Walking outside the gates of Lakeside

I had my gate pass with me this morning, so I turned and walked outside the 2nd street gate at Oak Ave., and browsed around the neatly kept neighborhood.  I walked past a man sitting on a park bench, with his right arm in a sling, typing on his laptop computer.  “I bet you’re right handed,” I said as I walked by.  “You’ve got that right,” he said, going back to his one finger typing.

I looked at the lake for awhile then turned south on Park Avenue;.very nice new homes (about 10 years old) on that street.  Then I passed a “little free library.”  Take a book, return a book.  I’d seen them on the internet but had never actually stopped to look and borrow.  It had about 12 books behind a glass door, well protected from the elements.

This one is from Pinterest—I didn’t have my camera with me. But it was very simple.

I selected, The complete guide to walking for health, weight loss and fitness.  With bursitis and asthma, my walking days are probably numbered, but I thought I’d take a look.  Can’t resist a library. There were actually some pretty nice books—I saw C.S. Lewis and John Grisham, and a few others.  Lakeside has two volunteer libraries, one at the Methodist Church and one at the Women’s Club, plus there is one in Marblehead. We also have a nice bookstore with both new and used books. And of course, yard sales, like the one where I bought the 1934 Reader’s Digest.

"Mark Fenton strides right past all the fad-and-gimmick fitness books with practical, no-nonsense advice to help people of all ages, sizes and shapes start and stick with exercise."--Miriam E. Nelson, PhD., Director of the Center for Physical Fitness, Tufts University School of Nutrition Science and Policy, and author of Strong Women, Strong Bones

"Mark Fenton is the master at helping people get the most from walking. His new book provides a highly motivating, step-by-step plan to take you as far as you want to go--from beginner to race-walk marathoner. Even I gained a wealth of new insights about the science and practical application of walking for better fitness." --Kathy Smith, author of Kathy Smith's Lift Weights to Lose Weight

"Having competed in walking races all around the world, it took having a baby and adding a couple of notches to my belt for me to realize the full value of Mark Fenton's structured approach to developing and maintaining a healthy daily walking program." --Carl Schueler, four-time Olympic race-walker (Amazon reviews)

Not even funny anymore

Remember this boondoggle—Cash for clunkers

Cash for clunkers" (part of Obama's 2009 stimulus) actually cost the auto industry 3 billion in less than a year, according to recent research. I wonder why no one ever calculates the cost to low income families, who if they could buy a c...ar, any car which was destroyed by this program, could get to work, the super market, family reunions, recreation, etc.? And how many moderate income family took on new debt to buy that environmentally friendly vehicle due to the carrot of a discount? It's about more than the auto industry losses. http://www.nber.org/papers/w20349

“Cash for Clunkers was a 2009 economic stimulus program aimed at increasing new vehicle spending by subsidizing the replacement of older vehicles. Using a regression discontinuity design, we show the increase in sales during the two month program was completely offset during the following seven to nine months, consistent with previous research. However, we also find the program's fuel efficiency restrictions induced households to purchase more fuel efficient but less expensive vehicles, thereby reducing industry revenues by three billion dollars over the entire nine to eleven month period. This highlights the conflict between the stimulus and environmental objectives of the policy. “

Ohio’s geology—history

The lecture on Ohio's geology by Scott Kell today at Lakeside Chautauqua was really great. It's interesting to see the gender mix when the government doesn't control it. I'd say 90% of this full house was male; a few weeks ago when the lecturer was from Garth's antiques and the subject was home furnishings of the Gilded Age, it was about 90% female. Speaker Scott Kell is a long time Lakesider and really presented a fascinating, well paced lecture. Best joke: "Western Ohio is so flat, that one man sat on his porch and watched his dog run away for 3 days." The hill ridges that run through Lakeside east to west are old shore lines of Lake Erie.

 

Thin Privilege

I’ve lost the link, but yesterday I saw an article about "Thin Privilege." That's like "White Privilege" but only for thin, white people. I'd say this to the author (female); wait a few years, honey, and you won't need to feel guilty about being thin and getting all those privileges. I know many women who were drop dead gorgeous and slender as teens and 20s, and by the time the 40th or 50th reunion rolls around, they were all comparing diets. What's next? "Nice skin privilege?" "Great teeth privilege?"

“That’s my boy.”

Those are said to be the proud words of a convicted terrorist, an Australian Muslim Khaled Sharrouf in Syria, who tweeted out a photo of his young son holding up the severed head of a slain Syrian soldier. No, I won't give you the link because there are photos (Australian newspaper). Too gruesome.

And now some fighters have dropped bombs on ISIS and Yazidis are “free” to flee to Syria.  Syria?  How safe is that?  Maybe if the president had done something two months ago when asked?

http://www.cnn.com/2014/08/10/world/meast/iraq-crisis/

Week 8, 2014 in Lakeside

The week begins on Saturday at Lakeside, and it was a wonderful performance by Joan Ellison and the Lakeside Symphony in a tribute to the “Music of Judy Garland.”  Ms. Ellison is a member of the voice faculty at Baldwin-Wallace and has been a guest artist at many Ohio venues. 

