The Fathers of the Church are a swath of history all Christians-- Catholic, Orthodox and Protestants—can share. As a Lutheran, I’m often distressed that our church history seems to begin in the 16th century, and not with the first century Christians. This instructor is a layman, Charles Craigmile, a Chicago businessman with seminary training, and I know nothing about him, even after search Google, but he’s very good. This series was given in the summer of 2014 at St. Mary’s Church, Lake Forest, IL. Now, it is given from a Catholic point of view, as you notice, when he suggests responses Catholics can provide for their friends of other denominations. This is the first lecture, then by searching you YouTube or looking to the right hand column of your screen, you can find the other seven.
Update: Checked Mr. Craigmile's LinkedIn page: DePaul University, MA, Philosophy, 1987 – 1989; University of St. Thomas, University of St. Thomas, BA, Philosophy, Latin and Greek, 1981 – 1985. He's currently President and Chief Executive Officer at Revenova LLC of Chicago.Monday, March 16, 2015
![11057642_10152812552627992_5957247136984087408_n[1]](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMLsHgEMF5urGM2BZrAeV38oIfktt4W-YFsTPL9KECFfvzlmWTsDg7SfkrvwFPh4beOW2f-jSCeme-gSaq5nowOnpLPKOrZSkabDS7kt8uH6uQNHf83zEEBR1LgMSxd7n5EFv89g/s1600-h/11057642_10152812552627992_5957247136984087408_n%25255B1%25255D%25255B3%25255D.jpg "11057642_10152812552627992_5957247136984087408_n[1]")
Our own government is a threat to our power grid
“The Institute for Energy Research released a new study titled Assessing Emerging Policy Threats to the U.S. Power Grid as a continuation of the Story of Electricity initiative. The report finds that the greatest threats to our power grid are not physical or cyber attacks, but rather existing and upcoming Federal and State policies including subsidies, mandates, and regulations.”
From the executive summary: “Reliable, affordable electricity is critical to our well-being and essential to modern life. But today, threats to the reliability of the power grid are numerous: cyber-attacks, weather, and accidents. Fortunately, the most significant threat is also the most avoidable—bad policy. Federal and state policies are already increasing electricity bills around the country, and the worst effects are yet to come. The federal government, and particularly the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, is
promulgating regulations that will reduce the reliability of the power grid with little thought of the consequences. In fact, these policies threaten to take offline 130 gigawatts of reliable electricity generation sources—enough to meet the electricity needs of more than 105 million Americans, or one-third of the population of the entire United States. Reforming policies that threaten grid reliability should be a top priority for policymakers.”
Excellent bibliography, most sources are hot linked.
Sunday, March 15, 2015
Forget workplace nutrition and exercise classes. . .
“Workplace stress — such as long hours, job insecurity and lack of work-life balance — contributes to at least 120,000 deaths each year and accounts for up to $190 billion in health care costs, according to new research by two Stanford professors and a former Stanford doctoral student now at Harvard Business School.”
I would have guessed that irritation with supervisor or co-workers would have been the biggest cause of stress. I remember how stressful it was when my supervisor threw the phone through the window when she was mad at something (not me), then pulled it back in by the cord and threw it through a second window. The windows were closed. Now that’s stressful. These days, the light weight phones couldn’t break a sweat, let alone a window.
http://www.gsb.stanford.edu/insights/why-your-workplace-might-be-killing-you
Teachers with benefits earn $56.72/hour
“Private industry employers spent an average of $31.32 per hour worked for total employee compensation in December 2014, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Wages and salaries
averaged $21.72 per hour worked and accounted for 69.4 percent of these costs, while benefits averaged $9.60 and accounted for the remaining 30.6 percent.
Total compensation costs for state and local government workers averaged $43.95 per hour worked in December 2014. Total employer compensation costs for civilian workers, which include private industry and state and local government workers, averaged $33.13 per hour worked in December 2014.
Employer Costs for Employee Compensation (ECEC), a product of the National Compensation Survey, measures employer costs for wages, salaries, and employee benefits for nonfarm private and state and local government workers. Private industry employer costs for paid leave benefits averaged $2.16 per hour worked in December 2014. Private industry costs for paid leave include vacation leave which averaged $1.13 per hour worked, holiday leave which averaged 66 cents, sick leave which averaged 26 cents, and personal leave which averaged 12 cents in December 2014. Paid leave benefit costs are often directly linked to wages; therefore, higher paid occupations or industries will typically show higher estimates for this compensation component. Private industry paid leave benefit costs were highest for management, professional, and related occupations at $4.67 per hour worked, or 8.4 percent of total compensation, in December 2014. Costs were lowest among service occupations at 56 cents, or 3.9 percent of total compensation. Included in this amount were employer costs for vacations, holidays, sick leave, and personal leave.”
