Monday, March 19, 2007
Monday Memory
My Aunt Betty is in poor health and has entered a nursing home; we are all very sad for her and her husband, one of my dad's younger brothers. Betty is 8 years older than me, and I remember when I was about 14 or 15, we went to a Mother-Daughter Banquet at church together, she as a stand-in for my mom who was busy doing something else. In small town churches, these were big events with a dinner and program and music. I think we dressed in our best and even wore hats! We giggled and laughed like kids--which looking back, I suppose we were. She is a wife, mother, grandmother, great grandmother, sister, aunt, loyal friend, and former avid golfer and bridge player. She was Mrs. Clean, a perpetual cleaning machine, and had an energy level that just wore me out. She lived a few doors from my grandparents and was a big help and comfort to them as were her children. This photo was taken at her job, and I don't know the year, but I'm guessing maybe 25 years ago. The flowers indicate it may have been a special day.
Sunday, March 18, 2007
3594
Matthew, a nurse/librarian who occasionally leaves comments here, writes: "I have one can of Iams sliced chicken in gravy cat food that has been recalled. I should say that I have one can left, Baxter ate the other several dozen I bought on my last trip to the grocery store. I had to have my cat euthenized last Sunday due to acute renal failure.
Unfortunately I had Baxter cremated so any lab work is now out of the question. However they did do labs last week so perhaps they saved the sample, I know we do for people." from his journal at LISNews.com
Check your pet food!
The list of contaminated pet food is growing. We use 9-Lives and Purina One Hairball, and so far, they aren't on the list. In fact, I can't even get the list to connect, but here it is.Matthew, a nurse/librarian who occasionally leaves comments here, writes: "I have one can of Iams sliced chicken in gravy cat food that has been recalled. I should say that I have one can left, Baxter ate the other several dozen I bought on my last trip to the grocery store. I had to have my cat euthenized last Sunday due to acute renal failure.
Unfortunately I had Baxter cremated so any lab work is now out of the question. However they did do labs last week so perhaps they saved the sample, I know we do for people." from his journal at LISNews.com
3593
I'm of the "clean once, party twice" school of hostessing. Next Sunday we're having friends who know Martti and Riita (Finland) for dinner and photos of our trip to Finland last summer--Nancy and Bob, and Pam and Dave. Now, because of cat hair, I will have to push the vacuum around again before next Sunday, but I'm hoping I can keep the clutter under control, and not put away the good china.
Today's menu: Sweet sour meatballs, potato salad, fresh asparagus, tender crisp carrots with honey glaze, hot rolls, relish dish, sugar-free, fat-free lemon fluff pudding with fully-leaded St. Pat's shamrock iced cookies from Cheryl's Cookies. I'm thinking of adding a small dish of black beans and rice, just for the theme.
Next week's tentative menu: Boneless pork roast with orange-cranberry glaze, cole slaw, chunky applesauce (home made), probably carrots again, rolls, and maybe chocolate peanut butter pie (sugar free).
Dinner Party Plans
Today we're having two couples over for dinner and photos of my husband's trip to Haiti, Sharon and Eric and Joan and Jerry. Joan has also participated in medical mission trips to Honduras, so she's bringing her photos too. If they are on a disc, we've got a wee problem (my F drive is being fussy and our VCR isn't sophisticated enough or have the right gee-gaws to give us a slide show), but we'll find something. Either my laptop or theirs.I'm of the "clean once, party twice" school of hostessing. Next Sunday we're having friends who know Martti and Riita (Finland) for dinner and photos of our trip to Finland last summer--Nancy and Bob, and Pam and Dave. Now, because of cat hair, I will have to push the vacuum around again before next Sunday, but I'm hoping I can keep the clutter under control, and not put away the good china.
Today's menu: Sweet sour meatballs, potato salad, fresh asparagus, tender crisp carrots with honey glaze, hot rolls, relish dish, sugar-free, fat-free lemon fluff pudding with fully-leaded St. Pat's shamrock iced cookies from Cheryl's Cookies. I'm thinking of adding a small dish of black beans and rice, just for the theme.
Next week's tentative menu: Boneless pork roast with orange-cranberry glaze, cole slaw, chunky applesauce (home made), probably carrots again, rolls, and maybe chocolate peanut butter pie (sugar free).
Saturday, March 17, 2007
3592
Iraq War
We're not losing
"In terms of fundamental historical changes favoring 21st century freedom and peace, what Free Iraq and its Coalition allies have accomplished in four short years is nothing short of astonishing." The story of how a fossilized society is coming to life ready to meet the 21st century is here.Iraq War
3591
This is so easy! Confiscate all the i-pods and cell phones, take down/turn off the cable/internet connection. Put the whole family in the car, but don't go anywhere, not even to a movie or fast food restaurant. Find something to talk about.
