Kathie Lee on Frank

Happy Birthday, Stan Corbett

Happy birthday to my dear, sweet brother, Stanley. Nicest guy in the world, made so sweet by his 3 older sisters. He's not on Facebook, but I think he reads my blog. So if you know him,or if you run into him in northern Illinois, give him a shout out. Oh, the stories we can tell about this adorable kid. I used to feel sorry for my friends who had to put up with nasty brothers, because mine was such a dear. And he still is. Photo from 1944, Alameda, California and 2013 at the White Pines.

Human vivisection and Planned Parenthood

Video 7 is even worse.  Are you still contributing to this evil organization?  Are you still voting for your Congressman who refuses to defund it? Somehow, 50% of Americans don’t yet know about these videos.  Have they been living in a cave?

“‘Want to see something kind of cool,’” O’Donnell says her supervisor asked her. “And she just taps the heart, and it starts beating. And I’m sitting here and I’m looking at this fetus, and its heart is beating, and I don’t know what to think.” Referring to the beating heart of the aborted fetus, O’Donnell remarks, “I don’t know if that constitutes it’s technically dead, or it’s alive." The StemExpress supervisor then "instructed her to cut through the face of the fetus in order to get the brain."

http://www.lifenews.com/2015/08/19/7th-shocking-video-catches-planned-parenthood-harvesting-brain-of-aborted-baby-who-was-still-alive/

In the course of history, Antietam out weighs Gettysburg

We really had an amazing speaker for Lakeside’s Civil War week Tuesday and Wednesday, Dennis Frye,  the chief historian at Harpers Ferry National Historical Park and the author of seven books and scores of articles on a variety of Civil War topics.  He did a  presentation on John Brown on Tuesday that was excellent and then today talked about the Battle of Antietam and why it was more important than Gettysburg.  He said President Lincoln was seen as a complete failure in September 1862 when everyone hated him and the Union was losing on five fronts, the 5th front being in Minnesota against the Indians who had decided to fight the U.S. troops. Even the abolitionists had turned against Lincoln because they believed he should move quickly to free the slaves.

People today complain about the treatment of Obama, but he read excerpts from the press of that day, and really, it was hateful and I don’t think today any newspaper would be allowed to say those things about a president.  The election (House) was coming up in October 1862 and if the Democrats won they would have cut off appropriations for the war and it would have been over—and no “United” States.  There was no election for Senate because in those days the states appointed senators. 

(Background on Harpers Ferry) But the Union troops won the battle of Antietam (24,000 casualties in one day) and that stopped Lee’s march into Pennsylvania, so public opinion of the failed presidency turned around and the Republicans held on to Congress in the election.  It also stopped England and France from stepping in.  Then on Sept. 22 Lincoln took political advantage of this win and issued the Executive Order for the Emancipation Proclamation.

Frye works for the Park Service and lives in Harpers Ferry, West Virginia.  He’s quite dramatic and speaks without notes--I suspect he’s given these presentations many times. He’s easy to find on YouTube.  Early in the Antietam talk he noted that the farm land on which the battle happened was owned by Dunkers, but didn’t really explain the term.  Of course, I knew what that was--German Baptist Brethren, or today’s Church of the Brethren.  However, at the end of his talk he was dramatizing finding some bodies in an archeological dig when that battle field was still in private hands in 1987 (now a national park) with picking up bullets from the chest cavity of a long dead soldier., With a dramatic pause he said it was ironic that the worst battle in American history, a battle that changed the course of history, was fought on land owned by Dunkers who were pacifists.  Then he said, “I am a Dunker, my ancestors were all Dunkers.”  Quite an ending to a powerful talk.

http://www.civilwar.org/battlefields/antietam/antietam-2015/

Planned Parenthood and Democrats

He’s got the moves—maybe too many

I saw a great video on TV of a football player (actually was a professional dancer) performing in uniform with the cheerleaders. Great moves. Until he started with the crotch grab move. What's that about? It's been going on for years, with hip hop and rap and I see a lot of women like Miley Cyrus doing the "grab" too. Sometimes it's just a quick hand movement to draw attention to the area; sometimes with a thrust and a threat. Do they have the crabs (std)?

