Winning the War on Terror

The State Department has released its annual report, Patterns of Global Terrorism that shows that there were fewer acts of international terror in 2003 in more than 30 years. The report found that "190 acts of international terrorism occurred in 2003--a slight drop from 198 attacks the previous year and the lowest total since 1969." That's also a 45% decrease since 2001, when America became engaged in the war on terror.

This is important to note. America is engaged in War on Terror, not an imperialistic effort attempting to "force [our] nation through military occupation." As the State Department's report states and as the President has reminded us, our war in Iraq is a theater in that war. We must root out and destroy terrorists and the states that support terrorists if we are to continue to survive. The sad fact is, that the terrorist wouldn't care if we were political isolationists and pulled out of all 130 some-odd countries that we have troops stationed in. They would still come and attack us because our basic values of liberty, economic freedom, and most importantly, Judeo-Christian philosophy is their enemy. America is just the face to the enemy.

Terrorists are not a political entity and, therefore, political arguments about sticking our nose into their business and killing them are irrelevant. States that support terrorists (as it has been clearly documented that Iraq was doing...Saddam was paying families of Hamas suicide bombers and allowed several terrorist training camps to exist in Iraq) abdicate their rights to be treated as states and must be viewed as terrorists as well.

Let me see if I can explain this in common terms. Last year we had a big problem with ants in our house. No matter how many times I stepped on an ant and killed it, another would appear the next day. I sprayed bug killer around all the doors and windows. Still, some ants got past my security measures and invaded my home. I would kill ants one-at-a-time and never seemed to get ahead. Then, I got smart. I went outside my home and found the ant nests. I attacked the ant nests with everything I could find. It was only when I attacked the problem at its root, that I was able to get a handle on the problem in my home. Just like I'm not going to be able to control the ants by stomping on the occasional scout that happens into my home, I must find the ant colony, and eliminate it, so must we treat the terrorists. The states that sponsor terrorists are the colonies.

Now, I don't care if Iraqi's want to live under a democracy, theocracy, or dictatorship, as long as their government does not become a haven for breeding and training terrorists who will attack us. Destroying these countries who sponsor terrorism is not involving ourselves in their "political agenda," it is protecting ours. Now, I do believe that the only true way to destroy terrorism as a philosophy is to replace it with a philosophy or liberty. However, attempting to change a culture is not a job for our government...it is a job for our churches. Removing states that are danger to us, is indeed our government's job.

This is indeed a complex issue. One in which even well-intentioned, rational people can reach different conclusions. Has our administration done the best job in Iraq? No, there have been some blunders. There is never a perfect war and even the best laid plans are useless once the first bullet flies. Is the Bush administration attempting to do right by our country by protecting it? Yes. Since we have seen a 45% decrease in terrorists attacks since the War on Terror has been declared clearly paints a picture that we are doing the right thing? Is the administration doing right by the people in Iraq in the manner that it is attempting to install a post-invasion government? I don't know and don't care. That is for the Iraqi people to decide...let them set up whatever kind of government they want...just so they understand that if terrorist show up again...so will we.

This is a war that should transcend political ideology. Even though our President and the media refuse to speak in the following terms, the war on Terror is a Holy war. It is a war of Judeo-Christian values against the false religion of Islam. As I have said in the past, "The war on Iraq is the physical manifestation of a spiritual battle for global dominance between the Deceiver and the Truth." Thank you God for helping us to win it.

Another loss for Christianity in the courts

According to the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, discriminating based on sexual orientation trumps discrimination based on Christina values under the Equal Employment opportunity (EEO) law. The story tells how an employee was fired expressing her religious belief that homosexuality is a sin. When she was fired for "discriminating" against sexual orientation, she sued saying the company was "discriminating" against her religious beliefs.

Now, I think the EEO laws go against the libertarian values of freedom. An employer should be able to discriminate on any trait he chooses, after all, it his money and his job. This does not mean that I think that discrimination is right, I just don't think government has a right to tell me what I standard can use in my hiring process. The reason these laws are bad is because of what just happened. The law protects both sexual orientation and religious belief. However, in this case, they are mutually exclusive. The government, then, has to give more value to one trait over the other, and thus discriminate. They fall in the trap of doing exactly what they are trying to prevent private companies from doing.

