Man fleeing Ohio police jumps fence — into prison

Labels: Theater of the Absurd

Well...what can I say about the Health Care Destruction debacle? Americans got what they voted for and no one who voted for Obama or for a Democrat representative (save the very few with courage, not including the pseudo-Pro-life impostors) can complain. Obama promised to "radically transfom" America and that's about the only promise he's kept. We will now see what a sobering thing it is to live by the consent of the governed.

I like Drudge's headline tonight: "A Day Which Will Live in Infirmary"...

We drink a fair amount of coffee around here, especially with our kids being old enough to join in the fun. So we also go through a fair number of coffee pots as well. This week I had to replace our main coffeemaker again, ordering our third in a row Hamilton Beach BrewStation. At least with this kind we don't have to worry about breaking the carafe :-)

The latest Teaching Co. course in my DVD player is Great American Bestsellers: The Books that Shaped America...24 books set in the context of their period and the issues facing the nation at those times. There are many I haven't read, and have been delighted to find that several of them are available free on the Kindle!

In the past two weeks I've gotten serious about a part of my health that has taken back burner with all the orthopedic issues: diabetes. I haven't monitored my blood sugar for years other than when I'm in the hospital and forced to, but as I've seen those numbers climb in the past few months I've come to the conclusion that all my other troubles are no excuse for not keeping this under control. So I've gone back to the only diet that has ever worked to keep my diabetes under control--a very low-carb diet. I've had instant results...my blood sugars are 60 points lower after meals than they were before changing my eating. And I've also found an easy way to keep track of my progress: SugarStats.

Today I'm enjoying a bouquet of white roses straight from Emily Bruckart Scifres' wedding last night. I'm sorry I couldn't be there, but sending my congratulations to Em and Jesse...I'm loving the flowers!

And by way of the great little site Of First Importance today:

“The Christian life is the life of sons and daughters; it is not the life of slaves. It is freedom, not bondage. Of course, we are slaves of God, of Christ, and of one another. We belong to God, to Christ, to one another, and we love to serve those to whom we belong. But this kind of service is freedom. What the Christian life is not, is a bondage to the law, as if our salvation hung in the balance and depended on our meticulous and slavish obedience to the letter of the law. As it is, our salvation rests upon the finished work of Christ, on His sin-bearing, curse-bearing death, embraced by faith.”

- John Stott, The Message of Galatians (Downers Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity Press, 1968), 108-109.

Hoping to have some good news to share on my hip journey by next week. Thank you for your prayers, and stay tuned...

Labels: Books, Health, Political Observation

Labels: Political Action, Political Observation

You're confused about the process happening in Washington this weekend to pass Health Care Destruction? Never fear--here's a 90-second remedial course that will explain everything. And it will make you nostalgic for the days of "I'm Just a Bill on Capitol Hill" from Schoolhouse Rock.



hat tip: Dr. Powers

Labels: Political Observation, Theater of the Absurd

Come on, help out your country, would ya?

No More Popcorn!

Labels: Theater of the Absurd

Okay, I had to pinch myself to see if I was dreaming or if I was reading this in The Onion:

MYFOXNY.COM - Some New York City chefs and restaurant owners are taking aim at a bill introduced in the New York Legislature that, if passed, would ban the use of salt in restaurant cooking.

"No owner or operator of a restaurant in this state shall use salt in any form in the preparation of any food for consumption by customers of such restaurant, including food prepared to be consumed on the premises of such restaurant or off of such premises," the bill, A. 10129 , states in part.

The legislation, which Assemblyman Felix Ortiz , D-Brooklyn, introduced on March 5, would fine restaurants $1,000 for each violation.

I feel like we're in a Tim Burton movie! Is it April Fools yet? The only good thing is that this could bring about a serious revival in home cooking.

Take It With a Grain of Salt

Labels: Food, Political Observation, Theater of the Absurd

I haven't signed up to use this site but I just might. And those of you who are in college, grad school, or types of work where mastery and retention of details is important just might want to check out.

Headmagnet

Labels: Cool Stuff

Anybody have an old hoodie that's outlived it's current incarnation? This is a cool idea :-)

Labels: Cool Stuff

Take a look at my "Mission Statement" (left sidebar). It is one of my favorite Bible passages:

"...Tell to the coming generation the glorious deeds of the LORD, and his might, and the wonders that he has done....that the generation to come might know, even the children yet to be born, that they may arise and tell them to their children."
~Psalm 78:4-6

Many of my posts might not seem to fit into this framework, especially the political ones. But I believe that in order to leave our children and grandchildren the country we've been blessed with, it's necessary to be diligent and watchful of the peace and democracy we treasure. There may come a day when we no longer have the freedom to openly declare to our children "the glorious deeds of the LORD" and will have to do this in secret.

