An Excellent a capella Version of The Little Drummer Boy

An a capella version of The Little Drummer Boy by Pentatonix, a quintet who perform without instruments.  They named their group for the pentatonic scale, which has five notes per octave, since there are five members in the group.

The Little Drummer Boy was written by Katherine Kennicott Davis (1892-1980), a music teacher, composer, and pianist.  She based the tune on a Czech baby rocking carol which has never been successfully identified.  The original title of Davis' song was Carol of the Drum.  Davis left all her music royalties to Wellesley College.

Stirring Up a Hornet’s Nest

Read about the Ariel Castro kidnapping case in these links.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/05/08/ariel-castro-had-ropes-an_n_3237412.html

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/05/07/castro-berry-cleveland/2140619/

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-201_162-57583428/ariel-castro-cleveland-kidnapping-suspect-helped-look-for-missing-girl/

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2320564/Ariel-Castro-pictured-Suspect-Amanda-Berry-Gina-DeJesus-Michelle-Knight-kidnap-arrested--BROTHERS.html

http://www.cleveland.com/metro/index.ssf/2013/05/tv_station_reports_berry_dejes.html

http://www.lifenews.com/2013/05/16/letter-asks-prosecutor-to-charge-ariel-castro-over-five-forced-abortions/

http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/story/2013/05/10/ariel-castro-cleveland-kidnapping-rape-charges.html

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-201_162-57583620/michelle-knight-told-cops-ariel-castro-threatened-to-kill-her-if-amanda-berrys-baby-died/
http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Justice/2013/0510/Could-Ariel-Castro-be-tried-for-murder-Case-would-be-unprecedented

The prosecutor in this horrible case is about to stir up a hornet’s nest.  Ariel Castro stands accused of kidnapping three women and holding them against their wills for ten years.  He repeatedly raped and sexually abused all three, impregnating two of them.  One of the women was impregnated five times.  Castro ended each of the five pregnancies by starving and beating the woman.  One child, now six years old, was born to another of the hostages.

Abortion and the question of when a fetus officially becomes human are sharply divisive issues in the United States at this time.  There are already arguments beginning over whether Castro’s termination of the pregnancies constituted feticide or homicide.  If the killings are declared to have been homicides, then Castro is eligible for the death penalty.  But, if the killings are declared to have been homicides, then the fetuses will have been declared to have been human.  Obviously, for supporters of abortion rights, this just will not be acceptable.

This places the abortion supporters into a tight spot.  Virtually everyone is agreed that Castro’s crimes against the three women (they were still legally children when he abducted them) are heinous and evil.  Abortion supporters may be forced into a corner where they have to downplay the seriousness of some of Castro’s crimes.  It is a corner of their own making.

This is, of course, a religious issue, but I believe that an atheist could come to the same conclusion that I have: the killings of the fetuses were murders.

They Know What You Are Saying!

I was walking my dog when a neighbor came by with her two young boys on a walk.  The two year old was driving his tricycle.  The other boy has just turned one year old.  The mother was pushing him in a little car.  The youngest boy waved at me and then turned to his mother and bumped his hands together. He was telling his mother that he wanted "more," presumably more of his "car ride."  The sign can be seen in the fourth link listed below.

The mother told me that the youngest boy knew several signs for simple things like "more," "finished," "hungry," "sleepy," "love," and "play." I had heard of this before and told her what that meant. The child, in correctly using the sign language, was demonstrating that he understood.  This also meant that he understood what his parents were saying and that he was listening.  I told her what she already knew; that children understand and are able to communicate long before they are able to speak.

Many people talk, and even argue, in front of "the baby," never realizing that the baby is listening.  How wonderful it is if what the baby hears is talk of Jesus and what the baby sees is two righteous and loving parents.

The baby sign language is inspired by the American Sign Language for the Deaf.
Links about infant sign language:

http://www.babysignlanguage.com/

http://www.babysignlanguage.com/dictionary/first-signs/

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/baby-sign-language/AN02127

http://www.parenting.com/gallery/baby-sign-language-words-to-know

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baby_sign_language

http://www.parents.com/baby/development/sign-language/

http://lifeprint.com/asl101/pages-signs/b/baby.htm
http://www.signbabies.com/
http://www.google.com/search?q=infant+sign+language&hl=en&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=vZ2KUaeNMIOm8QSrxYGgBw&sqi=2&ved=0CD0QsAQ&biw=1202&bih=812

You Will Laugh

You will laugh.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WxUulGkLu4I

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zZH0sNsaAz4&feature=fvwp&NR=1

http://www.neatorama.com/2010/02/15/laughing-quads-turn-ten-tomorrow/

http://www.mathiasquads.org/

“A merry heart doeth good like a medicine: but a broken spirit drieth the bones.”  Proverbs 17:22

Feticide Laws

On Tuesday, 23 October 2012, police in Walker, Louisiana (USA) responded to a 911 call to find that a man, possibly under the influence of psychoactive drugs, had stabbed his seven month pregnant wife and cut the baby out of her body.  There is an unconfirmed report that the child was stabbed in the head. 

The mother survived but the baby died.  The father has been charged with one charge of feticide and one charge of attempted second degree murder.  Second degree murder is a non-premeditated killing from an attack so dangerous that a result of death is a real possibility.

Thirty-eight of the fifty United States recognize the “unborn child” as a human homicide victim.  The laws vary in their details, with some covering differing periods of a pregnancy.

In 2004, then United States President George W. Bush signed the Unborn Victims of Violence Act which views unborn children as humans if they are injured or killed during the commission of a list of specific federal crimes, including terrorism.

The United States courts have declared that these laws do not apply to legal abortions.  My question is, “Why not?”  Is the only difference that the murdered child is wanted and the aborted child is not? 

Book Comment: Baby's First Book About Jesus

In this sweet book with simple non-threatening pictures, the longest sentence is "Jesus is the Son of God." He is shown preaching, loving, teaching, and having risen from the dead. In most of the pictures He is shown with small children. This is a nice, non-challenging introduction to Jesus for a very young pre-schooler.

Baby's First Book About Jesus (St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1979)