Diabetics need to take charge of their diets and their health

A new study published this week in the journal Neurology shows that people with type 2 diabetes demonstrate a decline in cognitive skills and ability to perform daily activities over the course of only two years.

• After two years, the people with diabetes showed greater declines in gray matter as well as impairments in their ability to regulate blood flow in the brain than the people without.
• Blood flow regulation decreased by an average of 65 percent in the participants with diabetes.
• Among participants with diabetes, scores on thinking and memory tests decreased by an average of 12 percent, from 46 to 41 points, while test scores of the participants without diabetes stayed the same at 55 percent.
• Higher levels of inflammation were correlated with greater difficulties with blood flow regulation.
• Those with the highest levels of blood flow regulation impairment at the outset of the study had more difficulties performing daily activities (such as cooking and bathing) after two years.

Diet changes that could help

Despite cheese's less-than-healthy reputation, a recent study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition showed that cheese-eaters actually have a 12 percent lower risk of the disease than their non cheese-eating counterparts.
Plus, people who ate more cheese, fermented milk and yogurt in the study were also more likely to have a decreased diabetes risk than people who ate less of these foods, noted the

Researchers from the Louisiana State University Agricultural Center found that people who regularly eat tree nuts (we're talking pistachios, walnuts, almonds and cashews) have a lower risk of Type 2 diabetes, as well as heart disease and metabolic syndrome.

University of Washington and University of Pittsburgh researchers found that people who walked the most in their study -- which included 1,826 people from Native American communities -- had a 29 percent lower risk of diabetes, compared with those who walked the least.

Apple, pear and blueberry eaters have lower risks of Type 2 diabetes, according to a study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
The study was based on the diets of 200,000 people. HuffPost Canada reported that anthocyanins and fruits rich in anthocyanins were linked with lower diabetes risk; flavanoids, however, were not.

Eating a range of fruits and veggies could help to lower the risk of Type 2 diabetes, Medical Daily reported.

Drinking alcohol at a moderate level is linked with a lower risk of Type 2 diabetes for some people, according to an American Journal of Clinical Nutrition study.  Harvard researchers found that for women with refined carb-heavy diets, moderate alcohol consumption is linked with a decreased diabetes risk of 30 percent, compared with non-imbibing women who eat similar diets, Reuters reported.

Chinese researchers found earlier this year that coffee may stop a protein linked with Type 2 diabetes from building up, thereby possibly lowering the risk of the disease, WebMD reported. The research, published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, suggests that three particular compounds found in coffee are able to have this beneficial effect: caffeine, chlorogenic acid and caffeic acid, according to WebMD.

HuffPost Science, July 11, 2015

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2769828/

Euchre is a favorite in Indiana

Because everyone from Indiana (or son of—Bob Sr. grew up in Elwood and Indianapolis) knows how to play Euchre, there was a lively card game at our mini-reunion Thursday and Friday. I'm a poor loser, so I didn't play. I'm also a poor winner, because I don't like to see anyone lose. Euchre is the national pass time for anyone from Indiana, so if I really want to wow him, I offer him a game of Euchre. Boys from Indianapolis find that very sexy.

When cities disappear

I don't know why it bothers me more in Indianapolis than Columbus--it's the same in all cities--but driving that free way system a number of times this week made me think of all the neighborhoods that were sliced and diced, business districts and churches destroyed, clubs and societies split up, families separated, slums created, all by federal money to keep commerce and traffic moving. And now we see it happening again with a reverse push to move the poor, so the down town and old neighborhoods are being "gentrified" and rehabbed, old buildings being preserved, bike baths and canals and new codes being enforced so tourists and the yuppies have a playground. I suppose it's because I remember the Indy of 55 years ago, and recognize nothing today.

Memorial Presbyterian, Indianapolis, where 3 generations of my husband’s family worshipped Jesus. I believe the archives are at Hanover College.

Friday family photo—the siblings

On Thursday we drove to Indianapolis so we could see Bob’s brother, Rick, who was there for an Elk’s national convention.  He is the Exalted Ruler of Lodge 1959 in Huntington Beach, CA, and has many responsibilities. So we all met at their sister’s home and this included the 8 grandchildren of our niece who had been with us in Lakeside just 2 weeks previously.

With Rick and Kate on Thursday before we all went out to eat at O’Charley’s on East Washington.  It rained most of Friday, but in late afternoon the sun came out and the children could play outside.  Whew!

Kate and I were dressed for the coolish July weather, but not the AC.

The Bruce siblings are so pale you need a colorful background for them to show up on photos.

With the exception of the two adults holding children, these are Joan’s grandchildren, Jean’s great-grandchildren.

