Friday family photo 2--Phil's new car

This is called a survivor car.  It's a 1968 Chevy, 2 door "hard top" and I would call this "teal," but not sure what the official color is.  The owner died in 1969, and it was stored for many years, then after the widow's death it was in an estate, then sold. 19,000 miles, and he took an auto restorer with him to look at it and he said "Buy it."  He's one happy guy.

Friday family photo--a dusting of snow

It looked like a Christmas card outside today (I still have my wreath at the door) with a dusting of snow that clung to everything.  This is the view out our living room window, although taken from our neighbor's deck.  The small bushes at the lower right are ours; the deck rail is hers.

Vaginal seeding raises a question

I wasn't familiar with vaginal seeding, although the concept sounds reasonable.  What I thought was odd was the author of the article referred to the mother of his child as his "partner."  He cared enough to swab his baby with her vaginal microbes, but not enough to marry the child's mother?  At least the drawing of a pregnant woman with the article calls her a "mother."

 http://www.the-scientist.com//?articles.view/articleNo/45505/title/Opinion--A-Mother-s-Microbes/

So I e-mailed him and asked.

Definition:  The term vaginal seeding, also called microbirthing, describes wiping babies with vaginal fluid after they have been born by Cesarean. The belief is that this boosts poorly-defined beneficial gut microbes that keep our immune systems healthy and so may reduce the risk of developing conditions such as asthma, food allergies, and hay fever in later life. (Science 2.0)

March 3 Republican debate

He nailed it. "Cruz's most devastating line was probably this summation: I understand the folks who are supporting Donald right now. You're angry. You're angry at Washington, and he uses angry rhetoric. But for 40 years, Donald has been part of the corruption in Washington that you're angry about. And you're not going to stop the corruption in Washington by supporting someone who has supported liberal Democrats for four decades, from Jimmy Carter to John Kerry to Hillary Clinton. You're not going to stop the corruption and the cronyism by supporting someone who has used government power for private gain."(Weekly Standard)

Question: Why do the parties allow the media to control the debates? Yes, they get ratings, they make money, and indirectly they select our president. But what do we the people get? I wouldn't send a nickle to the GOP.  Why has it allowed this?

Although I didn't hear him say it, I heard a rebroadcast of Trump's boast last night that he would kill the family members of terrorists. That's in violation of the Geneva Convention.  He's said this before, and it didn't faze his followers. Then last night he said the military would follow his orders even though the demand was illegal.

 Too many people seem to want something called a Republican in the White House without considering the cost.  "I believe no American, conservative or liberal, should support Trump. He doesn’t simply violate conservative principles. He violates American principles. Donald Trump is a danger to self-government, civil liberties, the culture of democracy, and the ideals of a free and open society."  (Paul David Miller, The Federalist)

Social dancing is good protection against Alzheimer's Disease

"The theory proposed by Dr. Verghese and his fellow researchers is that social dance is an activity that activates and takes advantage of our brains' neuroplasticity. That is, according to Dr. Joseph Coyle, a commentator on the study, "The cerebral cortex and hippocampus, which are critical to these activities [greater cognitive reserve and increased complexity of neuronal synapses], are remarkably plastic, and they rewire themselves based upon their use."

When the aging process causes our brain cells to begin to die off, our memory of nouns (like the names of people we know and love) often go first, because there is only one neural pathway connected to that bit of stored information. If that neural connection is lost, so is access to the piece of information it pointed to. It's like taking the same well-worn path through a forest, and one day not being able to find the entrance to that path. In patients suffering from dementia, even if they can physically see their destination, they sometimes can't figure out how to get there, because they've forgotten how to find the path they were accustomed to take.

The key to avoiding this, in the researchers' opinion, is to continually forge new neural pathways. And the way to do this is to constantly challenge the mind and force it to make split-second, rapid-fire decisions. Each of these decisions has the effect of creating greater cognitive reserve and a more complex network of neuronal synapses. In short, the more pathways your brain has to the information stored in it, the more accessible that information becomes, and the less likely you are to forget it.

But again, why dancing?
Dance, especially ballroom dance and other forms that involve cooperation between two partners – one leading and the other following, or both following not just preset steps but having the ability to improvise – causes the very rapid-fire decision-making that forges new neural pathways. The researchers emphasize that not all forms of dancing will accomplish this; for example, types of dance that rely on retracing the same memorized steps will form no new connections in the brain. Improvements to cognitive function occur when we learn something new, something we haven't done before. The dancers in the recent study who showed the most resistance to dementia practiced what is referred to as freestyle social dancing – foxtrot, waltz, swing, tango, and Latin dance.

In the 21-year study, seniors who danced regularly showed more resistance to dementia than those who only danced occasionally; just as with doing crossword puzzles, more is better. Those who "changed partners" more often benefitted more than those who stuck with the same dance partner, possibly because they had to adjust to the new partner and make more split-second decisions to adapt to their different style.
Interestingly enough, women may benefit slightly more than men from social dancing, because they follow their male partner's lead, and thus are constantly having to make rapid-fire decisions. But this piece of information can help the men, too. By becoming more attentive to your partner's style and constantly adjusting your own to insure their comfort and continuity of motion, you can become not only a better dancer, but improve your brain's cognitive abilities as well.   Juliette Siegfried

http://www.healthguidance.org/entry/16525/1/The-Best-Means-of-Avoiding-Alzheimers-Is-Dance.html

Based on New England Journal of Medicine journal, June 19, 2003 

"Brainwashing of my Dad" (film)

I’ve heard of this film and was only mildly interested, but given the chatter on left/right, conservative/liberal and the conversation about not being civil in tongue, I’d like to propose this advertising blurb as an example of brainwashing about brainwashing. It came in my e-mail—I get a lot of unsolicited advertising since I have blogs and review books.

