Prayers for the People of Haiti

A bit late I know, but I just wanted to throw my appeal out there to pray for the people of Haiti. If you haven't already heard the news, Archbishop Serge Miot was among the tens of thousands killed in Tuesday's devastating earthquake. I know that January is a lean month financially for many families, but please donate as generously as you can to Catholic Relief Services or another disaster relief agency. A list of some of the earthquake relief efforts can be found here.

Not Everything That's Wrong Should Be Illegal

A Louisiana justice of the peace is in hot water after declining to perform a civil wedding for an interracial couple and referring the couple to a colleague.

While I totally disagree with Keith Bardwell's refusal, I'm leery of the government forcing justices of the peace to perform weddings to which they object & not allowing them to refer the couples to a colleague. What if the situation were not an interracial couple but a homosexual one? Should the government force a Christian justice of the peace to officiate against his/her deeply held religious beliefs? At least 11 justices in Massachusetts resigned after that state legalized homosexual marriage and then-Governor Mitt Romney told justices they could not refuse to perform them.

What's so wrong about allowing a justice to say, "sorry, I can't help you but you can go to my colleague so-and-so"? The inconvenience of the couple having to go elsewhere should not outweigh the conscience right of the justice of the peace.

Do I think Keith Bardwell is flat-out wrong in his stance on interracial marriage? Absolutely. But he and other justices of the peace should have the right to refuse to marry a couple for whatever reason so long as another justice can be found to perform the marriage. Otherwise, Christian justices may very well have to choose between keeping their job and following their religion.

We Appreciate Your Husband's Sacrifice, Ma'am, But You'll Need to Leave the Country

A young Marine sergeant stationed in Okinawa fell in love with a Japanese woman, dated her for a year, proposed, and then got deployed to Iraq. Two weeks after he left, they learned she was pregnant and arranged to marry by proxy. Their marriage was legal in Japan and recognized by the Marine Corps. However, one month after the proxy marriage and before he had a chance to see his new bride again in person, he died in the line of duty. His widow wants to immigrate to the U.S. so that her in-laws can help her raise the baby. U.S. immigration law, however, considers the proxy marriage invalid because they never saw each other after the ceremony to consummate the marriage.

Sometimes our legal system can be really stupid. She was pregnant with his kid when they married but the marriage was "unconsummated"? Regardless of whether one believes the couple ought to have had sex prior to being legally married, the baby is living proof they did. There is no reason to believe that the couple would not have engaged in it again after his return had they been given the opportunity. The fact that he got killed before they had the chance should not invalidate the marriage. The family has sacrificed enough without being put into legal limbo because of a technicality...

Considering a Road Trip to Sacramento...

I've never been the kind of girl to attend a protest march or political rally. Just not my kind of thing, KWIM? Yes, I have strong opinions but to take time out of my busy life to go stand around with a bunch of other folks shouting slogans and waving signs? No, thanks.

When I first heard about the "tea party" movement last spring, I'll have to admit I rolled my eyes a bit. Was I mad about the Feds using tax dollars to bail out corporate losers in the financial services and automotive industries? Absolutely. But while I sympathized with the anger behind the tea parties, I didn't think much of the idea of protesting.

At this point, however, I'm so fed up with the whole Obamacare thing. I'm sick of being accused of racism and/or classism and/or being un-Christian and/or a Nazi and/or wanting people to die in the streets for simply having well-founded concerns about the quality of government-run healthcare. It's like the proponents are unable to make a legitimate case for their plan so they're resorting to ad hominem attacks on opponents. And conservatives are the ones being accused of wanting to stifle legitimate debate on the issue? Give me a break!

So I'm now seriously considering heading up to Sacramento on Friday for the national kickoff of the Tea Party Express bus tour. Not because I watch Fox News (we don't have cable or satellite). Not because I listen to talk radio (can't stand it). I'm not even a Republican (proud "decline to state" registeree).

But because I don't want my kids paying exorbitant taxes for mediocre government-run healthcare. It's time to stop being part of the "silent majority" against Obamacare and start speaking out publicly.

Does Curvy = Traditional When it Comes to Women?

When I'm not pregnant, I've got very much of an hourglass figure. My weight has fluctuated somewhat as an adult, but I seem to gain & lose pretty evenly all over. I might be a 38D-25-38 size 8 or a 34C-22-34 size 4 or something in between but my waist-hip ratio (WHR) stays fairly constant (in the 0.64-0.66 range). If a pair of pants or a skirt fits me in the hips, it almost certainly is going to need to be taken in at the waist.

