Ophelia Keith

The Right Wing Hypocrites Are At It Again

2012-02-02T03:17:00.000-08:00

In an apparent attempt to show how pro-life they are, conservatives pressure the Susan G Komen Foundation to stop funding breast cancer screenings at Planned Parenthood. They must be good Christians. When do the rest of us stop allowing Neanderthals to push us around?

http://thinkprogress.org/health/2012/02/01/416278/conservatives-cheer-komen-decision/

Conservatism in a Nutshell

2012-01-18T14:50:00.000-08:00

I think I've finally got the conservative mind set boiled down to its purest form. Here we go:

When people want to be paid fair wages, it's an assault on the free market. When people who are not the corporate sponsors of Republican candidates want to make money on their own, it's an assault on the free market. When women want to have abortions it's an assault on family values.When women who don't have abortions can't feed their kids and need help it's an assault on the free market and family values. When people who aren't in the one percent want a more level playing field it's class warfare. When people who are in the one percent want to maintain the status quo, it's trickle down economics. Any questions?

Media and the American Mind

2012-01-16T16:04:00.000-08:00

Miss Representation Trailer

Belief in God is not a Political Position.

2011-11-05T10:38:00.000-07:00

Recently, when President Obama made a comment about Congress making time for a resolution reaffirming In God We Trust but not for a jobs bill a couple of my Republican friends sent me articles that said Obama mocked Congress for believing in God and added their own captions 'See? This is the kind of President you want?' Of course this is not what Obama said. What Obama said was that reaffirming In God We Trust doesn't put anybody back to work and was an obvious political ploy to rouse voters' emotions without actually doing anything. In God We Trust has always been a political football, it wasn't even used until the middle of the 20th century to show how different we were from the atheist Communist movement. I think it is shameful that people who claim such devotion to God think nothing of using faith as a means to garner votes, power and wealth. In God We Trust does allow one to stigmatize, demonize and dismiss others more easily than our original motto E Pluribus Unum, out of many, one. If we'd stuck with E Pluribus Unum then we would have to allow the many different people to come together as one and that's a huge nuisance for the ideology of hate and separation. Divide and conquer, that's what In God We Trust is all about.

There's a Salon in My Refrigerator

2011-10-07T07:34:00.000-07:00

We all want to look and feel our best, but what if you can’t afford that expensive trip to the salon? Not to worry. These twelve ingredients will help you keep your beauty routine on track…and you probably have them all in your kitchen.

Oatmeal-Add warm water and mix it into a paste, spread on your face after a thorough cleansing and wait 20 minutes. Rinse until all of the facial mixture is gone. Your skin will look and feel like new.

Egg-Beat a raw egg until it’s frothy; spread over your face after washing and patting dry and rinse in 20 to 30 minutes. Your skin will feel fresh, clean and tight.

Honey-Mix honey with warm water, spread on your face and rinse after 20 to 30 minutes. Honey contains anti-oxidants that repair sun damage, inhibit bacterial growth and offer added protection against skin cancer.

Cucumber- A slice of cucumber over each eye for ten minutes removes bags and restores tired eyes.

Tea Bag-A warm teabag over each eye for ten minutes removes redness and reduces/eliminates soreness.

Tomato-Rubbing tomato slices directly onto your clean skin will remove blackheads and dead skin. Eating lots of tomatoes also reduces hypertension and the risk of certain cancers. Please, use fresh slices for eating!

Fennel-Steep crushed fennel seeds in hot water for about 45 minutes, strain and use the rest as a cleanser. This is suited to the morning, as you’ll feel rejuvenated and wide-awake.

Onion-The sulfuric acid in onion will clear up minor skin blemishes and acne flare-ups if you rub your face with onion slices before you go to sleep. Try this one at night to give the onion smell time to dissipate.

Mayonnaise-Mayonnaise can be used to moisturize the face or condition the hair. Simply apply it to clean, damp hair or clean, dry skin, leave it for a few minutes and rinse off thoroughly.

Lemon – Lemon juice makes and excellent cleanser that will make your skin glow. Its natural acids will also help lighten and soften the rough, dark skin on elbows, knees and heels and will lighten your hair in the summer if spritzed on after shampooing. Ground up lemon peel adds a nice aroma to your bath.

Yogurt-Plain yogurt (not flavored) makes for a soothing facial mask that softens the skin. Twenty minutes is all it takes for the lactic acid in yogurt to work its magic.

Olive Oil- Olive oil works as a facial mask, body oil, moisturizer and even as a hair treatment. Spread olive oil over clean skin and leave it on overnight for use as a nighttime moisturizer. Mix in a little sea salt, apply to your face after cleansing and rinse off in 30 minutes for a facial mask. Warm some olive oil and rub it into the ends of clean, damp hair after shampooing and rinsing. Wait fifteen minutes before rinsing out the olive oil and you have just given your hair a deep conditioning hot oil treatment.