I attended church twice today—lakefront with pastor Jennings, and at Hoover Auditorium. Martin Marty is the guest preacher/teacher this week, and there was a wonderful quintet that played at both services, the Phoenix  Wind Project, which will also present a concert this afternoon at 3 p.m. at the Lakeside Methodist church. A flute, 2 clarinets, French horn and bassoon (I think). Wonderful sound.  Also today is a Heritage Society lecture at 2 p.m. about Lakeside “old timers.”  This week’s lecture series is, Monday and Tuesday, Ohio Geology, history, mining and fracking; and health and medicine, two on cancer, and two on memory loss. There’s a nice architectural walking tour (right in my neighborhood), but it conflicts with the geology.  I hear a lot about architecture so I opt for geology. On Tuesday I’ll need to choose between the fracking and a lecture on fashion of the Downton Abbey era, by the curator of the Kent State University Museum.

The Monday night movie in Hoover, is Meet me in St. Louis, with Judy Garland and Tom Drake.  Drake was my sister-in-law’s Uncle Buddy, brother of her mother.  My nephew looks a lot like him.  Tuesday is Lakeside Symphony with a talented young artist, Gavin George and Wednesday Don Knotts daughter, Karen, will present “Tied up in Knotts” a tribute to her dad (Barney Fife) who died in 2006. On Thursday there is acoustic folk/rock guitarist Al Stewart, with the LSO finishing the week on Friday with violinist Jinjoo Cho and cellist Ana Kim.  And finally, there’s a movie at the local theater that I’d like to see “The Fault in our Stars.”

Wednesday night we’re having guests for dinner, so I’m hoping for good weather—5 people is a tight squeeze in our tiny kitchen.  Then on Friday and Saturday James and Leah from Cleveland will be visiting with us.

If it will fit in our car, my husband may bring back our family room couch for the cottage.  The couch here is probably 70 years old, and when we bought the cottage in 1988, we decided we would get rid of it. . . my how time flies.

Focus, people

The Friday Foreign Affairs Forum at Lakeside

At yesterday's Foreign Affairs Forum one woman said, "I still support President Obama. . . yada, yada" and that in itself didn't surprise me--Lakeside is a highly educated community with progressives retired from university faculties as common as summer flowers and perch sandwiches. But I was tempted to say, "Why? Can you name anything, particularly in foreign affairs, that he has touched that has gone well?" What country where we have national interests is better off than in 2008? We were discussing Gaza, Ukraine, and ISIS. Has he shown leadership there or in Libya, Pakistan, Nigeria, or Somalia? American women get free birth control with bragging rights for the president, and middle eastern women and girls get rape, slavery and beheading. Then he wines and dines African potentates at the White House who suck up American aid for lavish life styles. But I kept quiet. I'm just telling you.

http://www.whitehouse.gov/us-africa-leaders-summit

http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2014/08/05/photos-obama-toasts-african-leaders-at-white-house-dinner/

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/reliable-source/wp/2014/08/05/live-watch-as-african-leaders-and-vips-arrive-at-the-white-house/

It’s not true that Obama didn’t know what was coming with ISIS

It may look like Obama was just dumb and caught flat footed when ISIS (aka ISIL or IS) overran Iraq and began killing Muslims and Christians, beheading and crucifying and raping.  But he was warned.  Many times.

“It’s simply not true that nobody saw a disaster like the fall of Mosul coming,” Ali Khedery, who served as a senior adviser at the U.S. embassy in Baghdad, told The Daily Beast. “I can’t speak for anyone else, but I literally predicted this in verbal warnings and in writing in 2010 that Iraq would fall apart.”

“I and a zillion other people said in 2014 that we needed to do more than the very slow and inadequate reaction,” added James Jeffrey, a former U.S. ambassador to Iraq. “If [ISIS] could move in and seize Fallujah and they were on the offensive, and they were active in Mosul and Nineweh [province] too, the army was lethargic and not doing very well, at that point there was a possibility for us to provide air strikes and advisers.”

Instead, the Obama policy meandered through a series of half-measures. . .

While the policy process in Washington was frozen, U.S. intelligence analysts still filed their warnings about major weaknesses in Iraq’s military. Both the CIA and the Defense Intelligence Agency have issued reported analysis for nearly a year warning that Iraq’s military would not be able to stand up against a sustained campaign from ISIS.”

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/07/06/why-the-white-house-ignored-all-those-warnings-about-isis.html

The cost of war

I’ve seen a lot of people try to explain what money spent on the Iraq and Afghanistan wars could have purchased in social services.  But that’s true of any war.  In the August 1934 Reader’s Digest, this small item appeared:

“The World War, all told, cost—apart from 30 million lives—400 billion dollars.  With that money we could have built a $2500 house, furnished it with $1000 worth of furniture, placed it on five acres of land worth $100 an acre and given this home to each and every family in the United States, Canada, Australia, England, Wales, Ireland, Scotland, France, Belgium, Germany and Russia. We could have given to each city of 20,000 inhabitants and over, in each country named, a five million dollar library and ten million dollar university.  Out of what was left we could have set aside a sum for an army of 125,000 teachers and a like salary for another army of 125,000 nurses.” Nicholas Murray Butler

Just bombs—no boots on the ground

When the media report on Obama authorizing bombing of Islamists in Iraq yesterday before leaving for a 2 week vacation, they note that he campaigned on ending the war, without reminding us that Bush ended it.

"17 November 2008 – The US and the Iraqi Government sign the US-Iraq Status of Forces Agreement providing for the withdrawal of US troops from Iraqi cities by 30 June 2009 and a complete withdrawal of US forces from Iraq by the end of 2011."