So I found it very interesting to read about a new study in the December issue of the journal Current Anthropology done by Dr. Elizabeth Cashdan of the University of Utah. Previous work has established that a WHR of 0.7 or lower in women is associated with higher fertility and lower rates of chronic disease. Studies have also shown that men prefer a WHR of 0.7 or lower when looking for a mate, which makes sense from an evolutionary psychology standpoint. Dr. Cashdan noted, however, that the average WHR for women in 37 societies around the world she examined was >0.8.

"If 0.7 is the magic number both in terms of health and male mate choice, why are most women significantly higher? That's where the hormones come in.

Androgens, a class of hormones that includes testosterone, increase waist-to-hip ratios in women by increasing visceral fat, which is carried around the waist. But on the upside, increased androgen levels are also associated with increased strength, stamina, and competitiveness. Cortisol, a hormone that helps the body deal with stressful situations, also increases fat carried around the waist.

'The hormonal profile associated with high WHR (waist-to-hip ratio) … may favor success in resource competition, particularly under stressful circumstances,' writes Cashdan. 'The androgenic effects - stamina, initiative, risk-proneness, assertiveness, dominance - should be particularly useful where a woman must depend on her own resources to support herself and her family.'"

In societies where women tend to be less economically independent, the typical female WHR is lower than in societies where women bear more responsibility for providing for themselves and their families.

The question Dr. Cashman's research raises in my own mind is this: given that I'm both curvy and prefer a more traditional gender role, which is the direction of the causality? Am I curvy because I'm more traditional or am I more traditional because I'm curvy?

One More Reason to Homeschool: You Can Recreate the 1st Thanksgiving in Peace

File this one under the category of "don't these people have anything more important to do?"

Police in Claremont, CA (an upscale suburb of L.A.) were called to Eleanor Daly Condit Elementary School after rival protesters clashed in front of the school. The dispute stemmed from the decision by the school board to cancel the construction paper costume portion of the four decades-old tradition of having the kindergarten students recreate the First Thanksgiving.

Apparently, one Condit parent, Dr. Michelle Raheja, who teaches Native American Literature at UC-Riverside, complained that the costumes were "racist". She compared the recreation to:

"asking children to dress up like slaves (and kind slave masters), or Jews (and friendly Nazis)"

Testifying in front of the school board in support of Dr. Raheja's position were Dr. Jennifer Tilton, professor of Race & Ethnic Studies at the University of Redlands, and instructors from Pitzer College and Riverside Community College.

Parent Constance Garabedian accused Dr. Raheja of:

"using those children as a political platform for herself and her ideas. I'm not a professor and I'm not a historian, but I can put the dots together."

The school board took the political correct position and ordered the students to forgo the costumes "in order to be sensitive to the Native American culture."

I'm of Irish heritage. My ancestors had to deal with oppression by foreign conquerors and when they fled to the U.S., they faced discrimination. But that was a long time before I was born. I wouldn't get my knickers in a knot if some kindergarten kids wanted to celebrate St. Patrick's Day by making leprechaun costumes out of construction paper. True, it may be a bit cartoonish, but certainly not racist.

They don't call it "La-la Land" for nothing!

Prayers for Gulf Coast Residents

Just after the 3rd anniversary of Katrina's devastation, it looks like another major hurricane has the Gulf Coast in its destructive path. May it be God's will that this latest storm cause less damage and many, many fewer deaths and injuries. I pray that the levees of New Orleans will be able to withstand the storm surge so that the people who've fled Gustav will have homes to return to after the hurricane passes.

Please join me in praying for the residents of New Orleans and surrounding areas!

Better Them than Me: Duggars Expecting Baby #18!

It seems rather on the early side for an announcement given that Michelle is 41 and by my calculations only 6 weeks along, but the Duggars are expecting their 18th child on New Year's Day.

Best wishes to Jim Bob and Michelle and their growing family!

A Question for the CA Teachers' Assn.

Would you be so quick to intervene if a teacher in a government-run school were accused of repeatedly making disparaging and religiously intolerant remarks about Jews, Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, or any other non-Christian faith?

Chad Farnan, a student at Capistrano Valley High School in Mission Viejo, filed a lawsuit alleging that his Advanced Placement European History teacher, Dr. James Corbett, violated the First Amendment's establishment clause that prohibits government from promoting hostility toward religion. According to an article in the Orange County Register about the case:

"The lawsuit, which seeks unspecified damages and attorney fees, alleges that Corbett typically spent 'a large portion of class time propagating his personal views to a captive audience.' He railed against Christianity and traditional Christian viewpoints on topics such as birth control, teenage sex, homosexuality and erectile dysfunction, according to the lawsuit....

