A good day at Panera's with Nancy

Never mind, it wasn’t a baby. Stop grieving.

OK, parents, time to stop grieving for that lost child from 1964 or 1980 or last week. It wasn't a baby, you didn't love her, and that red hair and sweet little toes were just in your imagination. She wasn't human and she wasn't your long awaited daughter. New Yorkers believes that. Wait a few years and they'll say the same thing about your toddler.

https://www.lifenews.com/2019/01/16/new-york-bill-allowing-abortions-up-to-birth-says-a-person-is-only-a-human-being-who-has-been-born/?

The “Reproductive Health Act” redefines a “person” as “a human being who has been born and is alive,” according to Breitbart. The state bill also describes abortion as a “fundamental right.”

This language will allow unborn babies to be aborted for basically any reason up to birth in New York. It looks like it will pass in the new Democrat-controlled state legislature this winter. Gov. Andrew Cuomo has threatened to hold up the budget until it does.

The legislation goes beyond Roe v. Wade, allowing abortions even when the Supreme Court has said states may regulate them, according to the pro-life leaders. Late-term abortions, which currently are illegal in New York, would be allowed, and non doctors would be allowed to perform them.

The face of 2020

These past few days through the magic of the twisted media and the ocean of hate on twitter and FB we have seen the 2020 election in the faces of a bunch of Catholic kids waiting for a bus to take them to March for Life in Washington DC. Hate for the unborn and the people trying to save them, and hate for our president--that's all the Democrats have. All you have to do is tell the truth, and their lies will crumble. Be Martin Luther King, Jr. for our time.

Ten Yiddish words that went mainstream

I think I’ve used nine of these ten.  It’s such an interesting language. Nosh, putz, klutz, etc. European Jews have had an amazing influence on our culture, art, entertainment and language.

https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/10-yiddish-words-that-went-mainstream/?

10 years ago I blogged about Aaron Lansky and his goal to save Yiddish books.  It’s still interesting given my librarian background, and I’ll have to go back and check on what has happened to that effort. https://collectingmythoughts.blogspot.com/2009/05/saving-culture-through-its-books-99-of.html

Kamala jumps in

I think there are now about 50 Democrats who've thrown their hats into the ring for 2020. They have 2 issues. 1) abort babies, and 2) impeach Trump. Raise taxes on productive Americans might be a close 3rd.

White Christians accosted in DC while waiting for bus

A group of Catholic teens from Covington, KY were in DC for the March for Life this past week-end. The next day while waiting for the bus to take them to the march location they were accosted by both a black supremacist "Hebrew" group and a native American guy who shows up at rallies to protest ancient history. Being kids, they initially thought the Indian was performing and they joined in, before realizing they were under attack. Because a few had MAGA hats, they were fair game. The blacks were shouting gay slurs at the boys—not just reading Bibles as CNN reported. The media ran with the story that the kids were the ones causing the problem, twitter spread it, and their own school didn't support them--of course did no research. Now the full video is out (not the 30 seconds shown on social media). There was racist name calling directed at the teens, and shame on all those fake news sources [and their own school], and congratulations to the kids for keeping their cool until the truth came out. White males are under attack; pro-lifers are under attack; people who support our president are under attack. Our Fox 28 here in Columbus carried the fake story without ever checking for facts.

The clip that went viral was about 30 seconds—but there is full video available.  No taunting even in the viral clip, as CNN claimed. The teen just stood quietly and the total stranger who claims to be an Indian and VietNam vet (to the media) bangs a drum in his face. Remarkable restraint from a 16 year old. CNN should be ashamed for their lies. There's no video of any of the things they accused the kids of. There was no clash. The cult of Hebrew blacks who were calling the children disgusting names about homosexuality and incest, are treated as Biblical prophets by the racist CNN rip and read babe.

The media gave these children more attention than they gave the whole March for Life which was filled with teens and millennials, marching for the lives and rights of the unborn. Little did they know they'd be stripped of their own rights while waiting for a bus. For just standing there singing and goofing around like kids do.