It may not be quality time, but you'll change your answer on that next survey.
Can 83% of Americans be wrong?
Yes. Someone surveyed Americans (don't know the source--I got it second hand from WSJ) and 83% said they wished they had more time with the family.This is so easy! Confiscate all the i-pods and cell phones, take down/turn off the cable/internet connection. Put the whole family in the car, but don't go anywhere, not even to a movie or fast food restaurant. Find something to talk about.
It may not be quality time, but you'll change your answer on that next survey.
3590
Food Porn
You do not want to go here. It's titillating, tempting, toothsome, tantalizing, teasing, tormenting, and you'll put on weight just looking at Columbus Foodie's photo.
3589
Vol. 3 begins in 1890 with the developing friendship of Theodore Roosevelt and William Howard Taft when they were both subordinates of Benjamin Harrison, Roosevelt as Civil Service Commissioner, and Taft as Solicitor-General; and moving calendar style, it ends with 1908 as alcohol prohibition is getting established (reminds me a lot of the smoking bans we see today, state by state), unemployment and breadlines caused by the panic of 1907, and women's outrageous fashion (sheath skirts considered a step toward the fig leaf, huge hats, fishnet stockings) and behavior (smoking and attendance at cheap moving picture theatres). There will be many stories in this volume I’ll enjoy researching further, such as spelling reform, hookworm humor (laziness was declared a disease), and Roosevelt's relationship with African Americans.
This volume was published in the early years of the Great Depression, yet the paper is good quality, there are excellent photographs and plates, better footnotes and indexing than I see in some modern histories, and the author is careful to note where he has copyright permission and carefully cites the sources. For some sections the author allows the events to speak for themselves, others are heavily laced with opinions. Because Chautauqua had such a strong cultural bent (still does), and Sullivan was a popular culture buff there are interesting photos contrasting the early 20th century with the late 1920s, for instance, a photo of two working women, one in 1907 and one in 1928 showing the differences in clothing and office technology on p. 479, and comparing shoe advertisements from a 1927 Scribner's Magazine with one from Theatre Magazine of 1906 on p. 434. Apparently the hunger for "big hair" in 1910 was filled by the locks European women, Chinese women and the goats of Turkestan. There's a delightful section on the historical significance of the popular songs of the pre-war era.
The dramatic change in fashion for women and the amount of flesh exposed after WWI is very apparent in this plate. As more leg is exposed, the less the waist and bust are emphasized. Skirt length dropped again almost to the ankle in 1930.
*With contemporary 21st century authors, it is difficult to determine if the Soviet Union was ever a big threat to us in any meaningful way, and hard to tell if the Christian church had any impact on American society except for amusement to be pilloried in cartoons and obscure court cases.
Dan Rather on Mark Sullivan: "Mark Sullivan was one of the most widely respected journalists of his day. One of the original muckrakers, he became America’s leading political reporter and columnist in newspapers and magazines for nearly half a century. A committed Republican, he had unrivaled access to the leaders of his party, including Presidents Roosevelt, Taft, and Harding, and contacts like these made him the ideal chronicler of his age."
America 100 years ago
Although I’ve browsed some of the pricey, recent, multi-volume histories of the United States and the World at the public library, I’ve been disappointed by the revisionism* of current authors and publishers, so I was pleased to pick up this title at the library book sale, and wish I had the other volumes. Our Times, The United States, 1900-1925, vol. 3, Pre-War America by Mark Sullivan, The Chautauqua Press, Chautauqua, NY, 1931. I may try to track the other 5 volumes down, but probably won’t get them for $3.00. Chautauqua Press was "liberal" in its day, but liberal in the classic meaning of the word, not socialist as it has come to mean today, but open to new ideas. Chautauqua had a broad Christian base, but wasn't fundamentalist in outreach. Liberals of today are afraid of a little "sonshine" and have minds so open, their brains are in danger of falling out because nothing can be right or wrong (except GWB). Their publications reflect that, so it is difficult to get an intelligent synthesis of history because every culture and religion is presented as being of equal value.Vol. 3 begins in 1890 with the developing friendship of Theodore Roosevelt and William Howard Taft when they were both subordinates of Benjamin Harrison, Roosevelt as Civil Service Commissioner, and Taft as Solicitor-General; and moving calendar style, it ends with 1908 as alcohol prohibition is getting established (reminds me a lot of the smoking bans we see today, state by state), unemployment and breadlines caused by the panic of 1907, and women's outrageous fashion (sheath skirts considered a step toward the fig leaf, huge hats, fishnet stockings) and behavior (smoking and attendance at cheap moving picture theatres). There will be many stories in this volume I’ll enjoy researching further, such as spelling reform, hookworm humor (laziness was declared a disease), and Roosevelt's relationship with African Americans.
