Tolerating violence

How to teach English spelling, a review

I used to think that if you learned a few rules for the exceptions, and memorized a few words that made no sense at all, English spelling wasn't that outlandish. Then I received this book to review. The author has 52 rules and 151 lists. And by my count some of the rules have sub-rules, like rule 20 for the suffix pronounced SHUN: tion, sion, ssion, tian, cian, cion, shion, xion, sian and cean. Because my computer often corrects me, I think my spelling has become impaired. I may be looking for a teacher who will give this one a good home after I finish it.

  

John J. Fulford, How to teach English spelling, Astoria Press, 2018.  ISBN 978-09963799-2-2, 125 p. PB, $15.95

He also has a title, “The complete guide to English spelling rules” 2012.

Fulford has lived and worked in several countries and has spent his life researching and perfecting English spelling rules while he taught grades K-12 through college, adult ed and ESL.

Who spends more in lobbying, NRA or Planned Parenthood?

"NRA has contributed $4.2 million to current members of Congress since 1998. But Planned Parenthood, the nation’s largest #abortion seller and recipient of half a BILLION dollars in taxpayer funding every year, spent $38 million on the 2016 election alone.” (DAILY CALLER)

Although I think these numbers are a bit squishy (NRA has spent more than that if you count ALL members of Congress since 1998, not just current) and Planned Parenthood has spent more if you count all the organizations and state campaigns (and it makes money selling fetal body parts). But even the left of the left HuffPo says $30 million in 2016 campaign to fight Trump. The end result, NRA spends a fraction on lobbying that PP does, and has never killed any one. Yet Planned Parenthood has killed millions and left broken, damaged women in its wake and launders our tax money to give to Democrats' campaigns.

Good-bye microbes

I’ve dropped the on-line class from Coursera, Gut Microbiome.  It was just sort of creepy, although very interesting.  I’d finished the first week’s video lectures and outside readings and assignment, and aced the first quiz.  I learned a lot even then, but thinking about 100 trillion microbes and all the medical problems they help and hinder was just not a peaceful way to live.

The What Ifs of the Florida school shooting

There are a lot of "what ifs" in the Plantland high school shooting. What if the shooter had been black--people would said he was responding to racism. Blame Trump. What if the shooter had been Muslim--people would have said he was responding to anti-Islamic hate. Blame Trump. What if he'd been LGBTQ--people would have said he was bullied. Blame Trump. What if there had been no "gun free zone" and the school guards had been armed and changing their route every day? Perhaps no shooting, or authorities could have been called before the fact. Tiny mention on news.

Settle in for a great movie, Door to Door

There's just nothing like being from a small town. Someone on Facebook asked: "Does anyone who lives or lived in Mt. Morris remember who the Fuller Brush Man was that came to town once a month?" I hadn't thought of him in years, but remember his coming to the house.

Do you remember the movie, Door to Door, starring William Macy? He was a Watkins salesman, not Fuller Brush, but really a great movie of persistence and love. I didn't remember his assistant was Kyra Sedgwick. http://www.thecityreview.com/door2door.html  If you need something to watch these long winter evenings, “that’s your ticket.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/10/us/bill-porter-an-exceptional-salesman-who-inspired-a-film-dies-at-81.html

Finger pointing

According to Washington Post: "The [FL social services] investigation [in Sept. 2016] detailed several unnerving behaviors from Cruz, including that he had cut his arms on Snapchat, had a Nazi symbol and a racial epithet on his backpack and intended to purchase a gun for unknown reasons, according to a Florida Department of Children and Families report obtained by The Washington Post. Ultimately, the investigation was closed in November 2016, just months before Cruz bought the AR-15 assault-style rifle that police say he would later use in the massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla."

The investigation, which disclosed a poor relationship with his mother, his girlfriend and other erratic behavior, was closed a year before his mother died. I believe I read somewhere she was 68--old enough to be his great grandmother and his father was deceased. He was never on welfare, or in foster care. He had been diagnosed with mental illness and was on medication for depression. His mental health deterioration appeared to worse after he was an adult, and that's when DCF services end.

Lots of finger pointing, state services, county services, FBI, NRA, DCF, the school, his mother, the Snead family who took him in when he was orphaned, "social" media which promotes anti-social, criminal behavior, the gun seller, and the lax Florida gun laws. I'm supposing any confidential records of his mental health will be leaked.

