National Pancake Day!

Looking for the yummiest way to support Pregnancy Decision Health Center? Join us at any of the local IHOP Restaurants on National Pancake Day, February 28th! From 7 am - 10 pm you can receive a free short stack of pancakes and make a donation to PDHC at the same time! Locations include:

5500 Renner Rd
HIlliard, Ohio 43228

2413 Taylor Square Dr
Reynoldsburg, Ohio 43068

1585 River Valley Circle North
Lancaster, Ohio 43130

The local PDHC saved 37 lives in January! How many did the ELCA (Evangelical Lutheran Church of America) save? Its health insurance policy covers abortion for any reason, even gender selection, and its member churches are required to carry that anti-life insurance for employees.

According to a PDHC call for prayer, a 14 year old has had an ultrasound. She is 18 weeks pregnant and is being pressured by her mother to have an abortion even though she does not want to do this. She said her abortion is scheduled for this Monday or Tuesday. Wonder who scheduled it and where? Do you suppose Planned Parenthood helped? Is this the kind of "choice" the pro-abortion people talk about?

Acronyms, medical

The Center for Faculty Advancement, Mentoring and Engagement (FAME) invites you to participate in a focus group to help inform the Center on creating, developing and harnessing opportunities for faculty development.

Wexner Medical Center at The Ohio State University

High risk sexual behavior

What does the Bible consider high risk sexual behavior?
(10 commandments, OT; Hebrews, NT)
1) Any sexual relations outside the marriage bed (man and woman).

What does the government consider high risk sexual behavior?
(CDC)
1) Men who have sex with men
2) Women who have sex with men who also have sex with men
3) 5 or more sexual partners in the last 12 months
4) Oral or anal sex with multiple sex partners in the last 12 months
5) Any sex where money, drugs or something of value is exchanged
6) Sex with a person who injects drugs
7) Sex with a person who has HIV
8) Sex with a person who has been treated for other STDs in last 12 months

Solution seems pretty simple, doesn't it?

Daniel Hannon at CPAC

This speaker makes Obama look like a beginner.

If you want to know how great your Constitution is, compare it with the EU. Ours (EU) was rejected by the people, and then imposed anyway. "We still hold these truths. . ." If you feel really discouraged about the state of our government--listen to this guy!

Interviewed by Glenn Beck: Greece and EU are going over the cliff, and in the rear view mirror, comes the U.S. overtaking them. “The job of government is to redistribute money.”

Andrew Wilkow, talk show host

Tonight Glenn Beck interviewed Andrew Wilkow, who since 2002 has had a conservative radio talk show, first on WABC then WGY, then in 2006 moved to Sirius. He renamed his show “The Wilkow Majority” and it was added to XM America Right 166 after Sirius and XM became one company in January of 2009. On the Beck show he had interesting things to say about Albany, NY, Progressives, the group celebrating the convicted cop killer (Obama's friends the Ayers raised his child), leftists defending child sex offenders, and the Occupy groups. He says Albany, NY "is a cess pool controlled by unions." Check his web site.

You can listen on MP3 "free five" for a taste of the show. He has an impressive guest list, although most seem more of interest to New Yorkers.

Do you read the New York Times?

I used to. But the news stories are so biased and full of opinion, I just gave up. I prefer some facts, so I can make my own opinion. This opinion of NYT opinion page I agree with, but its also in the news coverage, not just opinion page:

“New York Times editorialists write for people who think alike and seek reinforcement of their prejudices. Unconstrained by any need for compromise or political sensitivity, they provide an honest distillation of left-liberalism, something you can't always get from politicians who need to appeal broadly enough to win electoral majorities or even from the leaders of other institutions that serve a more diverse audience or clientele. What you learn from reading Times editorialists is that the fundamental attitude of left-liberalism today is one of contemptuous ignorance.”