This volume was published in the early years of the Great Depression, yet the paper is good quality, there are excellent photographs and plates, better footnotes and indexing than I see in some modern histories, and the author is careful to note where he has copyright permission and carefully cites the sources. For some sections the author allows the events to speak for themselves, others are heavily laced with opinions. Because Chautauqua had such a strong cultural bent (still does), and Sullivan was a popular culture buff there are interesting photos contrasting the early 20th century with the late 1920s, for instance, a photo of two working women, one in 1907 and one in 1928 showing the differences in clothing and office technology on p. 479, and comparing shoe advertisements from a 1927 Scribner's Magazine with one from Theatre Magazine of 1906 on p. 434. Apparently the hunger for "big hair" in 1910 was filled by the locks European women, Chinese women and the goats of Turkestan. There's a delightful section on the historical significance of the popular songs of the pre-war era.
The dramatic change in fashion for women and the amount of flesh exposed after WWI is very apparent in this plate. As more leg is exposed, the less the waist and bust are emphasized. Skirt length dropped again almost to the ankle in 1930.
*With contemporary 21st century authors, it is difficult to determine if the Soviet Union was ever a big threat to us in any meaningful way, and hard to tell if the Christian church had any impact on American society except for amusement to be pilloried in cartoons and obscure court cases.
Dan Rather on Mark Sullivan: "Mark Sullivan was one of the most widely respected journalists of his day. One of the original muckrakers, he became America’s leading political reporter and columnist in newspapers and magazines for nearly half a century. A committed Republican, he had unrivaled access to the leaders of his party, including Presidents Roosevelt, Taft, and Harding, and contacts like these made him the ideal chronicler of his age."
Friday, March 16, 2007
You'll enjoy this movie on climate change
It's not CO2, it's the sun that is driving global climate change. But of course, you and I have little control over the sun. When the Soviet Union fell, there were a lot of people who needed a cause, and destroying western civilization by blaming capitalism for global weather change, which happens continually, became it. Add to that the fact that you can't get funding for research unless you have a controversy. Right now, money is flowing for global warming research, including from our own current administration. The climate change industry is huge--because my husband is an architect, we hardly see an article that doesn't have "green" in it. So, watch the result of some really bad science. . .or click here
3587
"FCPP: Alarmists point to the rapidity of climate change as evidence of some sort that humans cause it. But you’ve shown that swift changes in weather patterns are normal. Could you describe the proof?
TB: The underlying philosophy of nature and world view of western education is called uniformitarianism. This holds that change is rapid and significant all the time. You only have to look at any climate record on any time scale to see this. For example, in 1970 the scientific consensus was that we were heading for another Ice Age. On a longer scale, notice that most of the record cold temperatures for Canada were in the late 19th century. Further back, we have the Little Ice Age with a metre of ice on the Thames and other evidence of cold from around the world. Vikings were farming in Greenland in soil that is now permafrost.
FCPP: What about open ice in the Arctic? Is that a new phenomenon?
TB: No. The Vikings were sailing in Arctic waters that are now permanent pack ice. Every year, the 16 million square kilometres of pack ice melts down to approximately 6 million square kilometres. So about 10 million square kilometres melts every summer. The records are only accurate from 1980 to the present, and they show some variability but little significant change. So far this winter, the ice has developed ahead of schedule and is almost at its maximum extent right now."
I thought this was an interesting, but level headed response (we've actually been to Stanley Park):
"FCPP: The CBC interviewed one expert from storm-battered Stanley Park who made a lot of sense, but he was drowned out by the howls from everyone else about manmade global warming. Has the din out there reached a fever pitch?
TB: Among the west-coast fanatics, since there are many of them, it is always at a fever pitch. B.C. does you a favour by harbouring them. I flew over the Park twice last Monday and most of the damage is concentrated in one small ocean-facing side. Of course, like all natural disasters it is nature’s way of thinning the herd. Unfortunately for hikers and cyclists, nature does the pruning but she doesn’t do the cleanup. Or at least she lets it take time, so nutrients are formed and build back into the system."
HT Amy at National Center
Canadian voice of calm
in a heated debate in which some want to shut down the alternate viewpoints. This interview with Dr. Tim Ball appears on the site of the Frontier Centre for Public Policy,"FCPP: Alarmists point to the rapidity of climate change as evidence of some sort that humans cause it. But you’ve shown that swift changes in weather patterns are normal. Could you describe the proof?
TB: The underlying philosophy of nature and world view of western education is called uniformitarianism. This holds that change is rapid and significant all the time. You only have to look at any climate record on any time scale to see this. For example, in 1970 the scientific consensus was that we were heading for another Ice Age. On a longer scale, notice that most of the record cold temperatures for Canada were in the late 19th century. Further back, we have the Little Ice Age with a metre of ice on the Thames and other evidence of cold from around the world. Vikings were farming in Greenland in soil that is now permafrost.
