I was reading the local paper, specifically the the letters to the editor, when I ran across this! As the title is written, "Big Family Inspires on Many Levels," you can imagine the opinion is about. Here is the executive summary. Conservative right Arkansas family keeps having kids (18 at the latest count) and that's OK. Well, as you might imagine, the op ion raised a few hackles with me. As I was spinning myself up to write some thing criticizing any person who would "choose" to have 18 children, I came across this.
Thanks to Erica Barnett for so eloquently hitting all of the points I would have attempted myself. That being said, I have to respond to the idea of what thoughts, in fact, a family of 20 (18 kids 2 spawning machines) actually inspires.
Here is the top ten list:
10) It should inspire women to just say no... to sex, forced servitude, limited education...
9) Vasectomy
8) Is anybody really surprised that a dude with the name Jim Bob Duggar can't stop impregnating his wife?
7) Once again, the Republican Party, right wing, conservative family values triumph!
6) If you want to be treated like a baby making machine, start at age 17 and don't stop until the eggs dry up or god comes in to your bedroom and says stop.
5) Whatever happened to replacement value?
4) Hey Duggar, why don't you adopt one or more of those hard luck, poor kids who come from broken, fatherless, abusive homes?
3) Polygamy is illegal but siring 18 children with one woman on one income is lauded as the work of god?
2) Hey, Duggars, thanks for attempting to keep the human race populated by yourselves.
1) I'm sure those 18 kids really appreciate all the time the parents can spend with them. Of course dad is working most of the time to bring in enough cash to feed the lot. Then there is that pesky 24 hour day, 8 of which is spent sleeping. Lets just say that there 3 hours of work per day. That leaves 13 hours of kid time. But wait, some of that time has gotta be saved for more baby making. There is some home schooling there. What about post postpartum depression. I guess after 18 some odd pregnancies you either learn how to deal with it or you've just resolved to not be postpartum for very long.
Oh well. This is the holiday season. So, I should wish the Duggars a merry Christmas. Yes! The birth of Christ, and point out that god had the good sense to stop after one.
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
Monday, December 15, 2008
kids are too soft
What is the deal with people not shoveling the sidewalk. Isn't there suposed to be an small army of kids roaming American neighborhoods offering to shovel the walkway snow?
I did mine, and the neighbor kid and his little brother looked at me like I was a fool. Looking down the sidewalk today reveals that for one half city block, it's clear sailing. Of course, after a walker exits my area, it's back to slip-and-fall-o-rama.
Back to the kids. I know there are some enterpising youth in the hood that I reside, but what is the deal with no action. A quick survey of the several block where I live indicates that infact, less than 5% of the walks are clear.
Sucks to be old and fearful of falling on brittle bones.
Well, I guess I could write it off to just not getting enough snow in this area for anybody to care too much. Or perhaps it is equally likely that folks just don't have the tools to deal with the snow. But for the next few days, I see a golden oportunity to make some cabbage.
I did mine, and the neighbor kid and his little brother looked at me like I was a fool. Looking down the sidewalk today reveals that for one half city block, it's clear sailing. Of course, after a walker exits my area, it's back to slip-and-fall-o-rama.
Back to the kids. I know there are some enterpising youth in the hood that I reside, but what is the deal with no action. A quick survey of the several block where I live indicates that infact, less than 5% of the walks are clear.
Sucks to be old and fearful of falling on brittle bones.
Well, I guess I could write it off to just not getting enough snow in this area for anybody to care too much. Or perhaps it is equally likely that folks just don't have the tools to deal with the snow. But for the next few days, I see a golden oportunity to make some cabbage.
Drivers should get off their high horse
Regarding a handful of letters about what bicyclists should do, should wear for safety, how they should behave on roads, licenses they should get and even what taxes they should pay, I respectfully submit the following: Get your own automotive house in order before demanding the cycling-should-do list!
That being said, let's review the list of things drivers should and shouldn't do. You should stop at all red lights and stop signs. You should yield to pedestrians who wish to cross the street. You shouldn't get all liquored up and go out driving only to crash into other parked cars, vans carrying families, pedestrians, trees or large bodies of water.
You should remind yourselves that motor vehicle accidents still top most lists as the leading cause of accidental death. You should pay more attention to the road and stop applying makeup, eating, texting, reading, fiddling with the radio or reaching into the backseat. Perhaps if you were watching the road, checking your blind spots, scanning for hazards, anticipating problems and generally being a truly responsible motor vehicle operator, then those pesky, difficult-to-see cyclists would be more visible.
You should behave so that the term "road-rage" will never be applied to you. As you sit alone in traffic, you should consider car-pooling, taking the bus, a shorter commute or even riding a bike. Perhaps you should investigate the true costs of driving, such as the social costs associated with sprawl-type development, the medical costs of soaring childhood obesity rates and the cost of military spending in oil-rich regions of the world.
Finally, the Toyota Motor Corp. suggested in one of its marketing campaigns that perhaps we should all thank Prius drivers for contributing fewer CO2 emissions. I say, one more thing drivers should do is thank cyclists for simply driving less.
That being said, let's review the list of things drivers should and shouldn't do. You should stop at all red lights and stop signs. You should yield to pedestrians who wish to cross the street. You shouldn't get all liquored up and go out driving only to crash into other parked cars, vans carrying families, pedestrians, trees or large bodies of water.
You should remind yourselves that motor vehicle accidents still top most lists as the leading cause of accidental death. You should pay more attention to the road and stop applying makeup, eating, texting, reading, fiddling with the radio or reaching into the backseat. Perhaps if you were watching the road, checking your blind spots, scanning for hazards, anticipating problems and generally being a truly responsible motor vehicle operator, then those pesky, difficult-to-see cyclists would be more visible.
You should behave so that the term "road-rage" will never be applied to you. As you sit alone in traffic, you should consider car-pooling, taking the bus, a shorter commute or even riding a bike. Perhaps you should investigate the true costs of driving, such as the social costs associated with sprawl-type development, the medical costs of soaring childhood obesity rates and the cost of military spending in oil-rich regions of the world.
Finally, the Toyota Motor Corp. suggested in one of its marketing campaigns that perhaps we should all thank Prius drivers for contributing fewer CO2 emissions. I say, one more thing drivers should do is thank cyclists for simply driving less.
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