Need a good cry? This is a wonderful story about Sister Noel Devine who is 85-years-old, and for 67 of those years has served as a Maryknoll sister. She has now lost her voice to Primary Lateral Sclerosis, but continues to serve. Watch to the end when a 93 year old sister sings a hymn. Watch her eyes glow with the love of Jesus.
Monday, April 02, 2012
The earning potential of college athletes
Ohio State is out of the Final Four. I heard a discussion about college athletes turning pro on the radio—speculation about one or two of our Buckeyes. If I were a 20 year old, talented, uninjured college athlete, I wouldn't need 20 seconds to decide. You can always go back to college; you get only one chance at being 20. What do you think?
Thomas Jefferson High School again
I don’t buy this. The whole purpose of high school clubs is to learn leadership skills and develop friendships. There are plenty of clubs which will mingle children of different races and cultures—math club, Spanish club, thespians—but the leader of the black students club should be an African American. TJHS doesn’t have very many blacks now; don’t dilute their effectiveness and learning opportunities. And no, I don’t want a guy in charge of young mothers club.
Of the 1,800 students who attended TJ last year, only 34 were black and 42 were Hispanic, school figures show. The overwhelming majority of their classmates were Asian (906) and white (787).
Glenn Beck is on vacation
Tonight there is a rerun on GBTV.com. He’s on vacation for 2 weeks. David Horowitz is one of the guests. Years ago I read his book Radical Son: A Generational Odyssey about growing up Marxist, knowing his parents’ friends were blacklisted Communists during the McCarthy years, and becoming a Black Panther. Now he’s a conservative and a very active (and protested) speaker on college campuses. He considers Ruth Bader Ginsberg the most radical of all the Supreme Court Justices. Other guests on tonight’s rerun are David Barton from Wall Builders, Geronimo Aguilar, a pastor of The Roc who says he was conceived at Woodstock, and some other conservatives. We’ve seen it before, but worth a second look. Discussing the important of a 2 parent home.
“Going to church regularly will add 7 years to your life (if you are white) and 14 years if you are black,” said one of the guests. I think I need to fact check that stat. If it sounds too good to be true, it usually is. Check here.
Wait Till Next Year—Book club today
“Set in the suburbs of New York in the 1950s, Wait Till Next Year is Doris Kearns Goodwin’s touching memoir of growing up in love with her family and baseball. She re-creates the postwar era, when the corner store was a place to share stories and neighborhoods were equally divided between Dodger, Giant, and Yankee fans.
We meet the people who most influenced Goodwin’s early life: her mother, who taught her the joy of books but whose debilitating illness left her housebound; and her father, who taught her the joy of baseball and to root for the Dodgers of Jackie Robinson, Roy Campanella, Pee Wee Reese, Duke Snider, and Gil Hodges. Most important, Goodwin describes with eloquence how the Dodgers’ leaving Brooklyn in 1957, and the death of her mother soon after, marked both the end of an era and, for her, the end of childhood. “ (author’s website)
Question from leader of discussion, “Did her description of childhood trigger any memories of your own childhood such as neighborhood games, local Mom and Pop stores, best friends, church activities, family life, school and sports?”
Because in my early years our family lived on the same block as Nelson Potter and his family, I can claim at least what little interest I had in sports was because of a famous baseball player living near by. He was in college with my parents, and his son was in my class in school, and we still stay in touch at Christmas.
Sunday, April 01, 2012
This could be bad news for poverty pimps
There could be biological reasons for racial disparities in health!
Doctors long have thought that less access to screening and follow-up health care were the reasons black women are 40 percent more likely to develop cervical cancer and twice as likely to die from it. The new study involving young college women suggests there might be a biological explanation for the racial disparity, too.