Be very afraid for your sons and brothers, your husbands and friends. Anti-life, anti-Christian Marxism is coming after them, and too many Christians and conservatives are willing to grab at anything they see on-line and take it for truth just so they can run for cover from the lies. Remember the Duke Lacrosse team smear of 2006? That was anti-white, anti-male. That took months to reveal--now it happens in minutes, and lives are ruined, families threatened by internet goons.

https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/covington-catholic-high-school-students-smeared-by-mainstream-media-lies-dont-expect-an-apology?

https://www.lifenews.com/2019/01/21/networks-spend-19x-more-time-smearing-pro-life-teens-than-reporting-on-march-for-life/?

https://www.glennbeck.com/radio/media-malpractice-the-covington-catholic-teens-would-make-martin-luther-king-jr-proud

What’s come out about Bruce Ohr

“Everybody knew. Everybody of consequence at the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Justice Department understood fully in the middle of 2016—as the FBI embarked on its counterintelligence probe of Donald Trump—that it was doing so based on disinformation provided by Hillary Clinton’s campaign. That’s the big revelation from the transcript of the testimony Justice Department official Bruce Ohr gave Congress in August. The transcripts haven’t been released, but parts were confirmed for me [Kimberley A. Strassel]  by congressional sources.”

https://outline.com/ANjgbL

Women earn less cash prize money than men in the sciences

Except the answer is in the article.

“The analysis also shows that when considering all of the awards, women earn 64 cents of prize money for every dollar a man receives, and when cutting out the top and bottom prizes, women winners earn 60 cents of every prize dollar a man receives, the researchers report. Women also tend to disproportionately win awards for service compared with those for research, and they do not win as many prestigious prizes as men. An analysis of the most prestigious prizes shows women received only 11.3 percent of them over the 50 years reviewed; they received 5.1 percent of them between 1968 and 1977 and 17.4 percent of them between 2008 and 2017.”

If women disproportionately win awards for service (more time), and win the less prestigious prizes (less money) why would one expect the outcomes to be the same?  Maybe women enjoy the service aspect (like serving on committees) and maybe they don’t compete at the higher levels because they have chosen different career paths.  In the last decade this has changed—women are competing at higher levels than before.  They may be good, but what have they taken out of their lives?  Marriage and children?

How many women were getting PhDs in the sciences between 1968 and 1977?  Maybe 11.3% is more than their population would represent? How many American Indians have received a prestigious cash prize?  How many transwomen?  That question is coming too. And when a transwoman receives a prize, will he be counted as a woman or man?  And are the women scientists earning more than the women grad students, or the women administrative assistants?  Let’s look at all the gaps.

The so-called pay gap

“Feminists, and leading politicians, make much of the so-called gender pay gap which ostensibly favours men. But actually women under 35 years old and working full time have a higher median hourly pay rate than men of the same age. In view of the greater number of women graduates, this disparity in favour of young women is set to increase. Any pay gap in favour of men sets in only once a woman has children. This is due to the woman’s diminished commitment to work due to preferring to prioritise child care instead (and the new father’s increased commitment to work in order to earn more to support the family). The so-called pay gap is actually a parenting gap. That the much vaunted pay gap is not valid is now admitted even by some feminists, e.g., Hannah Rosin who has used the observation of women’s higher pay to support her triumphalist cry of “The End of Men” (book title). When women earned less it was discrimination, now that men earn less it is because men are useless has-beens. Nice.” Introduction to the Disadvantages faced by Men and Boys

http://empathygap.uk/?page_id=22

As Canada goes, so goes the U.S.?

There are a number of excellent Canadian conservatives that have done well with YouTube channels. Jordan Peterson, Stefan Molyneux, Gad Saad, Janice Fiamengo, Rick Mehta. I think they are being silenced by Big Tech.