By the time Obama was elected, the heavy lifting was over, yet the media credit him for ending it. Even at the end of the 2008 campaign, it became a non-issue.  But it wasn't over was it? ISIS aka IS, a Sunni offshoot of al-Qaeda, was growing and although Obama was warned many months before we knew, nothing was done. The leader of ISIS is far more brutal than Osama could have dreamed of. Beheadings and crucifixions are far more common than with Osama.  Although we left troops in Korea in the 1950s and Germany and Japan for decades after WWII to help with stabilization, never mind Iraq--it could wing it. Perhaps if a better solution to helping Iraq get back on its feet had been worked out, there would be thousands of Iraqi minorities and Christians and Shiia still alive.

http://www.westernjournalism.com/obama-kerry-warned-isis-paid-attention/

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/08/world/middleeast/obama-weighs-military-strikes-to-aid-trapped-iraqis-officials-say.html?_r=0

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/06/12/world/middleeast/the-iraq-isis-conflict-in-maps-photos-and-video.html

Pray for the minorities in Iraq

“Please continue to pray for the Iraqi people who have fled their homes because of religious persecution. Their situation is dire--with some reports saying thousands of people hiding in the mountains are being left with two choices 1) die at the hands of the IS militants 2) die of thirst in the mountains. Please pray!

"Chaldean Patriarch Louis Sako, who heads Iraq's largest Christian denomination, said the overnight offensive had displaced 100,000 Christians.

"This is a humanitarian disaster. The churches are occupied, their crosses were taken down," he told AFP, adding that 1,500 manuscripts had been burnt."”

http://news.yahoo.com/jihadist-offensive-sparks-mass-iraq-exodus-084039459.html

Jihadist fighters moved into Qaraqosh, Iraq's largest Christian town, and surrounding areas on Wednesday night after the withdrawal of Kurdish peshmerga troops, who are stretched thin across several fronts.

"Qaraqosh, Tal Kayf, Bartella and Karamlesh have been emptied of their original population and are now under the control of the militants," Joseph Thomas, a Chaldean Catholic archbishop in northern Iraq, told AFP.

Christians flee ISIS

“UN officials said an estimated 200,000 new refugees were seeking sanctuary in the Kurdish north from Islamic extremists who had pursued them since the weekend. The city of Qaraqosh, south-east of Mosul, home to around 50,000 Christians was the latest to fall, with most residents fleeing before dawn as convoys of extremists drew near.

Other Christian towns near Mosul, including Tel Askof, Tel Keif and Qaramless have also largely been emptied. Those who remained behind have reportedly been given the same stark choice given to other minorities, including Yazidis: flee, convert to Islam, or be killed.

Christians, Yazidis and Turkmen have been at the frontlines of Iraq's war with the Islamic State (Isis) ever since the jihadist group stormed into Mosul and Tikrit and mid-June. The Iraqi army capitulated within hours, with at least 60,000 officers and soldiers fleeing on the first day of the assault alone.”

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/aug/07/isis-offensive-iraq-christian-exodus

Quoting a UNICEF spokesperson, the Washington Post reports today: “There are children dying on the mountain, on the roads. There is no water, there is no vegetation, they are completely cut off and surrounded by Islamic State. It’s a disaster, a total disaster.”  Not to worry.  The Obama administration made a statement. “The United States is committed to helping the people of Iraq as they confront. . . and so forth.”

http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/384773/1500-iraqi-civilians-were-slaughtered-yesterday-isis-and-obama-administration-issued

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-28686998

How to ride a dead horse—the church version

The tribal wisdom of the Dakota Indians—passed on from generation to generation—says that when you discover that you are riding a dead horse, the best strategy is to dismount.

Modern churches, however, have found a whole range of far more advanced strategies to use, such as:

1.     Buying a stronger whip.

2.     Changing riders.

3.     Declaring, “God told us to ride this horse.”

4.     Appointing a committee to study the horse.

5.     Threatening the horse with termination.

6.     Proclaiming, “This is the way we’ve always ridden this horse.”

7.     Develop a training session to improve our riding ability.

8.     Reminding ourselves that other churches ride this same kind of horse.

9.     Determining that riders who don’t stay on dead horses are lazy, lack drive, and have no ambition - then replacing them.

10.  Lowering the standards so that dead horses can be included.

11.  Reclassifying the horse as “living-impaired.”

12.  Hiring an outside consultant to advise on how to better ride the horse.

13.  Harnessing several dead horses together to increase the speed.

14.  Confessing boldy, “This horse is not dead, but alive!”

15.  Providing additional funding and/or training to increase the dead horse’s performance.

16.  Riding the dead horse “outside the box.”

17.  Get the horse a Web site.

18.  Killing all the other horses so the dead one doesn’t stand out.

19.  Taking a positive outlook – pronouncing that the dead horse doesn’t have to be fed, it is less costly, carries lower overhead, and therefore contributes substantially more to the bottom line of the church’s budget than do some other horses.

20.  Rewriting the expected performance requirements for all horses.

21.  Promoting the dead horse to a supervisory position.

22.  Name the dead horse, “paradigm shift” and keep riding it.

23.  Riding the dead horse “smarter, not harder.”

24.  Stating that other horses reflect compromise, and are not from God.

25.  Remembering all the good times you had while riding that horse.

Sources for this version

The Obama Blues

“Why the long downhill slide for the Obama presidency?

