Thursday Thirteen--13 tips on getting fit without making a New Year’s Resolution

1. Sit up in your chair and visualize a golden thread running from your crown to the ceiling. Also good for depression.
2. Take the stairs instead of the elevator.   Take 2 at a time for extra challenge.
3. Get off the bus a stop early.
4. Park a block away from your destination or at the outskirts of the parking lot.
5. Invest in a pedometer to gauge how far you walk each day—try for 10,000 steps.
6. If you’re sitting at work, or blogging at home, get up and move around for 5-10 minutes every hour. I walk around when I talk on the phone.
7. Do some office yoga for stretches. (from pinterest)

               

8.  If your grocery bags have handles use them for impromptu weight lifting, one on each side, keeping your shoulders, hips, knees and ankles in a straight line.

9. I’m not sure this is because of exercise or what you eat (fresher, smaller portions), but people who go shopping every day live longer than those who shop only once a week.

10. Tone your buttocks by clenching them as tightly as you can for three seconds and releasing. Repeat 10 times, twice a day.

11. To prevent incontinence simply squeeze your pelvic floor muscles, then hold the squeeze for a few seconds and then release slowly.

12. Simply sitting up rather than lying down increases energy output by 25%, and standing up really ups the ante. Standing up burns more calories than sitting or lying down.

13. While watching TV lie down on the floor, slowly bring one knee up to your chest, pulling it in with your arms, and hold for 10 seconds. Repeat 10 times, then do the other leg. To firm your stomach, thighs and bottom all in one go, lie with your arms by your sides, lift your hips and clench your buttocks so you are in a straight line. Now raise one leg as high as possible, and lower it. Repeat 12 times and switch legs.

                             

http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2014/jan/11/get-fit-without-noticing-do-something-active

Helping churches and parents to help their children

La Verne Tolbert, Ph.D., is author of Keeping You & Your Kids Sexually Pure. She details her five-year tenure on the Board of Directors of Planned Parenthood, NYC when death certificates were required for all abortions.  Her research on school-based clinics—abortion mills in public schools—explains why condom availability encourages kids to become sexually active.  Written in everyday language, she urges pastors, parents, and teachers to teach teens why and how to save sex for marriage.

How I plan to use up the rest of the black beans

I made a huge crockpot of black beans today.  I mixed some with brown rice and we’ll be eating that forever, plus I have a lot left over.  I’m guessing I have 10-12 servings for $1.50.  Here’s an idea.

Black Bean Brownies

(gluten-free)

• 1 1/2 cups black beans (1 15-oz can, drained and rinsed very well) (250g after draining)
• 2 tbsp cocoa powder- dutch or regular (10g) (add a little extra if desired)
• 1/2 cup quick oats (40g) (See nutrition facts link below for all substitution notes.)
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/3 cup pure maple syrup or agave (Honey will work, but not for strict vegans.) (75g)
• 2 nunaturals stevia packs or 2 tbsp sugar (or omit and increase maple syrup to 1/2 cup)
• 1/4 cup coconut or vegetable oil (40g) (See “nutrition facts” link for all substitution notes.)
• 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 cup to 2/3 cup chocolate chips (115-140g) (Not optional. Omit at your own risk.)
• optional: more chips, for presentation

Black Bean Brownies Recipe: Preheat oven to 350 F. Combine all ingredients except chips in a good food processor, and blend until completely smooth. Really blend well. (A blender can work if you absolutely must, but the texture—and even the taste—will be much better in a food processor.) Stir in the chips, then pour into a greased 8×8 pan. Optional: sprinkle extra chocolate chips over the top. Cook the black bean brownies 15-18 minutes, then let cool at least 10 minutes before trying to cut. Makes 9-12 brownies.

I don’t have a food processor, so I may have to try the unrecommended blender way.

41st anniversary of Roe v. Wade

Today, approximately 250,000 people will descend on Washington, DC in the annual March for Life--41st anniversary of legal killing the unborn. About 56 million. Pray for them--it's terribly cold and snowy. Also pray for abortion providers that they will leave their careers. Also I've seen about 15 seconds on Fox, but I doubt the other media will even give it that much. EWTN usually has great coverage if you can get that cable network. Right now I’m watching the closing mass at the National Basilica of the Immaculate Conception, Washington, D.C., scene of the crime.

On this 41st anniversary of Roe v. Wade when the Supreme Court invented a law roughly half of Americans now identify themselves as “pro-life,” and strong majorities support commonsense policies to protect women from abortion’s harms. Abortion harms all of us. It has created a culture that disregards the dignity of human life, endangers women, demeans motherhood, and denigrates men’s role as fathers. http://www.scribd.com/doc/201208788/How-to-Speak-Up-for-Life.

“Pro-choice” has certainly become a misnomer.  It is estimated that over 60% of the women and girls who have abortions do so because of pressure from boyfriends, husbands, parents, or peers.

http://www.publiceye.org/ark/reproductive-justice/articles/forced-abortions-america.php

Mythical sons

The President on marijuana, by Dave Perkins

“Dear President Obama--

Are you SURE marijuana doesn't harm you? Obama compares it to alcohol, to point out that the intoxicating chemistry of weed is not any more dangerous than that of alcohol. Fair enough.

But each joint, say researchers, contains the tar and toxins of a whole PACK of cigarettes. And aren't the same lefties trying to legalize weed also trying to push cigarette smokers off a cliff on health grounds?

Only the American left could be against cigarettes and for weed at the same time.

Cultural leadership is trickle-down. What is embedded at the top eventually finds its way into the mainstream.

Even if it's incoherent and cynical.”

From the FB page of Victoria Jackson, a very funny lady.

http://adai.uw.edu/marijuana/factsheets/respiratoryeffects.htm

Multi-millionaire chastises us about income inequality—a Democrat, of course.

This is what I just don't get about Democrats.  And I’m not talking fashion here.  Hypocrisy. Duplicity. Treachery. Deceitfulness.

"Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.), who is worth millions of dollars according to her congressional financial disclosure statement, says Congress needs to tackle income inequality because it “poses an existential threat to our nation and our way of life.” "

But what is worse, half the population will fall for this income gap nonsense. It’s Obama’s talking points to create class envy, which is supposed to help Democrats who are floundering because of Benghazi, NSA, IRS, and Obamacare. According to one site, she was worth only $5 million when she got Congress, and is now worth over $17 million—in just 5 years. I think that’s more money than the Clintons were able to stash away.

President Obama is campaigning on income inequality hoping you'll forget that "The wealthy took home a greater share of the nation’s income during the years following the recession, under Obama, than between 2002 and 2007, under Bush, according to a 2012 analysis from Emmanuel Saez, a professor at the University of California, Berkeley." (Huffington Post)

What does the Fox say?

http://www.today.com/video/today/53254690#53254690

Over 350,000,000 YouTube hits  and it was all a joke.  That’s how difficult it is to write a hit song at least for Bård Ylvisåker and Vegard Ylvisåker.

Hamilton Co. Ohio Abortion Clinic to close

From Ohio Right to Life, Columbus, Ohio--Today, the Ohio Department of Health affirmed its order to shut down abortionist Martin Haskell's Sharonville clinic, the Lebanon Road Surgery Center, for failure to meet Ohio medical standards. Specifically, Haskell's clinic operated without a transfer agreement with any area hospital and was unable to identify any doctors within the region that wanted assist his abortion business. Haskell's abortion clinic must cease all operations and close it's doors on or before February 4, 2014.

According to Ohio law, Lebanon Road Surgery Center exists as an Ambulatory Surgical Facility and because of this legal status, the clinic is not a full-service medical facility. To operate legally, Lebanon Road Surgery Center must have a transfer agreement with a full-service private hospital to handle all cases of abortion complications against the mother. In the case that an abortion facility is unable to acquire a transfer agreement, it can apply for a variance (exception). Lebanon Road Surgery Center failed to obtain either.

Late-term abortionist, Martin Haskell, who owns Lebanon Road Surgery Center, has performed abortions for more than 30 years. He is notorious for his advocacy of partial-birth abortion and is credited for popularizing the now banned and illegal procedure. With the closing of Haskell's clinic, only one abortion facility remains open inside the county with the third highest rate for abortion deaths in Ohio.

To view the adjudication order click here.

This is good news, but doesn’t explain why he and his wife were allowed to operate illegally. http://www.operationrescue.org/archives/late-term-abortionist-haskell-sues-city-for-denying-request-for-illegal-sign/

http://www.operationrescue.org/archives/woman-rushed-to-hospital-from-haskells-late-term-abortion-clinic-outside-dayton/

http://www.lifenews.com/2011/10/04/late-term-abortionist-martin-haskell-allowed-to-avoid-ohio-law/

http://www.sharonvilleclinic.com/martin-haskell.html

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cake for one

My husband has really been enjoying the 3-2-1 cake because he can make it himself when he gets the munchies.  Here’s another quickie cake that’s made in the microwave.

Two Minute Chocolate Peanut Butter Cake

1 egg
1 Tbsp brown sugar
2 Tbsp peanut butter
1 Tbsp flour
1 Tbsp cocoa
1/4 tsp baking powder
a small handful of chocolate chips

In a small bowl, stir the egg, brown sugar, peanut butter, flour, cocoa and baking powder with a fork. Stir in the chocolate chips and pour batter into a greased ramekin or mug. Microwave for 1 minute. Eat straight from the ramekin or mug, or invert onto a plate. Serves 1.

http://www.babble.com/best-recipes/two-minutechocolate-peanut-butter-cake/

Since most cake recipes usually call for only 2 eggs, I’m a little surprised at the proportion of egg to dry ingredients, and also no shortening—unless the peanut butter fat takes care of that. See, I haven’t tried this yet—hoping you do and let me know.

Wendy Davis lied about her life and the life of the unborn

“Wendy Davis, the Texas state senator whose filibuster for abortion rights made her a Democratic superstar and launched her campaign for governor, has admitted to the Dallas Morning News that she lied about key events in her life, including her first divorce. Davis may even have lied under oath, testifying in a federal lawsuit over redistricting that "I got divorced by the time I was 19 years old," when in fact she was divorced at age 21.”

A pro-abort who lied? Shock and awe. All the stats about back alley abortions were fake too, but it got the legislation passed 41 years ago that led to 56 million abortions.  Lies have consequences.

Stay tuned for the spin she’ll put on this.

“She’s trying to market herself as a crusading truth-teller for women’s rights in a benighted state. It doesn’t help when your autobiography turns out to be as fact-challenged as Davis’ for that sales pitch. Her divorce from her second husband as he paid off her Harvard bill doesn’t look too meritorious, either, even if he’s still supportive of her as a person and candidate. Instead of being a crusading truth-teller, Davis looks a lot more like an untrustworthy opportunist … like many politicians.

Besides, Davis’ entire platform rests on the claim that abortion doesn’t kill human lives, an assertion rebutted by elementary biology and in opposition to science. Regardless of how one feels about the sanctity of human life, there’s simply no getting around the monstrous lie of abortion. That’s the most important lie of the Davis campaign, and the one that corrodes everything else it touches.”  http://hotair.com/archives/2014/01/20/wendy-davis-autobiography-under-went-some-revisions/

It’s not pretty when you run as a strong woman, but used a man to get there.

Basically, every country music song that’s ever come out of Texas was written about Wendy Davis.

