"I've Been Neutered! Hear Me Whine!"

"...'Cause I was top dog around here,
but I've been neutered!

He's The Man!"
- from The Chuck Wagon Symphony's "The Man Show"

There is no other way to describe Robert Jensen, Professor of Journalism at UT (Sounds like Austin. It has to be Austin!), especially after reading this pathetic opinion column of his:

We need to get rid of the whole idea of masculinity. It's time to abandon the claim that there are certain psychological or social traits that inherently come with being biologically male. If we can get past that, we have a chance to create a better world for men and women.

There's more:

That's not to suggest, of course, that every man adopts that view of masculinity. But it is endorsed in key institutions and activities -- most notably in business, the military and athletics -- and is reinforced through the mass media. It is particularly expressed in the way men -- straight and gay alike -- talk about sexuality and act sexually. And our culture's male heroes reflect those characteristics: They most often are men who take charge rather than seek consensus, seize power rather than look for ways to share it, and are willing to be violent to achieve their goals.

That view of masculinity is dangerous for women. It leads men to seek to control "their" women and define their own pleasure in that control, which leads to epidemic levels of rape and battery. But this view of masculinity is toxic for men as well.

So... taking charge, assuming personal responsibility, working hard, striving to be the best a man can be... that's synonymous with "rape and battery"?!?

I call BS on that one. Total King Ranch-quality cow manure!

This guy has definitely been to Feminist Brainwash School, and had his dingle-berries whacked out as exit interview. I wasn't told this crap at the women's college that I attended - of course, because I always avoided those lectures, and got away with it, somehow. Not to mention that I left my ole' women's college with a degree... and a man - a real man and a Navy/Merchant Marine officer, to boot! Not a wuss like Jensen.

Really, guys: read all of it. Try to understand the pathetic attitude coming from the mind of this professor, who probably needs to get his bells back if he ever goes beyond the confines of Austin. Because Texan women want real men - I've seen that around here a lot.

In his opinion, men like the sig.other should "evolve" or face extinction. Problem is, this wuss obviously "evolved"... down, not up. Why should any man listen to what he has to say? Because he's a member of the Academic Intelligentsia? The sig.other and his fellow Port Engineers and mariners would take his words and shove 'em right where his sun don't shine.

And don't count on me to listen to this obviously neutered individual. I already have "neutered" in my life: three tomcats. One of them never got over the whacking and still marks where he shouldn't (Go figure), and whines instead of meows.

I have a neutered whiner for tomcat. I neither want nor need "neutered" men.

Besides, if the sig.other were ever to follow this wuss's advice, we wouldn't be expecting our Little Fig. Now that I think of it, what would the Little Fig (a girl) learn from a "pussified" male like the one this eunuch proposes for men like the sig.other? I learned a whole lot from my own relationship with my father, who was macho to a bad fault - and I turned out just fine. My father never beat or rape my mother - yet that's what this Jensen guy thinks of men like my father and the sig.other...

I'd love to hear this guy speak. "He" might just sound like the "American Castrati" described by Gerald Van Der Leun a while ago. If he does, it shouldn't surprise me one bit.

Fausta puts him in place, and Pamela ("Atlas") clamors for Robert Mitchum. (Well, I couldn't care less about Hollywood stars. But if we're on those ones, gimme Chuck Norris any time!)

Any more cheese with your whine, Professor?

If You Wanna Get Back in Power, Libs...

... get in the sack. And forget the condoms, the Pill and the IUD.

Arthur C. Brooks points it out in this column in the Wall Street Journal:

But the data on young Americans tell a different story. Simply put, liberals have a big baby problem: They're not having enough of them, they haven't for a long time, and their pool of potential new voters is suffering as a result. According to the 2004 General Social Survey, if you picked 100 unrelated politically liberal adults at random, you would find that they had, between them, 147 children. If you picked 100 conservatives, you would find 208 kids. That's a "fertility gap" of 41%. Given that about 80% of people with an identifiable party preference grow up to vote the same way as their parents, this gap translates into lots more little Republicans than little Democrats to vote in future elections. Over the past 30 years this gap has not been below 20%--explaining, to a large extent, the current ineffectiveness of liberal youth voter campaigns today.

And he's honest about the attitudes behind the fertility gap:

As one liberal columnist in a major paper graphically put it, "Maybe the scales are tipping to the neoconservative, homogenous right in our culture simply because they tend not to give much of a damn for the ramifications of wanton breeding and environmental destruction and pious sanctimony, whereas those on the left actually seem to give a whit for the health of the planet and the dire effects of overpopulation." It would appear liberals have been quite successful controlling overpopulation--in the Democratic Party.

As long as they keep this arrogant and condescending attitude, we conservatives will continue to breed, raise and vote... to keep the libs out of power.

Swwwwwweet! :D

Can We Choose Our Demons?

This commenter at A Mom and Her Blog goes to the jest of it:

A little compassion for this mother [Andrea Yates] would be a good thing. To suffer from a chemical imbalance that made her commit this horrendous act and then have to relive it over and over in her mind for the rest of her life is somethng I wouldn’t wish on anyone. We don’t choose our medical problems and she didn’t choose hers. We can not put ourselves in her shoes and say what we would or would not have done under these circumstances. I think women can be very unkind to each other, and these comments are evidence of that. I’m sure Andrea Yates loved her children very much and would never have dreamed of killing her beautiful children if she did not have this sickness. The jury was correct- she should not be placed in prison with thugs, but in a mental hospital where she can get help.

As the daughter-in-law of someone I can probably nominate as one of America's most outrageous family members (for his racism, in spite of having a Puerto Rican daughter-in-law), I have said many times that I condemn his attitude and actions towards us.

But at the same time, and as the sig.other has pointed it out to me repeatedly, he didn't choose to be in the situation he's in. He reminds me of this because, many times, even I judge him harshly... and I sometimes cannot comprehend the level of his insanity.

(This is the reason for the post. For the crime of judging a mentally ill person very harshly and unlovingly, I'm guilty as charged. I'm writing this for myself first.)

As I have mentioned before, this man had a rather primitive brain surgery as a child, at Yale-New Haven Hospital (we're talking early 1950s here). He had a brain tumor the size of an orange. Unfortunately, the surgeons could not remove the entire tumor. The little bit that remained in his brain affected the area that rules his entire personality and thought processes.

Doctors at what's probably one of the most important university medical centers in the world didn't give the sig.other's father six months to live after that surgery. He's now fifty-nine years old. One of the surgeons who opened his skull found out about this man many years after the fact - in part, because the sig.other searched his medical records. He was very surprised to find out that this child - who should have been called his guinea pig - survived way beyond anyone's expectations.

That surgery, however, didn't live without consequences. The sig.other's father never did well in school. He dropped out of high school and never held a job for a long time. He enlisted in the Navy as a sailor during the Viet Nam War, but his stint didn't last two years. A nervous breakdown cut his time short.

His marriage and family life - almost thirty-eight years! - have been one constant roller-coaster. His wife has separated from him several times. He has pursued her all of those times. He has even had serious scuffles with the sig.other - his only child in the whole world.

The man is paranoid-schizophrenic and in serious medication. He has attempted suicide several times. In spite of having been a half-way decent parent towards the sig.other, he made many episodes of his life a living hell. That's why we live as far away from him as possible. (Did I say here that my mother-in-law is a saint?)

Can we choose to be sick with something grievous? No one chooses to have a life-threatening illness, like cancer. Does anyone choose to have a thorn in the flesh that will dominate your life? Does anyone deserve it?

We know for a fact that the appropriate medication can make someone live a relatively normal life. Not every person out there who is mentally ill goes on to commit murder. But the possiblity of it is very real, at any one point.

No one can choose how one's brain is to be wired - or miswired. Mental illness is not a game, nor something people choose freely. Thinking process can become distorted, even to the point of not knowing what to ditch and what to keep. It is a prison sentence for the one who suffers it.

Look at Van Gogh. Look at Sylvia Plath. Look at the many artists, writers, poets, etc. who suffered like no one else because of their insanity. There are many others who faced serious internal demons that could never be exorcised, even with medication.

How about Andrew Goldstein, an obviously mentally deranged man who, in one of his psychotic episodes, saw a young woman (an aspiring writer from upstate NY) at a Subway station and threw her into the rails - and into an incoming Subway train, killing her instantly? Sure, he was convicted of second-degree murder. But he obviously belongs in a maximum-security mental hospital, under close supervision.

Look at Mark David Chapman, the murderer of John Lennon.

Look at John Hinckley Jr., who attempted to murder President Reagan.

Andrea Yates has a demon inside. She cannot exorcise it. There is no question about it.

Did she choose to have this horrible demon inside? I don't think so... and neither should any of us.

Can we, who must thank God every single day that we can use our sane minds to think and decide correctly our next steps, condemn harshly a certifiably insane woman?

If you do not love her for having committed this horribly criminal act (what mother in her right mind would drown her five children in a bath tub?!?), I'm not forcing you to do so. But, at the very least, have some mercy towards her. She's a lost soul who will find Van Gogh's end if no one watches her carefully.