Short answer: He has talked his way into it.”  Daniel Henninger, WSJ

Is it really a “gift” to make all sides think he agrees with them?  Isn’t that classic passive aggressive?

"A cranial gong goes off when Barack Obama starts droppin' "g's." The American president who is seen discoursing eloquently at the African leaders summit hits the stump and suddenly he sounds like Gabby Hayes. "Folks like you are havin' a hard time makin' it when the wealthiest are grabbin' it all in for themselves." . . . "Stop bein' mad all the time. Stop just hatin' all the time." He is a politician talking his way to an approval rating in the presidential red zone that lies below 40." Daniel Henninger

We are stewards of God’s creation

On the one hand, I think we’ve made wonderful progress, using the old term,  on environmentalism.  We started vacationing on Lake Erie in 1974, and it was just beginning to turn around. Automobiles—huge improvement, as also appliances. Many of these changes have come about because of pressure groups and modest increment in government regulations.  However, climate change/global warming are a different animal.  They are primarily a dislike for modern society, and a longing for a purity in the past that never really existed (usually we think conservatives live in the past, but on this it is the opposing team). The EPA regulations are increasingly economy killers.  And also harmful to the environment.  Burning corn to fuel autos is not only bad for the environment, but causes deforestation in South America, hunger in other parts of the world and air pollution.  This is not a current administration problem, I think it was Bush’s EPA, or maybe Clinton (these things start small and grow). Certain groups see global weather changes every where and use it as an excuse to stop economic growth. There’s not been much change in the last 2 decades, and they see that as evidence of change!  Most scary to me is the reported solar flares of 2012 which could have destroyed our civilization as we know it because we’re so dependent on technology, and no one could have done a thing about it. Earth missed the solar storm by one week.  Whew.  That was close. Someone must have been praying—was it you?  Maybe God decided we needed another chance. As a Christian I see the whole climate change/earth worship as a desire to feel some control in an increasingly senseless world; others see it as a take over by a one world government. Here’s a link to our near miss.

http://www.cnn.com/2014/07/25/tech/2012-solar-storm/index.html

There's been no warming for over a decade. Could be another long cold spell. We could be heading for another 17th century cold spell. But this time we have technology on our side. Assuming some government power broker doesn't kill it.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/01/24/solar-lull-little-ice-age-sun-scientists_n_4645248.html

How's that working out for us, Mr. Krauthammer?

Charles Krauthammer says he would legalize 11 million illegal aliens in exchange for a secure border. Checking the 1986 law, I see that was the deal then. Legalize 3 million, but have tougher border security. That's how we got to 11 million. "Public Law 99-603 (Act of 11/6/86), which was passed in order to control and deter illegal immigration to the United States. Its major provisions stipulate legalization of undocumented aliens who had been continuously unlawfully present since 1982, legalization of certain agricultural workers, sanctions for employers who knowingly hire undocumented workers, and increased enforcement at U.S. borders." Homeland Security.

In addition to messing up the brain, it isn’t too great for the lungs

There are 33 cancer-causing chemicals contained in marijuana. Marijuana smoke also deposits tar into the lungs.

http://www.lung.org/associations/states/colorado/tobacco/marijuana.html

“Marijuana is a drug made from the dry, shredded parts of the Cannabis sativa hemp plant.  It is usually smoked in hand-rolled cigarettes called joints, in pipes, or in water pipes called bongs. It is also smoked in blunts, which are hollowed-out cigars filled with a mixture of tobacco and marijuana.

Marijuana contains a potent chemical called delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol, more commonly known as THC. It’s very similar to chemicals that the brain naturally produces, and disrupts the function of these chemicals in the brain.
Marijuana today is more potent than marijuana of past decades. For a long time THC levels averaged 2.3 percent. Today, average THC levels are higher than 8 percent and can go up to 35 percent in medical marijuana.”

Yes, you can eat on SNAP allotment—but you don’t need to

A very nice cookbook you can download. The idea is tasteful, healthy meals on $4/day, although SNAP was never intended to be the full budget for food, but a supplement, it can be done. http://www.leannebrown.ca/cookbooks/

Broccoli and Cheddar Empanadas (makes 12)

Dough

2 cups all purpose or whole wheat flour

½ cup cornmeal

½ tsp salt

½ cup butter

1 egg

1/2 cup cold water

1 tbsp apple cider vinegar

Filling

8 cups broccoli, chopped

2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

½ tsp chili flakes

salt and pepper, to taste

2 cups sharp cheddar cheese, grated

1 egg (for brushing)

See the website for instructions on preparations.

Water wasn’t the only story in Toledo last week

Unsafe and unsanitary conditions in Toledo’s last abortion clinic and no agreement with a hospital.

http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/local/2014/07/31/state-orders-toledos-last-clinic-to-close.html

This has been dragging on for some time through appeals.

This week at Lakeside—7th week

Had a great bird walk this morning at Lakeside Chautauqua led by Judy Sudomir who teaches environmental science at ?? college, and her father-in-law, Bill. Most of our purple martins have already left for Brazil, but we saw many congregating and regrouping from other areas. Next Wednesday we are going to Magee Marsh to see bird banding, and I think we'll be caravanning from the parking lot around 8:30 if you are interested. Here’s a nice blog by a Canadian who birded at Magee and saw 23 warblers.