Wendy Davis’s decisions are hers to make, obviously, and all political candidates couch their personal histories in a light most favorable to whoring themselves out to people to whom they can no longer relate. After all, it’s not like Wendy Davis in her current incarnation, sporting thousand-dollar suits and five-hundred-dollar shoes is going to be able to convince anyone in Texas that she understands anything about their lives. But Wendy Davis has built her entire campaign on being a demi-goddess of women’s liberation, a self-made masterpiece of female empowerment looking to take women’s rights to the next level whether she has to do it in a pair of pink sneakers or a Reem Acra pantsuit. And yet, the missing details and contextual omissions are what ultimately tank her carefully crafted life story. At her core, she’s a woman in power because she used a man’s money and influence to get her there. -

http://nakeddc.com/2014/01/20/wendy-davis-stone-cold-bitch-basically/

Easy Ham Glaze Recipes

For Christmas I did the real maple syrup and mustard glaze and it was just heavenly, but thought I’d save these for a future time.

Ingredients

Honey and Brown Sugar Ham Glaze

• 2/3 cup Brown Sugar
• 3 tbsp HONEY
• 1 tbsp Prepared Mustard

Orange Glaze

• 1 cup Orange Juice
• 3/4 cup Brown Sugar
• 1 tbsp Dijon Mustard
• 1/2 cup Honey
• 2 tsp Soy Sauce
• 2 tbsp Grand Marnier (optional)

Baked Ham Maple Glaze

• 1 tbsp Mustard
• 2/3 cup Real Maple Syrup

Brown Sugar Glaze

• 1½ cups Brown Sugar
• 1½ tsp Dry Mustard Powder
• 3/4 tsp Ground Cloves

Marmalade Glaze

• 1/4 cup Orange Marmalade
• 1/2 tsp Dry Mustard
• 1/2 cup Brown Sugar
• 1 tbsp Flour
• Pineapple Juice (enough to create a thick paste)

Pineapple Glaze

• 1½ tsp Dry Mustard
• 1½ cups Brown Sugar
• 3/4 cup Crushed Pineapple, well drained

Ginger Glaze

• 1 tsp Dry Ginger
• 1 tsp Dry Mustard
• 1 1/2 cups Brown Sugar
• Canned Pear or Peach Syrup (to make thick paste)
• 1 tsp Lemon Juice

Chili Glaze

• 1/2 cup Thick Chili Sauce
• 1/4 cup Corn Syrup

Instructions (For All Recipes)

• First of all, you need to make a slit in the rind of the ham.
• Trim the rind and fat at the same time, leaving 1/4 inch layer of fat on ham.
• Make diagonal cuts along the surface of the ham, on the fat layer, making sure not to penetrate the meat.
• Now, make diagonal cuts in the opposite direction, forming diamond shapes in the fat layer.
• Take a bowl and put all the ingredients in it (this works for all the above mentioned recipes)
• Mix the ingredients well and brush over the ham.
• As the ham cooks, occasionally brush it with the extra glaze.

http://lifestyle.iloveindia.com/lounge/how-to-glaze-a-ham-4254.html

What will you want?

Mini Tortilla-Crust Pizzas

 Ingredients

3 Whole wheat flour tortillas, 1 (15 ounce) can pizza sauce 1 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese 3/4 cup mini pepperoni (optional)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Open the can of pizza sauce, empty the sauce from the can, and rinse the can out.

2. Using the cut edge of the pizza sauce can, cut four rounds from each tortilla. Press each round into a lightly-greased muffin tin.

3. Place a tablespoon of pizza sauce into the center of each tortilla round.

4. Sprinkle cheese on top of the sauce on each tortilla round.

5. Top each pizza with mini pepperoni rounds.

6. Bake in preheated oven for 10-12 minutes, or until cheese is bubbly. Remove and cool before using a fork to transfer mini pizzas from muffin tin to a serving plate.

Serve and enjoy!  This was on cousin Sarah Strauss’ FB page which found at the Almost Perfect FB page (A Canadian firm).  She finds the neatest things.

Adults behaving badly (Democrats)

Gov. Cuomo was using code words for conservative Christians in telling half the population to get out of New York. These days, "anti-gay" means people who believe in traditional marriage--which would make Obama anti-gay the first 4 years of his reign. Pro-gun means anyone who can read the Constitution's Bill of Rights. Right to life-ers means the Catholic church and evangelical Christians. Since when does a Governor get to decide who resides in his state? Those Democrats are certainly a big hate group. Eric Metaxas says, "Such contempt from a "public servant" is UTTERLY inexcusable. Gov. Cuomo should apologize & resign. Period."

… You’re seeing that play out in New York. … The Republican Party candidates are running against the SAFE* Act — it was voted for by moderate Republicans who run the Senate! Their problem is not me and the Democrats; their problem is themselves. Who are they? Are they these extreme conservatives who are right-to-life, pro-assault-weapon, anti-gay? Is that who they are? Because if that’s who they are and they’re the extreme conservatives, they have no place in the state of New York, because that’s not who New Yorkers are.

Children are learning bad and harsh lessons from the Democrats in power, like the President who flipped on marriage to make his candidacy look better, who demonizes the rich he cavorts with who pay for his campaigns, this NY governor who demeans the Bill of Rights both first and second amendments, lying Wendy Davis in Texas claiming she was a teen single mom when she wasn't, and the lying Indian Princess Elizabeth Warren from Massachusetts.

                 

*The New York Secure Ammunition and Firearms Enforcement Act of 2013 commonly known as the NY SAFE Act is a gun control law in the state of New York. The law was passed by the New York State Legislature on January 15, 2013, and was signed into law by Governor of New York Andrew Cuomo on the same day.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/01/12/new-york-safe-act/4430741/

Monday Memories—We move to the condo

One of the advantages of having an artist/husband is the wonderful homemade cards. This is the 12th anniversary of living here—January 20. I think he was at the closing and I was in the ER. So the details are a bit fuzzy, but he remembers. We have loved it here--beautiful site and wonderful neighbors, and people to mow the lawn and remove the snow.