The Lunch box fiasco--my apologies

When my husband told me about the story he'd heard on Rush Limbaugh about the 4 year old's lunch box and the school inspector not approving her home made lunch of turkey sandwich, banana, potato chips and apple juice, so she instead ate 3 chicken nuggets the school provided I told him someone was pulling Rush's chain. That no school was THAT stupid. Sorry Rush, sorry hubby--it's apparently true.

Carolina Journal

RAEFORD — A preschooler at West Hoke Elementary School ate three chicken nuggets for lunch Jan. 30 because a state employee told her the lunch her mother packed was not nutritious.

The girl’s turkey and cheese sandwich, banana, potato chips, and apple juice did not meet U.S. Department of Agriculture guidelines, according to the interpretation of the agent who was inspecting all lunch boxes in her More at Four classroom that day.

The Division of Child Development and Early Education at the Department of Health and Human Services requires all lunches served in pre-kindergarten programs — including in-home day care centers — to meet USDA guidelines. That means lunches must consist of one serving of meat, one serving of milk, one serving of grain, and two servings of fruit or vegetables, even if the lunches are brought from home.

When home-packed lunches do not include all of the required items, child care providers must supplement them with the missing ones.

So I poked around a bit, and it's almost impossible wading through state documents and USDA regulations for pre-schools how far back this goes--but I'm quite sure it pre-dates the Obama administration (see below for 2010 HHFKA). I was horrified to see the length of documents regulating pre-schools, however.

Also, if "inspectors" can declare a lunch of a turkey sandwich, banana, potato chips and apple juice is not suitable, then charge the family for a replacement lunch (which the child didn't eat), it really does sound a lot like health care rules, doesn't it?

From the Federal Register: The Healthy and Hunger-Free Kids Act (HHFKA) of 2010, a reauthorization of the Child Nutrition Act, provides funding for federal school meal and child
nutrition programs, increases access to healthy food, and promotes overall student wellness. By supporting school and community efforts that provide nutritious meals for children and promote overall wellness, the HHFKA is a major step forward in the fight to end childhood hunger, improve nutrition, and fight our country’s epidemic of obesity.

The origins of this bill date to the National School Lunch Act (NSLA), signed into law by Harry S. Truman in 1946. In 1966, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the first Child Nutrition Act (CNA). The CNA of 1966 expanded the School Lunch Program, established the School Breakfast Program, extended the Special Milk Program, and provided Federal funding towards non-food school equipment purchases.

The HHFKA of 2010 includes $4.5 billion in new funding for its programs and provisions over a 10 year period. The bill gives the USDA the authority to set new nutrition standards for food sold and served in schools, and requires training and certification for all food service personnel.

Are food subsidies making our kids fat?

For many of us, it's no mystery

"How life began is one of nature’s enduring mysteries. Fossil and biological clues have led scientists to estimate that cells originated on this planet about four billion years ago, but exactly what catalysed their emergence has remained elusive." Nature magazine, Debate bubbles. . .

Genesis 1: "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. And God said, . . ."

John 1: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made . . "

Job 38: "2 Who is this who obscures My counsel
with ignorant words?
3 Get ready to answer Me like a man;
when I question you, you will inform Me.
4 Where were you when I established the earth?
Tell Me, if you have understanding.
5 Who fixed its dimensions? Certainly you know!
Who stretched a measuring line across it?
6 What supports its foundations?
Or who laid its cornerstone
7 while the morning stars sang together
and all the sons of God shouted for joy?"


Colossians 1: "15 He [Jesus] is the image of the invisible God,
the firstborn over all creation.
16 For everything was created by Him,
in heaven and on earth,
the visible and the invisible,
whether thrones or dominions
or rulers or authorities—
all things have been created through Him and for Him.
17 He is before all things,
and by Him all things hold together.
18 He is also the head of the body, the church;
He is the beginning,
the firstborn from the dead,
so that He might come to have
first place in everything."

