Is McCain an Obama mole?

Barack "Born-alive" Obama voted against protection for born alive babies when he was an Illinois senator, despite the fact that the bill did not interfere with "a woman's right to choose" and posed no threat to Roe v. Wade. Imagine. Gasping, struggling, reaching and tiny--turn your back and pitch her. Most people wouldn't treat a dog that way. But oddly enough, as the DNC scrambles to enfold its own lefty Catholics into the party tent, John McCain is waffling on abortion in his selection of a VP in an attempt to gather up disaffected Hillaryites and nervous-about-race Democrats, most of whom are pro-abortion. So McCain is dumping on conservatives again; why should we believe him on anything else he's said? I always suspected he was just a middle of the road, fence-sitting Democrat, but now he's starting to look like an Obama secret ops guy.

Politicians are one sick bunch. A pox on all their campaigns and bimbo eruptions.

Isn't it puzzling that unborn babies have worth and value if they are "wanted," but not if they are "unwanted?" Some editor slipped up in this AP story. Usually they call the unborn baby, a fetus.

Horrified onlookers in New York City's Bronx borough lifted a 5-ton school bus off a pregnant woman who was pinned underneath. Doctors performed an emergency Caesarean section and saved her baby, a 3-pound, 6-ounce boy. The mother died shortly after his birth.

Casual Friday

says the Well Dressed Librarian is not the day to wear your flip flops--that's for running to the store. And don't wear socks, or pick at your toes; wash your feet, get a pedicure, etc. Toe jewelry won't help dirty toes. This guy knows his stuff. Better yet, IMO, don't wear them in public.

Misleading us on military deaths

Perhaps you've seen it. The e-mail that's circulating comparing the number of military deaths during the Clinton years compared to the Bush years. Pitch it. Someone in the process of forwarding, or just having an agenda of his own, has reworked the numbers. Lowered the Bush years numbers and increased the Clinton years numbers. Look at the Congressional Research Service link for the original document, American War and Military Operations Casualties:
Lists and Statistics. However, it is still surprising, and our media continue to mislead us. Table 4 and Table 5 gives the numbers of U.S. Active Duty Military Deaths, 1980-2006 (as of Nov 22, 2007, and these numbers are constantly revised based on new information if the cause of death was unclear).

The numbers are startling. Military deaths have been much higher during non-conflict, non-war years, like comparing 2001-2006 (Bush) with 1981-1986 (Reagan). Deaths were much, much higher in the 80s and the military was also larger. It's the cause of death--homicide, suicide, accidents, and illnesses that bumps up the deaths of yesterday's U.S. military, whether Carter, Reagan or Clinton were Presidents. I was shocked looking at these tables. Homicide was almost halved during the Reagan years, but is still much lower now. Remember all the suicide stories we've been treated to during the dinner hour? 269 in 1986 and 192 in 2006. In 1985, deaths from accidents were 1476, and in 2005 deaths from accidents were 644. Another table I looked at showed the amputation ratio per injury, and that was way down.

What this report shows is a military that's safer, healthier, better cared for, better trained and more highly motivated to defend their country and support their Commander in Chief. It also shows that our news sources, and both presidential campaigns, continue to paint this war with a brush dipped in careless abandon and wild hyperbole. Even so, read the real document, and ignore the stats in the e-mail.

HT to Murray who pointed me to this interesting document.

Genealogy class

We've been having a great genealogy class at Lakeside this week, and I've been checking out some sites. Our instructor said what started as a puddle (genealogy sites and information on the internet) is now an ocean. I came across this quote (without attribution) in the Columbine Genealogical and Historical Society Newsletter (Littleton, CO), 2nd quarter 2007:

Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming -- "WOW"-- What a Ride!"

And even then, it isn't all there. Not even close. I didn't see our Lakeside archives and newsletter among the Ottawa County Ohio resources nor the Brethren Heritage Center among the Montgomery County Ohio resources.

Obama's new taxes

A blogger at Soballiance (Ohio conservative bloggers) responded to Obama’s man in Ohio, Aaron Pickrell (governor's staff), who attempted to explain Obama’s windfall tax plan in a mailing. I agree with the blogger . This is no plan. This is a tax on us, especially retirees and anyone who drives a car or truck or uses merchandise that is transported on a road or through the air, or who has a home or business that needs heat, or uses anything made of plastic or rubber, etc.

