Last night the kids and I were watching The Pursuit of Happyness on t.v. In case you haven't seen it, Will Smith plays a single dad trying to support his 5-year-old son will doing a difficult internship at Dean Witter. They are living in a low cost motel and making every penny count, barely scraping by.
Then one day he receives a notice from the IRS that they have wiped out his bank account to apply to back taxes. In short they left him only $21 to live off of. The result of that is Smith's character and his son end up homeless, sleeping in shelters or in the subway station until he can finish his internship.
My point is this. The IRS is a government entity. If the government wouldn't care two seconds whether or not taking money out of a person's bank account would leave him in dire straights, why would government health care worry about it?
The answer is it wouldn't. Look at how socialized medicine is working in the UK. Last week reports came out of the UK that 4000 women were forced to give birth in bathrooms and hallways because there weren't enough beds. Little premature babies are given up for dead. Of course you don't have to be a premature baby for the government to decide you shouldn't live. Anyone remember Charlotte Wyatt? The other end of the spectrum is in danger too. A report came out last week that the elderly should get low priority on swine flu treatment!
No one argues that there isn't room for health care reform in this country. But Obama's plan and the current house bill are NOT the best solutions and are in fact the Trojan horse that let's government take greater control of your life. If the IRS can get into your bank account, wait until a Washington bureaucrat takes a peak at your medical records and decides what treatment you should have - if any!
Sign the petition today - send a message to Washington!
The Petition
Monday, August 31, 2009
Simple Woman
Outside my window...
Gray cloudy sky and the tree outside my window looks like the leaves are thinking of changing already. The temperature also took a big drop -my goodness - is autumn here already? I fell like I barely got summer!
I am thinking...
about Mr. Pete who is re-roofing the back of our house this weekend. 20 years ago he and I together painted the trim. I remember the neighbor wondering how I could lay on my stomach and paint for hours. Now so do I! 10 years ago Pete took two layers of shingles off the front of the house and put new shingles on all by himself. He learned a lot but it took him weeks, and weeks and weeks. We had many floods inside the house while he was working on that project. Today he has our two 6 foot tall sons out there helping him! Good things come to those who wait I guess.
I am thankful for... the fact that I don't have to go out on the roof again!
From the learning rooms...we are going to learn a bit about Missouri but other than that we are really low key for a while longer. I'm still recharging my batteries.
From the kitchen...BLTs - I have tons of tomatoes this year!
I am wearing...cream colored capri pants and a gray knit top.
I am creating... a clean house. Got the main floor done last week - the basement and classroom is again this week!
I am going... to be doing more cleaning and organizing and exercising!
I am reading...
Mary Poppins
which is much, much better than the movie!!150 Bible Verses Every Catholic Should Know
Anticancer: A New Way of Life
(although personally I don't think there's much you can do about it - still it's worth a look.)
Senior High: A Home-Designed Form+U+La
The most intriguing homeschool book I've read in a long time!
I am hoping...to meet a certain weight loss goal by the end of the week!
I am hearing... The air conditioner which actually masks the usual buzzing in my ears.
Around the house...see above!
A few plans for the rest of the week: Ditto above!
A picture I am sharing:
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Sunday, August 30, 2009
Sunday Snippets- A Catholic Carnival
Sunday Snippets--A Catholic Carnival is a weekly opportunity to share our best posts with the wider Catholic blogging community. To participate, create a post highlighting posts that would be of interest to Catholics and link to the host blog at This That and the Other Blog. Go to the host blog and leave a comment giving a link to your post.
We had a busy week this week over at Visits to Candyland.
We started off with a discussion on the Early Church Fathers and the Eucharist. I thought we were discussing the EFCs recognizing Christ in the Eucharist, but one of my opponents was actually arguing that the EFCs believed differently than the Council of Trent.
That lead to a discussion of Hebrews and John 6 which also had some eye opening revelations including the one that blew me completely away- that some Christians view going to church as a good work and can thus jeopardize your salvation... or something like that.
I wrapped up with some insights I got from how other Christians view Catholicism.
All the discussions were heated in parts, but there were some friendly moments as well. We certainly covered a lot of ground.
One of my favorite saints, St. Monica, had a feast day last week and I blogged a bit about that.
Also Robert Schindler died this week. He was the father of Terry Schiavo. She was the young woman the nation watched legally starve to death a few years ago.
Bill Luse summarizes my feelings on the Mr. Schindler's death exactly.
UPDATE: I can't believe I forgot this but I am blogging with a few other Catholic bloggers you might be familiar with over at Catholic Against Obamacare. We already have quite a few followers on blogger and twitter - so check us out!
Some more of my mom's old holy cards
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We had a busy week this week over at Visits to Candyland.
We started off with a discussion on the Early Church Fathers and the Eucharist. I thought we were discussing the EFCs recognizing Christ in the Eucharist, but one of my opponents was actually arguing that the EFCs believed differently than the Council of Trent.
