I don’t drink

nor do I intend to watch the “debate.”  It’s quite predictable. Old, tired, socialist . . . issues.

Humans of New York

“I hate pot. I hate it even more than hard drugs. I’ve taught high school for 25 years and I hate what marijuana does to my students. It goes beyond missing homework assignments. My students become less curious when they start smoking pot. I’ve seen it time and time again. People say pot makes you more creative, but from what I’ve seen, it narrows my students' minds until they only reference the world in relation to the drug. They’ll say things like: “I went to the beach and got so high,” or “I went to a concert and got so high.” They start choosing their friends based on the drug. I hate when people say that it’s just experimenting. Because from what I’ve seen, it’s when my students stop experimenting.”

From Humans of New York on Facebook

And you should see the commenters defending their “friends” who use it all the time.

Americans are being told a pack of lies about marijuana; and worse, their addled, weakened brains can't even figure that out. I knew this is where the pleas for medical marijuana would lead. You should see the ads we’re getting in Ohio.

Chocolate, wine, coffee and butter?

The more the government studies our nutritional needs, the heavier Americans get. I've gone back to butter and whole milk. If the experts can't figure out fats, carbs, and supplements, and now find good stuff in chocolate, coffee and wine, why follow the guidelines? Eat less, move more. The rest is footnotes.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/13/upshot/are-fats-unhealthy-the-battle-over-dietary-guidelines.html?_r=0

http://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2014/02/12/275376259/the-full-fat-paradox-whole-milk-may-keep-us-lean

http://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2013/03/19/174739752/whole-milk-or-skim-study-links-fattier-milk-to-slimmer-kids

http://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2013/03/19/174739752/whole-milk-or-skim-study-links-fattier-milk-to-slimmer-kids

My own theory is, the more fat and real sugar you remove from food, the hungrier people get, so they just eat more.

How to report violent crime

Academics still blame the higher rate for violent crime on poverty and discrimination.  Not so.

“The formula for escaping poverty as an adult also has nothing to do with race: Graduate from high school, wait until you are married to have children, and work full-time. Whites who eschew those bourgeois behaviors are as likely to be poor as blacks who eschew them. Only 2 percent of individuals who follow those rules are in poverty, according to Isabel Sawhill of the Brookings Institution; 72 percent of those who follow them earn at least $55,000 a year. The American poverty rate would be cut by 70 percent if the same percentage of Americans engaged in those responsible behaviors as did in 1970, regardless of race.”
Read more at: http://www.nationalreview.com/article/420565/charleston-shooting-obama-race-crime

Monday Memories—saying “I used to. . .”

"Lately I'm saying 'I used to’ a lot," my friend said while we were having coffee to catch up after our trip to Spain.  I'd heard her say it before, but I think it is profound. It made me think.  Yes, I say that frequently. At my age, there are many.

Here are some of my “used to” thoughts in no particular order.

I used to run. I think about that often now—didn’t occur to me before age 40 that someday I wouldn’t.  Oh yes, I knew I wouldn’t run when I was 80, but the need or desire just went away.  As a child I ran all the time, even when I didn’t need to.

I used to skip or take two at a time on the stairs. Sometimes I would run up stairs on all fours.  I know I was an adult because I was doing it on Abington Road where we lived for 34 years. And until December 2013, I would even walk up and down stairs for exercise at our Mill Run church.  Perhaps that’s why I have bursitis now. Even one stair is painful.

I used to go out every morning to a coffee shop. That habit started when I was a teen and ended in early 2014.  I knew I couldn’t have caffeine anymore, and drinking Panera’s decaf was like hot water, so I gave it up and learned to make decaf at home.  I began putting $2/day into the piggy bank for our trip to Spain.  I didn’t always remember to do it, but had about $600 when September 2015 rolled around. Favorite haunts in addition to Panera’s the last decade were Chef-O-Nette, Paul’s Pantry, McDonald’s on Rt. 33, Bob Evans on Sunday, and at Lakeside Coffee ‘n Cream. The regulars at the Chef used to have parties together, attend weddings and funerals. I could hardly start the day without them.

