College Scam

I knew there was a reason that I love John Stossel. He has a great article on Fox News contemplating the value of a college education. It seems totally unnatural to me, now, to have a society where the best years of a person's life are spent mostly on vacation with some time spent sitting in classrooms to take exams.

Too pertinent

Our Holy Father could be speaking directly to me with this item. Doing the math, either my wife or I was out of the house every night this week. It's terrible but hard to stop with our many and sundry activities and it keeps us from our deepest mission which we believe is to be social and have families over for dinners and parties and random hanging out. There is a huge dearth of social capital that has been brought about through TV and Entertainment destroying social bonds and through the home becoming a place to stop and refuel and sleep before running to meetings and games and events. We feel it is critical to be home-bodies and build ties of affection but that is a daunting task in this day of constant connection.

Fix It

A great post over on There I Fixed It. Part of the Natural Life I crave to live is a self-reliance for basic repairs of basic appliances. This struck a chord with me after I finally repaired the dryer. It has been serving us well for 8 years now and its scratch-and-dent price tag was very favorable. I hope to work my way up to basic automotive repairs like oil changes but for now I am satisfied to tinker with appliances, carpentry, and electrical. I feel like I'm finally starting to own this new house because I don't believe that sweat equity simply improves the bottom line. I believe that everything that I claim stewardship for on this Earth deserves my sweat.

A More Beautiful World

I have just discovered a hidden reserve of beauty in the world, thanks to one of my blogroll. These Girls with Glasses give me hope that children can grow up instead of just growing old. I pray that my girls will know of them and emulate them.

Shout out to Suzy Jo

Today I bought Suzy Jo donuts, the best donuts in the known universe and the closest four parallel dimensions, in order to celebrate all my co-workers who actually came to work instead of taking a four-day weekend. On the way, my turn signal burn out. I was irritated at having another thing to do today before an increasingly busy weekend. I took the car to Phoenixville Tire & Service and asked them to replace the bulb and check a slow leak in the tire and they discovered a nail! So donuts saved me from getting a flat on Labor Day weekend.

"Donuts, is there anything they can't do?" - Homer Simpson

The True Rebels

A refreshing reminder from the TFP that being Christian is counter-cultural and it is the only way to protect the innocence of our children so they can freely grow to be the best version of themselves. Mainstreaming virginity and chastity will not be an easy task. Unfortunately, many people will have to be broken by their sins before they are ready to accept salvation. I'm thankful that I was.

Look at that Dashing Family

I know it sometimes feels like we are the only family in the Archdiocese who practices NFP. Now we have proof! Confirmed by the Family Life Office.

Relevant and Fun

I love this videos on "over-population."

Why forced vaccination is evil

I've pretty much stayed out of the Gardasil debate, since it falls in my general bin of, "I'm not going to inject my children with infectious agents unless I am totally convinced of the benefits." I'm certainly not going to do it because some doctors' group, that probably gets kickbacks from the manufacturer, recommends it.

Now, I know that Merck is on my side in pointing out that the vaccine is almost useless. I wish they would talk to their marketing department.

Real Hope

I wish I had been as mature as these two in college, then I could have a successful Plan B already in place. Instead I have to work to build a Plan B while re-directing energy from Plan A.

Lessons in the Pages

I am usually self-conscious about crying while reading bedtime stories to my girls, but Angel in the Waters is definitely worth it. It is a beautiful telling of birth from the eyes of the child; but it is more than that. It passes on spiritual and eschatalogical truth in a way that is both simple and deep. The art is well above most children's book art and is a pleasure to see. Read this to your kids, they will ask for it, and don't be afraid to cry.

Why an Engineer should have Kids

Although the common engineering reason to become a father is happiness in having a woman, in the Earth's gravity well, who actually tolerates being married to an engineer, the most convincing argument for an engineer to have kids is efficiency.

This was confirmed by my recent post-birth conversation with a fellow engineering bud from Penn State. When I asked him what he thought about fatherhood, his first comment was that he couldn't believe how much time he wasted before children.

From an engineer's perspective, child-induced efficiency occurs in: reduction of TV hours (tv/7) unless you want your kid quoting C.S.I., falling asleep faster (z^4) if sleep is to be had at all, reading dozens of books (12b) in a 9-month window to decide how to be a parent, completing laundry in 1/3 the previous time (t/3) despite the fact that the load doubles (2L) with kid clothes, countless hours of free entertainment (1/E-> 0) by watching your newborn try to find his fist, and handyman skill increasing (12h) to keep the house safe.

But the best part is love growing in your home (3L). Nothing makes life better than that.