Janice Fiamengo is a favorite of mine—I haven’t found much recent on her YouTube channels. She has no charisma and a voice that could put you to sleep, but she's delightfully smart and perceptive. The first is an interview on Rubin Report, but he's being censored, too. Don't know how long we'll be able to watch him. Even being gay didn't protect him. Having unapproved thoughts by Left Mafia can seriously impact your income on the internet.  If you have sons, brothers, boyfriend or husband, look out. Their jobs and reputations could be destroyed and no one will protect them.

https://youtu.be/tm7gGEgVXRw  Rubin Report

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7PtNzMjvves Professor’s course cancelled

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qFO4xvnv_DM  The Gillette ad

Guessing compliments will get you further than insults. Ya think?

  Use farther for physical distance, further for metaphorical.

Actually, none of us can survive without help at any age

 

“Every strong woman was once a helpless child.”

And we still are.  That part of our humanity doesn’t change, there are just degrees.  I don’t grow my own food or make my own clothes or drive a van that I put together. I’m much more helpless than my Ohio great great grandmothers who could manage chickens, gardens and trim a lamp wick and help the neighbors birth the babies.

The issue is life, not helplessness. At both ends of the spectrum.  I chatted with my friend Rosalie at the grocery store on Thursday who is the care giver for her 90 year old husband who can’t leave the house, or even the floor he is living on. His mind is good, but his body has failed him.  Take care—they may be after the unborn now, but they are also going after the ones who can’t fight back.

Watch out for POLST. http://www.cathmed.org/resources/polst/  POLST is spreading rapidly across the United States as a result of a concerted campaign by euthanasia advocacy groups, including Open Society (George Soros).

Who’s responsible for the immigration mess?

Not Donald J. Trump.

Remember how Obama blamed Bush for 4 years for the recession and then set out to make it worse? Slowest recovery since the 30s when FDR tried the same tricks with the economy. The “experts” are still trying to figure out what happened.  Along comes Trump who asks for 1/4 of what the Democrats promised during the last administration, who suggests a deal to correct the DACA executive order mess which Obama illegally foisted on us, but they are terrified to give him another win like he's done with the courts, the economy and the prison system.  This is not about illegal aliens, it’s about stopping Donald Trump’s second term.

How to handle a few inches of snow

When I was in college, there was no e-mail, and the dorms had only one phone to a floor, so we couldn’t even take messages from the college administration on how to handle a few inches of snow. It was just one of those things it was assumed we had learned from our parents who had lived through the Great Depression and walked to school uphill both ways in 6 feet of snow.

This is what Ohio State University sent out to the “campus community.”  I’ve been retired for 18 years, and I still hear from them.

“The safety of our campus community is our top priority. Please remember to take precautions while traveling in winter weather.

• Plan ahead and allow extra time.
• Check scheduled activities in advance to make sure there are no changes or cancellations.
• Dress appropriately for the weather (boots, hat, gloves).
• While walking, take it slow to avoid slipping.
• While driving, allow additional distance between your vehicle and the vehicle in front of you.
• Know your route and pay special attention to changing and/or declining weather conditions.”

March for Life, January 18, 2019

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0XACCdre_tk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JkrJawCk7J0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qAmHrvlGflw&fbclid=IwAR0JxghEc500yyU0XHp7bZbDmKz0atpiUUDfZjHN6sqRyU80ODsef1LeUjU

I watched the very inspiring March for Life on EWTN. If you ever want to see REAL diversity, inclusion, multiculturalism and LOVE, that's the place to be. Catholics, Evangelicals, Mormons, Muslims, atheists, black, white, brown, men, women, children, teens, elderly, toddlers, in utero babies, politicians, bakers and candle stick makers. All united on one issue--life is precious, don't kill the most vulnerable, alone and helpless just because they are appearing at an inconvenient time, or are disabled, or are female.

The reason Democrats demand open borders is because we can no longer populate our own country. Families are the safety net, and now that government wants that job too they have to make sure there are bodies to fill those jobs to pay for their plan. Promote divorce, promote living together outside marriage, make sure women can't be fulfilled without being a wage slave, make sure she's paying off college debt for 2 decades so there's no time for babies and children, tell people there's no difference between sexes, so why even have sex, make women think they are both helpless and yet powerful. Perfect recipe for disaster.