That lead to a discussion of Hebrews and John 6 which also had some eye opening revelations including the one that blew me completely away- that some Christians view going to church as a good work and can thus jeopardize your salvation... or something like that.
I wrapped up with some insights I got from how other Christians view Catholicism.
All the discussions were heated in parts, but there were some friendly moments as well. We certainly covered a lot of ground.
One of my favorite saints, St. Monica, had a feast day last week and I blogged a bit about that.
Also Robert Schindler died this week. He was the father of Terry Schiavo. She was the young woman the nation watched legally starve to death a few years ago.
Bill Luse summarizes my feelings on the Mr. Schindler's death exactly.
UPDATE: I can't believe I forgot this but I am blogging with a few other Catholic bloggers you might be familiar with over at Catholic Against Obamacare. We already have quite a few followers on blogger and twitter - so check us out!
Some more of my mom's old holy cards
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Visit my new Amazon Store!
My Daily Domestic Diigolet 08/30/2009
Survey Finds That Many Families Don’t Borrow for College - The Choice Blog - NYTimes.com
- A new study titled “How America Pays for College,” done by the Gallup organization for Sallie Mae, the nation’s largest provider of student loans, found that in the 2008-2009 school year, 58 percent of families did not borrow money for college.
College Admissions Advice - The Choice Blog - NYTimes.com
- A new study titled “How America Pays for College,” done by the Gallup organization for Sallie Mae, the nation’s largest provider of student loans, found that in the 2008-2009 school year, 58 percent of families did not borrow money for college.
The ugly secret why tuition costs a fortune | ajc.com
- n times of economic slowdown, prices usually fall. Is your home worth as much as it was two years ago? As much as the mortgage you have on it? (For your sake, I hope so.) In major cities rents are falling, and shoppers are skipping organic groceries in favor of mongo-sized discount produce from Price Club. There’s just one sector of the economy that’s bizarrely insulated from reality: Academia.
- Tuition, room and board at Sarah Lawrence College just hit $53,166 per year. That’s like buying a C-Class Mercedes every year ... except you never get the car. Other colleges are comparable, with even state school tuition rising to levels some parents find impossible. Why hasn’t reality had its revenge?
- At the same time, the degree of interaction between teachers and students has declined. While 43 percent of two-year public college students and 29 percent of four-year public college students require remedial course work, costing $2 billion annually, one national survey reports that 37 percent of first-year arts/humanities students “never” discuss course readings with teachers outside of class, and 41 percent only do so “sometimes.”
- vy League grads can emerge without having ever read Hamlet or the Declaration of Independence, or they’ve learned these texts through some trendy lens, such as Queer Theory.
- That’s why it’s essential, when making the ever more costly choices required in education, to carefully scope out each college. Call the admissions office and inquire about the student/teacher ratio and the percentage of classes taught by graduate students.
Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.
Saturday, August 29, 2009
A funny from my sister...
While other heads of state and former leaders bowed their heads, the Clintons couldn't help but worry about a bolt of lightening.
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My Daily Domestic Diigolet 08/29/2009
Mary Jo Kopechne and Chappaquiddick: America's Selective Memory -- Politics Daily
Well said!
- The idea that Edward M. Kennedy could be a viable national politician – let alone a much-admired and lionized political figure – has convinced millions of everyday citizens and succeeding generations of conservative activists that among the elites of academia, politics, and the media two standards of behavior exist: One for liberal Democrats and another for conservative Republicans. Along with sweeping changes in immigration law, soaring oratory, and strengthening the nation's social safety net, this reservoir of class resentment is also part of Kennedy's legacy.
- I like Jim Fallows, and stand in awe of Kennedy's effectiveness as a politician myself. But hold on a minute: The "college problems" were serial cheating. The "silver-spoon" stuff, I suppose refers to, among other things, the speeding and reckless driving that ominously foreshadowed Chappaquiddick. And that phrase "redeeming himself in the eyes of all but the committed haters," well, the problem with that is that to many people, redemption implies that a sinner has come clean.
- Not reporting a fatal traffic accident is a felony in most places. On Martha's Vineyard, if the driver is a Kennedy, it's not even a matter of official curiosity: The local police chief never even asked Kennedy why he waited nine hours to report what had happened. The state of Massachusetts, citing Kennedy's excessive speed on the bridge, suspended his license for six months. That was it.
- In protesting Gerald Ford's pardon of Richard Nixon, Kennedy thundered, "Is there one system of justice for the average citizen and another system for the high and mighty?" These words, uttered five years after Chappaquiddick, are ubiquitous on conservative websites where they are offered up as evidence, not only of Kennedy's hypocrisy, but the mainstream media's as well.
“One of his favorite topics of humor was indeed Chappaquiddick itself”
This is why Teddy Kennedy doesn't quite fit into the halo the media is trying to put on him.
Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.
Friday, August 28, 2009
Join Jen and the other Quicktakers over at the Conversion Diary.
1. I was thinking ahead to fall and to All Saints Day coming up and then I remembered how much different it was going to be this year than in the past couple of years. My inner city neighborhood has never done trick or treating. I don't know if it's just not an African American cultural thing, or if the neighborhood is too iffy or what, but it just has never happened on our street. Our parish doesn't always celebrate it either (we have mass but not a party for the kids) so my kids were kind of out luck until grandma moved into her retirement home. For the last couple of years we have trick or treated in the home visiting all of the residents. It was safe, and inside and the kids had a good time. But now with mom's death we can't participate in that this year. Probably not for the Easter Egg hunt in the spring either. I guess we will need to travel through the entire year to really assess all the tangible and intangible things that were lost with mom's passing.
2. I took a walk yesterday with Sam for exercise. We just walked the city streets and let me just say, it feels weird to know that all (most) of the city's children are willingly institutionalized during the daylight hours. The streets just seemed sad and empty without them.
3. The ordeal of that young woman found in California has my full attention. I've had two occasions this week when I could not find my girls because they went from where they told me they were going, to somewhere else without telling me! And my imagination goes to worse case scenario and I see them dead in a shallow grave somewhere or worse. So since Izzy is 10 I told her, as age appropriately as I could, what happened to that littler girl in California and why I worry about her and her sister so much. From the thoughtful look on her face I think she is considering my words.
4. Julieunplugged has the context of a speech Robert Kennedy made after Martin Luther' King's death. It is quite powerful. It occurs to me that all good people, whether on the right or the left, really want the same things for the benefit of the poor and less fortunate - we just disagree on how to achieve that.
5. I find it interesting that Senator Kennedy, his ex-wife, his son and his daughter all had some kind of cancer and I wonder why? Was it something environmental or just coincidence? I haven't heard anyone in the news point it out. I also note that when I look at all of my mother's friends that taught with her in the same building for years, most of them have died from cancer too. I just can't believe that is all coincidental.
6. The coverage of Kennedy's death has been interesting as well. The cable all-Kennedy-all the time stations have tanked in the ratings. Putting this in perspective a bit, he was the brother of a president that died almost 50 years ago, he was the senator from the state of Massachusetts. Younger people aren't aware of who he was, and many people outside of his state might not be too clear on it either. It's sad. But I don't think it warrants the attention it's getting nationally and apparently the ratings bare that out.
7. The pope apparently agrees.
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1. I was thinking ahead to fall and to All Saints Day coming up and then I remembered how much different it was going to be this year than in the past couple of years. My inner city neighborhood has never done trick or treating. I don't know if it's just not an African American cultural thing, or if the neighborhood is too iffy or what, but it just has never happened on our street. Our parish doesn't always celebrate it either (we have mass but not a party for the kids) so my kids were kind of out luck until grandma moved into her retirement home. For the last couple of years we have trick or treated in the home visiting all of the residents. It was safe, and inside and the kids had a good time. But now with mom's death we can't participate in that this year. Probably not for the Easter Egg hunt in the spring either. I guess we will need to travel through the entire year to really assess all the tangible and intangible things that were lost with mom's passing.
2. I took a walk yesterday with Sam for exercise. We just walked the city streets and let me just say, it feels weird to know that all (most) of the city's children are willingly institutionalized during the daylight hours. The streets just seemed sad and empty without them.
3. The ordeal of that young woman found in California has my full attention. I've had two occasions this week when I could not find my girls because they went from where they told me they were going, to somewhere else without telling me! And my imagination goes to worse case scenario and I see them dead in a shallow grave somewhere or worse. So since Izzy is 10 I told her, as age appropriately as I could, what happened to that littler girl in California and why I worry about her and her sister so much. From the thoughtful look on her face I think she is considering my words.
4. Julieunplugged has the context of a speech Robert Kennedy made after Martin Luther' King's death. It is quite powerful. It occurs to me that all good people, whether on the right or the left, really want the same things for the benefit of the poor and less fortunate - we just disagree on how to achieve that.
5. I find it interesting that Senator Kennedy, his ex-wife, his son and his daughter all had some kind of cancer and I wonder why? Was it something environmental or just coincidence? I haven't heard anyone in the news point it out. I also note that when I look at all of my mother's friends that taught with her in the same building for years, most of them have died from cancer too. I just can't believe that is all coincidental.
6. The coverage of Kennedy's death has been interesting as well. The cable all-Kennedy-all the time stations have tanked in the ratings. Putting this in perspective a bit, he was the brother of a president that died almost 50 years ago, he was the senator from the state of Massachusetts. Younger people aren't aware of who he was, and many people outside of his state might not be too clear on it either. It's sad. But I don't think it warrants the attention it's getting nationally and apparently the ratings bare that out.