Fourteen people shot in Florida at a wake for young black man
Maybe race hustlers Sharpton and Jackson have time to show up to lead a protest and hamper the police in their investigation, and perhaps the President can take some time from his campaign events to call the parents. Maybe Oprah can check in, and Spike Lee can tweet something inaccurate and Roseanne Barr can stir up a posse. What? Two dead? Black gang violence? Never mind. Manhattan Institute notes that in New York City, there were nine civilian victims of police gunfire last year, whereas there were “several hundred black homicide victims in the city, almost all shot by other blacks or Hispanics, none of them given substantial press coverage.”
Aventura Police Sgt. Chris Goranitis told CBS4 News the funeral was for 21-year-old Morvin Andre who died on March 16th, one day after he jumped from the 4th to 2nd floor of the Aventura Mall parking garage in an effort to escape pursuit by Bloomingdale’s loss prevention employees.
The Medical Examiner ruled his death a suicide because he chose to jump rather than be apprehended, according to Goranitis.
Meantime, a senior police commander told CBS4 investigative reporter Jim DeFede that Andre had some connection to several South Florida gangs and some of those gang members were in attendance at his wake to pay their respects.
The commander said someone at the wake touched Andre’s body in the casket in a way that other gangs took as disrespectful. This led to an argument inside the funeral home which spilled out to the street.
I was hoping this was an April Fool joke
But it wasn’t. A First Lady of the United States actually wore this in public.
Not sure why it is called a system
Our health care system had a broken leg--no one disagreed on that. It was a bi-partisan medical diagnosis. Band-aids were liberally applied. So in order to fix it, the federal government under the control of progressives and Democrats decided to equalize things, break the other leg, both ankles, the wrist on one arm and the elbow on the other, just in case anyone would get the bright idea of offering crutches, and then prescribed a massive dose of hallucinogens mislabeled as pain killers.
The “Roe v. Wade” of this generation said the Manhattan Declaration Blog. Charles Colson wrote in 2009: “This is a huge religious-liberty question. It isn’t about contraceptives or even abortifacients. It’s about whether the United States government can limit the free exercise of religion by telling us which of our beliefs are entitled to conscience exemptions. It would be one thing if this came through the courts; still another thing if it were passed by Congress. But this edict is handed down by unelected government bureaucrats [White House Administration Staff] ... This is a momentous issue. There have been other threats to religious liberty by legislation and sometimes by court order — but never at the whim of an unelected government official.”
The Enterprise blog said, “Scalia nailed it with the very first question asked by a justice. Why not “address directly” the main problem with American healthcare, the overconsumption of healthcare services driven by the third-party payment system?” Exactly what I thought from the beginning. Insurance created this problem--the dream that someone else pays while I select from the banquet table of tests, screening, vaccines, and advice about my own habits I should be controlling; why would more insurance cure it?
Palm Sunday
Today is Palm Sunday, and if attending any Christian church today you may hear something like this, compiled by Sarah Ciotti. Some churches reenact Jesus' triumphal entry; some pass out palm branches to wave during the hymns. At our service we'll be hearing from Pastor David Mann, our missionary to Haiti.
“9 And the crowds that went before him and that followed him shouted, ‘Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!’” (Matt 21:9)[1]
These holy words have inspired the Church for centuries. Known as the Sanctus, a part of the Eucharist Prayer, Christians have sung the end of this verse since before 400 AD.[2]
The Sanctus, listed below, hints at a juxtaposition innate in sacred mystery; God as Divine as expressed in the first stanza and God as man, riding on a donkey, in the second.[3]
“Holy, Holy, Holy Lord God of hosts
Heaven and earth are full of your glory
Hosanna in the highest.
Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.
Hosanna in the highest”(Sanctus 2010).[4]
Continuing the Holy Week reflection, Jesus’ triumphal entry highlights our need to make our new commitment public. We want to announce it and name it; whether it is a new goal, a project, a new partnership, etc. We long to celebrate with family and friends. Yet, in the joy of announcing our plans, sadness exists. Like in the Sanctus, we hope for something great; yet we know our human nature. What if we fail? What if we can’t bring our commitment to completion? We desire publicity; but we realize the fragility that comes with such an announcement. Hence, today’s paradox.[5]
[1] Revised Standard Version, s.v. “Matthew, The Gospel According To.”