Medication can keep it all in check, but that demon will never leave her. That's why a maximum-security mental hospital is the best place for her. Hopefully, there will be plenty of medical attention over there - and plenty of common and solid medical sense to keep her under serious supervision for the rest of her life.

I Am My Child's Nanny!

Just now, I stumbled into this piece at FOXNews.com regarding daycare center statistics.

According to a recent report by the National Association of Child Care Resource and Referral Agencies (NACCRRA), 63 percent of the nation's children under five years of age are in some type of child-care arrangement every week; and most parents assume such programs are regulated to ensure the health and safety of their children. In reality, that is often not the case.

[...] the NACCRRA reports that just 10 states require unannounced inspections of child-care centers; only 12 states require caregivers working in child-care centers to have training in early childhood education prior to working with children; and a mere 10 states require caregivers who work from their homes to be licensed.

[...] The NACCRRA survey also indicated that nine in 10 parents favor requiring all child care to meet basic standards of quality, training for caregivers both before and after they begin working with children, and regular inspections of all child-care programs. In addition, most parents (92 percent) favor creating quality standards to better prepare children for school.

“The results of this survey should be a wake-up call to policy-makers,” said Linda K. Smith, NACCRRA's Executive Director. “Parents need child care, and they don't want just any care; they want high-quality care. They want their children in a safe and healthy learning environment that prepares them to enter school ready to succeed.”

Of course, I do want to assure a safe and healthy learning environment for my Little Fig. That's why I'm beginning to prepare around here. I'm going to be the provider for that - not a daycare center.

When I was of pre-school age, my mother was earning her bachelor's degree. She couldn't have my grandmother with us at home yet, so she looked for a couple of daycare centers in Puerto Rico for me. I talked about this experience to the manager of a Web site that opposes daycare.

When I was little and my mom was earning her bachelor's degree, I ended up in some day care centers that really didn't leave me with the best impressions. I will never forget that at one point, my mom put me at this "home-run daycare" close to the university. I cried from the moment mom left until she returned. It seemed that the witch (there is no better way to call her) didn't like me that much, because she separated me from the other kids, and I always ended up on a bed crying until my mom picked me up. It happened for a few weeks until one day one of the kids approached my mother and said, "you must be the mom of the one who cries a lot." That was enough. That very day, I was placed at the care of a couple who were stay-at-home. I don't have a lot of memories of that time, but I was told that they even gave me a dog to play with. But the bad memories persisted.

Actually, it seems I was not the only child to experience something out of place, to say the least:

In June, the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services began an investigation of the Candy Cane Corner Day Care Center after two children, ages six and eight, wandered a mile and a half away from the facility and were eventually found at a local business asking for water. In another case, a Virginia woman was recently accused of leaving nine children, ages nine months to three years, alone at her in-home day care facility for approximately one hour. Still more — police in Columbia, IL, recently investigated a daycare after reports that children had been locked in closets; finally, at the First Christian Church's Child Garden School, an Amarillo, Texas woman was arrested for putting a three-year-old in a freezer.

In a freezer?!?!? It gets worse:

At the more chilling end of the spectrum, a 25-year-old Florida man and former director of two church-affiliated Kid's Palace Daycare Centers was recently sentenced to 17 years in prison and 10 years of probation after being charged with molesting several children between the ages of six and 14; and an unlicensed Virginia Beach caregiver was sentenced to 10 years in prison for running an illegal daycare after a nine-month-old was mysteriously found dead on her watch.

How about this one, closer to home, which I also told that Web site's manager?

I also was acquainted with a woman during an internship I took at college [here in South TX]. It was obvious through her appearance (she looks much older than her actual age) that she has been through a lot in the school of hard knocks. I drove her to school and back a couple of times when her care broke down (she lives too far away from the college to take public transportation). Anyway, to make a long story short, somehow we ended up on one of our trips talking about children and daycare, and I said exactly what I have said before. She couldn't agree more with me: her youngest son (her only boy) was murdered by his daycare provider.

My blood ran cold when she told me.

I still remember Deborah. Her face has been permanently marked by unspeakable grief.

For those two reasons, the sig.other already knows that this child of ours is not going to see the inside of a daycare. Sure, I know reliable and trustworthy people in my own church and community who treat children under their care at nurseries and daycare centers with lots of respect. But I'm convinced that no one - absolutely no one - can give the high-quality care, love and learning environment any mother expects for her child than the mother herself.

God has given us this Little Fig. As her mother, it is my responsibility to give her everything a child needs, and more. I would be torn to pieces if I had to give her away to a nanny to be cared for while I work somewhere else. I'd be torn to pieces at work because I'm not there to watch her. I understand some people can handle it. I know some cannot live without the second income, because of the circumstances. But I can't.

I don't want to see my Little Fig laying on a bed and crying from morning till afternoon, while the door to that room is closed. I don't want to see my Little Fig being dragged by the nanny from point A to point B like a rag doll, as I have seen in a few places. I sure don't want to see her being placed inside a freezer. (What kind of person in his/her right mind does that?!?)

I just couldn't live with myself.

Sure, there are nice people who can take good care of children during the day, while the parents are at work. But I don't want to miss the milestones. I don't want to neglect on her early education. I want for her to know, from Day One, that she can count on me for everything, and that she can learn from me. No one else can give her the best foundation for her life than her father and me.

Kick!

Last night, I was sitting in front of this computer, minding my own business. I laid relaxed while I checked a few e-mails and news before going to bed.

All of a sudden, I felt something. At first, it felt like an abdominal muscle was relaxed enough to give me a small cramp. It felt like a knock coming from the inside.

I immediately paid attention to it.

Then, knock number two, two seconds later.

I placed my hand on the belly. Knock number three.

It was the Little Fig.

I immediately rose from my chair and ran towards the sig.other, who was already in bed. "Honey, baby kicked!"

He placed his left hand on my belly and felt some vibration. His eyes were curious at first. But then, they changed to wondered. He smiled.

I cried. I was nervous for a while that I would not feel any movement coming from her. But at twenty weeks, it was about time.

The Men From the Boys - Ana, "John"... and the Sig.Other

I usually don't read much of what John Derbyshire has to say, but I just stumbled into this.

I have a friend, a very busy, worldly & successful guy, who is a great dispenser of advice, mostly good. His advice on raising a daughter: "Sure, education, orthodontistry, moral training, all that is good stuff. It's secondary, though. You must concentrate above all else on this one great objective: DON'T LET HER MARRY A LOSER. Corollary: Don't let her date any losers."

Those words should be written on a wood board, painted in gold, and placed on top of the doorpost to our Little Fig's room for as long as she is with us as our Little Girl.

But there's more:

I had a very sad reminder of this today. I learned that an acquaintance recently lost his daughter. She committed suicide at age 30. She was married to a hopeless ne'er-do-well, a drug addict. She was sure she could put him right.

Unfortunately, too many women fall into that trap. I can tell you of one story that, as sad as it is to tell from afar, I must.

As a fourteen-year-old, I befriended a girl at my high school whose name was Ana. She was on my same grade, same class, same month of birth, same everything. She was the daughter of teachers: her mother taught elementary school for many years before retiring, and her father was a Physics teacher at my high school. She was also the youngest of three: their only daughter.

My mother was so happy that I had befriended someone with the same "qualifications" as her dear nena. We did a whole lot of things together. Went to the beach. Did homework. Took some of the same classes. Walked around town when bored. Ate lunch together. Sure, we didn't participate in the same stuff, but that didn't bother me.

We both had interesting plans for our individual futures. She was thinking seriously about going all the way to law school. Getting her J.D. She surely had all the talent for it. She was among the best speakers in our high school. She had won speech awards up the yazoo. She was hailed by many in my school and my hometown. Even the mayor knew her, for what I could see. I also had law school among my future plans, but not in Puerto Rico. I wanted to go to college in the United States. I also knew that I would find true love over there, even though I was a little "boy crazy" as a teenager in my hometown.

Yet, even with my plans, I knew that I would never go as far as she would. Now that I think of it, I think she knew she could go far. I guess she internalized it. Maybe she became proud of it, or herself. But in either case, now that I use hindsight, it may well be that it was then that the seeds of her own destruction were planted.

Just as she was becoming more famous around the school and the town, she met this guy I'll call Juan (John). He was a Senior at my high school - two years older than she. It was almost love at first sight. The "courting" phase lasted all of three days. Next thing you knew, they were novios. Steady. That's the term there.

And boy, it was intense.

Let me say it right off the bat: Juan was just about the opposite of her. She was an honors student: he barely passed high school with a C - heck, she even did some of his college homework! Her family was - not quite devotely - Catholic. His family... well, I don't know. She was able to find a good part-time job at sixteen. He could barely find work. She was very educated. He?!? Don't ask.

She was quite respected by everyone. But I could never stop noticing that people didn't seem to hold him in such a high esteem (even in my own hometown)... maybe because they could see something that she didn't want to see. She was totally in love with this guy. She could not "live without him."

Sure, she kept her high GPA. She eventually became president of our local chapter of the National Honor Society, as we approached Senior-hood. We were all on our way to jump into the achievement of our dreams. She and I had taken the Puerto Rican equivalent of the SAT's - which is administered by the same Educational Testing Service in Princeton, NJ. I took the English SAT's. I applied to a couple of schools here in the States. It was in when I finally mailed my applications for admission that I noticed a chasm had begun to grow between us.