I think we all know the proposed march in March will be just one more anti-Trump vehicle for the left to express its rage that Trump is our President. There were so many laws broken or ignored both by the assailant and the government at 3 levels, it's hard to see how one more or 10 more could have prevented this or something like it.

The breaking point

“Poll reveals Americans are hitting their breaking point on the environment” screamed the headline from a librarian source, beSpacific. EEK! How awful!! A breaking point!

Of course, going to the source, Gallup poll, you see it is a 2% higher dissatisfaction than when George Bush was in office, (sampling error is ±4 percentage points at the 95% confidence level) and the change from 2016 is among Democrats. Nothing has changed for Republicans' view of the environment in 18 years. The survey was to be about quality of the environment, and nothing has changed except Trump’s policies, which are to free business from Obama’s strangle hold executive order regulations.

Everything President Trump has done is being fought by Democrats in an organized resistance aided by our media, including what he has done for the economy (crumbs) and security (racist). And we all know he was responsible for the hurricanes and fires of 2017—which were reflected in the dissatisfaction poll. He’s that powerful!

The renewed campaign against President Trump

It’s interesting to see how the anti-Trump media spins the new Russia report. "See, it's not a hoax" they clap and jump up and down. All while knowing the witch hunt and hoax was always about the Russia, Russia, Russia scheme to claim Trump stole the election from Clinton. There is no evidence that even one vote was changed, or that Trump was anyway involved, or ANY American, and the report vindicates him completely.

The Obama administration knew about Russia's attempts and did nothing to protect our election system—except toss out a few sanctions and point fingers just in case their chosen candidate didn't win. Blame Trump, of course, for her lame campaign. That was known in 2014 long before the report and only as she fumbled did the O-team take notice. Meanwhile, the Democrats fought every measure to insure clean elections by stonewalling proven methods to protect us from our homegrown criminals who try to steal elections.

https://www.politico.com/story/2017/08/14/obama-russia-election-interference-241547

The report on the Russians and the election

"With their paid, activist-trained protesters at virtually all Republican townhalls, the violence these resistance PACs foment on our university campuses, their Soros-funded protest marches, their almost venal pro-abortion litmus test, their blatant hypocrisy re: the firing of Comey, the media and the Democrats may think they are winning over all those ignorant Trump supporters. But they are not. They are demonstrating for all to see just how elitist they are, how dismissive they are of those of us who voted for him, and how disparaging they are of the US Constitution. They are confirming that they value illegal immigrants over citizens, Muslims over Christians, criminals over law-abiding persons. They support calculated gender confusion, speech codes, the tyranny of political correctness, and the construction of victim groups. All humans, with the exception of heterosexual white males, are victims of oppression of one kind or another. The left revels in pitting people against each other.

https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2017/05/the_mediademocratic_party_suicide_pact.html

Instead of fake news, we have truth decay

Defining Truth Decay

Heightened disagreement about facts and analytical interpretations of data

There have always been differences of opinion within the American electorate. But disagreements about objective facts and topics for which data are reasonably definitive have become increasingly common. Examples include the benefits of vaccines and the safety of genetically modified foods.

The Blurred Line Between Opinion and Fact

Changes in media content and the media business model have contributed to the jumbling of fact, fiction, and opinion. Examples include journalistic content that fails to distinguish between opinion and fact, news programs that rely on commentary rather than factual reporting without clearly labelling them, and social media platforms that allow anyone to become a source of information.

Increased Volume and Influence of Opinion and Personal Experience Across the Communications Landscape

The growth in the volume of subjective content relative to factual information increases the likelihood that audiences will encounter speculation or downright falsehoods. That makes it more difficult to identify key pieces of factual information.

Diminished Trust in Formerly Respected Institutions as Sources of Factual Information

Polling data from across the country show a significant drop, and continuing decline, in public trust in such institutions as the government and the media. Amid confusion about what is fact and what is falsehood, where people should turn for objective, factual information also becomes unclear.

https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_briefs/RB10002.html

Paula on blaming the NRA for Florida shootings

February 16th – The least surprising headline of the week comes from the Daily Caller: “Leftists Blame NRA For Florida School Shooting” And naturally they blame Trump too. Here are some possible reasons these leftists will never mention:

1) LA Daily News 2017: “Is this the most violent movie year in history?”

2) Reuters 2017: “Social media linked to feelings of isolation in real life”

3) CBS DC 2014: “Psychologist: YouTube Has Become Tutorial For Kids On How To Act Violent”

4) US News 2015: “Overprescribing and Underperforming” Subtitle: “Mental health care for youth in the U.S. relies too heavily on antipsychotics and too little on comprehensive treatment.”