Saturday, March 14, 2015
What’s the hold up on a better sunscreen? The FDA.
“Since the 1990s, advanced sunscreens that counter the UV-A rays that contribute to carcinomas have been widely sold in Europe, Canada and Asia. Americans must rely on an older generation that merely prevents sunburn, because since 2002 the FDA has refused to provide up-or-down answers for eight pending applications to approve the superior compounds. . . ”
“The FDA is demanding more studies and safety data from manufacturers, despite decades of world-wide experience. The latest batch of rejections is particularly notable because one of the ingredients, ecamsule, has been approved by the FDA since 2006 as a prescription drug. Sunscreen makers simply want FDA permission to use it in over-the-counter products.”
New Capri pants for summer
The only photo of the Lauren Jeans Co. Capri pants I bought yesterday for $3.00 at VOA with all the tags still on was in navy, so I color filled. Doesn’t look too great in the photo, but the price was good. Originally about $70 at Macy’s. Who would pay that? A little snug, but should fit nicely by June, and it goes with several of my summer shirts. Looking forward to walks along the Lakefront this coming summer. Last summer I could barely walk. Physical therapy and weight loss have helped a lot. Now I’m working on my breathing.
“Comparisons and conclusions were difficult to evaluate as treatment interventions and outcome measurements from the seven trials varied considerably. At present therefore no reliable conclusions can be drawn concerning the use of breathing exercises for asthma in clinical practice. However trends for improvement, notably in quality of life measurements, are encouraging and further studies including full descriptions of treatment methods and outcome measurements are required.” Source
The pope wants to go out for pizza
“Speaking to the program “Noticieros Televisa,” Francis displays his usual candor, dishing details about the secret conclave that elected him, talking about how he senses his papacy will be short, how the church must get tough on sexual abuse, and how all he really wants “is to go out one day, without being recognized, and go to a pizzeria for a pizza.” “ Religion News ServiceYesterday I had a chance to visit with Annabelle who lives in San Antonio and was in town visiting her 96 year old mother. When she was a senior in high school she was our babysitter and now has a 13 year old grand daughter although she’s just as pretty as she was then. She asked about our daughter whom she babysat for in 1968. She claims there are no good pizza places in her city, and they were all looking forward to going to Tommy’s last night for pizza. That’s where our family went for years, always calling the order in ahead of time because our little guy was a bit impatient and didn’t like to wait for his food. But I must say, our children were always the best behaved in restaurants.
That sounded so good we ordered pizza from Iacono’s just up the road for dinner last night. Usually, we have a Friday night date with neighbors or friends, but my husband’s cold that he picked up on the plane back from Haiti has been hanging on.
Shoe buying isn’t as easy as it used to be
Some time in the late 1990s, I bought several pair of summer sandals, all costing about $5 each at K-Mart. I think I still have one pair. Over the years I’ve tried several different styles, sizes, but have never found any summer foot wear that worked for me. I’ve had some luck with Clark brand, and occasionally can find an 8.5 narrow (usually I have to settle for an 8 medium). So today I ordered this, not my preferred color (white), but the only one in my size.
Clarks call this style Saylie Medway. I’m hoping those buckles are real, and not just Velcro. I had sandals like this in the 70s and 80s, as I recall, and they seemed to last forever (or because they are summer only shoes just seem that way. I would have preferred a beige or denim, but we’ll see how this works and how many hours I can actually wear them.
As someone wise once said, take care of your feet and they’ll take care of you. And I actually found a blog that says that.
Since the feet are the foundation of the body, they have a direct affect on most aspects of your health, particularly if you are a diabetic of have Peripheral Artery Disease (PAD). But even without these chronic ailments, your feet play an important role in your everyday life and health. They are on the front lines of everything you do and your feet’s skin is the first line of defense.
Hydraulic fracturing (fracking) and horizontal drilling have created the shale gas boom
“The natural gas boom that transformed the energy picture in the United States in the last decade is still in its infancy, says John Shaw, chair of Harvard’s Earth and Planetary Sciences Department. . .