Painting the Nursing Picture

The Art of Breastfeeding was a good read on the whole picture of breastfeeding. The science was very well covered, including both the nutritional content of mother's milk and the physiology of the mother's and child's bodies. Even though I have plenty of experience with breastfeeding, I learned quite a bit about the underlying biology. I do wish the book had more further covered lactational amenorrhea , since that is of particular interest to me. A good read, I'm glad that I bought it.

Response to Friend Two

Friend Two from Facebook, "Actually, now that we're steaming ahead on this discussion, let me pose the matter in another light as I'm curious for your view from this angle: For a moment, divorce the parenting issue from the gay marriage issue. Not all couples (straight or gay) want to be parents. For many couples, marriage is a commitment to each other that basically acknowledges that "now it's harder to walk away, so we will work together to make this work," you know, the whole richer-or-poorer bit. This is a commitment to each partner, and is not directly related to God's view or consent. I'm talking marriage as a social matter, not a religious one. Consider also the fact that making/keeping gay marriage illegal or illegitimate doesn't make "gayness" go away. It just doesn't.

So, for gay couples that would be gay whether they can be married or not, and who don't want kids, answer this: What's the harm? Why not let them commit to each other the same way straight couples do?"

My response is that I have never brought God into any of my arguments so far, so I will gladly leave Him to defend Himself. The marriage commitment as you describe does not exist. Due to no-fault divorce, marriage means almost nothing in legal terms. It is currently easier to legally break a marriage contract than it is to break a bicycle warranty. The social approval of childless marriages only dates back to about the 1920s and the advent of feminism and mass produced contraception. The social and legal benefits of marriage were designed to create a family, not to allow two people to be DINKs.

I never claimed that "gayness" would go away. We still have thieves, even though there are laws against stealing. We still have drunkenness, even though there are an assortment of preventative laws. Laws enforce social norms and teach what is acceptable and not for a civilized society. The anti-social behavior is wrong, regardless of whether the law prohibits it.

Marriage is about love and sex. Sex is about procreation and love, even Freud agrees. The two can not be separated any more than nutrition and pleasure can be separated from eating. If they are separated, the act is perverted, much as bulimia perverts eating.

"What's the harm?" is not a sufficient argument to overthrow hundreds of years of social custom and the only stable arrangement to raise the next generation. The harm is that a counterfeit is passed as the real thing. Two men can not express love the way a man and a woman can. It is a lie that men and women are interchangeable. The love of a man and a woman is fruitful; the love of two men or two women is sterile (I also maintain that contracepted sex is a lie, even in marriage).

I counter with a question. What's the harm in allowing a brother and sister to marry if they are not going to have kids?

Head of the House

Jennifer at Conversion Diary has a great take on the whole "man as the head of the household" issue. It is great, of course, since it generally matches my own opinions and understanding of the issue. I am constantly amazed at the sparks that this issue brings up, even among people who are faithful to the teachings of the Church. I have to say that people of the more common, "everyone is exactly equal" opinion have ceased to amazed me and earn only the nod and smile response. I always feel they are just parroting back some idea that they have never actually processed like a kid in class who is just saying what the teacher expects.

Good Morning DSA!

Here is a clip from Good Morning America which has Tory Johnson talking about direct selling. After my nice paternity leave to adjust to my son, I have to say I'm much more motivated to work from home. Now, if only I can start turning that into action.

Families Support

I am dumbfounded by the gratuitous generosity of our family and friends. The freezer and fridge are stuffed with yummy meals. The promises of food and assistance extend well into the future. And our latest addition is going to be stylishly clad for the next three months.

How to be a Family

Jen over at Conversion Diary has a spectacular article on how to survive the years of small children. I hope that I can take it all to heart. I will especially comment on the support network. Fortunately, I found a job near my boyhood home so we have been blessed to live near many of my friends and family. We have even encouraged other friends and family to move to the area! This is simply the biggest help imaginable at an amazingly affordable price. Having family and friends who help with the kiddos, in exchange for returning the favor and paying for take-out, is a great example of subsidiarity. Well, except for the take-out.

More on The Issue

Homosexuals were born that way, no wait, ignore our previous statements. Retractions like this, or more appropriately, the original unfounded assertion, make me sad about the current state of psychology. If scientists aren't dedicated to the truth, who can be?

Tried a Response

Well, I finally tried to formulate a concise response as to why "same-sex marriage" should not be legal. I posted it in response to the Facebook poll which has been floating around for a few days. Here's hoping that the Tolerance Gestapo don't hunt me down and silence me for further defining a natural family life.

"Marriage is for children. Children have the right to be raised with a mother and a father who spend their whole life together raising their children in a loving environment. Biology clearly indicates that only a man and woman can create new life and that children are not fully, mentally developed until well into their 20s. Society provides benefits to marriage so that there is incentive to sacrifice for the next generation who need much guidance to reach maturity. Hopefully, they will have a chance to make it there."

Facebook failed to post it the first time I clicked. Interesting.