7. The pope apparently agrees.
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My Daily Domestic Diigolet 08/28/2009
New Our Lady of Guadalupe book makes national bestseller lists
New York City, N.Y., Aug 22, 2009 / 06:07 pm (CNA).- A new book on Our Lady of Guadalupe intended to explore her history and her message of love has debuted on major U.S. bestseller lists.
HSLDA | HOMESCHOOLERS BEAT NATIONAL AVERAGE ON ACT
This was nice to read!
Purcellville, VA—Recently, ACT published its results for 2009. On a scale of 1–36 homeschoolers scored an average of 22.5, which beat the national average of 21.1. “This is a remarkable achievement and shows that homeschool parents are successfully preparing their children for college,” said Michael Smith, president of HSLDA.
Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.
Thursday, August 27, 2009
St. Monica
Today is the feast of one of my favorite saints, St. Monica. St. Monica a tenacious prayer warrior when it came to her children, particularly Augustine who later became one of the great doctors of the church. She prayed, followed and encouraged him with all of her strength. She never gave up.
Today we would call such a woman a nag I suppose. It certainly isn't the fashion to follow grown children around and encourage them on their Christian walk. But that's what Monica did and it paid off. I take a lot of heart in that. It seems that in our culture the emphasis is on pushing the kids out of the nest as soon as they graduate from high school. It's as if they magically transform overnight into wise adults who are totally self-sufficient and don't need much from their parents any more (other than regular checks and use of the laundry).
But I know that's not true because I remember being 18, 19 and 20 years old and although I though I knew a lot I realize that I didn't know very much. My mom was a very steady presence in my early adult years but even more so in my late 30s and 40s when she helped with the homeschooling, gave her help and opinion on our home school, or even when she just called me everyday to see how I was or to share some chit chat. Dear Lord, how I really miss those calls now.
Sometimes I get chastised myself for being a clingy mom, so it gives me a lot of satisfaction on this feast day to see that the church really does see a place for moms who take that vocation seriously right on up through adulthood, for the sake of the souls of her children. It reiterates that motherhood is a lifelong commitment, one that doesn't end on the 18th or 21st birthday. You're never too old to take advice and love from your mom either! And I am grateful to my own mom who embodied that, although I couldn't always see it at the time.
St. Monica - Catholic Online
Catholic Culture : Liturgical Year
for further reading:
Life of Saint Monica
Saint Monica: C. 332-387 : Model of Christian Mothers
Raising Christian Children in a Secular World: Christian Parenting
Charlotte at Waltzing Matilda has created these coloring pages: St Monica.
Charlotte also has a link to a tasty Algerian dish to celebrate the feast with!
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My Daily Domestic Diigolet 08/27/2009
Kennedy's cancer puts focus on quality of life - Yahoo! News - Annotated
He lived 15 months with an incurable brain tumor, a little longer than usual for a patient in his late 70s. Perhaps equally important is that Sen. Edward M. Kennedy lived those months well — able to work almost to the end, to sail the choppy New England waters he adored, to help elect a president he supported, and even to give him a dog.
Time is important to any cancer patient. Quality of life, not just how much life they can squeeze out, is increasingly the focus for people with a terminal illness, cancer specialists say. It also is one of the chief goals of treatments for brain tumors, since these therapies typically do not buy much time.
"The advances that we've made in prolonging survival aren't as big as we've liked them to be, but people have stayed at a good quality of life right up to the end," said Dr. Matthew Ewend, neurosurgery chief at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.
Even after treatments can no longer control tumor growth for patients, "we can usually keep their quality of life pretty good with medicines for brain swelling, and then the end is usually pretty graceful," Ewend said.
- Well I'm not sure how graceful it is to die from cancer. Having watched my mother do it I think the only word for it is hideous. - post by mydomesticchurch
ENTER: Electronic New Testament Educational Resources
Very good online resource
Kennedy's wives stood by him in trying times - USATODAY.com
Very interesting story on Joan Kennedy, Senator Kennedy's first husband. I heard her play the piano once and she is a wonderful musician. She put up with a lot to be his wife.
Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Senator Ted Kennedy - RIP
The Anchoress has just an excellent essay on his passing and links to others as they pop up.
I was raised a Democrat. I loved President Kennedy (well I was only 4 when he died, but still) I could not believe it when Robert Kennedy was killed. As an innocent 10 year old, I didn't understand Chappaquiddick.
But the sentimental part of my heart will always tend to overlook some of the really crappy things he did and the immoral stands he took as a Senator because of this...
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I was raised a Democrat. I loved President Kennedy (well I was only 4 when he died, but still) I could not believe it when Robert Kennedy was killed. As an innocent 10 year old, I didn't understand Chappaquiddick.
But the sentimental part of my heart will always tend to overlook some of the really crappy things he did and the immoral stands he took as a Senator because of this...