          

Caring for 2—a federal program for mothers and infants at risk

It gives me pleasure to report on a federal health/poverty/race program that actually is meeting its goals—Caring for 2.  I’d never heard of it, but came across the name on the list of referrals we use at the Pregnancy Decision Health Center where I volunteer.

http://publichealth.columbus.gov/uploadedFiles/Public_Health/Content_Editors/Maternal_Health/Caring_for_2/Caringfor2_update_1pager_2011.pdf

Caring for 2 began in 1991 as part of Healthy Start with 15 test sites, and now has 105, two in Ohio, Columbus and Cleveland. Although I don’t believe it began as a race based program, it is now limited to African Americans, and in Columbus to specific zip codes. The mission was to reduce the high infant mortality rate; in Columbus this has certainly been successful (for those enrolled) with the infant mortality rate below the national average.

There seems to be a recent push to include fathers in the program (NHSA’s Where Dads Matter fatherhood program begun in 2007).  Who knew?  Actually the number one advantage for a poor or low income child is to have married parents. That and a job for dad, any job, will provide those parents with the opportunity to leave poverty behind.  No government program makes that kind of promise.

I can’t find anything current under Healthy Start that specifically funds promoting fatherhood, but did find a page of links.  It is mentioned in the national annual report, but is definitely a step child added during the Bush years. http://fatherhood.gov/for-programs/federal-programs-and-resources

California’s program includes a piece specifically for “dads” but marriage doesn’t seem to be a part of that. In fact, it’s not even mentioned as the biggest guarantee that a child won’t grow up in poverty. http://www.healthycal.org/archives/10425

Here is a state by state update on what is happening. Despite the success rate, or perhaps because of it, I was disappointed to read how some programs are being watered down with other issues, like fighting racism, because there are so many other avenues for that, and success has been dramatic by focusing on health and coordinating community resources already available.

http://www.nationalhealthystart.org/site/assets/docs/NHSA_SavingBabiesPub_2ndED.pdf

Healthy Start is currently funded at just under $105 million and authorized through 2013. Healthy Start was first established as a pilot program by President George H.W. Bush in 1991. The last reauthorization of the program passed Congress in 2008 and was signed into law by President George W. Bush on October 3, 2008. The fatherhood component was added under GW Bush.

Now I’m a capitalist

                       

I was looking at a red t-shirt that said, "Capitalist."  Most of my professional life I worked for the government: University of Illinois, Ohio State University, State of Ohio, and OhioNet ( state and federal grant money). I had a few jobs working in the free market economy when I was between "real" jobs, and of course, I was my husband's only staff for 20 years. So I have a state teacher's pension (not Social Security--can't have both). That sort of qualifies me as a capitalist, because pensions are invested in businesses/stock market/ real estate/ etc. While I was working, I socked away as much as was allowed in TIAA-CREF and IRAs (the stock market). For now those businesses and fat cats that are regularly maligned by this administration are doing well and paying me for investing my money—as a capitalist.

http://www2.ucsc.edu/whorulesamerica/power/pension_fund_capitalism.html

http://www.statecapitalist.org/category/pension/

http://www.giaging.org/documents/NIRS_Report_12-10-13.pdf

Dirty deals on the IRS scandals

Neither the Democrats who fear their growing power, nor the Republicans who fear the same thing are going to take any action about the IRS criminal behavior against the Tea Party.

“President Obama and Democrats have been at great pains to insist they knew nothing about IRS targeting of conservative 501(c)(4) nonprofits before the 2012 election. They've been at even greater pains this week to ensure that the same conservative groups are silenced in the 2014 midterms.

That's the big, dirty secret of the omnibus negotiations. As one of the only bills destined to pass this year, the omnibus was—behind the scenes—a flurry of horse trading. One of the biggest fights was over GOP efforts to include language to stop the IRS from instituting a new round of 501(c)(4) targeting. The White House is so counting on the tax agency to muzzle its political opponents that it willingly sacrificed any manner of its own priorities to keep the muzzle in place.”

Kimberley Strassel at the Wall Street Journal—much more to read

The widening gap between the rich and the poor—10 easy reasons

Nine years ago the  Wall Street Journal published a series—the widening gap between the rich and the poor—and this was before the recession and during very low unemployment and an economic boom.  I didn’t like any of their answers, so I wrote my own reasons for the gap. Keep in mind this was May 2005. Notice the word “easy.”

1. Easy credit cards: We got our first credit card in the late 60s--I think it was a "Shopper’s Charge." We now have one department store credit card and one bank card--we’ve never carried a balance. Since the late 80s and into the 90s, many new households have never known what it was to live on their earned income.
2. Easy divorce: Christians now have the same divorce rate as anyone else in the culture. When we married 45 years ago, regular religious observance offered families some protection. No fault divorce particularly hurt women and children, pushing them economically into competition with two income families.
3. Easy sex: Casual one-night stands were glorified in the movies of the 70s and 80s. Although adultery and fornication had long been a theme in literature, drama and movies, casual sex and living together before marriage became the gold standard of relationships by the 80s, even though it’s been proven that it increases the divorce rate. Then easy sex came into the living rooms via TV so that even young children think who’s spending the night is no more important than what toothpaste mom buys. Women having and raising babies alone is the biggest cause of growing poverty.
4. Easy birth control and abortion: The millions of Americans that might have sprung from the loins of some of our best and brightest have been denied life itself, and thus their slots in the pie chart has been taken by poor, less educated immigrants. Obviously this creates a huge gap between the middle class and the poor, who instead of having a solid footing as those aborted citizens might have had, flood across our borders or arrive as refugees with nothing.
5. Easy technology and gadgets: Time wasted on I-pods and text messaging and vegging out in front of bad movies on DVDs has certainly absorbed billions of hours that could have been invested in networking, education or advancing up the career ladder. Cable and cell phone monthly costs easily equal what we spent on a mortgage in the 1960s and 1970s.
6. Easy bankruptcy: Load up the credit cards with consumer spending, mortgage your future, then make the rest of us pay it off for you. It might have been Plan B 20 years ago, but is now Plan A. Interest only mortgages, leases for larger and more expensive vehicles, second mortgages--for a generation who thinks the future will be paid for by someone else, it’s a recipe for a growing gap.
7. Easy leisure: Thirty five years ago (1970) few middle class families took vacations--if Dad had a week off (and most companies didn’t offer it) he spent it fixing the house. Sure it’s a huge industry and employs a lot of people, but we’re looking at the gap aren’t we? We’d probably been married 10 years before we took a family vacation (my parents never had one), and then it was at my mother’s farm for a week. Our daughter and her husband had been to Key West, Aruba and took a Mexican cruise in the first 5 years of their marriage.
8. Easy entertainment: This is related to leisure and technology, but today’s young families have difficulty being alone or quiet, it would seem. Even 30 years olds seem unable to walk around without head phones. They are spending their children’s future at movies, sporting events and theme parks. A visit to the library is most likely to pick up a movie, not a book.
9. Easy college loans: Instead of attending a state school, working during the summer or attending closer to home, many young people begin their working lives with huge debt, a debt that takes years to pay off, assuming they don’t default. Loans were so easy in the 80s, that parents who could well afford to pay tuition had their children at the public trough.
10. Easy shopping: You can be a couch potato or a computer novice and never leave home to shop. Addiction is easy. Just call in with the credit card.

