"We just wasted so much money for a . . . girl," she said angrily. "If I had known, I would have let it die. A girl is worthless. Worthless!"

Quoted in an article in the February 12, 2011, issue of World magazine. The speaker is a young woman whose baby had just been delivered on an emergency basis by C-Section at Emmanuel Hospital Association in northern India's Uttar Pradesh province. The mother, who had neglected the advice of the hospital to come by for regular checkups after she become pregnant, had been rushed there when she began having seizures. The title of the Article is "Worthless!," the subtitle "In India, the birth of a baby girl often brings grief and shame - and murder."

The article also includes this passage:

India is scheduled to complete its 2011 census this month and the results - due in spring - are likely to reflect the effects of abortion and female infanticide on that country's culture. Studies suggest that up to 50 million girls and women are missing from India's population, according to UNICEF.

Matthew 19:13-15 (King James Version)

13Then were there brought unto him little children, that he should put his hands on them, and pray: and the disciples rebuked them.

14But Jesus said, Suffer little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me: for of such is the kingdom of heaven.

15And he laid his hands on them, and departed thence.

One of the important reasons to be faithful to the text when dealing with gender is that this passage does not appear to refer to little boys alone, but to all children. Compare Ps. 127 and 128, where the references are to sons. (We miss this contrast when we have a "gender neutral" Bible.) It is good to be under the New Covenant.

Yes, of course, feel free to question my sanity.

I have several weeks been trying to get my lawnmower to work. This is the one I bought about a year ago that has an electric starter. Well, the electric starter went South some months ago, but it had a back up pull cord that worked OK for awhile. Now the thing just won't start. I've changed the oil, changed the spark plug (twice). Today I will empty the gasoline tank with the old fuel and put in some gasoline fresh from the service station, to see if stale fuel is the problem. I fear stale gas is not the problem (at least not with the lawn mower), and I will have to take the mower to the shop. That will cost not only money but a lot of time.

As I was dealing with this problem yesterday, I remembered a Glenn Reynolds post about his purchasing a push mower. Great idea! No gas, no spark plug, no oil, no noise. So off I went to Home Depot and bought one.

Fortunately, it was quite late in the day when I brought the box with it home (oh, so light!), assembled the handle and connected it tothe base unit (oh, a marvel of engineering!), and started to push. And push. And push. Ugh! It was hard! But the sun was on its way down, and so I soon had to stop. That was a good thing, because it was a work out. I should have gotten ready with a strict, six-month kettle bell regimen. But I didn't.

Maybe it will rain today.