Monday, February 23, 2009
It's about time for level financial heads
Early this morning Mr. Obama held a conference to get to the bottom of the out-of-control government spending and told members of Congress, and the American people, that something has to change. Really? Isn't this some kind of revelation that should have been reached before a 1 trillion plus bill was shoved through Congress and just signed by the president? He also said that we would have to start making "the tough decisions" about where to spend our money and what areas would have to go without. I'm not sure which was the tough decision for Mr. Obama in this bill, whether to give $2.2 million to partisan community groups like ACORN, or spending on the mob museum in Nevada, or possibly buying new electric cars for Washington politicians? What did the American people have to give up to get these "needs," without which the US economy would fall apart? It's a good thing that Mr. Obama is on top of the unnecessary fiscal spending in government, otherwise how much money would we Americans actually be on the hook for? I'm just saddened that my children will still be paying for this monstrosity 20 years from now. And I thought we were supposed to make life better for our kids.
Saturday, February 21, 2009
It's a girl!
Well, our next pregnancy was an interesting one. Joram was a few months from turning 2, and Nancy had been having abdominal pains for a few weeks. It became more intense a few days before Christmas when we were down in the Gila Valley visiting our families. On Christmas Eve my dad called the hospital and said that we were coming in (it helps to know someone with connections to get fast service!) and after an ultrasound we found out that it was an ectopic pregnancy near rupture, and Nan had to be helicoptered to Tucson for emergency surgery. In the early evening she left the hospital and I was on my way as well, Joram asleep in his car seat, to meet her at the hospital in Tucson. Some close friends of ours met her there after her surgery finished and I got there soon after. We spent Joram's 2nd Christmas at our little duplex with just the 3 of us. I don't know exactly how everything works, but I know that if our little baby received a spirit, she's waiting for us with the rest of our family.
Kiran
We have a 15% chance of having another ectopic pregnancy every single time we get pregnant, and we were fortunate and blessed to have another baby less than a year later. We knew better what to expect this time, so I tracked contractions very carefully, and in the evening of the 16th of December we headed to the hospital, where my younger brother, Tikon, met us to watch Joram while we were in the delivery room. After just an hour or so of pushing, in the very early hours of 17 December 2007, out came our little Kiran (which means "ray of sunshine" in Hindi) Rath. With Joram we had a midwife named Janet, whom we loved, but Kiran was born just 2 weeks after Janet retired, so our new doctor, Dr. Shawn Tassone, whom we had met just twice (he had performed the ectopic surgery the previous year, which is why we chose him this time, and the week before our delivery).
When Joram was born, things went so quickly that I didn't have a chance to see anything. I watched him crown, then glanced up at Nan, and by the time I looked back down he was out. This time I wasn't about to miss it, so as soon as she was crowning I didn't look anywhere else, and watched as the whole sloppy mess came out quite smoothly. They cleaned her up and gave her to Nan, and I'll tell you, there's nothing like seeing a child of God taking their very first breath of life, and then holding them for the very first time. Kiran had darker skin and eyes than her older brother, and we were pretty sure she would take more after me, whereas Joram was a gentle mixture of the two of us. Joram was in there pretty soon after and was instantly a proud big brother. Their first
pictures together show the beautiful relationship they share, even still to this day.
Kiran is such a wonderful blessing in our lives. She is quick to smile and laugh, which is infectious to everyone around her, as rambunctious as her brother, and seems to love everything about life itself and does everything with an intense passion. We're sure that she's going to be a high-octane daredevil when she gets older. Her big, beautiful brown eyes attract gazes wherever she goes, and her hair is filled with huge curls that always look like she just stepped out of a beauty salon.
Kiran loves
her family, especially being a big sister, and she gets along well with her baby sister. She wants to go to school badly, just like her big brother, and loves being in preschool (on her first day on the right). She even pretends that she is in school and talks about her schoolwork using the same terminology that Joram does with his schoolwork.
Life is definitely much more exciting with Kiran around, and you can usually expect the house to lack any sense of quietude if Kiran is awake (with Nisha on the left - they got dressed on their own!). We love our sweet Kiran, and she truly is our "ray of sunshine."