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Works for Me Wednesday- Handle the Home, Handle the Homeschool
This is one of my more popular posts that still gets a lot of hits. I keep it in the sidebar as well for easy use.
As any busy homeschooling mother can tell you, the condition of the family's house and home can and does have a direct impact on how much and how well the homeschooling goes. Mom and children can just function better when they are surrounded by order instead of chaos.
That doesn't mean every homeschool family's home has to look like Martha Stewart lives there, and it doesn't have to be doused in bleach. But reasonably clean and organized is good. For me that means I could open my front door and let a visitor in without being embarrassed, no one is suffering from food poisoning, and if I want to find a book, pencil, or pen, it is not an all day adventure trying to locate one! If I pass on those, I'm doing pretty good.
Lots of moms on line have made their own Household Management Books or Binders (kind of like the ones you see at the begining of Wife Swap every week, only much more indepth and practical!) These can be very useful to mom (saving up needed brain space for other stuff!) but also helpful when mom is sick or away allowing the husband and kids to have some idea of what to do, and when to do it!
These Household Management Binders can be as simple or as fancy as you want. You can spend some money on the forms to go in them, or you can simply make your own to suit your own taste.
There are a lot of places on line to help you put such a binder together if you are interested.
Of course the first place to start out for novices or beginners is
Fly lady. They take you baby step, by baby step through the process of putting your household binder together, and what to put in it!
Organized home.com is another good place to check out. It's chock full of ideas on how to organize your home. (It organizes stuff I didn't even realize needs to be organized!) They have tons of Free printables too, like this one!
Just as a side note, I liked the idea of this Price book for keeping track of prices and bargains.
For some real fun, check out Cindy Rushton's Brains in a Binder! That ebook includes:
Front Cover
Introduction/Instructions To MYOBIB
Title Pages...
Yearly, Monthly, Daily Planning Pages…...
Goal Setting...
My Contacts...
Discipleship Notebook Part One...
Discipleship Notebook Part Two...
Homeschool Planning Journal...
Managing the Home (Scheduling…Chore Charts…
Home Management…Menu Planning...)
Extras...
Our Other Products...
Back Cover
You can pick and choose what you want to copy.
Cindy is just one fun, energetic friendly lady. I bought her Brains in a Binder a few months ago when she was having a sale and have been enjoying it. Many of the other printables I purchased have been good too, particularly her ABC sheets for my daughter. Her stuff is a little pricey, but I think you get a lot of value for your money and I will definitely be a repeat customer.
I bought Manager's of Their Homes years ago and just put her schedule into practice this year. If you are the mom of a big family (particularly if you were raised in a little family) this is a great book to help figure out how to handle it all. They also have:
Sample chore charts and Free templates
I also purchased A Homemaker's Journal by Melissa Ringstaff a few months ago. It is inexpensive, well thought out and has some lovely forms to include in your binder.
For every kind of homeschooling form imaginable, Donna Young's site is the place to check out!
Large Family Logistics walks you step by step into creating a home managment book for free! (You can sign up for their e-mails too just like Flylady)
Christian Women on Line does this also.
Starry Sky Ranch - has FREE downloadables as Word Documents and instructions on how to put your binder together.
Check out Nissa's product at Simple Gifts You can buy the entire thing already made or get the CD and print your own forms!
**************
This is the Catholic Planner I am using this year for our homeschool.
Some other intereting things I found.
Here are some links for beautiful covers and dividers for your binders.
Check out this lovely homemaking magazine Mary Jane Farm!
Free homeschooling pages at Small Meadow Press.
Also Melissa Wiley's copious links from a few years ago on Day Planners!
Works for Me.
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Lot ' o apologetic discussions going on - Visits to Candyland
at Visits to Candyland: Early Church Fathers and the Catholic Church
We're also debunking some misinterpertations and some misrepresentations on the Eucharist at Visits to Candyland: Hebrews, Matthew and John 6.
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We're also debunking some misinterpertations and some misrepresentations on the Eucharist at Visits to Candyland: Hebrews, Matthew and John 6.
Please browse my eBay items!
Visit my new Amazon Store!
My Daily Domestic Diigolet 08/26/2009
CDC H1N1 Flu | H1N1 Flu and You
- Spread of novel H1N1 virus is thought to occur in the same way that seasonal flu spreads. Flu viruses are spread mainly from person to person through coughing or sneezing by people with influenza. Sometimes people may become infected by touching something – such as a surface or object – with flu viruses on it and then touching their mouth or nose.
- The symptoms of novel H1N1 flu virus in people include fever, cough, sore throat, runny or stuffy nose, body aches, headache, chills and fatigue. A significant number of people who have been infected with this virus also have reported diarrhea and vomiting. Severe illnesses and death has occurred as a result of illness associated with this virus.
- People infected with seasonal and novel H1N1 flu shed virus and may be able to infect others from 1 day before getting sick to 5 to 7 days after. This can be longer in some people, especially children and people with weakened immune systems and in people infected with the new H1N1 virus.