First, taxing a company is not an energy plan. You'd have to be a plain fool to think otherwise. Second, do you think that taxing a successful company will make them want to provide more product or less product. Third, at what level does profit become a wind-fall? Will Obama try to use a percentage of revenue, or just some arbitrary number? If percentage, what rate? Coca-cola, Pepsi, Wal-mart and many other companies have a higher profit margin than nearly all of the oil companies. Moreover, will Obama pay this windfall tax on the profits he made on selling his books? Or how about the professional athletes who make tens of millions for playing a few games a year, or endorsing products? Will they be taxed too? If it's by number (some arbitrary dollar amount), do you think that would provide an incentive to earn more money or less money? I don't know if you know this, but oil companies employ a whole lot of people. So with higher taxes or lower profits, that's less money to employ workers. Not to mention that a majority of Exxon (in particular) stock is owned by pension funds and individuals through mutual funds and 401(k)'s. So Obama's "windfall" profit tax is actually a tax on working class Americans.

And it seems the left isn't happy with oil money, no matter what--whether costs are up or down, ours or Iraq's, according to an editorial in today's WSJ

Among the antiwar faithful, every improvement in Iraq is still bad news, even if -- or especially if -- it's good news for the U.S. So it is with the political eruption over Iraq's budget surplus.

According to the U.S. Government Accountability Office, the Iraqi government generated some $96 billion in revenues since 2005, when Baghdad started managing its own budget, with about 94% coming from crude oil exports. Now Democrats and a few Republicans are complaining that Iraq is "pocketing huge profits" without spending enough on reconstruction. The GAO figures the surplus could run as high as $50 billion this year, though the real figure will be far lower once parliament resolves ongoing budget negotiations. The Iraq surplus

If the economy improves, it's bad news for Democrats; if the price of oil goes down, it's bad news for Democrats. What's good for the nation is bad for Democrats. So guess who's throwing a monkey wrench into the works and then promises to fix it?

Eating with Michael Phelps

Our eleven gold medals swimmer, Michael Phelps, eats. A lot. Like 8,000-10,000 calories a day. But he also swims about five hours a day, and doesn't seem to do much except watch TV and play with his dog, if the show I saw on NBC is accurate. I guess that puts a lie to you can't exercise it off.



The current recommendation for overweight and obese women is 30 minutes of moderate physical activity several days a week, or 150 minutes per week. Unfortunately, new research says that if you want to lose weight, that won't do it. "Overweight and obese women need to exercise at least 275 minutes per week and reduce energy intake to sustain a weight loss of more than 10% over two years, according to a new report in Archives of Internal Medicine. Story here.

To celebrate with Michael, for lunch I had corn on the cob, chips dipped in home made zucchini relish (My Mother's Market, 7610 Ransom Rd., Sandusky, Ohio 44870) and a brownie with cream cheese frosting.

Bad, bad blogger chick.

Naked Ladies in Lakeside

Today our Naked Ladies have opened. It's a sign of mid-August in Lakeside. This isn't the view from my window (which has mini-blinds and part of our TV antenna tower in view) and is by Alexandra Rauh. I have some photos of ours, but this is so much better!

Finding the Aaronsohns

When my cousin Gayle sent her weekly e-letter this week, she noted the Gutenberg site, a digital collection of literature that predates the web, at least I remember reading it in the early 90s when everything on the net was text. She provided the link so I clicked over and started to browse, finding the Aaronsohns, first Alexander's memoir in 1916 of being a Jew born in Palestine conscripted into the Turkish military, then through Google a recent book about Sarah, his sister who was a spy against the Turks in Palestine, and then finally through a blogger, an account of a popular Israeli children's book about Sarah.

Title: With the Turks in Palestine; Author: Alexander Aaronsohn; Written in 1916 From the introduction which this week has a familiar ring as we watch what's happening in Georgia:

"While Belgium is bleeding and hoping, while Poland suffers and dreams of liberation, while Serbia is waiting for redemption, there is a little country the soul of which is torn to pieces—a little country that is so remote, so remote that her ardent sighs cannot be heard.