There are 350 billion galaxies, of which our earth is an infinitesimal speck of sand on a huge beach, and still these guys don't get it. Now that kind of ignorance is a mystery to me.

Cynthia Kenyon on aging

What controls aging? Biochemist Cynthia Kenyon has found a simple genetic mutation that can double the lifespan of a simple worm, C. Elegans. The lessons from that discovery, and others, are pointing to how we might one day significantly extend youthful human life.

Roundworms are elderly and wrinkled at 10 days and by the time they reach two weeks, they're dead. Kenyon found that by masking the DNA's daf-2 gene, her team could extend the roundworms' lives sixfold.

Spinach--nutrition power house

Spinach is World's Healthiest Foods website "Food of the Week." Among the World's Healthiest vegetables, spinach comes out at the top of our ranking list for nutrient-richness. Rich in vitamins and minerals, it is also concentrated in health-promoting phytonutrients, such as carotenoids (beta-carotene, lutein, and zeaxanthin) and flavonoids, that provide you with powerful antioxidant protection. And it only takes 1 minute to cook! Enjoy baby spinach in your favorite salads or make a salad made exclusively of baby spinach.

Wash it, put it in a sauce pan with a lid turn on the heat for a minute or two, then turn it off. Serve with a little butter and salt--delicious. Or use baby spinach raw in salads or in place of lettuce. Goes great with fruit and a sweetened dressing.

“Did you know that spinach is not only a rich source of vitamins and minerals, but researchers have identified carotenoids and at least 13 different flavonoid phytonutrients in spinach that act as powerful antioxidants? Antioxidants combat the free radicals that cause oxidative damage to both cells and DNA. When the researchers at the USDA Agricultural Research Service's Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University tested various fruits and vegetables for their antioxidant capabilities, spinach ranked second only to kale among the vegetables tested. The various flavonoids in spinach have been shown to possess anti-inflammatory, anti-mutagenic, and anti-carcinogenic properties, while its carotenoids, such as zeaxanthin and lutein, help fight prostate cancer and protect against eye diseases, such as age-related macular degeneration and cataracts. Since carotenoids are fat-soluble, they are not well absorbed unless fat is also consumed — a ! good reason to add extra flavor and nutrition to spinach by dressing it with extra virgin olive oil. When looking at spinach.s impressive nutritional profile, remember that it also contains many other health-promoting phytonutrients for which daily recommended intakes have not yet been provided, so they are not included in the chart.

“One recent food study has shown that you don't need to worry about the overall status of antioxidants in baby spinach that has been stored and displayed in this way. In this scientific study, the overall nutrient richness of the baby spinach when exposed to constant light was actually higher than the overall nutrient richness of baby spinach leaves kept in total darkness. The period of time in the study was 9 days, and the spinach was kept at 39°F/4°C (a temperature on the lower end of the scale for most home refrigerators). These findings are good news for anyone purchasing baby spinach in "ready-to-eat" containers [which I do]. “

Unions support felons getting their pensions

"Outrage is stirring over a California law permitting state and government workers who commit crimes to continue receiving pensions. Under the law, if the worker commits a felony in the course of public duty, they are still eligible to collect pension money. On America’s Newsroom, Martha MacCallum brought up the case of a teacher convicted on 23 counts of lewd behavior who still receives $4,000 from the state.

John Fund, senior editor of American Spectator spoke out against the law. He said, “Normally I can understand that a pension is something you earned on the job and your right to keep it, but there are some crimes that are so outrageous committed while you’re on the job, that you should forfeit them.”

He thinks California should change its law and says Gov. Jerry Brown is trying to change it so that new employees who commit a horrible crime will have to forfeit them. Government employee unions say this is a right that cannot be taken away."
California state employees still get pensions in prison

Getting way too over confident

Conservatives, libertarians, Republicans, Independents and moderates of both parties have underestimated Barack Obama so many times, it really surprises me to see stuff like this in print--even digitally. We know he can start wars; we know he can lie about the economy; we know he'll just go around Congress if they don't do his bidding. What's to lose? This article assumes Obama is going to play by election rules!

