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| "You may kiss me now." |
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| "Yuck! I'm outta here" |
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| "Fish, bicycles, men, you know the rest." |
The New Family
Thursday, July 4, 2013
Let's Go Outside!
THE little Patriots all dressed in red, white, and blue.
July 4, 1986
SOME loved him, others loathed him, but few did not respect him. Ronald Reagan deeply loved this country and believed in its exceptionalism. He thus secured liberty for friends and opponents alike during his tenure. While he was not without fault, most of his critics loathed him simply because he proved them wrong.
Here he gives an address on July 4, 1986 as part of the relighting ceremony of the Statue of Liberty.
One aspect of his orations was his sincerity. Some impugned him as just an actor playing the role of Commander in Chief. The evidence in the video above speaks for itself. Here was a man that need not read his speech. The notes were aides, but the content came from his heart and his convictions.
He governed largely within a principled framework, a decision support system largely uncontroversial until the latter half of the last century. He did compromise but as a necessary condition to achieve a better result over none at all. Tip O'Neil lead the Democratically controlled Congress necessitating compromise. However, his compromises never made one believe that they were simply for political expedience.
Principled decision making is one of the values Dad wishes to instill in his children. Reagan makes an excellent example. He was unashamed of his principals and so could explain and defend them. One needn't agree with those principals to understand how he arrived at his position, a quality sorely missing from some modern political leaders.
Dad acknowledges Instapundit.com for the pointer.
Here he gives an address on July 4, 1986 as part of the relighting ceremony of the Statue of Liberty.
One aspect of his orations was his sincerity. Some impugned him as just an actor playing the role of Commander in Chief. The evidence in the video above speaks for itself. Here was a man that need not read his speech. The notes were aides, but the content came from his heart and his convictions.
He governed largely within a principled framework, a decision support system largely uncontroversial until the latter half of the last century. He did compromise but as a necessary condition to achieve a better result over none at all. Tip O'Neil lead the Democratically controlled Congress necessitating compromise. However, his compromises never made one believe that they were simply for political expedience.
Principled decision making is one of the values Dad wishes to instill in his children. Reagan makes an excellent example. He was unashamed of his principals and so could explain and defend them. One needn't agree with those principals to understand how he arrived at his position, a quality sorely missing from some modern political leaders.
Dad acknowledges Instapundit.com for the pointer.
This Day in History: Ten Years Ago There was a Proposal
BEFORE they were married, Mom and Dad traveled to Wisconsin to spend the fourth of July at Norm and Ann's campground. Norm and his son Brian were friends and hunting buddies of Dad. Ann, Norm's wife, was a fiery woman of passion and excellent cook who adored Dad.
Dad wanted Mom to experience the joy of the outdoors in Wisconsin, meet the proprietors, and share his experiences with her since he had been immersed in western Wisconsin culture during his formative years. Dad felt it important to have an opportunity judge her reaction to his adopted people, their way of life, and their sense morality since his own value system was greatly influenced by it. A July 4 three day weekend was an opportune time.
He also had ulterior motives.
After spending the day in Eau Claire, they traveled back to camp. Mom spotted the roadside fireworks retailer and asked Dad to stop for, among other pyrotechnics, sparklers. She loved them as a child and wanted to recreate that fun. Dad's mind hit upon a plan.
Giving her reason to stay in the car by using some rational now lost to time, but one that must have been very crafty since she wanted to spend every moment she could with him and so heartily resisted him, Dad went inside to make the purchase. Upon his return he informed Mom that they were out of sparklers. This immediately made her suspicious. She pressed him.
"Are you sure? How can they be out of sparklers?" she asked.
Dad had to think fast.
"Well this close to the fourth I bet they have sold out of most of their inventory," he stammered.
Mom is not ignorant nor inexperienced, but she wisely decided to drop the matter. Dad, relieved, could not have woven the figurative tangled web of lies.
They arrived at camp by night fall and built a fire for comfort and cooking. A fire can be a calming and relaxing hypnotic. It was that night. At the right time, Dad retrieved the fireworks (sparklers included) and the engagement ring he had brought along.
