Sorry I've been gone, guys.

I'm working 12-hour shifts at work, at night. And it sucks.

Also, VA apparently suspended my license 5 years ago without telling me, so I've been battling with DMV regulations to try to get it reinstated before my CA license expires.

In other news, the nursery is coming together, the baby shower is in two weeks and Liam is quite happy about mom staying up with him all night. Also, the cats miss my lap and Addy thinks nursing bras are hilarious.

Aaaaaand.... that's all for now. Life is really boring but really busy, and, well, I can't talk about work so there it is.

I love you all!

I'm not being hormonal if you really are being a dick.

Guys, I'm going to share with you a little secret that can literally save you collective years of trouble: If your wife, girlfriend, friend, sister, or any other significant woman in your life is pregnant, PMSing, or just generally in a foul mood, there is nothing that is more guaranteed to make her go from zero to bitch faster than to say something in any way analogous to:
"You're just saying that because you're hormonal."
Here's a news flash: If you actually are doing the thing we're angry at you for doing, we're not angry at you because we're hormonal. We're angry because you actually ARE being a jackass. Hormones don't make imaginary slights appear out of nowhere; they just make us want to feast on your flesh underneath the full moon light when, otherwise, we might have merely wanted to maim you. The things we get pissed off about, by and large, are no different if we're hormonal or just cranky.
If, upon review of her complaint, you find that she has a valid point, the CORRECT response is, "You are right and I will do better in the future." Then do it. And if she really doesn't have a point, the correct response is, "I understand that you're upset, but I think we both need time to cool off before we talk about it." Giving her a minute to relax (and, if she's fatso pregnant, bringing her a lovely, virgin beverage won't hurt your cause, either) might just make her realize she was overreacting (even if she's not entirely wrong about her complaint.).
Swallow your pride, suck it up, and stop trying to blame normal bodily functions you don't understand when you actually are being a jerk.

To preface, I know I said I would continue this series until the White House took down their snitchline, which they have -- but there's enough rotten fish that it still stinks in here, and just because our four-day work-week reps are on a month-long vacation doesn't mean things are cooling off; it is August, after all. Things are just warming up.

But to take a break from the politics, it's interesting to me that many of the proponents I've seen on Xanga for government health insurance / universal health care are self-proclaimed Christians; even more interesting is just how many make the claim that one must support universal health care in order to be like Christ. These are, by and large, the kind of "progressive" Christians who also oppose war, take a neutral stance on abortion, and see taxing the wealthy as an effective means of both profiting the "poor" while helping the "rich" through the needle's eye.

Now, I don't fault these peoples' desire to help those whom they see as having the greatest need. I certainly don't fault their compassion. And I have no doubt that they truly feel that they are living as Christ would want them to. What I do doubt is the foundation of their basic premise: That God supports a government take-over of health care.

Jesus was among us only 32(ish) years, but during that time He taught us a few things we are to live by. He issued us certain mandates and assured us that these mandates are from His Daddy. Most of them are so simple and self-explanatory that we try to dress them up, make them seem a little more fancy than the words of a carpenter's kid. But in the end, they're still just simple precepts, intended to be followed by simple people.

