Mismanagement at Planned Parenthood

Is there anyone left who truly believes that Planned Parenthood is a great civic community service? Even if you aren’t prolife and opposed to abortion, you’d have to be a blind follower to keep defending Planned Parenthood in this day and age.

As you may know, in many areas across the country, the gloves have come off in dealing with Planned Parenthood and its misguided minions. Planned Parenthood, like many abortion clinics, is so desperate for profits they have spent a half-century lying and covering up its many illegal and unethical actions.

Two Years Since Obadiah was Born and Died: More Thoughts on Grief

Today is the second birthday of my seventh child, Obadiah Malachi. It’s also the 2nd anniversary of his death. As I previously wrote, it was the most grievous day of my life.

The past two years have seemed to move in slow motion. Each day is a trial. Each day presses me in some way. What used to be easy is now hard. Some things that were once difficult are now much easier.

Infinity and Grief

Families can’t run Public Schools; NEA is Needed

I recently received an email from a well-meaning friend who was discussing some options regarding the upcoming Presidential election. My friend is a public school teacher and a Christian, so I was a bit surprised when he made the following statement:

Paul is the only candidate still talking about eliminating the National Educational Association’s interference with education, which is something that as a public school teacher I think ought to be controlled first by families and second by the most local government possible.

My Heroes

These are people who I have spent many years looking up at. Some folks might think it is a kind of blasphemy to have earthly heroes. In other words, what person can possibly not fall short of who we really should be looking at for inspiration and guidance. I don’t know. I’m a bit torn. I truly have heart-felt emotions toward or about these people, and I don’t think those emotions are suspect or shallow. I also have to confess that I frequently look for more people to inspire me, help me, show me the way, or just live a just and peaceable life. I’m so far from perfect that finding a person who is doing some things right can be a very positive boost that helps me believe it is possible to do better. I’ll add to this page from time to time and these are not in any particular order.

On the Importance to Men of Raising Children

There are many events in a man’s life which may rightfully be labeled important. In my own experience, I often look back to determine how these events have changed me, how they have shaped me, or how I have grown through them. Through this reflection, I recognize only one event significant enough to be labeled important, that is, life-changing. Although it can hardly be called a singular event, the raising of children, each day, is the most important event of my life.

Grocery Shopping Revisited

Excel Grocery ListSeveral years ago, I designed a spreadsheet for grocery shopping in Microsoft Excel. The idea was that we would no longer forget certain things when we go shopping. With (now) six children, the human brain can only hold so much information. We’ve tried shopping in larger amounts and cooking in advance (known as freezer cooking), but for day-to-day life, when things get kind of hectic and we lose our ability to plan, we had to have a more consistent approach to fall back on.

100 Pages on Salberg.Org

As of this post, Salberg.Org now has 100 pages on it. Seems like a milestone worth mentioning. I hadn’t even noticed it creeping up until just checking a few things on the site after posting the previous article. I’d like to say I have 100 posts, but that isn’t entirely true. There are a lot of static pages on the site such as the archives page, my general information pages like my favorite talk radio shows, my long lost friends, and so forth. I believe this is actually the 77th post.

Television Viewing Habits

Steve Pavlina once again has posted yet another good article that I feel compelled to comment on. He currently is in the middle of a 30-day TV fast and while that is good, I’m hoping he, and many others, continue to avoid television much more. As a father of six children, people often question what we “do” since we don’t have a television. I find the question amusing - but first let me give a little background.

Gifts for Obadiah

Just wanted to post this real quick as a sort of public thank you while I was thinking about it. I’m sure there are many other major thank you’s, but wanted to make these known.

Some thoughts on grief

I’m sort of exhausted again after another day of bizarre sleep patterns. My mother-in-law, who has experienced the death of her first child as a stillborn, and the death of her husband about ten years ago, told me today that “grief is exhausting”. I couldn’t agree more. I’m constantly exhausted, feeling like doing nothing, but yet, I can’t sleep. The night before Obadiah’s funeral, I only got two hours of sleep. I later fell asleep for about 90 minutes - just out of sheer exhaustion at about 4 in the afternoon. You’d think I’d come home and crash. No. I only got about four hours of sleep last night.

Obadiah’s Song

I had asked my friend, Dietrich Browne, if he would consider playing a few songs at the service. We had decided only to have a graveside service. Partly, unlike someone who is older, there just isn’t much for people to say in the way of a Eulogy for a newborn or small child. But then, again, there seems to be something kind of sweet and innocent about that. Like there is such meaning to this life even though the person never accomplished anything or formed any great relationships or whatever. We just have to honor his short life for what it was - a creation from God, a blessing, a gift.

Obadiah Malachi

Yesterday, I buried my son Obadiah Malachi. He was stillborn on May 21. It has been the most heart-wrenching experience of my life. I feel very much like writing and writing and just getting it all out, yet at the same time feel like doing nothing. But I have to write and here seems as appropriate as anywhere else. I really never handwrite anything anyway, so a journal wouldn’t work for me. My thoughts always come faster than I can write, but I type pretty fast so it is easier to keep up with myself.

Problems with Florida

I think home is what you make of it. Just stay put and good things will happen to you. Build relationships, build your community. Don’t hate the outsiders that come and visit - or stay!

A Not-so-Singular View of Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Fall of the House of Usher”

The Fall of the House of Usher and Other Writings : Poems, Tales, Essays, and Reviews (Penguin Classics)The Fall of the House of Usher is considered by most to be Poe’s greatest work. Although some works are more famous, such as the Cask of Amontillado and The Raven, the Fall of the House of Usher is wrought with interpretive possibilities. However, before discussing these, a brief summary of the story must be given.

Like many Poe stories, the cast of characters is extremely limited. Poe instead spends much of his time developing a smaller cast of characters, often taking up much of the story just in development. Events are often limited as they are in Usher. There are three characters in Usher: the Narrator, whose name is not given, Roderick Usher, and his twin sister, the Lady Madeline.

Compulsory Education Laws and their Effect on My Family

“Law”, said the English judge Sir William Blackstone, “is the embodiment of the moral sentiment of the people” (Edwards 343). Accordingly, the compulsory education laws in America have served greatly to further injure the very thing they originally set about to amend. As a homeschooling father of five small children, I am thankful to those who have resisted the untoward advances of state educational power over children. They rightly understood that if parents do not retain the ultimate responsibility and authority over the education of their children, they, in effect, have no control over the raising of their children in any sphere, whether it is moral, social, spiritual, or mental.