And today the counter march--the feminists, Marxists, pro-abortion, government paid labor, elderly boomers--all marching to kill off the family, lower the birth rate, and destroy the nation. It will be promoted by the MSM because who needs people, anyway, to buy the lies?

We’re under a snow watch, but nothing is happening

Lucille Snodgrass, 1919-2019

I heard this week that Lucille Snodgrass,  the mother of my high school friend Nancy Snodgrass Falzone, had passed away.  She was living at Pinecrest in Mt. Morris, and we should all have a devoted daughter like Nancy—or even a good friend like my brother who visited her there.  Nancy and I used to ride horses together as children, so I remember Lucille and husband Bill who died in 1989 from their days on the farm on Mud Creek Road between Mt. Morris and Oregon.  I’d only seen her a few times in the last 50 years, but my memory of her is a sweet, beautiful, charming, classy gal who was a lot of fun.  I think her passing is the last of the “mothers” that I knew since the 1940s-1950s. I wrote this poem over 20 years ago,  after so many of the women I knew had died, although there were some, including my own mother, who were still alive.

The Mothers of Our Childhood
by Norma J. Bruce
February 20, 1997

I have filed a report
and sounded the alarm.
We are missing the Mothers:
They're nowhere to be found.

Strong women disappeared while
I was living away.
Perhaps a moment ago,
a year or a decade.

Housewife, retailer, artist;
teacher, farmer and clerk.
Secretary, volunteer;
No doctor, lawyer, chief.

Velda, Gladys, Marian, Mildred;
Rosalie, Rita, Rose, and Ruth;
Alice, Hazel, Ada, and Esther:
Born during the century's youth.

Finish this list of Mothers
while I go look around.
No, the veil closed behind them;
they're gone. We are alone.

When I searched her name, I found her wedding announcement on a genealogy page for the Freeport Journal Standard:

“10 Sep 1938 : Miss Lucille Moore, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Irvin Roy Moore, North Henderson road, and William Snodgrass, son of Mr. and Mrs. Carl Snodgrass, Mt. Morris, were united in marriage this morning at 10 o'clock at the parsonage of the Trinity Lutheran Church in Mt. Morris, the pastor, Dr. C. H. Hightower, performing the single ring ceremony.
       The bride was dressed in a boy blue dress with Alencon lace jackette, and her accessories were navy blue.She carried a bouquet of pink roses.
       The attendants were Miss Betty Peterson and Ralph Satterfield of Mt. Morris.
       After the ceremony the bride and groom left on a wedding trip to Omaha, Neb., and Denver, Colo.The bride's traveling outfit was a navy blue taffeta ensemble with rust accessories. On their return they will reside with the groom's parents on their farm home near Mt. Morris.”

I know a little bit more about Lucille and Bill than the parents of my other friends because Nancy kept a book of memories, and when she was 69, she put it all together with photos, and made a number of copies, of which I am the owner of one. It includes a wedding photo.  Nancy wrote that her mom was born September 9, 1919, so  she  almost made it to 100—which seems to be pretty common in Mt. Morris.  In addition to working alongside her husband on the farm she also worked at the Conover Cable Piano Factory in Oregon, then later at the Mt. Morris Cleaners

She's finally put her family together

This is my high school classmate Ebba, and her family—in a puzzle which she has put together. She’s in the front row between grandchildren in a red sweater. [Facebook photo]

Wouldn’t it be nice if it were this easy!

 

Ebba's Jan. 6, 1964 wedding.  Jerry died in 2004. 

Rep. Steven King is being condemned

for defending Western Civilization.  The Republicans are actually the “stupid party” for letting the Democrats trap them.

The only white supremacists we’ve had in Congress were Democrats—like Robert Byrd, who was praised at his funeral/memorial by leading Democrats.  He actually was a member of the KKK, as was President (former Senator) Lyndon Johnson.

Democrats’ agenda on abortion kills more blacks in 4 days than their terrorist lynchings did in 80 years.

Jennifer, mother of 5, has lost friends. . .