FCPP: What about open ice in the Arctic? Is that a new phenomenon?
TB: No. The Vikings were sailing in Arctic waters that are now permanent pack ice. Every year, the 16 million square kilometres of pack ice melts down to approximately 6 million square kilometres. So about 10 million square kilometres melts every summer. The records are only accurate from 1980 to the present, and they show some variability but little significant change. So far this winter, the ice has developed ahead of schedule and is almost at its maximum extent right now."
I thought this was an interesting, but level headed response (we've actually been to Stanley Park):
"FCPP: The CBC interviewed one expert from storm-battered Stanley Park who made a lot of sense, but he was drowned out by the howls from everyone else about manmade global warming. Has the din out there reached a fever pitch?
TB: Among the west-coast fanatics, since there are many of them, it is always at a fever pitch. B.C. does you a favour by harbouring them. I flew over the Park twice last Monday and most of the damage is concentrated in one small ocean-facing side. Of course, like all natural disasters it is nature’s way of thinning the herd. Unfortunately for hikers and cyclists, nature does the pruning but she doesn’t do the cleanup. Or at least she lets it take time, so nutrients are formed and build back into the system."
HT Amy at National Center
3586
On April 27, 1942 men who were born on or between April 28, 1877 and February 16, 1897 were required to register. That means they were between 45 and 64 years old and not already in the military. This information is useful for genealogists because it includes name, age, birth date, birth place, residence, employer, name and address of who knew the registrants whereabouts, and physical description. Not all states are included yet, and some states destroyed their records. My paternal grandfather (51) would have been required registered, and my maternal grandfather (68) just barely was too old. However, Illinois isn't one of the states on the completed list, and Tennessee (for other relatives) destroyed its records.
As the party of death, destruction and defeat and the media (and you know who you are) attempt to undermine all efforts in Iraq because "American lives are being lost," or "it's a quagmire," or "it's gone on too long," they need to take a look at our history, at a time when we lost more men in one battle than we've lost in this whole war, and when we defeated a world threat by uniting with other free countries--but just barely.
Iraq War
The Old man's draft registration
Some time back, I mentioned that I was able to find my grandfather's draft registration for WWI. He was 44 years old and plans were in place to also draft women for support positions. I wasn't aware that there was an "old man's draft registration" for WWII. It's available at Ancestry.com, and I'm not sure I can bring it up at my library's system, because the website is too vague. But if you are a subscriber, you should be able to.On April 27, 1942 men who were born on or between April 28, 1877 and February 16, 1897 were required to register. That means they were between 45 and 64 years old and not already in the military. This information is useful for genealogists because it includes name, age, birth date, birth place, residence, employer, name and address of who knew the registrants whereabouts, and physical description. Not all states are included yet, and some states destroyed their records. My paternal grandfather (51) would have been required registered, and my maternal grandfather (68) just barely was too old. However, Illinois isn't one of the states on the completed list, and Tennessee (for other relatives) destroyed its records.
As the party of death, destruction and defeat and the media (and you know who you are) attempt to undermine all efforts in Iraq because "American lives are being lost," or "it's a quagmire," or "it's gone on too long," they need to take a look at our history, at a time when we lost more men in one battle than we've lost in this whole war, and when we defeated a world threat by uniting with other free countries--but just barely.
Iraq War
3585
Break a leg, Sally
This phrase often said to thespians almost came true for one of my blog links, Sally Lomax, of England. She was performing in "Memory of Water" in rural Herefordshire, and "flew off the stage" (not in the script) requiring a trip to the hospital and is now on crutches, achieving some unwanted fame in the local paper.Thursday, March 15, 2007
Poetry Thursday #11
Today's totally optional challenge is to find a word we don't know in the dictionary and write a poem using it without looking up the meaning. I think this is called the "dictionary game." I didn't choose the topic, but did use a dictionary.
Here are some e-words that can cause problems for writers. An elegy is a song of mourning or lament; a eulogy is an oration of praise; an epitaph is a phrase that appears on a grave stone; an epigraph is an engraved inscription or a quotation at the beginning of a literary work; a epithet is a disparaging word or phrase; an epilogue is the conclusion or the final chapter; an epistrophe is the repetition of a word or expression at the end of successive phrases or verses; an epode has a long verse followed by a short one; an epopee is a long poem. I checked several sources for the proper poetic form for an elegy, and the phrase "Here lies. . ." seems to be what they have in common.
