Video game violence—don’t buy it

"Many people, especially children, think that whatever they see in the media is real. If in the name of entertainment violence is glorified, anti-social behavior is approved of, and human sexuality is trivialized, this is a sin both of those in the media who are responsible and also of those supervisory authorities that ought to put a stop to it." (YOUCAT)

Sounds good, but who is supervising the adults sucked in by the same sin and supporting it financially? Look what hit the shelves and homes this week. Grand Theft Auto 5.

"Grand Theft Auto V," the latest installment in Rockstar Games' hit video game series, reaped an eye-popping $800 million in worldwide retail sales on its first day of release Tuesday, heading for $1 billion.

“ “For better or worse,” Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia wrote in the decision, “our society has long regarded many depictions of killing and maiming as suitable features of popular entertainment.” As such, Rockstar, the developer of Grand Theft Auto V, the latest entry in the long-running series, which was released today, could include a prolonged interactive depiction of torture without fear of censorship. Nevertheless, the “24”-esque scene, which requires players to rotate the game controller’s sticks in order to tug out the victim’s teeth with pliers, has inspired debate—not only over its artistic merit but also over whether such distressing interactions have any place in video games. “ (New Yorker)

Where in the world are the adults? How many more mentally ill shooters will be inspired?

        

Gluten free Halloween treats

I would never go to this much trouble, but isn’t it cute.

Is Obamacare because of costs or loss?

Outraged about cost of medical care? Don't be. It was 5% of consumer income in 1901 and is 6% today. And look at the change in life expectancy. What has increased is the amount of our income that goes to entertainment/reading: 3% in 1901 a...nd 7% in 2003. More than health care. Food costs have been reduced tremendously in percent of income. 40% on food down to 13%. The biggest increase has been in transportation. What I can't tell from the graph (because it is consumer income), is how much we contribute to these categories through our taxes--artificially low food prices because of agricultural support, and the various government health programs and research.

http://visualeconomics.creditloan.com/100-years-of-consumer-spending/

Obamacare isn't about insuring the poor or pre-existing coverage. The employer deduction and the employee tax free benefit amounts to a "loss" to the government that is twice that of the mortgage deduction loss. It's the biggest "loophole" in the system, and the way the government controls both business and labor through tax laws. Both Republicans and Democrats think that's their money--and they want us to pay up! That said, the money that employers use to purchase health insurance comes out of workers’ wages. We would all be better off if we were just allowed to purchase the insurance we want (without employer involvement) and health care were tax neutral, but that will never happen.

Who’s reckless now?

"Wrong and reckless leadership all over the map." No, Obama wasn't describing himself, but Gov. Romney who called Russia a "geo-political foe" just about a year ago.  Putin has since proved Romney right, and Obama recklessly wrong.  Romney reminded Obama that attacking him wasn't an agenda.  (Neither is attacking Bush or the GOP, but it seems to work for keeping his supporters.) And Romney went on to say he opposed direct U.S. military involvement in the efforts to topple Syrian President Bashir Assad, which at the time was also Obama's position (although we can't be sure).
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/10/22/neck-and-neck-at-end-obama-and-romney-seek-foreign-policy-edge-in-final/

Happy Birthday, U.S. Constitution

Somebody should check the spelling on posters.

Obama, Biden and Boehner sitting on their bottoms looking for a new idiom

While Obama opened his address by calling the victims of the mass shooting "patriots" and vowing to get to the bottom of what happened, he quickly pivoted to his remarks about congressional Republicans (on Sept. 16, day of the shooting).

Biden says he's confident the nation will get to the bottom of the situation. (Sept. 16, day of the shooting)

“We still do not know who did this or why. And people shouldn't jump to conclusions before we have all the facts. But make no mistake -- we will get to the bottom of this“ said Obama about the Boston Marathon bombings.   Then the bottom turned out to be 2 Muslim brothers who were planning terrorism, but the T-word was not used.

"I think our committees in the coming days and weeks are going to get to the bottom of this so we’ll have real facts at our disposal to determine whether it is true, and if it was true, why the information wasn’t shared,"  John Boehner

“If I had a son, he would look like Trayvon. “I think [Martin's parents] are right to expect that all of us as Americans are going to take this with the seriousness it deserves and were going to get to the bottom of exactly what happened.”  Then the bottom turned out to be a troubled teen who attacked Zimmerman first.

Obama: “We need to get to the bottom of Benghazi.” President Obama says he will “cooperate in any way that ...

