Temporarily inconvenienced

Eventually, most people have back spasms--I blame my short legs, but my son has long legs and the same problem. My dad and other family members, too. Mostly, I blame my horse which fell on me when I was 12, and that's the first time I felt like my dad walked. I slept on the floor last night, I'm like a sausage in my back brace, and am standing to do most things like reading or computer. I'll have to get some help to unload the dishwasher. Driving the car is awful--and it's my turn to do the church mail run today. Yes, a blatant plea for sympathy.

Keystone pipeline

The only reason to fight it is to help our enemies. It's safer and more environmentally friendly than ocean transport of crude which requires huge energy resources and pollution to move oil here from the middle east; it benefits our neighbor Canada (who would otherwise sell to China) and hurts our enemies supplying radical jihadists. And crude by rail? Think about Philadelphia. “In the U.S., 70% of crude oil and petroleum products are shipped by pipeline. 23% of oil shipments are on tankers and barges over water. Trucking only accounts for 4% of shipments, and rail for a mere 3%. In Canada, it’s even more lopsided. Almost all (97%) of natural gas and petroleum products are transported by pipelines. “

http://www.forbes.com/sites/jamesconca/2014/04/26/pick-your-poison-for-crude-pipeline-rail-truck-or-boat/

The President has discovered the poor

The President of the U.S. has just discovered poverty—for his entire presidency he’s focused on the middle class.  And he thinks if he could just get a few more percentage points from the wealthiest Americans he could "invest" their money in that pre-school program--you know the one--sort of like Head Start I suppose which even government studies say have never benefitted kids for 50 years. Never mind that Democrats since 1964 have been claiming more money will eliminate poverty while they pocket a lot of it on the pass through to the poor.

I have a better idea, Mr. President. All rich Democrats, say those in the top 5% like the Obamas, Holders, Clintons, Kennedys, Pelosis, Reids, etc. could just fire their tax accountants and pay taxes without taking advantage of all the deductions the rich get that the poor don't--donations for foundations, art museums and political causes (like the Clintons), real estate taxes, business and investment loses, costs of doing business, etc. That should bring in enough to at least run a few model preschools in Democrat-run cities with Democrat mayors in states with Democrat governors--like Baltimore.

Also President Obama thinks the wealthy of America won some sort of luck lottery and should start paying more (they already pay most of the taxes in our progressive tax system) so the government can invest their money for them. Has anyone told him Brin (Google) was an immigrant from Russia where his father was denied opportunity by the Communist government because he was a Jew, or that Jobs (Apple) was a college dropout with dyslexia adopted at birth by a middle income couple? Perhaps it is luck to grow up in a capitalist country within a good family-- so maybe Obama could be more positive about those things instead of tearing down achievers. What gives him the right to impugn the intelligence and hard work of others?

http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2015/05/12/barack-obama-calls-for-renewed-government-focus-on-poverty/

I’m just too fit

It just doesn't pay to be too fit. I did all the planks in exercise class today ( engage your back, arms, shoulders, glutes, and hamstrings) and the arm stuff--all the reps.  Something I certain couldn’t do in December. At home changing my shoes I threw out my back. But at least I now can wear the back brace and regular clothes!

Pastors will be required to marry gays or face jail

Our liberal friends and relatives said we were awfulizing about the same sex marriage thing--it was all just about equality, about love. Not so. It's about forcing Christians, Jews, Muslims to violate their faith. Very few gays want the 1300+ laws and regulations that go with marriage--they haven't used the protections they already have for their partners. Local ordinances are written to violate the first amendment which then imposes fear and law suits. Pastors will have to agree to gay marriage or get out of the business. Sermons will be monitored--after all, churches use common frequencies in broadcasting, and have benefits as tax exempt entities (and requirements). Churches have schools and content will have to promote "equality" for sex practices.

"Coeur d‘Alene, Idaho, city officials have laid down the law to Christian pastors within their community, telling them bluntly via an ordinance that if they refuse to marry homosexuals, they will face jail time and fines."

Prayer a good start to the day

Some days I'm quicker to start the coffee pot than to pray, but the message is still good. Today I started in the bathroom brushing my teeth and praying for those in the Philadelphia Amtrak accident, for the injured, for the families of the deceased, for the first responders. We don't need to be on our knees. God is the original social media source. Never misses a call.

Strangling business with regulations

The major regulations imposed by the Obama administration now cost Americans more than $80 billion a year—twice as much as the rules issued by the Bush administration at the six-year mark, according to a Heritage Foundation report released today.