But I digress. This is a post about bugs.

No, really. I'm not big on bugs, most of the time. But today I ran across a series of photos, taken through a scanning electron microscope, that captivated me. And if we can get past the fact that these are pictures of creatures that normally annoy or injure us, I think they'll captivate you, too, and your children.

So I spent some time trying to analyze why I was drawn to this photo gallery. My thinking went something like this: I LOVE astronomy. I'm about to spend some money on a college-level course in astronomy, not only because it challenges me intellectually, but also because it strengthens my faith in a God mighty enough to do things I can't come close to grasping. In studying astronomy, we look UP and OUT, to the very largest objects, distances and speeds we can fathom. We see only the beginnings of the scope of God's power and imagination, and we bow in awe. Or we should.

But what of small things? For thousands of years, there was a whole world invisible to the human eye, and therefore, the brain. We had no concept of things too small to see. But with the invention of the microscope, and recently, the electron microscope, we can look IN and DOWN. I use the word "down" in a broad sense...not directionally, but in the sense that the Bible speaks of "the depths of the earth":

I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful,
I know that full well.

My frame was not hidden from you
when I was made in the secret place.
When I was woven together in the depths of the earth... (Psalm 139:14-15)

Did you ever wonder what it meant that you were woven together "in the depths of the earth"? In this sense, it certainly doesn't mean under the sea, or in the earth's core. It means that you were created at the microscopic, even the molecular level. Here we're looking IN and DOWN into the tiniest parts we can imagine.

And so these glimpses into the microscopic world strengthen my faith in much the same way as astronomy does. God is the God of the smallest things we can imagine and way beyond that. When I was in school, our textbooks taught us that the very tiniest things in the universe were electrons. Open a recent physics book and you'll find that electrons are veritable giants compared to more recently discovered particles. Every time we think we've reached the limits, we find there's something tinier (or in the case of astronomy, farther away.) I love to imagine God just smiling every time there's an announcement that we've now found the limits of something. I think He waits until then to get ready to open up the next level of understanding, even to those who "sit in the seat of scoffers" (Psalm 1).

I thought of these things as I looked at the remarkably detailed photos of insects. I tried not to think of how much a bee sting hurts or what a fly looks like on the flat side of a flyswatter and concentrate on God's amazing (a word way overused but completely appropriate here) intricacy, symmetry, creativity. The tiniest functions, ones we haven't even figured out yet, have fabulously designed structures devoted to them. Eyes are a display of microscopic honeycombs, works of art in themselves. Why should we not bow in awe of these miracles as well?

So pull your kids and grandkids in close, and use these wonderful photos to "tell to the coming generation the glorious deeds of the LORD, and his might, and the wonders that he has done"!

Creepy Crawlies "Up Close and Personal"

Labels: Homeschooling, Kids

March 08, 2010
Guess Who's Coming to Your House!
By Ken Blackwell

It's all supposed to be voluntary, those "home visits" that are tucked into the mammoth Obamacare bill. If you have a strong stomach, and a stronger bottom, you can find home visitation on pages 568-595. That's Section 2951 of H.R. 3590, the Senate bill that Harry Reid brought down the chimney on Christmas Eve.

All voluntary, they say, but once you "volunteer" to have the oh-so-helpful folks from Social Services come in to help with your newborns, or with a number of other specified issues, will you ever be able to get rid of them?

The bill provides for federal funding and supervision for this vast expansion of government intrusion into family life. This is the Nanny State on steroids.

Is your family being "targeted" for such home visitations? Let's see if you fit into one of these very broad categories:

* Families where Mom is not yet 21. (No mention here whether she is married or not.)
* Families where someone is a tobacco user. (Does this include the White House? Watch out, Sasha and Malia! Does Grandpa, whom you love and have taken in, enjoy his after-dinner pipe?)
* Families where children have low student achievement, developmental delays, or disabilities.


As if that list were not wide-ranging enough, here's the net that can encompass tens of millions:

* Families with individuals who are serving or formerly served in the armed forces, including such families that have members of the armed forces who have had multiple deployments outside the United States. [Emphasis added.]


