You'll enjoy this movie on climate change

It's not CO2, it's the sun that is driving global climate change. But of course, you and I have little control over the sun. When the Soviet Union fell, there were a lot of people who needed a cause, and destroying western civilization by blaming capitalism for global weather change, which happens continually, became it. Add to that the fact that you can't get funding for research unless you have a controversy. Right now, money is flowing for global warming research, including from our own current administration. The climate change industry is huge--because my husband is an architect, we hardly see an article that doesn't have "green" in it. So, watch the result of some really bad science. . .


or click here

3587

Canadian voice of calm

in a heated debate in which some want to shut down the alternate viewpoints. This interview with Dr. Tim Ball appears on the site of the Frontier Centre for Public Policy,

"FCPP: Alarmists point to the rapidity of climate change as evidence of some sort that humans cause it. But you’ve shown that swift changes in weather patterns are normal. Could you describe the proof?

TB: The underlying philosophy of nature and world view of western education is called uniformitarianism. This holds that change is rapid and significant all the time. You only have to look at any climate record on any time scale to see this. For example, in 1970 the scientific consensus was that we were heading for another Ice Age. On a longer scale, notice that most of the record cold temperatures for Canada were in the late 19th century. Further back, we have the Little Ice Age with a metre of ice on the Thames and other evidence of cold from around the world. Vikings were farming in Greenland in soil that is now permafrost.

FCPP: What about open ice in the Arctic? Is that a new phenomenon?

TB: No. The Vikings were sailing in Arctic waters that are now permanent pack ice. Every year, the 16 million square kilometres of pack ice melts down to approximately 6 million square kilometres. So about 10 million square kilometres melts every summer. The records are only accurate from 1980 to the present, and they show some variability but little significant change. So far this winter, the ice has developed ahead of schedule and is almost at its maximum extent right now."

I thought this was an interesting, but level headed response (we've actually been to Stanley Park):

"FCPP: The CBC interviewed one expert from storm-battered Stanley Park who made a lot of sense, but he was drowned out by the howls from everyone else about manmade global warming. Has the din out there reached a fever pitch?

TB: Among the west-coast fanatics, since there are many of them, it is always at a fever pitch. B.C. does you a favour by harbouring them. I flew over the Park twice last Monday and most of the damage is concentrated in one small ocean-facing side. Of course, like all natural disasters it is nature’s way of thinning the herd. Unfortunately for hikers and cyclists, nature does the pruning but she doesn’t do the cleanup. Or at least she lets it take time, so nutrients are formed and build back into the system."

HT Amy at National Center

3586

The Old man's draft registration

Some time back, I mentioned that I was able to find my grandfather's draft registration for WWI. He was 44 years old and plans were in place to also draft women for support positions. I wasn't aware that there was an "old man's draft registration" for WWII. It's available at Ancestry.com, and I'm not sure I can bring it up at my library's system, because the website is too vague. But if you are a subscriber, you should be able to.

On April 27, 1942 men who were born on or between April 28, 1877 and February 16, 1897 were required to register. That means they were between 45 and 64 years old and not already in the military. This information is useful for genealogists because it includes name, age, birth date, birth place, residence, employer, name and address of who knew the registrants whereabouts, and physical description. Not all states are included yet, and some states destroyed their records. My paternal grandfather (51) would have been required registered, and my maternal grandfather (68) just barely was too old. However, Illinois isn't one of the states on the completed list, and Tennessee (for other relatives) destroyed its records.

As the party of death, destruction and defeat and the media (and you know who you are) attempt to undermine all efforts in Iraq because "American lives are being lost," or "it's a quagmire," or "it's gone on too long," they need to take a look at our history, at a time when we lost more men in one battle than we've lost in this whole war, and when we defeated a world threat by uniting with other free countries--but just barely.

Iraq War

3585

Break a leg, Sally

This phrase often said to thespians almost came true for one of my blog links, Sally Lomax, of England. She was performing in "Memory of Water" in rural Herefordshire, and "flew off the stage" (not in the script) requiring a trip to the hospital and is now on crutches, achieving some unwanted fame in the local paper.