5) Foundation for Economic Education 2018: “Fatherless Families Are Far Too Common.”

6) The Atlantic 2017: “America’s Empty-Church Problem.”

So who’s responsible for Nikolas Cruz? Not us says Hollywood, social media billionaires, YouTube, medical professionals or a pop culture that for decades has mocked traditional values. Simple-minded leftists love blaming imaginary villains to avoid blaming themselves! Paula Priesse

The homework assignment #1

Based on what you already know about the human gut microbiota, what do you think are the most important factors influencing a person’s gut microbes? These factors can be anything from lifestyle factors to health status. List three factors and explain (in three sentences or fewer for each) why you think each might affect gut microbes.

The human body is like an ecosystem with many distinct habitats for microbes.  The mouth, nose, lungs, skin, vagina, and gut all have unique microbiota, with the gut being  the center of most of the microbial activity in the body and thus the research.  Three very early factors influence the gut microbiota of an individual over time.

First, in a newborn baby the microbiota are less distinct. As she grows her microbial communities begin to develop, the results depending on whether her birth was vaginal or c-section.  Obviously, from the beginning of time, the most common source of  human microbiota in a newborn was the birth canal of our mothers.  With surgical intervention the theory is that a child is exposed to the mother’s skin microbes instead of vaginal microbes, the genus lactobacillus, important for human health. C-section babies appear to have more diseases like asthma and allergies.

Second, after about 2.5 years, the baby’s gut microbial community should be like a healthy adult, but it has already been influenced by microbes on the parents’ skin, breast milk from her mother or formula from a cow or plant based, and choice of solid foods some of which may be processed.

Third, the child’s microbiota develop within a particular culture--perhaps Finland or Haiti--which includes both home environment and medical care. The home may expose her to animals, siblings, dust and dirt, exposure to rural or city air quality, travel, day care and the neighbor’s kids who will do their share of exchanging microbes.  If the child grows up in the U.S. or other developed nations she will receive  medical care which may include vaccines, antibiotics and nutritional supplements depending on the culture.  This can either assist or disrupt a healthy microbiota.

Finally, immigration is being debated by those charged with the job in the Constitution

Thanks to President Trump, Senators are debating immigration this week in a way the Senate was intended to function—with open debate and amendments and not by executive order. (WSJ paraphrase)

Obama said many times that he by law wasn't allowed to do what he did, but he did it. "Responding in October 2010 to demands that he implement immigration reforms unilaterally, Obama declared, "I am not king. I can't do these things just by myself." In March 2011, he said that with "respect to the notion that I can just suspend deportations through executive order, that's just not the case." In May 2011, he acknowledged that he couldn't "just bypass Congress and change the (immigration) law myself. ... That's not how a democracy works."

Yet in 2012, he did it anyway. He put DACA in place to provide pseudo-legal status to illegal aliens brought to the U.S. as minors, including as teenagers. He promised them that they wouldn't be deported and provided them with work authorizations and access to Social Security and other government benefits."

https://www.heritage.org/immigration/commentary/daca-unconstitutional-obama-admitted

It has worked beautifully

The Russians realized in 2015-16 “that a disinformation campaign could raise the specter of collusion with either party, which would then weaken the presidency no matter which candidate won.”

The Democratic National Committee, through the research firm Fusion GPS, financed the efforts of British spy Christopher Steele to create a phony dossier on candidate Trump.

Then there is the Nunes memo, the Grassly-Graham letter, and strange  rulings of the FISA court and fingers seem to point at former President Obama’s administration.

https://www.hoover.org/research/steele-dossier-intrigue

BibleOpoly

We had lunch at our friends' home yesterday and then we divided into teams and played BibleOpoly. Lots of fun and laughter, as we paid rent, took offerings, went to purgatory/meditation, the abyss, passed Go, bought property in Tyre and Corinth, while we bought materials to build our churches.

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Bibleopoly-Board-Game/11035061

What do Democrats stand for?

Now the Democrats are going to fight infrastructure improvements just as they've stonewalled tax cuts, support for the military, and shot down the DACA solutions--just because they weren't their idea. The bumper sticker creators for the 2018 elections will have a lot of material.