I told what little I know about this baby, Alma Fay, in my Monday Memories. She was the daughter of my great grandparents born after they left Tennessee and moved to Illinois and is buried in Plain View Cemetery.
This elegy is for anyone who has lost a baby through miscarriage, abortion, adoption, or death. Maybe you have a grave to visit, maybe not. Perhaps all you have is a dim memory. But someday. . . the graves will open for the Resurrection. Reassembling dust, molecules and DNA, no matter how scattered, is no problem for the designer and creator of the universe.
by Norma Bruce
March 12, 2007
Here lies quietly, baby Alma Fay
with no one to remember
save one sister old and gray,
her name engraved on heart shaped stone,
among the grass and clay.
Here lies peacefully, auntie Alma Fay
with nephews, nieces, cousins,
who lived well and had their say,
a harbinger of the good life
in land so far away.
Here lies listening, precious Alma Fay,
with none left to grieve for her,
these one hundred years or pray,
but God, the Three in One, will call
on Resurrection Day.
Here rises victorious Alma Fay--
the graves are emptied at Plain View.
Praise God! she's flown away.
Poetry Thursday, 
elegies, 
Mt. Morris Illinois, 
gravestones
Thursday Thirteen
It's been awhile--let's see if I can remember how to do this. Here's some random thoughts for a Thursday.
1. Congratulations and good luck for the TT new hostesses who are making it truly a family affair.
2. I've been doing Poetry Thursday for the last 11 weeks, instead of TT. Here's the one for today. An elegy for a baby but dedicated to anyone who has lost a child.
3. Doing both PT and TT wouldn't be a problem for me since I write so much, but it is the visiting and leaving comments that takes the time, so I had to choose.
4. Today I'm having lunch with a young woman who has asked me to speak to her Bible study group next week--I think their theme is older women mentoring younger women in the church, so each hostess invites a guest to speak.
5. I think I'm older than her mother, so that makes me a wise old woman of the church!
6. If you read my blog in the fall when we got back from my sister-in-law's wedding in California, you may remember I'd decided to lose my blogging weight--20 pounds.
7. Yes, indeedy, that's what I gained when we got broadband and I started blogging regularly in 2003. It sort of snuck up on me, here a pound, there a blog, but it all added up til I was 150 lbs, the heaviest in my adult life.
8. So I wrote a Thursday Thirteen about my plan to avoid 13 food triggers.
9. It was slow going, and the holidays were rough, but I hit 130 lbs. on February 1. A lot of weeks I lost nothing at all, and nothing has budged in the last 6 weeks, but the tape measure does change.
10. I've learned, and I'll warn you--130 lbs. is arranged very differently at 67 than 35. My waist is much bigger, but that's an advantage because nothing ever fit before. Now I can wear a size 8 slacks and not have a 2" gap at the waist.
11. I've had a blast buying some new clothes that don't come from K-Mart. I discovered the Discovery Shop just up the road a mile, which is all donated, good quality clothing to benefit the Cancer Society.
12. Last week I bought a fabulous Pendleton pants suit (already shortened to fit my stubby legs) for $20. It will be incentive to keep the weight off for next year, since it is a gorgeous, all lined, 100% wool, made in the USA. I look for quality brands with dry cleaner tags still attached.
13. And finally, if you're doing much traveling, either because of work assignments or spring break, please read my blogs about DVT.
Wednesday, March 14, 2007
3582
I listen to you most days, and take you along on my walks in the park enjoying the effects of global change. I'm right with you on how silly Al Gore has become, that the Republicans don't know how to defend themselves, that John McCain is a joke, and that the Democrats are the party of death and defeat in Iraq.
However, today I had an epiphany. You don't understand women. At all. We don't think it is hilarious or insulting or witty to be called a woman! Nope. We actually like being women. So when you can think of no other way to ridicule Presidential candidate John Edwards than to call him a Breck "Girl" or to use the song "I am woman" to introduce him, or to call him a female candidate, that falls pretty flat for your female audience, even those of us who are conservatives.
The nonsense today about the abortion e-card just caused me to change the channel. Neither pro-life (me) or pro-choice women (just about everyone I know) see anything funny about abortion. It has caused the deaths of about 35,000,000 babies in the USA and a lot of pain for women who thought or were misled at the time that they had no other option. Not funny, Rush. Nope. Not at all. You've really insulted your female audience this week, plus you gave that silly woman with the e-abortion card a promotion on your airtime she could never afford to buy.
My letter to Rush
Dear Rush,I listen to you most days, and take you along on my walks in the park enjoying the effects of global change. I'm right with you on how silly Al Gore has become, that the Republicans don't know how to defend themselves, that John McCain is a joke, and that the Democrats are the party of death and defeat in Iraq.