It is the country of perpetual sacrifice, the country that saw Abraham build the altar upon which he was ready to immolate his only son, the country that Moses saw from a distance, stretching in beauty and loveliness,—a land of promise never to be attained,—the country that gave the world its symbols of soul and spirit. Palestine!"

Then when I googled the author and worked through bunches of wikis and reviews all using the same information, I came across a review of a book by Hillel Halkin.

Halkin in a reworked and stunning new edition of The Liar, [which had been serialized] "A Strange Death" (Public Affairs, 400 pages, $26). He tells the story as he learned it, starting with the day in 1970 that he and his wife, Marcia, arrived in the town of Zichron Ya'akov in northern Israel. . . the story of a Jewish spy ring that aided the British against the Turks in Palestine during World War I. It was an incredible conspiracy, led by a beautiful woman, Sarah Aaronsohn.

And Miriam Shaviv writes that he is on sacred ground because

Of-course, no matter how original, provoking and sophisticated Halkin's book is, for an entire generation of Israeli kids, the only book which will ever really count on the subject is Sarah Giborat Nili ('Sarah the Heroine of Nili), Dvorah Omer's heart-breaking account of the affair for children. I first learned Hebrew by reading an abridged version in easy language, and still remember getting upset over Avshalom Feinberg's death. I hope Halkin knows he's treading on hallowed ground!

Then I found another book (via Google) about the Aarohnsons just published last year, called The Aarohnson Saga, which covers his post-war Zionist activities and death.

Isn't the internet fun! You could go to Gutenberg.org every day, pick an author you've never read, and then take a peek at how she or he has fared over time.

There are also digitized sheet music and audio books, so I also stopped to listen while looking around, although Jane Austen wasn't within my theme of WWI spies.

Hanging Chad outcome again?

The Democrats created the hanging chad fiasco in Florida in 2000 by claiming their own registered voters were confused and officials would need to guess at intentions in a recount. And a recount of the recount of the intentions.

Lawyers flocked;
voters mocked;
Democrats squawked.

Now their state rules and their own inaction could mess them up in trying to elect Obama. If McCain wins Florida, no problem. But if Obama wins and the Democrats haven't gotten their certification of electors to the governor by Sept.1, I'm sure we'll see another Supreme Court trying to decide their intent instead of their acts. Tallahassee Democrat explains.

HT Taxman

Update: What's happening with the challenges to Obama's birth certificate?

I ignored the Edwards rumors when I first heard them (no one would be THAT low, I thought), so decided to take a look at the Obama constitutional residency requirements. Some of the rumors are quite wild and salacious. Seems Daily Kos actually posted a fake COLB (certificate of live birth) to squelch the rumors, but if it is fake, it only inflamed things. Obama could settle this. Just present his original birth certificate (although to whom I have no idea). I'm in a genealogy class this week. People do this all the time. His would have to be requested by him (privacy laws) since you can't just get the documents of living people, which would be the first question I'd ask Kos. Lots of birth certificates have errors. When the grave marker was to be prepared for my sister, it was discovered her birth certificate didn't match the name she'd used all her life. My father's read: Baby Boy, with no first name. It was never filled in by the doctor who delivered him. Maybe Obama did this while on his Hawaiian vacation this week. McCain was also born outside the continental U.S. but both his parents were citizens. If only one parent is a natural born citizen, then there are additional guidelines, like length of residency of the parent. And Hawaii wasn't a state during part of this period of his mother's required residency. At least I think that's the drift. I doubt that illegitimacy is the issue, or a middle name of Muhammed, speculation I've also seen at blogs. These days, Hussein isn't exactly a winner, and no one cares if your parents were legally married in 1961. At least it doesn't matter if born in 2008.

Lakeside 2008, what's happening in week 8

It seems that all we've done lately is eat! The Society of Old Salts had its regatta and dinner at the pavilion this past Saturday. My husband wasn't the oldest, but he sure was the most gutsy. The regatta rules allow anyone--from the ones sailing for 30-40 years to the instructors to the athletic teen-helpers to enter. You could almost photocopy the winners list from year to year. My husband entered doubles with an 18 year old college freshman from Bloomington, Illinois. They met in class last summer. I was standing with her parents as we watched them stranded in "irons" when the clip that holds the halyard broke. That put them last in that event, even though they weren't last in the other two races. But as another more experienced sailor said, "You beat everyone who didn't even try."