"For too long, lawmakers have invested in infrastructure inefficiently, ignored critical needs, and allowed it to deteriorate. As a result, the United States has fallen further and further behind other countries," Trump's message read. "It is time to give Americans the working, modern infrastructure they deserve."

http://money.cnn.com/2018/02/11/news/economy/trump-infrastructure-plan-details/index.html

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-met-trump-infrastucture-illinois-20180212-story.html

http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2018/02/11/schumer-trump-infrastructure-plan/

What if Rob Porter were a woman?

The latest hype in the media about a White House secretary reminds me of all the security clearance problems Bill Clinton had because he was using his wife's suggestions. I tried to check Google, but the algorithms are all set to show me only left leaning sources like Vox, WaPo, New York Times, etc. on Porter. Oh, the outrage. Now if Rob Porter (who denies the claims) were a female staff member who abused her ex-husbands, we'd never hear about it.

Most abused men don't report it--either police won't believe them, or they don't want to be exposed as a wimp, but it's not uncommon. Also abuse among LGBTQ is very high, but not discussed in the media. "The National Violence Against Women (NVAW) survey found that 21.5% of men and 35.4% of women reporting a history of cohabitation with a same-sex partner had experienced physical abuse in their lifetimes; the corresponding rates for men and women with a history of only opposite-sex cohabitation were 7.1% and 20.4%, respectively." Journal of General Internal Medicine, Aug. 2011.

https://www.sltrib.com/news/nation-world/2018/02/07/white-house-staff-secretary-rob-porter-resigns-after-allegations-of-spousal-abuse/

Letter to my statistics professor

You are in Cape Town, and I’m in Columbus, Ohio.  Through the miracle of on-line learning and MOOC, I am in week 6 of your Coursera offering on Understanding Medical Research, in which you often stress the importance of statistics, choosing the right tests, and having access to the original data. I'm definitely a statistical outlier among your students--I'm 78 and retired in 2000, and have had no math since 1955. And although this class doesn't demand a heavy background in math, I even had to review fractions, percent, and square root!

So, in the Nov. 28, 2017 JAMA there is an article, "Adherence to Methodological Standards in Research Using the National Inpatient Sample," that caught my eye, and impressed upon me everything you've been teaching us. I was surprised to read that of 120 articles (the sample) of the 1082 (the population) published in a 2 year period using data from 35 million hospitalizations in the U.S., 85% did not adhere to 1 or more required practices of the AHRQ (Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality), and 62% did not adhere to 2 or more required practices. A total of 79 of the 120 in the sample (68.3%) did not account for sampling error, clustering, and stratification; 62 (54.4%) extrapolated non-specific secondary diagnoses to infer in-hospital events, and so forth.
So I began linking the people involved; not only did the researchers get it wrong, the peer reviewers missed the errors, as did the editors of the medical journals (some with a high impact factor). The articles with incorrect statistical information were used to get promotion and tenure at universities.  Possibly policies and regulations for hospitals may result from some of these published articles with careless statistics, or, a "medical journalist" will attempt to translate the results for a layman, and it will be reported in the media.

In the U.S. we have been subjected to a horribly expensive electronic medical records law which all physicians and hospitals had to incorporate (I think it began around 2010).  There was no evidence this would improve medical care, but it was apparently "needed" so researchers had more data to mine.  I still have to ask for my medical visits from Dr. A to Dr. B, two miles apart, to be faxed because these systems don't talk to each other. Now with all this data ready to be mined, someone will mess up the statistics!

So, Dr. Juan Klopper, you are definitely needed, and will never run out of things to talk about.

What a parent likes to hear, Thank You.

From Michael Smith:

"My youngest son is 29. He called me last night to thank his mother and me.

When I asked him why, he told me that he and a couple of work friends were talking about the Spacex Falcon Heavy launch test yesterday and he had to explain to one of the friends - a 25 year old college graduate - that the rocket was not electrically powered.

My son was aghast at how a person could go through 4 years of college, get a degree in accounting, hold down a job for nearly three years and still have absolutely no concept of basic physical science. His friend believed the rocket had Tesla batteries in it. How that could create thrust, she couldn't explain - but she was really happy it was environmentally safe. His friend was totally blown away when it was explained to her the rocket was not battery powered but burned a mixture of liquid oxygen and kerosene to create thrust.

When I asked him why he was thanking us, he said "Because you and mom would never have allowed me to be that stupid."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falcon_Heavy  I don't usually cite Wikipedia, but this one looks pretty thorough, and I don't know enough about Falcon Heavy to even do the research.  But I do like it when kids say Thank You to their parents--even if they are almost 30.