Hoover Opening June 21 was a huge hit

June 21 was a fabulous day at Lakeside where we spend the summer.  The weather couldn’t have been better. There was a great car show on the lawn of the hotel (love those mid-50s models) during the day which we strolled through after dinner.

The evening program at Hoover Auditorium was fiddler Natalie MacMaster with her husband Donnel Leahy with a cute as a bug performance by 4 of their 6 children.  She grew up on Cape Breton Island Nova Scotia had plays traditional Celtic music and American blue grass and provides step dancing (quite a feat since I think the youngest child is about 9 weeks old).  The couple were married in 2002.  Each had careers in the “fiddling” industry—he plays with the Leahys ( 8 of 11 brothers and sisters who perform together)  and she usually is with her own group.  But they were fabulous together.  His leg was in a cast, but he scooted around the stage on a chair. The pianist also danced, and there was a bass guitarist, and guitarist from Scotland who also played accordion.

I’ve rarely seen a performance with so much energy, yet a casual, at home flavor.  And they gave us  90+ minutes and brought down the house with some funny stories and a smashing medley to say thanks and good-bye. 

I don’t know if she really cooks (6 children and a musical career?  I wouldn’t), but she does have a recipe collection on her web site.  Wish I’d had this one last week when I was looking for ways to use up the carrots. Agnes’ Carrot Casserole.

People over 60 can have thyroid problems, too

A Harvard Medical School report says that for people over 60, symptoms of hypothyroidism can be more confusing. Any of the following health issues in a person over 60, alone or in combination, could mean an underlying thyroid problem.

• Unexplained high cholesterol. High cholesterol is sometimes the only evidence of an underactive thyroid in an older person. Because this may be the only symptom, a high cholesterol level warrants a thyroid evaluation.
• Heart failure. Some of the effects of low thyroid hormone levels — for example, reduced blood volume, weaker contractions of the heart muscle, and a slower heart rate — may contribute to heart failure. (Heart failure describes a condition in which the heart doesn’t pump blood effectively to the muscles and organs of the body.) Symptoms of heart failure include breathlessness, swelling in the ankles, weakness, and fatigue.
• Bowel movement changes. An older person with hypothyroidism might have constipation because of decreased movement of stool through the bowels. Less often, an older person will have frequent bouts of diarrhea, which is more typically a symptom of an overactive thyroid. Persistent or severe diarrhea in an older person always warrants a call to the doctor.
• Joint or muscle pain. Vague joint pain is a classic symptom of hypothyroidism. It sometimes is the only symptom of hypothyroidism in an older patient, although many experience an overall muscular aching, particularly in large muscle groups.
• Mental health concerns. As with younger people, depression is common among older people with an underactive thyroid. The difference is that in older people, it can be the only symptom. An older person could also develop other psychiatric symptoms, including delusions or hallucinations.
• Dementia. Debilitating memory loss — often, but not always, accompanied by depression or some kind of psychosis — can also occur as the only symptom of hypothyroidism. If you or a loved one is being evaluated for dementia, be sure that thyroid tests are part of the workup.
• Problems with balance. Abnormalities in the cerebellum at the back of the brain that occur with an underactive thyroid may lead to walking problems in older people.

If you’d like to read the entire report, they would like to sell it to you.

The man who was never there

Remember, he voted "present" when he was in Congress; the first presidential term was all Bush's fault; then the American people just didn't understand his programs that were failing; now it's the Iraqis to blame for his short sightedness.

 http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/wp/2014/06/19/president-obama-took-credit-in-2012-for-withdrawing-all-troops-from-iraq-today-he-said-something-different/

For Obama, who four years earlier had distinguished himself from Democratic rival Hillary Rodham Clinton through his opposition to the war in Iraq, the fact he had withdrawn all U.S. forces from the country was a problem solved and a political chip to be cashed in come November.

It was also a way to once again draw contrasts with Romney, who criticized Obama for failing to secure a so-called status of forces agreement with the Iraqi government. The agreement would have granted immunity from Iraqi prosecution to all U.S. troops in country after 2011. Reaching such a deal -- a political risk for Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki -- would have allowed a contingent of several thousand U.S. troops to remain, largely to help with training and specific counter-terrorism operations.

Remember when liars had some class?

In light of today's transparent liars in the IRS, this almost seems old fashioned and sweet. I came across National Security Advisor Sandy Berger's name on the list of important people in the Clinton administration who believed Saddam Hussein had WMD. Remember him? He's the guy who stole documents from the National Archives several different times in 2003 [and put them in his socks, some said] and then said it was inadvertent. The documents he stole and shredded contained information that the Clinton administration knew in 2000 about the planned terrorist attacks. Then he went to John Kerry's staff in 2004. His new job is taking care of the IRS computers (just kidding).