KiranWe have a 15% chance of having another ectopic pregnancy every single time we get pregnant, and we were fortunate and blessed to have another baby less than a year later. We knew better what to expect this time, so I tracked contractions very carefully, and in the evening of the 16th of December we headed to the hospital, where my younger brother, Tikon, met us to watch Joram while we were in the delivery room. After just an hour or so of pushing, in the very early hours of 17 December 2007, out came our little Kiran (which means "ray of sunshine" in Hindi) Rath. With Joram we had a midwife named Janet, whom we loved, but Kiran was born just 2 weeks after Janet retired, so our new doctor, Dr. Shawn Tassone, whom we had met just twice (he had performed the ectopic surgery the previous year, which is why we chose him this time, and the week before our delivery).
When Joram was born, things went so quickly that I didn't have a chance to see anything. I watched him crown, then glanced up at Nan, and by the time I looked back down he was out. This time I wasn't about to miss it, so as soon as she was crowning I didn't look anywhere else, and watched as the whole sloppy mess came out quite smoothly. They cleaned her up and gave her to Nan, and I'll tell you, there's nothing like seeing a child of God taking their very first breath of life, and then holding them for the very first time. Kiran had darker skin and eyes than her older brother, and we were pretty sure she would take more after me, whereas Joram was a gentle mixture of the two of us. Joram was in there pretty soon after and was instantly a proud big brother. Their first
pictures together show the beautiful relationship they share, even still to this day.Kiran is such a wonderful blessing in our lives. She is quick to smile and laugh, which is infectious to everyone around her, as rambunctious as her brother, and seems to love everything about life itself and does everything with an intense passion. We're sure that she's going to be a high-octane daredevil when she gets older. Her big, beautiful brown eyes attract gazes wherever she goes, and her hair is filled with huge curls that always look like she just stepped out of a beauty salon.
Kiran loves
her family, especially being a big sister, and she gets along well with her baby sister. She wants to go to school badly, just like her big brother, and loves being in preschool (on her first day on the right). She even pretends that she is in school and talks about her schoolwork using the same terminology that Joram does with his schoolwork.
Life is definitely much more exciting with Kiran around, and you can usually expect the house to lack any sense of quietude if Kiran is awake (with Nisha on the left - they got dressed on their own!). We love our sweet Kiran, and she truly is our "ray of sunshine."
Saturday, February 14, 2009
Change we can believe in?
Many months ago we were given promises of change coming to Washington, and most of the country fell in love with the idea. Even some conservative friends of mine, dismayed by the thought of McCain as our party's choice, were temporarily swayed by "Slick" Barry's silver tongue. Many weeks now into his new administration we have had some change, though not the changes we thought we were getting, especially with oversight of the Census Bureau moving to the highly partisan White House (thus leading to possible changes in district borders, which would drastically affect elections and funding) and the copious withdrawals of Cabinet appointees (although "Turbo Tax" Tim still made it in).
The change that we were promised, however, doesn't seem to have taken effect as of yet. There was abundant outcry of "fear-mongering" by President Bush in relation to the war on terror, yet now we see similar tactics by our current administration that the stimulus must be passed immediately to prevent total economic destruction. There was also considerable outrage about the "hidden actions" during the Bush years, yet the lavish promises of "transparency" by our current administration has brought us the most abundant spending bill in US history, put through Congress like a thief in the night with Senators and Representatives given scant few overnight hours to read and comprehend a thousand-page piece of legislation before being forced to vote by the empowered Democrats. Even Obama's pre-election commitment to complete bipartisanship was thrown by the wayside as the authorship and voting of the bill went nearly strictly down party lines, with even numerous Democrats voting against it.
It seems that the "change" Mr. Obama had been promising all along turned out to be something other than expected, and we the people are still left uncared for while the politicians bicker about things that have little to do with the rest of the country. One thing that hasn't changed about Washington, however, is that politicians will still tell you what you want to hear in order to get elected. I, for one, Mr. Obama, would like my money back because the change you're giving us just doesn't add up.
The change that we were promised, however, doesn't seem to have taken effect as of yet. There was abundant outcry of "fear-mongering" by President Bush in relation to the war on terror, yet now we see similar tactics by our current administration that the stimulus must be passed immediately to prevent total economic destruction. There was also considerable outrage about the "hidden actions" during the Bush years, yet the lavish promises of "transparency" by our current administration has brought us the most abundant spending bill in US history, put through Congress like a thief in the night with Senators and Representatives given scant few overnight hours to read and comprehend a thousand-page piece of legislation before being forced to vote by the empowered Democrats. Even Obama's pre-election commitment to complete bipartisanship was thrown by the wayside as the authorship and voting of the bill went nearly strictly down party lines, with even numerous Democrats voting against it.