I used to go to work five days a week. From fall 1986 to fall 2000 I was the Veterinary Medicine Librarian at The Ohio State University.  Loved that job. The students were terrific, and the library was located on the far west side of campus, so I never had to fight the bad traffic. The field was fascinating, and I’ve remained interested in medical topics to this day as you can tell from my blog topics. It included research and publication, which I enjoyed. Blogging allows publishing without the middle man. But I’d had many jobs before that because I accepted temporary contracts before a tenured permanent job came along so I could be home with the children in the summers.  I’d worked in agriculture, Latin American studies, user education, and I’d also worked for a library non-profit (Ohio-net) and the State of Ohio (Ohio Steps) before returning to Ohio State, and in both jobs I did research and publishing.

I used to bake pies.  I used to call myself the 2nd best pie baker East of the Mississippi. Mom got first place, of course. When there would be a family event in Indiana or a church pot luck, someone would always suggest I bring dessert, because they knew it would be a pie.  But something happened, maybe 10 or 15 years ago.  The pie crusts just weren’t turning out.  And as far as I’m concerned, no crust no pie. So I’ve passed the family mantle along to my daughter, who not only makes wonderful pies, they are works of art.

My Sugar free apple pie from 2009

Chocolate Peanut Butter,  chocolate peanut butter cream cheese tart, Strawberry rhubarb, flaky pie crust,  apple sour cream, applesauce pie, raisin (sugarless), cheesecake pumpkin, onion pie, apple dumplings, peach fluff pie,    cheeseburger in paradise pie,

My daughter’s artistic pies.

I used to be a dog person.  Since 1976 we’ve always had a cat (Mystery, We Be Three, Lotza Spotza, who is now about 18). When I was a child we always had a dog around. Lassie. Lassie 2. Pretty. Brownie (or was his name Fluffy?). Zero. Jerry. Lady. Polka dot.  Lady and Polka dot were Dalmatians. Lassie, Pretty and Brownie were part collie.  Zero was a mixed hound who “followed” me home one day (with a lot of encouragement). We left Lassie at my grandmother’s when we went to California in 1944—he died in a tractor accident.

I used to be a horse fan. Now I just enjoy looking at them. I would spend my afternoons at the Ranz’ horse/cattle barn near our home, I would ride the horses of friends, and I was fearless.  The Wiggins children  had a blind pony which I would ride bareback along the hi-way. I would draw pictures of horses and write stories.  My brother and I would build snow horses in the yard.  I saved all my babysitting and paper route money and finally when I was 11 years old I bought a horse.  Got over it.

I used to draw and paint, both as a child and an adult. I probably haven’t painted anything in 4 years. Mainly I did watercolor most recently, but back in the 70s I did a lot of paintings using acrylics. When I was a child my mother would get rolls of discontinued wall paper for me to use, and provided stacks of used white newsprint from the printing plant in Mt. Morris. My grandmother gave me a box of oil paints when I was about 10 and gave me her old supplies.  I still have my wood box. Our schools didn’t have art classes, but one year my mother took a typing class in night school in Freeport, and I went along and took an art class.  I didn’t like it because I was the only child in the class and couldn’t draw horses.

Watercolor paintings from several years ago; I think these are studies done in classes I took.

Paintings from the 1970s when I used my children as subjects.

I used to not appear in public in jeans and athletic shoes. After I retired, I was always well dressed when I went to the coffee shop, then would change when I got home. Until about 2010, I always wore high heels with my slacks.  After exercise class I would go home and change clothes rather than appear in the grocery store in my athletic clothes.  Somewhere after 70 I decided that was probably wasted energy.  Now I can look as much a slob as other retired people.

I used to be a Democrat—for 40 years. I voted for George W. Bush in 2000 and haven’t looked back.  I may have been a Conservative for many years before since I am an evangelical Christian, was pro-business, and I was pro-life even as a Democrat. When my husband started his own business in 1994 I really had my eyes open, but it took awhile for that to translate to politics. That said, it still bothers me that Republicans are like bulls in a china closet, and can’t hang together to accomplish something or use a crisis the way the Democrats do.