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A16706-2005Mar31.html

http://www.foxnews.com/story/2007/03/30/fox-news-special-report-socks-scissors-paper-sandy-berger-caper-questions-probe/

How we got to this mess—symbolism instead of substance

Life tips

Politicians who abandoned their post and walked away

"Given" . . . that the Democrats would later accuse Bush of lying about [Iraq's possession weapons of mass destruction], here is a (partial) list of Democrats who had previously joined in the consensus: Bill Clinton; his Vice President Al Gore; his Secretary of State Madeleine Albright; his Secretary of Defense William Cohen; and his National Security Adviser Sandy Berger. In the Senate, there were Teddy Kennedy, Harry Reid, John Kerry, Hillary Clinton, Carl Levin, Tom Daschle, John Edwards, Jay Rockefeller, Robert Byrd, and Bob Graham–not to mention Nancy Pelosi, among scores of others, in the House, as well as liberal papers like the New York Times and the Washington Post. Each and every one of them saw Saddam Hussein as a threat, and they all advocated taking action against him.”  Norman Podhoretz

New figures from the VA—still scandalous

“Acting Secretary of Veterans Affairs Sloan D. Gibson announced that VA has now contacted approximately 70,000 Veterans across the country to get them off of wait lists and into clinics for medical appointments. Gibson also announced the release of the latest updated, facility-level patient access data, which demonstrates that the number of appointments has increased by almost 200,000 from May 15 to June 1.”

http://www.va.gov/opa/pressrel/pressrelease.cfm?id=2561

College rape statistics

George Will is being hammered for his column on the phony rape statistics that would make the average American college campus worse than any major city controlled by Democrats and drug gangs at midnight, or any third world country known to be unsafe for women. In 2011 there were just 36.8 rapes per 100,000 residents of Detroit, a city with one of the worst violent crime rates in America. That’s a rate of 0.037 percent. Let's say it's under reported 10 times--you still don't get anything close to 20%. One in five is just not realistic, but that figure circulates about every 5 years when feminists are feeling ignored, or someone wants more grant money. 

Will is never one to hold back, but he's really stepped in it now, because Democrats need an issue to cover the cover-ups.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/george-will-college-become-the-victims-of-progressivism/2014/06/06/e90e73b4-eb50-11e3-9f5c-9075d5508f0a_story.html

http://www.sdjewishworld.com/2014/06/12/blumenthal-feinstein-dismayed-george-will-column-sexual-assaults-campus/

http://www.nationalreview.com/article/377492/obama-administrations-deserving-victims-heather-mac-donald/page/0/1

And women think this message by Heather MacDonald is “blame the victim,” when in fact it is common sense.

“The alleged campus-rape epidemic could be stopped overnight if women’s advocates sent a simple message to girls: Don’t get drunk and get into bed with a guy whom you barely know. Keep your clothes on and go home to your own bed at night. And most controversially: Demand that any boy court you long enough to reveal his character and his respect for yours before you even think about having sex with him. The feminist advocates are more interested in preserving the principle of male fault, however, than in protecting females from regretted sex. And so rather than sending an unequivocal message of personal empowerment and responsibility, they put the entire onus of sexual responsibility on males, treating females as the invariably helpless victims of the male libido.”

Gay sex and syphilis

After being on the verge of elimination in 2000 in the United States, syphilis cases have rebounded. Rates of primary and secondary syphilis continued to increase overall during 2005–2013; although rates stabilized during 2009–2010, rates have increased since 2011. Increases have occurred primarily among men, and particularly among MSM [men who have sex with men], who contributed the vast majority of male primary and secondary syphilis cases during 2009–2012.

http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm6318a4.htm?s_cid=mm6318a4_w

Ten, twenty, thirty and forty years of presidential popularity polls

An interesting look back through the polls. 10 years ago, Americans were clearly disenchanted with the Iraq War (supported by both parties originally) and GW Bush's approval was at 49%; 20 years ago, Americans were unhappy that Hillary had tried to take over healthcare, and President Clinton with approval ratings close to Obama's now signed the toughest anti-crime bill which probably accounts in part for a 20 year drop in gun violence; 30 years ago the U.S. was recovering from a recession and unemployment was still a major concern, and Reagan's approval rating was recovering at 55% but had been as low as 35%; 40 years ago Nixon resigned because of a cover up of a scandal (just one!) and his approval rating had been as low as 24%, which was still higher than Harry Truman's in the early 1950s. (Gallup.com June 6, 2014)

Health of the mother exceptions

Abby Johnson, a former employee of Planned Parenthood, says, “If a bill includes a "health of the mother" exception, it should be thrown out immediately. "Health of the mother" exceptions give permission to abort for ANY reason. Examples of "health of the mother" exceptions used in abortion clinics to abort babies past 20 weeks:

I've had headaches during this pregnancy.
I have really bad heartburn.
I vomit sometimes because I'm pregnant. ...
I feel stressed about being a mom.
I've gained a lot of weight during this pregnancy.
I have incontinence issues because I'm pregnant.
I have a lot of back pain.
My ankles keep swelling.”