However, today I had an epiphany. You don't understand women. At all. We don't think it is hilarious or insulting or witty to be called a woman! Nope. We actually like being women. So when you can think of no other way to ridicule Presidential candidate John Edwards than to call him a Breck "Girl" or to use the song "I am woman" to introduce him, or to call him a female candidate, that falls pretty flat for your female audience, even those of us who are conservatives.
The nonsense today about the abortion e-card just caused me to change the channel. Neither pro-life (me) or pro-choice women (just about everyone I know) see anything funny about abortion. It has caused the deaths of about 35,000,000 babies in the USA and a lot of pain for women who thought or were misled at the time that they had no other option. Not funny, Rush. Nope. Not at all. You've really insulted your female audience this week, plus you gave that silly woman with the e-abortion card a promotion on your airtime she could never afford to buy.
3581
Alternative medicine; the Christian handbook, updated, expanded, Zondervan, 2006 by Donal O'Mathuna, PhD and Walt Larimore, MD (£13.57 / US$26.37 /EUR19.99) is a good investment for your home or public library. I know the author personally (he lives in Ireland, but got his PhD from Ohio State and married the daughter of friends) and Zondervan is a publisher I trust. It is written in a rather dry, non-confrontational, common sense style that I'd almost forgotten existed in books for the general public, especially for a topic that exalts in sound bites and teaser phrases like "secrets to," "seven steps to," "never before revealed," "they don't want you to know this," "as seen on television," "all-natural," and "suppressed." If you are familiar with the term "evidence based medicine," or "literature review," this would be that. These authors take the claims of alternative therapies (acupuncture, chiropractic, energy medicine, herbal medicine, garlic, noni juice, etc. and many others) and then look at the clinical and research studies (if they exist) and give the therapy, claim or technique ratings. At first I found the rating system of 1 to 4 a bit off-putting--check marks (4 for multiple high-quality randomized controlled trials), x-marks (evidence against, 4 for multiple high-quality randomized controlled trials), recommendation scale of happy faces (4 for 75%-100% confidence that the therapy is potentially beneficial), area of spiritual concern of interest to Christians is designated with thumbs down (4 thumbs down is a therapy involving spiritual practices in direct conflict with biblical teaching). But once I got used to it, found the system easy to follow.
Noni juice, for instance, a product I've only tasted, gets 2.5 pages--what it is, what the claims are, the study findings, the cautions, recommendations, dosage, treatment categories, whether its claims are scientifically questionable, is it quackery or fraud (these differences are explained in another chapter) and further reading.
Some concerns are: 1) there are no quality standards unlike most herbals, so there is no way to judge what you're buying; 2) some companies take the leftover by-products of juicing and sell as "100% noni fruit powder," and so the product would not have the ingredients of noni juice, 3) the published literature is for a tree native to Hawaii, but most of the products come from trees grown on other South Pacific Islands which probably have different chemical constituents, 4) "wild harvested" is not of consistent quality or origin, 5) when commercially grown, it has pesticides and herbicide residues, including some not allowed in the U.S. and Canada, 6) some, but not all, noni juice is pasteurized, which kills pathogens but may inactivate some compounds, but no studies have been done.
Noni juice can interact with other medications (and drinkers may neglect to mention it to their doctor who is prescribing a diuretic or blood pressure medication) causing nausea or cardiac arrhythmias, and shouldn't be used by anyone with kidney or liver problems, and the authors don't recommend it for breast-feeding women. There were no spiritual claims for this product.
However, the authors say it does have many vitamins--just no curative properties for arthritis, menstrual cramps, digestion or cancer, and if what you're buying hypes that, disregard it and just enjoy it as a juice that smells like rotten cheese that tops the list of worst tasting and best selling to a very gullible public.
The book has 510 pages, is well indexed (by subject, scripture and therapy) and formatted, has lengthy bibliographies, a rating system, and the authors are a medical doctor and a pharmacist whose PhD research was in identifying potential new drugs from herbal remedies and an MA in theology from Ashland Seminary in Ohio and who taught at Mt. Carmel College of Nursing here in Columbus. And as mentioned above, I know him--went to his wedding which was during the worst spring snow storm in the history of central Ohio. The minister couldn't get there.
Alternative Medicine--buy this book!