First time home buyers

I heard on the news today that the median age for a first time home buyer is 33. I was 22 when we bought our first home (a duplex in Champaign-Urbana so the renters could pay the mortgage for us). I think I know the problem. Today young people sell their lives to various tech companies for their phones, cable,Netflix , Facebook and Instagram and they drive nice cars. Fifty years ago we didn’t have any of that. TV, no cost but the set; phone, no cost but rent from the phone company and monthly charge; movies were something you went to in a theater, not that came to us; an automobile--we didn’t have one in 1962, but had a bike. Today’s young families spend so much on their tech contracts they can’t afford a mortgage. Oh, and at 22 we had no college loans to pay back. No one did. We bought an older home in a racially mixed neighborhood with mixed zoning. Today people would rather rent for 10 years with amenities, then start big.

The typical first-timer now rents for six years before buying a home, up from 2.6 years in the early 1970s, according to a new analysis by the real estate data firm Zillow. The median first-time buyer is age 33 — in the upper range of the millennial generation, which roughly spans ages 18 to 34. A generation ago, the median first-timer was about three years younger.

The delay reflects a trend that cuts to the heart of the financial challenges facing millennials: Renters are struggling to save for down payments. Increasingly, too, they're facing delays in some key landmarks of adulthood, from marriage and children to a stable career, according to industry and government reports.

 http://www.newsmax.com/Finance/StreetTalk/Older-First-Time-Homebuyers-houses/2015/08/17/id/670406/

Who is middle class?

There is no definition of middle class by the U.S. government.  There are approximately 117 million households in America, 36% of households fall in the poverty range (Under $15 – $35K annual income), 43% of households are between $35K to $100K. 16% are between $100K and $200K and nearly 4% are above $200K annual income levels as of 2009. After 2009, the U.S. Census Bureau confirms that the upper open-ended interval for which to assist in calculating the median income is $250,000, being that is the considered upper class income. So Middle Class could safely be considered above $35K and below $100K annual income levels, which is 43% of American Households.  The Black alone households total 14.7 million. Of that, approximately 38.4% are in the middle class, with earnings between $35K – $100K annually.  Their household income has gone down under Obama.  Because the Census looks at Households, the middle class, if shrinking, is doing so because of single women raising families with no husband. I’m no math whiz, but two incomes equal more than one income in most cases. Marriage of their parents who have finished high school, and have a job, any job, almost guarantees that children will not grow up in poverty. Not growing up in poverty, is probably the single best way to achieve Middle Class status, better than any socialist or government transfer program, which tends to keep people down and “in their place.”

SOURCE: U.S. Census Bureau: Income, Poverty, and Health Insurance Coverage in the United States: 2009, Current Population Reports, Consumer Income

Grace Lee Boggs, American radical, communist and author

We get Detroit PBS here at the lake, and I watched a fascinating documentary of Grace Lee Boggs, a Chinese American, and no matter what other descriptions you give her--feminist, radical or activist--she is an American old time Communist, always disappointed, but always hopeful. She married a black man and spent her life in various causes for African Americans and particularly Detroit. While she was marching, writing, and agitating for poor blacks, women and Asians in the U.S. soared ahead, and she seemed quite elderly before she noticed that Asian Americans are by far the most successful demographic in our varied population. In my opinion, that was capitalism, not communism, and it passed her by. She ignored her own heritage. She's 100 this year. I'd recommend the film, especially if you are from Detroit or enjoy 20th c. history.

Should we be rewarded for our good works?

I read the Columbus Catholic Times, a hand off from a family friend. I'm learning a lot. Just this week I noticed a difference in how Catholics and Protestants use the concept of giving. Catholics suggest "works of mercy" or "works of charity," and Protestants say, we will change poverty, schooling, politics, the environment, etc. if we just chip in $10 for the food pantry, or a backpack for a Highland Elementary school child, or cleaning up a town in Kansas after a flood or tornado. There's a huge difference. We are to give because Jesus gave first, not because we will end poverty (we won't) or make up for the terrible home of a child (we can't). According to Matthew 25, we will meet Jesus in those acts of kindness and service, so we do them without expecting the reward of change. Meeting Jesus is the reward.

Why is college freshman orientation two weeks?

This baffles me.  I’m sure I had freshman orientation when I was dropped off by my sister at Manchester College in the fall of 1957.  Was it a day, half a day, to learn the names of the campus buildings and admire the upper classmen and learn how to get our weekly quota of clean sheets in Oakwood Hall and learn the meal routine in the dining room (where I gained 20 lbs.)?  But that’s just not good enough for our delicate millennials.  They have to be brain washed—even if their families are liberals, it won’t be good enough.  The strings to normalcy must be cut and cauterized.  And for conservatives?  Wow.  Let’s hope their parents warned them.  This is from an excerpt on Facebook written by a dad attending parts of his son’s orientation.  He thought it couldn’t get worse, but it did . . .