“Right-wing cable news and "conservative" talk radio attract older Americans like graying moths to an angry flame. But why would someone who was either apolitical or a Democrat in younger days become addicted to conservative talk shows in their twilight years? Filmmaker Jen Senko wondered how her WWII veteran and Kennedy Democrat father had been transformed into a Fox News Fanatic, suddenly and inexplicably railing against minorities, homosexuals, poor people, and Democrats. Using her dad as an entertaining example, Senko pulls back the curtain to expose the tools and tricks of the wizards behind the right-wing media revolution. And in discovering what happened to him, Senko reveals the all-too-chilling bigger picture of what’s happening behind-the-scenes to influence our national discourse.”

Note the use of hot button inflammatory words and memes (I’ve marked in yellow). Right wing is always a pejorative, and the scare quotes are around the word conservative to warn you that even that isn’t a truthful term. Even the term talk radio is code for fanaticism since there has been no successful talk radio on the left. (The crazies on talk radio are usually the listeners, not the hosts.)  Addicted is always a negative term. Pulling back the curtain is a Wizard of Oz reference—a bumbling shyster who uses tricks. There is no right-wing media revolution except in the sense that the media is no longer the play ground exclusively one party or philosophy, which controlled it even before Walter Cronkite, and there is one channel on cable that is always called right wing, Fox News. The only one, because all broadcast and all other cable are liberal. But note the positive allusions to solid, good old, warm fuzzy Democrat ideas like WWII veteran and Kennedy Democrat, even father. Chilling bigger picture—must be a conspiracy so stay tuned and buy a ticket so she can recover her investment (seems to be an evil capitalist). See how Fox News is linked, without any evidence, to speaking out against minorities, homosexuals and the poor. I’ve watched Fox for years, and have only seen a keen reliance on celebrities, the wealthy, and well spoken Congress members of both parties. Fox has far more minorities and women in front of the camera than the other cable stations. It also carries the usually silly stuff in the morning like recipes and exercise.

This may be one of the most biased blurbs about bias that I've seen in. . . , well, since the last thing the left wrote about how the right wing news treats Hillary.  The author/writer/director never considers that the left may have brainwashed her! All the people she interviews about language and media are academics--all from the left.

Trailer for film

Six minutes, one mile, twenty four calories, and thirty years

My exercycle is next to my bookshelf, so for my third mile of the day I pulled a book off the shelf I'm not sure I ever read, The Closing of the American Mind by Allan Bloom (1987). So it's been 30 years (he wrote the preface in May 1986).

"There is one thing a professor can be absolutely certain of: almost every student entering the university believes, or says he believes, that truth is relative."  Introduction, p. 25

That was then.  Now every student is convinced that his or her own truth is absolute--could be Bernie's socialism, or Hillary's right to be our president because she's a woman and it's our turn, or Donald Trump is crazy and will destroy the GOP, or all policemen are out to kill black people, or all Muslims are moles for ISIS, or the U.S. is the most evil, greedy, racist country in the world, or that the end times are nigh and you only need to read your Bible. Just about everyone is an absolutist these days.  Unlike the students of 30 years ago which Bloom said could not defend their opinions, today's student has reality TV or Oscar monologues or Huffington Post opinion pieces or Right Wing Watch to gird their loins and minds. Today's student keeps up with only those views that support his own with Twitter, Instagram, Drudge, Yahoo or Facebook, and any number of news feeds brought by his app to his phone.

The student of 30 years ago, opined Bloom, had rejected natural rights and the historical origins of our civilization.  Today's student never even got a chance to reject them--never heard of them.

Bloom's mind at 25

I hope they fit

I've ordered a new pair of shoes.  Last year was my first try at ordering shoes on line.  Worked as well as buying them at the store and finding out later they didn't feel that great.

Theology of pronouns

If you care about babies (and grammar) you might enjoy this piece by a missionary in Zambia. The Singletons were formerly with the Mt. Morris, IL Evan Free church and are now missionaries in Zambia.

"I had noticed that Zambians have difficulty with pronouns~they will sometimes refer to males as “shes” and females as “hes.” And, I’d observed that babies and children are referred to as “its” and called a “he” or “she” when the child is older. My short answer? A child is never an “it.” This important grammar question also afforded me an opportunity to mount my soap box and share a lengthier viewpoint."

If you've done much genealogy, you see a hint of this not too far back in our history--many babies didn't survive, so it might be some time before they were named.  Also, younger children were often given the same name as one who died.  And in our modern age, a baby is a fetus or a clump of cells.  An it.

The Singleton Story

How white are the Oscars?

For most of the past 15 years, the Academy has largely judged what has been put in front of them: minority actors land 15% of top roles, 15% of nominations and 17% of wins. Once up for top roles, black actors do well, converting 9% of top roles into 10% of best-actor nominations and 15% of the coveted golden statuettes, a bit above their share of the general population.

It is Hispanics and Asians who are underrepresented; not blacks.

http://www.economist.com/blogs/prospero/2016/01/film-and-race

 There's a lot more in this article, so read the whole thing.

Too old to cut the mustard

As far as I'm concerned, Trump and Hillary are 70 and Bernie is 75. Yes, I'm rounding up a few months for the men, and 1 year for the woman. This is too old for such a demanding job. It's fine for being a part timer, or retired, or an artist or musician who has a manager, or being CEO of your own business. I just don't want those tired and inactive brain cells making global decisions.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R-l2GgSkA6U 
Too old to cut the mustard by Ernest Tubb and Red Foley 1951

I used to could jump just like a deer 
                       
But now you need a new landing gear
                       
I used to could jump a picket fence 
                            
But now you're lucky if you jump an inch

Smart Barbie knows how to stay out of debt

The smart Barbie knows that if she lives anywhere without income for four years and borrows for all her expenses she will have debt. If she lives at home, has a part time job, attends one of the convenient two year colleges like Columbus State for her requirements, then transfers to one of our fine universities like Ohio State University, she probably will be debt free and ready to accept a terrific job upon graduation. Even if college were "free," four years of housing, utilities, food, transportation, clothing, and entertainment wouldn't be.