I used to hate exercise.  Actually, I still do. But I’ve participated in an exercise class at church most years since I retired. For 2015 I’ve been riding my nice Power Spin Gold’s Gym stationery bike, and by doing just a mile at a time about 6 or 7 times a day, I’ve found something that doesn’t hurt my legs and yet is good cardio and burns calories. I’ve ridden 1500 miles since Christmas and lost 35 pounds in 6 months. I could say “I used to weigh 170 lbs.”

I used to sing.  About 9 years ago I decided to join the church choir. I grew up in a home with music and I missed that. I even sang in a little quartet with my siblings. Only one of us had the talent and determination to become a musician and it wasn't me, but I did take piano lessons and play trombone as well as participate in choirs until I graduated from high school.  At UALC in 2006  I just loved it thinking my soprano range would come back.  The director Mike Martin was wonderful. But the voice didn’t come back.  If you don’t use something for 50 years, there are penalties.  So after a year I gave it up.

A poetry prompt from Tweetspeak this week was on games.  So I chose Hide and Seek and worked in the “I used to” theme. I used to write poetry, but hadn’t done it for several years.

-----------------------------------------

Poetry prompt--games

Hide and seek, 1950 and 2015

I used to run through damp grass at dusk
Hiding behind fat trees--or in the garage,
Excited that the all the kids showed up at our house.

Now I scan the shelves for my car keys
Looking for my purse--it’s not where I put it,
Concerned that the dinner date is in fifteen minutes

Move over Christian prayer, here comes Mindfulness

The October 6 issue of JAMA explores the promise of mindfulness as medicine.

http://jama.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=2449182

Mindfulness is. . . Buddhism.  It’s being welcomed with open arms (and money) in public institutions that would never permit instruction in prayer or Christian meditation.

Mindfulness is a Buddhist concept and practice, the seventh step of the Eightfold Path. Mindfulness is more than a meditative practice; it is an outlook on life and reality that ideally results from a type of meditation designed to cultivate detachment. Detachment in Buddhism is necessary, because Buddhism teaches that attachment to this world, to your thinking, to your identity as an individual self, and other attachments, such as desires, keep you in the cycle of rebirth.

Buddhism holds that the self does not exist, and identification with the self keeps you in that cycle of rebirth. Therefore, to achieve liberation from this cycle, one must break the attachment, so detachment is necessary. Mindfulness is the method, and detachment with ultimate liberation is its goal. Mindfulness is often defined as a moment-by-moment nonjudgmental awareness of the present. For many years, this writer attempted to incorporate mindfulness into her life prior to becoming a Christian.

Though thoroughly Buddhist, mindfulness has been heavily promoted to the secular world by Jon Kabat-Zinn (b. 1944), a Zen Buddhist, whose book, Wherever You Go, There You Are, brought him into the public eye; and by Thich Nhat Hanh (b. 1926), a Zen Buddhist from Vietnam whose books have enjoyed great success in the West. Both lecture around the United States. Read more: http://christiananswersforthenewage.org/Articles_Mindfulness.html

How much data mining would you accept to be safe?

Mercer was booted from the military and had a suicide attempt. Data mining can stop some crimes--but police still have to do the leg work.

"A software program alerts police to a social-media posting by an individual of interest in their jurisdiction. An algorithm reminds them why the individual had become a person of interest—a history of mental illness, an episode involving a neighbor. Months earlier, discreet inquires by police had revealed an unhealthy obsession with weapons—key word, unhealthy. There’s no reason why gun owners, range operators and firearms dealers shouldn’t be a source of information for local police seeking information about who might merit special attention."

Wall St. Journal

For my trolls; here’s my plan

If you think Obama is wonderful and Carson is a clown, well, there’s just not much help for you.

Why is Obama in Oregon?