Court papers cite statements tape-recorded by Farnan such as 'Conservatives don't want women to avoid pregnancies – that's interfering with God's work' and 'When you put on your Jesus glasses, you can't see the truth.'"

Fox News had another inflammatory excerpt from Dr. Corbett's class in its article on the case:

"[Corbett] suggested that Christians are more likely than other people to commit rape and murder. Farnan recorded his teacher telling students in class: 'What country has the highest murder rate? The South! What part of the country has the highest rape rate? The South! What part of the country has the highest rate of church attendance? The South!'”

While Dr. Corbett is free to hold whatever personal beliefs he wants about Christianity, he clearly crossed the line when he used his class time to promote those beliefs and created a climate hostile to those of his students who are Christians such as Chad Farnan.

The California Teachers' Association, of which Dr. Corbett is a member, has filed a motion with the Court seeking to intervene on behalf of the Capistrano Valley School District and Dr. Corbett. The judge has permitted the intervention.

Again, I ask- would the CTA be so quick to defend an anti-Semitic or anti-Muslim teacher?

R.I.P. Archbishop Paul Faraj Rahho of Iraq

The body of Chaldean Catholic Archbishop Paul Faraj Rahlo was found yesterday near Mosul in northern Iraq. He had been kidnapped Feb. 29th in an ambush that killed his driver and two security guards.

May God have mercy on Archbishop Rahlo's soul and may He protect the Christians in the Middle East from further persecution by Islamofascists.

Afghan Journalist Receives Death Sentence for Downloading Info on Women's Rights

23 year old Afghan journalist Sayed Pervez Kambaksh faces execution for downloading a report from a Farsi website that stated Muslim fundamentalists who claimed the Koran justified the oppression of women misrepresent the views of the prophet Mohamed. Mr Kambaksh distributed the tract to fellow students and teachers at Balkh University with the aim, he said, of stimulating a debate on the matter.The upper house of the Afghan legislature issued a statement approving of Kambash's conviction on blasphemy charges and the death sentence.

Mr Kambaksh's brother Yacoub said that the journalist was very concerned about his future and said he had not had a fair trial or any lawyer to defend him.

This situation is absolutely outrageous! The Afghan constitution supposedly protects the freedom of expression. Article 34 states:

"Freedom of expression shall be inviolable. Every Afghan shall have the right to express thoughts through speech, writing, illustrations as well as other means in accordance with provisions of this constitution. Every Afghan shall have the right, according to provisions of law, to print and publish on subjects without prior submission to state authorities. "

How, then, can the authorities defend the persecution of Mr. Kambaksh?

The U.S., Britain, and other Western countries who are spending billions of dollars to prop up Afghanistan should put major pressure on Hamid Karzai to pardon Mr. Kambaksh and reign in the Islamofascist judiciary...

British Govt. Agency: "3 Little Pigs" Offends Muslims

While the Malaysian government is busy censoring Christian kids' books, the British government has excluded a digital version of "The 3 Little Pigs" from its educational technology awards for "concerns about the Asian community and the use of pigs [raising] cultural issues." The feedback from the judges explaining why they had rejected the CD-ROM highlighted that they "could not recommend this product to the Muslim community".

The book's creative director, Anne Curtis, dismisses the government's criticism that the idea that including pigs in a story could be interpreted as racism. In a statement, she said her company is committed to an ethical approach to business and its products promote a message of mutual respect. Banning such traditional stories, she asserts, will "close minds rather than open them".

I have numerous Jewish friends who, like Muslims, do not eat pork products. I have never once heard any of them complain about "The Three Little Pigs" being offensive to them. I have Hindu friends as well, and haven't heard them complaining about children's stories featuring cows. I'm virtually certain that my Jewish and Hindu friends would find the suggestion that they would take offense at animal stories to be as ludicrous as I do. They know what is a legitimate cultural insensitivity and what is political correctness taken to a ridiculous extreme.

R.I.P. Heath Ledger

Yet another talented young entertainer lost to a drug overdose :-( Whether it turns out to be an accident or suicide, it's a shame that he couldn't work through whatever personal problems he was facing. My heart is breaking for his little girl :-(

May God have mercy on his soul and bring comfort to those who mourn him...

Malaysia Censors Christian Kids' Books

Officials of the Publications and Al-Quran Texts Control Department, part of Malaysia's Internal Security Ministry, raided bookstores in mid-December and confiscated English-language Christian children's books. The authorities claimed that the illustrations of Biblical prophets such as Moses and Abraham violate Islamic Shariah law.

