So Very Tired

So Plan B, the "morning after" pill, is approved for over the counter purchase to girls as young as fifteen. And I'm sure you've heard lots of arguments why it's a bad idea. It is ridiculous that I as a forty-four year old woman have to show my ID to buy cold medicine, but my teenage daughters, with their still maturing bodies and minds, can buy, with no oversight, a medication with a much greater chance of complications, even when it is taken as directed. I had to show my ID to my own sister-in-law when my daughters got their ears pierced, because we got them pierced through the jewelry store that she works at, and she had to have proof that I, as a parent, had given permission. Because ear piercing is so much more dangerous than making your body abort a pregnancy, and messing with the hormones of a girl which are not completely settled to begin with.

But honestly, I expect no less from this government. What discourages me, and makes me tired, is I would expect the majority of people in this country to either, 1. still heartily approve, or 2. not have any idea this happened. And the second group bothers me more than the first, because the second group is more likely to disapprove, and thus, there might be a chance of changing the way we treat the unborn in this society, and the inconsistent way we grant "freedoms" to citizens. Plus, some people might wake up to how little they are aware of things. Maybe? I'm considering running a little experiment and asking moms of some of the teens I know, if they have heard about this ruling. Just to see how little some people pay attention.

In the meantime, I've had to tell my daughters to be aware if they hear someone they know has taken, or is going to take Plan B. Just in case something does happen.

Hanging On to a LIttle

So. I got a lot of stuff about school out there yesterday. It seems kind of strange and disjointed, perhaps. All I can say is, the feelings homeschool moms have when they are told they are ruining their children or doing something wrong or whatnot? I have those feelings too, but in this case it is about my kids being indoctrinated and not getting to explore their own interests and not getting enough depth, and on and on. Mr. BTEG and I know that we are doing what is best for our family, so I don't exactly feel guilt. I just want to say that there is room, and use, for the basic public school idea. There are a lot of things that could be changed about schools, and I think the addition of charter schools and more freedom for homeschool would be great. But the large school really fits our needs at the moment. It doesn't have to stay "public;" it doesn't have to be the only game in town. But I'd like to see something similar stay around.

Rights

I'm seeing examples in the news where people's rights are being or may be taken away, whether it's the right to live while not wearing a headscarf, or the right to have children without being taxed yearly because of their very existence (carbon footprints, y'know), but for homeschoolers, the decision of a German court (h/t Dana) in the case of a family that wishes to homeschool their children is a definite blow to their rights, and the rights of all parents there. Here's a quote from the decision:

"The mental and emotional welfare of the children is lastingly endangered because the first Party rejects and hinders the school education which is important for the development of the children in a pluralistic society. It is a moot point whether the home education of the children ensures an adequate transfer of knowledge, as children should also grow up in communal life."

Then there's some gibberish about "tolerance, the ability to stand up for oneself and to uphold a conviction that dissents with that of the majority." Hullo, isn't that just what the parents were trying to do in this case? Uphold their convictions to homeschool in dissent of the majority of Germans? Guess you can only stand up for yourself until the State squashes you down.

I'm reminding myself that God has allowed evil rulers to unleash evil in certain areas for a season, and that He is with us no matter what principalities and powers may do. For I know very well that there are people in this country who would agree with this court decision, who want the State to have the ultimate authority over parents. May God protect and keep us.

Memorial Day

Memorial Day is almost a surreal holiday for me. I appreciate the sacrifices so many brave men and women have made to keep this country free, and I know the sacrifices were great. However, although I have had relatives who served our country in the armed forces, I know of no relative who served our country in a time of war. I have nothing to make this holiday "personal" for me. In addition, like Laura Lee Donoho, who has the association of Memorial Day with losing her first dog, I have, for as long as I can remember, associated Memorial Day with my sister's birthday celebrations. Her birthday is always close to Memorial Day, if not on it, and a three-day weekend was always perfect to celebrate, especially as we grew up and moved apart. As I'm taking a "mental health break" from my family, no celebration with family this year.

Redstate has a nice roundup of Memorial Day posts.

My Take on the Virginia Tech Shootings

This is partially in response to my blog friend Jau, since her latest post set off this whole long ramble. She suggested we should limit "tools with which people can express intense anger and misery." I pointed out that now that guns are illegal in the U.K., there's a call to ban kitchen knives, as they are responsible for a large portion of the current violence there, perhaps as much as half. People will turn nasty and violent. It's sad, but it's a fact of life, has been for the thousands of years that humans have been around, and always will be. The first recorded sin in history, after eating the forbidden fruit, was a violent murder.