"The Congress has the responsibility to get to the truth," said the [John Boehner] Ohio Republican, “whether it's Benghazi, the IRS scandal, the whole situation with The Associated Press, our committees are going to do their job to get to the bottom [of this]."

President Obama is pledging to work with Congress to get to the bottom of the IRS scandal. May 13, 2013  Follow up 3 months later finds no group targeted (41) by IRS had been contacted by investigators from DoJ  Aug. 13, 2013.

House Speaker John Boehner tells Newsmax that Congress will “get to the bottom” of the unfolding Fast and Furious scandal following new revelations about Attorney General Eric Holder’s involvement in the case.  Oct. 2011

Obama never said he would get to the bottom of the Ft. Hood shootings, probably because they knew who the murderer was.  But instead he warned the American people against “jumping to conclusions.” Terrorism was renamed “workplace violence.”

Tonight many families are suffering

Cardiovascular Benefits of olive oil

This is just part of an article on the benefits of olive oil that was in WHFoods website (the newsletter article was shorter, but couldn’t find it on the website).

“Many different cardiovascular problems—including gradual blocking of the arteries and blood vessels (called atherosclerosis)—have their origin in two unwanted circumstances. The first of these circumstances is called oxidative stress. Oxidative stress means too much damage (or risk of damage) from the presence of overly reactive oxygen-containing molecules. One of the best ways to help avoid oxidative stress is to consume a diet that is rich in antioxidant nutrients. The second of these circumstances is ongoing (chronic) and undesirable low-level inflammation. Undesirable and chronic inflammation can result from a variety of factors, including unbalanced metabolism, unbalanced lifestyle, unwanted exposure to environmental contaminants, and other factors. One of the best ways to help avoid chronic and unwanted inflammation is to consume a diet that is rich in anti-inflammatory nutrients. Any food that is rich in antioxidant and anti-inflammatory nutrients is a natural candidate for lowering our risk of heart problems, because it contains the exactly right combination of nutrients to lower our risk of oxidative stress and chronic, unwanted inflammation. Many foods contain valuable amounts of antioxidants and anti-inflammatory compounds, but few foods are as rich in these compounds as extra virgin olive oil, and this fact alone accounts for many of the research-based benefits of this culinary oil for health of our cardiovascular system.

In terms of antioxidant protection for our blood vessels, olive oil has been shown to lower risk of lipid peroxidation (oxygen damage to fat) in our bloodstream. Many of the fat-containing molecules in our blood—including molecules like LDL—need to be protected from oxygen damage. Oxygen damage to molecules like LDL significantly increases our risk of numerous cardiovascular diseases, including atherosclerosis. Protection of the LDL molecules in our blood from oxygen damage is a major benefit provided by olive oil and its polyphenols. Equally important is protection against oxygen damage to the cells that line our blood vessels. Once again, it's the polyphenols in olive oil that have been shown to provide us with that protection.

One process we don't want to see in our blood vessels is too much clumping together of blood cells called platelets. While we want to see blood platelets clump together under circumstances like an open wound, where their clumping together acts to seal off the wound, we don't want this process to occur in an ongoing way when there is no acute emergency. Several of the polyphenols found in olive oil—including hydroxytyrosol, oleuropein and luteolin—appear to be especially helpful in keeping our blood platelets in check and avoiding problems of too much clumping (called platelet aggregation). There are also two messaging molecules (called plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 and factor VII) that are capable of triggering too much clumping together of the platelets, and the polyphenols in olive oil can help stop overproduction of these molecules.

Olive oil is one of the few widely used culinary oils that contains about 75% of its fat in the form of oleic acid (a monounsaturated, omega-9 fatty acid). Research has long been clear about the benefits of oleic acid for proper balance of total cholesterol, LDL cholesterol, and HDL cholesterol in the body. When diets low in monounsaturated are made high in monounsaturated fat (by replacing other oils with olive oil), research study participants tend to experience a significant decrease in their total blood cholesterol, LDL cholesterol, and LDL:HDL ratio. Those are exactly the results we want for heart health. In addition to these cholesterol-balancing effects of olive oil and its high oleic acid content, however, comes a new twist: recent research studies have shown that olive oil and its oleic acid may be important factors for lowering blood pressure. Researchers believe that the plentiful amount of oleic acid in olive oil gets absorbed into the body, finds its way into cell membranes, changes signaling patterns at a cell membrane level (specifically, altering G-protein associated cascades) and thereby lowers blood pressure.