In a January 17th statement, the head of the Council of Churches-Malaysia, Rev. Dr. Hermen Shastri, questioned how the books could be offensive to Muslims when they were not meant for them. In the strongly worded statement about the seizures, Rev. Shastri said government officials “have no right and have overstepped their bounds by confiscating Christian literature.”

Article 11 of the Malaysian Constitution 11 protects the right to religious freedom. However, the prime minister, Abdullah Badawi, is an Islamic scholar who promotes the concept of "Islam Hadhari" or "Islamic Civilization."

Rev. Shastri accused the government of persecuting Christians and of ceding jurisdiction over civil matters to Shariah courts.

This type of censorship is absolutely outrageous! The Islamofascist thought police have no right to impose their rules on non-Muslims. Moses, Abraham, and the other prophets were part of the Bible thousands of years before Muhammad founded Islam. Christians have every right to portray these figures in books aimed at educating their own children about their own faith.

Homeschooling Not to Blame for DC Tragedy

Four girls are dead in Washington, D.C., apparently murdered by their mother, and the district Superintendent of Schools Deborah Gist blames homeschooling:

"The tragic event highlights the failure of not having home school policies."

Without question, the deaths of 5-year-old Aja Fogle, 6-year-old N'Kiah Fogle, 11-year-old Britney Jacks, and 17-year-old Tatianna Jacks are certainly tragic. But let's examine what we know about the case:

• The mother, Banita Jacks, had 4 children by 3 different men, the first when she was only 16 years old.
• She had past run-ins with the law.
  
• She, the children, and the father of the youngest 2 girls, Nathanial Fogle, spent 4 months in a city-run homeless shelter in the winter of 2006.
• In the summer of 2006, a nurse treating Mr. Fogle for leukemia called the city's Child and Family Services to report that both parents had substance abuse problems and the family was living in a van. The CFS worker failed to open a case because the family lacked a fixed address.
  
• After Mr. Fogle died in February 2007, Ms. Jacks and the children did not attend the funeral. A relative of Mr. Fogle's said that when he last saw the children in May, they were unaware of their father's death.
  
• In March 2007, Ms. Jacks withdrew the three younger children from school, claiming that she was going to homeschool them. The withdrawal was processed by a relative or close friend of Ms. Jacks with no questions asked.
  
• At the end of April, a social worker at the oldest daughter's school became concerned with the girl's truancy and went to the home twice. After Ms. Jacks denied her entry, the social worker became concerned about her mental state and called CFS.
  
• In May, CFS attempted to visit the Jacks home but no one answered the door. On May 16, CFS apparently concluded that Ms. Jacks had moved to her mother's home in Maryland, without contacting Ms. Jacks' mom to see if this really was the case. CFS contacted its counterparts in Maryland and closed their file.
• In mid-June, Maryland informed DC CFS that it had been unable to locate Ms. Jacks and the children at the mom's home. CFS failed to re-open its file.

Clearly, this tragedy isn't about homeschool regulations- it's about a deeply troubled family who managed to fall through the cracks in our child welfare system. Red flags were raised about Ms. Jacks well prior to her removal of the children from the government-run school system. Why did she not receive the help she needed for her substance abuse and mental health problems? Why did CFS fail to act on the nurse's report in summer 2006? Why did it close its file in May without ascertaining whether the family had indeed moved out of its jurisdiction? Why did it not re-open it upon hearing from Maryland in June?

Let's stop pointing fingers at homeschooling and reform the child welfare system so that no more kids wind up victims of homicidal child abuse and/or neglect.

R.I.P. Benazir Bhutto

Whatever her faults, she demonstrated admirable bravery in speaking out for democracy and moderation in the face of Islamofascist threats. I pray that whoever is responsible for this heinous crime will be brought to justice, though sadly I'm skeptical of Pervez Musharraf's ability and commitment to do so.

Education is Not a Luxury Good

In an attempt to encourage private school parents in the U.K. not to feel embarrassed about their educational choice, Vicky Tuck, the incoming president of the Girls School Association has compared it to a luxury good:

"We are not embarrassed by paying a decent sum for a nice house or a nice jacket or a nice engagement ring. Yet if you decide to spend your earnings on the most valuable thing you can do - to give your children an education - you are damned for doing so."

I can see the point she is trying to make, and I agree with the sentiment that providing one's children with the best education available is a worthwhile investment. Yet Mrs. Tuck is playing right into those critics who view private schools as elitist and a status symbol for the wealthy.

For most families, a private school education is not like an Armani jacket, Tiffany ring, or villa in the Caribbean. Sure, there are some social-climbing individuals who care more about the perceived cache of the school than whether it's the right "fit" for their children. But most parents are just concerned about what's best for their kids. They look at the serious problems in their local government-run schools and want something better for their sons and daughters.