Barack Obama may have just lost the election. He has foolishly gone to war in an election year with tens of millions of Catholics, Protestants and Jews – Democrat, Republican and independent alike. He has thrown down a radical feminist gauntlet and dared the Church to pick it up.

They’ve picked it up.

From running up trillions in debt and deficit, to the vast expansion of the size and scope of federal bureaucracy, Mr. Obama has done more in three years to supplant our 236 year-old Constitutional Republic with a Euro-style socialist autocracy – than a lesser Marxist could have accomplished in a lifetime.

But controlling the purse strings is not nearly enough. A central element of full-blown secular-socialism is the suppression of religious liberty – principally, freedom of conscience.

Karl Marx once said: “The first requisite for the happiness of the people is the abolition of religion.”

When Karl Marx speaks, Barack Obama listens.

I think they are forgetting that ANY CRITICISM of his socialist/Marxist programs is being called racist. None of this is seen as his problem, disloyalty, or treasonist behavior by loyal Democrats. They will never, never see the light. They see only his skin color. They don't hear his words; don't see his results; don't recognize his friends. They sure don't know his heart.

When black men succeed

they probably have a dad in the home with mom and the two parents had high expectations. Sixty percent of black male achievers grew up in homes with two parents. “Census data show that only 35 percent of black children grow up in two-parent homes,” reports Inside Higher Ed.

Shaun Harper set out to do something about the image of black men as failures.

"He built his own research agenda as a graduate student a decade ago. In a study released today, the first from his new Center for the Study of Race and Equity in Education at Penn, Harper analyzes a cohort of 219 black men (at a range of institutional types) who meet rigorous criteria that define them as "achievers," to understand both how and why they succeeded in college, and what campus leaders and others might do to help others follow in their footsteps.

The answers drawn from the National Black Male College Achievement Study are anything but elemental. Demographically, the subjects look much like their black male peers -- three in five hail from low-income or working class backgrounds (compared to about two-thirds of all African-American families) and nearly half have parents with no college degree -- and as a group they shun the idea that they are cognitively smarter than their less-successful friends or cousins or other peers (and their high-school academic records largely back that up).

What does differentiate them, the study suggests, is a complex stew of mostly external factors that appeared to give them a sense that college was not only possible but expected, and engaged them academically and otherwise in their schools and colleges. Among those influences: involved parents with high expectations for them; at least one K-12 teacher who took a personal interest in their academic and personal future; adequate financial support to pay for college; and a transition to college in which high expectations were set for them as much if not more by influential black male juniors and seniors at their institutions as by formal programs designed to smooth their way.

This study has implications for white families, too. Many children are growing up, not just in divorced families, but with a mom or dad who didn't marry the other biological parent. Lack of marriage is the biggest reason for poverty in the United States. Uncle Sam is not a good step-father.

Extremists don't respect the religion of others

Ours isn’t the only government with radicals who want to bring down religion (see stories about HHS vs. Catholics). Look at what Islamist extremists were doing to priceless Buddhist statues in the Maldives earlier this week.

During the coup that ousted President Mohamed Nasheed on Tuesday, scenes of violence resulted in the wanton destruction of historical treasures. Considered as a mark of idolatry by Islamic salafists, statues and monuments were destroyed by extremists blamed for the toppling of Nasheed.

The Maldives’ National Museum was the scene of the destruction, as a group of five men deliberately targeted artefact's from the Maldives pre-Islamic era, destroying Buddhist relics.

Read more:

Primo dierum omnium, hymn of St. Gregory

First of All Days

Hail, day! whereon the One in Three
First formed the earth by sure decree,
The day its Maker rose again,
And vanquished death, and burst our chain.