I told her what my mother and I had to do in order to mail the paperwork and other stuff, including the high school transcripts and such. Then, she hurled an insult at me. Why?!? What had I said to offend her? She never responded. She left before I had a chance at asking her.

Then, at Christmastime 1989, she behaved a bit more... shall we say... erratic. She was saying some strange things as "I want to have a baby..." (A few times she said that, to my response "Don't do it! It will derail your dreams.") She was in such good mood one minute, and with a terrible case of PMS the next. Misses Jeckyl and Hyde in one. She took an admirable stand against some of our classmates while at a Christmas party with our group at her house... with her parents. (One of our classmates brought an entire cooler with alcoholic drinks, which they knew would not be allowed into the place. They had it in the trunk of the car of one of them. As soon as she was aware of its existence, she confiscated the cooler and brought it to her parents, to the astonishment of the entire group of our classmates.) But her erratic behavior continued.

It took less than a month in order to realize something had happened. I had begun hearing rumors here and there... not all of them pleasant. I then began to see less and less of her - in our last semester in high school! She was going to doctor's appointments more often. She was secretive. There were things that she would tell a couple of other friends, but not me.

Then, I was told by one of my acquaintances. She was pregnant.

The youngest daughter of these two admirable teachers; one of the rising stars of our graduating class; the one gal who would have been voted "Most Likely to Succeed", as they do here (No, we didn't have that over there. There are a lot of things we didn't have over there.)

She married Juan on February 14, 1990, at a small ceremony presided by a Justice of the Peace. Needless to say, I wasn't invited. But I did see the pictures of the wedding, a week or so later.

You could see that Ana was all smiles and happiness, for she had finally married "the man of her dreams". Of course, Juan was all smiles and happiness, too - he had bagged a good one, the lucky punk.

The looks in the faces of her parents in the pictures - especially her father - distraught me the most. Her father looked as if he had been taken out of a coffin for the pose... and there was no tuxedo or business suit to go with it. He only wore a guayabera and khakis. The guayabera wasn't even ironed. His eyes were still red, from all the crying - during the ceremony or before, I don't know. But the five o' clock shadow gave it all away.

Her mother... well, she didn't look any better.

She had said something to me to the effect that she didn't want to tell me about all of this... but I suspected why. She knew - oh, boy, she knew! - that I wasn't going to be happy about all this, that I was going to scold her for doing it. Why did she have to do that to herself?!? She had a good future to look forward to... but then... where did it all go?!? It went just as "down the trash can" as the condom that broke, or the "pull-out" that went haywire. Where was her law school plans? What happened?

She was, simply, in love. Her parents couldn't stop her. Her brothers couldn't keep watch on her. No one warned her... except for the few people at my school who would tell her that "Juan is a loser. He cheats on you." But, somehow, she knew that I would not approve of all of it... In hindsight, she was more afraid of my words than of anything her parents or family would have ever said or done to her.

And that, my friends, was my biggest mistake on the issue.

Raw feelings couldn't be hidden for much longer. When they came out in the open, it was as if I had let the dogs of war loose, never to be caught and chained back. My mother didn't help. She brought me to her mother... and I let some things out in the open... which I now regret.

The friendship split was almost immediate. Ever since that day, I was - relatively speaking - alone. Among all of my classmates, I was alone. Most of them supported her. I was a zero for my very own classmates.

I never regained their friendship or their trust.

Graduation day was bittersweet for me. Even though I had kept Honors standing and collected my awards, I somehow was saddened that Ana could not say the same thing for herself. Her GPA took a steep dive, although she had still kept her Honors standing. She had resigned her position as president of the National Honors Society. She, who could have given the equivalent of the Valedictorian speech - I knew that everyone would have given her the podium on request!, - didn't even attend her own high school graduation.

There was a post-graduation party at the house of one of my classmates, which I attended. She was there. Not dressed like the others, in suits and dresses, but in a pink-plaided maternity gown. I could only pity her. I left the room in which I had seen her. She never said "Hello". She didn't have to. It was best not to.

Even in my faith - remember, it all happened after the death of my father, and I was already angry plenty with God - I tried to find refuge, to no avail. I tried to find justification for my position on the issue... all I could find was people's looks of pity. No understanding. A few suggested that I seek professional help. Wait a sec! I wasn't the gal who "screwed up"! Even at church, I had no friends.

When I finally left Puerto Rico by the end of July 1990, towards New York, college, and the rest of my life, I was as lonely as ever. Very few wished me "Godspeed." All I could do was to pick up the pieces and start again, far away from everything and everyone I knew. And I did. I found new friends, pursued new things, did a lot of other things, and, finally, met the sig.other. All while at college.

Oh, yes: I made my very own mistakes at college, too. All of those experiences of mine and others around me in New York helped me understand the attitudes and thoughts that would drive someone like Ana to do the things she did. I understood more and condemned less, as a result. Not to mention that the sig.other was, well, a merchant marine... He was no spotless angel when he first asked me out. And I didn't hold any illusions that I could change him one bit. It was best to accept him as he was. He would change a few things on his own as things went along. And he did. Among the most surprising things he did within our first year dating was his profession of faith - he had come to trust Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior at my church, in Puerto Rico... not even nine months after we had become steady. We married almost three years after that - months after I had completed my college education. (There was no law school for me, though. There were more challenges that I had to face, including those from life. At my age and maturity level, I was not prepared for suh a huge undertaking.)

During my whole time at college, I somehow kept a wallet picture of Ana, which she had given me a long time ago. I still remember it: she stood on a plain beige background, eyes focused on the camera, no smile. It might have been a license or passport picture - I don't know. She gave it to me, nonetheless. Every time I saw it, it made me think about her. How was she doing? What happened to her, her husband, and their child (a boy, it turned out)? I would hear things about her from others, including my mother. I was told that she had another child - a girl - a couple of years later. I did see her walking down a parking lot at one time, but I didn't stop to say "Hi." She was too happy for me to ruin the mood.

But one day, barely a month after our wedding, the sig.other noticed that I had Ana's picture in my hand. "What do you want to do with it?", he asked.

"I want to burn it."

He gave me the matches. I saw as the flicker of flame began to consume that "passport picture". I then threw the remains into the toilet when I could no longer hold it because of the flame. Then, I flushed it into some forsaken sewage treatment plant near the Northern Virginia area. That was the end of my dealings with Ana.

Fast forward about six or seven years since then.

My mother and I spoke on the phone one night. She told me of the happenings on the old hometown. Somehow, we ended up talking about my old acquaintances and friends. And then, she mentioned Ana.

She told me that she had once seen her working at a lab in the hometown, where my mother had to have some blood drawn for some analysis. She was doing clerical work, nothing more. She spoke to my mother and asked how I was doing. My mother didn't say much about me - in fact, I specifically asked her never to tell anyone from my old school about where I lived, or what I was doing. I wanted to make a clean break-up from the old classmates. But she said to her that I had obtained my degree, that I had married, and that I now live in TX. She asked her to say "Hi" to me on her behalf.

And in another phone conversation, my mother told me a shocker.

She is usually friends with this girl with whom I hung out a lot as a teen - the daughter of my mother's closest friend, and a cousin of Ana. She had a long conversation with Ana about many things, especially after the fact that Juan left her. He turned out to be a junkie. A drug addict. She tried everything in her power to make him change. Obviously, she thought that her love would make things right, and the fact that they had two children together would make him react. He didn't. He dumped her. They divorced. Ever since then, she had lost a whole lot of weight - she was thinner at that time than when we were in high school together. She was also a nervous wreck, as her cousin described to my mother. She was always "shaking", as if she were chilly cold... in a hot climate.

She never obtained her bachelor's... let alone attend law school.

But the one thing that tore Ana more than the whole ruin of her marriage was... me. Specifically, the fact that she didn't listen to me back then, and that she was so harsh towards me as a result of all of those things. She told her cousin - who then told my mother in confidence - that she wanted to find a chance to apologize to me.

"Apologize?!? For what?"

My mother said some quite true things then. "She should have known that she would have found out if she did something wrong. She should have realized that her friend would have not laughed at all of her hidden shenanigans with that guy. Ella sabía que mi hija no le iba a reír la gracia... That's why she hid it from her."

It wasn't as if my mother or that old friend of mine were intermediaries between Ana and I. Far from it. But I had to ask my mother: "Apologize?!? For what?? She didn't do the damage to me. She did it to herself. If anything, she should be apologizing to her super-ego profusely, and make it up with whatever possible while she still could."

I know I was harsh to her, too. But I wanted to knock some sense into her, before she fell square into the trap of Juan's arms. (My mother had some suspicions about him, too. One night, she was being fitted for her mother-of-the-bride gown at the boutique of this now-famous Puerto Rican fashion designer - he had designed a gown or two for Miss Universe Number Three. She noticed that there were some guys in... shall we say... queer outfits waiting for him while he fitted my mother for the - absolutely gorgeous - gown. One of the guys in the queer outfits was none else than Juan himself, Ana's husband. Ana was not with him. They were going together to a huge film premier in San Juan. She told me about this shortly thereafter. He suspicions about Juan began to mount, but she never told anyone.)