She was always a Conservative, always a Christian, and enjoyed friends from  many different lifestyles, until . . .

“I always found a lot of fulfillment in having open conversations with people unlike me- and enjoyed growing and learning from all new perspectives, upbringings, and cultures and religions- it made me proud to be American and felt it embraced free speech and thought.

I became so disheartened over the past few years as it became obvious those kinds of conversations could no longer be had by my many of my friends and family that ran along a more left or liberal leaning line- since voting for Trump I have lost two of my lifelong best childhood friends - friends that were like sisters for 25 years or more.  I was devastated to be called a bigot and a racist and worse- a fake and hypocritical Christian simply for my conservative beliefs- and the told we could no longer be friends.   I was in shock.  Even though I never supported Hillary,  it didn’t even occur to me to end friendships over someone else’s difference in opinion or political views.”

I feel your pain, Jennifer. [from her Walk Away post on Facebook]

The 100th day

At this private Christian school in Indianapolis the children (I think it’s first grade) celebrate their 100th day by decorating t-shirts.  And they are all ours!  These beautiful dumplings are the grandchildren of our niece Joanie who teaches at the school.  That makes them our great grand nieces and nephews—or whatever you call the great grandchildren of your sister in law. Halli, Kalli, Jaxson and Anthony.

Orwellian pleasantries

I’ve been cleaning off my desk this morning, tossing old church bulletins, returned Christmas cards with the wrong address,  articles to read printed from the internet on crime statistics and nutrition, pieces of Fritos and cookies, and came across a quote I had jotted down while reading the website Priceton.org.

“Whenever one hears the dreaded Orwellian pleasantries ‘diversity,’ ‘tolerance,’ or ‘inclusion,’ one knows that another of one’s fundamental, democratic liberties is about to be rescinded by the revolutionary guard of progressive orthodoxy.”  Harley Price.

I think I’ll keep that one and use it when I return a request to review a book or interview an author.  Sounds better than “Are you kidding me?”

Pelosi and Trump squabble

“Due to the Shutdown, I am sorry to inform you that your trip to Brussels, Egypt, and Afghanistan has been postponed," the president wrote the speaker of the House of Representatives. “We will reschedule this seven-day excursion when the Shutdown is over. In light of the 800,000 great American workers not receiving pay, I am sure you would agree that postponing this public relations event is totally appropriate.”
She attempted to embarrass Trump with her demand he postpone the address to the nation because of the shut down,  and there wouldn’t be enough security, so he grounded her flight for the same lame reason.
But also she over uses her “free flights” around the world.
We usually have ABC on in the morning when Bob eats breakfast to keep track of the weather, which breaks in with local coverage, but I tell you, the bias and junk we get from broadcast is about as bad as CNN. If they keep using the word “bombshell” to describe every tidbit from Buzzfeed and Politico, they become the child who called wolf. They are working overtime not only to impeach Trump but to disenfranchise everyone who voted for Trump by declaring 2016 invalid.  That puts Nancy in the President’s seat.

The True Minimum Wage

“The Democrats seek to more than double the federal minimum wage. “A $15 federal minimum wage affirms the bedrock idea of fairness in our country: that hard work deserves a decent wage,” Speaker Pelosi claims. But as Milton Friedman pointed out, “The true minimum wage rate is zero—the amount an unemployed person receives from his nonexistent employer.”” Dan Flynn

Only 2.9% of American workers are earning minimum. and most of those live in households well above the poverty level, because they aren’t the primary earner.  So this is nothing but posturing, most low income families would reduce their hours rather than lose the government benefits like SNAP, Section 8, Medicaid.

Leftists attack minority female—Trump pick

Neomi Rao, a 45-year-old Indian-American, has become the latest target of liberal activist groups and media smears, including BuzzFeed News, CNN, Mother Jones, Alliance for Justice, and Lambda Legal.

No one is safe from these vultures.

https://www.dailysignal.com/2019/01/16/the-left-attacks-trumps-pick-to-replace-brett-kavanaugh-for-her-smart-college-writings/?