See? And I haven’t even said a word about how much health care costs, or how the women’s movement changed our culture, public transportation or taxes. And while the government is tangentially involved in these areas, mostly it boils down to perfectly legal choices, choices which when they become ingrained in our way of life lead to poverty or slippage down by a quintile for the next generation.

Yes, our cat does this

She will also start  knocking things to the floor from the night stand right next to my ear. But only mine, since she knows I’m the early riser. She thinks I’ll forget to feed her if she doesn’t do something.

Washington Post is ‘fessing up to its poor investigation of Obamacare—by mentioning some facts now

I noticed this in a long article in Washington Post about employer health insurance problems under the 2nd wave of Obamacare.

"An estimated 18 million to 24 million people in the United States have insurance through employers with fewer than 50 workers, and about 40 million have coverage through firms with fewer than 100 workers. The Department of Health and Human Services estimated in 2010 that up to 80 percent of small-group plans, defined as having fewer than 100 workers, could be discontinued by the end of 2013."

Sort of made me wonder why WaPo thought the small percentage who didn't have insurance before Obama took office, were so much more important than the millions more that would be losing either coverage or jobs as companies closed. WaPo has been the president's lap dog until very recently.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/oct/10/editorial-lap-dogs-on-the-growl/

Apple cranberry oatmeal bars

I found a recipe card on the floor yesterday; must have fallen out of something.  I didn’t have a few ingredients—like raw sugar and farina, but I like the idea.  So I googled the ingredients I wanted—oatmeal, cranberries and apples, and found this one. I was going to cut up an apple, and I probably will, but cook it a few minutes to make chunky applesauce. Recipe is from Better Homes and Gardens according the the blog author.http://cookingthisandthat.blogspot.com/2009/01/apple-cranberry-oatmeal-bars.html

1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup quick-cooking or old fashioned rolled oats
2/3 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup cold butter, cut into small cubes
Filling:
1 cup (chunky or smooth) applesauce
2/3 cup dried cranberries
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
dash ground cloves

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
In a medium bowl combine flour, oats, brown sugar, and baking soda. Cut in butter using a pastry blender until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Reserve 1/2 cup of the crumb mixture.
Press the remaining crumb mixture into the bottom of an ungreased 11 x 7 baking dish. Make sure you press firmly into the pan - you are making a crust.
Combine all filling ingredients in small bowl. Spread over crumb mixture in baking dish. Sprinkle with reserved 1/2 cup crumb mixture.
Bake 30-35 minutes, until top is golden and filling is set. Cool on a wire rack. Cut into bars.

Friday Family Photo—Dora Hsiung

Here is an old photo of my college roommate, Dora Hsiung, and me 30 years after we met in 1958 at the University of Illinois. I was in Boston for a Medical Library Association conference and we went to the Boston Museum of Art.

Here is a video of Dora demonstrating her fiber art.  I’ve saved all of her Christmas cards and have framed some in a grouping.

http://www.newtv.org/video/inside-the-artist-s-studio/inside-the-artists-studio-fiber-artist-dora-hsiung/

Creation and Life

I’ve always cared about and loved God’s physical world--and wondered about the events and choices that moved lives and nations. As a 5 year old I wondered why my grandmother was blind and my uncle was killed in the war. And I still don’t know, but I know God does. And until the past two decades or so, I thought caring was enough, because caring made me a “good” person. Caring made me better than people who didn’t care as much as I do. Caring elevated me above the hoi polloi, the commoners, the great unwashed who don’t believe as I do.

In brief moments of extreme self-love, I even imagined I was more merciful and caring than God because I knew better how life should be ordered and what made sense and what didn’t! At this age I know caring does nothing, so I will speak out when I am able to promote God‘s Creation and Life. You can argue about candidates or fossil fuel with me, both were put here by God, but you won’t budge me on Creation and Life. (May 11, 2012)

Chris Bradley’s prediction for February

Chris Bradley is our Channel 10 weatherman in Columbus.  On Facebook he said,  FOR WEATHER GEEKS ONLY: The weather pattern has been cold with fast moving Clippers for the last week or so. I see even colder weather for the end of January with subzero temperatures very possible.

But today we are seeing signs of a pattern change that could make for an interesting February. If you like heavy snow.. the change I see happening after the third of February will bring a smile to your face. It appears the Jet Stream will be shift with a trough in the West. I've attached the GFS 500 mb which shows us the wind patterns across the country. This trough allows storms to develop across Texas and Oklahoma and ride up into the Ohio Valley. You heard it here first these are the storms the dump lots of snow. Lets keep an eye on this friends!