Poetry Thursday #11

Today's totally optional challenge is to find a word we don't know in the dictionary and write a poem using it without looking up the meaning. I think this is called the "dictionary game." I didn't choose the topic, but did use a dictionary.

Here are some e-words that can cause problems for writers. An elegy is a song of mourning or lament; a eulogy is an oration of praise; an epitaph is a phrase that appears on a grave stone; an epigraph is an engraved inscription or a quotation at the beginning of a literary work; a epithet is a disparaging word or phrase; an epilogue is the conclusion or the final chapter; an epistrophe is the repetition of a word or expression at the end of successive phrases or verses; an epode has a long verse followed by a short one; an epopee is a long poem. I checked several sources for the proper poetic form for an elegy, and the phrase "Here lies. . ." seems to be what they have in common.

I told what little I know about this baby, Alma Fay, in my Monday Memories. She was the daughter of my great grandparents born after they left Tennessee and moved to Illinois and is buried in Plain View Cemetery.

This elegy is for anyone who has lost a baby through miscarriage, abortion, adoption, or death. Maybe you have a grave to visit, maybe not. Perhaps all you have is a dim memory. But someday. . . the graves will open for the Resurrection. Reassembling dust, molecules and DNA, no matter how scattered, is no problem for the designer and creator of the universe.

Elegy for little Alma Fay, August 26, 1908 - October 3, 1908
by Norma Bruce
March 12, 2007


Here lies quietly, baby Alma Fay
with no one to remember
save one sister old and gray,
her name engraved on heart shaped stone,
among the grass and clay.

Here lies peacefully, auntie Alma Fay
with nephews, nieces, cousins,
who lived well and had their say,
a harbinger of the good life
in land so far away.

Here lies listening, precious Alma Fay,
with none left to grieve for her,
these one hundred years or pray,
but God, the Three in One, will call
on Resurrection Day.

Here rises victorious Alma Fay--
the graves are emptied at Plain View.
Praise God! she's flown away.

Poetry Thursday, elegies, Mt. Morris Illinois, gravestones

Thursday Thirteen

It's been awhile--let's see if I can remember how to do this. Here's some random thoughts for a Thursday.

1. Congratulations and good luck for the TT new hostesses who are making it truly a family affair.
2. I've been doing Poetry Thursday for the last 11 weeks, instead of TT. Here's the one for today. An elegy for a baby but dedicated to anyone who has lost a child.
3. Doing both PT and TT wouldn't be a problem for me since I write so much, but it is the visiting and leaving comments that takes the time, so I had to choose.
4. Today I'm having lunch with a young woman who has asked me to speak to her Bible study group next week--I think their theme is older women mentoring younger women in the church, so each hostess invites a guest to speak.
5. I think I'm older than her mother, so that makes me a wise old woman of the church!
6. If you read my blog in the fall when we got back from my sister-in-law's wedding in California, you may remember I'd decided to lose my blogging weight--20 pounds.
7. Yes, indeedy, that's what I gained when we got broadband and I started blogging regularly in 2003. It sort of snuck up on me, here a pound, there a blog, but it all added up til I was 150 lbs, the heaviest in my adult life.
8. So I wrote a Thursday Thirteen about my plan to avoid 13 food triggers.
9. It was slow going, and the holidays were rough, but I hit 130 lbs. on February 1. A lot of weeks I lost nothing at all, and nothing has budged in the last 6 weeks, but the tape measure does change.
10. I've learned, and I'll warn you--130 lbs. is arranged very differently at 67 than 35. My waist is much bigger, but that's an advantage because nothing ever fit before. Now I can wear a size 8 slacks and not have a 2" gap at the waist.
11. I've had a blast buying some new clothes that don't come from K-Mart. I discovered the Discovery Shop just up the road a mile, which is all donated, good quality clothing to benefit the Cancer Society.
12. Last week I bought a fabulous Pendleton pants suit (already shortened to fit my stubby legs) for $20. It will be incentive to keep the weight off for next year, since it is a gorgeous, all lined, 100% wool, made in the USA. I look for quality brands with dry cleaner tags still attached.
13. And finally, if you're doing much traveling, either because of work assignments or spring break, please read my blogs about DVT.

Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! Leave a comment and I'll add your name and URL. View More Thursday Thirteen Participants

3582

My letter to Rush

Dear Rush,

I listen to you most days, and take you along on my walks in the park enjoying the effects of global change. I'm right with you on how silly Al Gore has become, that the Republicans don't know how to defend themselves, that John McCain is a joke, and that the Democrats are the party of death and defeat in Iraq.

However, today I had an epiphany. You don't understand women. At all. We don't think it is hilarious or insulting or witty to be called a woman! Nope. We actually like being women. So when you can think of no other way to ridicule Presidential candidate John Edwards than to call him a Breck "Girl" or to use the song "I am woman" to introduce him, or to call him a female candidate, that falls pretty flat for your female audience, even those of us who are conservatives.

The nonsense today about the abortion e-card just caused me to change the channel. Neither pro-life (me) or pro-choice women (just about everyone I know) see anything funny about abortion. It has caused the deaths of about 35,000,000 babies in the USA and a lot of pain for women who thought or were misled at the time that they had no other option. Not funny, Rush. Nope. Not at all. You've really insulted your female audience this week, plus you gave that silly woman with the e-abortion card a promotion on your airtime she could never afford to buy.

3581

Alternative Medicine--buy this book!

Alternative medicine; the Christian handbook, updated, expanded, Zondervan, 2006 by Donal O'Mathuna, PhD and Walt Larimore, MD (£13.57 / US$26.37 /EUR19.99) is a good investment for your home or public library. I know the author personally (he lives in Ireland, but got his PhD from Ohio State and married the daughter of friends) and Zondervan is a publisher I trust. It is written in a rather dry, non-confrontational, common sense style that I'd almost forgotten existed in books for the general public, especially for a topic that exalts in sound bites and teaser phrases like "secrets to," "seven steps to," "never before revealed," "they don't want you to know this," "as seen on television," "all-natural," and "suppressed." If you are familiar with the term "evidence based medicine," or "literature review," this would be that. These authors take the claims of alternative therapies (acupuncture, chiropractic, energy medicine, herbal medicine, garlic, noni juice, etc. and many others) and then look at the clinical and research studies (if they exist) and give the therapy, claim or technique ratings. At first I found the rating system of 1 to 4 a bit off-putting--check marks (4 for multiple high-quality randomized controlled trials), x-marks (evidence against, 4 for multiple high-quality randomized controlled trials), recommendation scale of happy faces (4 for 75%-100% confidence that the therapy is potentially beneficial), area of spiritual concern of interest to Christians is designated with thumbs down (4 thumbs down is a therapy involving spiritual practices in direct conflict with biblical teaching). But once I got used to it, found the system easy to follow.

Noni juice, for instance, a product I've only tasted, gets 2.5 pages--what it is, what the claims are, the study findings, the cautions, recommendations, dosage, treatment categories, whether its claims are scientifically questionable, is it quackery or fraud (these differences are explained in another chapter) and further reading.

Some concerns are: 1) there are no quality standards unlike most herbals, so there is no way to judge what you're buying; 2) some companies take the leftover by-products of juicing and sell as "100% noni fruit powder," and so the product would not have the ingredients of noni juice, 3) the published literature is for a tree native to Hawaii, but most of the products come from trees grown on other South Pacific Islands which probably have different chemical constituents, 4) "wild harvested" is not of consistent quality or origin, 5) when commercially grown, it has pesticides and herbicide residues, including some not allowed in the U.S. and Canada, 6) some, but not all, noni juice is pasteurized, which kills pathogens but may inactivate some compounds, but no studies have been done.

Noni juice can interact with other medications (and drinkers may neglect to mention it to their doctor who is prescribing a diuretic or blood pressure medication) causing nausea or cardiac arrhythmias, and shouldn't be used by anyone with kidney or liver problems, and the authors don't recommend it for breast-feeding women. There were no spiritual claims for this product.

However, the authors say it does have many vitamins--just no curative properties for arthritis, menstrual cramps, digestion or cancer, and if what you're buying hypes that, disregard it and just enjoy it as a juice that smells like rotten cheese that tops the list of worst tasting and best selling to a very gullible public.