So while Johnny gets his gun, the government steps in to "help" his family at home. Ronald Reagan used to say the most frightening words in the English language were these: I'm from the government, and I'm here to help.

Who will sit atop the federal pyramid that runs this vast new invasion of family privacy? Why, it will be Sec. of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius, of course. She was the most pro-abortion governor in American history when President Obama tapped her for his cabinet.

Do you spank your children? You should know that HHS bureaucrats think you are an abuser.

Do you support the Second Amendment? How would you like HHS bureaucrats asking your children if you maintain firearms in the home for family protection?

Do you home-school your kids? Take care. Members of Congress who have tried to abolish home-schooling are big backers of this health care bill. Do you wonder why?

Read more:

Guess Who's Coming to Your House?

Labels: Political Observation, Theater of the Absurd

I'm just not up to Snippets in the plural today, so I'll just give you one.

Granddaughter Carrie, age 5, on watching the E-trade commercial with the babies: Granny, I just love those commercials where the babies talk like human beings!

The little girl in the video is Collin Raye's granddaughter...

Labels: Music

There are times when the line between the benefits and the dangers of technology are blurry. This story is nowhere near the line :-(

(March 5) -- A South Korean couple addicted to the Internet left their 3-month-old daughter to starve to death while they raised a virtual daughter online during 12-hour bouts at a cyber cafe, police said.

The husband and wife had been on the run since their baby, born prematurely, died five months ago of severe dehydration and malnutrition, police said. They were arrested this week near their home south of the capital Seoul and charged today with child abuse and neglect.

Police say the couple left their infant alone in their apartment and rushed back from the Internet cafe just once a day to feed her. South Korea's official Yonhap news agency first reported the arrests, quoting police.

Baby starves as couple nurtures virtual infant

Labels: News, Technology

Proper grammar, despite what many of us would LIKE to believe, is really a matter of a consensus of educated people. (Sometimes it ends up being the consensus of UNeducated people, but then that's another post.)

What's clear is that proper grammar isn't static, and words, spelling, and syntax that were acceptable in 1910 are not acceptable in 2010, and vice versa. Some of the longest held "rules" of grammar are now in flux, and I as a writer am having to adjust, which is not always easy for folks in their second half-century of life.

Today I ran across a summary of some of the sacred rules of grammar and how it is now perfectly acceptable to bend or break them. Because I tend to agree with this particular list, I encourage you to go read it, especially if you're teaching writing or grammar to children. Don't saddle them with the constraints of a previous century when they have to live and write in this one.

I don't mean by this that it's okay to have sloppy writing or grammar or to make up our own rules...just that we need to stay in tune with what's generally acceptable in educated circles so our kids don't come off as sounding pretentious or stilted when they write. That is something 'up with which we should not put' (to quote Winston Churchill). ;-)

5 Simple Grammar Tips

Labels: Language

Here is one of the most beautiful and, for me, encouraging testimonies I've ever read from someone who's dying. It's a bit long, but make sure you don't stop before the end...

You Will Call, I Will Answer

Labels: Devotional, Health

Update: In the interest of fairness, I'm going to print here an excerpt from the actual doctor's report. This makes it look very different:

Recommendations: Follow-up colorectal cancer screening is recommended in 5 years for routine colon cancer screening. Continue smoking cessation efforts, a daily exercise program, healthy diet, moderation in alcohol intake, periodic dental care, and remain up-to-date with recommended immunizations. Continue modified exercise regimen, and lower extremity muscle strengthening program, for occasional left patella-femoral pain secondary to chronic tendonitis. Recommend dietary modification to reduce LDL cholesterol below 130.

Little words can make a big difference. Moderation "in" alcohol intake means something quite different than moderation "of" alcohol intake.

So on this one, I admit jumping the gun.

*********

I'm wondering why the mainstream media has made sort of a big deal about Obama's doctors telling him to quit smoking, but this has been left as a footnote in some reports and doesn't even appear in others:

The doctors also recommended "moderation of alcohol intake".

The wording of this really bothers me. This is not the same as being told that a moderate alcohol intake is okay. "Moderation" suggests that his intake is higher than moderate and needs attention. The most powerful (and therefore potentially the most dangerous) man in the world, and he's got an alcohol problem that even doctors, albeit quietly, have made public?

Doesn't this concern anyone but me?

Doctors tell Barack Obama to quit smoking

Labels: Political Observation