Although I'm not a member of the Women's Club at Lakeside,  I do appreciate their programs, and yesterday enjoyed the presentation by Benjamin Lloyd, composer and former second violinist with the Lakeside Symphony Orchestra. I'd seen him for years on stage, and it was fascinating to hear him explain how he has written the 4th movement of his Second Symphony (Life). The main theme is "I choose to live" and with computer software that probably only musicians understand, he showed us how the theme is transcribed into symphonic form. He also does classical music commissions for special events like weddings and anniversaries.

I've never been particularly crazy about the Carpenters music, but loved the retrospective by Helen Welch last night at Hoover Auditorium. I'd forgotten how great some of those songs were and really appreciated how she explained each one.

The wind was brisk this morning on the bird walk, and now my throat is scratchy.  ;-(

Looking for a comfortable, casual shoe

I have a pair of Clarks and like them a lot.  These look good. About $65 on sale. Style is Ashland Rivers.

Do the Jews have a right to Israel?

When speaking at the United Nations, a representative from Israel started by saying:

"Before I begin my speech, I want to tell you a story about Moses. One day when Moses wanted a bath he struck a large rock

and brought forth water. Then Moses removed his robe, put it on the rock, and entered the water.
When he finished his bath, he got out of the water and discovered his robe had vanished. A Palestinian had stolen his robe!"

Just then a Palestinian representative to the UN jumped up and shouted angrily, "You lie, Jew! Palestinians weren't there then."

The Israeli representative smiled and said, "Now that we have established that fact, I will begin my speech.

Zionism—if you hate it, you probably also hate Jews

Main line churches need to wake up and recognize something ugly in their midst.

“Elsewhere in the world, indigenous languages are dying out, forests are being decimated, and the populations of industrialized nations are plummeting. Yet Zionism revived the Hebrew language, which is now more widely spoken than Danish and Finnish and will soon surpass Swedish. Zionist organizations planted hundreds of forests, enabling the land of Israel to enter the 21st century with more trees than it had at the end of the 19th. And the family values that Zionism fostered have produced the fastest natural growth rate in the modernized world and history's largest Jewish community. The average secular couple in Israel has at least three children, each a reaffirmation of confidence in Zionism's future.”

http://online.wsj.com/articles/in-defense-of-zionism-1406918952?mod=trending_now_1

“Zionism has prospered in the supremely inhospitable—indeed, lethal—environment of the Middle East. Two hours' drive east of the bustling nightclubs of Tel Aviv—less than the distance between New York and Philadelphia—is Jordan, home to more than a half million refugees from Syria's civil war. Traveling north from Tel Aviv for four hours would bring that driver to war-ravaged Damascus or, heading east, to the carnage in western Iraq. Turning south, in the time it takes to reach San Francisco from Los Angeles, the traveler would find himself in Cairo's Tahrir Square.”

“Never mind that the Jews were natives of the land—its Arabic place names reveal Hebrew palimpsests—millennia before the Palestinians or the rise of Palestinian nationalism. Never mind that in 1937, 1947, 2000 and 2008, the Palestinians received offers to divide the land and rejected them, usually with violence. And never mind that the majority of Zionism's adherents today still stand ready to share their patrimony in return for recognition of Jewish statehood and peace.”

Sometimes you’re in a happy place, but it hurts

It’s Peace and Justice Week at Lakeside

I'm not at all interested in this week's educational offerings at Lakeside, so I think I'll make up my own schedule and work a little harder at my physical therapy. The Lakeside Women's Club at 1:30 on Tuesday has a violinist; there's a bird walk on Wednesday morning at 8 a.m. and a history lecture about the Chautauqua movement at 3:30; there's a program about invasive carp at 1:30 on Friday, and the foreign affairs program at 2:30. Haven't done a tram tour in a number of years--might sign up for that.

If you are visiting friends and family in northwestern Ohio today, bring bottled water. Algae bloom and toxins in Lake Erie have contaminated Toledo's water supply. http://www.toledoblade.com/local/2014/08/03/Water-crisis-grips-area.html

Home from the book sale

Today was the Lakeside Women's Club book sale, and I found a signed, first edition book of poetry and sketches by a well known local artist, Ben Richmond, "Time Passages" for 50 cents. With just a bit of artistic license I changed a few words of this poem, hope he doesn’t mind:

Yes. . .it’s truly on days
Like this day
That I wish I were
Still just a papergirl . . .
Back in Forreston, Illinois.

Where my only problems
Were thick papers,
Rain, a few mean dogs,
A couple of grouchy people
And porches I couldn’t
Hit from the sidewalk.

(Ben was a paperboy in Columbus, Ohio, but you get the idea.)

Other purchases, Noah’s compass by Anne Tyler, Great Lakes Lighthouses Encyclopedia, two No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency novels, The story of the Bahamas, by Paul Albury and a Spanish workbook.

Don’t miss the boat, there is still room

Humanitarian aid for Palestinian civilians

God is good

Top 10 educated cities in the United States—Forbes

Before we on the list get too big headed, every one in our federal government has advanced degrees, and look at the messes they manage to get us into!