 

40 years ago, the Democrats made the same mistake

Obama and his advisors and supporters in Congress did the same thing to the Iraq agreement set up by the Bush administration with forces to stay and protect after 2011 (revised by Obama to so small a force that the Iraqis rejected it) that the Democrats did to the Paris Peace Accord in Vietnam (wouldn't provide funds to protect after our troop withdrawal). Same result. http://hnn.us/article/31400

He can't blame Bush for this: "Since 2010, there has been a 58 percent increase in the number of jihadist groups, a doubling of jihadist fighters and a tripling of attacks by al Qaeda affiliates. The most significant threat to the United States, the [RAND Corporation] report concludes, comes from terrorist groups operating in Yemen, Syria, Afghanistan and Pakistan." http://www.rand.org/news/press/2014/06/04.html

http://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RR637.html

Sorting baby clothes—it’s been a long time

One of the amazing things about working at the pregnancy center is discovering the absolute devotion of people working to save the lives of babies. Today I sorted donated baby clothes (to be given to new mothers). Not my usual job since I do clerical work. Size tiny 0-3 months. Itsy bitsy Onesies and booties and cute little towels and bibs. I forgot how tiny a newborn is--and I'm sobered to think that just a month or two earlier, about half the country thinks it's OK to take their lives.

Pray for Sam

A young Christian ministry assistant in Latin America purchased cement which he thought was legal (all cement is controlled by the government). After it arrived at the seminary a woman in the community became very upset because she had been waiting TWO YEARS for cement. She called the National Guard. At first they said there was no problem but as things escalated they changed their minds and decided Sam had purchased contraband and took him to jail. In Latin America you are guilty until proven innocent, so he has to remain there while they conduct their investigation. Your prayers are greatly appreciated.  Even if you don’t know the circumstances, God knows.

Can the government steal a trademark?

So the government can just take away a patent or trademark because Harry Reid says so? "Redskins" wasn't offensive to 90% of native Americans who were surveyed, in fact, some of their high schools use that mascot name. What's next? Indian...a? Indianapolis, Starbucks, Chicago (shikaakwa, wild onion), Illinois (Illini) Chautauqua, Miami, Peoria, squaw (means woman in many tribal languages), Erie (the nation of Cat), and thousands of other loan words to English from native American culture. Native Americans were battling each other long before the Europeans arrived, had probably wiped out the indigenous people here before them, and now their reward for being revered for their bravery and sacrifices is cradle to grave hobbling by our federal government with the "honor" of being sovereign nations living in poverty (unless they own a casino to rot their souls).

http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/us-patent-office-cancels-redskins-trademark-registration-says-name-is-disparaging/2014/06/18/e7737bb8-f6ee-11e3-8aa9-dad2ec039789_story.html

Let’s rename the team. How about the Washington Liars, or the Washington Veterans Waiting, or the Washington Lost E-mails, or the Washington Bureaucrats, or the Washington Snoops, or the Washington Cover-ups. No ethnic slurs there, just plain old ethics violations and no one worries about that anymore

                  

Mt. Morris has a bear

It’s not that difficult to imagine the problem

“It’s hard for most Americans to imagine growing up in a democracy [Sierra Leone] where elected officials devise ways to quash citizens’ attempts at free expression and a press’s right to print fair criticism of its leaders." On Campus, Ohio State University, June 12, 2014.

Actually, that's not difficult at all.  Imagine having the most powerful taxing agency in the world, the U.S. IRS, sifting through information for "anti-government" comments because the organizations are checking voter ID registration rolls for dead or duplicate voters, or a reporter being investigated by the NSA because he works for Fox, or publishing confidential voter financial records/contributions on certain issues to get a CEO fired, or publishing gun registrations because the publisher is anti-2nd amendment.  Happened.  Right here.  In the good old free press USA. Where the press functions as an arm of a political party.

Why stop at B?

Michelle Obama on feeding her kids

“Before coming to the White House, I struggled, as a working parent with a traveling, busy husband, to figure out how to feed my kids healthy, and I didn’t get it right,” she explained. “I thought to myself, if a Princeton and Harvard-educated professional woman doesn’t know how to adequately feed her kids, then what are other parents going through who don’t have access to the information I have?”

I have two degrees too (no name dropping for me), but I think I learned about basic nutrition from my mother, from 4-H, and from 7th grade home-ec class. When I was first married, I read the introductory material and nutritional information in my recipe books and women’s magazines.  Many things have changed since I was raising children, like we know margarine probably isn’t good for us, and coffee isn’t going to poison us, the way I learned.  But I always knew fruits, vegetables, some meat, cheese, eggs and bread would cover it. 

I also learned how to make a great pie from watching Mom.  It’s all in the crust.