1: We are to stop worrying.
"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes?"
God wants us to trust Him to know what is best, not only for us, but for the world. It's His creation; He can handle it. That's not to say we need only give up and stop being responsible with our means, trusting that God will get us out of any situation we find ourselves in. But it does mean He is bigger than our circumstances and He can get us out of them according to His will.
2: We are to be responsible with what we are given.
"The man who had received the five talents brought the other five. 'Master,' he said, 'you entrusted me with five talents. See, I have gained five more.' His master replied, 'Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master's happiness!'"
Nothing we have is really ours; not even the breath in our lungs. Our clothes, our homes, our health, our bodies, our income -- everything is God's, entrusted to us for a time, to test us and to be used as tools to make us ready for His kingdom. God does not give us our money to squander it needlessly; nor does he expect us to be foolish about its investment in His kingdom on Earth. Rather, we are to do with it what will effect the greatest benefit with least waste.
3: We are to help those in need.
"When Jesus heard this, he said to him, 'You still lack one thing. Sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.'"
Jesus tells us the investment of treasure in Heaven: Giving away treasure on Earth, not for our benefit (not publicly, for others to see), but in order that they may be blessed.
4: We are to give what we have.
"But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins, worth only a fraction of a penny. Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, "I tell you the truth, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything—all she had to live on."
No matter what our income, our station in life or our blessings, we are to follow the example of the woman and the mite -- we are to give, not only what we can, but what we have.
5: We are to love others.
"But I tell you who hear me: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you."
God doesn't play favorites with His creation; He makes it clear we're not allowed to, either.
6: We are to be trustworthy.
"So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches?"
It is easy to see how we can fail at being trustworthy according to God's standards. Do you really need a candy bar? A dinner out? A new movie? TV? None of these things are bad; but when they usurp our responsibility and duty to God, they violate His trust in us.
7: We are to be wise.
"I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as wise as snakes and as innocent as doves."
We aren't to simply take things on face value, but to test all things and see whether they be of God or of man.
8: We are to keep our priorities straight.
"The poor you will always have with you, but you will not always have me."
God makes the rich, the same as the poor; and He has told us that the poor will always be with us. Every government or plan which has ever been set up around eradicating poverty has inevitably led to greater injustices than the poverty itself, because only God has control over who will come, who will go, and what their station in life will be
9: We are to obey God.
"Why do you ask me about what is good?" Jesus replied. "There is only One who is good. If you want to enter life, obey the commandments."
God's mandates over our lives, His final authority, and His sovereignty, are not absolved by the coming, death, and resurrection of Christ; on the contrary, Christ came in order to point us to obey His Father, not partially, not once a week, not only with those sins we never really took much pleasure in to begin with... but completely.
10: We are to obey the laws of the land (render unto Caesar).
"Then he said to them, 'Give to Caesar what is Caesar's, and to God what is God's.'"
Many Christians don't like this verse. But the bottom line is that, for better or worse, governments are put in place by God for His will to be done. Even the most tyrannical of leaders plays a part in God's plan for our lives, deaths, and redemption. As such we are to obey their just authority unless and until it conflicts with God's mandates for our lives.

What does this have to do with health care? I'll tell you in the next installation.

Americans, by and large, are pretty big on our rights. We cherish our right to speak, to be religious, to live, to protect ourselves, to own property. We cherish these rights so much so that we were one of the first nations to write a Constitution acknowledging that the government may only recognize those rights already inherent to us as people, and that government cannot grant or revoke those rights. This is an extremely unique concept in modern society. Our nation is literally constructed around the idea that we have rights simply because we are people, and that it is the responsibility of the government to acknowledge and protect those rights. It cannot grant them or add to them, because it has no power to revoke them.

Keeping this in mind, then, it is important to note the difficulties in adding or lifting Constitutional amendments. The founders' objective was to keep the Constitution from becoming a political favor-granting document which politicians could use to buy constituents' votes and power. The act of making a thing a federally-recognized right is no small matter and was never intended to be. This is why many politicians, rather than attempting to add to the Constitution, now merely "interpret" one particular clause or another in such a way as to imply that their particular point of view is already embedded in the text -- for instance, in the case of Roe v. Wade / Doe v. Bolton.

This is how liberals now attempt to justify their health care schemes in a Constitutional Republic -- not by attempting to make health care a federal right, but by explaining that health care is already embedded in the "general welfare" clause (already discussed). Although many have discussed making an actual Constitutional amendment, such an amendment would violate the very nature of rights themselves -- thus making any "right" to health care completely meaningless because all human rights would then be reduced to mere platitudes.

And here's why: Each and every right we have as people incurs a specific, negative obligation. I have the right to live; therefore, you have the negative obligation not to kill me. I have the right to property; therefore, you have the negative obligation not to steal from me. I have the right to speak; therefore you have the negative obligation not to censure me. I have the right to a fair trial by jury; therefore, you have the negative obligation not to obstruct justice. And on and on it goes.

Now, each of these negative obligations is accepted because it's understood that we each get something back when we comply. Failure to comply may result in loss of freedom (prison) or loss of life (killing in self-defense). Furthermore, each is equal; a senator might have certain perks in life, but he still has the same obligations as a garbage man when it comes to not killing, stealing, raping, and justice. Such obligations are neutral, universal and the minimal exercise of government necessary to maintain freedom and order.