Away with sleep and slothful ease!
We raise our hearts and bend our knees,
And early seek the Lord of all,
Obedient to the Prophet’s call:

That he may hearken to our prayer,
Stretch forth his strong right arm to spare,
And, every past offence forgiven,
Restore us to our home in heaven.

Assembled here this holy day,
This holiest hour we raise the lay;
And, O, that he to whom we sing,
May now reward our offering!

O Father of unclouded light,
keep us this day as in Thy sight,
in word and deed that we may be
from every touch of evil free.

That this our body's mortal frame
may know no sins, and fear no shame,
nor fire hereafter be the end
of passions which our bosoms rend.

Redeemer of the world, we pray
that Thou wouldst wash our sins away,
and give us, of Thy boundless grace,
the blessings of the heavenly place.

That we, thence exiled by our sin,
hereafter may be welcomed in:
that blessed time awaiting now,
with hymns of glory here we bow.

Most Holy Father, hear our cry,
Through Jesus Christ our Lord most High
Who, with the Holy Ghost and thee
Doth live and reign eternally.

This hymn is attributed to Pope St. Gregory the Great (540-604) and there is good reason to think he may have written it. The ancient preface to St. Columban's Altus prosator describes the arrival of St. Gregory's messengers from Rome bearing gifts and a set of hymns for the Liturgy of the Hours. In turn, St. Columban sent a set of hymns he had composed to St. Gregory. There has been considerable debate of late as to whether St. Gregory really did write the hymn or if he simply sent what was current in Rome at the time. Considerable evidence can be put forth for both positions.

Martin Luther and his namesake

Martin Luther perhaps never saw an elephant, but he was very familiar with donkeys. He said that the old Adam is "the obstinate donkey, fixing for a fight," against whom the new man wages "constant battle."

When Michael King, Sr. a Baptist minister changed his name to Martin Luther King after the great reformer, his son Michael Jr. also changed his name and became Martin Luther King, Jr. They were Republicans. His friends and family continued to call him Mike.

Democrats were so oppressive to blacks in the South, using lynching to terrorize, they instituted the "Jim Crow" laws and resegregated the schools. In order to vote at all, many blacks became Republicans. The push for civil rights was done by the Republican party in the 40s and 50s, and was fought tooth and nail by the likes of powerful Democrats like Lyndon Johnson, LBJ. But when it became an opportunity to put them under the control of government, LBJ changed his tune with the Civil Rights Act, a Republican cause, and his "War on Poverty."

This lesson on black history will probably not be taught in the public schools this month.

Do the homeless need a home? Guest blogger Edward J. Shannon

Mr. Shannon is a residential architect from Waterloo, Iowa. For those of you outside the architectural field, that means his specialty is designing homes. You may see some photos of his work at this web site. He is a Christian with a heart for those less fortunate. He has given a lot of thought and time to the problems of the homeless, and like me thinks the problem is much bigger than a warm bed and a secure roof. I appreciate his willingness to be a guest blogger.
-------------------

I don't believe homelessness is an architectural problem, but a social one. I serve in churches and ministries that have homeless populations. I have seen first hand that many "choose" to be homeless. It doesn't sound rational to clear thinking people, but mental illness, addictions, and broken families can foster this.

I used to drop my boys off (at their mother's) in Palatine at 5 pm on Sundays. I would be heading back to Winnetka on Palatine Road and would usually see a homeless man in Arlington Heights walking west bound. I would turn around and give him a ride to a church in Palatine that had a PADS program [Providing Advocacy, Dignity, and Shelter Crisis Services, usually in church buildings of the Chicago area]. His name was Emory. He walked with a bad limp and it just pained me to see him walking a 3.5 mile trek. On our short drives, I began to get to know Emory a little. I asked, "What happened?" He explained to me that he had a college degree and was once married. His marriage fell apart and he lost his job (that happened to me, too) and could never "pick himself up". As such, he went down the slippery slope of becoming homeless. I asked if he had family in the area (this is key, I believe). He told me he had a sister on the South Side of Chicago. I asked why he didn't move in with her and try to get up on his feet. He shied away from my questions, saying he didn't want to impose; they didn't get along well, etc.