White or not, I don't care about the Oscars

Chris Rock and the all white Oscars--another 10 minutes of fame. He made a ton of money off that one, didn't he? I didn't watch, not because of the controversy, but other than enjoying the fashion, for me it's just about narcissistic rich people gathering to pat themselves on the back. And the diversity controversy? That's getting really old, and doesn't have much tread left. It is the ticket buyers, mostly white, who make the industry rich. I don't think they are particularly sophisticated consumers or deep thinkers, but if they hear themselves denigrated and criticized at all turns especially by the ‪#‎blacklivesmatter‬ crowds, perhaps they aren't buying the tickets and will stay home to watch an old Stallone movie or even Bing Crosby.

The drivers of innovation in the United States

Who is driving innovation in the U.S.? The demographics of U.S. innovation are different from not only the demographics of the United States as a whole, but also the demographics of college-educated Americans and even those with a Ph.D. in science or engineering. . . Immigrants born in Europe or Asia are over five times more likely to have created an innovation in America than the average native-born U.S. citizen, and they are better educated in STEM. . . Women represent only 12 % of U.S. innovators. . . The average male born in the United States is nine times more likely to contribute to an innovation than the average female. . . U.S.-born minorities (including Asians, African Americans, Hispanics, Native Americans, and other ethnicities) make up just 8% of U.S.-born innovators. However, these groups total 32% of the total U.S.-born population. Blacks make up just half a percent of U.S. innovators. The median innovator is 47 years of age and typically has years of work experience and deep knowledge in STEM fields.

This information was from the summary; an interesting survey and report on an important topic.

 INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY & INNOVATION FOUNDATION | FEBRUARY 2016

This campaign has been humbling

I don't know about you, but I was too smug about our American legal system and process for electing leaders. I'd look at what Asian countries, Eastern Europe or emerging economies or even Germany in the 1930s elected--crooks, liars, socialists, and haters--and wondered "What were they thinking?" Was their life that miserable that they'd fall for that? It's been a humbling experience watching Republicans destroy the best group they've ever put forward after years of struggle only the have the worst one emerge on top, and then the Democrats fall for 100 year old failed myths and the lies of the queen of corruption. I'm particularly disappointed in those who call themselves "Evangelicals." Is that a box you check or a church you attend? I don't recognize the term anymore.

 http://www.npr.org/2016/02/25/468149440/why-do-evangelicals-support-donald-trump-a-pastor-explains

 http://www.christianpost.com/news/john-piper-finding-inspiration-donald-trump-hillary-clinton-bernie-sande

 http://www.catholic.org/news/national/story.php?id=66759

When the cat dies. . .

My husband says, no more pets.  But these little Pomskies are so cute.  A cross between a Pomeranian and a Husky. About 10 lbs. as an adult.  They are the newest designer dog craze, so it may be awhile for the problems show up.  They seem to be inheriting the best qualities of both breeds, but it's probably too soon to know.

http://www.petguide.com/breeds/dog/pomsky/



 

Why are minority women leaving the big law firms?

I don't think this is a problem just  for minority women (the only articles that will sell), or just law, but women in general. When we get away from education, or nursing, or business related fields, we complain, feel insecure, anxious, and put upon. And good golly Miss Molly, it's been 40 years! I've noticed that women in the formerly male-only professions (in my youth) retire quite early and try something else, or leave to raise families, try art, or write a novel. Librarians, teachers, nurses, buyers, accountants--they seem to stick it out. Back when I was employed in the 1990s, I knew a woman lawyer who had become a librarian, and a woman veterinarian who had become a librarian.  I know a woman doctor who quit in her 50s to write novels, and another who quit in her 50s because she hated the government interference in her profession. Am I meeting the wrong women? We females by-passed men in college enrollment for the last 2 decades, yet still picking the soft degrees and complaining about salaries. When we pick the tough fields, we drop out?

 http://www.abajournal.com/magazine/article/minority_women_are_disappearing_from_biglaw_and_heres_why/

Eighty-five percent of minority female attorneys in the U.S. will quit large firms within seven years of starting their practice. According to the research and personal stories these women share, it’s not because they want to leave, or because they “can’t cut it.” It’s because they feel they have no choice.

“When you find ways to exclude and make people feel invisible in their environment, it’s hostile,” Jones says. “Women face these silent hostilities in ways that men will never have to. It’s very silent, very subtle and you, as a woman of color—people will say you’re too sensitive. So you learn not to say anything because you know that could be a complete career killer. You make it as well as you can until you decide to leave.”

I wonder how black women "know" what hostilities the men in their firm have faced?

My new printer, the HP Envy 5660

Monday I needed to replace the black cartridge in my HP Deskjet 3520, and the paper came out white!  Two people worked on it, we followed all the trouble shooting suggestions, including a user's suggestion of mixing ammonia and water and drop it into the print head, then followed by prayer (I think that was in jest).  No. It didn't work. My daughter and I checked all the deals on the internet.  So I took all the cartridges (3 used, 1 unused) back to Staples which had a record of my purchase, got a $61 refund, bought a new $150 printer reduced to $95 with all sorts of discounts and coupons, bought a 3 year warranty (I usually don't but these only last about that long), and the whole thing with my $5 coupon from recycled older cartridges came to $54 for a new wireless printer/scanner/copier, an HP Envy (less than a package of ink cartridges if I'd replaced them). Yes, it's a racket to sell ink. Checked all the customer reviews, they were excellent. Now my daughter needs to come by and connect everything. I also signed up for the Instant Ink. HP tracks my paper usage and send me cartridges for $5 a month.