They had a ceremony with speakers, singing by the glee club, etc. The kids received an inspirational coin, etc. I looked on the program. "Oh good. An invocation." Being the apparently naive person that I am, I was not prepared for what I heard. A "moment for prayer and meditation" turned into a cross between a confession and admonition about how selfish we are, how we've taken more from the earth than we give, and how we hope to heal the planet. it ended with "in your many names we pray." I opened my eyes, looked at my wife and rolled my eyes.

Afterward I reminded my son that he's in the midst of severe liberals. He smiled and agreed. It will be interesting to follow this over the next several years.

In politics, the truth can hurt you

When the left abused Romney for saying 47% of Americans don't pay federal income tax when explaining to donors why tax issues don't matter much, he was absolutely right.  It was a sound bite and he didn't give them a dissertation on why that is true. It's not a criticism, it's a fact, and it has to do with tax law, age of our population, the recession, etc. Here's some good information on how both parties have worked to make that possible. And it's still true today--revising tax laws still don't matter to many voters, but Bernie the Socialist will claim it does. http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonkblog/wp/2012/09/18/who-doesnt-pay-taxes-in-charts/

Walk with a Doc

Do you sometimes think one person can’t make a difference?  Dr. David Sabgir, a cardiologist at Mt. Carmel hospital in Columbus, Ohio created the program “Walk with a Doc” to encourage his patients to get more exercise. The walks are an  hour long, with the physician leader giving a short, health-related talk. Dr. Sabgir started this in 2005.  Now, just 10 years later  the program has grown to 150 walks in 36 states and five countries.
http://walkwithadoc.org.

Celebrating 70 year anniversary of VJ Day

To celebrate the 70th anniversary of the end of WWII (we used to call it VJ Day) The Lakeside symphony orchestra performed a fabulous program last night that included a Marine honor guard, representatives of all the branches of the military during Hymn to the Fallen, the full orchestra, a chorus that included Lakesiders, the Terra Choral Society and local church choirs, two conductors, Robert Conquist and Michael Shirts who wrote some of the selections,  Shirley Stary as narrator, guest artist Joan Ellison of Cleveland who performed popular WWII era songs made popular by Vera Lynn (now 97), and a slide show to accompany the music. The scenes of the cemeteries for those who didn’t return were just stunning in magnitude. Tear and cheers, standing ovation. I can’t even fathom the amount of work and coordination to took to get all this accomplished with so many people, groups and jurisdictions participating.

Stand up for good health

If you are sedentary, just exercising after work won’t help much.

“The fight against sedentary behavior cannot be won based only on the promotion of regular exercise," he wrote. "A person walking while at work for 2 hours, standing for another 4 hours, and performing some daily chores at home for another hour will burn more calories than jogging or running for 60 minutes."

http://www.medpagetoday.com/PrimaryCare/ExerciseFitness/52877

“Researchers attached a monitor to nearly 700 participants over 7 days and found that each additional 2 hours per day spent sitting was significantly associated with higher body mass index (risk ratio 1.03, 95% CI 1.01-1.05; P<0.001), waist circumference (Beta=2.12, 95% CI 0.83-3.41, or around 2 centimeters; P<0.001), fasting plasma glucose (about 1%), total/high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol ratio (5%), triglycerides (12%), 2-hour plasma glucose (4%), and with lower HDL cholesterol (0.07 mmol/L).”

Lakeside Farmer’s Market

Back from the Farmer's Market. I've already steamed and eaten the beet tops. I'm always surprised that so many people don't know how delicious they are and throw them away. Remove long stems, rinse carefully, put in a pan with lid, turn on the heat for about 2-3 minutes (I've never boiled them), put in a bowl with butter and salt, enjoy all those vitamins and minerals. http://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/vegetables-and-vegetable-products/2353/

Also got zucchini, home made strawberry jam, peach pie, corn (one ear), pint of blueberries in addition to the bunch of beets. Still have lettuce, tomatoes and onion from Tuesday.

Leg crossing and body alignment

Although I do a lot of walking in the summer (5-6 miles a day in short segments) I also do a lot of sitting in lectures and programs. Sometimes it takes several blocks to get the kinks out when I start for home. So I finally decided I'll need to break a very bad habit--sitting with my right leg crossed over my left knee. Yes, as always, I researched it, and was horrified to read all the back, neck and leg problems that causes. That's why your hairdresser always (at least mine) tells you to uncross your legs when you're getting a hair cut. Really throws everything out of alignment. But breaking a habit of 60+ years is very hard. Now, I'm only 12 hours in to this new life style change--hope it helps. My FB friend Debbie says that she gave it up after years of pain, and it was like a miracle!

