Now then. I like Santorum and Paul. I thought Romney was oily four years ago, and still do. Gingrich… just rubs me the wrong way, aside from the fact that I don’t really trust him. He’s witty, sure, and seems to be a great “debator” – but they elected the last President merely because he could “speak like a president,” and look where that got us.

Anyway. Santorum premuch went after Gingrich and Romney, for the most part focusing any attacks entirely on them. But he and Paul did get into a lively exchange about abortion when Santorum pointed out that Paul only got a 50% rating from some group that looks at how politicians have voted on legislation, etc regarding pro-life endeavors.

(To which my father chimed up in the background, “That doesn’t necessarily mean anything; it all depends on what was attached to said legislation.” Hear, hear!)

So, they basically went roundy-round about federal pro-life laws versus state pro-life laws and whose jurisdiction it technically falls under, and such. Santorum fell on the side of federal, and Paul, as usual, fell on the side of state, arguing that abortion is a violent crime, and we already let states have jurisdiction when it comes to handling other violent crimes, such as murder or burglary.

I found the whole exchange interesting, especially when it was pointed out that law follows morality, not the other way around. I don’t know that I’ve ever heard a politician argue that you have to change the heart if you ever have a hope of changing the law, although I have heard it on many a pro-life website…

Anyway. I came across this in my RSS feed today, and after watching Santorum’s incredulity over Paul’s remarks last night, I’m a bit incredulous myself.

Santorum attacked Paul at CNN debate for leaving abortion to states, but look what he said in 2003…

The Daily Paul only excerpts his last paragraph, but if you click through, you can read the whole interview.

Back then, he argued that things like sodomy and abortion were states’ issues rather than federal ones. ‘If they want it in their state, they can have it… in their state,’ basically.

…what changed, Rick?

Edited to add:

For those of you who may have missed the debate but would like to catch up on it, I believe you can find it at CNN.com.

I still think Paul has Santorum (or any other candidate) beat, hands-down, when it comes to Constitutional issues and abiding by our founding documents, but I don’t know that I agree with bringing home 100% of our troops. The ones in obscure countries that we’ve had bases at arbitrarily since WWII? Heck, yes. Bring them home. You can gather intelligence without the bureacracy and taxpayer-funded bases there.

Israel? I’m not sure where I stand there, as a Christian, reflecting on God’s promises, and whether they still apply to the “nation” of Israel as such in modern times, etc. I mean, there are verses that touch on a blessing for those who bless Israel, etc, but… modern day Israel is a 20th century creation. You certainly can’t argue that America was blessed as a nation because they’ve “supported Israel” when, hey, America’s been in a downward spiral since before the new Israel decided to plop itself down on the map, ye ken?

I certainly don’t side with Bachmann on the Israel thing (although I like her for certain other stances). The girl’s got such a crazed look in her eyes when she talks about them that makes me wonder… if Israel jumped off a bridge, would you, too, Michelle? Like I said, I’m just not sure I can jump on the whole “Israel is God’s Nation” bandwagon, because I haven’t studied the promises enough to know if I believe that they still apply to Israel as a nation or if God’s focus is the body of Christ, ie, Christians, when it comes to that sort of things these days. (All my non-Christian friends are probably scratching their heads and saying, “Wha–?” right now thanks to my lapse into Christianese, and for that I apologize.) I mean, Jews used to circumcise to identify themselves as followers of God’s law, and we don’t culturally do THAT any mo– oh, wait. Yeah, we do. Except that modern circumcision is a far, far cry beyond what Biblical circumcision was ever meant to be… which I wish I had known before giving birth to a son, but that’s neither here nor there at this point. Suffice to say, Biblical circumcision was never the practice that we know it as today. (Can I just state now that that is NOT a topic I ever thought I would be discussing on my blog?)

Moving right along…

Foreign aid? Heck, yeah. Cut it. I disagree with Santorum on this one. I don’t think our bureaeucracy needs to be taking money from its citizens to give to other bureaucrats who are then supposed to give it to their citizenry. A) it never gets to the people it’s supposed to, b) let us choose where we want our money to go in the first place.

Anyway… I am equal parts distraught over their dislike for each other (because I would have loved to see the two of them together on a ticket) and amused by the attempts to point out why the other “might not be as pro-life as they seem.”

Read the article here: Santorum, Paul Compete To Prove Pro-Life Credentials | Fox News

“Ooooh, you voted once FOR a bill that provided for money to go to Planned Parenthood!”   …even though the money was specifically not supposed to go to abortions. (I’m not saying I LIKE that he voted for it, I’m just pointing that out.

“Ooooh, you voted AGAINST legislation that would have provided for it to be a federal offense for the injury of an unborn child in a violent crime!”  …yes, because he supported that the amendment should provide that an unborn child is a PERSON, but believed that enforcement of said amendment should be left up to the government of the states rather than to the Feds.

Boys, boys. Let’s calm down. You’re all so used to pointing fingers that you can’t even tell when you are actually allies on an issue! Now, Romney… go ahead. Point fingers there. The guy was proudly pro-choice until he decided to run for president in ’08… and that was unfashionable, so he had to change his mind. Just like he’s changed it about everything else he’s ever stood for. I’m surprised he can agree with himself on his own name, when it comes down to it…

Oh, and did you hear? McCain is endorsing Romney.

…what? This IS my surpised face!