So, that's one story of my life that needed to be told. I believe, in hindsight, that it was her whole experience with that guy that influenced a lot of my choices thereafter. Sure, I married a wonderful man, and have eleven years of marriage to prove it. We're somehow established and settled down: he, as a port engineer; I, as this not-too-good writer and Web developer, who once tutored Spanish to adult students and computer programming to those who didn't understand it... a not-so-good intellectual and a cat lover. Now that I come to think of it, I feared in my heart that the sig.other - single or married - would turn out to be a loser like Juan, that we didn't have a child for such a long time... until now. Somehow, I didn't want to let go of my fear of a pregnancy for that reason. I thought I had to consult a psychologist on that matter. (There is actually a definition for fear of pregnancy in the Diagnosis Manual for Mental Disorders used by psychologists and psychiatrists.)

Fortunately, the Little Fig came to us as a huge surprise. I guess it was time.

Now, our challenge will be for the sig.other and I, as parents, to raise our little daughter to the highest level of quality we can. I already told the sig.other that no man will be good enough for his little girl, ever. One huge thing that I want to emphasize to her is that she doesn't necessarily have to pursue a boyfriend to find happiness, that there are a lot of things to build for yourself before you lose yourself with another person. Sure, the right man will come to her. But before she ever says "I do", it's best that she learns to know herself very well - and learn to know God and His Perfect Will for her life. "Finding the man" should not be the ultimate goal of a woman. But finding her future definitely is.

Boy, I knew that my parents only wanted the best for me. And, more than anything else, they wanted for me to be happy with the right man. I was quite blessed to have found the sig.other, and I still am. I knew that was the desire of Ana's parents - it is the desire of every parent of a daughter to see her daughter marry well. That was why the sight of their faces in those wedding pictures just broke my heart in pieces. No parent wants her daughter to marry a loser.

Unfortunately, some daughters make very bad choices in life, especially in that department. Sometimes, they pay a hefty price for their illusions. Parents can teach them to think of their futures instead of the here-and-now... but sometimes, the girls won't listen, even after we warn them.

I hope that, when the time comes, I can tell the Little Fig that there are more important things to think in life than the here-and-now. I would like to tell her that the high school sweetheart may not be around when you go to college, and that the college sweetheart may not stay around for her, either. A loser is a boy, a Peter Pan: he never grows up, no matter what you try. A loser never seeks for the future, but for the now. He cares about Ms. Right Now, but never about the woman who will allow him to strive for better things.

A man, however, learns to know and respect you for who you are... and if you are not ready for something, he will understand (marriage, sex, children, etc.) and be patient. True love is not "puppy love", kisses or chocolate: it is not selfish; it doesn't seek its own - interest or pleasure; it endures a lot more than even we can - everything. Best of all, a man will understand that love never fails. That has been my biggest lesson with the sig.other.

I knew there was something different about this man, four years older than I. I knew his feet were more on the ground than the losers I saw around campus often, pursuing many of the girls at my school. He said once to a couple of men who asked him "how he had made it" into a happy marriage with me, "I realized probably the most important point in my relationship: in order for me to trust her, she has to trust me first and foremost." While dating me, he faced some serious temptations - on active duty, on a foreign country, on ship, etc. - but he knew that there was someone who counted on him to be faithful and true to himself and to others. He knew that, once that trust was broken, it is almost impossible to mend. To this day, that has been the sig.other.

That's not a loser to me.

My biggest hope is that our Little Fig will know exactly how to separate the men from the boys. I hope to see the day when she shows me she has found the "winner" - a man who will not be a "winner" necessarily on his own, but because God will guide his life towards His Perfect Purpose... and towards her. And, in the process, that the relationship will yield something better for her future as well as his... all with the Lord's Blessing.

Andrea Yates Not Guilty By Reason of Insanity

I understand that some may not like this verdict, but it is the correct one.

She has obviously been mentally ill for a long time. Why did she have to pop out five children, even though she was clearly "not there"?

She needs to be carefully supervised and medicated for the rest of her natural life. Having to live with the murder of her five children on her neck is plenty of punishment for her - which I believe aggravates her already extant mental illness. She should never have children again, nor be close to any others.

(Oh, yes: her now ex should have known better.)

I also believe that there must be more efforts to educate pregnant women and their families about post-partum depression. I believe it shoud be mandatory for every pregnant woman and her family to take a course on this at an approved hospital. Families should be strongly aware of it, just in case it shows up.

One co-worker of the sig.other's is facing the consequences of mental illness. He noticed some erratic behavior on the part of his wife long before her pregnancy - such as spending her husband's money like it's going out of style. (It is not difficult for a merchant mariner's wife: husband makes money up to his armpits out at sea, which some wives take as permission to shop into the "high life". The sig.other and I have seen that before.) After the birth of their daughter, her behavior turned worse. Nowadays, they're facing divorce preceedings. Custody of the little toddler is the most difficult part, because the little one has been quite neglected by his own mother. She has even dropped the little one to the husband claiming that she can no longer take care of her.

Mental illness is not a game. It is something that must be treated and monitored. Sometimes, for a lifetime. For a woman with a pre-existing mental illness before entering a marriage, it must be carefully dealt with.

That is all.

More: Jeanette made a very good point when she commented on this post at Hang Right Politics.

Her husband is just as much to blame. She was expected to have all these children with no planning for them, was not well from so many births, was forced to homeschool them and basically never had any “Andrea” time while her husband went about life as normal. He had to know something was wrong and he still didn’t get her the help she so desperately needed.

Yes, Russell Yates was careless towards his wife. There is no question in my mind about it.

Besides, I get the impression, after reading and watching quite a bit about this case, that he fell for a fallacy into which, I have noticed, many Christian families fall: that there is a "cookie-cutter method" for marriage and child-rearing that should be used by every single family, since it is "based on the Bible", and that there should be no deviation from the "norm."

Here's what I mean by that, so that you'll understand that "the best laid plans of mice and men" don't always seem to work:

Husband always the bread-winner. Wait a sec: what happens if he is laid off, or if he suffers a horrible accident on the job? What if a serious illness strikes him? What if he needs to go to college to increase his skills? What if the wife makes more money than he does?

Wife always stays at home, with no life outside of it. From the time that I've spent in the Northeast - and even here in TX -, that doesn't always seem to work that way. Today's circumstances make it increasingly difficult for the wife to stay home with the kids, especially in states where the cost of living is outrageously high and taxes are all-encompassing, and even in states where the cost of living is much lower, jobs and career opportunities are not always available for everyone. Not to mention: haven't we all realized that a woman's mind also needs nurturing, not just her body for the buns in the oven? Didn't we learn that lesson a long time ago? That's why there are clubs and activities for women who do stay at home alone or with the kids.

Wife always has to homeschool the kids - no exceptions. What if she realizes, after having done it for a year or so, that her real skills are not in it, even after choosing the right curricula and doing everything else right? Not everyone is cut to teach school-related curricula to a child. Even I have realized that I do not have the patience to be a teacher, like my mother. She gave me plenty of supplementary education at home, though. That's what I intend to do with the Little Fig.

Another consideration: what if the child has some special needs? What if such child needs to be tended to those needs at a school where he/she can be taught? What if the mother can only do so much and definitely needs help from the outside? The McCaugheys in Iowa had planned to homeschool all of their septuplets. Years later, you see a few of them receiving their education at a school that serves many of their special needs, since two or three of them have faced developmental problems of some sort. One of them uses crutches.

Again, "the best plans of mice and men..."

I have heard in some other blogs and threads that you have to accept this, or that, or that "make sure your quiver be full"... Not all families are made the same. Not all married couples have the personalities for large families, nor the personalities needed for the breadwinner/stay-home types. Not all married women have the skill or the willingness to homeschool a child. Not every child is born with the same characteristics. Not all family circumstances are the same.

And then, there's mental illness.

Russell Yates should have noticed that something was just "out of whack" with Andrea right after their first child was born. He could have noticed that his mental plans for a "full quiver", with the whole plan of wife-always-homsechooling-the-kids, were not going to work with a woman with some serious issues that needed to be addressed. But he did the "bare minimum", and then went for Number Two. And Number Three, Four and Five.

We talk quite a bit about Andrea's state of mind. I want to know more about Russell's state of mind. He obviously didn't realize that the "cookie-cutter approach" was not going to work from the get-go.

(And not that he was not warned about it. The pastor of the home church to which this family belonged said something.)

Sometimes, we try the "cookie-cutter approach" and we realize that something is just not fitting the family life, no matter how many assurances are given that "it's the right thing to do." Not everything works the way we want or expect. Not every method is made as a one-size-fits-all.

That doesn't mean that I'm degrading the choices some of you have made to stay home with the kids and homeschool them all the way. It is not my intention. In fact, I'm staying home with the Little Fig, and if I get a Web development or Spanish translation gig here and there, I'll do it, gladly. When the time comes for formal schooling, the sig.other and I will figure out what to do. (One thing, though: no public school for her, unless it's absolutely necessary.)