- Cover your nose and mouth with a tissue when you cough or sneeze. Throw the tissue in the trash after you use it.
- Wash your hands often with soap and water, especially after you cough or sneeze. Alcohol-based hand cleaners* are also effective.
- Avoid touching your eyes, nose or mouth. Germs spread this way.
- Try to avoid close contact with sick people.
- If you are sick with flu-like illness, CDC recommends that you stay home for at least 24 hours after your fever is gone except to get medical care or for other necessities. (Your fever should be gone without the use of a fever-reducing medicine.) Keep away from others as much as possible to keep from making others sick.
- Yes. CDC recommends the use of oseltamivir or zanamivir for the treatment and/or prevention of infection with novel H1N1 flu virus. Antiviral drugs are prescription medicines (pills, liquid or an inhaled powder) that fight against the flu by keeping flu viruses from reproducing in your body. If you get sick, antiviral drugs can make your illness milder and make you feel better faster. They may also prevent serious flu complications. During the current pandemic, the priority use for influenza antiviral drugs is to treat severe influenza illness (for example hospitalized patients) and people who are sick who have a condition that places them at high risk for serious flu-related complications.
Hospitals May Face Severe Disruption in Swine Flu’s U.S. Return - Bloomberg.com
Some scary news about the N1N1 flu.
- “This isn’t the flu that we’re used to,” said Kathleen
Sebelius, U.S. health and human services secretary. “The 2009
H1N1 virus will cause a more serious threat this fall. We won’t
know until we’re in the middle of the flu season how serious the
threat is, but because it’s a new strain, it’s likely to infect
more people than usual.” Data from clinical trials to assess the safety and
effectiveness of swine flu vaccines will start to become
available in mid-September, health officials reported Aug. 21.
Full results from the two-dose trials won’t be available until
mid-October.
“We are making every preparation effort assuming a safe
and effective vaccine will be available in mid-October,”
Sebelius said today at the CDC’s Atlanta offices.- The H1N1 strain is genetically related to the 1918 Spanish
Flu that killed an estimated 50 million people. Variations of
the Spanish Flu circulated widely until about 1957, when they
were pushed aside by other flu strains. People whose first
exposure to a flu virus was one of those Spanish Flu relatives
may have greater immunity to the current pandemic, Shaw said.
White House projects bigger deficits, bigger debt - Yahoo! News
If you voted for Obama is this really the hope and change you were looking for? Really??
WASHINGTON – The federal government faces exploding deficits and mounting debt over the next decade, White House officials predicted Tuesday in a fiscal assessment far bleaker than what the Obama administration had estimated just a few months ago.
Figures released by the White House budget office foresee a cumulative $9 trillion deficit from 2010-2019, $2 trillion more than the administration estimated in May. Moreover, the figures show the public debt doubling by 2019 and reaching three-quarters the size of the entire national economy.
- The deeper red ink and the gloomy unemployment forecast present President Barack Obama with an enormous challenge. The new numbers come as he prods Congress to enact a major overhaul of the health care system — one that could cost $1 trillion or more over 10 years. Obama has said he doesn't want the measure to add to the deficit, but lawmakers have been unable to agree on revenues that cover the cost.
Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
My Dear Daughter
After my parents were married, they started the long, long trip by car from Michigan to New Mexico. You need to know that for the context of this letter. Read the other parts of this series from my del.icio.us links.
Dear Maryrose and Pete:
We got your letter today. I'm glad you stopped over at *Kay and Jerry's. Glad you had such a good time with them. I would love to hear the results of your stop at St. Mary's.
I called Mr. Barber today, and he said they were ready (the pictures) so I am going out tomorrow to get them. I will keep them a little while and then send them on to you. I suppose I will have to wait longer on pictures for the Wedding Party. I don't suppose that he made any extra ones. If the one at the Altar, right after you were married is good, that is the one that I will have them finish off. O.K.?
I haven't mailed out anything yet. I couldn't go to work on Monday, so had to work Tuesday and today. Tomorrow I will send the suitcase, and your laundry which I washed on Tuesday morning, and ironed this morning. The patch came off the dress, so I really put a patch on it, looks better too I think.
I hope after you get to Pete's that you will write a long letter telling about your trip. Grandma (this is my great grandma!) says an extra rosary for you two every morning. I shall remember you in my prayers too, always.
I will ask around and see what the opinion is about the express packages. It is so with freight, but so far my experience has been the same kind of delivery whether pre-paid or collect or express.
I'll have to get some more cartons for those books, the ones they are in now are not very substantial.
I have mailed out an envelope (large brown one) with the mail tht has come to the house. This letter I mentioned from the Roybals is in there too.
Dad is going to be thru with his job tonight. He is going to ask for his release from the Stanley-Carter co. He is going up north, he asked mom to go, but she can't. At our house she says she can fix her meals as she should, but going someplace else she just doesn't feel right. And I don't think she should go. That *reunion is going to be something I guess.
