Diet soda and dementia--the link

"Higher consumption of artificially sweetened soft drinks was associated with an increased risk of both stroke and dementia in an analysis of more than 4,000 participants in the Framingham Heart Study Offspring cohort, researchers found." http://stroke.ahajournals.org/content/early/2017/04/20/STROKEAHA.116.016027

White matter in baby brains and grey matter in mommy brains

A new study led by UNC School of Medicine researchers concluded that patterns of white matter microstructure present at birth and that develop after birth predict the cognitive function of children at ages 1 and 2.

"To our knowledge, this study is the first to measure and describe the development of white matter microstructure in children and its relationship to cognitive development from the time they are born until the age of 2 years," said John H. Gilmore, MD, senior author of the study and director of the Early Brain Development Program in the UNC Department of Psychiatry
.
The study was published online on December 19, 2016 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

White matter is the tissue in the brain that contains axon fibers, which connect neurons in one brain region to neurons in another region. White matter is critical for normal brain function, and little is known about how white matter develops in humans or how it is related to growth of cognitive skills in early childhood, including language development. In the study, a total of 685 children received diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) scans of their brains. DTI is a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) technique that provides a description of the diffusion of water through tissue, and can be used to identify white matter tracts in the brain and describe the organization and maturation of the tracts."  https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/12/161219200955.htm

--------------------------

"Pregnancy causes "long-lasting" physical changes to a woman's brain, with significant, but seemingly beneficial, grey matter loss in parts of the crucial organ, a study said today. Some alterations lasted at least two years, they reported but did not appear to erode memory or other mental processes." http://www.deccanchronicle.com/lifestyle/health-and-wellbeing/201216/pregnancy-causes-change-in-womans-brain-study.html

 Hmm.  I remember "baby brain" and I'm not so sure it doesn't affect mental processes.  Article appears in Nature Neuroscience 20,287–296(2017), and primary authors appear to be women--probably mothers.

Separate and Special

Black Lives Matter, Affirmative action, feminists, transwomen, occupiers. . .

Michael Smith had a good post on Facebook on the history of the legal decisions on separate by equal (and special).

The Supreme Court ended the doctrine of “Separate but Equal” when it handed down the landmark decision in Brown v. Board of Education in 1954, overturning the decision on Plessey v. Ferguson on May 18, 1896 that affirmed Louisiana state law mandating “equal but separate”. Homer Adolph Plessy bought a ticket on the East Louisiana Railroad, from New Orleans to Covington, La. Mr. Plessy , seven-eighths white and one-eighth Negro, took a seat in the coach designated for whites on the segregated train. When challenged, he refused to move, he was taken off and jailed.

Reflecting the social and legal environment of the times, the Plessy decision was not even close - the decision was handed down by a vote of 7 to 1 with the majority opinion written by Justice Henry Billings Brown and the dissent written by Justice John Marshall Harlan. This decision established legal segregation by race as the law of the land and it stood for 58 years until society changed and recognized that separate but equal is anything but equal.

Brown v. Board of Education has now been law for 5 years longer than was Plessy (63 years vs. 58). Proving that certain segments of mankind never learn anything from history, the SJW’s (social justice warriors) of contemporary times seek to return to the days of Plessy (with a twist) by working with government to be separate and equal (but special). Blacks are calling for “black only” instruction in college and black only police and government in majority black areas. Muslims are demanding Muslim only public accommodations – the same is true with the LGBT community. Feminists want to be free of the “heteronormative patriarchy” by removing men from their roles in society. The entire “safe space” idea is not just to provide protection for thin-skinned progressive adult children and academics (but I repeat myself) but to exclude people who hold opposing ideas and prevent them from being heard. These folks say they want to be treated as equal but demand to be separated from others and in doing so, they also expect special protection and treatment.