Fracking is probably not a direct cause of associated earthquakes, Shaw said, noting that the pressure to fracture the rock is applied for only minutes and is followed by the gas flowing from the rock into the borehole, which actually lowers the pressure in the surrounding rock. Instead, Shaw said, it is the disposal, by injection into the earth, of the ample waste liquid the process generates that is largely responsible for generating quakes. Some firms are now looking at recycling wastewater as an alternative.”
There are those who see fracking as a threat to renewable energy sources where they are either financially or emotionally invested. In my opinion, that is behind many of the scare stories.
http://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2015/03/staying-power-for-shale-gas/
Another incident with the Secret Service—8 days ago—not reported to Clancy, Obama, or Congress
I don’t know why Eric Holder criticizes the Ferguson police when the Secret Service can’t even keep the President out of harm’s way and act like the Keystone Cops (silent film comedies).
“Learning that top-ranking Secret Service officials — including the second-in-charge of President Obama's own personal detail — went out drinking, then plowed their government car into a barrier at the White House, would ordinarily ignite shock among administration officials and lawmakers.
Instead, that news Wednesday led only to disappointed head-shaking in Washington, where scandals involving the agency now seem to appear regularly.” CNN report
Interfered with a crime scene, and a supervisor wouldn’t allow them to be tested for blood alcohol for sobriety. Then the story wasn’t released for over a week.
“[Joseph P.] Clancy has told lawmakers he learned of the allegations Monday, according to people familiar with the discussions. That is five days after the incident, which involved two of his most senior agents, including a top member of President Obama’s protective detail.
Lawmakers did not learn of the episode, however, until it was reported by The Post on Wednesday.” Bomb investigation
Friday, March 13, 2015
Hillary Clinton wasn’t very SMART
http://oig.state.gov/system/files/isp-i-15-15.pdf
OIG made seven recommendations to improve the use of record emails by Department of State employees and mission staff members.
- OIG recommended establishing a process to review record email usage across missions and bureaus, as well as issuing guidance to Department of State employees and mission staff members that specifies their record-keeping responsibilities, provides examples to guide choices among cables and record and working emails, and suggests the establishment of record email policies.
- OIG recommended convening functionally defined focus groups to identify practical examples of official records;
- canvassing through focus groups in all bureaus periodically to identify obstacles to the use of SMART for record emails and cables;
- establishing an Electronic Records Management Working Group to advise on record emails and related issues;
- making introductory and refresher courses on records management a requirement for Department of State employees.
- OIG also recommended expanding the Foreign Service Institute’s current record email training curriculum to include hands-on SMART client and classroom training
- additional material on record-keeping requirements.
A tasty breakfast drink and an easy lunch
The last two days I decided I’d try for my fruits at breakfast. Usually I have either an apple or an orange, and maybe nuts. But this was really good.
In a blender:
One small banana
Two really large strawberries (or several small)
One slice of fresh pineapple
Frozen blueberries (not sure, maybe 1/3 cup)
¼ cup of orange juice
Some orange peel (cooked and sugared)
About two tablespoons of almond meal
This made about 2 1/4 cups of a very pretty purple drink (red and blue make purple) with some texture. Really good. I have no idea what the nutritional value is.
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Pierogies are pasta filled with whipped potatoes, and this product includes spinach and feta. Some ethic groups like to make these, but I think it looks like a lot of work. I drop 3 in boiling water for about 7 minutes, and about 3 minutes in drop in some fresh baby spinach. Makes a great lunch. This package costs about $2.00.
A different view on Ferguson and Obama
Ron Christie, a black Republican, has a different take than the main stream media, many Obama lap dogs—and it was actually published in The Daily Beast, a left wing, on-line news source. Rare.
“. . . most Americans never should have even heard about a shooting involving Michael Brown and police officer Darren Wilson. Every day in communities large and small, criminals commit crimes that elicit interaction from the police. In the instant case, it is a fact that Michael Brown committed a crime in a small town on August 9, 2014, failed to heed Officer Wilson’s instructions, and was shot to death when the officer thought his life was in danger. The shooting never should have happened—a young man never should have committed a crime and never should have rushed at a police officer. . .”