“Take the example of Rao’s 1994 op-ed in The Yale Herald, headlined “Shades of Gray,” where she did indeed write that if a woman “drinks to the point where she can no longer choose, well, getting to that point was part of her choice.”

Activist groups are twisting this line to suggest Rao believes it’s women’s fault when they get raped, but that’s not what she said at all.

Rao wrote firmly that men should be prosecuted and held responsible for rape—not once, but twice, in case the point wasn’t clear.

“A man who rapes a drunk girl should be prosecuted. At the same time, a good way to avoid a potential date rape is to stay reasonably sober,” she wrote.”
Makes sense to me.  Women shouldn’t get drunk and men shouldn’t assault drunk women.

Drugs at the border, report of 2016

“Over the past several years, the nation has seen an uptick in the use and abuse of opioids—both prescription substances and non-prescription substances such as heroin. The estimated number of individuals who had used heroin was 914,000 in 2014. Further, about 586,000 individuals (0.2% of the 12 and older population) had a heroin use disorder in 2014. In addition to an increase in heroin use over the past several years, there has been a simultaneous increase in its availability in the United States. This has been fueled by a number of factors, including increased production and trafficking of heroin—principally by Mexican criminal networks.”

“Mexican transnational criminal organizations are the major suppliers and key producers of most illegal drugs smuggled into the United States. They have been increasing their share of the U.S. drug market—particularly with respect to heroin. The United States still receives a large portion of heroin from South America (primarily Colombia) and, to a much lesser extent, Southwest Asia. In order to facilitate the distribution and sale of drugs in the United States, Mexican drug traffickers have formed relationships with U.S. street, prison, and outlaw motorcycle gangs. Although these gangs have historically been involved with retail-level drug distribution, their ties to the Mexican criminal networks have allowed them to become increasingly involved at the wholesale level as well. The bulk of heroin smuggled into the United States transits across the Southwest border. From 2010 to 2015, heroin seizures in this area more than doubled from 1,016 kg to 2,524 kg. This trend mirrors the increase in overall seizures throughout the country. Further, there has been an increase in federal arrests and prosecutions of heroin traffickers. In 2015, for example, the Drug Enforcement Administration made 6,353 heroin-related arrests. In addition, U.S. Sentencing Commission data indicate that from 2011 to 2015, the number of individuals sentenced for heroin trafficking offenses in U.S. District Courts increased by nearly 50%. “

Heroin Trafficking in the United States, by Kristin Finklea, Specialist in Domestic Security, August 23, 2016

Is Donald Trump your President?

What happened on the way to economic recovery? Was it Obama?

https://www.bostonfed.org/news-and-events/speeches/2016/after-the-great-recession-a-not-so-great-recovery.aspx   This is the link to the summary, and you can open the text with a click.

Shortly before the 2016 election there was the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston's 60th Economic Conference, with president Eric Rosengren exploring what went wrong in the recovery from the recession.  Technically it was over by June 2009, and Obama’s goosing the economy with payouts to special interests and bail outs hadn’t even gotten out the door.

Without ever getting to the heart of it (I personally think it was Obama’s personality and negativity that caused workers and investors to hold back with a wait and see attitude) Rosengren lists

changing demographics

falling labor participation

higher savings rate (imagine complaining that people were holding on to their own money and not buying stuff they didn’t need)

low inflation

even when full employment returned, the economy was sluggish

low federal funds rate

treasury rates low

price to earning ratio for stocks were low

rents were low

rapid appreciation in commercial real estate

capitalization rates were at historic lows

Conclusion:  Recovery was mostly bad news and it may be the new “normal.”

Hmmm.  Maybe not Mr. Rosengren.

Data on employment

I don’t know why, but Mercer County Ohio seems to have the lowest unemployment rate in the state, 2.4. It’s on the Indiana border, which seems to have a lower unemployment rate than Ohio, and did all during the very slow recovery. The highest unemployment rate in November 2018 was Monroe County, at 7.1. It is located on the eastern border of  of Ohio, across the Ohio River from West Virginia. As of the 2010 census, the population was only 14,642, making it the second-least populous county in Ohio. If you want to be alone, this is your county--the county averages thirty-three people per square mile. Major employers are the county government, the schools and nursing homes.