Later: I'm calling for temperatures to start falling next Monday with a low in Columbus of 5 Tuesday morning, zero Wednesday morning and 2 Thursday morning. While the low temperatures next week aren't as severe as the first Polar Vortex last week, they could be worse when a second wave of cold air arrives a week later. I have posted the GFS and ECMWF maps which show temperatures by January 27th ranging from 15-20 below. If you experienced problems with your home or car last week... do what you can now to prepare for even colder air later this month!

Bustles have come to stay--1889

An ad in the Ladies Home Journal, March 1889, assured women they needed the bustle:

“If a woman has too large hips, the Bustle relieves them of their protuberance; if she have no hips at all apparently, the Bustle supplies the lack; if she have too large an abdomen, the Bustle gives her symmetry, if she be too tall and thin, the Bustle helps her; if she be too short and broad, the Bustle helps her none the less.” from Magazines in the United States, (Ronald Press, 1949)

Traveling suit worn by Louise Whitfield on April 22, 1887 during the evening of her quiet wedding to Mr. Andrew Carnegie of New York while aboard the steamship Fulda on her way to European honeymoon. Designed for her travels, this practical ensemble consists of skirt with two bodices, extra set of cuffs, collar and front gold embroidered pastron insert of red silk velvet for more formal occasions. Costume Institute at The Met. Found at Pinterest, Becky Morris.

Carnegie became the richest man in the United States, and gave about 90% of his fortune away, much of it to build libraries. He was a poor immigrant—a very interesting person, as was she.

Our free and unbiased press

A NOTE TO WOMEN

“Would you please stop entertaining and sleeping with
these guys? If you are sleeping with a married guy, you are
being used. If you are sleeping with a guy who hasn’t married
you, you are being used. “Living together” is just a fancy term for, “I want to use you for sex until I’m tired of you.”

Please, kick him to the curb and go find a decent man who
accepts you, treats you like an equal, and will give up his life for
you. Anyone else is just a waste of time.

Besides, there is a good chance this loser is going to get you
pregnant. Who is going to be left with the decision about what
to do with the baby? You. Who is the only legally responsible
party? You. Who will bear the brunt of the abortion? You.

You are worth more than that. You deserve to be treated
better, respected more, and protected by someone who is
willing to commit the rest of his life to you. Don’t settle for
anything less.” Abortion: The Ultimate Exploitation of Women. By Brian Fisher, pp. 165-66

Photo from Why you’re better off married.

Black men not telling their ladies the truth

By race, age and risk group, young, black gay and bisexual men (ages 13-29) are the only population in the United States in which new HIV infections increased between 2006 and 2009.

Take a look at this chart of subpopulations.  Notice anything strange?

Although only 2%  of the population, black gay and bisexual men have 61% of the new infections; but black heterosexual women  have more infections (5400) than white heterosexual women (1700)—and although I’m sure there is plenty of cross-racial sex, the majority is within same race relationships. Black men are not telling black women the truth.  If they can’t be honest about their sexuality, why should they expect everyone else to change their views?

The HIV infection rate among African Americans was almost eight times as high as that of whites in 2009, and among African American women it was 15 times higher than among white women.

Also, transgender individuals are heavily affected by HIV. A 2008 review of studies of HIV among male-to-female women found that, on average, 28 percent (from 11% to 78%)  tested positive for HIV. So do these women push up the stats of heterosexual women with HIV?

http://www.cdc.gov/hiv/policies/hip.html

The good old days

Thatcher believed in free enterprise—choice, dignity, responsibility, self worth, courage, efficiency and common sense.

Promise zones instead of jobs?

Obama's retread speeches are snooze-worthy, the income gap, class envy, "investments" (aka more taxes) in promise zones (with Democrats in trouble)--anything to avoid the elephant in the room--Obamacare. How does raising the minimum wage and allowing illegal immigrants to stay in the country help unemployed black youth, whose work prospects are already dismal? The unemployment rate in December fell because of the numbers leaving the labor force and disproportionately for blacks, "with the labor force participation rate for African Americans dropping by 0.3 percentage points to 60.2 percent, the lowest rate since December of 1977."

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/businessdesk/2014/01/unemployments-slow-drip-top-economists-on-the-2013-jobs-record.html

http://cnsnews.com/news/article/ali-meyer/unemployment-among-black-youth-393-higher-national-rate

Thursday Thirteen—13 brain helps and exercises

1.  First the best one—eat more dark chocolate.  “ The cacao bean, from which chocolate is made, is  complex, containing more than 400 chemicals. Many of them can affect human biology and health.” Sorry, your favorite candy bar may not help. The beneficial effects of chocolate are not in milk chocolate or white chocolate.

2.  Visit a museum.  Two years ago at Lakeside we had a program on the incredible museums in Ohio.  I just couldn’t  believe the variety. Most recently we toured the Ohio Historical Society and saw the 1950s exhibit—it’s tough when your halcyon days are now in a museum! When you get home from your (guided) tour,  jot down what you remember. “Research into brain plasticity (the ability of the brain to change at any age) indicates that memory activities that engage all levels of brain operation—receiving, remembering and thinking—help to improve the function (and hinder the rate of decline) of the brain.” Brain fitness tips. 

3.  Memorize a song.  “Developing better habits of careful listening will help you in your understanding, thinking and remembering. Reconstructing the song requires close attentional focus and an active memory. When you focus, you release the neurotransmitter acetylcholine, a brain chemical that enables plasticity and vivifies memory.“  Although it’s not a song, I suppose it would help to sing it—my New Year’s resolution was to memorize the names of the books of the Old Testament by January 31. Today I’m on Amos, Obadiah and Jonah. Brain fitness tips.