Then the same group gathered at someone's cottage last evening for more food and fun. Friday afternoon there was a reception at the Rhein Center with yummy treats. Yesterday after church at the Pavilion we ate breakfast at The Patio; tonight the artists/instructors from the Rhein Center are gathering at Juliann's home for a pot-luck; tomorrow night we're have Jim and Marian the Librarian over for dessert; Thursday there's a fund raiser at the hotel that's a dinner--I think it's for new park furniture; then there's the ice cream shops and snack outlets, and on and on. My jeans are getting tight.

This week I'm taking a Writers Workshop with Patricia Mote 9:30-11:30, M-F and Genealogy Basics with Detra 3:30 M-T at the Fountain Inn. She's an instructor with the LDS and has loads of experience. So I won't be able to take Rusti's class on art restoration for the 3rd time because there is a scheduling conflict, or the pastels class which are also at 9:30. This week is the 10th Annual Interfaith Week with seminars at 10:30 and 1:30 on prayer in the various traditions.

If your city were dying?

The Forbes top ten list of dying cities includes four in Ohio and two in Michigan. The first half of the decade, they were growing and the unemployment rate was extremely low. Since the mortgage melt down and the high gas prices, these cities, all linked to automotive jobs, have suffered not only job loss, but population loss. If they were your city and you the mayor, you probably wouldn't discourage business by promising them a "windfall profit tax," would you? If there was an oil, natural gas or coal cache in your city park, you'd most likely vote to drill, aesthetics be damned. All politics are local and you'd be out of a job by special election if you acted so stupid. But Obama wants to put the whole nation on that list. Drive out the successful energy companies, the folks who will also invest in alternative technologies, because they make too much money (i.e., they are too successful) and because you are beholden up to your unusual ears to the e-fundie-mentalists. Forbid the one effort that will ease the gasoline crisis and restore businesses and workers that depend on it. Dear Readers, and those of you like Sununu who skip the good parts, don't believe for a minute the nonsense about the number of years it takes. Ask any speculator how fast the prices would fall if drilling next week in ANWR were announced. Not a drop would need to flow before you'd see the pump price dip to reasonable. Barack Obama is so committed to weakening the economy so it will be "fair" for everyone, he can't be truthful about how far down his plan will bring us.

Ohio Update: Four boys and one girl were born in Toledo hospitals Friday and Saturday, all apparently to married parents, going by the names. Congratulations to these new parents who are giving their little ones a good start. There are no guarantees, of course, but children of married parents have a much better chance of NOT growing up in poverty.

Jill and Timothy Thuston, Maumee, boy, Saturday.
Sandra and Edward House, Toledo, boy, Saturday.
Amy and Larry Ward, Sylvania, boy, Saturday.
Bonita and Dwayne Moreheard, Toledo, boy, Saturday.
Megan and Tray Boze, Toledo, girl, Friday.

Just change the rules

I haven’t talked to anyone, conservative, liberal or libertarian, who has been happy with NCLB. Never fear, if you don’t like the outcome, someone will suggest just changing the rules. From OSUToday:

Up to three-quarters of U.S. schools deemed failing based on achievement test scores would receive passing grades if evaluated using a less biased measure, a new study suggests. OSU researchers developed a new method of measuring school quality based on schools' actual impact on learning. The impact measure more accurately gauges what is going on in the classroom, which is the way schools really should be evaluated if we're trying to determine their effectiveness, said Douglas Downey, co-author of the study and OSU professor of sociology. Read full story

Having school administrators be held accountable for the performance of children is not a new idea. It’s just become quite unpopular because it’s GWB’s pet program (The Bush administration has spent more money on education than any previous administration, and with no more success, because the federal government shouldn‘t be reaching into the the classroom to tweak education). Schools always take the credit when Worthington or Upper Arlington’s children do well in the national tests (suburbs of Columbus with many business and faculty families). No one wants the other award. Failure or Falling Behind. We all know the foremost reasons for success are genes and home life. Good schools and committed teachers can take that combination and run with it. Even then, some won’t succeed; and a few missing one or two will, surprising everyone. Married parents are a huge factor in school success because marriage determines the income, neighborhood and consistency that children need to do well in school.

