The growing threat in Syria

Assad's thugs vs. jihadi thugs (of various bands). A monster against demons and devils. What we do know for sure is Obama will not make a decision. He's had more Americans killed in Afghanistan in 4 years than Bush in 8 just from his waffling in 2009. I don't want more Americans to die for these people's civil wars and idiotic beliefs. Let the Arabs go in and help. Let them find there are no WMD.

The great [sic] Thomas Friedman in 2003 recommended for the 40 year dictatorship in Syria: “if President Bush really wants to achieve his objectives in Iraq, he may have to sup a little with Yasir Arafat, the Iranian leader Ali Khamenei and Syria's president, Bashar al-Assad.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2003/10/09/opinion/long-spoon-diplomacy.html?ref=basharalassad

Buttermilk bacon pralines

I haven’t tried this recipe, but it certainly sounds yummy.

Ingredients

1 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup packed light brown sugar

1/2 cup buttermilk

1 tablespoon light corn syrup

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon coarse salt

4 tablespoons butter

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup chopped pecans

1/2 teaspoon orange zest

4 slices bacon, cooked crisp and crumbled

Directions

1. In a heavy deep saucepan, combine the sugars, the buttermilk, corn syrup, baking soda and salt. Cook slowly over medium heat for about 20 minutes, until the mixture reaches 235 on a candy thermometer.

2. Remove from heat and add butter, vanilla, pecans, orange zest and bacon and beat with a wooden spoon until creamy. Be very careful - this stuff is HOT.

3. Drop by teaspoonsful onto a silicone mat or buttered parchment paper. Let stand for 30 minutes or until cool and firm.

http://www.framedcooks.com/2011/06/buttermilk-bacon-pralines.html

Architects and Engineers may be losing money through inefficiency

June Jewell, a CPA and owner of Acuity Business Solutions consulting, says the architectural, engineering and environmental firms she works for easily lose $100,000 each year through inefficient and ineffective practices.

“Of course, sometimes the waste is much, much more – and this goes for larger and smaller businesses,” says Jewell, author of “Find the Lost Dollars: 6 Steps to Increase Profits in Architecture, Engineering, and Environmental Firms,” (www.FindTheLostDollars.com). “The problems are usually so fundamental to a business that they will never see why and how they’re bleeding money; they’re too close.”

There are several nooks and crannies in which firms are apt to lack efficiency. Jewell reviews three general areas where most of these firms can turn unnecessary losses to gains:

• Company culture: While the culture may vary somewhat from one firm to another, architectural, engineering and environmental firms share some of the same characteristics. One is that their founders tend to go into business because they’re creative people who love what they do -- not because they’re business people. So they don’t focus on profits, and they tend to be casual managers with regard to employees’ time. Shifting the culture to a focus of being profitable is not only necessary for sustaining the business; it allows creative people to do more of what they love.

• Ineffective practices: Of course, there are many moving parts in an A&E firm, which means there are many potential areas for improvement. That includes customer service, time management, marketing, strategic planning, accurate budgets and estimates, and the cost of lost opportunities. Failure to create an accurate, meticulous job estimate, for instance, can have multiple consequences, from having disappointed clients to jeopardize projects to losing money because time, materials and other costs were not accurately forecast.

• Systems & IT: This is the third way to improve business management and increase profits. Technology is able to help companies leverage their resources more effectively, yet many of them are still using outdated software and non-integrated systems. By looking at systems as a strategic investment that can help them to be more competitive, they can realize a great return on investment (ROI) from their projects. While the transition from old to new software has its cost in time and work, the efficiency gained in future work production is worth it.

“I’ve worked with hundreds of A&E firms in my 28 years of consulting, and I see these shared problems so often, I offer what I call ‘the $100K Challenge,’ ’’ Jewell says. “That’s a guarantee that I can work with any business that’s doing a few million dollars a year in business and find $100,000 they’re losing in profits.”

In this post-recession economy, she says, it’s vital for firms to tune up their business management practices in order to thrive.

June R. Jewell is a CPA and CEO of Acuity Business Solutions and has written a book, Find the Lost Dollars.  Ginny Grimsley of News  and Experts supplied the article.