It seems that the "change" Mr. Obama had been promising all along turned out to be something other than expected, and we the people are still left uncared for while the politicians bicker about things that have little to do with the rest of the country. One thing that hasn't changed about Washington, however, is that politicians will still tell you what you want to hear in order to get elected. I, for one, Mr. Obama, would like my money back because the change you're giving us just doesn't add up.
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
The day I became dad
So I figured that there was enough depression to look at, and even though there'll be more to come, I wanted to put some actual family stuff in here as well. I wanted to talk about each one of my kids and how we were introduced.
Joram
Although we'd been talking for some time, the first face-to-face meeting between Jagadish Joram Rath and I was on 28 March 2002, about 5 days after expected. Nancy and I, being first-time parents, were unsure of what to expect. So, on the morning of the 27th, as soon as the contractions were close enough, we drove up to the hospital. After having Nan checked out and monitored for a few hours, they decided we weren't quite ready and sent us out.
Since the hospital was a bit of a drive from our house, we decided to grab a late lunch and ate some Mexican food. We walked around the Foothills Mall for a while,
and when the contractions picked up again we went back to the hospital. We sat in peaceful quietude for some time, and early in the morning on the 28th Nan's contractions got stronger, and with some minimal pushing our baby boy came to us around 4:30am. We named him Jagadish(after my paternal grandfather and means "ruler of the universe" in Hindi) Joram(from a king in the Old Testament) Rath. (The picture is the oldest I had at hand, before we had a digital camera)
That moment marked a new era in our family, as we were no longer just the two of us, but now a functional family unit in the household of God.
It has been an interesting life since then. Joram is quite an inquisitive soul. His curiosity is abundant, and while it helps him learn relentlessly, it also sometimes gets him into trouble. In some things he has tremendous focus, including math, science, and video games, yet in others he often wanders.
In all things, however, Joram is a wonderful son and big brother, doing much to help the function of our family and being a good example to his little sisters and everyone else who associates with him.
Joram is now in first grade at the Montessori Schoolhouse (this is him going to
school). Although I still have some qualms about their teaching method (including calling teachers by their first name), they are successful in many things and we absolutely love one of his teachers, Mandi. Joram is, from what they tell us, a veritable math wizard. He is a first-grader who does multiplication and division, and when we are out and about people are amazed by his math prowess.
He loves his sisters, his mom and dad, and everyone else in his extended family. He loves going to school and church, and really enjoys reading. He has great faith in his Heavenly Father, as shown by what he says in his prayers every night. We love our Joram and are thankful that our Father has blessed us to have him in our family.
Joram
Although we'd been talking for some time, the first face-to-face meeting between Jagadish Joram Rath and I was on 28 March 2002, about 5 days after expected. Nancy and I, being first-time parents, were unsure of what to expect. So, on the morning of the 27th, as soon as the contractions were close enough, we drove up to the hospital. After having Nan checked out and monitored for a few hours, they decided we weren't quite ready and sent us out.
Since the hospital was a bit of a drive from our house, we decided to grab a late lunch and ate some Mexican food. We walked around the Foothills Mall for a while,
and when the contractions picked up again we went back to the hospital. We sat in peaceful quietude for some time, and early in the morning on the 28th Nan's contractions got stronger, and with some minimal pushing our baby boy came to us around 4:30am. We named him Jagadish(after my paternal grandfather and means "ruler of the universe" in Hindi) Joram(from a king in the Old Testament) Rath. (The picture is the oldest I had at hand, before we had a digital camera)That moment marked a new era in our family, as we were no longer just the two of us, but now a functional family unit in the household of God.
It has been an interesting life since then. Joram is quite an inquisitive soul. His curiosity is abundant, and while it helps him learn relentlessly, it also sometimes gets him into trouble. In some things he has tremendous focus, including math, science, and video games, yet in others he often wanders.
In all things, however, Joram is a wonderful son and big brother, doing much to help the function of our family and being a good example to his little sisters and everyone else who associates with him.
Joram is now in first grade at the Montessori Schoolhouse (this is him going to
school). Although I still have some qualms about their teaching method (including calling teachers by their first name), they are successful in many things and we absolutely love one of his teachers, Mandi. Joram is, from what they tell us, a veritable math wizard. He is a first-grader who does multiplication and division, and when we are out and about people are amazed by his math prowess.He loves his sisters, his mom and dad, and everyone else in his extended family. He loves going to school and church, and really enjoys reading. He has great faith in his Heavenly Father, as shown by what he says in his prayers every night. We love our Joram and are thankful that our Father has blessed us to have him in our family.