[2] Michael G. Powell, “An Introduction to the History of Christian Liturgy in the West. s.v. ‘sanctus,’”http://www.yale.edu/adhoc/research_resources/liturgy/d_sanctus.html
[3] Ibid.
[4] Excerpts from the English translation of The Roman Missal © 2010, International Commission on English in the Liturgy Corporation.
[5] Franciscan Sisters of the Eucharist, “The Mysteries of Holy Week,” Retreat, Pocatello, ID, March 2012.
Pro-Lifers disagree with Cheney on marriage, but. . .
they applaud the doctors, technology and his own bravery in getting a new heart. Nasty people on the internet were complaining that Cheney was too old for a heart transplant (actually, what they really mean is he is a Republican). I’m 72, and although I think that’s probably too old to run for President (first term), it’s not too old for a heart transplant. And those nasties might change their minds if he were their father, brother or husband—or indeed, if it were their hearts that needed a replacement. He waited 20 months; but there have been amazing changes even in that time. Read the article.
Saturday, March 31, 2012
How to ruin a beautiful view
Few people think of visual environment. I saw this article in ENR Midwest Digital Wire. http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-501363_162-57406874/feds-5-states-to-push-for-great-lakes-wind-farms/
TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. - The Obama administration and five states have agreed to speed up approval of offshore wind farms in the Great Lakes.
There are no wind turbines in the lakes at present. Proposals have met fierce opposition from people worried the structures would ruin views and harm the environment.
Under the deal, federal and state agencies will develop a plan to speed regulatory review of proposed offshore wind farms. Officials say the projects would have to meet safety and environmental standards.
States that signed the deal include Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, New York and Pennsylvania.
Indiana, Ohio and Wisconsin declined.
Hacktivism
From Technewsworld an article on hacktivism by Sam Glines.
“Hacktivism is the new, hip thing; it has become a hobby for people with higher-than-average computer knowledge. The movement is led by an elite few who have a deep, lifelong knowledge of computers, and it includes senior Fortune 100 corporate executives and highly placed governmental employees, as well as the ranks of the unemployed.
The elite world of hacktivism is at the center of the Internet's Dark Side. While governmental agencies are looking for the individuals responsible for various acts of hacktivism, they struggle with using their tried-and-true methods to move up the food chain to identify hacktivist leaders. What is not well understood is that these layers cannot be penetrated by the standard law enforcement methods that were once effective in collapsing organized crime groups.
Hacktivism exists because the Internet is an open society that has no boundaries in which normal legal process can be applied without taking significant and draconian action, like direct control of the systems that keep the Internet alive. The traditional legal requirements for evidence are hampered by the very void in which the elites live. “
You might be anti-Semitic if . . .
If you judge a Jewish state by standards that you apply to no one else; if your neck veins bulge when you denounce Zionists but you’ve done no more than cluck “well, yes, very bad about Darfur”;
if there is nothing Hamas can do that you won’t blame ‘in the final analysis’ on Israelis;
if your sneer at the Zionists doesn’t sound a whole lot different from American neoconservative sneers at leftists;
then you should not be surprised if you are criticized, fiercely so, by people who are serious about a just peace between Israelis and Palestinians and who won’t let you get away with a self-exonerating formula—“I am anti-Zionist but not anti-Semitic”—to prevent scrutiny. If you are anti-Zionist and not anti-Semitic, then don’t use the categories, allusions, and smug hiss that are all too familiar to any student of prejudice.
Please read the entire article at Dissent—it’s from 2008, but not much has changed. http://dissentmagazine.org/article/?article=987
Americans stalking health
Today Americans will stalk the aisles of a natural foods store for the freshest and least contaminated produce, they will worry about power lines and microwave ovens, but will pour strange
chemicals and hormones into their own or their daughters' bodies in the name of either destroying an embryo before it implants or blocking the natural path of an egg.