Must close now. Will send things along as quickly as I can. but I don't think the things that you are not going to need right away should go until you are really settled. How much of the stuff that was left in the drawers of the chest and vanity do you want? How about the gray coat with the mouton? shall I send that along with the other ones? (Later of course).
God bless you and keep you both well and happy.
Mother
*(Kay was a friend of my mothers. They were very close and my sister is named for her. My grandma didn't like her that much. In a few years, as I remember it, Kay separates from her husband and makes a move on my Dad - just like a soap opera.)
*My grandpa's family has had an annual reunion forever!!! in August. Mr. Pete and I have gone to it for decades!
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Dear Maryrose and Pete:
We got your letter today. I'm glad you stopped over at *Kay and Jerry's. Glad you had such a good time with them. I would love to hear the results of your stop at St. Mary's.
I called Mr. Barber today, and he said they were ready (the pictures) so I am going out tomorrow to get them. I will keep them a little while and then send them on to you. I suppose I will have to wait longer on pictures for the Wedding Party. I don't suppose that he made any extra ones. If the one at the Altar, right after you were married is good, that is the one that I will have them finish off. O.K.?
I haven't mailed out anything yet. I couldn't go to work on Monday, so had to work Tuesday and today. Tomorrow I will send the suitcase, and your laundry which I washed on Tuesday morning, and ironed this morning. The patch came off the dress, so I really put a patch on it, looks better too I think.
I hope after you get to Pete's that you will write a long letter telling about your trip. Grandma (this is my great grandma!) says an extra rosary for you two every morning. I shall remember you in my prayers too, always.
I will ask around and see what the opinion is about the express packages. It is so with freight, but so far my experience has been the same kind of delivery whether pre-paid or collect or express.
I'll have to get some more cartons for those books, the ones they are in now are not very substantial.
I have mailed out an envelope (large brown one) with the mail tht has come to the house. This letter I mentioned from the Roybals is in there too.
Dad is going to be thru with his job tonight. He is going to ask for his release from the Stanley-Carter co. He is going up north, he asked mom to go, but she can't. At our house she says she can fix her meals as she should, but going someplace else she just doesn't feel right. And I don't think she should go. That *reunion is going to be something I guess.
Must close now. Will send things along as quickly as I can. but I don't think the things that you are not going to need right away should go until you are really settled. How much of the stuff that was left in the drawers of the chest and vanity do you want? How about the gray coat with the mouton? shall I send that along with the other ones? (Later of course).
God bless you and keep you both well and happy.
Mother
*(Kay was a friend of my mothers. They were very close and my sister is named for her. My grandma didn't like her that much. In a few years, as I remember it, Kay separates from her husband and makes a move on my Dad - just like a soap opera.)
*My grandpa's family has had an annual reunion forever!!! in August. Mr. Pete and I have gone to it for decades!
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My Daily Domestic Diigolet 08/25/2009
UPDATED: Obama's VA pulls so-called 'Death Book' from website | Washington Examiner
Universal care is going to be rationed care. One of the rations is going to be forcing folks more quickly towards death. Here is one of the examples of that already happening in a form of socialized health care through the military. Wonder if the same thing happens in congressional health care? For example do you think Ted Kennedy received a pamphlet like that? I'm thinking probably not.
- Jim Towey wrote last week in the Wall Street Journal that Obama's Veterans' Affairs department had revived a controversial and previously discontinued 53-page pamphlet on end-of-life issues for wounded soldiers. The debate over what Towey calls the "Death Book" bodes so poorly for the president's position in the health care debate that, after two segments on Fox News discussing the pamphlet this morning, the Department of Veterans' Affairs has apparently pulled the booklet from one part of its website where it had been linked by several bloggers. (UPDATE: The document still exists in another spot on the site, as NRO's Jonah Goldberg informs me.)
- We were supposed to be beyond any debate over "death panels" when it comes to health care reform. But now the administration is scrambling to explain whether and why it has been referring physicians to use a document for end-of-life planning that strongly hints at the worthlessness of life when its quality is diminished by even relatively minor injuries and health problems, such as being wheelchair-bound.
- Over the weekend, VA Assistant Secretary Tammy Duckworth denied this, but no one in the administration has explained why it was re-posted to the Internet at some point prior to July 2, and why the VA specifically links to it as a resource for practitioners.
- The booklet was co-authored by Dr. Robert Pearlman, who was among several physicians and scholars who argued in a 1996 Supreme Court amicus brief that the high court "should recognize a right to physician assisted suicide for dying patients."
Evolution Of The Human Appendix: A Biological 'Remnant' No More
Interesting facts on the lowly appendix!