When seated with your feet flat on the floor and both buttocks in contact with the chair, the force of the position is applied naturally and equally to the lower body.

However, when sitting with the legs crossed, all the downward force is applied to only one side of the lower body, concentrated on one half of the buttocks, the sacroiliac joint and the hip socket. http://www.sciatica-pain.org/sciatica-from-crossing-legs.html

http://www.mckinley.illinois.edu/Handouts/patellofemoral_pain/patellofemoral_pain.html

Cross-legged sitting resulted in a relative elongation of the piriformis muscle by 11%, compared to normal sitting and by 21% compared to the length of the piriformis when standing. It should be noted that the leg that was crossed over top of the other was resulted in the greatest elongation. The leg crossed over the top is in a position of
relative hip flexion, hip adduction, and hip external rotation. http://www.damienhowellpt.com/pdf/crossed%20legs.pdf

Wednesday night picnic at Lakeside

Not exactly a tradition for us, but we do go frequently.  Hot dogs with assorted relishes, macaroni salad, baked beans, potato chips, watermelon, and sandwich cookies.  It’s sponsored by the children’s ministry, and they have a great group of volunteers who cheerfully, set up, prepare, serve and clean up for huge crowds. This photo was taken last Wednesday with Jim and Marion, our friends from Toledo who’ve recently decided to sell their adorable cottage.

Then during Civil War week a few years ago (2011) we attended the picnic with Rod and Lynn from our church in Columbus.

Our friends Joel and Angela (2010)

Everyone gets plenty of food.

And Asian Americans?

I was just reading yet another demand for racial equality--actually, I didn't even read it, just passed it over because it’s more black/white hustlers and academics making the demands.The FBI and DoJ statistics are ignored; the marriage rate is ignored.  Why not look at another demographic that does better than whites in all areas?  Asian Americans excel in almost all areas that are tracked by our census and academics--household income, education, health, marriage, lack of poverty, BMI, low crime, etc. I just can't remember a demand by whites or blacks or Hispanics that they should have what Chinese or Japanese or Korean Americans have. Have I just missed those articles?

• Only 10.8% of Asians in America are considered obese, compared with the 33% of whites, 42% of Hispanics and 48% of blacks with a BMI of 30 or higher.

• Asian Americans are a smaller percentage of the population, so perhaps they get left out of the studies, but transgendered are less than .01% and they certainly make the news in health, wealth, celebrity, etc.

And immigrants?  A higher proportion of foreign-born (55%) than native (48%) households were maintained by a married couple (US. census). Among the regions of birth, householders born in Asia (63%) and Oceania (62%) were the most likely to be in a married-couple household. Within Latin America, households with a householder born in Mexico were the most likely to be maintained by a married couple (58%).Marriage is the strongest predictor of childhood poverty and adult crime; it's a much better safety net than anything the gov't provides.

Lakeside cottages—late 20th early 21st vernacular, pt. 1

Our first summer at Lakeside was 1974.  Things were pretty primitive by today’s standards, or even standards of the 70s, but there was an upswing.  There were a few cottages being remodeled, as Americans began to look for vacations spots closer to home to compensate for higher fuel costs.  Still, for many years we brought a fan with us, and a small vacuum cleaner—two items most cottage rentals didn’t have. In 1973 51% of new houses in the U.S. didn’t have air conditioning--by 2014 it was 9%. 19% of  1973 new builds had 2.5 baths, but by 2014 it was 30% with  an additional 30% having 3 bathrooms (not even on the radar in 1973). 64% had 3 bedrooms  and 23% 4 bedrooms 40 years ago, compared to 44% and 46% today.  So you can see we’re getting cooler, cleaner, and more separated even as families get smaller.  Mean square footage of a newly constructed home in America is almost 2,600 square feet. And so it also goes in Lakeside.  The new builds are BIG, granite counter tops in kitchens, multiple bathrooms, and AC.
https://www.census.gov/construction/chars/completed.html

20th century

This is on Oak, near 7th.  Not sure of the age, sign on the house says established 1988, and now for sale, nice side yard.

Not sure of the date, but this was a popular modular home of the 20th century. Also on Oak Avenue. Most of Oak south on the last street was developed from 1999 on.

Clipped low gable with lots of porch and screened areas.

Gable roof with dormers, nice porch. Steep hilly construction site.

A three dormer gable, modular home on Oak. Parsonage for the United Methodist Church.

Another modular home, probably year around.