Xander, FHE, and Dental Plaque

With a title like that, you might wonder how they all tie together. Well, tonight's Family Home Evening lesson was about Oral Hygiene (can you tell I had the lesson?). We used those disclosing tablets that turn your teeth red when you don't brush well, had all the kids chew them up, then showed them how red all of their teeth were. Then I proceeded to explain to them that the red stuff is dyed dental plaque, and that dental plaque is basically teeth bugs and the poop they make. Yes, I'm serious. Go back and read the book, "Everyone Poops." Dental bugs eat the sugar in our mouth from the food we eat, use it to produce acid that dissolves our teeth and causes cavities. Since everything eats, everything poops. Think about that the next time you decide to NOT brush your teeth - you're leaving all those bugs and their poop in your mouth.

Anyway, the kids were all appropriately disgusted, so we finished the lesson and asked Xander to give the closing prayer. We reminded him to bless the refreshments (Thank you Becky Scribner for the strawberry/rhubarb/peach cobbler!) and he proceeded to pray. "And please bless the bugs that they won't poop on my teeth." Needless to say, all the older kids and adults had a hard time keeping from laughing.

So remember what dental plaque REALLY is, and brush twice a day (at least).

Political Ramblings

Just a few miscellaneous links and quick comments.

http://corner.nationalreview.com/post/?q=MjI5NzdhNWFlZGZlYzY2ZGQxNzQwYjMwYTUzOTIyMjc=

Question: How can you tell Obama is lying? Answer: His lips are moving.

http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=33300

Question: What is the conclusion to Ms Coulter's syllogism? Answer: All Democrats are liars (see the previous Q/A).

http://blogs.abcnews.com/johnstossel/2009/08/every-critic-a-racist.html

I would like to dedicate "Your Racist Friend" by They Might Be Giants to Mr. Obama and his fellow Democrats.

http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=33286

Remember, "It's not fascism when WE do it."

http://www.denverpost.com/commented/ci_13203950?

Ms Waak then proceeded to explain, "What I've been saying is there is a lot of (hypocritical B.S. coming) from both sides of (my mouth)." (Hey, Ms Waak and fellow Democrats - That's called sarcasm)

http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/52988

Finally, why are we still paying money to this garbage pit of human waste? To listen to them tell us that we, as Americans, suck and are less than the camel crap on the bottom of their feet? To tell us that we need to teach our kindergartners about masturbation? Come on people, cut off their funding and use eminent domain to take back the land and property.

Thoughts on Independence Day (or, Obama is a fascist/communist, anti-American dictator wannabe)

Some thoughts for this Independence Day

First, we had Obamanomics, a trillion dollar "stimulus" boondogle that has only stimulated increased unemployment. See
http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=32187&keywords=obama+stimulus+not+working
and
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hYS8CIYEBgudlm2SjLh0xekik0RwD98QK1182

Then we had a blatant support of socialist dictator regimes, refusing to denounce a rigged Iranian election, but labeling an attempt to preserve a Honduran constitution from being trampled on a "coup". See
http://www.facebook.com/ext/share.php?sid=109661914200&h=qLfM1&u=C9_c0&ref=nf
and
http://www.americanthinker.com/2009/07/honduras_and_iran_obama_betray.html
and
http://virginiavirtucon.wordpress.com/2009/06/23/obama-fails-to-support-the-iranian-people/

Now, we have Rush Limbaugh stating, " “You have to wonder if Obama is just trying to lay a foundation for not being a hypocrite when he tries to serve beyond 2016,” Limbaugh told his national radio audience. “I wouldn't be at all surprised if in the next number of years there is a move on the 22nd Amendment.” " See
http://www.newsmax.com/insidecover/limbaugh_obama_third_term/2009/07/01/230937.html

I believe this to be absolutely true. Obama is a power-hungry, egomaniacal dictator wannabe. He is not out to serve the public, he is out to rule America. Castro, Chavez and Ahmadinejad are his bosom buddies, and Marx, Lenin and Stalin are his heroes. If he is not defeated in 2012, he will never leave office voluntarily. It may already be too late. I do not joke when I say that we are back in Germany 1933-45. As a note, 75 years ago this week, in Germany, an event known as "The Night of the Long Knives" occurred. See
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Night_of_the_Long_Knives
http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/night_of_the_long_knives.htm

The Jews in Israel have already figured out that Obama is a potential enemy. See
http://yidwithlid.blogspot.com/2009/06/new-poll-israeli-population-says-obama.html
How long will it take the American Jews to figure this out? Will it take a nuclear attack by Iran on Israel, with Obama still calling for dialogue with Iran, before they figure this out? Another all-out Holocaust? It's easy to forget that Hitler was just as popular with the German population as Obama is now. See
http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,531909,00.html
http://www.kimel.net/popularity.html
http://valkyrie-plot.com/hitler.html
This quote from kimel.net is especially enlightening. "...he was also a master of propaganda, extensively using symbols like the swastika, theatrical settings, he was able to play on the emotions of the masses, bypassing and discarding rationality and rational behavior. Hitler became the symbol of Germany, he was idolized. "The public credited Hitler with the achievements of economics and foreign policy of that period. They regarded him as the leader who had made a reality of their deeply rooted longing for a powerful, united Germany. " Wherever Hitler went people paid homage to him, showered him with flowers, waited for his appearance for hours, women were fainting on his sight, to touch the Fuhrer was a lifetime honor. The whole Germany was plastered with his images." Who does that suond like today?