Affirmative action programs were created to “cure” the discrimination created by the “separate but equal” doctrine. These programs created the first classes of people who were separate and equal (but special). The idea was to carve out special privileges for blacks that would eventually help a class of citizens overcome historical inequality. Looking at black America today, it is obviously possible to make the case that black individuals have benefited – but as a socio-economic class, affirmative action can hardly be considered a success - and yet it continues apace.

In 2003’s Grutter v. Bollinger, 539 U.S. 306 (2003), SCOTUS upheld the affirmative action admissions policy of the University of Michigan Law School by defining the very quota system found unconstitutional in 1978’s Regents of the University of California v. Bakke as “not a quota system” (a lot like how John Roberts redefined Obamacare’s tax as not a tax and a tax at the same time in order to find Obamacare constitutional). Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, writing for the majority in a 5-4 decision and joined by Justices Stevens, Souter, Ginsburg, and Breyer, ruled that the University of Michigan Law School had a “compelling interest in promoting class diversity.” Never mind that the Constitution says nothing about “diversity” and everything about equality, the important aspect is that Grutter v. Bollinger affirmed the same “separate but equal” doctrine as did Plessy v. Ferguson (with the special twist of approving reverse discrimination).

Progressivism is riddled with self-contradictory ideas and affirmative action is no exception – it seeks to create equality by creating inequality (i.e. lowering standards, mandating quotas, grading on the curve, etc.), proving that Brown v. Board of Education was demonstrably correct – separate is not equal, especially when discrimination is thought to be cured by more discrimination against an out of favor class. Progressivism is built on building protected classes and “curing” their ills by disadvantaging another class. Proving that progressives are the least self-aware class on the face of the American political landscape, this is the basis for the Plessy decision in 1896 making the modern SJW’s little better than the post-Civil War segregationists.

Separate but equal is not equal. Equal but special is not the same as being equal. Separate but equal was wrong in 1896 and progressivism’s doctrine of separate and equal (but special) is just as wrong today.

How does vitamin B6 help your brain?

A notice from The World's Healthiest Foods Newsletter, April 19

"Vitamin B6 is one of several B vitamins required for proper production of messaging molecules in our nervous system and brain (called neurotransmitters). Three key neurotransmitters— namely GABA, dopamine, and serotonin—all require vitamin B6 for synthesis.

Just as an example of how important this nutrient can be to proper brain and nervous system, function, there is a condition called pyridoxine-dependent epilepsy where a genetic mutation interferes with normal vitamin B6 function. In people who have this mutation, the brain does not develop properly and epileptic seizures are experienced beginning in infancy. Luckily, this condition is rare.

However, we may be at risk of other more common problems that can be brain and nervous-system related if our B6 intake is poor. Depression is a good example in this area. Researchers in Japan have found that the risk of depressed mood is higher in people with lower levels of vitamin B6 in their diet (in comparison with the general population). Another research group concluded that this link between risk of depression and B6 intake becomes even stronger when dietary folic acid—a nutrient that works very closely with vitamin B6 in brain and nervous system chemistry—is deficient as well. Recent research has also begun to indicate a link between B6 deficiency and risk of development for attention deficit disorder (ADHD). So once again, we are looking at the possible widespread importance of B6 for brain and nervous system support."

 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4772032/

 http://www.foodforthebrain.org/alzheimers-prevention/homocysteine-and-b-vitamins.aspx

http://www.naturalhealth365.com/vitamin-b-complex-cognitive-function-1726.html

 "supplementing high dose B6 (20mg), folic acid (800mcg) and B12 (500mcg) has been shown to greatly reduce the rate of brain shrinkage[15] and memory loss[16] in those at risk of Alzheimer’s" (http://www.foodforthebrain.org/alzheimers-prevention/6-prevention-steps.aspx)

 There are 1,000 micrograms (mcg) in 1 milligram (mg).