Media are criminally silent

Conventional wisdom isn’t too wise—by Harris R. Sherline

• Terrorism is best addressed by U.S. disarmament, negotiation, law enforcement and foreign aid.
• Nick Berg’s death was the fault of the American military.
• Abu Ghraib is an indictment of American culture.
• The Israelis are the real villains in the Middle East.
• People in other countries hate us for good reason.
• Islam is a religion of peace.
• Truth is relative and facts are not reliable.
• Columbine was the fault of the military industrial complex and the NRA.
• Racism is a Republican pastime.
• Most of the problems in the world can be laid at the doorstep of white American males.
• Hollywood is enlightened.
• Violence begets violence, except on TV and in movies and contemporary music.
• We invaded Iraq primarily to secure access to oil.
• It is criminal to expect people to work, earn a living, take care of their families and take responsibility for their own actions.
• Capitalism is obviously inferior to socialism.
• The American Republic is a failed democracy.
• 9/11 was something America deserved for her crimes against the third world.
• The U.N. will save us.
• Europeans are smarter and more sophisticated than Americans.
• President Bush, Dick Cheney, Don Rumsfeld, Condolezza Rice and Colin Powell are all liars.
• The earth is warming so we need to shut down industry and ride bicycles.
• The spotted owl is more important than jobs and wood products for home building and thousands of other products.
• Castro is just trying to do the right thing. If he has done anything wrong, it’s America’s fault.
• The killing fields in Cambodia were America’s fault.
• Sudan is America’s fault.
• The Israelis are squatters. They created a Palestinian ghetto.
• We should try to understand Hamas and Hezbollah because after all they are simply trying to free the faultless Palestinians.
• Americans are the bad guys.
• Christians are bigots.
• Radical Muslims are just different.
• The real reason for the Patriot Act is to erode our civil rights so the Republicans can take over.
• Republicans manipulate election results by electronically manipulating polling places.
• There is a vast right wing conspiracy to rule the world.
• Rwanda was just a misunderstanding, a lack of information, and confusion about the definition of “genocide.”
• Hillary Clinton would make a great president, because, well…just because, and she’s a woman.
• Tax cuts are only for the wealthy.
• Criminals just need more understanding.
• Entitlement programs emerging out of Johnson’s Great Society will solve the poverty problem.
• Who needs God when we have our own brains to rely upon!
• Public education should be in the exclusive hands of the NEA because they have master’s degrees.
• Everything is relative.
• Truth is an illusion.
• If you’re wealthy, you’re a pirate.
• There is no such thing as evil, except making a profit in business.
• Vietnam was Nixon’s war.
• God is a crutch manufactured by the intellectually lame.
• People in the Third World are always right so long as they oppose America.
• Tolerance is paramount, but it’s rational to be intolerant of conservatives and Christians because they’re either nuts or selfish or both.
• Diversity is to be celebrated as long as you agree with us.
• If you disagree with leftist philosophies you are an uneducated moron.
• This item appeared at American Daughter Media Center, July 13, 2011.  Harris was 85 in 2008, so I’m hoping he’s still writing, because there’s a lot of knowledge about conventional wisdom there.

Thank you Planned Parenthood, God bless You

You will never catch me fishing, but. . .

I thought this was a great photo.

The police have a lot more fire power than the citizens

This is what the Boston police had to track down 2 guys who maimed and killed with ordinary kitchen cooking tools.  They finally lifted the ban and a man went outside to smoke and found one of the brothers in his boat.  It is shocking that 2 terrorists managed to shut down a whole city and several suburbs and all we had was unarmed citizens (strict gun laws in Mass.) and police with tanks and machine guns.  Scary. I’m sure this has sent a message all over the world.

A Twelve minute speech

Cancers caused by CT scans?

My cousin includes little snippets of medical information in her weekly news to friends and relatives. This keeps my library skills sharp because sometimes I look at the original source—if not the source she quotes, which is usually for lay people, then the cited research. After so many years in a medical library, I just like that stuff.   So when I saw

“According to April 2013 “Health Alert”: CT scans=800 chest x-rays. Nuclear scans=2000 chest x-rays. Medicine causes 30,000 cancers annually. Drugs, medical procedures, surgeries and scans are the #1 cause of death in America every year.”

I decided to look it up.   Health Alert which may have cited the sources is a fairly common title, so I skipped that.   I haven’t found all of it, but I found several articles referring to a 2007 study, then found this editorial about CT scans in Arch Intern Med. 2009;169(22):2049-2050, which is a little easier to read than the research and provides some information on how the study on CT scans was done:

Although if they were using Medicare claims data, those patients mostly likely won’t be around in 20-30 years given that the reason they were having a CT scan in the first place might have put them at some sort of health risk.  Also, it would be interesting (and I might look) to see how common CT scans are for younger people who are much healthier than the over 65 demographic.   That said, Dr. Redberg’s advice about being cautious should be noted.

The other study by Bindman [free] noted in Archives reports  a patient could get as much radiation from one CT scan as 74 mammograms or 442 chest X-rays.  That’s less than cited in Health Alert, but still way more than one would expect.  You would certainly want to weigh the benefits of so much radiation. Bindman also noted that CTs used to be recommended only for the very sick, and are now often used for people who are basically healthy and therefore exposing them to a lot of risk.

http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/health/2009-12-15-radiation15_st_N.htm

http://www.prevention.com/health/healthy-living/can-ct-scans-give-you-cancer

http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/779527

Obama’s slobbering love letter to Planned Parenthood

From Bookworm Room

As long as we’ve got to fight to make sure women have access to quality, affordable health care, and as long as we’ve got to fight to protect a woman’s right to make her own choices about her own health, I want you to know that you’ve also got a president who’s going to be right there with you, fighting every step of the way. Thank you, Planned Parenthood. God bless you.