And to those who discourage me from writing things like this for fear that I will end up on Obama's enemies list, I assume I'm already on it. See
http://spectator.org/archives/2009/02/18/obamas-enemies-list
If we do not exercise our right to free speech, we will not have that right much longer. Obama will see to that. Remember that tomorrow, as we celebrate the day we stopped being subject to tyrannical rulers.

Father's Day and Moving, or "The Highs and Lows of Parenting"

All the kids that are still at home finally finished the move up to Metlakatla. So I had them all together today for Father's Day. I wish the other three could be here too (along with Cara), but I'll take what I can get. We even had a relatively quiet morning, as Trevor and Xander and I enjoyed a quiet morning.

This was a nice break from the turmoil that had been happening since Rachel, Kenny and Xander came in on Thursday. Moving is always a chaotic event, and I know I'm usually traumatized. When I moved to Holyoke in 4th Grade (1970), I ended up in the hospital with an ulcer. So I know how poorly children can handle massive change like this. Having said that, Trevor, Amylynn, Kenny and Xander set a record even for them. In the first 48 hours here, Xander broke my beard trimmer and wrote in permanent marker all over Rikki's computer, Kenny broke the mini-blinds in his bedroom (snapped the main bar attached to the window right in two), Amylynn broke Rikki's sandals after she had been told multiple times to not wear or play with the sandals, and then tried to use scotch tape to fix it, then put scotch tape of the shopping list, all without ever telling us that she actually did it. Trevor lucked out - he knocked my model sailing ship made of whale baleen off the top of the entertainment center, but it didn't break. Ahh, children - Love them, Not-So-Love them, can't live with them, can't live without them. Happy Father's day, and Thank You God for my children.

Politics

An excellent letter which conveys my sentiments exactly (click on the title to go to the letter).

Xander Strikes Again, Part 2

We went to the Temple today and had Amylynn and Kenneth sealed to us. That was a very good, spiritual event for us.

After the sealing, we went to IHOP for brunch. Kenneth went to the rest room and Xander followed him. Kenney came out, and Xander came out later chewing something, then spitting it out. Cara smelled it and realized that it didn't smell like gum, but some cleaning product. Cara's mom said that I had better check it out, so I asked him where he got it and followed him into the men's room. When I got in, Xander said, "There, Dad" and pointed to ... wait for it... the deodorant block in the men's urinal! I came out just smiling and shaking my head and told the family. Of course, all the women (Cara, Rachel, Cara's mom Betty, my mom Joan and sister Kathy) all did varying gagging noices. When we told Daniel and Michael, they both burst out laughing. It's a guy thing.

More Political Rantings

I just emailed every U.S. Republican Senator asking them to vote against confirming Sonia Sotomayor as a Supreme Court Justice. The letter follows:

I am requesting you to veto the nomination of Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court for the following reasons:
1. She is racist and sexist. I am sure you are familiar with her quote from 2001, "I would hope that a wise Latina woman with the richness of her experiences would more often than not reach a better conclusion [as a judge] than a white male who hasn't lived that life," I find this comment EXTREMELY offensive. If I had said the same about her, I would be called racist and sexist. That is exactly what she is, and such viewpoints have NO position on the highest court in the land.
2. She has questionable judicial ability. The fact that 60% of her opinions reviewed by the Supreme Court have been overturned by said Court is in and of itself concerning. The reasoning for overturning these cases are fairly simple: she doesn't apply the rule of law to her decisions, she uses her "empathy" to decide what the law should be. Witness the case of Ricci v. DeStefano, currently being reviewed by the Supreme Court. This ties back to reason 1, that she is racist. She also stated that the "Court of Appeals is where policy is made." That is supposed to be the job of the Executive and Legislative branches, NOT the Judicial branch. Do you really want her doing YOUR job?
3. We SHOULD be examining her judicial record and NOT her Hispanic background. May I remind you that in 2002, Eric Estrada was nominated to the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals. Not ONCE did we hear about his Hispanic background. Instead, we heard about his rulings and ideology. Now, those same Democrats expect us to follow "rules" completely opposite to those they followed seven years ago. The ONLY time Democrats care about race is when it furthers their agenda. As an additional example, let's look at the background of a current Justice, Clarence Thomas. The fact that he is black and came from poor, segregated circumstances was not important to our "dear" President Obama - "I would not have nominated Clarence Thomas."
An excellent article about this can be found in the Wall Street Journal, http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124355478303064587.html

As a final note, there has been considerable debate over the future of the Republican Party. Some moderates feel that unless we move toward the "center", we will no longer exist as a party (see http://www.time.com/time/politics/article/0,8599,1896588,00.html). However, I don't feel I need to remind you that we had a moderate run for president in 2008, and he was defeated soundly. In fact, the only reason he did as well in the election as he did was his selection of Sarah Palin, a true conservative, as his running mate. If the Republican Party cannot survive as a bastion of conservatism, it doesn't deserve to survive. We already have enough moderates and liberals in the government. We need to be the party of conservatism. Voting against the nomination of Sonia Sotomayor is a step in this direction. Please vote against her confirmations.
Daniel E. Long, DDS

And, for those who don't know, my first wife was half Puerto Rican and we have four kids, which make them one fourth Puerto Rican. My ex-wife informs me that our kids are probably related to Ms Sotomayor. So I would hope from those facts that you can see that I am not judging her on race, but on political views and performance. Put a conservative Hispanic in her place, one who respects the Constitution, and I would fully support her/him.