Bill O'Reilly to leave Fox

The broadcast media were silent about the DoJ charges against Dr. Jumana Nagarwala for performing female genital mutilation (FGM) on young girls in Michigan. The 18 U.S.C. 116 criminalizes FGM. But I'm guessing ABC, NBC and CBS will be all over Bill O'Reilly on the "news" for their own political gain because of sexual harassment charges against him. Leftist organizations who are silent about treatment of women and gays in Islamic nations have no trouble strong arming advertisers or inflating female victim hood in the U.S. Some things are so transparent.

May Day festivities on the left

Facebook's Zuckerberg is allowing workers the day off to protest Trump on the Communist worker's day, May 1, to demonstrate how inclusive the company is. He doesn't want to lose all those foreign IT workers who earn less than Americans who are trying to pay off the college loans we paid for from the institutions we paid for. Hey, it's just capitalism at its worst. We pay; they make a fortune; then they collude with Democrats to keep others from making it.
 https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-04-18/facebook-gives-staff-green-light-to-protest-trump-on-may-1

Pastor Eric Waters

Easter sermon. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kBcdKIHFFfg

We miss him.

St. Andrew Kim

I'm not sure what the business model is for Facebook, but there are many ads that are paid, or sponsored.  Sometimes they appear on a "wall" but there's also a column on the right side of my screen that scrolls advertising. (There is more than one way to sign on, so it may vary on other screens, on phone screens for instance.) Someone actually looks at those paid ads scrolling on the right side--me. Today I clicked on Detroit St. Andrew Kim Korean Catholic Church. Of course, when it came up there wasn't much information, so I had to find a link which was completely in Korean, even the ads. So I looked up St. Andrew Kim on the internet, and found a very interesting story about the importance of the laity.https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/liturgicalyear/calendar/day.cfm?date=2013-09-20

Renters have more food insecurity

In the United States, “food insecurity” is a term designating households, and hunger designates an individual. The new term appeared about 2006 and is somewhat subjective meaning if at anytime during the last month one adult in a household reported in a USDA survey being unable to afford balanced meals or reducing the size of meals or being hungry because too little money for food, the household has “food insecurity.” From the USDA definition, it seems to be primarily based on money, and not behavior like not able to get to a store, or being incapable of preparing food for the household, or not knowing how to boil a potato when McDonald's is closed.

The 2015 information was included in the 2016 Census Bureau’s American Housing Survey for the first time noting differences between households that rent and those who own.  Renters have more food insecurity than owners.  Don’t start a Renters Lives Matter protest.  College students are generally renters, as are young professionals who don’t want to mow lawns.
 https://www.census.gov/newsroom/press-releases/2016/cb16-193.html

Monday Memories--we remodeled the bathrooms in Spring 2013

  
It seems like yesterday we were going downstairs to the basement to shower while the upstairs bathrooms were being remodeled. The previous owner took part of a closet to add a shower to the half bath off the family room so her son could move in.  We use it primarily to store out-of-season coats, but it did come in handy four years ago when we were without a working shower.

When a progressive says "FREE"

In commenting on "free NY college" Michael Smith does some translating for us (on Facebook):

"Anytime a progressive announces a "free" anything, you can bet:

1. It will come with many, many strings attached...
2. It will only be "free" for a very small and select group
3. That very small and select group will be Democrat voters
4. The true cost of the "free" stuff will never be disclosed
5. The cost of the "free" program will be borne by taxpayers
6. Most of the taxpayers who pay for the "free" program will not be eligible for it
7. The media will never investigate it and will always tout its "freeness" in every report
8. The "free" program will be a failure but it will live on as money continues to be pumped into it
9. The "free" program will not accomplish any metric or milestone projected for it
10. The politicians and their media enablers will call it a success and it will be touted as a resume enhancer to support the politician's future political aspirations

And I would add #11. The progressive will also find a way to say that Jesus said it first, especially if it's around Easter.