Chicago, Obama's home town, probably wonders why he didn't go there instead of Oregon to talk about the problem of gun violence.  Mike at Homicide Watch Chicago (Suntimes) notes: "More children have been victims of gun violence in the city of Chicago in the past 2 years, than all of U.S " mass school shootings " in the last decade. " 

I didn't check his stats--he was commenting on the death of a 15 year old this week, but nationally the rate of firearm homicide in 2010 for blacks was 14.6 per 100,000, compared to 1.9 for whites. Washington Post said it was twice as high in one article, another 4x and another 6x. Dept. of Justice figures says 6.3x.  (NCJ 243035)

http://touch.latimes.com/#section/-1/article/p2p-84653981/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gun_laws_in_Illinois

Chicago has no gun stores.  Chicago's police department seizes more illegal weapons than any other in the nation — nearly 20 a day for a total of 5,500 so far this year. Black Illinois law makers have blocked stiffer penalties for illegal gun possession saying it would lock up more black men.  Duh!

http://my.chicagotribune.com/#section/-1/article/p2p-84647473/

People Magazine wants you to use its form to contact your Congress member about gun control

What is OpenCongress--the website that is collecting your personal information as you e-mail your Congress member (supposedly it reroutes it)? Well, as you might guess, it's a far left non-profit, tax exempt organization funded by Soros among others. This hoax will help build a database of both pro and con gun control/confiscation voters. People Magazine is promoting contacting Congress through this source about gun control. Shame on People Magazine for not making it clear that someone is taking names.

In this week's issue of PEOPLE, Editorial Director Jess Cagle used his Editor's Letter to address the frequency of mass shootings in America. Below, we have published Cagle's letter, and also provided contact information for all 535 voting members of the House and Senate. We urge readers to contact their elected representatives to make their voices heard.

http://www.people.com/article/preventing-gun-violence-people-call-to-action-jess-cagle

The Omnibus Crime bill made us safer

but it did fill up the prisons.

The Omnibus Crime Bill was passed in 1993 providing stiffer sentences and more money for crime control. Firearm-related homicides declined 39%, from 18,253 in 1993 to 11,101 in 2011. Nonfatal firearm crimes declined 69%, from 1.5 million victimizations in 1993 to 467,300 victimizations in 2011. In 2010, the rate of firearm homicide for blacks was 14.6 per 100,000, compared to 1.9 for whites, a decline of 51% for blacks and 48% for whites.

If I can find these BJS stats, then why can't the media? What will decrease mass shootings are armed security guards in schools and malls.

The history of mandatory sentencing is tied to slavery.

"Congress also used mandatory minimum penalties in its efforts to end the importation of slaves. The Constitution prohibited Congress from curtailing or abolishing the importation of slaves before 1808. In advance of the 1808 date, and with President Thomas Jefferson’s urging, Congress passed an Act prohibiting the importation of slaves in February 1807. Among other provisions, the 1807 Act prohibited citizens from bringing slaves into the United States or serving on a vessel that transported slaves. These offenses carried mandatory minimum penalties of at least five years and two years of imprisonment, respectively. However, the mandatory minimum penalties were much less severe than the mandatory death penalty many in the House of Representatives wanted to attach to these offenses, on grounds that importing human beings was a crime of morality and akin to murder. Other offenses created by the 1807 Act, such as outfitting slave vessels and purchasing or selling illegally imported slaves, carried only fines.”

 http://www.ussc.gov/sites/default/files/pdf/news/congressional-testimony-and-reports/mandatory-minimum-penalties/20111031-rtc-pdf/Chapter_02.pdf

The heat is on—Dr. Carson

It's very difficult for the world--academic or political--to accept a genuine black and brilliant American. Remember how Biden described Obama? "I mean, you got the first mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy," Biden said. "I mean, that's a storybook, man." But he was right, and it made Obama acceptable to white liberals who were accustomed to giving blacks hand outs.

The media are really ratcheting up their criticism and slicing and dicing his words to make him look like a minstrel clown. Carson has never been my first choice, but he’s looking better all the time.