The report, “Red Tape Rising: Six Years of Escalating Regulation Under Obama,” documents an increase of 27 major rules in 2014, which brings the administration’s total to 184.

http://dailysignal.com/2015/05/12/the-obama-administrations-major-regulations-cost-more-than-80-billion-annually/

Economic recovery did more than Obamacare

“The RAND Corporation has published a thorough analysis of Obamacare's effect on health insurance that should have put an end to the Obamacare success narrative. Unfortunately, too many continue to confuse the effect of the delayed recovery with Obamacare. What the RAND study really shows is that employer-based benefits have been restored as jobs have started to come back.

The headline is that 172.7 million people, ages 18-64, are covered in 2015, versus only 155.8 million in 2013. The number of uninsured dropped by 16.9 million from 42.7 million to 25.8 million, falling from 21.5 percent to 13.0 percent of the population in that age group.

However, the RAND survey examines people insured or uninsured at a point in time, reporting changes from September 2013 through February 2015. The good news is the number of people with employer-based benefits increased by 8 million, from 111.9 million to 119.9 million (The total population is adjusted for death, aging and migration over the period.) Digging deeper, it looks like this improvement would have been much higher, but for Obamacare.”

http://healthblog.ncpa.org/economic-growth-improved-health-coverage-more-than-obamacare-did/

Look who’s giving advice about what churches should do?

The President.

“President Obama suggested that people of faith should focus more on helping the poor, instead of focusing on divisive issues such as gay marriage and abortion. During a panel discussion on poverty at Georgetown University, Obama specifically referred to his own Christian faith, pointing out that he recognized the importance speaking out about the issue as president.” http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2015/05/12/obama-churches-should-focus-more-on-poverty-instead-of-abortion-and-gay-marriage/

Why bother to prevent the 38% of abortions that are for black women when you can be assisting the fraction of the 2% who are even remotely interested in same sex marriage. Most of the 126 transfer of wealth programs of the federal and state governments were originally patterned after programs begun and maintained by churches. It was the government that then set up regulations that snarled and strangled the work. Christians started the schools, colleges, hospitals, orphanages, homes for the poor and indigent, even the penitentiaries (for the penitent)--even the Peace Corps was patterned after what the Quakers, Brethren and Mennonites set up after WWII. He not only doesn't know the past, he doesn't know the present. The Catholic church is the largest social service agency in the U.S.—the only organization large enough and powerful enough to actually challenge the federal government and its heavy handed ways. Increasingly, churches are accepting government money for everything from food pantries to chastity programming in the schools.  That’s a pact with the devil.

"The number of Christians dropped by almost 8 percentage points in seven years to 71 percent, and the trend holds across race, gender, education, and geographic dimensions, though Christianity still dominates American religious identity at 70 percent." (Newsmax)   Hmmm. I wonder what else has been going on the last 7 years--1) a leader who promises the government is your hope for change, and 2) followers who would rather play cyber-community with their phones than have real community within a church.

And look what the Methodists are doing instead of taking care of the poor or preaching the gospel. I'm not picking on Methodists, really, because this is pretty much the platform of all the main line Board of Directors/General Synod/ Big pooh bahs, who use the culture created by TV and Hollywood as their Gospel.

"The world’s lone Jewish state must be singled out for punitive divestment campaigns, while we should at the same time promote economic investment in North Korea, whose government has done absolutely nothing in the area of human rights worthy of specific criticism. And we should take our broad support for sex outside of marriage one step further by advocating to legalize prostitution.

This was the moral vision offered by our United Methodist Church’s apportionment-funded D.C. lobby office, the General Board of Church and Society (GBCS) at its Spring 2015 board of directors meeting."http://juicyecumenism.com/2015/05/11/methodist-lobby-divest-from-israel-invest-in-north-korea-legalize-prostitution/

At the intersection of Grievance Culture and the Welfare State

“If the Ferguson outrage and riots were about “lack of representation” or “lack of voice,” this cannot be said about Baltimore. The city council is majority black, the police department is approximately 40 percent black, the top two officials running the department are black men, the city has a black mayor, the state’s attorney for Baltimore City — who charged the six officers — is black, the new U.S. attorney general is a black female, and of course the President of the United States is black.

The left has created a culture of anger and entitlement based upon government dependency and the false assertion that racism remains a major problem.”  Larry Elder

Read more at http://blackcommunitynews.com/baltimore-the-intersection-of-the-grievance-culture-and-the-welfare-state/

What’s in the Yogurt?