I found this by looking at “Local Area Unemployment Statistics Map” of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and clicking on Ohio, then placing the cursor over the various counties which were shaded according to unemployment rates, with the lightest color being the least unemployment.  https://data.bls.gov/map/MapToolServlet    From there you can go to https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/US/PST045218 and type in the county name in the search window for more facts about the county.

Since I’ve never applied for unemployment I do wonder why some counties that are high are right next to counties that are low, but generally those counties in Appalachia are higher than the counties next to Indiana. Poor transportation?  Low education rates?  Monroe’s graduation rate is 87.9 and Mercer’s 92.7—both above the national average.  Health insurance?  Monroe County has 7.8% who don’t have insurance, and Mercer 5.6%.  Both counties are over 97% white.  But the poverty rate in Monroe is 15.2 and Mercer is 6.9, and disability is much higher in Monroe, 13.7 compared to 6 for Mercer.

See?  Even with the employees furloughed, there’s a lot of information out there from the U.S. Census.

I got a compliment

on my research skills and a question on how did someone from academe ever become a conservative! And I responded:

“ I was completely apolitical until about age 55—when my husband went into business for himself and I had to start paying attention to silly things like taxes and insurance—something the state of Ohio had always done for me. I was the perfect state employee—rarely asked how Ohio  was going to meet all those pension obligations that paid 2 or 3 times what Social Security does. And frankly, being a Republican isn’t that much fun since we elect such wimps and liars!  Being a self-righteous Democrat was much nicer.  Did you see where Ohio’s Republican governor (until 2 weeks ago) has taken a job with CNN?  Just infuriates me.  What a turn coat!!!  Right now I’m using my research skills on “growing older with health and vitality.”    I think we’ve attended 6-7 funerals in the past 6 months. We called a good friend Sunday to find out why we didn’t get a Christmas card,** and he told us his wife now has Alzheimer’s.  She always handled that stuff, and he now has diabetes and congestive heart failure.  This getting old is getting old . . . .  But occasionally there’s something interesting on our group list to respond to.”

**These days, when we don’t hear from friends or relatives, we know it’s because of Trump, but we knew this guy’s politics so figured it was something else.

As far as being an academic, yes, conservatives are a dying breed on campus because “you dance with the one who brung ya’.”

KNOW YOUR FAT

Adipose tissue is broadly divided into brown and white varieties. Brown fat cells express high levels of thermogenic genes and help maintain body heat by burning calories. Beige fat cells function similarly, but they are not of the brown fat cell lineage. Rather, they develop in white fat, the tissue that we typically think of as “fat.” White fat cells are involved in whole-body energy homeostasis and lipid storage and are found both under the skin and in the abdomen, where they are known as visceral adipose tissue (VAT). It is this type of fat that can help detect and eliminate pathogens as well as maintain immune homeostasis in the gut.

https://www.the-scientist.com/features/belly-fat-has-a-role-to-play-in-fighting-infections-64802

Protein supplementation + resistance and the elderly

I’m not ready to write my conclusions yet, but the medical research shows protein supplementation with resistance exercises is important for the elderly (yes, I am). Protein in combination with resistance exercises can reverse some of the wasting of muscle we experience.

“Effects of protein supplementation combined with resistance exercise on body composition and physical function in older adults: a systematic review and meta-analysis” The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Volume 106, Issue 4, 1 October 2017, pp 1078–1091  https://academic.oup.com/ajcn/article/106/4/1078/4651887( Because this is a review article, the protein supplement varied by article.  The types of PS included whey protein, leucine, casein, milk protein, and the leucine metabolite β-hydroxy β-methylbutyrate. The protein sources for the PS differed among the included trials, comprising milk-based beverages, a whey protein and essential amino acid combination, fortified milk, milk protein concentrate, and dairy delivered through diet.)