Where are the families? If I found myself in that predicament, I am confident I could move in with a family member or close friend. In the 1930s depression years, many were unemployed, yet many families lived together. This doesn't happen with this demographic, and I have seen stories, like Emory's, time and time again.

I don't think any amount of free housing will solve this problem. Housing is not the problem. It is a symptom of the problem. These people need family support. They need counseling and (often times) addictions intervention. Architects will not solve this problem, nor should we. I know a few, like Donald Macdonald of San Francisco, and the "Mad Houser's of Atlanta, have tried. I commend them for their efforts, but wonder if they have actually produced tangible results.

I'm in agreement with Mr. Shannon on most points, however, even family support can do little for the mentally ill and addicted. Most have been burned out, and have had to go to a "tough love" stance in order to help their family member. In the Columbus area I think we all remember the viral video of Ted Williams, the homeless man with the fabulous voice who got national attention, job offers, money, and was even on the Dr. Phil show who paid for him to enter rehab (he had already regressed since the video went viral). Talent, money, education, a voice that God gives very few, and family support were not lacking. He is an alcoholic. He has been in rehab several times since all the fame.

Also, and this too is counter intuitive for non-believers and even many Christians, helping the homeless and especially more personally by turning around and picking up Emory, gave Mr. Shannon an opportunity to meet Jesus face to face. This is made clear in Matthew 25. Mr. Shannon has experienced God's love in his own life, and he is sharing that love with others.

A book I won't read--Mimi's tale of a handsome lie

"Mimi Alford’s belated tell-all, Once Upon a Secret, should be assigned in women’s-studies classes as an illustration of the power imbalances in employer-employee sexual liaisons, especially those involving commanders-in-chief and their interns. . .

. . . Within her first week as an intern, JFK’s friend and procurer Dave Powers invited her to a midday swim with the president and some of the gals from the secretarial pool. At the end of the day, the rising sophomore at Massachusetts’ Wheaton College was invited to a get-together in the family residence. She was plied with daiquiris, then the president peeled her away from the group with an invitation to a private tour of the residence.

Alford lost her virginity on the fashionably elegant Mrs. Kennedy’s bed. “I wouldn’t describe what happened that night as making love,” Alford writes. “But I wouldn’t call it nonconsensual, either.” "

He never kissed her she says, but required her to perform oral sex on Powers (it was his job to find her an abortion doctor if needed) while he watched and asked for baby brother Teddy.

A handsome lie

Washington Post comments

Rock Center interview

I'm just so very sorry that I ever wept tears over that man in 1963.

HHS Mandate vs. God's people

"The LORD frustrates the counsel of the nations; He thwarts the plans of the peoples. The counsel of the LORD stands forever, the plans of His heart from generation to generation. Happy is the nation whose God is Yahweh--the people He has chosen to be His own possession!" Ps 33:10-12

I love that word "thwarts." All those consonants smothering and beating up on one little old vowel. One can make a difference in this world. You can even rearrange the letters and find other words, "tsar start that war" (HHS tsar Kathleen Sibelius). Today demand to be given back the religious freedoms our founders intended and wrote into the Bill of Rights, and not just this latest dust-up. The erosion didn't start in January 2009! Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg doesn't appreciate our Constitutional liberties, but we do.

Amendment I

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.

Newsy on Obama's mandate

Here's how Newsy describes itself: "Newsy is multi-source, multi-platform video news. It’s the only video news service that allows users to compare bias by highlighting nuances in reporting. Through short professionally produced videos for mobile devices and the web, Newsy provides context with convenience - making you smarter, faster."

I haven't quite figured out how Newsy works, and any compromise discussed in the opening seconds isn't actually happening. It's all calculated to not offend voters (on the left), with those of us who still believe in the first amendment left out in the cold.