Sociologists and educators will continue to sop up grants in an effort to make it something else. Like blaming the president, or you and me. Or past wrongs. Or lead paint. Or the neighborhood. They should spend their time studying the children who make it despite all odds. Then work from that instead of studying failure and building one more schoolhouse of cards. Oh, they’ve done that already? There are schools that succeed with minority and low income children from single parent homes? Vouchers? School choice? Parental involvement? Uniforms? Discipline? High expectations? Well, golly.

Another view: NCLBlog
A Baltimore teacher More Humbly did I teach

Looking back at the mortgage mess

I wrote this in April 2007. The mortgage and credit mess has expanded and spread. But this is all still true. Particularly note the problem the "access" mentality and "gap" concern brought to our economic health. This fascination with disparities, and not good health practices and results, is behind the push for universal health care.
-----------

Minorities hit hard by subprime loans
is the headline of USAToday's latest article on how the poor and minorities are victimized in the U.S.A. It really makes you wonder if the journalists learned anything else in college! A closer look at the middle paragraphs:

• Minority home buyers helped fuel the housing boom--49% of the increase between 1995-2005. [Note that this trend of "empowering" minorities by burdening them with impossible debt began under Clinton, and any attempt to reverse it has brought condemnation on Bush.]
• 73% of high income ($92,000-$152,000) blacks and 70% of high income Hispanics had subprime loans, compared to 17% whites.
• Lenders were supported by politicians and "community leaders" eager to promote minority home ownership.
• When Illinois (Cook Co.) tried to establish credit counseling programs for new minority buyers by targeting ZIP codes, the program was pulled as being "racist".
• Access became a buzz word at the expense of sound lending policies.
• Buyers/borrowers with poor credit or low salaries who wanted a cheap deal are a large part of the problem.
• Investigation by a counseling group found 9% of those in trouble were victims of fraud; the rest was poor judgement and poor financial skills.
• Rather than focus on the borrowers' poor financial skills, it appears that new regulations and programs will pounce on predatory lenders.
• Government investigations of charges even before the current problem came to light showed a "good chunk" [not my term] of higher loan cost is attributed to borrower's income, not to race or ethnicity.

But this is America, where nothing happens if it isn't about poverty, race, gender or disability.

No one wants to be reminded, but here's what it took in 1968 to get a home mortgage (our third home): the monthly PMI didn't exceed one-third of the husband's income; there were married parents/in-laws to chip in on the down payment to help a young couple; most mortgages were for 20 years; typical mortgage rate was around 6.5%; the average home and what owners expected was smaller and less grand; a typical applicant for a mortgage wasn't also paying for a leased a car, or a cable bill, monthly broadband, or a cell phone bill, nor did they eat out 2 or 3 times a week and take vacations at resort spots.

Yes, I know it sounds terribly fusty and old fashioned back in the old days when the state and federal governments weren't our foster parents, overseers and field bosses, but that's just how it was.

Freitas, Pullman and traditional Christianity

I have no dog in this fight. I’m not Catholic, I have no young children to protect from dangerous books on the library shelves and my chances of seeing the movie The Golden Compass or reading Dan Pullman’s anti-Christian trilogy are slim to none. But I thought Donna Freitas’ review of the children’s books by the professed atheist as “theistic” and about the true God (a feminist-God rooted in the Old Testament), intriguing. She writes for Belief Net (quasi-spiritual web site), and a few days ago had a book review in the WSJ.

But then this view by Carl Olson made much more sense to me because Freitas‘ feminist brand of Christianity is certainly a type well known in the Protestant traditions (I’ve stopped attending certain “Christian” churches and worship services because of it). Luther, Wesley, Calvin, etc. were all wrong, or misguided, but truth can be found in various new-agey, pantheistic writings of obscure women, and we traditional Christians are just “knuckle-dragging, right-wing, hate-mongering, lite-beer swilling fundamentalists bent on the oppression of all that is open minded, free thinking, and otherwise delightfully dangerous.”