Friday, February 06, 2009
Response to "On the road to socialism"
I wanted to post the comments made about my article, "On the road to socialism," because the comments that Anonymous made were interesting, and with them I can clarify my position and explain a little more. I also wanted to prove to everyone that people do actually read my blog and care about what I say! As always, I love when people respond, whether to agree or not, because I enjoy hearing the sound of my own voice (or in this case thoughts). I'll insert my rebuttal into their comments.
Anonymous said...
Anonymous said...
Lincon,Thursday, February 05, 2009 10:05:00 PM
You have a very interesting post and the topic is one near and dear to my heart. Please remember that the things I am about to say are not meant as a personal attack on your beliefs, however it is directly to identify the fallacy of your logic.
1. You refer to SCHIP bill as being "totalitarian." As the name denotes this program is "STATE CHILDREN'S HEALTH INSURANCE." States are not required to participate - totalitarian connotates power through force. Who is forcing your state to participate in the program other than it's constiuents? SCHIP was originally proposed by Ted Kennedy AND Orrin Hatch. States must match funds to participate. U.S. voters elected Obama - who is being forced other than those who DON'T agree with democracy and majority rule?
I'm fine with the original SCHIP because it does work well, but that this recent expansion is unnecessary and excessive. I also don't believe any state would turn down this free money, and I feel it's somewhat totalitarian in that the state can either go bankrupt paying for their state health care costs or take money from the federal gov't and be told how to use it.
2.You use the logical fallacy of "slippery slope," when you state :"This is only the first step. 'Cause the way I see it, providing coverage to 11 million children through CHIP is a down payment on my commitment to cover every single American." Because SCHIP is passed it does not mean Universal Health Care or "socialized" health care will be passed. Because SCHIP is passed it doesn't mean that the constitution will be altered or basic civil rights will be taken. The promotion of the belief that passing a health care subsidy will lead to eventually enslavement of the United States population is pure conservative propaganda and rhetoric. It's the same ideal of McCartheistic politics that has left a festering sore on the constitution.
I've never been compared to McCarthy before, but I don't believe the passing of this one bill leads down the road to socialism, if it were the only signpost. However, teamed with the successive overtaking of various parts of the free market system by the Fed is what leads me to the fear that our current leadership would be happier if gov't was in control of every aspect and capitalism had no part. I hope I am wrong. And by the way, that quote was from Mr. Obama's own mouth as he signed the bill.
3. You speak of the "little economist" inside of you and how it is telling you that SCHIP is not a good idea. According to research done by BYU and Arizona state, removal of SCHIP programs would lead to more expenses because underprivileged individuals would take their children in for emergency care vs. clinical help. The United States currently spends an estimated 15% of the GDP on health care, which is greater than any other country WITH socialized health care. Maybe the little economist just needs bigger ears?
Again, I agree that SCHIP works fine as it is, maybe I should have made that more plain in my original post, but the expansion just signed gives money to families who should be able to afford it. While the number may be 15% now (I've seen papers with higher estimates), in receiving my recent MPH I saw many reports by liberals in favor of socialized medicine that health care expenditures are increasing more rapidly than GDP growth, and at the current rate may surpass total GDP.
4. You state that "Giving everyone health care in lieu of fixing our highways or providing a national defense just doesn't seem right." I missed the part of the SCHIP initiative that said we were no longer engaging in highway repairs or national defense?
I didn't infer that SCHIP will stop those other programs, but if we continue to increase health care spending, than something else has to stop if we are to have a balanced budget, and those were just the most flamboyent examples I though of. I understand that socialized medicine does work fairly well in some countries, but would likely not work here because Americans want everything now and will not wait, and I've also never been impressed with the government's ability to be efficient in any large expenditure.
In conclusion I agree in a non-interventionist policy from government, however Republicans and Democrats alike do not engage in it. Most libertarians in Universal Health Care countries actually prefer it because of the reduction in expenses for individuals.
Research twice, speak once.
Live well
Thursday, February 05, 2009
Out of the mouth of babes...
A friend's blog that I follow had humorous saying of their kids, and I loved the idea (and thankfully I had been doing this on my PDA for some time already). I had originally posted this on the side, but fearing the eventual size, I decided to put it in regular post so that they'd be archived, and I'll just keep adding as they happen. There'll be a link on the left to bring you back here in the future.
