latour started a thread inspired by the various cost saving tips that have popped up in recent articles (sorry, latour, no link because the liberals have ridiculed the working class long enough on THAT thread). The idea was to leave various tips on stretching the dollar as far as you could. It turned into a liberal "hyuck-fest" basically mocking the working poor who try to get by on their own means and not government assistance. The comments on the original articles were worthwhile,...
Many readers are surprised that I, a proclaimed conservative Christian, side with one of the key arguments of the gay rights movement; that the government has no right dictating to consenting adults the terms of their relationships. Long answer short: because I live a "deviant" lifestyle. You see, as conservative Christians, my wife and I believe that I am the head of the household. While I respect and value my wife, the ultimate decisions are made by me, and the ultimate consequences fall...
In a couple of my recent articles, the point was made that we should have a JU Value handbook. To that end, I've opened this thread. I have seen many excellent ideas tossed out on topic, and would like to toss out some of my own as well. I've already detailed how we save money on food, clothes, and living expenses, but I will go further. Please add your own pointers in the comments section. Garage sales, auctions, and estate sales are excellent places for bargains. In all of these, my "ne...
Over the years, I've decided I don't really mind being "poor" by US standards. There are too many more pressing things for me to spend my life in pursuit of the almighty dollar. No, really. But what I cannot stand is when someone looks at us, knowing we don't have a lot, and offers us a handout. I'm not talking about a gift, or hand me down clothing, but a bona fide handout. You see, the message they're sending with their handout is patently offensive. The implicit message is: You're n...
While I'm firmly against the idea of banning gay marriage, I am sick and tired of those who make the current puch to gay marriages out to be some sort of civil rights crusade. Put simply, it isn't. While there are some who disagree with me, I have yet to see compelling evidence that homosexuality is a part of a person's genetic makeup. If it were, would there be a large number of people who left the homosexual lifestyle? Think about it. Sure, you can insist that they're living contrary to the...
On a couple of my recent blogs, I found it amazing what some people consider to be necessities. We have become so pampered as a society that we demand VARIETY in our diet, as well as nutrition. The truth is, if you're poor, there's no RIGHT to variety in your diet. We marvel at people in third world countries who live on $3-400 a YEAR. While they don't pay rent (they squat in makeshift shacks), they still must pay for food and clothing. Some people don't make it. But a remarkable number o...
One of my pet peeves as regards "Child Protective Services" (called by various names in various states) is that they operate above the law. Illegal search and seizure? Well within their jurisdiction and common practice. Miranda rights? Forget about them; there are none as regards a CPS case worker. Innocent until proven guilty? Try the other way around. And so it was no surprise to me that, in a real life case I am chronicling, the judge's order to restore the children removed from a family t...
For those who haven't gathered, I am a conservative Christian. And I am unapologetically so. As conservative Christians, who homeschool our children, we are careful about the curriculum we choose. When the kids were younger, that extended to the books we had in our library. And so it was a surprise to us when we saw that a popular children's book series contained some material that we considered VERY offensive. We began to pick through the books to decide if we needed to get rid of the en...
OK, this one's gonna draw flames from the left. But you know what? I don't care! I still believe the food stamp program needs to be eliminated, but as Bakerstreet correctly pointed out, the elimination can't be done overnight. It needs to be done over time. And so, I feel, for the short term at least, that food stamp and other public aid recipients need to put on orange jumpsuits and put on highway cleanup detail. If they're too disabled to do that, they can show up and shred or collate p...
(Note to Gene Nash: I actually had this blog in mind well before your comment on LW's thread). One of the things that irks me in this country is the number of people who seem entirely incapable of living within their means. On Little_Whip's thread about minimum wage, for instance, one reader makes the comment that you are in trouble if you make $45K a year because a house costs $240K and a car costs at least $20K. Of course, it was pointed out repeatedly how wrong he was, but I'm sure he didn...
There's a push lately to remove all religious instruction from the public schools. Not only would it be a bad idea, it would require historical revisionism of monumental proportions. For, you see, states are rightly required by their state education laws to teach state history. And in many states you cannot do that without discussing religion. A discussion of Utah history without the mention of Mormons is absolutely impossible; they were the ones who first settled the state! Likewise, most Ne...
In a recent blog, the blogger writes: During the morning announcements, I heard that some sort of "Love Winnipeg" group was doing a BBQ in the parking and giving away free hot dogs. I figured they were some sort of civic responsibility/anti-littering group, so I went. While in line for the hot dogs (there's obviously a line whenever people give away free hot dogs), For brevity's sake, I will fill in the blanks for those of you who haven't read the post. The gist of it was, the gro...
I have been thinking a lot about the food stamp program lately. It is becoming more and more apparent to me that food stamps are a program that the federal government can, and should eliminate. Now of course, a lot of people will be asking "what about the starving in the US?" Their question, while sincere, is ignorant of the facts. The simple truth is, there is no reason for ANYONE in this country to starve. None. Why do I make such a sweeping statement? Simple. Because private charities i...
The Libertarian Party has launched www.lpedia.org , a wikipedia style information database for Libertarians. I am listed, and have also constructed an information on Theodora "Tonie" Nathan, who, in 1972, was the first female in US History to gain an electoral college vote. LPedia is a long way from being complete. There are a lot of articles yet to be written by contributors, but for those who are interested in learning more about the party, its ideals, and its history, it has tremendous po...
OK, here's the deal. As most of my regular readers know, I am revamping my resume for an upcoming job fair in two weeks. I have been trying to figure out how to use people online to "proof" my resume for extra input, and I think I've figured it out. Feel free to respond in the comments if you want to proofread my resume. If you are not an established member of JU, please email me at: gideon.macleish@gmail.com and let me know a little about who you are. I want to be somewhat careful about...