Corporate America and liberal cronyism

"For far too many years, corporate America has been lending its voice, money and power to liberal politicians, causes and organizations. From ObamaCare to gay marriage to federal energy policy, the past seven years of the Obama Administration has coincided with an expansive growth of corporate statism and corporate liberalism," said National Center Free Enterprise Project Director Justin Danhof, Esq. "While the exponential growth of cronyism has coincided with President Obama's time in office, it isn't coincidental. The National Center's Free Enterprise Project will bring the fight for liberty to corporate America in earnest this year. The battle starts this week."

. . . "[John] Deere has often taken actions that run counter to its duties as a for-profit, publicly-held company," said Danhof. "For example, when liberal politicians in Washington, D.C. needed corporate support for their repeated attempts to shackle the economy with cap-and-trade schemes on carbon emissions, John Deere happily obliged."

. . . "Last spring, Apple CEO Tim Cook joined with many corporate executives and much of the liberal media in attacking Americans of faith. Writing in the Washington Post, Cook falsely claimed that attempts to enact religious freedom laws in Arkansas and Indiana "would allow people to discriminate against their neighbors."(Press Release)

"Apple operates in 17 nations in which homosexual activity is illegal. In four of those, it is punishable by death. Women have almost no rights in numerous countries in which Apple does business. A female could not even drive a shipment of iPhones to Apple’s sales location in Saudi Arabia, or work there without a male’s permission." (Press Release)

Proxy Statement

Apple's response the the human rights violations in countries where it has business operations was to recommend against #7 because it has products loved in all countries.  That is simplifying it, but that's what it sounded like to me.

The Girl Scouts and feminist ideology

 I was in Girl Scouts and 4-H about 2-3 years back in the 1950s. I enjoyed both organizations and learned valuable life skills--patriotism, camping, cooking, sewing, first-aid, good manners. Still remember our faithful leaders, Mrs. Lamm, and Mrs. Bechtold, who had to put up with so much nonsense from screaming pre-teens. But it's a shame what has happened to Girl Scouts with links to Planned Parenthood and various LBGT organizations, like "Free to Pee." Really? Churches are questioning whether than can any longer provide space. GSUSA recommends many leftist, feminist based organization, but no pro-life organizations.

http://www.lifenews.com/2013/12/04/what-every-pro-lifer-needs-to-know-about-the-girl-scouts-link-to-planned-parenthood/

http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/cw/post.php?id=621

 http://www.christianpost.com/news/girl-scouts-convention-has-pro-abortion-ultra-feminist-agenda-say-ex-members-59984/

Dear Shareholder

"For the 12-month reporting period ended December 31, 2015, yields on taxable money market securities remained at historically low levels. Short-term interest rates stayed near zero percent until December, when the Federal Reserve(the Fed) ended months of speculation by raising the target federal funds rate. It was the first time in nine years that the central bank moved to increase rates and it signaled confidence in the U.S. economic recovery."

 

Imagine that.  Nine years to signal confidence in the U.S. economic recovery when the recession was officially over in June 2009.  President Obama has kept the business cycle in constant disarray, especially with the health insurance situation, with investors holding back and small business, the engine of the economy, afraid to hire or expand.  Meanwhile, investors were kept calm by the Fed artificially keeping interest rates low.

What is a lay apostolate?

I've heard so many Catholics on the Journey Home refer to their apostolate, I thought I'd better look it up.  Well, for starters, it isn't what you do for your individual church or congregation, like parish council or teaching classes.  It's in the secular world, working for the Lord.

A key part of lay apostolate is that it happens in a secular environment, not in church. Vatican Council II's Constitution on the Church spoke of it as a “special vocation” — making faith “present and fruitful” in those places where that can only be done by the laity. What places might those be? The home, the neighborhood, and the workplace come to mind. If Christianity is to be lived out there, it's up to lay people to do it.

Lay apostolate comes in two broad varieties — individual and group. A group apostolate might involve something like running a pregnancy counseling program or operating a values-oriented private school. http://catholicexchange.com/whats-a-lay-apostolate

I encourage you to read the    

DECREE ON THE APOSTOLATE OF THE LAITY
APOSTOLICAM ACTUOSITATEM
SOLEMNLY PROMULGATED BY HIS HOLINESS,
POPE PAUL VI
ON NOVEMBER 18, 1965 

It's really quite inspiring; succinct, yet readable in its thoroughness.
  http://www.vatican.va/archive/hist_councils/ii_vatican_council/documents/vat-ii_decree_19651118_apostolicam-actuositatem_en.html

Our own times require of the laity no less zeal: in fact, modern conditions demand that their apostolate be broadened and intensified. With a constantly increasing population, continual progress in science and technology, and closer interpersonal relationships, the areas for the lay apostolate have been immensely widened particularly in fields that have been for the most part open to the laity alone. These factors have also occasioned new problems which demand their expert attention and study. This apostolate becomes more imperative in view of the fact that many areas of human life have become increasingly autonomous. This is as it should be, but it sometimes involves a degree of departure from the ethical and religious order and a serious danger to Christian life. Besides, in many places where priests are very few or, in some instances, deprived of due freedom for priestly work, the Church could scarcely exist and function without the activity of the laity. . . "

". . . The greatest commandment in the law is to love God with one's whole heart and one's neighbor as oneself (cf. Matt. 22:37-40). Christ made this commandment of love of neighbor His own and enriched it with a new meaning. For He wanted to equate Himself with His brethren as the object of this love when He said, "As long as you did it for one of these, the least of My brethren, you did it for Me" (Matt. 25:40). Assuming human nature, He bound the whole human race to Himself as a family through a certain supernatural solidarity and established charity as the mark of His disciples, saying, "By this will all men know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another" (John 13:35). . ."

" . . . In the manner of the men and women who helped Paul in spreading the Gospel (cf. Acts 18:18, 26; Rom. 16:3) the laity with the right apostolic attitude supply what is lacking to their brethren and refresh the spirit of pastors and of the rest of the faithful (cf. 1 Cor. 16:17-18). Strengthened by active participation in the liturgical life of their community, they are eager to do their share of the apostolic works of that community. They bring to the Church people who perhaps are far removed from it, earnestly cooperate in presenting the word of God especially by means of catechetical instruction, and offer their special skills to make the care of souls and the administration of the temporalities of the Church more efficient and effective."