06 May 2011
On the drive home from picking Joram from school.
me: Did they talked about the death of Osama bin Laden at school today?
Joram: A little, but who is he?
me: He's a terrorist. Do you know what a terrorist is?
Joram: Kind of, but can you tell me?
me: Well, they're evil people who attack others to hurt and scare them.
Joram: That's not what I thought a terrorist was at all.
me: What did you think a terrorist was?
Joram: One of those people who vacation in other countries and take pictures.
me: That's not a terrorist, that's a tourist!
01 June 2009
Nancy was reading Cinderella to the kids and was as the part about Anastasia and Drisella tearing Cinderella's dress and Kiran was concerned, saying,
K- Anastasia and Drisella are mean, like Laman and Lemuel.
(This may only make sense to some of you. If it doesn't, ask me about it)
27 May 2009
Disclaimer: This posting is only suitable for adults.
Now that I've said that, the girls got into our travel toiletries bag, and here's what ensued.
Joram- Mom, Dad, the girls played with something in your room!
The girls came running out, Kiran first, saying...
Kiran- Nisha played with the gloves.
...and Nisha following right behind her with condoms over both arms.
30 April 2009
So we were driving in the car and talking about, what else, bugs. I was telling the Nancy and the kids about a huge praying mantis I once saw.
Me- I was looking out of the window that went to the greenhouse room and I saw...
Kiran- Excuse me, daddy. How can a window walk?
Me- What? What are talking about?
K- You said the window went to the greenhouse room.
Me- (after laughing hysterically) Kiran, I meant that the windows were between my room and the greenhouse room.
K- Ohhhhh, now I understand.
17 April 2009
We were all driving and the girls were calling each other "bad girl" in the back of the van.
N- Daddy, Kiran called me a bad girl!
Me- Nisha, are you a good girl or a bad girl?
N- I'm a bad girl, ha ha ha ha ha(cackling evily)!
09 April 2009
I was driving to take Joram to school and we came up next to a 70s-80s Ferrari 308 GTB, a very classic car driven by the famous Thomas Magnum from Magnum P.I. and I asked Joram if he knew what a Ferrari was.
J- That's the kind of trip people take when they go in a jungle.
L- (laughing) No, Joram, that's a safari!
25 March 2009
I was taking Kiran to bed and since many nights she sleeps in her sleeping bag in the floor, tonight I asked her if she wanted to sleep on the bed or on the floor.
K- (very seriously)I propose that I clean up right here and put my sleeping bag down here to sleep.
18 March 2009
Nisha was jumping onto Nancy on the chair and laughing about it. At one point she laughed real hard and snorted...
Ni- I made a pig!
Nancy went outside to get the mail with all 3 kids and by the time Joram got his shoes on Nan and the girls were already done, so he got sad.
Nan-Joram's just being glum.
Me- What's going on?
K- My brother is being glum, glummy-glum-glum!
We were at the store looking at stuff and as we passed by the woman's clothing section Nan paused to look at something on sale, and Kiran ran over to the other side of the aisle and grabbed a bra...
K- Booby, booby thingies!
14 March 2009
We were kneeling down for family prayers last night before bed and I asked Kiran to say the prayer. We've been working with them from as young as possible to help them say prayers, and as they get older we work with them to say their own prayers rather than the same one every time. For example, a few weeks ago Kiran was asked to give the prayer in Primary and she said K- Father, thank Thee for this day. Bless we can sleep good tonight. In Jesus name. Amen.
So this time, as we knelt down, I wanted to remind her what to say.
Me-Remember to think about your prayer first.
K- Heavenly Father, thank Thee for this day. Remember to think about prayer first. In Jesus name. Amen.
You just can't make these things up sometimes!
05 March 2009
Joram's least favorite subject in school is geography, and on the drive home I asked him what the capitol of Arizona was.
J- Do you mean the capitalized A?
22 September 2007
Joram was telling us about his friends in his class.
J- Two people can have the same name like 2 girls in my class, so we should have another boy and name him Joram.
16 June 2007
Nancy, the kids, and I were driving on a trip.
Nan- Look at the horse and mule.
J- What's a mule?
Nan- A donkey.
J- Then why didn't you just say donkey?
Later on the same drive.
J- Do you know what planet I want to go to? Planet Pluto!
K- I want to go to Planet Mickey!
11 June 2007
I was singing a Dora the Explorer song, and Kiran put her hand on my cheek and said, "Good job, daddy!"