“. . . On matters of race involving local police investigations, President Obama has not been shy about injecting himself into the narrative while shaping the desired outcomes. In 2009 when Harvard Professor Henry Louis “Skip” Gates had a disagreement with a Cambridge police officer outside of his home leading to his arrest, the president opined that the officer “acted stupidly.” Never mind that Mr. Gates didn’t have his keys and was thought to be breaking into a home by the police officer in question. What I found revealing at the time is that the president offered the Gates incident as showing how “race remains a factor in this society today” when the facts revealed race had nothing to do with the interaction between a professor and a police officer.”
Ron Christie is CEO of Christie Strategies LLC. He previously served as special assistant to President George W. Bush and deputy assistant to Vice President Dick Cheney from 2001 to 2004. He has written three books on race and politics in America.
Unequal childhoods and unequal adulthoods
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2xq_iCMgP2Q
It will take about an hour to watch this lecture by Annette Lareau as she follows up her original research (early 2000s) on children in middle class and working class families, with how they did as young adults. I’d noticed in stores how differently some parents talk to their children (who may be in the shopping cart). Although these days, they may be talking on the phone! Often I wish they’d just shut up. My goodness, they talk and talk and talk. But some don’t. Low income parents talk much less to their children, and by the time kids get to school there is an enormous gap in vocabulary. But her research goes a lot deeper—about how middle class families “untie knots,” research ways to do things better, get the better school, or teacher, or activity. They have different social networks, they marry different people, and live in different neighborhoods which have different schools.
It’s worth watching. But I don’t buy any government solution for this which we’ll hear from the academics. The common complaint will increasingly be “white privilege,” but Lareau found similar attitudes in black and white families who are in the same socio-economic class. Fathers are more likely to be present in the middle class families; parents have more education; more sibling rivalry in middle class families; more talking; more boredom among middle class kids; and middle class kids stay “younger” longer with fewer responsibilities. Race was not as big an issue as values and attitudes. Many middle class teaching approaches are the opposite of what works with low income kids. Drilling and memorization work well for them—just not for the teachers. Immigrant parents seem to have stronger academic standards for their children which may be lost by the 3rd generation.
Thursday, March 12, 2015
I’m still in Virginia!
How big is this state, anyway? I’ve ridden my exercycle, Gold’s Gym Power 210 Spin, 380 miles since Christmas using an online program called “Tools to Keep you Active” into which you can log your biking, running or walking, and it will show you a photo of where you are. And I’m still in Virginia!
Black mayor of Selma wouldn’t play the media game
When asked to compare his city to the Selma of 50 years ago, Mayor George Evans said there was less crime then. There’s more unemployment now and although there are jobs, the population doesn’t have the skills to fill them.
Jason Riley of the Wall Street Journal says, “Liberalism, moreover, tends to ignore or play down the black advancement that took place prior to the major civil-rights triumphs of the 1960s and instead credits government interventions that at best continued trends already in place. Black poverty fell 40 percentage points between 1940 and 1960—a drop that no Great Society antipoverty program has ever come close to matching. Blacks were also increasing their years of schooling and entering the white-collar workforce at a faster rate prior to the affirmative-action schemes of the 1970s than they were after those programs were put in place to help them.”
Minimum wage particularly hurts youth and disadvantaged
“European nations with the highest minimum wages have unemployment rates that are twice as high, on average, as those with no minimum wages. Especially hard hit by minimum wages is youth employment, which averages more than 25% in these countries.
Compare this to those countries in Europe with no federally mandated minimum wages. Most instead have wages that are privately negotiated between workers, unions, and employers. It's an infinitely better system than a one-size-fit...s-all federal minimum wage. Wages are determined by workers and companies, raised when both parties agree, applied to specific jobs, and do not apply to the whole country. In other words, they are market wages.
National minimum wages, on the other hand, are an arbitrary number, determined by politicians, manipulated through a political process, and applied to every sector, industry, and job in the entire country, regardless of skill, merit, or productivity. It is the economic equivalent of 'intelligent design.'
And it harms the poor, the uneducated, and the disadvantaged. The people who desperately need entry level work experience to begin a career. They are denied the opportunity, because the government tells companies they're not allowed to hire such people unless they do so at an economic loss.” Unbiased America
SOURCE: http://www.tradingeconomics.com/cou…/youth-unemployment-rate
http://stats.oecd.org/index.aspx?queryid=36324
https://cambridgesustainability739.wordpress.com/…/singapo…/
http://www.thelocal.it/…/…/italy-plans-national-minimum-wage
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