Ok, I watch this show called Starting Over. It is kind of a reality show/ soap opera all based on women’s lives. These women move into a house to deal with issues in their lives so they can lead better, happier, functioning lives. There is a lot of counseling, life coaching, etc. It is like nails on a chalkboard for NerdDad. Now that the kids are napping I am watching today’s episode on TIVO(gotta love it). The shrink on the show, Dr. Stan, has said something I have never heard about parents before. You know how everyone always says, “they did the best they could” so you can’t blame anyone? He pointed out that parents don’t always do the “best they could”. That sometimes they make parent centered decision instead of the child-centered decisions. And now I am quoting, “We as children always want to somehow forgive our parents without confronting the issues.” He goes onto say that sometimes those decisions are mistakes and we can forgive for that. I just find that refreshing.

There is a discussion on church size going on over at Shlog. There was concern that his group wasn’t growing and then the discussion was also about big and small churches. I think that there is a place for both large and small churches. If you have a church that is small but you all have the same needs (ie they can all get met) I think a small church is great. I go to a very large(in my opinion) church. New Covenant has about 1500 attenders but we meet a diverse group of needs. When the NerdFamily moved back to Fresno we looked at a great church of less than 100. It just didn’t meet our family’s needs. I go to a midweek during the day Bible Study(with free childcare for my 3 little ones), we have gotten meals from the Meals for Moms program, taken a Growing Kids God’s Way Class, attend a couple’s Sunday school and my oldest goes to Awana and VBS. We couldn’t have gotten that variety of things from a smaller church. Between the women’s Bible study and Sunday school class we have a small group. The Women’s Bible study is a diverse group of women and the Couple’s Sunday School is a small group(maybe 6 couples) of people that are in the same place in life. It is evident that we are in the same place because we had 7 babies with in 1 year;). We also have a care pastor(who rocks), Pastor Mike, that came to the hospital before my last nerdling was born and a care team that will pray for you. Since the church is so large we have a lot of talented people, as a result we have killer worship provided by Pastor Pat. We have a brilliant head pastor, Pastor Jan(it has dots over the a but I don’t know how to do that;). He taught a great class on Thomas Aquinas that we loved. The reality is only a small percentage of people are interested in that kind of stuff so with a large church we could yield a class. If we had found a small church that could have met all these needs we would have gone there but we haven’t and now we love it.

No this isn’t a Dilbert character. This is a rediscovered animal in Laos. Over on CNN they are saying that it is reapearing after 11 million years. It is a cool looking little thing, cool in the see it on a website not in my back yard kind of way. It looks as if this isn’t the first time scientists have rediscovered an animal. I think this is all very interesting. Do scientists really know enough to say if something is endangered, much less extinct?

(HT: John J. Miller at the Corner)

Yes, you read correctly. This is taken from a post on Don Surber’s blog

A 25-year-old computer programmer is ready to file suit to block a child support order to pay for a daughter he does not want. The National Center for Men plans to use the suit to establish that men, too, can choose whether they want to become parents. The Associated Press quotes the center’s director, Mel Fiet:

“There’s such a spectrum of choice that women have – it’s her body, her pregnancy and she has the ultimate right to make decisions. I’m trying to find a way for a man also to have some say over decisions that affect his life profoundly.”

I also agree with his analysis of the situation:

That said, as long as we are going to pretend women have abortion rights, then the 14th Amendment compels us as a nation to extend this parental termination rights to men. This lawsuit should do what South Dakota’s misguided abortion ban cannot do: End abortion rights.

The double standard is outrageous. Consider AP’s quote of feminist Jennifer Brown:

“Roe is based on an extreme intrusion by the government – literally to force a woman to continue a pregnancy she doesn’t want. There’s nothing equivalent for men. They have the same ability as women to use contraception, to get sterilized.”

Excuse me, but the federal government collects $22 billion a year in child support. There are heavy fines for companies that do not dock the pay of parents to comply with this intrusive law.

But let us take it a little further. I believe that if women can decide not to be mothers, once pregnant, fathers should be able to also. I am talking at the time of pregnancy not years after. Let me develop this thought a little further. I know women who have had babies on their own. Meaning that the father has chosen to not be involved but his parental rights have not been terminated. So 10 years down the road he can show up and demand to be part of that child’s life if he pays back child support. I know some of these women who are afraid to allow their current husband to adopt the child he (the current husband) has raised for fear of the biological father coming back into that child’s life and demanding a role.