City's Lawyer Questions Limit to Freedom

This news article tells the story of a man who has displayed some religious artwork in his backyard. The city doesn't like it because he didn't get proper permits and some of the work annoys his neighbors. This has prompted the lawyer for the city, Edward Richardson to ask "At what point do you have to state, 'OK, there are certain limitations to the demonstrations of religious affiliations'?'"

Obviously, this shouldn't even be an issue. The State has no right to put any limit on expression, religious or otherwise. A person should be able to do anything they want on their property, without any interference from government, neighborhood associations, or any other busy-bodies, as long as the action does not deprive someone else of their right to life, liberty, or property through the use of force or fraud. Placing artwork on my property does none of those things.

Now, that being said, I believe that the property owner (as a Christian) should be mindful of his neighbor's comfort and complaints. I do not think he is showing love for his neighbor by keeping the lights on his cross on during the night. True servanthood on his part should prompt him to display his love in a relevant way to his neighbors rather than displaying his cross, even if I do believe that he has the right to display the work.

It's Official: Google Files for IPO

It's Official: Google Files for IPO

The long anticipated emergence of Google on the stock market. Man, I wish had money to get into this game.

Communion on Sunday

I have the commnion thought on Sunday. We will be focusing on the topic of prayer as we prepare for the National Day of Prayer on May 6. Here is our worship order:

Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name
   Shout Hallelujah
   Welcome
   Responsive Reading (Psalm 8 & Exodus 15)
   Hallelujah, Praise Jehovah
   Praise the Lord
   Prayer of Praise (including "hallowing" God's name)
Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven
   Responsive Reading (Psalm 99)
   Lord, Reign in Me
   The Lord Reigns
   Prayer for leaders
Give us today our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors
   Bread
      His Name is Wonderful
   Cup
       Holy and Anointed One
Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one
   A Shield About Me
   Dramatic Read (Two-Person Psalm Excerpt)
   Had It not Been the Lord
   Prayer for protection
   Sermon
For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.
   Days of Elijah
   Prayer of Eternal Praise (i.e. second coming, heaven) - Scheduled Grand Poobah
   Days of Elijah

Here are my thoughts.

Libertarians and the War on Terror

For those of you are staunch Libertarians*, I respectfully ask you to consider this history lesson written by Joseph Farah of WorldNetDaily. In this article Farah points out Thomas Jefferson's, the father of libertarian values and a strict constitutionalist, response to the Islamic Terrorists of his day. Now, while I think a the War on Terror is a necessary war, I do not think that means we have to give up any of our domestic rights like the Patriot Acts wants. However, it is important to note that they are two separate issues and while the current Administration tries to tie the two together, we don't have to. Congress can vote down the renewal of the Patriot Act while voting to continue to fund and support the global War on Terror and our liberties would not be trampled on. If Thomas Jefferson, the defender of liberty that he was, could in good conscience destroy the militant Islamic terrorist of his time without compromising the principles of American libertarianism, then certainly we can as well.


*Note: I use the capital "L" because you fall lock-step with the Libertarian Party as opposed to the little "l" for those, who like myself, are for libertarian values, but know that a party can be wrong. I think the Libertarian Party is very wrong in its current stance on the War against Terrorism. In the modern world where America is an 8-12 hour plane ride away from the other major continents and we exist in an instantaneous global economy (i.e., Americans have economic interests in every part of the globe) then the classic "isolationism" attitude of the past is not only unattainable, but would also weaken and impoverish our country. Only by having a global military response, can we truly protect our citizens' personal and economic liberty no matter which country they happen to be doing business in.

The AP News actually reports the WHOLE story

For the first time, I see that the AP News actually reports the whole story about the why the price of gas is so high:

"The latest increase was prompted by crude oil prices that have topped $36 per barrel coupled with OPEC production cuts and a growth in crude oil demand, chiefly in the United States and China, Lundberg said
U.S. market prices are affected by growing gasoline demand - despite the higher prices - thanks to an improving economy, a tight refining capacity, and new federal rules for formulating less-polluting gasoline which add to the cost and make it harder to import foreign supplies that don't meet the new specifications"

O.K. - so the causes for increase are:

1. Price of crude oil increased
2. OPEC reduced the supply of crude oil
3. Demand for crude oil has increased
4. Not enough oil refineries to turn crude oil into gasoline
5. Federal Regulations defining formula requirements to meet "pollution standards"
6. A limited number of other countries from which we can buy the right standard of crude oil

For those out there who sometime have a hard time reading between the lines, notice who is missing from that list of causes:

Big Oil Companies

The Bush Administration

and their cronies at Haliburton

Amazingly enough, there is no consipracy out there to bilk the customer at the gas pump. Instead we are just seeing the natural economic laws of supply and demand being enforced.