We want white socialism say the Progressives—a blond, blue-eyed fairy tale

“Progressives have a longstanding love affair with the nations of northern Europe, which are, or in some cases were until the day before yesterday, ethnically homogeneous, overwhelmingly white, hostile to immigration, nationalistic, and frankly racist in much of their domestic policy.The Left occasionally indulges in bouts of romantic exoticism — its pin-ups have included Fidel Castro and Che Guevara, Patrice Lumumba, Mao Zedong; we might even count Benito Mussolini, “that admirable Italian gentleman” who would not have been counted sufficiently white to join Franklin Roosevelt’s country club — but the welfare states that progressives dream about are the whitest ones: Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland, etc. The significance of this never quite seems to occur to progressives. When it is suggested that the central-planning, welfare-statist policies that they favor are bound to produce results familiar to the unhappy residents of, e.g., Cuba, Venezuela, or Bolivia — privation, chaos, repression, political violence — American progressives reliably reply: “No, no, we don’t want that kind of socialism. We want socialism like they have it in Finland.”

Translation: “We want white socialism, not brown socialism!”

http://www.nationalreview.com/article/420877/socialism-left-white

https://www.ssb.no/en/befolkning/artikler-og-publikasjoner/immigrants-in-norway-sweden-and-denmark

http://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/5195/sweden-rape

It is estimated that there are today more people of Swedish ancestry living in the United States and Canada than in Sweden.

How will you do on current events?

I answered all 12 questions of this Pew Research quiz correctly.  How are you doing on current events?

http://www.pewresearch.org/quiz/the-news-iq-quiz/

“Test your knowledge of prominent people and major events in the news by taking our short 12-question quiz. Then see how you did in comparison with a nationally representative group of 3,147 randomly selected U.S. adults surveyed online and by mail between March 10-April 6 as members of the Pew Research Center’s American Trends Panel.”

Everything I don’t like. . .

Obama is just wrong about the threat of Climate Change

Quoting Obama's warning that "no challenge poses a greater threat to future generations than climate change," Dr. Ivar Giaever  said it was a "ridiculous statement."

"I say this to Obama: Excuse me, Mr. President, but you're wrong. Dead wrong," he said, according to Climate Depot.

 http://www.newsmax.com/Newsfront/Ivar-Giaever-nobel-prize-global-warming-obama/2015/07/07/id/653805/#ixzz3fEeFoMzd

And I would add, the Pope is wrong too.

Giaever was one of more than 100 co-signers in a letter to the president in March 2009 that was critical of his stance on global warming, saying, "We the undersigned scientists, maintain that the case for alarm regarding climate change is grossly overstated."

Pay to play Clinton style

Hillary Clinton's State Department approved weapons deals that were 143% bigger than the same countries had gotten during the Bush administration. These countries had one thing in common -- they made big donations to the Clinton Foundation. (Townhall.com)

Site meter gone wacko

It’s gone from counting thousands a day to zero.  Can’t find anyone at home.

Social gatherings segregated by sex

I've been to hundreds, maybe thousands, of social gatherings--church, neighborhood, clubs, academe, etc.--almost everyone is white, mid-west and Christian, but a few are black and Asian, particularly when I was younger.  Always by choice men and women separate themselves and discuss what they care about--sports, children, career, fashion, food. If the event is art or music, there might be some mixing, but by the end of the event, even those are divided by gender. Now that I’m retired, age is the big divider.  Now a Muslim woman objects.

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/06/07/i-m-boycotting-sex-segregated-parties-in-my-muslim-american-community.html?source=TDB&via=FB_Page

UMC General Board supports abortion

Rev. Laura Young, a UM minister, "testified in Ohio that the abortion-restricting policies discriminate against women from poor and minority communities and reduce health-care access for women." Really? 38% of abortions are for minorities. What a bloody way to "fix" poverty. Just who do Methodists think Jesus was talking about in Matt 25? John Wesley must be rolling in the grave. "Young said the Ohio coalition collaborates with other social-justice- focused organizations,... especially those that work for systems — fair wages, worker and economic rights, racial justice, LGBT rights — that support women who do choose to have a child." Where is the social justice for that unborn child that might be female, or poor, or gay, or might grow up to develop a cure for cancer or obesity or establish a business that employs thousands? (quotes from Columbus Dispatch, July 2)

“GBCS has a long history of ignoring traditional United Methodists. Every four years it writes legislation and lobbies for General Conference to change the Book of Discipline so it would radically alter United Methodism’s traditional and biblical stance on marriage and sexuality. Never has it promoted or even explained our balanced, compassionate biblical position regarding sexuality.

And who can forget its full-out lobbying for the passage of the Affordable Care Act that was praised by then House Speaker Nancy Pelosi?  The board was engaged in its efforts to pass the bill even when it allowed for government-funded abortions. http://goodnewsmag.org/2015/03/editorial-no-laughing-matter/

Proprioception and aging

I'm not into fitness, but I will have to add a new routine to my core and bursitis routines and work on proprioception. That's your body's ability to know where it is without having to look. If I close my eyes, I probably couldn't stand in the shower, and walking home in the dark after the fireworks the other night was just plain difficult.