Mother’s can also choose to give a child up for adoption on her own. Yes, later the biological father can come back and contest the adoption but he is not needed up front. So why can women legally give up a child? If she chooses to keep that child she can hound that man for child support for 18 years. If you change this aspect of dealing with pregnancy you would radically change the amount of premarital, unprotected sex (in my humble opinion). This wouldn’t change everyone’s behavior but would change some. Let us look at a lot of the famous sport’s players and rappers. Or to take from Kanye West’s Golddigger (never thought you would see me reference that did you:), a woman can target a man (amd his bank account) and have him paying her money for 18 years. Maybe if that wasn’t such a pay off women wouldn’t be chasing after these men who aren’t of quality.

Just food for thought.

I don’t know what to say about The Anti-Griddle except that I’m fascinated with its existence. It also may come in handy if you accidentally produce superheated gas that’s hotter than the Sun!

I don’t know what to say about The Anti-Griddle except that I’m fascinated with its existence. It also may come in handy if you accidentally produce superheated gas that’s hotter than the Sun!

McDonald’s changes sign to woo kosher diners from Reuters.

In a first for McDonald’s Corp., the golden arches at the two branches have new blue backgrounds, replacing the trademark red ones. The new signs also display the word “kosher”, both in Hebrew and English.

No mention is made of McDavid’s.

So Sharon Stone is over in Israel and says she “would kiss just about anybody” to end the Israel-Arab conflict. She also goes on in this My Way article,

Noting it was International Women’s Day, Stone suggested that more women become involved in the male-dominated world of Mideast peace talks. Women consider thoughts and feelings more than men, she said.

“I think (men and women) need to be a team. We were meant to be a team,” she said.

You should read the whole article and read it aloud, like a blond;). NerdDad couldn’t help but laugh.

So on to a point. Has she heard of Golda Meir? Women have been involved and that doesn’t magically fix anything. I mean I am pro-estrogen but really. It was just so ridiculous that I had to mention it.

(HT: K-Lo over at the Corner)

In the spirit of Jewish rap we now move to a dance mix…NerdDad found this for me and it just tickled my soul. There is no true description of this video from a wedding. I am not one for making a fool out of myself but these guys are funny. Now I have to say that I appreciated the short under the kilts(scarves?). I have to also say that I really like this song and it led me to do some research. There are some great download sites for Jewish music but, aye that is a post for another time.

Yes, you read that correctly. I was reading the Sunday Paper(ok, just the front pages of the sections, after all it is only the Fresno Bee) and I saw an article called Rental Chic. So the theory is that you either pay a rental fee for a specific purse or pay a subscription fee. The reasoning is that this way you can have those outrageously priced bags and you aren’t tied to just one. To give you some figures to rent a $475 Gucci bag you can pay $79.90 a month. Now let me in my boring logic point out that you could own that bag in less than 6 months if you just saved the money up. Now the other point is so you are not tied to a specific expensive bag. I would suppose this would be especially useful for those wild trendy bags. Bag, Borrow or Steal was one of the places that offer a subscription service. Their base starts at $19.95 a month and that is Cynthia Rowley and Moshino level bags. The highest level(appropriately called Diva) is $99.95 a month and you can get Hermes and Burberry. The Diva even has an option to pay an additional fee to rent a bag from the Couture Collection. I know that this is appropriate for certain trendsetters but is this just reaffirmation of trying to keep up with the Jones? I do have one friend who I can see contemplating, and perhaps even doing this(I will confirm or deny if you are she if you ask) but I think on the whole this is dangerous. We in society seem to feel this need to get things that are out of our budgets to pretend we are something we are not. Yes, I don’t just get my purses at Target, but often on clearance. What statement am I hoping to make…While I would like to look cute it isn’t my priority. I also am saying that this is how I carry my junk and my kids junk. I am just happy it isn’t a diaper bag. I am not saying that there is anything wrong with having nice things that you pay full price for but…Why is it what defines us? Why is it how we judge one another. How about I never wonder how much your purse is and you don’t judge me for mine?