10 April 2007
I asked Joram how he liked dinner his mom made.
J- It's edible.
After dinner they were eating sour snacks for dessert.
J- It's so sour it makes my eyes blink!
I also wrote on this day that every time I got home from school Kiran came running up to me saying, "Daddy, daddy, I'm so glad to see you!" in a very mature voice like I'm an old friend.
06 May 2011
On the drive home from picking Joram from school.
me: Did they talked about the death of Osama bin Laden at school today?
Joram: A little, but who is he?
me: He's a terrorist. Do you know what a terrorist is?
Joram: Kind of, but can you tell me?
me: Well, they're evil people who attack others to hurt and scare them.
Joram: That's not what I thought a terrorist was at all.
me: What did you think a terrorist was?
Joram: One of those people who vacation in other countries and take pictures.
me: That's not a terrorist, that's a tourist!
01 June 2009
Nancy was reading Cinderella to the kids and was as the part about Anastasia and Drisella tearing Cinderella's dress and Kiran was concerned, saying,
K- Anastasia and Drisella are mean, like Laman and Lemuel.
(This may only make sense to some of you. If it doesn't, ask me about it)
27 May 2009
Disclaimer: This posting is only suitable for adults.
Now that I've said that, the girls got into our travel toiletries bag, and here's what ensued.
Joram- Mom, Dad, the girls played with something in your room!
The girls came running out, Kiran first, saying...
Kiran- Nisha played with the gloves.
...and Nisha following right behind her with condoms over both arms.
30 April 2009
So we were driving in the car and talking about, what else, bugs. I was telling the Nancy and the kids about a huge praying mantis I once saw.
Me- I was looking out of the window that went to the greenhouse room and I saw...
Kiran- Excuse me, daddy. How can a window walk?
Me- What? What are talking about?
K- You said the window went to the greenhouse room.
Me- (after laughing hysterically) Kiran, I meant that the windows were between my room and the greenhouse room.
K- Ohhhhh, now I understand.
17 April 2009
We were all driving and the girls were calling each other "bad girl" in the back of the van.
N- Daddy, Kiran called me a bad girl!
Me- Nisha, are you a good girl or a bad girl?
N- I'm a bad girl, ha ha ha ha ha(cackling evily)!
09 April 2009
I was driving to take Joram to school and we came up next to a 70s-80s Ferrari 308 GTB, a very classic car driven by the famous Thomas Magnum from Magnum P.I. and I asked Joram if he knew what a Ferrari was.
J- That's the kind of trip people take when they go in a jungle.
L- (laughing) No, Joram, that's a safari!
25 March 2009
I was taking Kiran to bed and since many nights she sleeps in her sleeping bag in the floor, tonight I asked her if she wanted to sleep on the bed or on the floor.
K- (very seriously)I propose that I clean up right here and put my sleeping bag down here to sleep.
18 March 2009
Nisha was jumping onto Nancy on the chair and laughing about it. At one point she laughed real hard and snorted...
Ni- I made a pig!
Nancy went outside to get the mail with all 3 kids and by the time Joram got his shoes on Nan and the girls were already done, so he got sad.
Nan-Joram's just being glum.
Me- What's going on?
K- My brother is being glum, glummy-glum-glum!
We were at the store looking at stuff and as we passed by the woman's clothing section Nan paused to look at something on sale, and Kiran ran over to the other side of the aisle and grabbed a bra...
K- Booby, booby thingies!
14 March 2009
We were kneeling down for family prayers last night before bed and I asked Kiran to say the prayer. We've been working with them from as young as possible to help them say prayers, and as they get older we work with them to say their own prayers rather than the same one every time. For example, a few weeks ago Kiran was asked to give the prayer in Primary and she said K- Father, thank Thee for this day. Bless we can sleep good tonight. In Jesus name. Amen.
So this time, as we knelt down, I wanted to remind her what to say.
Me-Remember to think about your prayer first.
K- Heavenly Father, thank Thee for this day. Remember to think about prayer first. In Jesus name. Amen.
You just can't make these things up sometimes!
05 March 2009
Joram's least favorite subject in school is geography, and on the drive home I asked him what the capitol of Arizona was.
J- Do you mean the capitalized A?
22 September 2007
Joram was telling us about his friends in his class.
J- Two people can have the same name like 2 girls in my class, so we should have another boy and name him Joram.
16 June 2007
Nancy, the kids, and I were driving on a trip.