Government to Parents: Stop using Religious-based Materials

WorldNetDaily reports that our wacky, neighbors to the north (that is, Canada, for those of you educated by our government schools) have told home-schooling parents that they are not allowed to "unofficial" ore religious-based resources when they teach their children. Now, to be fair, the parents affected by this mandate are only those who chose to supplement a portion of their child's home based education with a distance education program provided by the government. The story reports that many of the parents will be removing themselves from that program.

There are three points that can be made here. First, this just goes to show once again, that if you give the government a foot, it will take your whole house. Many times, people think that government can help fix their individual little problem, so seek assistance from the government. The government, always willing to assert more control over its citizenry, happily obliges by passing a law that restricts your freedom. Then, a few years later, they need to pass a new law to restrict your freedom a little more because the first law didn't catch all cases of whatever it was you were seeking protection from. For those who don't understand this principle, I first urge you to read "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie" (yes, I know this is a children's book, but it clearly illustrates this principle). After reading the book, do some research on the history of safety codes. Safety codes are a great idea, until you try to get a permit down at city hall to do some work on your house... You also see this principle in Income Taxes. When the 16th Amendment was passed it only affected the top 1% of the population, was not higher than 7%, and could be reported on a postcard. 90 years later we have a tax code so complex that even the Government can't give you the right answers to your questions, is contradictory in places, and requires more paperwork than to file than it took to engineer a moon launch.

Secondly, a very scary prospect is that many "liberals" (they are actually socialist, classic liberalism is about personal freedom and responsibility) in our country look at Canada as a model of how government should be run. In the liberal mindset, the First Amendment right of freedom of religion is severely limited. They believe you are free to keep your religion only to yourself. Many Christians feel that they don't have to worry about the government stepping on their right to freedom of religion. However, if we look at how second amendment has been eroded, and compare that to current trends (Ten Commandments controversy, pro-life demonstrators having to play by a different set of rules when demonstrating, the Pledge of Allegiance controversy, etc...), we can see a clear attack on the expression of Christianity and Christian values.

Finally, while a big supporter of school vouchers, I see the government using school vouchers to remove religious materials from private Christian schools and enforce the same kind of draconian decrees on home schoolers here in the US. In other words, by letting government get involved in education, it will lead us to the same thing.

In conclusion, it is my belief that each parent is responsible for his own child's education and that can take shape in many forms. Some children need private schools, some need home schooling...some may even thrive in certain public schools (I was educated in mainly DOD schools that were government funded). However, no matter the form of the education, the content and manner of the education lies solely with the parents, not some government official. The government can not control my mind or my thoughts, however, if it can control my education and world-view at an early age (universal day-care, anyone??) then it can control how I view government later on. As my favorite radio talk-show host, Neal Boortz, says,

Catholic schools can be expected to teach their students that Catholicism is good. Jewish private schools are going to sing the praises of Judaism. Christian schools will teach the children that Jesus is really cool. Government schools? Government schools will promote what? Government!

I don't think that word means what you think it means

Clarke Canfield of of the Associate Press writes:

"Maine's crime rate has fallen 19 percent in the past decade, but its prison and jail populations have jumped by 50 percent during the same period, according to a new report.

That seeming paradox is among the dozens of findings in the 2003 Crime and Justice Data Book"(emphasis added)

Hmmm...does this mean that Mr. Canfield believes that if Maine emptied its prisons, then the crime rate should go down?
Maybe I'm just not nuanced enough to understand the subtleties of why a relationship between crime rate going down while prison popultation rises is a paradox. You must have to be a "free thinker" to get it.