Government can take away what it first gives

Catholic schools have a 99% graduation rate and 97% go on to advanced schooling; much higher than public schools. (In Ohio, Cleveland about 66%; Columbus about 78% graduate.) And it goes beyond excellent academics--religious based schools include agreed upon values. That said, I really don't like government subsidies for private and religious schools. Technically, it’s not aid--it’s reimbursement for auxiliary services to comply with government (at all levels) mandates. Private schools also receive bus transportation and I think on Lake Erie they get transportation to the mainland for high school just like public school students. And yes, I know these schools actually save the taxpayer money, first by graduating good students, and second by relieving pressure in local schools. Still, if you accept the money, you have to accept the consequences of dancing with the one who brought (or bought) you.

The government has forced Catholics out of the adoption business by denying funding on which it had become dependent because they won’t place children in gay families, and it is pushing the hospitals to perform abortions.  Promoting a social agenda is more important than a child’s well being or a patient’s health. It wants to close down nursing homes run by nuns if they won’t comply with contraception mandates for staff, and it’s only a matter of time before that includes abortion.

Thoughts?

Happy Blogiversary to me

I have been blogging since Oct. 1, 2003. I don't know when blogger.com (owned by Google) began recording statistics (not the original owner), but it says I've had 1,063,099 visitors. That doesn't mean they stopped to read or leave a comment, just that some algorithm sprinkled fairy dust as it went by.

I actually began on Oct. 3, but that didn’t look tidy, so I ‘back filled,” and Oct. 1, 2003 is a collection of links to my blogs.

Those calling for more gun control probably haven’t read the law

Before suggesting more gun control laws, how are current laws about possession, sale and shipment being enforced? Obama is releasing thousands already convicted of drug offenses. How long before they have a gun in hand--illegally under federal law? The Oregon shooter was clean on all these flags. He was anti-social, hated religion, had a crazy mother, divorced parents, was bi-racial, probably used marijuana as a teen, and narcissistically sought attention. But that fits millions who don't kill people. At least one in a very high position in government who is hostile toward many with different values.

• These categories in the The Gun Control Act include any person:
• Under indictment or information in any court for a crime punishable by imprisonment for a term exceeding one year;
• convicted of a crime punishable by imprisonment for a term exceeding one year;
• who is a fugitive from justice;
• who is an unlawful user of or addicted to any controlled substance;
• who has been adjudicated as a mental defective or has been committed to any mental institution;
• who is an illegal alien;
• who has been discharged from the military under dishonorable conditions;
• who has renounced his or her United States citizenship;
• who is subject to a court order restraining the person from harassing, stalking, or threatening an intimate partner or child of the intimate partner; or
• who has been convicted of a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence (enacted by the Omnibus Consolidated Appropriations Act of 1997, Pub. L. No. 104-208, effective September 30, 1996). 18 USC 922(g) and (n).

Federal Register Notice—Publication
- NICS Notice of Final Rule RIN 1110-AA27

Regulations
- Federal Firearms Regulation Reference Guide Index (pdf)
- National Instant Criminal Background Check System Regulations (pdf)
- NICS Amendments, Federal Register, July 23, 2004
- Brady Implementation (pdf)
- Privacy Act of 1974; Notice of New System of Records (Proposed Rule)
- Exemption of System of Records Under the Privacy Act
- Temporary Rule: Misdemeanor Crimes of Domestic Violence (ATF) (Proposed Rule)
- Proposed rulemaking cross-referenced to Temporary Rule

Related Sites
- Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) | ATF Forms

Statutes
- Brady Law (P.L. 103-159, Title I; 107 Stat. 1536)
- 1968 Gun Control Act, as amended by Brady Law (18 U.S.C. Chapter 44)
- Prohibited categories (18 U.S.C. § 922(g) (1)-(9) and (n))
- Lautenberg Amendment (18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(9))

Stuff happens

Jeb Bush's choice of words "stuff happens" after the Oregon shooting was really bad. But not nearly as bad or disgusting as liberals calling abortions on demand "women's health."

And what’s up with Ted Strickland a former Methodist minister, former Ohio governor and his support for abortion?