And no Mr. President, this isn’t the 1950s and we’re not going back there.

The real Obama—second panel

God bless you, (Planned Parenthood) Obama said

Adrienne Ross, a black elementary school teacher writes on her Facebook page, “How Christians support President Obama is beyond me. Totally beyond me. And the moment I understand it, please pray (and slap) me back to truth. Pray for him? Absolutely--and I do. But supporting him would require overlooking his radical encouragement of infanticide and abortion (not to mention his other faulty philosophies), and how could I possibly?”

FreedomWorks

Sign the petition.

http://www.freedomworks.org/

Why we need to continue praying

for those who work in the abortion industry. Former Planned Parenthood worker, Abby Johnson comments:

Four years ago, I sat at the head table of Planned Parenthood's annual gala. I sat there so proud of myself sitting next to Hillary Clinton and relishing in my "Employee Of the Year" award. I look back on that day and realize how lucky I am. I am so thankful for my family who never turned their backs on me. I am so thankful for a God who kept waiting on me to turn back to Him. I am thankful that He makes all things new. I am so thankful for those loving prolifers who prayed for me every day for eight years. And I am so thankful for all of you. Thank you for your prayers and loving me through this journey.

I'm praying for Diana to leave the abortion industry.

Thoughts on today’s library dedication

Former President George W. Bush closed his remarks at the opening of his Presidential Library with these important words (in the presence of President Obama). He choked up on the final sentence (as I do, too, with more hope than conviction!).

"In democracy, the purpose of public office is not to fulfill personal ambition. Elected officials must serve a cause greater than themselves.

"The political winds blow left and right, polls rise and fall, supporters come and go. But in the end leaders are defined by the convictions that they hold."

"I will always believe that our nation's best days lie ahead."

Janice Shaw Crouse

Will Congress and aides get an exemption?

Congressional leaders in both parties are engaged in high-level, confidential talks about exempting lawmakers and Capitol Hill aides from the insurance exchanges they are mandated to join as part of President Barack Obama’s health care overhaul, sources in both parties said.

The talks — which involve Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio), the Obama administration and other top lawmakers — are extraordinarily sensitive, with both sides acutely aware of the potential for political fallout from giving carve-outs from the hugely controversial law to 535 lawmakers and thousands of their aides. Discussions have stretched out for months, sources said.

Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2013/04/obamacare-exemption-lawmakers-aides-90610.html#ixzz2RVQpLPoA

President Obama’s red line

Deadly gas in Syria? Let's not fall for this one again. Let's stay out of Muslim wars. They don't like us. It's their sandbox. Their religion. Their culture. We have nothing to offer them.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/apr/23/chemical-weapons-red-line-obama

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2013/04/25/chuck-hagel-evidence-that-syria-has-used-chemical-weapons/

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2191303/Obama-threatens-Syria-U-S-military-action-Assad-regime-crosses-RED-LINE-using-chemical-weapons.html

Obama has already expanded the wars in the middle east and he hasn’t resolved the ones we’re in.  He’s lost more military in Afghanistan in 4 years than Bush did in 8, probably because of the dawdling and diddling he did in 2009.  This is not a man you want to follow into war. He hates the military, and has never been a soldier. Bad. Bad.

Interview with the Bush women April 25, 2013

Enjoyed seeing them on NBC this morning.  Barbara Bush is as outspoken as ever.  Not a single thing she misses about Washington, she said.  Also on Jeb running for president? “There are other people out there that are very qualified and we’ve had enough Bushes.”  Baby Mila isn’t at the library opening, although 5 presidents are.

The link between autism and oral contraceptives

Birth control came around the same time that autism was diagnosed at around 1 in 10,000 and now, with widespread birth control use, the number of autism cases has skyrocketed. Is there a connection? I certainly think so--and it's in every flush that goes through the water system, so everyone gets it in combination with all the hormones in our food.

http://www.examiner.com/article/autism-and-birth-control-pills-what-is-the-connection

Oral contraceptives are a huge money maker for the pharmaceutical industry, and a huge political football for this president.  I doubt we will ever see large government grants to study the relationship.

http://articles.washingtonpost.com/2013-02-04/opinions/36743431_1_contraceptive-coverage-religious-liberty-religious-employers

http://www.takepart.com/article/2013/04/11/will-obamacare-get-you-free-birth-control