Highly educated communities also have a high marriage rate, good schools, great libraries, many churches, strong environmental controls and zoning laws, not so great public transportation so every household has multiple cars, and homes and rents too expensive for the average homeowner. In other words, the poor don’t move into the well-heeled, high educated communities. We moved here in June 1967 (Farleigh Road) and weren't aware that we weren't in Columbus.

The EMR boondoggle

Electronic Medical Records (EMR) are a health mandate that was included in Obama's stimulus, ARRA in 2009 ($19 billion). There was no research; no evidence it would improve health; not a smidgen that EMR would reduce costs. But what a boon for IT companies which must have terrific lobbyists. Those doctors who were already computerized, had a do-over, with either a penalty or a reward for doing it. So what is EMR really good for? Data mining. 70,000 new codes. A caller to the Glenn Beck show today was reading some of the codes: this was priceless, "walking into a lamp post, first encounter" and "walking into a lamp post, second encounter." Another one had to do with an alien space craft. This will allow government bureaucrats to decide who gets the grants to decide where lamp posts should be, and who is crazy enough to get medical help after finding an alien space craft.

I had an appointment with a pulmonologist this week (I’ve been diagnosed with asthma, and they can’t find an inhaler I can tolerate), and the whole practice was in a uproar over their new computer system.  For a week they had coaches from some computer firm with them.  Last fall, I went through the same thing at my internist office; every thing has to be reentered, you sign a digital signature, and have your photo scanned into the system.  Lots of mischief when not only all your identifying information is residing in cyberspace but it’s linked to your photo and signature.  My internist’s office and the pulmonologist’s office records are not compatible, by the way.  I spoke to the doctor about EMR.  “Nothing but data mining,” he said.  “Useless for health care.”

http://focusonthepatient.com/2013/03/10/emrehr-monsters/

“Although the chief goal has been to improve efficiency and cut costs, a disappointing report published last week by the RAND Corp. found that electronic health records actually may be raising the nation’s medical bills. “ New York Times

“Despite the government’s bribe of nearly $27 billion to digitize patient records, nearly 70% of physicians say electronic health record (EHR) systems have not been worth it. It’s a sobering statistic backed by newly released data from marketing and research firm MPI Group and Medical Economics that suggest nearly two-thirds of doctors would not purchase their current EHR system again because of poor functionality and high costs.” Medical Economics

Two hundred years ago in America

"Having an outdoor privy signified a level of decency above those who simply relieved themselves in the woods or fields. Indoor light was scarce and precious; families made their own candles, smelly and smoky, from animal tallow. A single fireplace provided all the cooking and heating for a common household. During winter, everybody slept in the room with the fire, several in each bed. Privacy for married couples was a luxury. ...

"It was a young society: The census listed the median age as sixteen, and only one person in eight as over forty-three years old. Women bore children in agony and danger, making their life expectancy, unlike today, slightly shorter than that of men. Once born, infants often succumbed to diseases like diphtheria, scarlet fever, and whooping cough. One-third of white children and over half of black children died before reaching adulthood. The women had enough babies to beat these grim odds. To help them through labor, neighbors and trained midwives attended them. Doctors were in short supply, hospitals almost unknown. This proved a blessing in disguise, for physicians then did as much harm as good, and hospitals incubated infection. The upside of rural isolation was that epidemics did not spread easily."

What Hath God Wrought: The Transformation of America, 1815-1848 (Oxford History of the United States) 2007, pp. 32,37

Poverty provides a good income for many

We have spent $15 trillion “fighting” poverty since 1965 and we are currently spending $ 1 trillion a year ― an amount equal to about $22,000 per poor person or $88,000 for a family of four. Yet our poverty rate today (16%) is higher than when we started (14%)! If there has been a War on Poverty, poverty won." John Goodman

http://www.forbes.com/sites/johngoodman/2013/12/03/is-poverty-really-the-result-of-bad-luck/

http://www.cato.org/sites/cato.org/files/pubs/pdf/PA694.pdf

You really can see Russia from Alaska

Sarah Palin never said she could see Russia from her house--that was her look alike Tina Fey. Here's what she actually said, "They're our next-door neighbors, and you can actually see Russia from land here in Alaska, from an island in Alaska." Big Diomede (Russia) and Little Diomede (U.S.A.) are about 2.5 miles apart. The media still love to play that meme to ridicule Palin. And God forbid that any woman other than Oprah becomes a media powerhouse, so she has to be attacked right now.

That said, President Obama may deserve impeachment (which Palin favors), but it's not going to happen, and encouraging others to believe this fantasy just diverts attention from what can be changed---like the Senate. I'm sick of the money appeals I get from groups I've never heard of wanting me to donate for this cause. And Democrats are getting funding appeals from their side on the same issue!

The fighting in Gaza

Hamas is the aggressor.  Its mission statement is to annihilate Israel.  Israel’s mission is to survive as a state, open to Muslims and Christians, but specifically as the homeland of Jews. So why are American leftists supporting Hamas?   Where is our “free press?”  Every news report on the situation begins with a subtle condemnation of Israel couched in words like “some could say,” or “it has been said,” so they can hide behind the weasel words.  Muslims are slaughtering each other through out the middle east, yet they are safe from their brother’s wrath in Israel. Stand up for the truth.  Support Israel.

It’s come to body counts—Hamas lobs hundreds of rockets at Israel which are effectively stopped by the “iron dome.”  Israel selectively targets sites in Gaza, protection is ineffective, so more Palestinians have died than Israelis—many are children.  Does this make the Palestinian cause (the destruction of the Jewish state and all Jews) just?

