Yay China!

I was reading in the latest issue of Columbia the other day about the glories of the one-child policy in China.  I'd heard some bad things but the story told was basically of a woman being forcibly dragged to the "hospital," having her child aborted by C-section and then sent home with the dead child in a garbage bag.  Yep, a shinning example of civilization those Chinese.  Such nice communists.  And to think that I've had people tell me that the one-child policy doesn't amount to a form of slavery to the state.  Sure, you can do anything you want, except have brothers or sisters.

Knights of Columbus and Respect for Life

Well, recently I joined the local Knights of Columbus Respect Life committee.  How does one join?  By showing up of course!  Anyway, I'll be working on rounding up some education materials and trying my hand at organizing an event or two along the way so any prayers or suggestions would be welcome. 

Marching Again

No, I didn’t go to the March for Life in D.C. I did that a couple of years ago and it was a great experience and hope to go again someday. Fact is though that it is expensive and is at least two days away from the wife and kids. So, what I did instead was participate in a little local March here in Holland, MI. Things got started at 7pm sharp (I assume it was sharp because I got there couple of minutes late and had to walk rather briskly to catch up) at a park downtown and went around the block. After the mini-march we filed into a Christian Reformed church across the street from the park for a brief period of song and prayer. There was also a brief testimonial from a woman who works as a pregnancy counselor for Bethany Christian Services, which is mostly known for its adoption work. She told us how when she was 21 she found herself with an unplanned pregnancy and came face-to-face with the difficulty of living out her pro-life convictions. With the support of her family though, she had the baby and gave him up for adoption…to her sister and her husband. Her son in now seventeen and doing very well indeed.

This story gets right to the heart of the pro-life movement. It is not about condemning those who have abortions (the culture that supports its legality yes, the women having them, no) but rather about reaching out and offering support to people in the support and affirmation of the sacredness of human life.

Sadly, on the way home, I was listening to NPR which found its own little way to commemorate the anniversary. They decided to do an interview with a nice, young, seemingly intelligent and thoughtful woman who had chosen to never have children. She had gone so far as to have ligation done to make sure that it simply never happens. Now, a whopping seven months later, she claims to have no regrets. Perhaps she doesn’t and perhaps she never will. But she will also never know what she is missing. And like all the big things in life, no one can really tell her either. You simply have to take the leap of faith and plunge in head first before you can truly realize the joys (and yes, frustrations) of parenthood. I encourage you to pray for this woman and her other “child-free” friends that they may be willing to see children not as a burden and an obstacle but rather as a blessing and joy. After all, at the end of the day, the vacations, TVs, cars and anonymous sex comes to an end. They all leave eventually and leave one feeling empty. But the smile of a child is forever. No, don’t rationalize it, live it.

This year’s anniversary of Roe vs. Wade is come and gone but next year will be here before we know it. Take some time to reflect on what you can do to support unborn children and their often desperate mothers with no where to turn. Donate time and/or money to a pregnancy center, pray, write your legislators, hold fundraisers and next year, find an event around the anniversary of Roe and go, and try to bring a friends or two while you’re at it.

Electronics Update

That new Asus I last posted about has been working out great so far.  The night I set it up, I wound up playing Starcraft 2 for 5 hours straight and it barely blinked.  It also does a great job streaming Netflix movies and runs Stellarium beautifully.  I highly recommend you get one. 
On the cell phone front, it turns out that the Sienna phone tends to drop calls in the house after all.  That means we won't be dropping ATT in favor of them.  We may wind up doing Vonage instead. 
In other news, my work and my basement are going smoothly.  Well, mostly.  However, they are keeping me from getting to the numerous sci-fi related posts that I want to do.

Update on Sienna

After a few minor travails, I got my new phone from Sienna Communications and it works great.  The phone is nothing special but the reception where I live is good and the customer service is friendly.  I plan on dropping my landline and getting another phone from them in the next week or so.  Believe it or not, with the cheap plan my wife and I will be using, we'll be saving a fair amount of money every month.

Eugenics lives!

Just read the link.  It brings to mind all the reasons why I oppose the present administration and fear for our civilization.  Seriously, just read it, I can't really add anything to it.

Congressman endorses indoctrination

40 Days for Life

40 days for life is a peaceful campaign to pray outside abortion clincs for an end to abortion.   They have saved a number of small lives and encouraged a number of conversions to faith amoung clinc workers, the most well known of whom is Abby Johnson who last year left the Planned Parenthood clinic she ran after witnessing an abortion on ultrasound for the first time.  From there, one of her first stops was to one of the 40 days founders. In any case, get out there and pray or stay home and pray if you can't get to a clinic to pray.  And of course, check out the site.

Sienna Communications

The other day, I signed up for a cell phone with Sienna Communications.  They're a Catholic run company that offers plans for about the same price as the big guys (less in some cases) without a contract.  Yes, you can still get a free phone when you sign up as well, although you will pay more for a better phone than would from say Verizon.  However, the best part is that they will donate 5% of your bill goes to the pro-life charity of your choice.  So you get to yak on the phone and do a good deed at the same time.  That's the kind of multitasking I can get behind.  Anyway, check 'em out.  Also, check out the charity I chose donate to, Rachel's Vineyard.  They do lots of good work help people deal with the grief that often follows an abortion.
Almost forgot to give out the proper credit, I found out about them in an add in the National Catholic Register.
One last thing, I don't have the phone yet, so I'll let you know in a week or so how it all works out.