I Wish Ron Paul was My Doctor

Yesterday I read one of the best articles I ever have on being Pro-Life. This was a "mini" book (40 pages) written by Ron Paul way back in 1983, when legalized abortion was just 10 years old. He has the perspective of having been in medical school when the entire attitude towards abortion was changing. He does an excellent job demonstrating that legalized abortion always comes from a society that no longer loves freedom. He gives a solid Christian, Constitutional, and medical perspective, I was quite impressed.

He has several suggestions for the Pro-Life movement in general that I thought were very applicable, even today. It is a tool of the pro-aborts to emphasize the rights of the mother. He says that pro-lifers accept the argument, but try to assert that the baby's rights take precedence over the mother's. He says that we need to be more bold and assert that the mother has all her rights, and the baby has all his, but the mother has a specific obligation to care for her child--to seek life and care for it--in the same way that a physician has an obligation to seek life and health for his patients. This is a moral obligation and has nothing to do with anybody's "rights."

I know just a few years ago Paul introduced a bill into the House which, if it had made it out of committee, could have stopped Roe v. Wade right away. It was a bill that stated the U.S. Supreme Court did not have jurisdiction on the abortion issue at all. It could nullify Roe v. Wade and would immediately send the issue to each state separately, where most states would probably make abortion illegal, and the battle could be concentrated on those where it was still legal. Unfortunately, the man is probably pretty alone in politics, one of the few treating abortion with the seriousness it deserves.

You can get this book by clicking here. Scroll down the page to the first post and click on the words "Download it here" in blue.

Proverbs 24:17

Remember this? Well maybe this is what eventually happens when you try to run minivans off the road. I'm not gloating...just saying.

On Not Knowing Things

If you have a bit of time for a good read try this out. It's stellar.

I'll Leave This Property When the Bank Man Pries the Shotgun from my Cold, Dead Hands

I think I'm going to enjoy being a Squatter. Our landlords officially foreclosed on our home this month, which means we have 90 days left to revel in our little paradise. Thankfully, it is seasonally the best time of year (we have no heat or insulation, so the cold winter months aren't quite as pleasant here). We have our rent to save (we don't have to pay the bank anything), and our hound to scare away nosy realtors.

If you know of any great houses let us know; we'll be keeping our eyes open for the bank man.

A Broken Washing Machine is Never Romantic

Some ways of saving money are so picturesque. My last post on homemade butter churns up (note the pun) such nostalgic memories of bygone eras; ladies in cute dresses; sitting out in the barn with the cows; mixing that cream again and again in the early morning sunrise. Even a broken dryer can evoke such fond thoughts of hanging the washing out on the line...sun shining through...happy children running in and out of the sheets....it's so beautiful, I think I may have seen it on TV.

However, our washing machine is broken, and nothing about it is romantic. Here's the problem: it fills with water, it rinses, and it empties of water; but the motor is broken and nothing agitates. I hate the thought of lugging the loads of wet clothes home from the laundromat, so I've been filling the tub and scrubbing the stuff by hand for a good ten minutes and then letting it soak and rinse on its own. After one or two loads of being up to my elbows in soapy water, scrubbing up and down, and sweating, I'm really hoping we're done with this soon. I can evoke no romantic memories of ladies from years past with washbasins doing a similar thing. And I can tell you, it's nothing like those sirens in the river from "O Brother Where Art Thou?"

A Really Fun Money Saving Tip

So I was doing my normal Costco shopping last week, and butter was on the list. Imagine my dismay when Costco up and jumped the price of their butter, the 4-lb. pack, an entire dollar! I was irritated and didn't want to pay the new $8.50 price.

Then I remembered a little trip to a farm demonstration show at the county fairgrounds in June. They showed how easy it was to turn whipping cream into butter with a KitchenAid. Hmmm...and how much was a half gallon of whipping cream? Only $5.50 for the same weight (4 pounds) as the butter! So I took it home, and here's what we got:

Put about 2 c. of whipping cream in your KitchenAid with the whisk attachment (a food processor would also work).

Beat on medium-high speed for 10 minutes.

It will go through several stages: first it looks like whipped cream, then a chunkier version (almost like creamed butter). Keep an eye on it when it gets close to the end--when you see the milk liquid (skim milk) separate itself from the solid you have BUTTER! And it's the sweetest creamiest stuff you can't buy.

The Song that Makes My Son Burst into Tears

On top of spaghetti
All covered with cheese
I lost my poor meatball
when somebody sneezed.

It rolled on the table
and onto the floor
and then my poor meatball
rolled out the front door.

It rolled in the garden
and under a bush.
And now my poor meatball
is nothing but mush.


Why does this make him cry? I have no idea. He's four and has sympathetic feelings for the meatball? He loves meat so much he hates to see it wasted? Who knows? Anyway, he burst into tears after this song tonight, mumbling something about the meatball. Not just a few tears either, weepy like anything.