Interestingly, a recent laboratory animal study adds one note of caution for anyone wanting to bring the unique cardiovascular benefits of olive oil into their diet. This study found that cardiovascular benefits from olive oil and its polyphenols were not realized when the laboratory animals consumed too many calories and too much total food. This result suggests that olive oil—outstanding as it is in polyphenol protection of our cardiovascular system—needs to be integrated into an overall healthy diet in order to provide its expected benefits.”

For anyone seeking the truth about the Tea Party—guest blogger Kay

As a supporter of the Sauk Valley Tea Party [Illinois], I know the liberal media has steered you wrong. The majority of the active members are people like you, retired and concerned about the future of the country. Our group focuses on education and we have people like Congressmen Manzullo, Schilling, radio hosts like Dan Proft, local leaders like the owner of Jimmy Johns in Dixon, representatives from a state-wide organization to point out facts of Common Core Curriculum.

The nation-wide Tea Party is comprised of people of all races, ages, and ethnic backgrounds. (And I'm quoting this from a statistic of a few yours ago.) I protested Pelosi Care in D.C., when it was staged to be voted by the Democratically controlled house. The "tea party" people at that protest included families with young children, all ages and races and even Democrats. Anyway, the point is: I was next to the security and as the security guards shifted around, their number one comment was: This group is the best group. . . never any problems occur with the Tea Party people, they are well organized and very respectful.

I hope you find peace with yourself in your quest for the truth.

Monday Memories—Caribou Coffee

For many years I had my morning coffee at Caribou on Lane Ave., and then would walk indoors at the Lane Avenue shopping center, then head for work at the Sisson Hall Veterinary Medicine Library. Now all are gone. Caribou has become Peet's, the enclosed mall disappeared—well, it was remodeled but now you have to walk outside, and the veterinary medicine library was torn down.

Ohio State fan on game day in Caribou on Lane Avenue, Oct. 2007

"Going out" for coffee is something I've done for about 60 years--starting probably when I worked the counter at Zickuhr's Pharmcy in my home town, Mt. Morris, Illinois. That's when it was $.10 a cup and I'd get a dime tip (or even a quarter occasionally) and all the town's gossip for free. It is still a social event, at least for me. No matter what McDonald's or Caribou or Cup 'o Joe's I enter, I see a group of regulars solving the day's problems. That's why I have a special blog about coffee shops. So you see, I've been on the other side of the counter too.

Friday Family Photo—the Ford Explorer

In the fall of 1999 we bought a 2000 2 dr. Ford Explorer, forest green, shift, good gas mileage.  It has been a great car and still looks good. There was a recall on the original tires very early, so we're still on those replacements after 14 years. The bumper got bumped about 5 years ago and developed some rust, so we had that replaced.  Because it's basically a truck, it's not comfortable for my back when I’m a passenger, but the step ladder fits in the back, so we keep it for the art shows and our kids hauling things. This week our daughter borrowed it while her husband was in Cleveland with their car, so we had to make some adjustments in our schedule.  We could probably manage with 1 car, but this is just too convenient and useful. (This is not our Explorer in the photo—it’s pulling a boat.)

Why you can’t reason with ignorance

I contribute to Huffington Post political FB page. I don’t call people names, slander the president or make biased statements.  I just contribute sourced statements.  Like this one about why the food stamp program is expanding as unemployment drops and so mean old Republicans want poor people to starve by cutting back. All you have to do is check a reasonable source like the USDA or a non-profit that works with the poor—left or right—and you see that recruiting of low income people was expanded with ARRA money--the money that was going to get people back to work in 2009 was used in part to add more people to SNAP (the new name for food stamps).  I even pointed out that the N in SNAP stands for nutrition, and that EBT cards can be used at fast food restaurants.  For that easily researched information I was told I was stupid and uninformed.  My posts are always researched and reasonable, and the left calls me a troll, stupid, tea bagger, racist, homophobe, etc.  That’s the level of political discourse.

Just say no, Doctor.