The day after the birthday party

We spent the night at Joan's home, and Deb was at Jean's. On Sunday we all went to Cornerstone Baptist Church where Jean and Joan's families are members, then headed back to Jean and Bob's home for more family time and lunch.  There were lots of left overs from the birthday party.  Hamburgers, hot dogs, French Fries, cute cupcakes.  We left about 3 p.m. for Columbus.

The party food fed our Sunday crowd

Caleb's twins, Joan's granddaughters

The siblings enjoy time together at Jean's home

Our party favors, 2 Coke glasses

Jeanne's 80th Birthday Party

I mentioned I was planning to attend a 50s theme party, but didn't say for whom because is was an elaborate surprise.  Our niece Joan in Indianapolis notified us a year ago to save the date, February 20, for her Mom's birthday party.  And she really pulled it off.  Her step-sister Susie and her daughter Tammy flew in from Florida and her Mom's half sister came from California, and of course, we and our children drove from Ohio. Joan has 8 grandchildren, and some of Bob and Jeanne's other children have children, so it was a huge crowd, including church friends.  Seeing a photo (after the event) of Jeanne lovingly holding the newest great grandchild who was a few weeks old, made me think that this is the sort of welcome we'll have in heaven.

Joan really worked on the 50s theme; there was a backdrop of a 50's style diner for taking photos, the cupcakes were decorated like little sodas, we had hamburgers and hot dogs and French fries for our buffet, and little soda glasses for party favors. There was a pianist for appropriate music, balloons, and decorations. Joan had a poodle skirt made for her mom, and saddle shoes (she had told her she was taking her to a 50s theme diner for lunch). 

Joan, who planned it all, with her Mom

The siblings, Bob, Jeanne, and Debbie

Phoebe and Mark with Aunt Jeanne

Bob and Jeanne, high school sweethearts and married about 45 years

My sisters-in-law with me (my real 1950s blazer)

  72 degrees, could sit on the patio, all the children could run

Most of the grandchildren, some with spouses

 Bob and Norma in authentic 50s attire

 Cute cupcakes for dessert

Debbie and Bob

Bob and Jeanne jitterbug

BMI calculator from Mayo Clinic

Adult BMI calculator based on 2013 AHA/ACC/TOS Guideline for the Management of Overweight and Obesity in Adults: A Report of the American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association Task Force on Practice Guidelines and The Obesity Society. BMI classification. World Health Organization. http://apps.who.int/bmi/index.jsp?introPage=intro_3.html.
 http://www.mayoclinic.org/bmi-calculator/itt-20084938

In addition to healthy eating, the site recommends 

• Exercise. Aim for 30 to 60 minutes of moderately intense activity daily.


• Set action goals focused on specific healthy activities such as improving muscle tone through strength training or starting a daily food and activity diary.

How liberals respond to those not like themselves

I've been somewhat surprised at the classism and snobbery of liberals and even some Republicans at their description of the Trump supporters as uneducated, low class, blue collar, redneck troglodytes who can't find their way to a voting booth for anyone but a blow hard, millionaire capitalist. Is this a voter registration test? Do American voters have to have a certain level of education and always believe the pie in the sky promises of the federal government in order to be an informed? What did Obama do for coal miners, or teens who just want an entry level job to work up to something better? The minimum wage push is just eliminating the positions they could fill, and the Obamacare mandate has closed down some small businesses.  What has the President said about gun owners and fundamentalist Christians?

And Trump likes Obamacare. Without the mandate, there is no Obamacare. There are probably some low income voters who believe both Obama and Trump--that they'll not have good health insurance unless big government takes over. That's what the SCOTUS decision was about. Trump loves big government--he's a crony capitalist and that helps him make money. He's also a liar, and you just can't blame voters for believing his hope and change message--it's happened before--especially in 2008.  http://townhall.com/.../wow-i-like-the-mandate-trump-says...

I need to be reminded of what Shane Vander Hart wrote when considering the primaries and coming election : 

"God is still on His throne regardless what the ultimate outcome of the nomination process and general election is. We will either get the President we need or the one we deserve. Our country needs a spiritual awakening and that will not come from the White House regardless of who resides there." Amen. Now if I can just remember that.

Dressing for the 1950s

Today we are going to a party for which we're supposed to dress in 50s attire.  Because I have a clothing archive, I actually own outfits from the 1950s, even my wedding dress made by my mother in 1955 for my sister. The problem as I see it is that I don't have a 1950s body!  I actually weigh less than I did when I wore one dress--a floral jersey--to a dance around 1959, and it's in the closet, but my waist is about 5" larger and I can't zip it.  It even has a sewn in crinoline. And I just don't have any saddle shoes or white bucks. The photo below is authentic 1955 clothing styles in Mt. Morris, Illinois. Looks like it might have been early spring and I jumped the gun a bit and am wearing a cotton skirt. Perhaps it was new (Mom made it).  I never seemed to be together where fashion is concerned.

So I will be authentically dressed for this party in an unconstructed gray and red plaid jacket my mother made for me for college, and a flared gray wool skirt I found last week at Volunteers of America for 75 cents that is mid-calf. The previous owner had taken the waist in about an inch in two places, but it had the dry cleaner tag still on it, so I just let out the stitching. It's a little snug, but I can breathe. Pencil straight skirts were popular, but also flared skirts as you can see from the photo. It's been awhile since I wore wool, both pieces feel a bit scratchy. We looked through my husband's high school annuals and examined closely the photos.  My goodness!  Young women dressed with pride and flare in those days!  There's not much you can do with torn jeans and saggy t-shirts with political slogans.