Secondly, if Clayton Cramer is correct, the two guns that the shooter owned were a Glock 9 mm and a .22 caliber pistol. These are semi-automatic weapons, not automatic weapons. At some point, the shooter probably had to change the magazine on his gun, although he probably could have done it fairly quickly. And many gun owners will argue with you about their right to own automatic weapons just as much as their right to own semi-automatic weapons. The reason we own weapons is not just to protect ourselves from the thief who breaks in at night, but to protect our liberties from a tyrannic government, if need be. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe the Founding Fathers saw that their system of government might not last and that tyranny might raise its ugly head once more.

Clayton Cramer also implies that since Seung-Hui was a resident alien of the United States, there was no reason why he could not have owned these guns legally, although he was not supposed to have them on campus, but hey, that didn't stop him. I would like to know where Jau got her information that gun shows are exempt from background checks. I purchased my gun at a gun show, and you'd better believe the person from whom I purchased that gun did a background check on me. A federally-licensed firearms dealer must always run a background check before selling a firearm. Any exceptions there may be, such as LEOs and people with a CCW, are just another form of background check. Any hobbyist can set up a table and sell his collection at a gun show, but those people are probably being watched to make sure they are really hobbyists and not firearms dealers. And anyone can sell a firearm to anyone else in a private sale, which I do not believe the government should ever regulate. The government has no business in private sales. In any case, do we know where Seung-Hui purchased his firearms or have any reason to believe he owned them illegally? Let's not bring up situations that may not even fit this story, and are unlikely on top of that. The MSM may love to put out scare stories about gun shows, but a gun show is not someplace to just go anonymously load up on all the guns you want. I've been there; I know.

Lastly, Jau asks, "Why must being an American include the fairly frequent and not very remote possibility of being mowed down by lunatics?" Well, first of all, because Americans have rights and freedoms, guaranteed by our Constitution and Bill of Rights. Do we want to destroy those any more?

Secondly, I really do not believe the possibility is "fairly frequent." According to this page, "The Swiss, New Zealanders and Finns all own guns as frequently as Americans, yet in 1995 Switzerland had a murder rate 40 percent lower than Germany's, and New Zealand had one lower than Australia's. Finland and Sweden have very different gun ownership rates, but very similar murder rates. Israel, with a higher gun ownership rate than the U.S., has a murder rate 40 percent below Canada's. When one studies all countries rather than just a select few as is usually done, there is absolutely no relationship between gun ownership and murder." Yes, shootings like this are spectacular and they make the news, but how often do they really happen? To me, this is like the scare stories on roller coasters every time a roller coaster death or accident occurs. You are more likely to get into an accident on the way to the amusement park in your car, than get hurt on a roller coaster.

Thirdly, these sorts of shootings don't just happen in America. See Montreal, for example. I agree with Clayton Cramer that there was no way to prevent this person from obtaining handguns except a complete ban on handgun ownership, which will never happen. Please also read this link on Clayton Cramer's blog where a Virginia Tech student who has a CCW wishes he had the same right to protect himself on the campus of Virginia Tech as he does elsewhere in the state - and he wrote this last August. Perhaps if someone else on campus was legally carrying a firearm, this tragedy may not have reached such huge proportions. I know I will never, EVER give up my right to carry, nor to own firearms, nor to protect myself and my daughters, if need be, by using a firearm. Call me a whacked-out gun nut if you like, but I believe I have presented facts in a reasonable manner in this post.

Poverty Is Not Cute!!

Via Lucianne, I found this article by Mary Katherine Ham that makes me want to scream, makes me want to spit at every enviro-whacko in sight, makes me so angry that my hands can hardly stop shaking enough to type properly. How dare they? How dare those pretentious, snobbish glassbowls talk about great it must be to live in poverty? How dare they talk about how charming it is to use a horse and cart, how they are proud to have a horse? Well, in the area of Eastern Europe my grandmother and her family fled, they were happy to have a cow. Because they had a better chance to put food on the table, not because of some environmentalist's wet dream!!