Alternative medicine; the Christian handbook, updated, expanded, Zondervan, 2006 by Donal O'Mathuna, PhD and Walt Larimore, MD (£13.57 / US$26.37 /EUR19.99) is a good investment for your home or public library. I know the author personally (he lives in Ireland, but got his PhD from Ohio State and married the daughter of friends) and Zondervan is a publisher I trust. It is written in a rather dry, non-confrontational, common sense style that I'd almost forgotten existed in books for the general public, especially for a topic that exalts in sound bites and teaser phrases like "secrets to," "seven steps to," "never before revealed," "they don't want you to know this," "as seen on television," "all-natural," and "suppressed." If you are familiar with the term "evidence based medicine," or "literature review," this would be that. These authors take the claims of alternative therapies (acupuncture, chiropractic, energy medicine, herbal medicine, garlic, noni juice, etc. and many others) and then look at the clinical and research studies (if they exist) and give the therapy, claim or technique ratings. At first I found the rating system of 1 to 4 a bit off-putting--check marks (4 for multiple high-quality randomized controlled trials), x-marks (evidence against, 4 for multiple high-quality randomized controlled trials), recommendation scale of happy faces (4 for 75%-100% confidence that the therapy is potentially beneficial), area of spiritual concern of interest to Christians is designated with thumbs down (4 thumbs down is a therapy involving spiritual practices in direct conflict with biblical teaching). But once I got used to it, found the system easy to follow.Noni juice, for instance, a product I've only tasted, gets 2.5 pages--what it is, what the claims are, the study findings, the cautions, recommendations, dosage, treatment categories, whether its claims are scientifically questionable, is it quackery or fraud (these differences are explained in another chapter) and further reading.
Some concerns are: 1) there are no quality standards unlike most herbals, so there is no way to judge what you're buying; 2) some companies take the leftover by-products of juicing and sell as "100% noni fruit powder," and so the product would not have the ingredients of noni juice, 3) the published literature is for a tree native to Hawaii, but most of the products come from trees grown on other South Pacific Islands which probably have different chemical constituents, 4) "wild harvested" is not of consistent quality or origin, 5) when commercially grown, it has pesticides and herbicide residues, including some not allowed in the U.S. and Canada, 6) some, but not all, noni juice is pasteurized, which kills pathogens but may inactivate some compounds, but no studies have been done.
Noni juice can interact with other medications (and drinkers may neglect to mention it to their doctor who is prescribing a diuretic or blood pressure medication) causing nausea or cardiac arrhythmias, and shouldn't be used by anyone with kidney or liver problems, and the authors don't recommend it for breast-feeding women. There were no spiritual claims for this product.
However, the authors say it does have many vitamins--just no curative properties for arthritis, menstrual cramps, digestion or cancer, and if what you're buying hypes that, disregard it and just enjoy it as a juice that smells like rotten cheese that tops the list of worst tasting and best selling to a very gullible public.
The book has 510 pages, is well indexed (by subject, scripture and therapy) and formatted, has lengthy bibliographies, a rating system, and the authors are a medical doctor and a pharmacist whose PhD research was in identifying potential new drugs from herbal remedies and an MA in theology from Ashland Seminary in Ohio and who taught at Mt. Carmel College of Nursing here in Columbus. And as mentioned above, I know him--went to his wedding which was during the worst spring snow storm in the history of central Ohio. The minister couldn't get there.
3580 To report abuse
Have you ever thought of picking up the phone when you see this statement on a government publication: "To report fraud, waste, and abuse in Federal programs call. . ." Each year about this time when we get our tax returns from our accountant and will pay her $400 so we can pay the government more of our pension this phrase sticks in my mind (don't bother to tell me to buy brand x tax software or do it myself--she's actually worth every penny, but charges a higher hourly rate than architects). I just can't think of a single Federal or state program where there isn't fraud and waste. Can you? Katrina rebuilding is probably the most pitiful and worst example, but it has just shown us how bad things are when federal money is mismanaged at the local and state level and the people reelect the clowns stealing our tax money. I'm grateful (I think) that we have the GAO to report on such things but when it takes 100-150 pages to report it and no one in Congress does anything, or they pass a new regulation which requires more taxes and more paper, and more review and reports by GAO, I do sometimes think it is part of theTuesday, March 13, 2007
3579
Imagine all this fuss and police involvement with illegals flooding across the border of Texas. Seems like some misplaced power struggles, doesn't it. The reporter following this story has discovered that gum chewing will also result in arrests.
Then in Oregon, "Two McMinnville middle school boys are in Yamhill County Juvenile Detention facing sex abuse charges after school officials said they inappropriately touched classmates.
The 12- and 13-year-old boys’ parents said students were part of a group of boys and girls at Patton Middle School who would spank each other’s backsides as part of a handshake or dance." Story here. Again, the children were arrested and the parents weren't called. What is this, the abortion trend in parent notification?
Kind of makes me glad we're going to our 50th class reunions this summer--you young folks in charge of our institutions are going bonkers. I hate to think what my generation would have been charged with. Eleven year old boys actually thought it was great fun to sneak up behind the girls and snap their bra! Now we've got libraries with really smutty stuff and fighting internet filters while insisting it's about about freedom of information, while 10 year olds are going to jail? The world is upside down.
Have schools gone off the deep end on being "safe?"