4.  Exercise your peripheral vision. I think I remember doing this in elementary school.  Sit outside and stare straight ahead, don’t move your eyes.  Then write down everything you can remember seeing, including the periphery.  This exercise again should help you reinvigorate the controlled release of acetylcholine in your brain.  Brain fitness tips

5.  Learn to play a (new) musical instrument. My husband is trying to teach himself to play the guitar.  I want him to take lessons, so I got him a gift certificate for Christmas.  He had NO musical training as a child—virtually everyone I knew in our little town took piano lessons and later started band instruments.  “Playing an instrument helps you exercise many interrelated dimensions of brain function, including listening, control of refined movements, and translation of written notes (sight) to music (movement and sound).” The photo is our son showing his dad some fingering.

 

6.  Put together a 500 piece jigsaw puzzle.  This involves a lot of brain activity, looking at the piece, rotating it in your mind and hand, and figuring out the big picture.

7. Try using your non-dominate hand for simple tasks, like brushing your teeth or buttoning a shirt.  But be careful—might be tough to get the toothpaste out of your misbuttoned shirt. Keep your brain alive, (Workman, 1999)

8.  Add fish—especially fatty fish like salmon—to your diet. If your diet lacks omega-3 fatty acids, commonly found in fish,  your brain may age faster and lose some of its memory and thinking capabilities according to a recent UCLA study.  It also helps your cardiovascular system. 

9.  Physical exercise is also brain exercise. Exercise has positive benefits for the hippocampus, a brain structure that is important for learning and memory. It can even help your brain create new cells.  They already knew endurance exercises were good for the brain, and here’s the research to confirm it.  Think of those little mice running a treadmill just for your brain! I’m in an exercise class a few times a week, and when the weather is better I’ll also walk outdoors.

10.   Get a good night’s sleep.  Memory tasks are easier if you are well rested because the brain can store those tasks in your long term memory.  There are several theories on why sleep is important for memory.

11. At dinner, rearrange the seating chart. This challenges the associations we have.  I wonder if this applies to the pew in church? Keep your brain alive, (Workman, 1999)

12.  Take an unfamiliar route on your commute or drive someone else’s car (ask first).   Pay attention—you’ll be forced to and won’t be on autopilot. Keep your brain alive, (Workman, 1999)

13.  Shower with your eyes closed—but only if you have good balance. Find the faucets, soap, shampoo, etc. and if you’re in my shower, don’t forget to squeegee the tile and glass doors. Keep your brain alive, (Workman, 1999)

If you’d like to participate in Thursday Thirteen, check here.

Allen West on who’s the racist

“This is my clear and succinct message to white Americans. How long will it be before ‘you people’ realize you have elevated someone to the office of president who abjectly despises you – not to mention his henchman Holder. Combined they are the most vile and disgusting racists – not you,” he wrote.
http://www.wnd.com/2014/01/allen-west-obama-abjectly-despises-whites/

West was commenting on the Holder/Obama demand under threat of losing federal funding that schools “rethink ‘zero tolerance’ disciplinary policies” because they “disproportionately punish minorities.” West has taught in a Florida high school and says most disruptions and fights were started by the black students and it had nothing to do with racial disparity.  It was lack of discipline.

“When a young man took a swing at me while I broke up a beat down that he and three others were giving a young man already on the ground, it had nothing to do with civil rights. It had everything to do with a criminal behavior which does not belong in a learning environment – and he was expelled. Now imagine under these new guidelines and rules, DoJ and DoEd would initiate an investigation.”

In case you’ve had one . . .

hip replacement

Head Start—a very expensive feel good poverty program

The omnibus 1,582 page appropriations bill includes increased funding for Head Start and Early Head Start by $612 million, to $8.6 billion. This administration and those before it have studied this program carefully with the same results--it doesn't work. The 2012 study found little to no impact on cognitive, social-emotional, health, or parenting practices of participants. So why continue to fund it? What politician of either party could risk the backlash?

http://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2013/03/universal-preschools-empty-promises

Even though 74% of American 4 year olds are already in pre-school, Obama thinks the government needs to expand even more into this area and crowd out private and church programs, which will probably be declared "substandard" the way he did with health insurance which over 80% were satisfied with. Maybe he can reduce the gap between rich and poor by making all preschools perform like Head Start?

"The Columbus school district says it will find a way to expand pre-kindergarten even without the money that a levy would’ve raised." Columbus Dispatch Nov. 28, 2013. Professional educators are a powerful lobby for early childhood education--follow the money. Pre-schools have a patch work of standards by city and state for buildings, curricula, teachers, aides, safety, play time, unions--I mean, can you see the economic opportunities here for colleges of education, the building trades, the regulatory agencies?

A bridge shut down is more important than leaking tax information on citizens

Shock and awe. The Obama supporter/employee leading the investigation of the IRS vendetta against conservative organizations who had applied for tax status couldn't find anything. Move along. Nothing.

ttp://www.forbes.com/sites/kellyphillipserb/2014/01/14/no-criminal-charges-expected-in-fbi-investigation-into-irs-scandal/

According to today’s Wall St. Journal, Cleta Mitchell, an attorney who represents many of the targets, says that the FBI has never contacted any of her clients to discuss their treatment at the hands of the IRS. "Shouldn't law enforcement talk to the victims in an investigation?," she asks in an email. "That's like investigating a burglary without interviewing the burgled," notes a Journal editorial.

Wipe out 2 cities, 40% minority, with government money

Planned Parenthood receives about 45% of its support from us, the taxpayers in government grants and reimbursements. The 327,166 abortions that Planned Parenthood did from October 2011-September 2012 was also more than the 318,172 people the Census Bureau estimated lived in the City of St. Louis, Mo., in 2012 or the 306,211 that lived in the City of Pittsburgh, Pa.

http://cnsnews.com/news/article/barbara-boland/planned-parenthood-did-1-adoption-referral-149-abortions#sthash.Or3epffe.dpuf

King Obama announces he will ignore the Constitution

Joan writes: President Obama’s comments today following his first cabinet meeting of the year should send shivers down everyone’s spines. CBS reports the President said: “We’re not just going to be waiting for legislation in order to make sure that we’re providing Americans the kind of help they need. I’ve got a pen, and I’ve got a phone.” Does this sound constitutional to you? It seems the American system providing for separation of powers, the traditional American system of checks and balances, and the limited government our forefathers set up are fast disappearing.