Nan- Look at the horse and mule.
J- What's a mule?
Nan- A donkey.
J- Then why didn't you just say donkey?
Later on the same drive.
J- Do you know what planet I want to go to? Planet Pluto!
K- I want to go to Planet Mickey!
11 June 2007
I was singing a Dora the Explorer song, and Kiran put her hand on my cheek and said, "Good job, daddy!"
10 April 2007
I asked Joram how he liked dinner his mom made.
J- It's edible.
After dinner they were eating sour snacks for dessert.
J- It's so sour it makes my eyes blink!
I also wrote on this day that every time I got home from school Kiran came running up to me saying, "Daddy, daddy, I'm so glad to see you!" in a very mature voice like I'm an old friend.
Wednesday, February 04, 2009
On the road to socialism
Welcome, komrades, to the beginning of the new USA, the Union of Socialist America. Now, I hate to have to move my precious daughters down in the blog to do another article, but I felt this topic was of absolute importance. It seems that our president and those who hypnotically follow him are well on their way to converting our once-glorious democratic society into a socialist state, one step away from their version of American Communism. On today's sad occasion we witnessed Mr. Obama sign into law a totalitarian expansion of the SCHIP, reducing the role of private insurance in our country. In his own words he said, "This is only the first step. 'Cause the way I see it, providing coverage to 11 million children through CHIP is a down payment on my commitment to cover every single American." He doesn't even hide the fact that wants socialized medicine! Currently, about 46% of total health care spending is controlled by the government, but with the passing of SCHIP expansion this will greatly increase.
For those of you who don't know, the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) was meant to give children, who's families made to much for Medicaid, the benefit of health insurance. It was meant to cover up to 200% of the Federal Poverty Level, 0r $44,000 for a family of four, though only 9 states are still at that level with most having already expanded the coverage (more at Heritage.org). That's not too shabby of a sum, and our family of five had learned to live on much less than that, as I'm sure many of you have as well. I agree that children deserve proper health care, however, giving government-run insurance to people who should be able to afford it (instead of buying the new sportscar!) is ridiculous. I think that the idea of universal health care is quite admirable and very Christian, but the little economist inside me yells out loud that this just cannot be. Giving everyone health care in lieu of fixing our highways or providing a national defense just doesn't seem right.
While this issue is at the top of the list of wrongs that this bill establishes, the other at the top is the idea that we, as citizens, are soon going to be under complete government control. Our beloved Consitution (read more about it here) states that we the people are in charge of the country, not those in charge, as would be if Mr. Obama's aspirations come to fruition. Communism always starts with the government acting the the helping hand, taking control in the midst of presumed chaos, maybe a financial institution that is having trouble with loans, or health care that doesn't cover enough people. Or maybe that same government will exert control over things it has no business in, such as marriage? Maybe that government will begin to limit the people's rights in matters such as religion or guns. Does any of this sound familiar? Every communist regime begins sliding citizens rights to government control, then all of a sudden they go too far and people finally notice, but they already have so much control that no one can resist anymore, and Voila! a Communist state.
I know I rambled a bit, but just giving you food for thought, people. know your rights and hold as tight to them as possible lest you miss them when they're gone. And now back to your regularly scheduled programming...
For those of you who don't know, the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) was meant to give children, who's families made to much for Medicaid, the benefit of health insurance. It was meant to cover up to 200% of the Federal Poverty Level, 0r $44,000 for a family of four, though only 9 states are still at that level with most having already expanded the coverage (more at Heritage.org). That's not too shabby of a sum, and our family of five had learned to live on much less than that, as I'm sure many of you have as well. I agree that children deserve proper health care, however, giving government-run insurance to people who should be able to afford it (instead of buying the new sportscar!) is ridiculous. I think that the idea of universal health care is quite admirable and very Christian, but the little economist inside me yells out loud that this just cannot be. Giving everyone health care in lieu of fixing our highways or providing a national defense just doesn't seem right.
While this issue is at the top of the list of wrongs that this bill establishes, the other at the top is the idea that we, as citizens, are soon going to be under complete government control. Our beloved Consitution (read more about it here) states that we the people are in charge of the country, not those in charge, as would be if Mr. Obama's aspirations come to fruition. Communism always starts with the government acting the the helping hand, taking control in the midst of presumed chaos, maybe a financial institution that is having trouble with loans, or health care that doesn't cover enough people. Or maybe that same government will exert control over things it has no business in, such as marriage? Maybe that government will begin to limit the people's rights in matters such as religion or guns. Does any of this sound familiar? Every communist regime begins sliding citizens rights to government control, then all of a sudden they go too far and people finally notice, but they already have so much control that no one can resist anymore, and Voila! a Communist state.