The book has 510 pages, is well indexed (by subject, scripture and therapy) and formatted, has lengthy bibliographies, a rating system, and the authors are a medical doctor and a pharmacist whose PhD research was in identifying potential new drugs from herbal remedies and an MA in theology from Ashland Seminary in Ohio and who taught at Mt. Carmel College of Nursing here in Columbus. And as mentioned above, I know him--went to his wedding which was during the worst spring snow storm in the history of central Ohio. The minister couldn't get there.

3580 To report abuse

Have you ever thought of picking up the phone when you see this statement on a government publication: "To report fraud, waste, and abuse in Federal programs call. . ." Each year about this time when we get our tax returns from our accountant and will pay her $400 so we can pay the government more of our pension this phrase sticks in my mind (don't bother to tell me to buy brand x tax software or do it myself--she's actually worth every penny, but charges a higher hourly rate than architects). I just can't think of a single Federal or state program where there isn't fraud and waste. Can you? Katrina rebuilding is probably the most pitiful and worst example, but it has just shown us how bad things are when federal money is mismanaged at the local and state level and the people reelect the clowns stealing our tax money. I'm grateful (I think) that we have the GAO to report on such things but when it takes 100-150 pages to report it and no one in Congress does anything, or they pass a new regulation which requires more taxes and more paper, and more review and reports by GAO, I do sometimes think it is part of the problem abuse.

3579

Have schools gone off the deep end on being "safe?"

Glenn Beck interviewed a father, Frank Harmeier, last week whose ten year old son Casey pulled a fire alarm cover off in the hall of the school (Texas) on a dare. When the cover was replaced, the alarm went off. It wasn't one that goes off at the police station, or even the principal's office, but is local for that area so a teacher can be summoned to investigate. When the teacher came (he didn't try to run away--he knew he'd done something wrong), he admitted his crime. Then the police were called, he was arrested and taken to the police station and interrogated for four hours before his parents were called. They are charging him with a felony; the parents are calling it child abuse. And as it turned out, the alarm went off because a school staffer pulled it when she tried to replace the cover. For its mistake, the school hasn't apologized for terrorizing a student, and has only asked that the felony charge be reduced to a misdemeanor. The juvenile authorities, according to Casey's father, wanted the parents to go through a family counseling and parent reeducation (North Vietnam comes to mind, doesn't it), the problem is they ARE counselors, she having given up her job to be a stay at home mom. And the father works in that school district. Series in the Houston Chronicle.

Imagine all this fuss and police involvement with illegals flooding across the border of Texas. Seems like some misplaced power struggles, doesn't it. The reporter following this story has discovered that gum chewing will also result in arrests.

Then in Oregon, "Two McMinnville middle school boys are in Yamhill County Juvenile Detention facing sex abuse charges after school officials said they inappropriately touched classmates.

The 12- and 13-year-old boys’ parents said students were part of a group of boys and girls at Patton Middle School who would spank each other’s backsides as part of a handshake or dance." Story here. Again, the children were arrested and the parents weren't called. What is this, the abortion trend in parent notification?

Kind of makes me glad we're going to our 50th class reunions this summer--you young folks in charge of our institutions are going bonkers. I hate to think what my generation would have been charged with. Eleven year old boys actually thought it was great fun to sneak up behind the girls and snap their bra! Now we've got libraries with really smutty stuff and fighting internet filters while insisting it's about about freedom of information, while 10 year olds are going to jail? The world is upside down.

3578

Pamela Hess, UPI correspondent

Don't miss her interview on C-SPAN talking about what she saw in Iraq. I don't think I've ever seen a reporter cry when talking about what is going on there. She had been there in 2003 and makes some comparisons.

Iraq War

3577

It's naughty to be not nice

DePauw University (Greencastle, IN) has pulled its approval from the Delta Zeta sorority. It seems that 23 of the sisters were asked to take "alumna status" and leave the house because they failed to meet recruiting goals. DZ National's story. The sisters claimed it was because they weren't pretty enough. The photo in the USAToday shows some not unattractive, 20-something ladies with too much mascara and some extra poundage.

Sororities, cliques or social clubs for women (or men) whether in high school, college, or real life aren't designed to include everyone. Their very existence says, "we are somebody," and you aren't. Why is it worse to exclude a woman because she is not attractive than because she isn't a good athlete or a good student? Will black sororities be required to include whites? Will Jewish sororities have to rush Bahai's? Do engineering fraternities have to include thespians?