But again, things don't always fit the way we intend them. And if you get frustrated because something from that approach doesn't work and you need to do something else instead - like sending your child to a private or public school because the family circumstances have changed -, that doesn't mean you're less of a parent for that. I'm sure that God understands, and that He will give you the wisdom to handle things as they come.

But Russell Yates was blind to that. I'm sure that God gave him plenty of warning about what was to happen, in one way or another. Bottom line: he didn't listen.

Now, he has to try again, with a different woman, and no children to call his flesh and blood.

(To the new Mrs. Yates: assert yourself, sweetie. Don't accept a put-down from anybody, not even from the husband. If you can't homeschool, tell him honestly, and don't relent. If you want to have a life outside of the home, he can't deny that to you.

Remember: he has a history.)

The Little Fig, at Midway

It's official: it has been twenty weeks gestation for the Little Fig. Twenty more to go.



I had my monthly prenatal appointment yesterday. The sig.other, as always, was with me. I had been scheduled for a sonogram for that date; however, I had an emergency sonogram four weeks before. I wondered if I still had to go through the scheduled sonogram. Thankfully, I didn't.

But I had to wait over an hour at the waiting room for my doctor's checkup. The room was packed. By the time the doctor saw us, it was already past five o'clock.

We were told that he was going to review the results of the sonogram with us. He did. The sig.other asked if he could corroborate the findings regarding the sex of the Little Fig.

The doctor checked the picture a couple of times. "Oh, yes. It's a girl."

"Heartbeat as strong as ever."

"Any things bothering you at this point?"

Plenty. Varicose veins have come about a dime a dozen in my legs. You can be sure that I'm not showing them with a swimsuit on. I've had swelling of my hands and feet a couple of times: at one time, I couldn't walk on my athletic shoes for very long because the swelling made my toes hurt; at another time, I noticed the swelling in my hands, especially the left one. Of course, I've been a little dizzy a couple of times.

What actually alarmed me more than anything else was that I have, so far, gained more weight than I should have at this point. A week or two ago, I weighted a little over thirty pounds over my bottom weight by the time I found out about the Little Fig. I knew I had to do something, and fast: average weight gain is expected at 25 to 35 pounds for the entire course of a pregnancy.

So, I did what I had to do. I cut on some things on which I've been chowing too much. No more cinnamon-raisin bagels. No more ice cream. No more desserts after big dinners at the restaurant. Cut down on appetizers as much as possible. Go for alad, salads, veggies, fruit - lots of it. And water. Lots of water.

No stuff with high sodium. No sodium-preserved meats, such as ham or cold cuts. Not that I eat that stuff to begin with: I weaned out of those a long time ago.

Again - water, lots of water.

I also did something which I should have done from the beginning of my weight loss program over a year ago: I joined the town's community center gym, which is at walking distance from my house. I've been using the treadmills there, walking a bit over 30 minutes a session. I also do my stretches and my weights. My muscles are now regaining definition, and I feel like I can handle a lot more.

I also lost five pounds in the process. Not bad.

Some women don't exercise while pregnant. My mother did not. My (former) sister-in-law didn't, either. I must. I need to be strong enough for myself and for the Little Fig. I'm carrying her inside me now; later, I will be carrying her in my arms, holding her carriage from point A to point B, bouncing her on my shoulders and knees when she becomes a little bigger... She's going to need all of me, and more.

Of course, she's going to be all over her daddy, too.

And speaking of her daddy... The sig.other seems to think that this is the only child we're ever going to have. He admitted thinking of it to me recently. I asked him, "Don't you want another one? Maybe... a boy? She's not going to be alone, or is she? Remember that you might want to preserve your family name..."

"There are so many people out there with my family name... Why does it need preserving?" was his reply.

I can understand his doubts. His family is not the best educated one in the world: all blue-collar, with some cousins behaving badly and getting pregnant with a different guy at one point or another, a grandmother who seems to be a bit greedy and cruel, a set of uncles that don't seem to understand certain things and who will not speak to one another, and a grandfather who never confessed what truly happened to his eldest son (the sig.other's father) that he's now a survivor of a 1950's brain surgery that should have given him only six more months on this Earth, only to give him fifty-five more years of misery and despair.

In other words... a whole family behaving like real rednecks... on his father's side. His mother's side is much nicer, though.

... which is not very different from my family. One difference between my family and (most of) his is that many in my family are now college-educated, including my mother. Otherwise, Tolstoy's opening salvo to Anna Karenina applies here as well:

"Every happy family is alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way."

So, this is what the Little Fig is going to face when she gets to know her family. I just hope she doesn't wish to crawl back inside me after she finds out...

Now, we have to think of the things to do at the remainder of the gestation: painting her room, replacing the now-carpeted floor in her room with laminate wood, buying the furniture, setting the decorating theme, whipping out the list of needed items for the baby, etc.

I just bought a bag of newborn diapers the other night (40), for those under ten pounds. I hope that's the only bag of newborn diapers I'm ever going to need for her. But she's going to need more. That's why we go to Sam's Club.

I don't know if I want to do a baby shower, though. I'm not a social butterfly around here. And I really don't think that many people will take the time to go through a baby registry list to find an item to buy for the baby. I'm sure they will ignore it if I have it out there. That's why I haven't set up a registry list yet.

Besides, if my mother finds out that I set up a baby registry, she will kill me. She gave me grief when I even considered the thought of a bridal registry eleven years ago. "¿Cómo te atreves?!?" ["How dare you?"] I don't know how she would take it now...

Anyway, I have to let you know what I'm up to. I'll let you know if I have set up a registry or not.

I'm So Glad I'm Not a Grad Student!

Especially, not a grad student a Berzerkley - ahem... Berkeley.

And, especially, not one who is so bird-brained to write a love poem to Hizballah. (Hat tip: LGF)

If she really thinks they're that worthy of praise, maybe she can do them a big favor... and help them over there in their fight against Israel. Maybe she can learn to fire missiles at Israelis or even learn how to conduct the only suicide bomb mission she'll ever need to do - after she's dehumanized by the mostly-male terrorists in such a way that she begins to think like a predatory beast.

Maybe she can do a Rachel Corrie stunt... Oh! Never mind... That has been tried before...

(BTW: People have been telling me over the years that I should get a Master's degree in the Humanities - Spanish or International Relations, maybe History. But, after seeing these examples of collosal appeasement and ignorance in American academia, I am so glad that I never inquired on taking the GRE. If I were ever to reach the Master's or PhD finish line as brainwashed as this seriously deluded woman, I'd rather have a gun ready for Russian Roulette waiting for me.

No wonder so many of those with the Master's or PhD's in Arts or Humanities don't get the jobs they studied for! Maybe there is a reason why there are so many Starbucks' franchises here! Who else would hire them?)

La número cinco - Number Five!

Well, it seems I did right by putting my chips on the girl from ye olde home. She's now Miss Universe No. 5. (Thanks to the guys at Power Line for following it.)

I bet you there are lots of guys down in the island howling like wolves right now...

But barely less than an hour after her coronation, she collapsed on stage...

¿Estás bien, Zuleyka? Espero que sólo haya sido la emoción del momento... y nada más. [Are you all right? Hope it was just the emotion of the moment... and nothing else.]

(Do me a favor, guys. On the link to the Miss Universe site, go check the Photos link. Then, go check the National Costume photo. The design contains a painting of the life of the Taino natives, who inhabited Puerto Rico before the Spaniards arrived, on her right side. On her left, you will see the coquí, which is the little tree frog that lives in abundance over there... and whose nightly song has rocked many to sleep, for generations. Some are annoyed by it, but what can we say?)

Update: Fausta knows exactly what's going to happen.

I can safely predict that Puerto Rico will declare a day off so people can attend a giant parade that will deliver her from the airport to the governor's mansion while San Juan traffic will be tied up for hours (a lot more than usual, that is).

Trust me: day-to-day traffic in the San Juan metro area is hell on wheels... worse than the worst day of traffic in DC... or L.A. And that's not just on rush hour.

My safe advice to anyone working in the San Juan metro area who has to do a long commute... The day Zuleyka arrives, stay home and watch it all unfold on TV. Or telecommute. It will not be worth the drive.

Congrats to Floyd Landis

Former teammate of Lance Armstrong, and winner of the Tour de France.

Once again, Americans know how to tick the French off. (The sig.other says, "Maybe the French should reconsider having the event next year...")

I guess they never got over Napoleon having sold so much territory to us... for pennies on the dollar, too...

Would You Pay Money to Watch This?!?

Shirley Temple, Patty Duke and Anna Paquin won Oscars for their roles... but never after performing anything like this...

If this is what some kids have to do to get the thrill of the trophy-full shelf nowadays, Heaven help us all.

But for now, I hope those who did this are "caught confessed", as they say in Mexico.

(Via The Corner.)

The Decision

The Book of the Prophet Isaiah, Chapter 43; The Book of the Prophet Ezekiel, Chapter 37.

It is interesting to see this article in the midst of events unfolding in Israel.

SHARON, Massachusetts - A special El Al flight from New York brought 220 American immigrants to Israel yesterday. The flight was the second of seven Jewish Agency/Nefesh B'Nefesh charters planned for this summer, and the first to arrive since warfare erupted on Israel's northern front. According to the Nefesh B'Nefesh organization, 20 prospective immigrants who had signed up for yesterday's flight decided to postpone their arrival at least for a week or two.