A private school education is IMHO more like starting a business- it's an investment in the future. Hopefully, the value of one's education will continue to appreciate as time goes on, unlike consumer goods that depreciate the moment one brings the item home.

Private school parents should not be ashamed of spending their hard-earned money on their children's education, but Mrs. Tuck's idiotic comment is likely to make them feel even greater embarrassment.

Are Today's College Students Too Apathetic?

Thirteen members of Harvard University's class of 1967 are criticizing today's Harvard students as being apathetic and politically indifferent. They have sent a petition to the new university president Dr. Drew Faust complaining that the school is either not recruiting enough politically active students or is doing too little to promote "civic courage and political engagement". So what is the impetus behind the alumni's complaints? No big riots or mayhem such as violently taking over a university building such as occurred during their own student days.

Harvard's director of admissions, Marlyn McGrath, countered that today's students are active but use different methods than 1960's era protesters. "I don't think there's much of a lack of political engagement here," she said and noted that today's students prefer "civil discourse" to "throwing tomatoes."

Adds associate dean Judith Kidd, "students today often focus on causes they can see in front of them."

An example of this is 17-year-old Dan Nally of Westwood, MA. Back in 1996, then 9-year-old Dan heard a news report that the Greater Boston Food Bank was 5,000 turkeys short of its Thanksgiving dinner giveaway goal. Dan went door-to-door in his neighborhood collecting turkeys and that year ended up getting 36. Since then, Dan and his family have turned their efforts into a full-blown nonprofit organization called Turkeys 4 America. They have served over 3.5 million servings of turkey to needy individuals!

I don't know where Dan will attend college next year, but it would not surprise me if he wound up at Harvard or similar school. I met a significant number of individuals at my alma mater who, like Dan Nally, had impressive "do-gooder" credentials. They weren't out there in a mob burning flags or effigies of the president in an ostentatious display but rather they were quietly making this world a better place.

I wonder about these kvetching Harvard alums- would they be happy if Harvard recruited more members of Generation Joshua? Somehow I doubt it...

R.I.P. Alfred Peet of Peet's Coffee

Alfred Peet, the founder of Peet's Coffee, died on August 29th at age 87. When he opened his shop at Walnut & Vine in Berkeley near the University of California in 1966, it was one of the first gourmet coffeehouses in America. My dad got hooked on Peet's coffee when he went to grad school at Cal. When he moved back to New England, he used to have the stuff shipped in bulk via mail-order before Peet's expanded to the metro Boston area.

When I started drinking coffee my senior year of high school, I preferred the sweeter & less robust flavor of Dunkin' Donuts at first. However, there were no "Dunkie's" out here in the Bay Area where I went to college so I gave Peet's a try. I became a fan and have been drinking it ever since!

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CA State Legislature Trying to Undermine Charter School Law

The LA Daily News has an editorial today called "Charters under attack" about how the Democratically-controlled state legislature is using a sneaky budget trailer bill to undermine the charter school law.

"In the budget now pending in the Legislature, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger would double the money now available to pay for facilities for charter schools serving the state's poorest kids. But committees in both the Senate and the Assembly have placed a condition on that money. It would be available only if the State Board of Education in effect lost its ability to grant charters to high-quality organizations.

If that condition stays in the law, Schwarzenegger will have an ugly choice. He can finally provide substantial rent assistance to as many as 150 charter schools that urgently need it. Or he can veto the provision and preserve the state board's approval power, which would lead to the growth of some of the state's best charters."

Under the proposal, the state Board of Education would still be able to issue a charter but only for 3 years. After this initial term, the charter would revert to the local school district, allowing them to shut down the school. A 1992 RAND report found that among the 108 school districts who had authorized at least 1 charter school, 10% of petitions were denied. However, this is likely to be a significant understatement of denials because it excludes the indeterminate number of districts who have denied all charter applications received.

I've never understood why local school districts are given any say over charter applications since they have a financial incentive to restrict them. Every student who leaves a traditional public school to enroll in a charter school results in a loss of thousands of dollars in state funding. Obviously there needs to be oversight of charters, but it should be done at the county and/or state level.

Shame on the California state legislators who are trying to stealthily kill charter schools in the state! It's no surprise why they are doing so, as many of them are in the pockets of the teacher's union. From 2000 to 2004, the California Teacher's Association spent more than $70 million for politics and lobbying according to campaign finance records. Plus an additional $45 million in 2005 alone. Special interest groups like the CTA are fierce defenders of the status quo in education and consider any efforts to expand parental choice in education such as charter schools, vouchers, and homeschooling to be a threat :-(