I've often wondered about this--why do pharmaceutical companies advertise to us, the consumer, as if we know what the doctor needs to prescribe.  It seems it's not that old.  Claritin was the first in 1997, according to the University of Illinois LAS newsletter (May 2013).

http://www.las.illinois.edu/news/2013/rosenberg/

Worked as planned

Divots on the golf course and pivots on the economy

"Because Obama speaks with such authority, it often takes several repetitions before I realize that what he’s saying is total nonsense." Caroline Baum, Bloomberg, on his "growing the economy" meme, A User’s Guide to Obama’s Inside-Out Economics, Aug. 7, 2013

He's pivoted again; it's back to the economy. The rich have recovered; the low income not so much. Five years and Obama can't fix it. The recession has been over since June 2009. Truman had a recession, Eisenhower had several, Nixon got a recession, so did Carter, so did Reagan, so did both Bushes, and all were brief and the economy quickly recovered. But then, they didn't try to take over health care and pay back and bail out unions and bankers. You have to go all the way back to FDR's mishandling of the Depression in the 30s, extending it a decade, to find a record this poor.

          

NSA snoops

Fourteen NSA documents were declassified on Tuesday in response to a May 2011 ACLU lawsuit. The documents were made public under the Freedom of Information Act and related to the government's interpretation of Section 215 of the Patriot Act, which ambiguously grants the FBI permission to obtain "any tangible things" without evidence or probable cause for the sake of national security.

ACLU National Security Project staff attorney Alex Abdo: "These documents show that the NSA repeatedly violated court-imposed limits on its surveillance powers, and they confirm that the agency simply cannot be trusted with such sweeping authority."

Conservatives underestimate Obama and his support

Although I enjoy reading American Thinker, this writer, J.R. Dunn is underestimating Obama. Conservatives seem to be in an echo chamber listening only to themselves. Obama's supporters still love him and think all these detriments Dunn cites are positives. They don't even see the worsening race relations, or blame them on those who oppose him. The wealthier are getting richer after a few tough years, and the poorer are losing ground--they don't care.

From J.R. Dunn in American Thinker:
"Obama is less lucky than FDR, less competent than Jimmy Carter, and less flexible than Bill Clinton. With Obama, all the failures of liberalism are coming to a head. He has put more liberal policies into effect in a shorter period than any other president, but thanks to his unique combination of ineptness, ignorance, inexperience, and arrogance, every last one of them is doomed. All of them are failing as we watch. His economic policies have repeated the failures of FDR's New Deal, with worse to come. His health care "reform" is in a state of collapse before it has even started. His stewardship of race relations has returned the country to a state of nearly open hostility and panic not seen since 1968. His Hallmark card foreign policy has killed tens of thousands overseas and will almost inevitably lead to the deaths of millions, as did the policies of Jimmy Carter in countries as unrelated as Nicaragua, Iran, Ethiopia, and Cambodia."

Defund Obamacare; don’t try to fix it

I called Steve Stivers, my representative, talked to a real person and after giving her my name told her, "Please tell Mr. Stivers I want him to vote for defunding Obamacare." She asked my address and thanked me for calling. To sweeten the deal for Congress and staff to get their support, Obama will give them a $4,500 subsidy for individuals and $10,000 for family coverage to help pay the cost of their Obamacare exchange. In the rest of the country, you lose assistance after an income of about $46,000 (Source: WSJ, August 8, 2013; Affordable Care Act) A number of companies and unions have been exempt, but HHS still mandates Christians will pay for abortifacients and birth control, and we all know that's just the nose of the camel in the tent.

Meanwhile according to today’s Washington Post, the U.S. continues to supply rebel forces, some of which are al-qaeda, in Syria despite our protests. And if we could ever get the media to do investigative journalism, we might find out what happened to all the arms we lost in Libya (Benghazi).

The CIA shipments are to flow through a network of clandestine bases in Turkey and Jordan that were expanded over the past year as the agency sought to help Middle Eastern allies, including Saudi Arabia and Qatar, direct weapons to moderate Syrian rebel forces.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/cia-begins-weapons-delivery-to-syrian-rebels/2013/09/11/9fcf2ed8-1b0c-11e3-a628-7e6dde8f889d_story.html

JAMA’s new cover design

I hate it.  Now I can never tell which issue I’ve read.  I loved their covers and always looked forward to reading the details. Yes, it’s still inside, but it’s lost its purpose.

“The cover art made JAMA a beacon for humanism that shouted out its presence in a sea of technological advancement, and reminded us that medicine is closely intertwined with people and culture. In marketing terms, the revised cover represents rebranding not only of JAMA but perhaps of the medical profession itself. The change comes at a time when medicine sorely needs a touch of humanism, and rather than taking art away we need more of it.” http://www.jeffreymlevinemd.com/jama-redesign-removes-cover-art/

Syria Time Line for White House