Mihaela's Dr. Appt

We went to the Doctor yesterday for Mihaela's two-month check-up and vaccinations. She is up to 12 punds 5.5 ounces and 23.75 inches long. This puts her in the 90th percentile for her age for both wieght and height. The doctor said she was one of the healthiest babies she has worked with. Mihaela is starting to try to sit up (she does little stomach crunches while in her chair) and the doctor thinks she will be rolling over soon.

Mihaela is also sleeping very, very well. As of yesterday morning, she has slept 8-10 hours a night for 6 of the 7 nights since she slept through the night. Last night she slept 12 hours. We are certainly blessed.

Criminalizing business

Thomas Sowell, probably my favorite columnist, knocks another one out of the park with his assesment of the Martha Stewart case and the idea of "Insider Trading". In this editorial, entitled, Criminalizing business, he offers this gem of a quote:

"The maturity to live with imperfections is another crucial part of the price of freedom."

Man I wish I were as articulate as he is. Dr. Sowell -- YOU ROCK, DUDE!!!!

Watermelons: Wrong on the Science and Indifferent to the Poor

HAPPY EARTH DAY!!! --- NOT!

Watermelons (those people's whose political ideology is "green on the outside, red on the inside") are celebrating the feel-good philosophy of environmentalism today. Our children all over this great (and mostly green) country are being indoctintated to believe horrible science that maligns capitialism and industry. Socialist have hijacked language of enviromental protectionism to promote thier political ideology without any realization that their platform causes more problems than it will fix.

For many years, those with a political ax to grind told us that global warming was "for real", the evidence was "in," and the debate was "over." They have repeated this line so often enough that many folks (especially many teachers in our governtment indoctination centers) began to believe it. However, unrelenting repetition of an inaccuracy does not make it true.

So what evidence do adherents of global warming dogma rely upon? They don't rely on historical temperature records - which show that climate has always fluctuated and that there has been no warming trend over the last 50 years. They don't rely on NASA satellite data or weather balloon data which also show that there is no warming. They don't rely upon polar ice cap data because the ice caps are growing thicker in some places and thinner in others. Facts presented in the Testimony of Dr. Fred Singer before the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation on Climate Change support these points.

So, if the facts don't support gloabal warming, then what do global warming enthusiasts rely upon? Computer models - ones that do not work. These computer models cannot accurately "back-predict" the climate trends of the last 100 years. If the models worked, then we should be able to input the data from the last century, and the computer model - if it worked - would accurately "predict" current global climate conditions. But they cannot. These models produce wildly different and spectacularly incorrect results. In fact, environmental scientists at the University of Virginia reviewed and tested these computer models and found that they produced no better results than a table of randomly selected numbers applied to climate data. Can we really trust computer models to predict the climate 100 years from now when we can't even get a computer model to accurately predict this week's weather?

If the climate models can't do any better than a roll of the dice, should we rely on them? Should we base costly public policy on a crap shoot? Should regulatory schemes based on these faulty numbers force Americans to pay more to heat and cool their homes, feed and clothe their families, and drive to and from work and school?

This brings me to my second point. Global warming enthusiasts apparently don't care about the poor. This may sound harsh, but facts speak loudly. Millionaires may not care if their monthly heating bill increases by $100 or their grocery bill increases by $185. They can afford it. But the poor cannot.

During a harsh winter, should public policy based on the roll of a dice force poor seniors or single mothers with small children to choose between heating and eating? These questions are particularly troubling when the regulations that would force these cruel choices on the poor are based on junk science and chance numbers.

These are real life issues, not silly hypotheticals. A couple of years ago, Senator Jim Jeffords (I-Vt), Chairman of the Environment and Public Works Committee, held hearings on a bill, S.B. 556, that would implement much of the regulatory scheme envisioned by global warming enthusiasts. The committee invited J. Thomas Mullen who leads Catholic Charities in Cleveland, Ohio to testify about the impact on the poor of the proposed bill. Mr. Mullen's organization serves over 600,000 needy children and families, senior citizens, persons with disabilities and homeless persons.

Mr. Mullen testified that a recent study "reported that one-quarter of Americans [have] problems paying for several basic necessities. [C]urrently 23\% have difficulty in paying their utilities - that is, one out of four Americans." Mr. Mullen went on to say that if the global warming regulatory agenda were implemented, "we could see the difficulty in Cleveland reach beyond one out of two people and families not able to pay utilities...."