“Effect of exercise and nutritional supplementation on health-related quality of life and mood in older adults: the VIVE2 randomized controlled trial”  BMC Geriatrics. 2018; 18: 286.  [BioMed Central] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6249766/  (The nutritional supplement provided 150 kcal, 20 g of whey protein, 800 IU vitamin D and a combination of vitamins and minerals, as previously described.)

“Nutritional Supplementation With Physical Activity Improves Muscle Composition in Mobility-Limited Older Adults, The VIVE2 Study: A Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Trial. The Journals of Gerontology: Series A, Volume 73, Issue 1, 1 January 2018”  https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28977347, https://academic.oup.com/biomedgerontology/article/73/1/95/4034773 [Oxford] (“daily nutritional supplement (150 kcal, 20 g whey protein, 800 IU vitamin D, 119 mL beverage)”

In the discussions and conclusions all suggested that protein supplement combined with resistance exercises were beneficial for the elderly. Then the question becomes what kind of supplement?  Whey?  Soy? Animal based? Plant?  These studies seemed to all use whey.

“Protein quality as determined by the Digestible Indispensable Amino Acid Score: evaluation of factors underlying the calculation” Nutrition Review. 2016 Sep; 74(9): 584–599. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6322793/ Extensive analysis of IAA. Digestible Indispensable Amino Acid (DIAA),

“Collagen peptide supplementation in combination with resistance training improves body composition and increases muscle strength in elderly sarcopenic men: a randomised controlled trial” British Journal of  Nutrition. 2015 Oct 28; 114(8): 1237–1245  https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4594048/ (Used collagen peptide, The product was provided by GELITA AG (BODYBALANCE^™). The amino acid composition of the collagen peptides is shown in Table 1.)

Will update as I find them.

Trump trumps the media again

They are going bonkers with hate filled monologues, articles and jokes about the President offering football players fast food since the Democrats have shut down the government and there was no food service in the White House.  Can’t believe how humorless and pointless “journalists” have become. I think their ratings are lower than Congress.  What 20-something kid doesn’t love fast food?  Some lefties are calling the feast “racist!”  New Yorker calls it “banal.” Americans spend over $200 Billion a year on fast food and they are dissing the deplorables again. Wow.  Elitism rides again rough shod over Americans.   They even criticized the President for saying the first and second lady could make salads apparently putting down all women with the comment.  Can’t believe them—it isn’t fake news, it’s inability to understand a joke, a wise crack or a nuance.

 

Apparently it’s OK for Planned Parenthood to put their billboards and clinics in black neighborhoods, but fast food companies shouldn’t do that—according to some lefty web sites I’ve seen—and I won’t link because they don’t deserve to be paid by their advertisers.   They are all capitalists, but the media are just more self-righteous.

Keto Pancakes for breakfast?

I receive interesting daily e-mails from Warrior Made https://www.warriormade.com/   and Coach Tyler-- must have filled out a questionnaire some where, but most of the time I do make note of the exercises since he seems to do them in his living room and not the gym.  Today there was a recipe for Keto pancakes.  I know nothing about the Keto diet except it is low carb. (definition: “The “keto” in a ketogenic diet comes from the fact that it allows the body to produce small fuel molecules called “ketones”. This is an alternative fuel source for the body, used when blood sugar (glucose) is in short supply. Ketones are produced if you eat very few carbs (that are quickly broken down into blood sugar) and only moderate amounts of protein (excess protein can also be converted to blood sugar) . https://www.dietdoctor.com/low-carb/keto#what-is-keto )

So I looked at the recipe https://www.warriormade.com/content/diet/keto-pancakes/and see it has less protein than regular pancakes, so I don’t think I’ll use this one—made with cream cheese and almond flour).  I’ve been researching a higher protein diet for the elderly combined with resistance to improve joint and muscle health.  Not ready to write my conclusions yet, but the medical research show it is important.

https://academic.oup.com/ajcn/article/106/4/1078/4651887

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/322897813

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6249766/

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2612691/

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6322793/

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28977347

Not that I frequently make pancakes, but they do sound good on these cold mornings—or evenings with creamed chicken, right?