On the eve of the flight, Haaretz visited with Joel and Debbie Wine in Sharon, Massachusetts as they struggled to finish packing their belongings, complete a list of last-minute errands, tend to their three young children and say good-bye to friends and family. "Yes, it's crazy globally and crazy in our little world, getting everything done," Joel acknowledged, sitting on a folding chair among the open suitcases and sprawl of unpacked items.

After the war in the north began, people started asking them whether they still planned to move to Israel. "With what's going on now, we're being made out to be some sort of heroes," Joel said. "But this is Israel, and if you think of yourself as Israeli, you realize there's really not a choice. We've mentally, psychologically, emotionally made the commitment to be part of the people of Israel in the Land of Israel, and unfortunately, this [war] is part of the reality." When he received an email from Nefesh B'Nefesh this week confirming that the flight was still on, he sent a one-word reply: "Good."

This is more than encouraging. This is fulfillment of prophecy.

Even though most of the media ignores it nowadays, there is no way to deny that there has been a massive exodus of people of Jewish heritage and/or ancestry into Israel. This exodus begun in very small stages in the turn of the nineteenth and the twentieth century, when the land was so barren that no one really cared about growing anything on it - that is, except for those with such a strong attachment to the ancestral land that they did begin trying.

Once more people began to arrive to Eretz Israel, more farming and irrigation took place. Cities were built or brought back from near-extinction. Trees were planted. Commerce and industry flourished. More people enjoyed freedom, in their own land. Others noticed - and many took the return trip.

Yet, others did notice - and began plans to destroy all of it.

Just as historical events have proven to us that Satan is alive and well on this Earth, history has also proven to us that God is, and that He will protect His People. I don't have to give you a recount of modern Israel's history. Just go and read it by yourself.

And now, even when more carnage is on the way and the possibility of thousands of Israelis being slain for the fact that they are Israelis - or Jews, for that matter -, the People still return from the Diaspora. Why, if it is so unsafe?!? It's like taking your own self and stand like a sitting duck, waiting for the hunter to shoot.

Because they choose to return. Why?

"But this is Israel, and if you think of yourself as Israeli, you realize there's really not a choice. We've mentally, psychologically, emotionally made the commitment to be part of the people of Israel in the Land of Israel, and unfortunately, this [war] is part of the reality."

If you read this article in its entirety, you will realize that this family, in particular, have made the choice and are not looking back - even after their families have lived in the United States for generations. The pull of the ancestral land is so strong. But, I believe, there is more to it than that pull. There is God's Promise to His People for protection. There's also His promise for their return to the land promised to their ancestors - Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

Fear not: for I am with thee: I will bring thy seed from the east, and gather thee from the west;

I will say to the north, Give up; and to the south, Keep not back: bring my sons from far, and my daughters from the ends of the earth;

Even every one that is called by my name: for I have created him for my glory, I have formed him; yea, I have made him.

Bring forth the blind people that have eyes, and the deaf that have ears.

Let all the nations be gathered together, and let the people be assembled: who among them can declare this, and shew us former things? let them bring forth their witnesses, that they may be justified: or let them hear, and say, It is truth.

Ye are my witnesses, saith the LORD, and my servant whom I have chosen: that ye may know and believe me, and understand that I am he: before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after me.

I, even I, am the LORD; and beside me there is no saviour.

I have declared, and have saved, and I have shewed, when there was no strange god among you: therefore ye are my witnesses, saith the LORD, that I am God.

You can write that down. When God promises something, He will do it. He has proven it every single time.

Why would He make this promise?

But now thus saith the LORD that created thee, O Jacob, and he that formed thee, O Israel, Fear not: for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name; thou art mine.

When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee.

Why would He give the People of Israel that ancestral pull into the Land that He had promised to them so many centuries ago? Why would He promise to bring back Israel to the Land, "come Hell or high water"?

Since thou wast precious in my sight, thou hast been honourable, and I have loved thee: therefore will I give men for thee, and people for thy life.

He loves Israel. He really does.

Now that we know that God really loves His people, we can see that, when He really gives that pull to His people to return to the Land, there is no looking back.

I can only imagine all of the things this family, in particular, has left behind in the States. Families. Careers. Friends. Neighbors. Hobbies. Comfort. Safety.

But they left all of that behind, even though they knew that going to the Land of Promise meant something bittersweet. Returning to the Land is a big blessing, yet it carries a price.

That price is paid by Israelis every single day. Every time any site is attacked by a Satan-inspired terrorist. Every time the media chides and condems them. Every time the world derides, repudiates them, and even wish they didn't exist. Remember when that French envoy to Britain called Israel "that s****y little country"?

It gets better than that. Satan knows so well that God fulfills His promises, that he does everything in his power to throw a monkey wrench into all of it, every time. That's why I think Hamas, Hizballah, Al-Qaeda, and just about every world body that condemns Israel every single time is - let's face it - Satanically inspired. Anti-Jewish sentiment has returned to the world scene with a great force. Europe, which was supposed to have learned "Never Again!" after Hitler's Holocaust, has fallen into that influence. France, Britain, Germany, Russia - even Spain.

Madrid: Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, Prime Minister of Spain and Secretary General of the Socialist Party, arrived to power at a time nobody expected, not even inside the Party.

Keen on populist tirades against the United States "Dickhead Bush" and "Ketchup Queen Kerry", his whole campaign did not bring much attention until the moment Al-Qaeda decided to blow up Madrid trains, killing almost 200 people and bringing to an end Spain's membership of the West.

From that moment on, everybody knew nothing would be the same, and Spanish Jews knew there were hard times ahead. Prime Minister Zapatero has not disappointed them.

'Understand Nazis'

Although many experts had foretold of the imminent disappearing of European Jews, nobody expected such a virulent explosion of anti-Semitism in Spain, not even under a Leftist government.

The first signal came on Monday, 5 December, when during a dinner with the Benarroch family, Zapatero and wife began claiming what Vidal Quadras, member of the European Parliament, described on the radio as "a tirade of anti-Zionism and anti-Semitism".

By the moment the Benarroch couple had left the table to express their regrets, Zapatero was explaining his lack of surprise about the Holocaust: according to the people present, Zapatero claimed to understand the Nazis.

Not that the anti-Jewish sentiment was completely dead in Spain to begin with. It was always there, but dormant. You see, when the Sephardim were expelled centuries ago, many went into hiding. They adapted Christian names, adapted Roman Catholicism - the dominant form of Christianity there - and lived double lives. Some were able to get away with it. Others did not.

(Curiously enough, the day before I found the above article on Spanish anti-Jewish sentiment, the sig.other watched a film called Day of Wrath. The film is about the Sephardim during the Spanish Inquisition - one or two of them, at least. I only happened to catch a few scenes.)

Legend says that many Sephardim kept the keys to their ancestral homes in Spain. I have heard about it quite a few times. (In fact, the first time I heard about this was from the mouth of a Consul of Spain in the States whom I happen to know... He didn't quite hide his dormant anti-Semitism to the few of us who were with him.) Problem is, I don't know if that is true, especially since the pull to the Real Ancestral Land is much stronger than many think. Many Sephardim, like Ashkenazi and others, have made Aliyah over the years.

Not to mention that there have been many groups and populations, from all parts of the world, who have been rediscovering their Jewishness over the years... and are also making the decision to leave all that they have known for the Promised Land.

Unfortunately, traces of anti-Jewish sentiment are infiltrating the discourse in our very own United States as well. One has to see what's going on in some churches, certain political parties and organizations (whose names I'm not going to mention) to see my point.

But many are making the choice to leave everything behind... for the Promised Land. And not looking back.

And the best part about all this is that God has promised that, once there, He will never again allow them to lose their land.

You can write that down. He will do it.

***

This has an application to Christians as well. No, not in the sense that we will make the trip to Israel and stay there.

We have a country to which we belong. The moment we give our hearts and lives to Jesus Christ, we sign up as citizens of the Kingdom that is not of this world. We look forward to the time we can finally see it before our eyes.

But for now, we walk by faith.

We also know that there are many who, now that they know what we believe, will oppose us to the death. One has only to learn of the persecution of Christians around the world to understand. And remember when I posted about the people in that Massachusets town who - many of them Portuguese and Roman Catholic - are being harrassed because they signed that petition against "gay marriage"?

It wasn't like we weren't warned that there was a price to pay.

And even in this blog. Oh, boy! How many times have trolls come in here and just said everything, short of wishing us dead and mutilated? I don't have to count with my fingers. We have seen plenty around here.

Oh yes: they, too, are Satanically inspired. They just don't know it. But once I point that out to them, they get even more rabid. (Hope they get their shots. Not that they would care, though)

But once we make the decision to follow Jesus Christ, no matter the price, and we begin our walk as pilgrims and stangers on this earth, there is no other choice. There is no going back.

And we can count on one huge promise:

For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,

Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

You can write that down. He will do it.

Pat Buchanan: Having Jumped The Shark a Long Time Ago, He Still Manages to Do It Again

Just read the garbage he has just spawned out of him:

But what Israel is doing is imposing deliberate suffering on civilians, collective punishment on innocent people, to force them to do something they are powerless to do: disarm the gunmen among them. Such a policy violates international law and comports neither with our values nor our interests. It is un-American and un-Christian.