Mr. Mullen emphasized that two groups are most vulnerable. First, is the elderly. "[A]pproximately one half (49.4\%) of persons over 65 years old [in Cleveland] have incomes less that $15,000 per year.... The second group that ... will be hurt similarly by this is children. In Cleveland, over one-fourth of all children live in poverty and are in a family of a single female head of household. These children will suffer further loss of basic needs as their moms are forced to make choices of whether to pay the rent or live in a shelter; pay the heating bill or ... buy food.... These are not choices any senior citizen, child, or, for that matter, person in America should make."

Yet, these are precisely the sorts of decisions that global warming enthusiasts are attempting to force on the poor. Lousy science and indifference to the poor -- that is the legacy of global warming adherents.

Mr. Mullen concluded, "I ask the [Senate] to look carefully at the ramifications of [the global warming regulatory agenda] and its impact on employment and energy costs. We have many vulnerable people ... across America who cannot carry the burden of this legislation." Well said Mr. Mullen. Let's hope the Senate was listening.

Too Funny News item from The Onion

The Onion, the satirical online newspaper, has a great article, reprinted in its entirety here...

Libertarian Reluctantly Calls Fire Department
CHEYENNE, WY - After attempting to contain a living-room blaze started by a cigarette, card-carrying Libertarian Trent Jacobs reluctantly called the Cheyenne Fire Department Monday. "Although the community would do better to rely on an efficient, free-market fire-fighting service, the fact is that expensive, unnecessary public fire departments do exist," Jacobs said. "Also, my house was burning down." Jacobs did not offer to pay firefighters for their service

Of course, this is one of the issues that I depart from the Libertarian Platform. There are some services that should not be privitized, police and fire fighting being a couple of them.

News Site Registration work around

Do you hate being required to give up your life history in order to read a story on a web newssite? Me too! I like my privacy. I found this little workaround when you need a log-in and password for a news site: BugMeNot.com

It is a a pool of log-ins by URL.

Discovering my sexuality

In this editorial from WorldNetDaily I discovered that I am part of an "alternative lifestyle." I am a retrosexual. Are you?

Christian Printer FORCED to publish for "gays"

The government of Canada (our liberal neighbors) have told Scott Brockie that he can not refuse work from a gay-activist association, despite his personal beliefs. While many lefties think that conservatives are facists, this court ruling is the epitome of facism: the State has declared how an individual should run his business.

Now, I would hope that our First Amendment right to Freedom of Association (which the reverse is freedom of disassociation) would keep this kind of ruling from happening in America, but if Hate Speech legistalation ever gets passed, then we can expect this kind of government interference in America. I can see it now...the US Government forcing my brother to print "pro-gay" slogans in his t-shirt business. If this kind of statute happens in America, will we put up with it? Are Christians too weak to stand up for thier rights?

Modern-day, American Christians (IMHO), are the most uncommitted set of Christians. Beware, though, there will be trial by fire. Out of the west will come an enemy who will put the convictions of God's people to the test...and they will be found wanting and will be destroyed. Prepare now for the time. Keep your powder dry!

Don't wake a sleeping baby

Mihaela had her first night of uninterrupted sleep last night. She went to bed at her regular time of 10:45 (we begin the Triple B routine about 3 weeks ago) and she fell asleep around 11:00. Usually she wakes up around 4:45 for her middle of the night feeding...however, she did not wake up until 7:40 AM this morning. That is just under 9 hours of sleep at a single time. We are indeed blessed.

War on Terror: Success or Failure?

The media and liberal pundits are beating the drum of failure loud and clear right now. They are trying to make it appear as if the War on Terror is a complete failure because of some resistance in Iraq. The President spoke last night and responded to those charges and reminded the American People of his vision of freedom. He elequotanly reminded America that the only way to win the War on Terror is to sow the seeds of personal freedom and liberty across the world. He rightly pointed out that freedom is a gift from God and that those who have freedom have a duty, an obligation, to spread that freedom around.

Some people think that the American People are being stripped of too many liberties in the name of fighting the war. Although, I have yet to have one person give me a personal example of something they were allowed to do prior to the war that they are not free to do now...