The problem, of course, is that the form of Catholicism touted by [Donna] Freitas is not the Catholicism rooted in Scripture and Tradition, articulated by the Councils, defended by the Magisterium, expressed in the Catechism, and taught by the popes—that is, authentic, historical, real Catholicism. But, again, Freitas believes that the councils, the Magisterium, the Catechism, and the popes are bad, rotten, oppressive, etc., etc. Like many of Dan Brown's [DaVinci Code] "Catholic" fans, she asserts that her brand of Catholicism is the real sort because it is opposed to the life-killing strictures of institution, authority, and doctrine, and open to the supposedly life-giving streams of pantheism, neo-paganism, and neo-Marxism. Insight Scoop

Also, I try to give people, even those I don’t like, even wildly successful, misguided authors, the benefit of the doubt. Pullman says he’s an atheist, that God is not only dead but never existed. Shouldn’t he know what he believes?

Blue states, black administrations, green messages and red ink

I don't know how Obama kept a straight face when he recently visited Detroit, deep in a red ink state. Or how he pumps up minorities in any major city. Talk about shucking and jiving! And Detroit's mayor is in jail. There are so many layers to that one I don't even know where to begin--affair with a staffer, perjury, leaving the country, shoving someone, etc. The governor's a woman. The state's taxed or driven businesses out of state with powerful unions. And Obama promises to raise taxes to help them. Oh, Lordy Lordy, is he even 40? And to think poor Bob Taft (Ohio's former governor) was hounded into obscurity by Democrats for accepting a free golf game.

Joining New York and California on the list of most unpopular states were New Jersey, Michigan and Massachusetts. . .

As the fiscal problems of some states increase, we are likely to hear more about how the federal government must bail them out. It's the failings of the federal government (that is, the Bush administration), that are responsible for state budget woes, so the argument goes.

But any look at the states with the biggest deficits reminds us that governors and legislatures are largely the authors of their own problems, and that the biggest trouble some of them seem to have is that their taxing and chronic overspending have made them toxic to the business community. Don't ask the feds to fix that.
See full story at Forbes.com

"OBAMA: So I want to first of all acknowledge your great mayor, Kwame Kilpatrick, who has been...
(APPLAUSE)

... on the frontlines -- has been on the frontlines doing an outstanding job of gathering together the leadership at every level in Detroit to bring about the kind of renaissance that all of us anticipate for this great city.

And he is a leader not just here in Detroit, not just in Michigan, but all across the country. People look to him. We know that he is going to be doing astounding things for many years to come.
And so I'm grateful to call him a friend and a colleague. And I'm looking forward to a lengthy collaboration in terms of making sure that Detroit does well in the future." Obama speech in Detroit in May, Right Michigan

Language equivalencies

On ABC's Good Morning America today Rachel Martin was reporting on the problem the Democrats are having with "the big tent." Loyal, card carrying Democrats who believe the unborn are viable human beings were called "anti-abortion," (because Martin is a liberal*), and the others in the party were called believers in "a woman's right to choose." Hardly equivalents. If anti-abortion is the reporter's choice for one group, the equivalency in English is pro-abortion. If right to life is the reporter's choice, then the equivalency is a woman's right to choose. This is why reporting two viewpoints in the MSM isn't necessarily balanced or fair, or even good English. It's like Edwards calling adultery a mistake and error in judgement. The scarlet letter--Democrats seem to have a problem with A words.

*Until a few days ago, Rachel Martin was with NPR.

Writing fiction at Lakeside

This past week I've been in a beginning fiction class here at Lakeside. I write thousands of words a week--but I rarely do fiction, or even read it unless assigned by my book club. It's been great fun, and I've become sort of attached to the character I sketched out and then developed as the week went on, Ophelia, aka Philly, Lia, or Opy, depending on which other set of characters she's with. Her nieces and nephews call her Opy. Anyway, I have no plot. Poor thing. Stuck here in quiet, lovely Lakeside plotless.

But our teacher, Martha Moody (Best Friends, The Office of Desire), is loaded with them. She also mentioned yesterday that she had recently taught in an Arab-Israeli village. So I googled her webpage, and here's that story--but it's not fiction.

Yesterday a group gathered at the Rhein Center to celebrate its 10 year anniversary. The parents, widow and extended family of C. Kirk Rhein, Jr. were there to joyously remember him, and we all thank them for this wonderful memorial.

Avocado smoothie

Why? That's the word that comes to my mind. Not only why would you make a smoothie, but why avocado (admittedly, I don't like them). But Small Bites is always an interesting read, at least the entries I've read. Here's the recipe I will never make, but maybe you're feeling adventurous today.