- cienceDaily (Aug. 21, 2009) — The lowly appendix, long-regarded as a useless evolutionary artifact, won newfound respect two years ago when researchers at Duke University Medical Center proposed that it actually serves a critical function. The appendix, they said, is a safe haven where good bacteria could hang out until they were needed to repopulate the gut after a nasty case of diarrhea, for example.
Kennedy should resign - The Boston Globe
- I didn’t vote for Kennedy in 1982 or any other year, and I have certainly never thought of him as a saint, plaster or otherwise. Play-to-win politics, not piety, has been the essence of his long career in the Senate. He has a gift for the poignant gesture; there is no denying he is a deft hand at evoking the affection of his many admirers. But beneath the tug at the heartstrings, there is always shrewd political calculation.
- Kennedy wants the Legislature to upend the succession law it passed in 2004, when - at his urging - it stripped away the governor’s longstanding power to temporarily fill a Senate vacancy. Back then, John Kerry was a presidential candidate and Republican Mitt Romney was governor; Kennedy lobbied state Democrats to change the law so that Romney couldn’t name Kerry’s successor.
- Now that Massachusetts has a Democratic governor, Kennedy is lobbying to restore the gubernatorial power to name an interim appointee. That would guarantee Democrats in Washington two reliable Senate votes from Massachusetts, even if Kennedy isn’t there to cast one of them.
- If Kennedy is sincere - if his chief concern is that Massachusetts not be left for months without the services of a full-time senator - then he should do the right thing right now: He should resign
Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.
Monday, August 24, 2009
Simple Woman
Outside my window...
Sun and blue skies but more comfortable in the 70s.
I am thinking...
about two relationships that I have with people I love and that I suppose love me, and the unfulfilled expectations I had in both of them. From both I guess I expected a certain amount of companionship. Not hours and hours, but maybe a little every week or at lease some time in a month. One of these is with my eldest son who is trying to become independent and I certainly understand that, but as he still lives here I guess I never expected that he would leave while we were at mass, not leave a note, not call all day and then come home after we were in bed. I guess I'm just never figured that we really would become simply land lords instead of parents. The other relationship is more complex but suffice it to say I'm no where near the top of that person's totem pole. I've learned to cope. I don't nag, complain, or cajole - especially with my son. I've learned to ask or invite and then let it drop - both major steps for me. The next step is then to just let it drop out of my mind and feelings as well. I'm working on it.
I am thankful for... the neighborhood kids going back to school this week!
From the learning rooms...we are going to learn a bit about Missouri but other than that we are really low key for a while longer. I'm still recharging my batteries.
From the kitchen...chicken pasta salad
I am wearing...blue capri pants and a rose knit top.
I am creating... a clean house - spring cleaning in August!
I am going... to be doing more cleaning and organizing and exercising!
I am reading...
Mary Poppins
which is much, much better than the movie!!150 Bible Verses Every Catholic Should Know
Anticancer: A New Way of Life
(although personally I don't think there's much you can do about it - still it's worth a look.)
Senior High: A Home-Designed Form+U+La
The most intriguing homeschool book I've read in a long time!
I am hoping...to meet a certain weight loss goal by the end of the week!
I am hearing... The air conditioner which actually masks the usual buzzing in my ears.
Around the house...see above!
A few plans for the rest of the week: Ditto above!
A picture I am sharing:
Izzy and Rosie at a recent High School Musical theater class they went to this month.
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My Daily Domestic Diigolet 08/24/2009
The American Spectator : Expelled From the New York Times
He said the problem was "the
appearance" of conflict of interest. I asked how that could be
when I never wrote about the subject at all. He said the real
problem was that FreeScore was a major financial company and I
wrote about finance. But, as I told him, FreeScore was a small
Internet aggregator, not a bank or insurer.
Never mind. I was history. "You should have consulted us," was
the basic line.- Of course, there was not one word of complaint when I did
commercials for immense public companies. By a total coincidence,
I was tossed overboard immediately after my column attacking
Obama. (You can attack Obama from the left at the Times
but not from the right.)
The American Spectator : Expelled From the New York Times
Ben Stein gets let go by the NYT - tell me again about the open minded liberal press?
- Then, two things happened to change and end my career at the
Times. Well, maybe three. The Times told me
they were forced by budgetary pressures to only run me every four
weeks. This was a blow and I started to think about where else I
might write. (I had been solicited by many major publications
while at the Times but my editors had asked me not to
write for them and I did as asked.) - But the two main things, as I see them, were that I started
criticizing Mr. Obama quite sharply over his policies and
practices. I had tried to do this before over the firing of Rick
Wagoner from the Chairmanship of GM. My column had questioned
whether there was a legal basis for the firing by the government,
what law allowed or authorized the federal government to fire the
head of what was then a private company, and just where the Obama
administration thought their limits were, if anywhere. This
column was flat out nixed by my editors at the Times
because in their opinion Mr. Obama inherently had such powers.
Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.
Sunday, August 23, 2009
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