So, has the War on Terror been a success or a failure. Let's see, immediately following 9/11, every American became anxious as major holidays and events loomed close on the calendar because they were sure that another terrorist attack was immientent. However, we have gone 2 and half years without another attack on American soil. I would see this as a sign that we are keeping the terrorist too occupied to plan and execute attacks. Yet our respite from terrorist attack has seldom brought even a grudging acknowledgement that perhaps the government's anti-terrorism policies and activities might deserve some credit, instead of the constant barrage of media and political criticism and carping.

Make no mistake, a new and more terrible terrorist attack could happen here at any time -- especially now that Spain has shown how easy it is to panic politicians. And therein lies the danger. The current administration is steadfast and resolute. However, the terrorist know that if they can bring politics into the war, they can win. It irks me that so many "media pundits" compare the War on Terror with the Vietnam Conflict. There is no quagmire (we haven't been fighting long enough for it to be a quagmire). There is an exit strategy (whatever that means...I think we still have bases in Germany and Japan and we kicked their butts 60 years ago). The War on Terror, though, could turn into a Vietnam if the President (either the current one or and future ones) allow for politics to become a motivation for action or inaction in the War. The lesson our enemies learned from Vietnam was that the you may not be able to out-gun, out-strategize, or out-maneuver the Americans, but if you can the war in the American Press, then you can use political force to get America to pull out and then you can take over the country with no resistance.

It is time to show the world that this is a different America. No longer will we let our enemies control our politics. No longer will we run and hide when things get a little tough. The cause of freedom is too important to our safety and the safety of our children. Only by ridding the world of despots, tyrants, and communists and replacing those regimes with Constitutional Republics that guarantee every man, woman and child his God-given freedoms can we win this War. We are on the right track right now...but are starting to veer off course.

Never forget 9/11. May the anger that raged deep in our souls against those who would kill the innocent burn only hotter. May we strike with vengeance and fury those who would stand in our way. With righteous indignation, may we ridicule and demolish those who would speak out against us. May we make terrorist and tyrants think twice about attacking us. May we support fully our efforts...after all...this is America, the land of the free and the home of the brave...and we are Americans who take crap from no one.

Interviews Today

I did interviews today for the Programmer/Analyst position. Here are the questions I asked of the candidates.

They seemed shock by the degree of difficulty of the interview...oh...well... Personally, I don't think it is a tough interview...but I am on the other side of the table...

Quote to Ponder

"War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things. The decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feeling that thinks that nothing is worth war is much worse. The person who has nothing for which he is willing to fight, nothing which is more important than his own personal safety, is a miserable creature and has no chance of being free unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself."

John Stuart Mill

New Laptop

I'm typing this on my new laptop that finally came in. It is an Acer machine with a 3.0 GHz processor, 1 GB RAM, a 17" viewable screen. It comes with as DVD RW/CD-RW combo drive. Full size keyboard with nine-finger punch pad. It has a 110 GB Hard drive. Needless to say, it is a hoss. It is a heavy sucker too...I think it may weigh more than Mihaela. It is replacing my desktop, so I needed a good machine that could be used for local development and carried with me. This is it.

I love the Microsoft FIles and Setting Transfer Wizard. I ran it on my old XP machine and it literally moved all files and settings over...perfectly. I was quite shocked by how well it worked. I am still installing all my apps on it...but will get them done. I went ahead and installed Office 2003 on this machine. We pay for the Microsoft constant upgrade cycle, but haven't upgraded anyone from OfficeXP to 2003. I think I like it, but will have to use it for a bit before I let anyone else use the software.

Great Bumper Sticker

I saw a great bumper sticker on my way home from work yesterday:

My child was "Inmate of the Month" at the county jail

How stinkin' funny is that?

Oh...so busy

I've been so busy the past week. I worked about 15 hours for my partner in my second job this past weekend. I had sound board on Sunday at church. I had to mow. I didn't get April's budget done until yesterday...6 days late. I had to go to a three hour practice for our Easter services. PLUS...take care of Mihaela and Erin.

At a meeting yesterday some people were asking me if I was getting enough sleep with Mihaela and I said I think so...but they said I looked haggard and just wasn't my chirpy, upbeat self. I am exhausted...but still feel good and am still elated to be a dad. I think things will slow down after Easter.