My boys can swim...again

That's right, another boy.

Kandel Dips His Wick

Atlas Shrugs at liberals

"The goal of the 'liberals' —as it emerges from the record of the past decades—was to smuggle this country into welfare statism by means of single, concrete, specific measures, enlarging the power of the government a step at a time, never permitting these steps to be summed up into principles, never permitting their direction to be identified or the basic issue to be named. Thus, statism was to come, not by vote or by violence, but by slow rot—by a long process of evasion and epistemological corruption, leading to a fait accompli."

—Ayn Rand

GI Saves Iraqi Boy in Long-Shot Adoption

The story linked to in the title servers as a reminder of what the Christmas season is about. This man, a Christian serving in the military, gave one little boy a gift that is almost without compare. As we celebrate this Christmas season and spend time with our families and friends, let's remember the men and women serving in the military who are away from their families. The prayers and encouragement from people back home are one gift we can give them this Holiday season.

Islam, the religion of peace and tolerance

Muslims in Sudan demonstrate once again how peaceful and tolerant Islam is. This is only weeks after a rape victim in Saudi Arabia had her sentence of lashes doubled for drawing media attention to the case. Clearly, a peaceful and tolerant religion. No cause for concern here, the true villain, the rape victim, has been adequately punished. She'll probably think twice before she allows herself to be raped in the future.

The thing that kills me about these stories is the complete lack of outcry. Where are Amnesty Internation, NOW and other human rights organizations? I guess these "crimes" aren't as serious as waterboarding terrorists or alleged mishandling of the Koran. Those are true crimes worthy of international attention.

Time flies

It has been almost five months to the day since I posted last and a lot has gone on since then. Caedon turned 1 in July and didn't seem quite sure what he was supposed to do with his cake. I'm sure he'll make up for it next year. Trying to match the boundless energy and insatiable curiosity of a 16 month old child is well nigh impossible. Caedon started walking everywhere while we were celebrating our fifth wedding anniversary in Colorado while staying with the in-laws. Since then, nothing is safe. He knows where his snacks are and how to get into the cupboards, he pounds on the TV, he takes Daddy's books off the shelf (a definate no-no), he drags his toys all over the house. Sometimes it seems like he can be in multiple places at once. I doubt that I will ever tire of seeing him smile or playing hide and seek with him or watching him "read" his books. There are times when he will go into his room and pull every book off his bookshelf and page through them one at a time. In that regard, he is definitely his father's son.

Softball came to an early end this year. I pulled my hamstring at a tournament two weeks before Labor Day and as a result, I wasn't able to go with the team to Ft. Wayne. This was a miserable experience, not only because it hurt, but because it was yet another indicator that I'm getting older. 30 is just around the corner. You're only as old as you feel though, and by that token I'm not much more than 20.

About a month ago, we found out that Melissa was pregnant again. Unfortunately, we went through the heartache of a miscarriage two weeks ago. In the midst of that heartache though, our church was right there with flowers and cards and visits to the hospital. We are truly blessed to belong to such a caring body. Despite the disappointment and sorrow, God is good and Melissa is physically fine. So, Lord willing, there will be more Hershbergers running around before too long.

Work has been pretty busy the last couple of months. There's a big project due at the end of the year that is taking up most of my time. It's nice to be so busy again that the days fly by. Hopefully, I won't be so busy that five months pass before another post appears. As we move farther into the 2008 election cycle, I'm sure I'll have plenty to post about.

Caedon