But where are the Christians? Why is Pope Benedict virtually alone among Christian leaders to have spoken out against what is being done to Lebanese Christians and Muslims?

When al-Qaida captured two U.S. soldiers and barbarically butchered them, the U.S. Army did not smash power plants across the Sunni Triangle. Why then is Bush not only silent but openly supportive when Israelis do this?

Democrats attack Bush for crimes of which he is not guilty, including Haditha and Abu Ghraib. Why are they, too, silent when Israel pursues a conscious policy of collective punishment of innocent peoples?

Maybe he should do a little more digging. He would have realized that Israel has taken so much beating and pounding, for a very long time, from Hamas, Hizballah, and its national sponsors. One can take so much abuse for a long time. It was time for Israel to fight back against the hijacking of its neighbor to the north by a Syria-and-Iran-supported terrorist organization.

It is not un-Christian to support self-defense, especially when the enemy is using civilians as cover. What it's un-Christian here is what Buchanan is doing. (Didn't he know that the Vatican's outgoing Secretary of State - the man who made that disgraceful statement condemning Israel - has been anti-Jewish for a long time, and that Pope Benedict XVI had just fired him and named a soon-to-take-over replacement?)

Too bad Buchanan took his mask off a long time ago... and shown exactly what he's made of. Maybe we should give him a membership card in the Hizballah organization.

Now, this is a man no one should take seriously anymore. Why does WorldNetDaily?

Pardon Me If I Have To Ask This Question...

I know that a whole bunch of American citizens were rescued from Lebanon just in the last few days... and that's good and nice...

... but I wonder, especially after reading this at Debbie Schlussel's:

One thing is lost in all the press coverage of the whining Americans who went to Lebanon of their own accord and now want us to pick up the tab to get them out.

THE MAJORITY OF AMERICANS IN LEBANON ARE HEZBOLLAH SUPPORTERS.

Most of them are Shi'ite Muslims, many of whom hold dual U.S. and Lebanese citizenship. Many are anchor babies born here to Muslims in the U.S. illegally. Some are illegal aliens who became citizens through rubber-stamping Citizenship and Immigration Services (and its INS predecessor) coupled with political pressure by spineless politicians.

Of the 25,000 American citizens and green-card holders in Lebanon, at least 7,000 are from Dearborn, Michigan, the heart of Islamic America, and especially Shia Islam America. These 7,000 are mostly Shi'ite Muslims who openly and strongly support Hezbollah. Ditto for many of the rest of the 25,000 that are there.

[There's more.]

Are we shooting ourselves in the foot in the process of doing the right thing?

Heavens, I hope not!

She also links to this column by Brigitte Gabriel - a must read.

Huzballah is the A Team of terrorist organizations. They are more organized, more lethal, more structured and more calculated than Al-Qaeda. It is Husballah who is training Al-Qaeda members in south Lebanon, and in the Bekaa and southern Beirut where Israel is bombing. It is those same Al-Qaeda terrorists who are trained in Lebanon, are the ones who travel via Syria into Iraq and Afghanistan. Israel is doing the job that the world powers and UN should have done a long time ago.

It is also in Lebanon and Husballah where these terrorists are developing the roadside bombs used on our marines and soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan. Those same terrorists have cells in America and ready to unleash suicide bombing here in America. [emphasis mine]

Update: Pamela at Atlas Shrugs has more... including a link to this video clip of an interview with Brigitte Gabriel on CNN, from Expose the Left.

Another Update: The Counterterrorism Blog has one heck of a rap sheet on Hizballah's activities in the United States.

Racketeering, Money Laundering, Terrorism Financing, Weapons and Planning, Tax Evasion, Drug Running, Human Trafficking... Human Trafficking?!? Yep. Smuggling of Lebanese across the border from Mexico.

Haven't I said before that there's a strong criminal element behind the smuggling of illegals into the States? I didn't think it would be that strong.

Didn't That Practice End Here a Long Time Ago?

Colorado Gov. Bill Owens just signed a bill that would ban child brides in the state.

The state Court of Appeals ruled on June 15 that Colorado had no stated minimum age for common-law marriage but said the state has adopted English common law, which makes girls as young as 12 and boys as young as 14 eligible for marriage.

"It was imperative that Colorado change its law concerning the minimum age for common law marriage. The age of consent for marriage should be consistent in our statutes and, most importantly, our young children must be protected," Owens said as he signed the bill Tuesday.

The bill to close the loophole passed without major opposition during a special session on illegal immigration. Lawmakers said the issue could not wait until lawmakers return to work in January. The law raises the minimum age for common-law marriage to 18 or 16 with parental consent and a judge's approval and goes into effect Sept. 1.

The practice of marrying a child as young as 12 is now an aberration in this country. It is still practiced in many other parts of the world, though. I know of some ethnic enclaves, such as the Travellers in the South, who still practice it in secret, even though they have faced judges frequently because of it.

One thing to notice about this story, though. The story that brought about this new law in CO is one to ponder on:

The court ruling came in the case of Willis Rouse, 38, who was 34 years old when he applied for and received a license to marry a then-15-year-old girl with the consent of the girl's mother.

[...]

Rouse is serving a four-year prison term after pleading guilty to stalking the girl and has asked a judge to release him in light of the Appeals Court ruling. [emphasis mine]

Two things: the girl obviously didn't want to see that man's daylights, no matter what her mother said or did; and this man doesn't get it. Are we to allow him to go free so he can stalk the next fourteen-year-old? Oh, no!

BTW: what kind of mother consents to such an aberration?

Karma is a &!%@#, Isn't It?

Interesting news from Iraq: the killer of our two horribly-mutilated soldiers has now assumed room temperature.

BAGHDAD, Iraq - A Jordanian who killed two U.S. soldiers last month was fatally wounded in a clash with security forces, a senior Iraqi official said Tuesday. Diyar Ismail Mahmoud, known as Abu al-Afghani, was identified as the killer of the two soldiers, National Security Adviser Mouwafak al-Rubaie told reporters.

The two soldiers' mutilated bodies were found after they were captured in a firefight near Youssifiyah, southwest of Baghdad.

Hat tip: My Pet Jawa.

The Uncomfortable Question

Remember the mathematician/ethicist in Jurassic Park?

No, I''m not a fan of the film or the book. I watched it twice - to make me sick enough not to watch it again. (I do get nightmares of beasts and snakes chasing me once in a while, still...)

But one thing that marvelled me, more than the digital effects that dazzled millions of viewers, is the fact that so many were dazzled by the visuals and not focused enough on the one message from the film - actually, the novel itself - that should make it worthwhile. And that's where the mathematician comes in.

Remember that part in which that small group meet and discussed the unbelievable stuff they had just presenced? Excitement was on the air. Oh, the places we'll go! The things we can do! The world will be marvelled! Ecstatic! Extinct species were resurrected. No one had done it before! Nothing is impossible now!

Yet, this one man interrupted the talk and asked the question no one seemed to have expected. He pondered before the group "not whether if we can, but whether if we should..."

Even though the discussion was just a blip in the scheme of things within the story, that question seemed to always hang in the air, as the proverbial elephant in the living room... especially as later events unfolded. In the end, it was clear that Pandora's box was opened, and that it was too late to close it back shut.

It is sad that so many missed the real question within the story. "Sure, we can do whatever we want to do, in the name of science. But should we?"

It seems this is the same question that the President asked, in his very conscience, before issuing his very first veto. Of course, the media knows how to distort his point of view and advance theirs - and that of the "secular priests with lab coats."

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- President Bush used his veto power Wednesday for the first time since taking office 5 1/2 years ago, saying that an embryonic stem-cell research bill "crossed a moral boundary."

The bill, which the Senate passed Tuesday, 63-37, would have loosened the restrictions on federal funding for stem-cell research.

House Republican leaders tried Thursday evening to override the veto, but that vote was 235 to 193, short of the necessary two-thirds majority.

"This bill would support the taking of innocent human life in the hope of finding medical benefits for others," Bush said Wednesday afternoon. "It crosses a moral boundary that our decent society needs to respect. So I vetoed it."

Of course, the media and many scientists would rather avoid this question, especially when it comes to use of stem cells coming from embryos.

The media and his opponents always paint it as if he were opposed to all forms of that research. But they don't seem to pay attention to the fact that he was only vetoing anything that meant using embryos for research, even if discarded. Supporters of embryonic stem cells marvel and wonder all the things science can do in the name of "saving lives."

They always have to use that phrase "saving lives."

They never want to face the fact that it means they will most likely support using what they love to call "that insignificant blob of cells" - which becomes a human embryo - to "save a life." It is as if that "blob of cells" doesn't hold any importance to them... It's robbing little Peter to pay Paul. They never think of that!

They don't think they're stealing for parts, like thieves rob vehicles and dismantle them for parts to be sold elsewhere. But that doesn't seem to scare them. They don't seem to think that there is something to that "blob of cells"... something unique to them. The fact that they have their very own genetic imprint doesn't seem to phase them.