The reason health care cannot be a fundamental human right should now be obvious to you: Because if you have the right to health care, the negative obligation is that physicians must treat you, with or without your consent, with or without your reimbursement for their time, expertise, and expenses. Such an obligation is not neutral, because no one else has the "right" to make similar demands on you in return; it is not universal, since only physicians may practice medicine; and is not minimal, because it forces both the patient and the government to make demands on the physician's life, time, and property.

Some will respond by saying that, if physicians do not want to take on this responsibility, they should not have become doctors; to which I respond, that's kind of the point. Canada has experienced a drastic drop in the number of physicians per capita, with illegal private clinics operating more and more frequently in secluded areas where many public practice doctors no longer work. The Wait Time Alliance has repeatedly reported a lack of medical care among the poorest, most secluded Canadians. Same for England, France and Holland. When health care is made into a "right" with inescapable demands, fewer physicians want to practice.

And that brings us to alternative care.

Quick digression: My cat has been sick for the past few days, sneezing and running a slight fever. She was ill when she originally came to us but has been in good health ever since till now. If she's still sick by Monday I'll be taking her to the vet on base as soon as they can get her in. I was exposed to FIV last weekend and I'm very much praying that she didn't somehow contract it through secondhand exposure.

Please pray for her recovery, that this is just allergies or a cold and not something more serious.

In light of the White House's new request that American citizens report on each other "disinformation" about health care reform (like, you know, posting links to HR3200's text and quoting Obama's own words -- which, contrary to his handlers' testimonies, reflect a position too oft-repeated to be manufactured out of thin air), I've decided that, from now on, I will only be adding posts on Obamacare until one of the following two things happen:
1: The White House revokes its request on American citizens to report the exercise of free speech; or
2: Someone reports me, with a credible copy of the original e-mail and the White House auto-response e-mail. (Screen shot preferred.)

I wanted to write something substantial today but ended up having to work 12 hours and now I'm just bone tired -- so this'll have to wait until the weekend. But be sure I'm taking notes and names -- I really don't care if everything I write is 100% accurate. It's not the point. Whether information is fully accurate or not is not the defining characteristic of free speech; free speech exists as an agent of its own right; though I will try to put forth only what is accurate, true and verifiable by the average American.

Sorry if that means I suddenly get very boring (more so than usual), but for those far more intelligent and witty than I, I invite you to take up the challenge: Post entries on Obama's health care reform, talk about it to friends, send e-mails, and see if anyone reports.

I've been keeping track of the news all this week, about health care and Henry Gates and Iraq and North Korea and Israel, and how the last year would make a good Billy Joel song. And I thought I would write a little (okay, you all know me by now -- LONG) entry on race in America, or our foreign policy nightmare, or the health care crisis about to be created against the will of the people. But instead, I'm going to take the advice of a good friend and focus on the positive, and the people who make my life rich and full. And I can't do that without mentioning my Xanga family.

Wendi, your brilliance, fortitude, and sense of self-sacrifice is evident in everything you write. You are a tireless source of commiseration and friendship for all who know and respect you -- not because you think all are worthy, but because you know all are people. Your dedication to freedom for those with whom you most vehemently disagree is an standard by which all Americans should strive to achieve. If ever I make it back to my beloved Texas, you and I will have to share a pitcher of lemonade... and maybe a cup of tea or two. ;)
Kellie, what can be said of a friend like you? You've lived enough experiences to last two lifetimes, yet you have absorbed them with a grace many strive for, and few possess. You have so many times poured out written illustrations of a broken heart with eloquence, dignity and respect. But to name you a shrinking damsel is to ignore what gives you the strength to be who you are: Your intelligence, your depth of character, and your love for your children, your country and your liberty. I have never before met an individual so willing to challenge long-held, preconceived notions on the chance that opposing evidence could be true. For that, you have my respect, appreciation, and grateful friendship.
JJ Ames -- I refer to your blog as "literary ADD" with the utmost love and appreciation. You're one of the few who is able to talk about a wide range of subjects, and each of them with the same humor, charisma and individual style. And beyond that, it's clear that you truly care about people -- not just issues, but the people most effected by them. And it's your ability to care that makes you not only a great writer, but a great listener. I know that your future profession will be greatly benefitted by your addition to it, and hope nothing but the best for you.

To be continued...