The photo below is what I'm wearing and was probably taken 6-8 years ago when I was rearranging storage and had it out of the garment bag. I probably even wore it to work a few times in the 90s because OSU colors are scarlet and gray and that was the custom on Fridays before a football game.

Mesrob the Armenian Monk saved Christian history

I was thinking today about the massacre of Mexican Catholics by their own government, called the Cristero War (this is a bigger problem in the world than religious wars) and wondering if the Pope would get an apology.  I think it should be a bigger deal to him than the American primaries. Then I thought about the Turks' genocide of Armenian Christians. You can call it religious wars, but the Turkish government was killing its own citizens. Armenia was the first country to make Christianity its religion, and today (Feb. 19) we memorialize the monk Mesrob, who saved their language by creating an alphabet and also rescued many documents on Christianity. 

 St. Mesrob (known as Mashdots) (438 A.D.) was born in the village of Hatsegats in the province of Daron. In his early years, he learned both Greek and Persian and served in the Armenian Royal Court. Later, he decided to enter the ranks of the clergy and went to preach in the province of Koghtn around 395 A.D. During this period he felt the great need of the Armenian people for an alphabet of their own so he petitioned the Catholicos Sahag and together they requested the aid of King Vramshabouh. 

After much research and many travels, Mesrob was able to come up with the skeleton of an alphabet. However, it did not meet the needs of the Armenian language. According to tradition, while meditating in a cave near the village of Palu, the saint had a vision in which, "the hand of God wrote the alphabet in letters of fire." Immediately after the discovery of the alphabet, the Holy Translators worked to translate the Bible and the first words in the Armenian language were from the Book of Proverbs, "To know wisdom and instruction; to perceive the word of understanding." They also opened schools to teach the newly discovered alphabet.

St. Mesrob's life's works have been recorded by one of his famous students, Goriun, in his book, The Life of Mashdots  He was buried in Oshagan in the province of Vaspouragan. Beloved by all, St. Mesrob is a special inspiration to Armenian writers and poets.  Link to July 6, 2014 e-bulletin.

 

"Lauren Markoe, discussing the film [about the Cristero War] for the Religion News Service, wrote: For Catholics enraged by the Obama administration’s proposed contraception mandate, the film about the Mexican church’s fight in the 1920s is a heartening and timely cinematic boost in the American church’s battle to preserve "religious freedom" in 2012." 

Conestoga visits local glass art

Yesterday our Conestoga group (friends organization for the Ohio History Connection) met at the Ohio Historical Society, got on a bus and enjoyed a delightful day of seeing beautiful glass art in Columbus, Ohio. First we went to Franklin Art Glass in German Village, a family owned and operated stained glass studio since its inception in 1924, the largest in Ohio. We had a tour of the product/sales section and the studios where the artisans prepare work to order. Our guide explained about the design to glass to finished work procedure, and showed us many wonderful pieces.

Then it was back on the bus (we were using a school bus so it was easier to navigate the narrow streets of German Village) for our luncheon spot, Schmidt's Sausage Haus where we enjoyed a lovely buffet lunch of Bahama Mamas, Bratwurst, potato salad, tossed salad, saurkraut, and mini-cream puffs. For a number of years the German Village Schmidt's was our Friday Night date spot, but we hadn't been there for a number of years. Still has great food.

Then it was on to Trinity Episcopal Church down town on Capitol Square where we had a lecture and tour by the Rector, Richard Burnett. The congregation was founded in 1817 and the current building was designed by Gordon Lloyd in the Gothic Revival style and built after the Civil War. The Church in the World window on the west side was designed by William Kielblock and made by the Franklin Art Glass Co., and was dedicated in 1965.  I'd heard about it for years--unfortunately, in 1970 a new organ completely obscured the window from view on the inside, where we were. I understand that you can see it from the outside with interior illumination.  It has been criticized as too secular, with flags of the U.S., landmarks of the statehouse, O'Shaughnessy Dam, city skyscrapers, Port Columbus airport, John Glenn's spacecraft, etc., as though the church is embracing the world. I guess I'll never have the opportunity to judge!  The windows behind the altar had also been somewhat obscured by a huge skyscraper blocking the light--and light is always a partner in art glass. They were in the art deco style.

Then it was a short bus ride to St. Joseph Cathedral which began as a modest brick church building in 1866, but was rebuilt soon after as a stone cathedral when the Diocese of Columbus was established.  The lot size was rather small, so the cathedral is not large.  Conestoga had a Christmas dinner here several years ago, so we had already had a tour of the organ loft, which is really incredible.  We also had a brief concert while we were there.  The windows were replaced during the WWI era, and because of the war, had been buried for awhile in Germany to protect them. They were made by F. X. Zettler of the Royal Bavarian Art Institute. Names of donors appear on the windows.

Our final stop was Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church, and I just don't have words to describe the loveliness of this church and our spectacular guide, who was able to explain all the mosaic art and also provide a wonderful evangelistic story of faith, symbols, and art. It's just amazing what a faithful, small group of Greek immigrants were able to do. All the mosaics were made by Bruno Salvatori of Florence, Italy, and are spectacular in detail and beauty. They consist of about five million tiles of Venetian glass and 24-carat gold.  There's not another church in Columbus (or maybe Ohio) that tells the gospel better through its art.
Check here for further details.

It was a long day, but we came home tired and fulfilled and spiritually uplifted.

Rules of Faith, 2nd century, Irenaeus

 This is the statement of faith of Irenaeus (c. 190), so the basics of Christian belief were well settled.  It's our modern churches that struggle with this. This is what was received from the apostles who knew Jesus.