INGREDIENTS:

1/2 cup ice cubes
1/2 cup skim or soy milk (plain or unsweetened)
1/2 cup halved strawberries
1/2 cup blueberries
1/2 Hass avocado
1 Tablespoon wheat germ
1 Tablespoon oat bran
2 teaspoons ground flaxseed

NOTE: For a less thick smoothie, add extra milk or water, depending on your specific caloric preference.

DIRECTIONS:

Combine all ingredients in blender. Blend for 20 - 30 seconds.

NUTRITION FACTS:

381 calories
18 g fat (2 grams saturated fat)
15 grams fiber
3 grams added sugar (if made with plain soy milk)
11 grams protein

Excellent Source of: Monounsaturated fats, vitamin C, vitamin K, manganese, niacin, thiamin, riboflavin, pantothenic acid.

Good Source of: Copper, folate, potassium

I'd just rinse off and cut up a few strawberries, sprinkle with blueberries, and add a little Cool Whip (or nothing), if I wanted a treat. But even so, I've learned that "treats" even healthy ones lead to "snacks" which lead to overeating. If I snack on a piece of fruit, I want a chaser of cheddar cheese. Also, I think drinking your calories, even if they are "good for you" is one of the reasons Americans are getting fat. It's not nearly as satisfying, it doesn't require sitting down and paying attention to what you're doing, and speeds up the process. The writer of Small Bites just loves flaxseed (ground). Adds it to a bunch of stuff. I tried that a few times and found it truly. . . awful. I think it sat in the back of the refrigerator until I took pity on it and threw it out. Andy has a nice video on the 5 healthiest foods to always keep on hand, and I have 4 of them and wholeheartedly agree--especially the canned black beans and boil in a bag rice. But please, no floating flaxseed. Yuk.

It's called adultery, Mr. Edwards

Ring around the rosy. Ashes. Ashes. A lot of words when we already have one that does the job.

"In 2006, I made a serious error in judgment and conducted myself in a way that was disloyal to my family and to my core beliefs. I recognized my mistake, and I told my wife that I had a liaison with another woman, and I asked for her forgiveness. Although I was honest in every painful detail with my family, I did not tell the public."

I always thought it was odd he would go through the stress of the campaign and subject his family to it all for his personal aggrandizement and glory when he was needed at home to support his ill wife and frightened children. Now we know. Stress has a serious impact on health--what about the effect of his personal behavior on his wife's health! What a crumb bum. Now he's added even more pain to their lives and to his disappointed, loyal supporters who contributed many hours and hard earned money to his campaign.

Can polar bears scam architects?

The Al Gore polar bear hoax was disproven a long time ago

"Pictures of a polar bear floating precariously on a tiny iceberg have become the defining image of global warming but may be misleading, according to a new study.

A survey of the animals' numbers in Canada's eastern Arctic has revealed that they are thriving, not declining, because of mankind's interference in the environment.

In the Davis Strait area, a 140,000-square kilometre region, the polar bear population has grown from 850 in the mid-1980s to 2,100 today.

"There aren't just a few more bears. There are a hell of a lot more bears," said Mitch Taylor, a polar bear biologist who has spent 20 years studying the animals." Story source

But don't tell the AIA which is still offering "can competitions" with endangered animal themes. And of course, bear experts disagree. But on this they don't,

"Contrary to concern over a celebrated photograph of a bear and its cub floating on a tiny iceberg, the animals often travel in that way, he said.

"Bears will often hang out on glacier ice or large pieces of multi-year ice," he said."

“An UnBEARable Truth,” by New York City architecture and interior design firm Butler Rogers Baskett, took Jurors’ Favorite with a moving depiction of two stranded polar bears—one trapped on a tiny ice flow with its head stretched skyward, while the other struggled to stay afloat in the water, no land in sight. In addition to its sculptural and structural purity, the jury stated it was the perfect metaphor for global warming and commended the entry for addressing the interspecies issue. AIArchitect This Week.

Even at Lakeside we can not get away from this drivel. Our singer this week, Kathy Mattea, is a shill for Al Gore's Inconvenient Truth. How inconvenient for those of us who see it as a political hoax but pay our gate fees, assessments and property taxes to be here.