All 23 of those women when they went through "rush" knew they got in because someone else didn't. They knew that with the next class, they'd be the ones excluding another young woman whose grades would bring the average down, or she drank too much and embarrassed them, or her table manners were poor, or . . . she was homely. Is prettiness more superficial than bad manners or poor grades? I disliked the Greek system from the get-go, and never participated when I was in college. I lived in an independent dorm and loved it. It was the judging and exclusion stuff I disliked. But this is childish! Talk about "in loco parentis!"

Ladies, it's a big bad world out there. Deal with it. Don't be a victim. Don't join the Greek system and then whine about exclusionary behavior like this is all new to you and you just had no idea what was going on.

3576

Advice for the 2008 presidential candidates

While cleaning out some files, I found this one written for the 2004 campaign. No one listened to me then, so I'll give it another shout out. This is for the Democrats or Republicans or Libertarians.

Jobs: Make Cleveland, Detroit, New York, etc. "union-free" areas--no unions in industry, in the schools, or any areas of government, or in non-government associations. Unions are strongest in cities with the most serious poverty problems. Time to run a test and see if there is a cause and effect relationship. Invite industry in. Let in some fresh air. If these cities can turn around in say, a decade, move the system to other cities.

The War: Let the Iraqis have as much time to settle into independence and democracy as the United States did--about 15 years--1775-1789 (I said this in 2004--so knock four years off the remaining time). Remove US troops as quickly as possible without endangering the Iraqi people. Rid America of the "instant solution" mentality (this is now called Murthanizing).

Energy: Allow drilling in Alaska as a trade off for more economizing and more fuel efficiency.

Health care: Introduce more competition, not less. Move away from government interference and control as quickly as possible, so we don’t lose the best system in the world.

Prescription drugs: Reduce the red tape and regulations for drug development to reduce the price of development.

Transportation: Get our passenger rail system going again. Terminals in every major city. Environmentally, it makes a lot more sense and is probably cheaper than messing with forests and farm lands for biofuels and windmills.

Nation building: Make English the official language of the US, but offer many more foreign language options, and make at least one a requirement for graduation from high school.

Terrorism: Secure our borders, improve our airport, train and bus screening. Use profiling to find terrorists.

And I ought to add something about global change.

Require anyone spouting hot air to answer questions from the press and audience. That will cool things down in a hurry.

3575

Compression hose

I've been checking regularly on my daughter, diagnosed with deep vein thombosis (DVT) a week ago. She had three shots in her abdomen to dissolve the clot, and is now on coumadin. She says that although she still has a lot of pain, the compression hose help a lot. Since we're flying to Ireland in the fall, I thought I'd try them. Her vascular surgeon (actually not "hers" specifically, but she has worked with him in his medical practice and he is consulting with her) recommends that everyone wear compression hose for travel--even men. There are medical level and comfort level, so I went to CVS and bought a $15 pair of compression hose designated 8-15 for tired legs. My legs weren't tired, but I am only experimenting, remember.

Before I put them on, both my shoes and the waist band in my slacks fit. Within 2 minutes of putting them on (and that's not easy), the shoes were too big and the waist band too small. It's the first time I've ever had any body part go north instead of south.

Monday Memories--Little Alma Fay

Some time in the 1990s I heard about Alma Fay, baby daughter of my great grandparents, born in Illinois after they left Tennessee. The story I heard from my father is that grand dad, as he called him, sold the little property in Tennessee left to him upon the death of his mother, and had a choice to take his family to either Texas or Illinois where he knew someone in both states. Apparently, the train to Illinois came through Dandridge first so the family got on board, and he and his large family became part of the core group who moved north for new opportunities. Many friends and relatives followed, including my grandfather, his brother and his cousin who married three of grand dad’s daughters, and he'd help each family get established. When the large Tennessee Reunions were held in northern Illinois in the 1920s - 1940s, my family was probably related to most of them. Four babies were born after the move, although I never heard my grandmother mention little Alma (her sister). Uncle Orville told me she was born in 1908, but that’s all I knew. Then a few years ago my friend Sylvia and her husband were cleaning up the cemetery records for Plain View where my great grandparents, grandparents, parents, aunts, uncles, cousins and sister are buried, and she sent me a photo with the birth and death dates.