The Church, though dispersed throughout the whole world, even to the ends of the earth, has received from the apostles and their disciples this faith:

• [She believes] in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven, and earth, and the sea, and all things that are in them; 
• and in one Christ Jesus, the Son of God, who became incarnate for our salvation; 
• and in the Holy Spirit, who proclaimed through the prophets the dispensations of God, 
• and the advents, 
• and the birth from a virgin, 
• and the passion, 
• and the resurrection from the dead, 
• and the ascension into heaven in the flesh of the beloved Christ Jesus, our Lord, 
• and His [future] manifestation from heaven in the glory of the Father “to gather all things in one,” 
• and to raise up anew all flesh of the whole human race,
•  in order that to Christ Jesus, our Lord, and God, and Saviour, and King, according to the will of the invisible Father, 
• “every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth, and that every tongue should confess” to Him, 
• and that He should execute just judgment towards all; 
• that He may send “spiritual wickednesses,” and the angels who transgressed and became apostates, together with the ungodly, and unrighteous, and wicked, and profane among men, into everlasting fire; 
• but may, in the exercise of His grace, confer immortality on the righteous, and holy, and those who have kept His commandments, and have persevered in His love, some from the beginning [of their Christian course], and others from [the date of] their repentance, and may surround them with everlasting glory.    
•  http://www.catholic.com/tracts/apostolic-succession

Refugee crisis at an all time high

“In 2015, more people fled from persecution, war, human rights violations, discrimination, and other hardship than at any other time since World War II. UNHCR, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, estimates that worldwide more than 60 million people, or one in every 122, have been forced to flee their homes."

When I was a child, I was told that the UN was going to bring in peace and harmony, that we would no longer have these terrible wars and hardships because there would be a wise world court to decide things and peacekeepers. HA! This latest mess has been driven primarily by Muslims--Syria, Afghanistan, Iraq, and Africa--but our President and many of Europe's governing bodies refuse to recognize that. But there have been other beliefs in earlier times, like socialism/communism, which have caused people to flee to capitalistic/democratic countries. Yet that isn't appreciated here.

Source of quote.

Jim Goad's personal history of being "white trash"

This is a bio-history of white slavery/conscription and the white under class (the author calls it "white trash") in the U.S. with its beginnings in Europe. It's personal--the author includes his own family genealogy. I don't know him, so can't vouch for anything except he does include footnotes. I'm not sure why children aren't told more truth about slavery--what they learn in school is very political and race based. Probably we need to follow the money to the poverty and race pimps working on government grants. Peace and harmony work against this kind of wealth so it must be stomped out.

I'm trying to think back on what I learned as a child, but draw a blank except for those old paintings displayed in National Geographic of slave markets in Roman times. It wasn't until I was an adult and studied on my own and also got interested in genealogy that I discovered slavery and indentured servitude built all the great nations of the world. It helped Roman empire and the north African empires to thrive. I also learned from Prof. Gates (Obama's friend and mentor) that free blacks owned slaves at a higher rate than free whites in the south. However, one of the worst aspects of the silence and true history of slavery is that it is a bigger "business" today than in the 18th century.  It involves sex workers and laborers and children taken from or sold by their parents. Many churches are now developing ministries, but children aren't being taught about it in school--they are being taught about "white privilege" and "microaggression."

http://www.jimgoad.net/whiteslavery.html

http://collectingmythoughts.blogspot.com/2014/02/thursday-thirteen-black-history-month.html 
This was written 2 years ago for black history month. It's a good summary and Professor Gates contributed much or was the inspiration for it.

Mother and child

This doctor won't accept Medicare because. . .

This is no way to treat people who have dedicated their lives to helping others.

• Medicare treats physicians as criminals—guilty until proven innocent.
• Medicare warns patients on their billing statements to turn their physicians in for suspected fraud.
• Medicare demonstrates no transparency in the flow of taxpayer money through their program.
• Medicare may reimburse physicians so little that we lose money with each appointment forcing doctors to go bankrupt (or run Medicare mills with ramped up volume and quickie visits to make ends meet).
• Medicare claims are more complex than any other insurer with more billing codes and rules and regulations that require hiring a team of staff to remain compliant or else . . .
• Medicare regulatory codes by which physicians must abide is 130,000 pages long! (US Tax code is only 75,000).
• Medicare requires compliance with more unfunded mandates and administrative trivia than any other insurer.
• Medicare penalizes physicians financially if we don’t use a Medicare-approved computer system and electronic health record.
• Medicare penalizes physicians financially if we don’t electronically submit prescriptions the way Medicare demands.
• Medicare threatens doctors every year with all sorts of financial penalties if we don’t do what they (non-physicians) think we should be doing.
• Medicare audits may suddenly destroy a medical practice and a physician’s life as described by Dr. Karen Smith.
• Medicare abuses and bullies doctors.

Check out the web page for Dr. Pamela Wible, M.D.

Why is Downton Abbey called an Abbey (monastery)?

                            

 Along with millions of other Americans, tonight I'll be staying awake to watch PBS' Downton Abbey, now in its final season.  Why is it called an Abbey when it is obviously the home of very wealthy people with a lot of servants? Maybe PBS explained it with a sentence, and I missed it. I certainly missed it in school, or ignored it, after all, what did it matter to me if King Henry VIII wanted to divorce his wife, split with Rome, started a new church and then stole all the land in England owned by Catholics? The King gave the land to those who supported him. People who didn't get along with the hierarchy in the new church became those who settled in the U.S. They were the descendants of that church whether Church of England or Methodists or Baptists.

 http://www.bl.uk/learning/timeline/item106122.html

 http://www.churchmilitant.com/video/episode/the-vortex-stolen-property

 http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/tudor-england/the-dissolution-of-the-monasteries/

"In that [16th] century, land was the primary source of wealth and political power. At the dawn of that century, the Church, through its cathedrals, parishes, hospitals, colleges, monasteries, and other embodiments, owned perhaps one-third of the acreage in England, more even than the Crown. Much of the Church’s income was used for aid to the needy, care of the sick, help for travelers, provision against poor harvest, and education."

 http://www.culturewars.com/2011/Whig%20Plunderers.html

 http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3439293/Hampton-Court-Palace-chapel-holds-Catholic-service-Henry-VIII-broke-away-Rome-16th-century.html

Antonin Scalia

Love and relationships

The best way to celebrate St. Valentine's Day is to attend church together. "Using a national sample of about 1,600 adults ages 18-59 in romantic relationships, the researchers, Brad Wilcox of the University of Virginia and Nicholas H. Wolfinger of the University of Utah, found that shared religious attendance and a man’s religious attendance are associated with higher relationship quality."