He then announced, while taking a knee, that he did in fact have "sparkles" for her. She focused on him like a laser coming out of her hypnotic state. She knew it! But why had he lied about such a small matter? She was evaluating him as much as he was evaluating her for marriage suitability, lying is on the big ten list of thou shalt nots, and here he had lied over something small and petty. Was that his character? Could he lie so easily, so masterfully? And if so, over something so small, what about something of importance?
He then presented her the diamond engagement ring and asked her to marry him. In an instant, all of those questions were satisfied.
Sometime later, when Dad set about lighting off the fireworks, he lit several sparklers for her to hold. For some reason she was only politely interested in them preferring instead to spend her time admiring her new diamond ring.
Dad wanted Mom to experience the joy of the outdoors in Wisconsin, meet the proprietors, and share his experiences with her since he had been immersed in western Wisconsin culture during his formative years. Dad felt it important to have an opportunity judge her reaction to his adopted people, their way of life, and their sense morality since his own value system was greatly influenced by it. A July 4 three day weekend was an opportune time.
He also had ulterior motives.
After spending the day in Eau Claire, they traveled back to camp. Mom spotted the roadside fireworks retailer and asked Dad to stop for, among other pyrotechnics, sparklers. She loved them as a child and wanted to recreate that fun. Dad's mind hit upon a plan.
Giving her reason to stay in the car by using some rational now lost to time, but one that must have been very crafty since she wanted to spend every moment she could with him and so heartily resisted him, Dad went inside to make the purchase. Upon his return he informed Mom that they were out of sparklers. This immediately made her suspicious. She pressed him.
"Are you sure? How can they be out of sparklers?" she asked.
Dad had to think fast.
"Well this close to the fourth I bet they have sold out of most of their inventory," he stammered.
Mom is not ignorant nor inexperienced, but she wisely decided to drop the matter. Dad, relieved, could not have woven the figurative tangled web of lies.
They arrived at camp by night fall and built a fire for comfort and cooking. A fire can be a calming and relaxing hypnotic. It was that night. At the right time, Dad retrieved the fireworks (sparklers included) and the engagement ring he had brought along.
He then announced, while taking a knee, that he did in fact have "sparkles" for her. She focused on him like a laser coming out of her hypnotic state. She knew it! But why had he lied about such a small matter? She was evaluating him as much as he was evaluating her for marriage suitability, lying is on the big ten list of thou shalt nots, and here he had lied over something small and petty. Was that his character? Could he lie so easily, so masterfully? And if so, over something so small, what about something of importance?
He then presented her the diamond engagement ring and asked her to marry him. In an instant, all of those questions were satisfied.
Sometime later, when Dad set about lighting off the fireworks, he lit several sparklers for her to hold. For some reason she was only politely interested in them preferring instead to spend her time admiring her new diamond ring.
Happy Independence Day
ACCORDING to Wikipedia, the supreme authority of nothing, and always the last word until the next revision, the fourth of July is commemorated by the Founding Fathers signing the Declaration of Independence.
So what was so momentous about that?
Have a look. It is always good to reacquaint ourselves with United States history (text in red).
When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.--Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.
Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our Brittish brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which, would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.
We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States; that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.
http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/declaration_transcript.html
That's pretty revolutionary and could have lead to war. In fact, it did.
Are those words still in force today?
So what was so momentous about that?
Have a look. It is always good to reacquaint ourselves with United States history (text in red).
IN CONGRESS, July 4, 1776.
The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America,When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.--Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.
He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.
He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.
He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.
He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.
He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.
He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the Legislative powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.
He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.
He has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary powers.
He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.
He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harrass our people, and eat out their substance.
He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.
He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil power.
He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:
For Quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:
For protecting them, by a mock Trial, from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:
For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:
For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:
For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of Trial by Jury:
For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences
For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies:
For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws, and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:
For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.
He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.
He has plundered our seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.
He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.
He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.
He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages, whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.
Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our Brittish brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which, would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.
We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States; that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.
http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/declaration_transcript.html
That's pretty revolutionary and could have lead to war. In fact, it did.
Are those words still in force today?
Wednesday, July 3, 2013
Okay Foodie, This is for You
DAD hears that no one likes his food related posts, so for the one anonymous person that is responsible for all of those page hits, here is your personal post.