I haven't become inspired by this week's Poetry Thursday topic, a version of the "dictionary game," but I thought I'd write an elegy for baby Alma. It is a word you don't hear often. Stay tuned or come back to visit on Thursday.

Monday memories

3573

Music outside the box

My friend Sharon performs with the trio, Synchronicity--piano, cello and violin. I've long enjoyed her musical talents--she sings in our church choir and teaches piano. The benefit this afternoon was titled "Music Outside the Box" and as narrator she announced that the brother of the violinist Dick Reuning is a professional musician and sent him a box of music he didn't need with pieces for a trio. They were like kids in a candy shop and spent months experimenting and practicing for this performance which had a freewill offering for Lutheran Disaster Response and a team from Gethsemane Lutheran heading for Biloxi, Mississippi. It was really a delightful program with selections from Clementi, Klengel, Gade, Mendelssohn, Loeillet and some lighter pieces based on folk dance traditions.

A week before the performance, the cellist broke a finger! Can you imagine the panic, especially since they'd been preparing music that was a bit different. But they found a freelance cellist, Jane Van Voorhis, to replace Bruce Posey, and although I'm no expert, I think she did a wonderful job. (My mother play cello, and I love that instrument.)

Every community large and small has talented musicians who enrich our lives--they direct and sing in choirs, teach the children, play in the community bands, write and publish music, perform in musicals, stay up late at night and worry that nothing will turn out, and then they do it all over again the next time. To all of you, a huge thank you.

3572

Mismatch: Why our world no longer fits our bodies

The review of this 2006 title in Nature, Feb. 8, 2007, caught my eye because of the 1/3 page photo of an obese guy, remote in one hand, huge bowl of chips in the other, sitting on the edge of his easy chair so his belly could rest on his thighs, bathed in the blue light of the TV, probably watching a sporting event while reliving the memories of the days he could put one foot in front of the other without heavy breathing. According to Michael Sargent, the reviewer who is a developmental biologist at the National Institute for Medical Research in London, authors Gluckman and Hanson believe humans are not adapting in the proper evolutionary way to increased energy dense food and our 21st century sedentary ways. Look at that guy. He has adapted just fine! All that's happened is he's just not "evolving" in the direction biologists had hoped. According to their theories, those species who don't adapt, die off. Aren't we doing just that? No. We just get fatter--and they've been keeping track since our Civil War. But the line that really made me burst into laughter (well, OK, just a smile) was Sargent's: "[I was] horrified by persistent references to the 'design' of organisms--a usage notably obstructive to an understanding of the evolutionary process, the disclaimer notwithstanding." Mr. Sargent, sir, deal with it!

Mismatch: why our world no longer fits our bodies, by Peter Gluckman and Mark Hanson, Oxford; New York: Oxford University Press, 2006.

3571

Move over guys

Here come the ladies(?) you've seen on Dr. Phil and Jerry Springer spilling their guts and glory story. Story at CNET news.

3570

NIMBY

A survey by the UK Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, revealed that 95% of the 400 scientists surveyed across a wide range of disciplines agreed that science and technology were important if sustainable solutions were to be developed for the future. However, only 40% said they considered the effect their own work would have on the environment when planning their research because they believed it wasn't relevant to their area of science. Most scientists have no idea what their lab's electricity bill is--the more modern the lab (in Britain), the worse its energy consumption. Ventilation costs to meet health and safety requirements eat up a lot. "Experimenting with efficiency," Nature, Feb. 8, 2007.

Friday Family Photo--Leesburg VA

This photo of my mother, sisters and two nieces was taken in October 1986. Mom would have been 74 that year. She always kept herself in good shape with a healthy diet, a positive attitude, helping others and lots of hard work in her garden and yard, walking and sweating for miles behind a lawn mower. She said it was good for the upper arms and solving the problems of the world. Mom died in 2000. She was a blessing to all who knew her.

I'm a bit fuzzy on the details of the location, but I know one of my nieces either owned or rented a farmhouse near Leesburg and the "ladies of the club" must have had a gathering there. I think another niece took the photo.