Trending news on Easter

A. United Airlines' treatment of a passenger
B. Libya's open African slave market
C. United Nations peacekeepers' 10-year child sex ring in Haiti

D. April the giraffe gives birth

Only two of these stories is trending in the news and social media.

H/T - Dumisani Washington

Until that giraffe was born, I didn't know millions were tuning in for this event.  This in a world that aborts millions of humans.  The whole world knows about the airlines story.  Only a few know or care that there is a larger slave trade today than at the height of the cross Atlantic slave trade of the 18th century.

Dumisani Washington is a pastor, composer, author and music teacher in Northern California. He is the Diversity Outreach Coordinator for Christians United for Israel (the largest pro-Israel organization in America), and Director of Institute for Black Institute with Israel.

Greeting the new neighbors

There are only 30 units in our condo complex, and some units have residents/owners who have been there a long time and others (at least one unit) have had 4 owners since we moved here in 2002. We know the complex was designed by Urban Calabretta, the firm my husband worked for, although he had no input on this project.  The builder had the unit next door to us, and according to his former wife (now deceased), it was the nicest of all the units.  It is now owned by their son who probably lived here himself as a teen-ager. When we moved here, there were still a few original owners. 

Today on our morning walk we stopped at the unit with the 4th owner in 16 years to greet the newest owners.  I didn't ask their ages, but I'm guessing maybe 10 years younger than us.  The husband mentioned that he'd been in that unit when it was new--1976--for a July 4 event with one of his OSU professors. It is my understanding that all units were completed by 1977.  At any one time, about five of the units are owned by members of our church--it's about 5 minutes away.  We could have a committee meeting or Bible study. This is a gorgeous time of the year with many flowering trees. I also think about five are owned by people who knew each other in their former neighborhoods when they had children in the school system.

Some former owners have moved out of town, some have gone to retirement homes, some to nursing homes, and at least two have moved up the road to high-rise condos across from the shopping center. A few have died while living here.  About 5 or 6 units are owned by single women, either divorced or widowed. It's just a guess, but I think 7-8 unit owners have dogs, and they congregate on our street to chat and pet each others dogs.  One gal is a dog sitter, but some also care  for the dogs of their children (we do, but she can't go outside), so it can get lively. The newest owners have two white fluffy poodle types.

It's so pretty today, I've already walked outside twice--the wind is blowing the beautiful blooms and it looks like snow.

Dao vs. United

I've never seen an incident like the Dr Dao vs. Chicago police and United Airlines, but I have been on a flight with a belligerent, unruly, drunk female, and when we landed, all were told to stay in our seats, and police came in to remove her first. I've also been on a train that made an unplanned stop in the middle of nowhere, and police came in and took someone off. Do you want to fly or share the interstate if police are not allowed to remove someone who has been reported to them--maybe for ...assaulting another passenger or being rude to staff, or being drunk or who is having some sort of mental break. That was not the case in Dao's situation, but what were the police told except to remove him? Do you want to continue to travel with a man who challenges the police and wins? And what rights do you give up when you buy the ticket to ride. I've now heard at least 20 conflicting opinions, all from the "experts," who cite laws, regulations and police training on how to handle dangerous situations.
 

We used to get belligerent people in the veterinary medicine library--I know that doesn't sound possible. Usually they were male, non-citizens who wouldn't take No from a woman. There are still cultures where dealing with a woman is an insult. My out was always to give them the name of MY boss, who was male (and in another building) and was paid 4x my salary to handle problem. That seemed to make them happy. A few times we did have to call the police, even though I was probably tougher. A uniform goes a long way. 

 

There are 37,000 words in the contract the customer has with the airlines; and no one has ever read it. 

https://www.forbes.com/sites/omribenshahar/2017/04/14/david-dao-versus-united-what-does-the-airline-contract-say/2/#29cbcf38132a 

 

Some people say past behavior should have no bearing. http://www.bizjournals.com/chicago/news/2017/04/11/doctor-pulled-off-united-flight-has-drug-offenses.html