That must uncomfortable question doesn't seem to descend upon them... Maybe it already has, but they have done everything possible to justify it - and themselves. Because, in the end, it's all about themselves. The quest for glory. Fame. A future contribution to History. Their names in newspapers; in Nobel Prize medals; in college textbooks...

But they seem to forget that mathematician who asked the question no one wants to answer... because the answer might - just might - show a side of them the public doesn't need to know...

The President, being no mathematician, ethicist or scientist of any kind - you have to understand why so many of his opponents call him "an idiot" - pondered the question none of those advocates in Congress, the media or the scientific community wanted to ask. They don't understand the fact that he not only has a Harvard MBA, but also a BA in History. History. He has read quite extensively - not that his rabid opponents care - and his wife, Laura, is an even more avid reader than he is.

Yet, he's not the kind of guy who lends himself into the "root causes" discussions or the long arguments and counter arguments of the intelligentsia. In fact, he rejects them. He knows that, beyond History, Science and Today, there is an Eternal God with Eternal Principles, whose Word is Truth. He knows that he could not, in good conscience, answer that unconfortable question to the satisfaction of anyone. He knew he was going to face hell on wheels, especially from those to whom this Spanish proverb applies: "No hay peor ciego que el que no quiere ver." ["There's no worse blind man than he who doesn't want to see."]

The Anchoress is right on the money, once again. (Honestly, if that phrase had a tangible value to it - as in, a buck for every right point you make - she'd be a millionaire by now.)

They want the world to think that Bush is a “Christian who is afraid of science,” and so they always discreetly forget the EMBRYONIC part, leaving casual readers to think the president is against adult stem cell research, in general…which is not at all true.


[...]

To me, it speaks volumes that the proponants of ESC research, in the press and elsewhere, are so willing to mischaracterize moments like these. Seems to me if you cannot be upfront about the thing you want, if you need to dance around it, then there must be a reason why. Maybe it’s because you know the thing you want, you probably shouldn’t want.

And btw, President Bush says he was “honor bound,” to veto this bill. Good for him. “Honor” has become a remarkably rare commodity in politics. When I look at the world and the state of it, I believe this will be for us a blessing.

She and I are on the same wavelength.

"But newton! Don't you see that this is such an advance in medical science? You wouldn't want for science to be restricted on this, if it meant saving your own life! Besides, if we don't do it, someone else will. And they will get the accolades and the place in History!"

I know, I know. But if you were the scientist who would use hundreds, maybe thousands of embryos and cut here and there - just like car parts for a car thief - for that one miracle-moment... after having become so intimate at the way God has "fearfully and wonderfully made" us, in the "lower parts of the earth", as "substance, yet being unperfect" (the Hebrew word used in this phrase alone is translated "embryo"), and yet tinkering with its mechanism here and there, using brand-spanking new car parts from a wholly unique new model to fix "old clunker" us... and then discarding the wholly unique new model... and find the "Eureka!" moment and then share it with the world, and get all the accolades... I would give you the "Congrats"... and the suggestion to buy stock in the company that makes Lunesta.

No scientist who has seen the works of God so closely and so intimately can get away with pretending that He didn't make them, nor that He didn't want for certain things to be messed with.

How quickly some people are to dismiss the mystery of life! How quickly some are willing to dismiss that "blob of cells", as if they didn't mean anything.

I still remember the last words I said before I went to sleep the day that I discovered the Little Fig is on her way. I didn't say "That blob of cells!", as if they were an inconvenience for me, to be discarded like a recyclable. I didn't "de-personalize" that unperfect substance that is growing inside me. I simply called it "My baby!"

You tell me to my face that this is an insignificant thing, to be dismantled like a stolen car for its parts. I dare you to tell me!



This creature growing inside me is, of itself, a miracle. Only God could put all the mechanisms in place in order for this to happen among its creation. In fact, it was through this very process that He brought forth into our midst our Blessed Hope - the Lord Jesus Christ. The fact that God would choose to come to earth as a human being by undergoing the same life processes that we all humans endure is an honor in and of itself.

Those people that are so quick to judge Christians like George W. Bush for the stances they take on issues like this should take this to heart: many of us who have studied our Bibles well can see where the other side is going. We can see how so many are so enthusiastic in embracing the latest scientific advances and the newest things with the potential to expand our lifespans and make us almost... immortal. We can sense how hostile they can become towards us when we ask the questions no one wants to hear, nor ponder, nor answer... We sense it because, as new creatures in Jesus Christ who have been given by God the spirit of love, power, and a sound mind, we have seen this before.

And the whole earth was of one language, and of one speech.

And it came to pass, as they journeyed from the east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar; and they dwelt there.

And they said one to another, Go to, let us make brick, and burn them thoroughly. And they had brick for stone, and slime had they for morter.

And they said, Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth.

And the LORD came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men builded.

And the LORD said, Behold, the people is one, and they have all one language; and this they begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do.

God knew what those people were doing, and the reasons for it. He knew that they would attempt to hijack His Throne if they imagined themselves doing it... Since there were no restraints on them, and probably shut out any dissent to their plans, nothing would be impossible for them to reach.

The interesting thing is that God has a way to put the proverbial monkey wrench on "the best laid plans of mice and men." He showed those builders Who Is In Command, in the most interesting way. Needless to say, they stopped building.

But that doesn't mean that the desire of the natural man to overcome so much to the point of attempting to take the place of God had died there. It is still very much with us. And embryonic stem cell research is only part of the one major push by science to achieve what God would not allow them to do. This is what the Apostle Paul referred to in his first letter to Timothy:

O Timothy, keep that which is committed to thy trust, avoiding profane and vain babblings, and oppositions of science falsely so called: which some professing have erred concerning the faith.

Even Paul could see that some would use "science" to renege of Judeo-Christianity. And he didn't have to see the debates of today. All he had to do was to let the Holy Spirit speak to him directly - and boy, how direct It is:

Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils; speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron [...]

Thankfully, George W. Bush's conscience isn't one of them.

Actually, I had written a warning to this very same a while ago:

Our modern times are characterized by the exponential increase in knowledge, science, cultures and travel - exactly what was foretold to the Prophet Daniel as a sign that the Times of the End were at hand. (Sounds familiar?) We, in the United States, have restrictions on the things that we can do with some specific aspects of that knowledge - especially in research related to embryonic stem cells. Those ones fall within the realm of ethics. On the other hand, other developed countries don’t have those restrictions. More R & D funding is now reaching countries where once it was near impossible to develop anything in the realm of micro-science and nanotechnology - look at China, India, and Singapore. Many scientists are coming to the realization that, eventually, nothing will be impossible for them to do [...]

I don’t know if it will happen soon, but how long will it be before scientists announce the creation of a brand-spanking new man, genetic defects-free, with age-defying DNA, terrific physical characteristics… all in all, a perfect man, designed in a laboratory from man-assembled nano-biological materials, in a petri dish? How long before we hear of an embryo created with nothing but the best the human genome can offer, implanted inside a woman’s womb, carried to term, and raised with all the knowledge of the world and all the possibilities? Extremely high IQ. Highly empowered to do anything. Highly praised.

[...]

In order for the beginning of the ultimate “abomination” to take place, Man has to be the sole creator of this new being. God’s out of the equation here. Remember that God created Adam from scratch and gave him the Breath of Life, and created Jesus in a specially made, sin-free body and implanted it into the womb of a virgin.

All that Man needs to do is to actually harness the sum of all of the elements needed to create a brand-spanking-new human life. When that is achieved successfully - when something like that is carried to term and breathes the free air as a newborn -, you can assure yourselves that the time left is very short.

Ladies and gentlemen: when there is no restraint, there will be trouble ahead. If anything does not allow for this to continue, it is the Holy Spirit - I believe.

Ever from the beginning, the natural man has always wanted to take the place of God. We are all born with a sinful and rebellious nature. It is manifest in so many of the things we do throughout our lives. In the end, many of us realize that God commands. He always has, and He always will.

Unfortunately, there are many out there who have chosen to live in that state of lifelong rebellion against God. And some would kill God if they could. Some others will use legitimate things in this world to bring about even more rebellion against God. And some will even go as far as openly challenging His Supremacy. But I believe that this last part is not very obvious right now, but it will be in the future.

But, as for the medical needs, we must take this point to heart: there will be a way to find a cure, or at least some treatment, to the many ailments that affect us humans. God always provides a way for these things to happen, if they are within His Will, and the methods to find it are acceptable within His Sovereign Providence... Plus, He would never allow for something to be reachable to His children if it were not for their ultimate benefit. Look at vaccines. Transplants. Lots of other examples.

Which brings me to the one point in Jurassic Park that is better known: "Life will find a way."

A Note to Dan Quayle

To: Former VP Dan Quayle
From: newton

Just a note to say that I respect you because you walked out of a John Mellencamp concert.

He then made a statement of his own by walking out during Mellencamp's rendition of ``Walk Tall.'' Before launching into the song, Mellencamp told the Harveys casino crowd, in effect, that it was dedicated to everyone hurt by policies of the current Bush administration.

I'd respect you even more... if you had known enough of this man not to give him the honor of your presence.

Life is too short - and money too scarce - to hear some Leftist idiot's tripe on stage.