Maybe it's wrong that I feel this more personally, because as I mentioned not that long ago, some of my ancestors came to America from an area very close to that discussed in the article. My great-grandparents' descendants could still be living in a hellhole, instead of enjoying the gifts of freedom to create wealth and make their own choices. Still, there's an ongoing tradition of the wealthy and powerful "bleeding hearts" working so hard on making themselves feel good, while hurting at worst and ignoring at best those whom they claim to care about so much. (h/t Ace.) So perhaps sometimes a problem so pervasive needs to hit you personally.

What also disturbs me here, is that these idiots are not just rhapsodizing about how wonderful it must be to live in filth and use outdoor toilets in freezing cold weather. No, they're getting their noses out of the air long enough to butt them in and do their best to prevent something that would actually help the people in the area. Even one of the Chaplain's reads, the Daily Reckoning, thinks the mining project could be a great investment if it was ever actually allowed to get off the ground. But no, the people there should live by selling woven baskets and wood carvings to tourists. Yeah.

Ironically, do you know when mining did the worst damage to the area? During the Soviet era. Yep, during the socialist paradise that all these nutjobs want to bring back. Considering my trip to West and East Berlin right after the Berlin Wall fell, I can easily believe this. West Berlin was a thriving, modern city. East Berlin was burning brown coal for fuel and still hadn't gotten around to rebuilding a lot of the damaged areas left over from WWII. Not very environmentally friendly to have brown coal dust coating the streets and the buildings. There were areas in East Berlin where nothing would grow anymore due to the pollution. Not the way I want to live. And the more I learn about the evil out there, and the stupid who mindlessly assist the evil, the more I want to fight back to keep them from destroying my dreams, or the dreams of my children. If only the poor around the world could get this chance as well.

Life Is Not Fair

That's the summary I came to in my mind after hearing a radio advertisement that totally set me off. The same idiot who ate 5,000 worth of calories every day for thirty days at a fast-food restaurant just to prove that - eating 5,000 calories a day will make you fat, duh! has a television show featuring publicity stunts to prove his other preconceived ideas. One show will feature a man who was cut from his job because the work went overseas, and his soundbyte featured in the advertisement made me yell at the radio - "The American dream was taken away from me." So, what is the American dream? That you'll get some basic job, work there for great wages and health benefits for the rest of your life, retire early at 62 and live happily ever after forever, Amen? Sorry, we're living in the wrong universe for that. Let me direct you back to the title of my post. Life? Totally not fair. You can give up on your dreams if things go wrong, which they will. Unless your dream is unrealistic, you can always keep working towards your dream. Maybe you'll achieve it. Maybe not. See that not fair thing above. It's the American dream, not the American guarantee. For that matter (for my non-U.S. readers :) ) it's not even just the American dream anymore. In any country where there is economic freedom, a person can work towards success.

Is it great that manufacturing jobs are going overseas? Not necessarily. I've read articles by lots of economists with good points but different opinions, and I don't know the big picture of world economy well enough to posit my own opinion. Whatever the reason, however, people lose jobs. It's a sad fact of life, but no one owes us employment, or a "living wage," or anything else. I'll never forget a woman complaining on a radio call-in show a month or so back that she makes so much better money driving a truck in Florida than in Ohio, and why can't Ohio do something about it, as she lives in Ohio three or four months out of the year. To the reasonable query of why she doesn't just live in Florida full time: "It's too hot down there in the summer." The radio host let this pass. I wouldn't have. Why should the state or anyone else improve your life for you? If you can't take the heat, stay out of the whinefest!

Do I rant when things are difficult, or maybe even ... unfair? Heck yeah. But I know it's up to my husband and I to work through hard times, even if we didn't cause them. Sometimes I falter and break down and want to give up, but for things to get better, eventually I have to pull myself back. Even if people help me to get up, I still have to get back up to change things. People, not a government plan, mind you. We can and should help each other, but we can't do it for each other.

I want to start carrying around a big bag full of pacifiers. Everytime somebody starts whining about how the government should do this or that, I'll just hand them a pacifier. Think it'll work? Nah, you're right. It'd take a miracle. ;)

Thankful Beyond Measure

I am so very thankful that there have been brave men willing to die for our country, so that I have the incredibly blessed life I am living, and that my daughters have a future of opportunities. There are always things to improve, but we have the ability and the freedom to work for better things in the future, and much to enjoy right now. I thank God for bringing my ancestors here, and hope my life and my children's lives will have made some small difference too.