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said Hamas started the conflict on July 8 with about 10,000 rockets. Since then, the militants have fired more than 2,600 rockets and mortars toward Israel and Israeli forces have destroyed about 3,000, estimated Lt. Col. Peter Lerner, IDF's spokesman. USA Today, July 29, 2014

Celebrating 20 years of our mission school in Haiti

A huge crowd met at UALC last evening to celebrate the mission we support in Haiti (school and medical clinic) and the service of 2 of our missionaries who after 8 years are moving to another continent. Classes at the Christian school (Institution Univers, founded in 1994) may have 35-55 students--a huge improvement over the public schools where classroom teachers may have to handle 80. All the volunteers who have participated in short term missions admit they received so much more than they gave.

Marinated Cucumbers, Onions, and Tomatoes

3 medium cucumbers, peeled and sliced 1/4 inch thick
1 medium onion, sliced and separated into rings...
3 medium tomatoes, cut into wedges
1/2 cup vinegar
1/4 cup sugar
1 cup water
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon fresh coarse ground black pepper
1/4 cup oil
Combine ingredients in a large bowl and mix well.
Refrigerate at least 2 hours before serving

Cucumbers are so plentiful this time of year—and your neighbors are probably looking for someone to take some off their hands!

Health benefits of Cucumber

• It is one of the very low calorie vegetables; provide just 15 calories per 100 g. It contains no saturated fats or cholesterol. Cucumber peel is a good source of dietary fiber that helps reduce constipation, and offer some protection against colon cancers by eliminating toxic compounds from the gut.

• It is a very good source of potassium, an important intracellular electrolyte. 100 g of cucumber provides 147 mg of potassium but only 2 mg of sodium. Potassium is a heart friendly electrolyte helps bring a reduction in total blood pressure and heart rates by countering effects of sodium.

• Cucumbers contains unique anti-oxidants in moderate ratios such as β-carotene and α-carotene, vitamin-C, vitamin-A, zea-xanthin and lutein. These compounds help act as protective scavengers against oxygen-derived free radicals and reactive oxygen species (ROS) that play a role in aging and various disease processes. Their total antioxidant strength, measured in terms of oxygen radical absorbance capacity (ORAC value), is 214 µmol TE/100 g.

• Cucumbers have mild diuretic property, which perhaps attributed to their free-water, and potassium and low sodium content. This helps in checking weight gain and high blood pressure.

• They surprisingly have a high amount of vitamin K, provides about 17 µg of this vitamin per 100 g. Vitamin-K has been found to have a potential role in bone strength by promoting osteotrophic (bone mass building) activity. It also has established role in the treatment of Alzheimer's disease patients by limiting neuronal damage in their brain. http://www.nutrition-and-you.com/cucumber.html

The minimum wage and Mary Poppins

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TlTO8ggfes8

 

 

The No Fear Act

I had never heard of the "No Fear Act," which is victim program (discrimination and whistleblower) instituted in 2002 (Bush). Much of the Bush years were scrubbed when Obama came into office, so what I saw begins with the current administration with 2010 report. Scrolling down 9 pages of figures for USDA 2014 (including repeat filers) I see most complaint findings were usually zero--no one disciplined, or fired, or promoted or demoted. Must be somewhat sluggish, too, as many complaints were carried over year to year, or were pending. But it's one of the few government reports I've seen that is current--filed quarterly. “Retaliation” is the most frequently alleged basis in formal EEO complaints at USDA, then race, sex and age. http://www.usda.gov/nofear/index.html

"The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) prohibits discrimination in all its programs and activities on the basis of race, color, national origin, age, disability, and where applicable, sex, marital status, familial status, parental status, religion, sexual orientation, genetic information, political beliefs, reprisal, or because all or part of an individual's income is derived from any public assistance program."

Some of the filers used multiple categories. The bookkeeping alone must eat up millions of dollars considering all the agencies that must comply. But worst of all, it pigeon holes employees by differences.

Too late now—no do overs

Too many Christians sat out the election; too many conservatives stayed home and pouted.

Six ways to get more from your workout and prevent injury—Harvard Medical School

1. Focus on form, not weight. Good form means aligning your body correctly and moving smoothly through an exercise. Poor form can cause injuries and hinder strength gains because you aren’t isolating muscles properly. “I often start people with very light weights because I want them to get their alignment and form right,” says Josie Gardiner, master trainer and fitness consultant to Harvard Medical School and co-editor of the Workout Workbook. “It’s good to start off using light to moderate weight when learning an exercise routine.” Concentrate on performing slow, smooth lifts and equally controlled descents while isolating a muscle group. You isolate a muscle group by holding your body in the position specified for each exercise while consciously contracting and releasing certain muscles.

2. Tempo, tempo. Control is important. Tempo helps you stay in control and avoid undercutting gains through relying on momentum. And sometimes switching speed — for example, lowering for three counts and lifting for one count instead of taking two counts for each — can enhance power.

3. Breathe. Blood pressure rises if you hold your breath while performing strength exercises. Exhale as you work against gravity (when you’re lifting, pushing, or pulling); inhale as you relax.