I’ve also heard that called “mama Grizzly mode”…

Read it here: Okla. Woman Shoots, Kills Intruder: 911 Operators Say It’s Okay to Shoot – ABC News

Silly ol’ 2nd Amendment.

What? I’m just trying to toe the line that our federal government is drawing in the sand.

Read it for yourself: Food Knowledge Is Now Terrorism

This makes me want to pursue a CSA membership and a larger garden all the more. Because at least then you know what’s going into and onto your food. *le sigh*

H/T: Rudy @ Preparing Your Family

Oh, that’s right. Cracking down on raw milk, that terribly noxious stuff that we can’t be trusted with.

Will wonders never cease?

Whether you’re a man or a woman, a parent or not, I heartily encourage you to head over there and take the time to read what she has to say.

What do you think? Does it challenge your own perceptions of NIP?

For those of you who have read Sheila Kippley’s Ecological Breastfeeding and Natural Child Spacing, does it help you to view EBF in a new light? To question, what does God say about this… and to revere just how amazing our Father is in the wisdom He displays throughout Creation (yes, even the human body)?

Feel free to share your thoughts.

This usually resulted in a thickly-greased pan and a lot of butter smooshed (read: wasted) into the paper towel, which was then thrown away.

Hm. There had to be a better way, right? Well, I’ve seen that you can now get olive oil sprays, which are invariably healthier for you than the vegetable sprays, but you still end up with a leftover can to pitch and, frankly, olive oil isn’t cheap. Now, the method I’ve discovered may not be for everyone, but if you use a lot of butter in your household (after all, most baking involves butter, yes?) and have a little extra freezer space, this is a great way to make sure that you’re getting the most out of your butter AND frugally grease your pans.

This is a stick of butter.

Profound, I know.

So, you take the stick of butter. You set it on your counter. You go and do something for five minutes. What? I don’t know. Fold some laundry. Change your kid’s diaper. Read that blog post you’ve been saving.

Come back. Remove the stick of butter. You can either put it in a countertop/tabletop container to keep it soft and ready for spreading on a slice of bread or what have you, or you can go ahead and use it now if you’re baking. Whatever suits your fancy.

Now, depending on how long you’ve left it sitting, and how warm the room is, you should have something like this:

The one on the left was unwrapped as soon as the stick came out of the fridge; the one on the right, after it had been sitting out for … probably longer than ive minutes. Ahem. Point being, you have a wrapper, and it’s going to have some buttery residue left on it. What do you do with it? Well, if you were a typical American, you’d toss it in the trash, like I used to. But not now!

Now, you have one of two options:
a) if you are baking right now, slap the thing down on your pan and start rubbing it around. It will grease your pan, whilst the paper will prevent your hands from getting all greasy as they would if you used the paper towel method, or
b) you can fold it in half and tuck it in the door of your freezer, saving it for later.

When you need to grease something, just open the freezer door and pull out a butter wrapper. Pull it open, flip it over, and start rubbing on the pan. The warmth of the room temperature pan will slowly melt the butter and allow the pan to be greased as you rub the wrapper around. Once you’ve greased it, you can toss the paper, having used the last remaining bits of butter! (Or, if it’s winter and you’ve got a wood stove, add it to your pile of kindling…)

A note about letting it sit at room temperature before unwrapping: you will have some buttery residue on the wrapper if you just unwrap it straight out of the fridge, but there won’t be as much as if you let it sit for a few minutes. That’s fine, if that suits you – you just might need to use more than one wrapper to grease a pan, depending on how much residue is left on the wrapper. Six of one, half a dozen of another, really. Whichever your preference. Personally, I’d rather let it sit for a minute and just have to use one wrapper to do up a set of cookie sheets or a baking pan, rather than use more than one wrapper. But that is just preference.

I’ve found that the  butter wrapper method is far more convenient than the paper towel / butter combo and frankly, just as convenient (and cheaper than) using a spray. What about you? What are some frugal and healthy “shortcuts” you’ve found in the kitchen?

This post will be linked up over at Your Green Resource.

We’re trying to keep them fair-trade / handcrafted / locally made, etc, versus Made in China, but I’m sure there will be years that, like Barbara, we end up getting the same ornament from, say, Walmart. Last year I got my man a hand-painted egg from a display at a local soap store. If I recall correctly, they were imported from Eastern Europe, where they were painted by women as a source of income to keep them out of poverty, prostitution, et cetera. I’ll have to snap a picture with this year’s ornaments once Christmas has passed. This year, the Wee Goon is getting a personalized wooden “Baby’s First Christmas” ornament that I found on Etsy.

A great resource for handcrafted ornaments, aside from Etsy or your local small town gift shops, is WAR International. WAR stands for Women At Risk, and is an organization that helps women out of sex trafficking, etc. They have beautiful blown glass ornaments as well as other handcrafted items, so if you’re looking to support them, you don’t just have to focus on Christmas!

Right now we just keep our ornaments
wrapped in tissue paper within generic cardboard boxes, but I would like to find something more permanent and/or keepsake for when the WG takes these with him someday. If you follow this tradition, what do you use to store your child’s ornaments, and what do you like or not like about it?

I don’t agree philosophically with the song that he chose to sing, but… this was very moving.

EDIT:

The version I saw was a higher resolution, but it was via Facebook, so.. I’m going to see if I can find a better resolution on YouTube than this one.