Proprioception is your ability to sense where your body and limbs are positioned in space. It's what allows you to navigate in a dark room, walk up stairs without looking at your feet and brush your teeth without peering in a mirror. Your muscles, joints and skin are equipped with tiny sensory receptors that provide vital information to your brain, so you can maintain control, react quickly to sudden changes in your environment and move about safely. Proprioceptive ability tends to weaken as people age, because message transmissions to and from the central nervous system become more sluggish. In turn, poor proprioception can negatively affect balance, agility and coordination, all of which increase your risk of falling.

http://livehealthy.chron.com/geriatric-proprioceptive-exercises-10002.html

The problem with Trump’s charges—no one knows! Not even the government

Here's the problem with Trump's charges on illegal immigrants--the statistics are kept by the federal government. "Of adults arrested for murder, 52.1 percent were black, and 45.5 percent were white." "Of all adults arrested in 2013, 69.6 percent were white, 27.6 percent were black, and 2.9 percent were of other races." You can determine male, female, black, white, adult, juvenile; not ethnicity, not illegal and legal. This is complicated by the fact that "Hispanic" is a made up, meaningless word which excludes the non-Spanish speaking Caribbean peoples like Haitians and Brazil. And it includes those 100% European race from Spain. (Like you see on Univision.)

https://www.fbi.gov/about-us/cjis/ucr/crime-in-the-u.s/2013/crime-in-the-u.s.-2013/tables/table-43

The Democrats will be choked by their own phony outrage

This whole phony Confederate battle flag rage will come back to bite liberals. It was FDR who imprisoned Americans of Japanese, Italian and German ancestry; it was the Democrats who created the KKK and Jim Crow. Look at LBJ's racism; he used the Civil Rights Act as his legacy--but only after years of being on the other team. If you're going to say, "It wasn't us, we're different now," then why can't monuments, parks, movie relics and people 150 years later say that? Africans had slaves (still do); Arabs had slaves (still do); Rome and Greece had slaves; Japan had slaves as recently as the 1940s. There is an international sex slave business even today. The USA fought a costly war and ended race based slavery. But it's a hot political button for a party that is terrified that it only has an elderly socialist and crooked former Secretary of State to run in 2016 and they might lose all that grifting money. The whole bench of 14 or so Republicans needs to stand up as a group and agree this is 100% fake and phony and only meant to divide and conquer.

http://dailycaller.com/2015/07/04/movement-to-rename-schools-honoring-confederate-leaders-finally-widens-to-reach-progressive-woodrow-wilson/

https://www.billwhittle.com/afterburner/pin-tale-donkey-democrats-horrible-racist-past

As we start week 3 at Lakeside

Beth Sibbring photo

We get a double display; can also see the display from Put in Bay.  This year’s our display was launched from a barge instead of the dock, which meant Lakesiders and guests were able to use the dock all day.  Many bands playing on the grounds over various times.

Spicy green peppers and pineapple stir fry

This sounds easy.  The title said red peppers, but I didn’t see any.  Like many foodie bloggers, she probably uses what’s on hand. Now that I’m getting good at making brown rice, I’ll try this.  I don’t have  a wok, but that won’t matter.  And mine won’t be very spicy.  Recipe at From Scratch.  I added a handful of dried cranberries to freshly cooked green beans the other night, and t was quite good. I think raisins and cranberries make a nice addition to vegetable.s

Ingredients: 1 cup cooked brown rice

2 green bell peppers

1 can pineapple chunks

1/2 white onion

1 handful of raisins

1 cup cooked shrimp (optional)

1 egg

olive oil for cooking

1 tsp. red pepper flakes

2 tsp. soy sauce

1 tsp. sugar

2 tsp. whole wheat flour

Drain your can of pineapple and set the fruit aside. In a small sauce pan mix together the pineapple juice, soy sauce, red pepper, sugar and flour. Cook over medium heat until ingredients are fully combined, set aside. Chop up the onion and green peppers. Drizzle some olive oil in a large wok and heat, saute onions. Once onions begin to brown add in the shrimp, pineapple and green peppers. Add in your fully cooked rice. Once rice has had a chance to warm move all wok contents to one side, crack and add in your egg. As it cooks work it into your rice and other ingredients. Now pour your sauce over the entire thing and add raisins. Allow to cook for another 15-20 minutes and serve.

Happy July 4th from the Bruces

In the shade of a 150 year old Oak tree on 2nd Street, we enjoyed the Lakeside parade with about 10,000 kids on bicycles and lots of adults acting crazy.Beautiful weather, high 70s, sunshine.

Watching the parade on 2nd across from Central Park

Couple on Lynn walking their decorated dogs

Guys Club cordless drill team

Peach Avenue Walleye gold cart

 

Kazoo Band

My kind of car—1955 Thunderbird

Neighbor Steve Bemiller and the Heritage Society popcorn machine

Lunch of bbq ribs, potato salad and baked beans on the lawn of Hotel Lakeside. Messy, but yummy.

A good question—why are we Democrats?

Is this the face of White Privilege?

Height, youth, beauty, brains and maleness does give one some privilege--that extends to all races. (Kardashians excepted). But being the offspring of a politician or celebrity, certainly allows for a hand up. Some crash and burn. I always thought Chelsea could avoid some of the down side--seemed to have a good head on her shoulders--but I think fame has taken her down a bit. Wouldn't you hate being the daughter of two flakes--although I'm sure they all love each other.