Imagine basing your life's work and your party membership on something so ugly and horrifying as abortion. Shame on you, Ted.

A college classmate of his writes:

“Oh how the mighty have fallen! There goes the last of my respect for my old college classmate. I had hoped he would reconsider his party affiliation when, at the Dem's national convention, his entire party loudly booed his motion to add the words "God-given" to the party platform. His committee had submitted the motion without the word and sought to add it at the convention. He stood there with a "deer in the headlights" expression as the representatives repeatedly booed. Then the master of ceremony did what Dems traditionally do - he ruled the way he thought was politically expedient instead of the way the representatives voted. He declared that the "Ayes" had prevailed. I thought, "Oh, now Ted will get it. He’'ll finally see that his party doesn't want God in it."  Nope. Apparently he still doesn't get it.

Signed Sealed Delivered—a terrific series on Hallmark

Last night I watched "Signed sealed delivered" on Hallmark Movie Channel and loved it. Great story, terrific ensemble cast, quirky humor, just enough suspense to qualify as a mystery, strong values. The breaking of a secret code included Bible verses, childhood memories, and a line from the national anthem. And all of the characters are conversant in the Bible! How cool is that? I'm definitely a fan. The producer and writer is a Christian (Touched by an Angel) and without being pushy or obvious, includes many statements of faith and complex relationships. One main character grew up in foster care, one in a dysfunctional family abandoned by his mother. The issue of bullying is also a sub-theme.  I assume there will be more back stories on the four characters who are postal detectives as I watch more (I think there have been 10 so far, and I watched 3 last night). The actors all seem to be Canadian. And very talented.

I thought the main male lead looked familiar but couldn’t place him.  He used to be on Ugly Betty.

I read that it was originally a weekly series on regular Hallmark, then became movie length and moved to the movie channel. Expanding to a movie length leaves a lot of long looks and pauses to fill the time, imo, plus room for hundreds of commercials, but still good stories.

Martha Williamson, producer and writer: “I was interviewed on "60 Minutes" once and the interviewer asked, "Are you trying to use the show to evangelize?" And I said that they didn't hire me to write a Christian TV show and I'm not a Christian writer, I'm a television writer and a producer who is a Christian. As a result, I cannot compromise what my faith is and my belief. I can't do that. I will say that if a believer's faith is strengthened or if an unbeliever finds their way to the thrown of God, that is one heck of a dividend. For me, that is such a wonderful confirmation that I'm doing what I have been called to do.”
Read more at http://www.christianpost.com/news/next-step-of-faith-for-touched-by-an-angel-producer-hallmark-movie-signed-sealed-delivered-for-christmas-interview-130080/#T0Z2BrY9XpbD8Gk4.99

From the Annual Report

And you donated?

Feast of St. Francis.

Many churches in the United States celebrate the Feast of St Francis of Assisi on October 4 each year. The feast commemorates the life of St Francis, who was born in the 12th century and is the Catholic Church’s patron saint of animals and the environment. It is a popular day for pets to be “blessed”. Many liturgical churches also commemorate this day. The concern for the earth didn’t begin on Earth Day—it began in Genesis.

  http://www.timeanddate.com/holidays/us/st-francis-assisi-feast

There’s a movie (1961) about St. Francis on You Tube. I think I saw it a few years ago. I started watching it this morning, but will need to mark it for view later.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rG5jVcYA1aM

From IMBd review:

Francis Bernardone (Bradford Dillman) is the son of a wealthy cloth merchant in Assisi, who gives up all his worldly goods to dedicate himself to God. Clare (Dolores Hart) is a young aristocratic woman who, according to the film, is so taken with St. Francis that she leaves her family and becomes a nun. By this time (1212 A.D.), St. Francis has a well-established reputation for his vows of poverty. The movie goes on to note miracles (such as the appearance of the stigmata on Francis's hands and feet) and other aspects of his life, up to and including his death on October 3, 1226.

In real life, as opposed to reel life, Dolores Hart does become a nun.