4. Challenge your muscles. The optimum weight to use depends on the exercise. Choose a weight that tires the targeted muscle or muscles by the last two reps while still allowing you to maintain good form. If you can’t do the last two reps, choose a lighter weight. When it feels too easy to complete all the reps, challenge your muscles again by adding weight (roughly 1 to 2 pounds at a time for arms, 2 to 5 pounds for legs); adding a set to your workout (up to three sets per exercise); or working out additional days per week (as long as you rest each muscle group for 48 hours between strength workouts). If you add weight, remember that you should still be able to do all the reps with good form and the targeted muscles should feel tired by the last two reps.

5. Practice regularly. A complete upper- and lower-body strength workout two or three times a week is ideal.

6. Give muscles time off. Strength training causes tiny tears in muscle tissue. Muscles grow stronger as the tears knit up. Always allow at least 48 hours between sessions for muscles to recover. You can always do “split sessions” — for example, you might do upper body on Monday, lower body on Tuesday, upper body on Wednesday, lower body on Thursday, etc.

 

From Healthbeat, July 26, 2014

After 2000 years, there are no more Christians in Mosul

“In making his own nation and setting up his Islamic Caliphate, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi was able to take advantage of the lack of a centralized authority in Iraq and Syria. Since the last of the Christians have departed the city, Christian churches have had the insides gutted, crosses and statues of the Virgin Mary destroyed, and many have been converted to Mosques. Survivors who fled the city tell gruesome stories of beheadings, crucifixions and worse being perpetrated by ISIS rebels.”

http://myocn.net/mosuls-christians-ask-conscience-world/

Mexico and Guatemalan border agreement

Mexico has strict and swift border enforcement, so how are all these kids getting to the U.S.? Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto and Guatemalan president Otto Perez Molina met earlier in the month to work out new border agreement that gives them a 72 hour "gate pass" to travel through Mexico to get to the U.S. border. Mexico will provide medical aid, financial assistance and safety protection for these children--for 72 hours--and then it's our problem.

https://www.numbersusa.com/news/mexico-guatemala-announce-agreement-make-illegal-passage-us-easier

Children of the Tundra

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UQeNOiYL3AQ

This is Russia, but many of the lessons and child rearing thoughts will be familiar to you.  It’s about roots and challenges of the world.

Some children just want to return home to the Tundra (some have died trying), and others have become so worldly and accustomed to town benefits, they don’t want to return.

Amazing to watch toddlers eating frozen meat with a sharp knife at their mouth.  Reindeer Festival—what fun and competition.

Can Hutterites be born again?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ddIxHNJ38mk

This is a fascinating film about a communal Christian colony called the Hutterites.  Their origins are in the Amish and Mennonite Anabaptist tradition and there are over 400 colonies in Canada and the U.S. This group live near the Canadian border, but some time back during a time of grief, one family went to a tent revival and were “saved,” and now worship differently than the Hutterites.  The emphasis is on Jesus, not love and commitment to the community of believers. They worship in English, not German.

The Flatwillow colony born again women sell their bread at a farmer’s market and use the time to evangelize. This is different from other Hutterites that only send men outside the colony. The “born agains” have Bible study, a practice not observed by Hutterites who read the Bible literally without questioning or interpreting. The “born agains” will not be able to intermarry with the Hutterites, and the two groups no longer do the same tasks on the 15,000 acre property.

I didn’t know when the film was made, but the eye wear looked like the early 1990s, and I found a WorldCat entry for 1992, filmed by BBC. So this all happened over 20 years ago.  They were making so many dress and life style changes I assume they eventually didn’t follow any Hutterite traditions, although when the film was made they continued them.  I did find an obituary for Eli Stahl from 2011, which follows a comment one of his relatives made in the film about an early death for those who leave the faith.

Progressive policies are hurting the poor

The bottom half of the economy has gone nowhere the last 7 years. The gains you see are for the richest Americans in Obama's recovery. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OPOnzzB3OZs

Trust in a marriage—what does that mean to you?

"Trust in a marriage." Just what does that phrase mean? This is my list, your mileage will vary.

• Trust with money--one doesn't decide major purchases without consulting the other. Check books and credit cards aren't a battleground. Money isn't about wealth, it's about values, which is why I put it first.
• Trust with communication--no lying, but no unnecessary honesty either, like what was said 10 years ago that hurt, or what you really think of your mother-in-law or her best friend.
• Trust that grievances will be worked out and not cherished and polished like prayer beads.
• Trust that the other isn't "sharing" or "just joking" behind your back, demeaning the marriage relationship instead of lifting it up.
• Trust that the marriage bed is pure and free of outside influences.
• Trust that the marriage vows will be kept, in thought, word and deed.
• Trust that the other can enjoy time with friends and family that may not include the other without jealousy or anxiety.
• Trust that the other will maintain a strong work ethic to support the family.
• Trust that one parent doesn't work against the other in discipline of children (minor or adult), family values, religion.

What would you add?

Coaxing the cat to eat

Our cat has stopped eating, so I took her to the vet, where I discovered she's only about 4.1 lbs even though she'd been eating well until Thursday. I turned down the expensive tests to find out why (she's 16), and asked for subcutaneous fluid and a few appetite stimulants. That has worked in the past when this happened (late summer, always at the lake house). Vet said give her anything to eat you normally wouldn't just to get some calories in her. So, this morning in addition to baby food she got some Häagen-Dazs ice cream and salmon meant for people. She'll get a little freshly cooked chicken and steak later--after she wakes up.