The same study also showed  shared prayer was a stronger predictor of relationship quality than all other factors measured in the study, including the education and age of couples.

 http://dailysignal.com/2016/02/12/want-to-improve-your-relationship-go-to-church-with-your-spouse/

On this day in 269 "Valentine was martyred the day before the pagan festival to the goddess Februata Juno at which boys drew girls' names for acts of sexual promiscuity. Were legends about the martyr's death modified to replace the heathen custom? No one knows for sure. In fact, there may have been two or even three martyrs named Valentine who died in different parts of the empire at about the same time. We know little or nothing about any of them."

 http://www.christianity.com/church/church-history/timeline/1-300/martyrdom-of-st-valentine-11629626.html

Family

I got the newsletter from Pinecrest Community yesterday--a Church of the Brethren facility that began in the 19th c. as a home for the destitute aged and orphans. There are independent apartments and small houses; assisted care, nursing care, and memory care. When I was a little girl, I'd go with other children to sing for them, or take presents we had made. Now I can visit some of my classmates there! Over the years, I've visited parents of my friends, my aunts and uncles, eventually my parents, and now a sibling. At one time both my father and his uncle Orville were living there, and I thought that was rare, however, there was only about 2-3 years difference in their ages. But I saw a story I'd never seen: Wally Brooks and his mother Ruth Linger both live there! He is 85 and she's 107!! In the photo, they look terrific.

St. Valentine's stories in the news

As a former librarian, I know that selection is the key to a collection.  Banning or promoting a point of view starts in the back room where the purchasing decisions are made.  Public library librarians are 123:1 liberal to conservative, so that determines what is purchased, which determines what people read, which determines what they believe. Same with the news.  How news sources differ just by selection of story was evident with these two human interest stories--St. Valentine's day (tomorrow). Innocent.  Fun.  ABC was on the kitchen, Fox News in my office. I'm walking back and forth. Fox has a report on what people are doing on St. Valentine's day--reported on a soldier sending some home a valentine surprise and a child taking something to dad--I think it was Chic filet. ABC reported on President Obama's plans.

Another news story difference which may indicate who is beating the drum for fear and division. Fox reported on the 5th police officer killed recently (he was black, but that wasn't mentioned--there was a photo); ABC reported on a court case where a police officer had killed a black man. Race was prominent in that story. Both the number and rate of those killed in the course of committing a crime is higher for whites than blacks, but would you know that from news reporting? Why the pressure on the corporate news sources to divide the nation along racial lines?

Obama's speech to Illinois General Assembly

Obama returned to Springfield, Illinois--a Democrat controlled state with a Republican governor in deep budget doo-doo--to give a delusional speech about how great he is. He takes credit for what President Bush did in 2008 to save the country financially and end the war, he won't accept the blame for the partisanship and meaness in politics when the media have been carrying his water for 7 years and he's refused to work with Republicans, he didn't mention the mess with ISIS and Syria and didn't even give the Republican governors credit for their states' recovery which is where the jobs are coming from. Our fuel prices have gone down not from alternatives like sun and wind, but from fracking, which he strongly opposed.   He visits all the celebrities and unions with his hand out, but scolds Americans for the money in politics. Sigh.

 http://my.chicagotribune.com/#section/-1/article/p2p-85860201/

 http://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/11/us/politics/obama-revisits-springfield-and-his-vow-to-bridge-a-partisan-divide.html?_r=0

 http://www.scribd.com/doc/163852744/Observations-on-the-Financial-Crisis-by-Keith-Hennessey-and-Edward-P-Lazear

Short story snippets with no endings

At Marc's today I was standing next to a very frustrated shopper who had found cracked eggs in her carton, and complained to the clerk about how rushed she was as a "24/7 caretaker."  I didn't know her but put my arm around her shoulder and gave her a hug.  She explained that her husband has Parkinson's and dementia, and she can hardly ever get out of the house and has to rush through her errands and gets very frustrated.

A woman with a heavy accent couldn't find something and the stocker was trying to explain to her.  I later saw her wandering around the dairy section, and I asked if could help.  She couldn't find the "egg beaters," so I told her I would help. (I'd never seen them.)  Finally I found them with the sausage, so I flagged her down, and she selected what she wanted.  I told her we'd been in Spain in September and that I had a hard time finding things in their large super markets.

An elderly man was staring at the shelves of jams and jellies (he was older than me!).  I told him I just love Mrs. Miller's jellies and jams and they really are made by Amish right here in Ohio.  Then I recommended Rhubarb-Strawberry, and I picked up a jar for my grocery cart.  Later I was behind him at check out, and the only grocery item he had (everything else was for home repair) was Mrs. Miller's Rhubarb-Strawberry jam.

I had 13 items, but stood in the 12 item line.  The woman in front of me had one item--a package of English muffins. I commented that she must be having a snack attack because the store was rather crowded to come in for one item.  So she explained she had shopped earlier and forgot this item which she likes to take to work for a snack.  Then we discussed the recent recall on packaged salads, which she also liked to buy (from a Springfield, OH plant); we both agreed you have to wash everything and decided processed food might be safer since nothing can live in it.

At the Volunteers of America store I went right to the book shelves, although I certainly don't need another book. There was a mother and child speaking Russian while looking at toys, shelved near the books.  I was so thrilled I could still understand a conversation between a mom and a 3 years old--that's about the level of my understanding. Kids ask the same things in all languages.