I know I rambled a bit, but just giving you food for thought, people. know your rights and hold as tight to them as possible lest you miss them when they're gone. And now back to your regularly scheduled programming...
They love to dance
My older daughter, Kiran, has been dancing ballet and tap for a while now through the city parks and rec, and she loves it. My younger girl, Nisha, loves it as well, but is too young to be in the class yet, so she just dances out in the hallway while we wait. We forgot to sign them up for this last session of classes, which was okay because we were out of town so much over the last month or so. But yesterday when she started asking about it again we told her we'd sign her up, and she started getting her ballet clothes to wear saying she has to get ready for ballet. When we informed her that we'd have to sign her up before she could go, she said okay and that she'd get dressed anyways and just pretend she was going to ballet class. So she's gone to "pretend ballet class" two days in a row now. I'm so thankful for my kids who make me smile every moment of every day.
Sunday, February 01, 2009
And the spending just keeps on coming...
With three kids ages 6 (almost 7), 4, and 2 (almost 3), we have quite a task every time we go to any store, as I'm sure many of you can relate to. My wife does the actual shopping, and I usually do the other work of stopping my kids from grabbing everything in sight and trying to explain that we can't buy something if we don't have the money. My son's answer to that is usually, "Then why don't we just go to the bank and take some out?" He knows about the bank, etc. since we went there a year or so ago to have him start an account to save for his mission. Then we start the round robin discussion about how if there's no money in the bank we can't take anything out, and that we have to have money to put in unless we have money in the first place, and so on and so forth. I'm sure you get the idea.
Well, this kind of thing is quite difficult to explain when they have such a wonderful example in our national government (thank goodness they don't see the news yet!). I can't even imagine what parents were telling their children 13 years ago when we all saw our president lying under oath about his relationship with the intern! Parents nowadays have a hard enough time teaching their children what is right without having our government and society mixing things up. This all leads me to our current situation.
I've been fuming about this recent bailout for some time now, and I haven't yet recovered from the last one. I have never believed that handing out money we don't have to people who don't really need it is a mistake. This makes particular nonsense when giving this money to failing companies in efforts to help them succeed, especially if we want to promote economic growth. I've been hearing a lot about what is actually contained in the current bailout, and as it would be, the president and Congress have included much that has nothing to do with improving our current economy. A new favorite website of mine of The Heritage Foundation, which gives no nonsense facts, has a new website, www.askheritage.org, that gives lots of facts about this bailout plan. Here are some of the highlights:
I'm just not sure what we tell our children and grandchildren when they are having to continue paying for this horrid mess years from now. Well, I'll get off my soapbox now and return you now to your regularly scheduled programming...
Well, this kind of thing is quite difficult to explain when they have such a wonderful example in our national government (thank goodness they don't see the news yet!). I can't even imagine what parents were telling their children 13 years ago when we all saw our president lying under oath about his relationship with the intern! Parents nowadays have a hard enough time teaching their children what is right without having our government and society mixing things up. This all leads me to our current situation.
I've been fuming about this recent bailout for some time now, and I haven't yet recovered from the last one. I have never believed that handing out money we don't have to people who don't really need it is a mistake. This makes particular nonsense when giving this money to failing companies in efforts to help them succeed, especially if we want to promote economic growth. I've been hearing a lot about what is actually contained in the current bailout, and as it would be, the president and Congress have included much that has nothing to do with improving our current economy. A new favorite website of mine of The Heritage Foundation, which gives no nonsense facts, has a new website, www.askheritage.org, that gives lots of facts about this bailout plan. Here are some of the highlights:
- $200 million for repairs to the National Mall in DC including $21 million on new sod
- $600 million on cars for government bureaucrats
- $650 million for digital television converters
- $50 million to the National Endowment for the Arts
- $87 billion Medicaid bailout and increased SCHIP to help move the country to providing health insurance for every American -- code words for socialized health care!
- increased spending on family planning and birth control for children, immigrants and the wealthy -- this was subsequently removed by Pelosi when there was a widespread outcry against it
I'm just not sure what we tell our children and grandchildren when they are having to continue paying for this horrid mess years from now. Well, I'll get off my soapbox now and return you now to your regularly scheduled programming...
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