Dominic, when it comes right down to it. Dominic dotes on the cats. He spends a good portion of his day petting cats. He has some obsessive compulsive repetitive tendencies. Petting the cats has turned out to be a good outlet for these tendencies. If one gets tired of being petted, it just leaves, soon to be replaced by another cat looking for affection. So, when we returned from a week long vacation to discover that two of the cats were missing, I panicked.

You see, we have a cat door that the cats had not learned how to use before we left. While we were gone, Ron and Harry apparently learned how to use it--to get out. They didn't figure out how to get back in. Go figure. There I was, sitting in our living room half the night, trying to figure out what I was going to tell my children if these cats did not come back.

Sasha, the only female in the bunch, spent the entire night frantically searching for her brothers. She would come in, search the house, and immediately go back out to search some more. Finally, around 5, she came in with Ron in tow. That left Dominic's cat still missing. Ron came in long enough to eat. Then, both he and Sasha left again, presumably to search for Harry. They came in again in the morning, and slept for a while before going back out to search for their brother. It was amazing to me the dedication those two had in finding their missing sibling. They've never been apart before, and apparently didn't like it.

Dominic was told first thing this morning that Harry was missing. He cried and cried. This was why I had such a hard time going to sleep last night. I was up until 3, trying not to think about his heartbreak. I told the boys to play outside in the hopes that Harry would see that we were home and come back. They were outside most of the morning. Gary went out to do some work in the yard, and Gabriel hung clothes on the line.

Finally, after Dominic had been to the neighbors' houses to ask if they had seen Harry, and was all set to start making signs and knocking on doors, Harry came home. Now, grant you, he came home at about 11 A.M., which is really not that long. We were only home about 12 hours before he made it home, but it seemed like forever.

I don't consider our cats part of the family, but I know that my sons do. It would be devastating to Dominic to lose his cat. I'm so glad, relieved, happy, ecstatic that the cats are home, even though they do get on my nerves, sometimes.

Hip Hop Jewelry

So, personally, I'm not into this sort of thing. But, I've got a son that when he was younger, would have loved it. He routinely wore between 5 and 10 necklaces that his grandmother gave him. It was hilarious. And, I can say that it would have been a lot easier to simply buy him some true Bling Bling Jewelry. Now, this same child is trending toward Goth. He's not a true goth, but he is trending that way. And, he would sincerely appreciate some of their belts, since he's outgrown his favorite reversable belt with the flames.

This company has great prices for 'iced' jewelry, and would be a great place to start looking when you're looking for a costume that requires it.

And, if you're wanting to brand your lady or man, I suggest their custom jewelry.

This post paid for by Hip Hop Bling.

Tae Kwon Do is Dangerous

I'm not even talking about sparring. We LOVE sparring! The combination of legally hitting someone, the adrenilane rush of being hit, and the extreme fatigue at the end of it creates an amazing high!

No, right now, I'm talking about forms. This morning, I decided that we needed to practice our forms. So, we headed down to the patio behind the hotel. As a side note, I had to explain to Dominic (6) what a patio was. That was hilarious to me, considering the vocabulary the kid has. Anyway, we went to practice our forms. These are best done barefoot, so we headed out sans shoes.

Everything was going great, when we decided to practice as a group. Xavier was beside me, unfortunately. If it had been Dominic, all would have been fine, or he might have ended up with a black eye. Anyway, Xavier got mixed up with which form we were doing and turned the wrong direction just as I punched. Fortunately, we were far enough apart that I only barely touched him. Unfortunately, it was a mid-section punch, so he got a fat lip.

Never mind the peanut butter beside his mouth.

Then, toward the end of our workout, I realized that my feet were, shall we say, hot. That's right, I burned the bottom of my feet. In fact, I burned my big toe bad enough to get a blister. Yuck.

Oh, so maybe it's not Tae Kwon Do that's dangerous, so much as it's not using your brain that's dangerous. Maybe we should head out earlier, tomorrow!

Band Aids and Latex

I'm mildly allergic to latex. I found out in the same way that most people attempting to keep from having a baby find out that they're allergic to latex.

At any rate, I say mildly because I've never had trouble breathing because of latex, and you'd think I'd have trouble while blowing up balloons. Instead, what I have is mostly a contact allergy. One year, I blew up (with helium) and tied over two hundred balloons. I could not understand why my fingers were hurting so bad. Suddenly, as I was tying that last balloon, I realized that my fingers were about twice their normal size and bright red. They looked like fat, red, water balloons. That's when I realized that I did in fact have a latex allergies.

Fast forward 3 years. Whenever I go to a hospital, I have to tell them I have a latex allergy. I think about it when tying balloons. And, I make sure never to buy latex gloves. But, I never thought about bandages having latex. Several nights ago, I covered an infection with Neosporin and a bandage. The next day, the infection was worse, and there were spots all around the area. So, I put more Neosporin and another bandage. This continued for several days, getting itchier and itchier until finally, it occurred to me that, duh!, these bandages probably contained latex. I read the box, and sure enough, there on the box was a warning that the bandages contain latex. *sigh* One of these days, I'll get used to being allergic to latex and actually pay attention.

Now, what Gary was saying while I was typing this: Weak genes, weak genes, weak genes. Weak genes, weak genes, weak genes. He's such an understanding husband. ;)