Primary texts of the early Christian church

• The Early Church Fathers (Ante-Nicene; Nicene; Post-Nicene Fathers)
• Early Church Fathers – Additional Texts
• The Fathers of the Church (New Advent)
• Early Christian Writings
• The Early Church Documents
• Gnostic Texts
• Apocryphal Acts
• Non-canonical Literature
• Latin Classical & Patristic Texts
• The Latin Library – Latin Texts
• Biblioteca Augustana: Latin Texts
• The Tertullian Project
• Online Medieval & Classical Library
• Medieval Sourcebook
• Corpus Thomisticum

From a list at the website of Jim Papandrea

Federal Register, 2013

It contains over 80,000 pages of new rules, regulations, and notices all written and passed by unelected bureaucrats. The small stack of papers on top of the display are the laws passed by elected members of Congress and signed into law by the president. Mike Lee, U.S. Senator, Utah, Republican

So I glanced through the online index.  Quite an eye opener, and it’s not difficult to see what is holding back the economy and why the United States has dropped in the “Freedom Index.”

For instance, in 2013 the Food and Nutrition Service published 65 articles—42 of which were Notices, like this on Dec. 31, 2013, asking for public comments on an extension, without change, about the Child Nutrition Database.

Database Qualification Report.
Affected Public: Business for-profit
(Manufacturers of food produced for
schools.)
Form: FNS–710.
Estimated Number of Respondents:
32.
Estimated Number of Responses per
Respondent: 35.
Estimated Total Annual Responses:
1,120.
Estimated Time per Response: 2.0
Hours.
Total Annual Burden: 2,240 Hours.
Dated: December 24, 2013.

“Annual regulatory costs increased by more than $23.5 billion during President Barack Obama’s fourth year in office—and by a total of nearly $70 billion during the first term. While historical records are incomplete, that magnitude of regulation is likely unmatched by any Administration in the nation’s history. And, despite a much-touted initiative to weed out unnecessary regulations, only two major rule changes reduced regulatory burdens in 2012.” Heritage Foundation, May 1, 2013

“The most costly regulations were automotive fuel-economy standards issued by the EPA and DOT that will increase sticker prices by an estimated $1,800, followed by the EPA’s power plant emission limits that will hike utility bills for consumers.”

10 worst regulations of 2013

Jamie Ogg—miracle baby

The doctor said the premature baby boy (27 weeks and a twin) was dead, and he was placed on his mother’s chest so she and her husband could say their good-byes.  After two hours with his mom and dad, and the doctor insisting that his movements and gasping for air were “reflexes,” he was finally pronounced alive. He’s now about three years old.

Dasani, New York Times poster child of “inequality”

“Chanel, Dasani’s mother and herself the daughter of a welfare-dependent drug addict in Brooklyn, has six children by three different men, a long history of debilitating drug use, an explosive temper, and numerous arrests. Her husband, Supreme, has brought his own drug addiction and two more children by a deceased wife into the mix; Elliott makes vague reference to previous children as well. At some point, Supreme worked as a barber, but as far as we can tell, Chanel has never held a job. In truth, she isn’t much of a mother, either. She is often “listless from methadone”; the family’s room is filled with “piles of unwashed clothes.” Dasani appears to be the primary caretaker of her seven siblings. She wakes up early to change and feed her baby half-sister and get the other children ready for school; understandably, though her school is only two blocks from the shelter, she is chronically late. What role, if any, her parents play in this morning chaos known to every mother and father, rich and poor, is left unsaid.”

Other than time travel and finding a different womb for this child, how will New York’s mayor make things equal for her?  The author of the piece didn’t want to get into the politics of blame.  Ok, so that leaves me.  Dasani is where she is, in a dysfunctional family, because of her parents, not because of social programs, money, social workers, teachers, or the mayor. Not because some children have two parents, a comfortable income and good schools.

Did inequality make Dasani homeless?

Invisible child

Short hair styles for “older women”

One or two of my medications is causing a problem with my hair, so I’m going to have it cut short again so I don’t have to mess with it.  It always looks nice the day I shampoo and style, and then a limp  straggly mess for 2 days.  I’ve had all of these at different times, or something similar. I’m trending toward #3 and #6. Ignore the color—I’m not doing that.

1.

Not sure how she got classified as an older woman.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

2002, class reunion, short and spiky

8.

2011, medium short

9.

2012, very short

Doris Janzen Longacre, author of the More with Less Cookbook.

This is a great cookbook.  The author really did know that life is too short.  She was my age and died at 39.

Life is too short to ice cakes; cakes are good without icing.
Life is too short to read all the church periodicals.
Life is too short not to write regularly to your parents.
Life is too short to eat factory baked bread.
Life is too short to keep all your floors shiny.
Life is too short to let a day pass without hugging your spouse and each of your children.
Life is too short to nurse grudges and hurt feelings.
Life is too short to worry about getting ready for Christmas; just let Christmas come.
Life is too short to spend much money on neckties and earrings.
Life is too short for nosy questions like "How do you like your new pastor?" Or—if there’s been a death—"How is he taking it?"
Life is too short to be gone from home more than a few nights a week.
Life is too short not to take a nap when you need one.
Life is too short to care whether purses match shoes or towels match bathrooms.
Life is too short to stay indoors when the trees turn color in fall, when it snows, or when the spring blossoms come out.
Life is too short to miss the call to worship on a Sunday morning.
Life is too short for bedspreads that are too fancy to sleep under.
Life is too short to work in a room without windows.
Life is too short to put off Bible study.
Life is too short to put off improving our relationships with the people we live with.

http://www.heraldpress.com/Bios/Longacre/