As a former academic medical librarian well acquainted with the research and publication route of scientific literature, I can assure you NO ONE will ever receive a federal grant to investigate the increase in obesity, autism, allergies, depression, thyroid cancer and early stroke and heart attack in women since the 1960s rush to birth control pills--and if it has been investigated through non-governmental funding, it will never make it into peer-reviewed journals. The "reproductive health" industry is far more powerful and well funded than the tobacco lobby. And it has killed far more people--over 52 million.
If nothing else, researchers should at least be looking at our water supply with 41 million women taking extra hormones and chemicals that when they are excreted from the body, are flushed into our water supplies where they can’t be filtered out.
The increase in breast cancer caused by abortion and
contraception, however, is not denied, and the increase in abortions caused by the increased availability (vending machines, drug stores, Wal-Mart, etc.) of contraceptive hormones, chemicals and tools to insert in the body cavity or apply to the skin was again confirmed in 2011 in the journal Contraception.
Please watch this video--even if you don't buy the book,
you'll learn a lot. Librarians are 223:1 liberal to conservative, so I'm quite sure you won't find it in a public library.
http://www.ignatius.com/Products/AEAP-H/adam-and-eve-after-the-pill.aspx
Not everyone can pass secrets publicly like the President
“The Obama administration has told the Russian government that it is concerned about the harassment of U.S. Ambassador Michael McFaul, who suggested this week that his phone and e-mail account may have been hacked, allowing journalists from state-controlled television to track him.
McFaul, who took up his post in January, noted on his Twitter account that a crew from NTV seems to be aware of his every move, including meetings that have not been publicly announced.”
As noted in the Washington Post
Stats for the past week
Visits Total since 2003............... 450,514
Average per Day ................ 177
Average Visit Length .......... 2:15
This Week .................... 1,239
Page Views Total since 2003........... 660,500
Average per Day ................ 310
Average per Visit .............. 1.8
This Week .................... 2,172
That about sums it up
"So, in one week, Mr. Obama got caught whispering promises to our enemy, incited a race war, raised serious questions about his understanding of the Constitution, and then got smacked down over his proposed budget that was so wildly reckless that even Democrats in Congress could not support it."
Trying out Windows Live Writer
I’ve been having such a battle with the new(ish) template for my blog (long script, hesitation, etc.) I thought I’d try Live Writer (have no idea what it does).
Then I’ll add a recent photo (last Saturday), then I’ll hit publish.
Friday, March 30, 2012
Something I'd never thought of
"The next time that you wash dishes by hand, here's an experiment I'd like you to try. Stop up the sink over which you hot rinse the dishes, and then at the end of the wash cycle, measure how much water is in there. I'll bet it's more than you thought you were using, because when it runs down the drain, you don't see it. How many gallons did you end up with?
I'm suggesting this experiment because, unbelievably, newer, efficient dishwashers use as little as five gallons of water for the entire dishwasher load. On the other hand, says the American Water Works Association, when you wash dishes by hand, the average person uses 20 gallons of water. Now maybe this figure comes from those that leave the tap on as they're washing and aren't conservative with water the way you are. But I'll bet that it would be a challenge for you to hand wash an entire day's worth of dishes using five gallons only-for the dipping, washing and rinsing."
I wonder if the writer factored in the energy to build and create the dishwasher? But it's good to know the new ones are so efficient. Mine isn't very old (a Maytag), but it's a piece of junk and will soon need to be replaced.
Link to Recyclebank
I'm suggesting this experiment because, unbelievably, newer, efficient dishwashers use as little as five gallons of water for the entire dishwasher load. On the other hand, says the American Water Works Association, when you wash dishes by hand, the average person uses 20 gallons of water. Now maybe this figure comes from those that leave the tap on as they're washing and aren't conservative with water the way you are. But I'll bet that it would be a challenge for you to hand wash an entire day's worth of dishes using five gallons only-for the dipping, washing and rinsing."
I wonder if the writer factored in the energy to build and create the dishwasher? But it's good to know the new ones are so efficient. Mine isn't very old (a Maytag), but it's a piece of junk and will soon need to be replaced.
Link to Recyclebank
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