Let’s avoid for this post (and maybe all posts) GMO, pesticides and happy, contented non-Holstein cows free roaming in green pastures.  I have before me Dannon All natural plan nonfat yogurt (grade A)  and Yoplait plain nonfat yogurt (no artificial flavors, colors or sweeteners also Grade A).  I’m not a huge fan of yogurt, but sometimes will use it to cut dressings or add to fruit instead of milk.

Yoplait is made from grade A pasteurized nonfat milk and contains corn starch, gelatin, pectin, Vit. A acetate, Vit. D3 and has 130 calories per cup, zero from fat.

Dannon is made from cultured grade A nonfat milk and pectin. It is 100 calories per cup, zero from fat.

Percentages listed: Yoplait has more sodium, less potassium; both have 12 grams of protein. Then it gets a little complicated as amounts are listed only in percentage.  Yoplait has added vitamin A and D.  Dannon has a higher percentage of Calcium and Phosphorus (probably because it has less filler) and lists some B vitamins which Yoplait doesn’t.

Pectin is a fiber found in fruits and is used in many medicines. “Cornstarch and pectin act as thickening agents, making the yogurt creamier. Kosher gelatin also adds texture to the yogurt. It is often assumed that kosher gelatin is derived from a vegetarian source; however, contrary to common belief, it may also be derived from animal or dairy. Unless a product specifies that its kosher gelatin is derived from a vegetarian source, such as carob beans or agar agar, it may contain animal or dairy products.” (Livestrong.com)

I’ll go with Dannon in the future.

You may be a liberal if . . .

Elijah Cummings, 1996- Democrat

Government sponsored segregation

Baltimore schools budget is about $1.3 billion annually, and federal contribution to Baltimore schools was $184.8 million in 2012 and $169.3 million in 2013.

40 years of block grants

red tape of public housing in Baltimore

Chocolate is better than kissing?

"Some say that eating chocolate is better than kissing, and scientists have dutifully tested this hypothesis . . . In 2007, a team led by Dr. David Lewis recruited pairs of passionate lovers, whose brain activity and heart rate were monitored first while they kissed and then while they ate chocolate (separately). . . although kissing set the heart pounding, the effect did not last as long as [eating] chocolate. The study also showed that when the chocolate started melting, all regions of the brain received a boost far more intense and longer lasting than the brain activity measured while kissing."

"Stuff matters; exploring the marvelous materials that shape our man-made world." by Mark Miodownik, 2013. p.86.

No White House representative at Brian Moore’s funeral

Cabinet Secretary Broderick Johnson, chair of the Obama administration’s My Brother’s Keeper Task Force, Heather Foster, an adviser in the White House Office of Public Engagement, and Elias Alcantara from the Office of Intergovernmental Affairs were sent by Obama to Freddie Gray’s funeral.  There is controversy about Gray’s death and particularly the charges brought against the police, but there’s no lack of evidence of Gray’s long history of crime and arrests.  Johnson and Foster also attended Michael Brown’s funeral along with Marlon Marshall, also of Public Engagement.  Brown had just committed a robbery and assault when he was shot resisting an officer.  As of the latest reports from New York, no one representing the president was sent to officer Brian Moore’s funeral.  Moore was murdered by a thug and has probably saved many black lives by being a NYPD officer, because black lives matter.

http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2015/05/08/obama-ignores-slain-white-police-officer-while-honoring-gray-and-brown/

http://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2015/05/obama-sent-3-officials-to-criminal-freddie-grays-funeral-no-one-to-nypd-officer-brian-moores-funeral/#!

ISIS doesn’t just have a target on Pam Geller’s back

This will come as a shock to liberals and progressives, and even some conservatives who have criticized Geller, but ISIS doesn't just dislike conservatives who draw Mohammed, but they hate the liberals too for their belief in the first amendment (which includes religion). You know the one--allows them to ridicule and criticize Christians, stomp on the American flag and attend Michael Moore movies that insult our intelligence. Most of the people they've killed have been Muslim, but they're coming for you, too.

Pam Geller’s abuse of free speech

“I take a back seat to no one when it comes to defending free speech — even that of the worst sorts. We let neo-Nazis and the Ku Klux Klan march and protest because the true test of free speech is that unpopular speech is tolerated. “  But for Pam Geller, she’ll hide in the trunk.