Glenn Beck interviewed a father, Frank Harmeier, last week whose ten year old son Casey pulled a fire alarm cover off in the hall of the school (Texas) on a dare. When the cover was replaced, the alarm went off. It wasn't one that goes off at the police station, or even the principal's office, but is local for that area so a teacher can be summoned to investigate. When the teacher came (he didn't try to run away--he knew he'd done something wrong), he admitted his crime. Then the police were called, he was arrested and taken to the police station and interrogated for four hours before his parents were called. They are charging him with a felony; the parents are calling it child abuse. And as it turned out, the alarm went off because a school staffer pulled it when she tried to replace the cover. For its mistake, the school hasn't apologized for terrorizing a student, and has only asked that the felony charge be reduced to a misdemeanor. The juvenile authorities, according to Casey's father, wanted the parents to go through a family counseling and parent reeducation (North Vietnam comes to mind, doesn't it), the problem is they ARE counselors, she having given up her job to be a stay at home mom. And the father works in that school district. Series in the Houston Chronicle.Imagine all this fuss and police involvement with illegals flooding across the border of Texas. Seems like some misplaced power struggles, doesn't it. The reporter following this story has discovered that gum chewing will also result in arrests.
Then in Oregon, "Two McMinnville middle school boys are in Yamhill County Juvenile Detention facing sex abuse charges after school officials said they inappropriately touched classmates.
The 12- and 13-year-old boys’ parents said students were part of a group of boys and girls at Patton Middle School who would spank each other’s backsides as part of a handshake or dance." Story here. Again, the children were arrested and the parents weren't called. What is this, the abortion trend in parent notification?
Kind of makes me glad we're going to our 50th class reunions this summer--you young folks in charge of our institutions are going bonkers. I hate to think what my generation would have been charged with. Eleven year old boys actually thought it was great fun to sneak up behind the girls and snap their bra! Now we've got libraries with really smutty stuff and fighting internet filters while insisting it's about about freedom of information, while 10 year olds are going to jail? The world is upside down.
3578
Iraq War
Pamela Hess, UPI correspondent
Don't miss her interview on C-SPAN talking about what she saw in Iraq. I don't think I've ever seen a reporter cry when talking about what is going on there. She had been there in 2003 and makes some comparisons.Iraq War
3577
Sororities, cliques or social clubs for women (or men) whether in high school, college, or real life aren't designed to include everyone. Their very existence says, "we are somebody," and you aren't. Why is it worse to exclude a woman because she is not attractive than because she isn't a good athlete or a good student? Will black sororities be required to include whites? Will Jewish sororities have to rush Bahai's? Do engineering fraternities have to include thespians?
All 23 of those women when they went through "rush" knew they got in because someone else didn't. They knew that with the next class, they'd be the ones excluding another young woman whose grades would bring the average down, or she drank too much and embarrassed them, or her table manners were poor, or . . . she was homely. Is prettiness more superficial than bad manners or poor grades? I disliked the Greek system from the get-go, and never participated when I was in college. I lived in an independent dorm and loved it. It was the judging and exclusion stuff I disliked. But this is childish! Talk about "in loco parentis!"
Ladies, it's a big bad world out there. Deal with it. Don't be a victim. Don't join the Greek system and then whine about exclusionary behavior like this is all new to you and you just had no idea what was going on.
It's naughty to be not nice
DePauw University (Greencastle, IN) has pulled its approval from the Delta Zeta sorority. It seems that 23 of the sisters were asked to take "alumna status" and leave the house because they failed to meet recruiting goals. DZ National's story. The sisters claimed it was because they weren't pretty enough. The photo in the USAToday shows some not unattractive, 20-something ladies with too much mascara and some extra poundage.Sororities, cliques or social clubs for women (or men) whether in high school, college, or real life aren't designed to include everyone. Their very existence says, "we are somebody," and you aren't. Why is it worse to exclude a woman because she is not attractive than because she isn't a good athlete or a good student? Will black sororities be required to include whites? Will Jewish sororities have to rush Bahai's? Do engineering fraternities have to include thespians?
All 23 of those women when they went through "rush" knew they got in because someone else didn't. They knew that with the next class, they'd be the ones excluding another young woman whose grades would bring the average down, or she drank too much and embarrassed them, or her table manners were poor, or . . . she was homely. Is prettiness more superficial than bad manners or poor grades? I disliked the Greek system from the get-go, and never participated when I was in college. I lived in an independent dorm and loved it. It was the judging and exclusion stuff I disliked. But this is childish! Talk about "in loco parentis!"
Ladies, it's a big bad world out there. Deal with it. Don't be a victim. Don't join the Greek system and then whine about exclusionary behavior like this is all new to you and you just had no idea what was going on.
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