With the approach of 237th annual commemoration of the the signing of the Declaration of Independence, a.k.a. grill outside and watch fireworks day, a.k.a the fourth of July, everyone and his brother it seems is full of advice on how to grill the perfect steak.
They are wrong.
The problem is not that they cannot grill a perfect steak. It is that their advice cannot necessarily help you to grill one, because it is largely bad advice for the occasional backyard grill master wanna-be.
So give Dad a chance to share some advice with you on how to grill the perfect steak. (Click more below).
With the approach of 237th annual commemoration of the the signing of the Declaration of Independence, a.k.a. grill outside and watch fireworks day, a.k.a the fourth of July, everyone and his brother it seems is full of advice on how to grill the perfect steak.
They are wrong.
The problem is not that they cannot grill a perfect steak. It is that their advice cannot necessarily help you to grill one, because it is largely bad advice for the occasional backyard grill master wanna-be.
So give Dad a chance to share some advice with you on how to grill the perfect steak. (Click more below).
Monday, July 1, 2013
The Science of Dad: Engaged Fathers Help Kids Flourish
"Despite the fact that men are increasingly involved in family life,
stereotypes about dad still persist: He's bumbling. He's immature. He's
never seen a dirty diaper he'd volunteer to change."
And, "...dads who nurture and play with their babies have kids who grow up to have higher IQs...These benefits extend into the teen years: In 2001, the U.S. Department of Education found that kids with highly involved biological fathers were 43 percent more likely than kids without involved biological dads to earn mostly A's in school."
Still more, "Teens listen to their dads, even if it may not seem like it, the study also found: Fathers who approved of early sexual activity were more likely to have sexually active teens compared with dads who disapproved."
http://news.yahoo.com/science-dad-engaged-fathers-help-kids-flourish-140859321.html
And who is surprised by this? Oh yeah the agenda groups pushing alternative narratives. Believe them at your peril.
And, "...dads who nurture and play with their babies have kids who grow up to have higher IQs...These benefits extend into the teen years: In 2001, the U.S. Department of Education found that kids with highly involved biological fathers were 43 percent more likely than kids without involved biological dads to earn mostly A's in school."
Still more, "Teens listen to their dads, even if it may not seem like it, the study also found: Fathers who approved of early sexual activity were more likely to have sexually active teens compared with dads who disapproved."
http://news.yahoo.com/science-dad-engaged-fathers-help-kids-flourish-140859321.html
And who is surprised by this? Oh yeah the agenda groups pushing alternative narratives. Believe them at your peril.
Staycation in Puerto BackaMyYarda
NICE weather drove the New Family outdoors where the Twins explored grass, leaves bugs, and twigs. They also got dirty feet.
Buggy proved herself, yet again, more curious about the world than Buddy. He was content to stay in the general area while she almost immediately began to crawl toward whatever caught her attention.
Buggy proved herself, yet again, more curious about the world than Buddy. He was content to stay in the general area while she almost immediately began to crawl toward whatever caught her attention.
Night Night Buggy
WHILE she is supposed to be sleeping, Buggy found a LED light and entertained herself.
Go to sleep PITA.
Go to sleep PITA.
Thursday, June 27, 2013
The Open Secret
RECENTLY Dad had a conversation with Aunt Heather. She bravely forged ahead into a topic that he would not have otherwise broached. She admitted that a certain behavior is very common and widespread among parents of young children. That brought Dad great relief. If enough people do it, it is normal.
So based on that, Dad had the idea of having a t-shirt silk-screened with a message bravely proclaiming the behavior. It would say:
So based on that, Dad had the idea of having a t-shirt silk-screened with a message bravely proclaiming the behavior. It would say:
Dad of One Year Old Twins
(I sniff butts!)
Well, sometimes removing clothes and undoing a diaper on a squirmey-worm for the fifth time in as many minutes is too much of a hassle. When you have to investigate the source of a foul odor and have two equally potential culprits, a quick sniff can be very efficient.
Now granted this would make other people uncomfortable in public and for that reason Dad will not do it there. But in the privacy of his home, it is fair game.
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