Our kitchen counter top

The news is good--and if it actually happens and I find out the name of the supplier, I'll certainly give them a plug. At the end of February the final touch on our kitchen after months of hassle about 3 new appliances, and a mishap on paint color choice, was new quartz counter top. I'd had marble (don't ever chose that), and granite requires too much care, so quartz seemed the perfect, if expensive, answer, for worry free cooking. After it was installed we found tiny imperfections in... about 6 places. The contractor was mystified; said he'd never seen it before. The supplier sent out an inspector. Now the supplier to that supplier has said they will reinstall, at no cost, not even for the first one, and will reimburse the contractor. So essentially, we'll have a quartz counter top free. . . assuming this all happens. . . and we have been waiting 2 months for it to be resolved.

This kind of bully has approval all the way from the White House down

For years, gays (except librarians, stage actors, ballet dancers, male models, some female athletes, women's clothing designers, and hair dressers) thought they needed to hide their sexual preferences. Despite their fear and self-loathing, gays are the most educated and wealthiest demographic in the country. Again, except librarians.  They weren’t loud, or rich, but they were very out, proving it can be done—even in the 60s and 70s.  But that's all changed now--the president finally came out in 2012 against traditional marriage and the entertainment industry particularly has been relentless for four decades in providing gay themed and gay story line and gay actors for TV and movies--far beyond their 2% representation in the population. So now they are popping out of closets like they've run out of moth balls--professional athletes, news anchors, authors, etc. The response? To demonize Christians who have a biblical view of marriage. So I guess it isn't about sexual preference or love or marriage at all, but about power and bullying, very human traits and behaviors that transcend gender, race, ethnicity and religion.

Maybe a tasty discovery

A concentrated extract of maple syrup makes disease-causing bacteria more susceptible to antibiotics, according to laboratory experiments by researchers at McGill University.

https://www.mcgill.ca/newsroom/channels/news/could-maple-syrup-help-cut-use-antibiotics-246929

"Polyphenolic Extract from Maple Syrup Potentiates Antibiotic Susceptibility and Reduces Biofilm Formation of Pathogenic Bacteria," by Vimal B. Maisuria, Zeinab Hosseinidoust, and Nathalie Tufenkji, is scheduled for publication in Applied and Environmental Microbiology, Volume: 81 Issue: 11. To view the accepted manuscript: http://aem.asm.org/content/early/2015/03/23/AEM.00239-15.abstract

Anti-inflammatory diets

They are all similar, and they all sell books.  This article from 2008 in WebMD lists the components. These articles all have enriched links (for making money to support the website).

Specifics vary from diet to diet, but in general anti-inflammatory diets suggest:

• Eat plenty of fruits and vegetables.
• Minimize saturated and trans fats.
• Eat a good source of omega-3 fatty acids, such as fish or fish oil supplements and walnuts.
• Watch your intake of refined carbohydrates such as pasta and white rice.
• Eat plenty of whole grains such as brown rice and bulgur wheat.
• Eat lean protein sources such as chicken; cut back on red meat and full-fat dairy foods.
• Avoid refined foods and processed foods.
• Spice it up. Ginger, curry, and other spices can have an anti-inflammatory effect.

From Molly’s Fund in 2013: Here are the basics of the anti-inflammatory diet (all versions vary, but this is the general proposal for all:

• Eat lots of fruits and vegetables.
• Minimize saturated and trans fats.
• Eat a good source of omega-3 fatty acids, such as fish or fish oil supplements and walnuts.
• Limit your intake of refined carbohydrates such as pasta and white rice.
• Eat lots of whole grains such as brown rice and bulgur wheat.
• Choose lean protein sources such as chicken; cutting back on red meat and full-fat dairy foods.
• Avoid refined foods and processed foods.
• Use spices like ginger, curry, and other spices that have been shown to have an anti-inflammatory effect.

Reading through the paleo diet, I think one could starve in place. You’d at least have a problem at restaurants and parties.

Carrot Cake Smoothie
Serves 1

1 cup chopped carrots
1 frozen banana
6oz cup Chobani Pineapple Greek Yogurt
1/3 cup unsweetened almond milk (or milk of your choice )
1/4 cup rolled oats
1 Tbsp chia seeds
1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1/8 tsp ground cloves
1/8 tsp ground ginger

Combine all ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth. Add almond milk as needed to acquire your desired thickness.
Note: For a vegan option, omit the Greek yogurt (and almond milk) and sub with 1 cup of coconut milk instead.

I haven’t tried this—just using it as an example of something on a Lupus page.  I like making smoothies in my blender—have never tried adding oats.

The China Study has been around a long time—about arthritis and plant food.