The Onion Should Be Embarrassed

2011-10-06T08:21:00.000-07:00

Satire is supposed to be: A literary work in which human vice or folly is attacked through irony, derision, or wit. I got this right from the American Heritage Dictionary. What satire is not is simply making macabre jokes over a sad situation. That's exactly the route that The Onion, a usually hilarious satirical news site, decided to take when it parodied the death of Steve Jobs. (I'm not even going to link to it because I don't want any traffic going to it from my site).Steve Jobs didn't die as a result of his own vice or folly (OK, I've laughed at some Darwin award stories) he died because he got cancer and it killed him in the same horrific way it killed my uncle and two aunts and is very probably going to kill a friend of mine who has been given a six month prognosis. It isn't funny. It sucks. And people who make fun of people who die from cancer suck. The staff at the Onion should probably spend more time ruminating on the fact that they wouldn't be making money with their online faux news if not for Steve Jobs because the technology they use may have been delayed by years. For once, they could have elected to show some class, take a minute off from the funny and post an actual tribute to the guy who started it all.

Going Green Can Save Your Green

2011-10-05T04:33:00.000-07:00

In the midst of all the gloom and doom about global warming, saving the world may seem like an insurmountable task most days. Cheer up! Doing your part for the environment is easier than you think, and what's good for Mother Earth is usually good for your bank account too. To live a greener, cleaner (and often cheaper) life, just follow these ten easy steps that you can take right now.

Change Your Light Bulbs

Changing all of your household light bulbs from incandescent to compact fluorescent uses one third of the energy for the same amount of light and generates less heat, making CFL's safer. A CFL bulb also lasts ten times longer than incandescent. Added to the reduced electricity costs and you're saving time, money and my favorite planet all at once.

Buy Re-usable Grocery Bags

Forget paper or plastic. Sturdy, re-usable canvas grocery bags are now available at almost every major supermarket and cost about a dollar apiece. Keep them in your car or near the door and take them with you every time you shop. The store employees will gladly fill them for you and you can fit an entire carriage-full of groceries into three of four bags, making it easier to carry your items into the house. You'll be greatly reducing the amount of paper or plastic that you're throwing away and you won't have to worry about ripping a bag open and spilling your groceries everywhere.

Make Your Own Cleaning Supplies

A few drops of essential oil into white vinegar produce an effective, sweet-smelling chemical-free floor wash. You can also use it on counter tops. For bathroom fixtures try adding the oil to baking soda and for furniture polish, add your favorite scented essential oil to olive oil.

Recycle

It may seem obvious, but remember to get recycling bins whenever you move to a new community and use them faithfully. This saves your community quite a bit of money as well.

Walk

Whenever you can, walk. Even if you're indoors, use the stairs instead of the elevator. Elevators use electricity and stairs use calories. Save the planet and trim your waistline!

Re-use

Buy products made from recycled materials. Forgo the temptation to use paper plates or plastic cups. Sure, washing dishes uses water but if you're running a dishwasher you're using it anyway and reducing waste materials has a major environmental impact. Re-use anything and everything you can at home.

Turn Out Your Lights

Remember those light bulbs we talked about? Turn them off when you don't need them. Train your kids to turn off TV's, video games and lights when they leave a room and lead by example. You might like next month's electricity bill a bit more too.

Keep a Compost Pile

If you're a gardener, make your own compost instead of relying on chemical-based pesticides. Place a bin in the yard and lay down wood chips, sawdust or straw. Over time add coffee grounds, egg shells, leaves, grass or kitchen scraps. Keep it warm, wet and turned once a week and in a couple of months you have compost for your garden.

Make Your Own Facial Masks

Leave the expensive, chemical-laden stuff at the drugstore and mix your own facial masks. Mashed avocado and honey, or egg and oatmeal are two of my favorite. Search the Internet for creative, homemade, all-natural recipes. The excess can go straight to compost.

Filter Your Own Water

Skip the bottled water and invest in a water filter, maintaining it regularly to keep your tap water clean and drinkable. The plastic that bottled water comes in needs energy to be created, is a source of polluting waste in its own right and government studies now show that plastic leaks toxins into the supposedly clean water we are trying to drink. Plastic is a petroleum product. Remind yourself of that every time you want to buy something packaged in plastic. Plastic can't be avoided, but the need for it can be reduced.

These are some of the things I've done in my life to improve my health, my finances and most importantly, my relationship with the planet. You'll feel better and the Earth will appreciate it. I promise.

Are Colleges Shortchanging Our Kids?

2011-10-03T12:37:00.000-07:00

Next to buying a home, paying for healthcare and funding a retirement account, paying for college is likely one of the largest expenditures most Americans will face. Whether for yourself or your children, paying for a college education is no mean feat. But are our colleges and universities living up to their end of the bargain?

Grading on a curve may be nothing new (as a good student I hated it and still do, make the tests appropriate to the students and material, if you’re a good enough teacher the results will be accurate and not need to be tweaked) but grade inflation at the university level has caused a good deal of controversy lately. Fear of losing students (or more specifically, their tuition), facing dissatisfied parents or disciplinary action by the institution has prompted many college and university level professors to inflate their students’ grades. This practice is acknowledged and tracked by many universities but in my opinion, open acceptance of the practice makes it no less damaging. How can we ever know if a student is receiving a quality education if there are no standards set by which to judge his or her performance? What about the teacher’s performance? When a professor can simply inflate grades, how can any student, parent or administrator gauge the quality of that professor’s teaching?

Shifting demographics, or fewer young people, has increased pressure on colleges to retain students but at what price? The expectation that professors need to publish a certain amount of work results in many classes being taught by teaching assistants while professors are on sabbatical and not the actual professors themselves, but parents and students don’t receive any lessening of the financial burden by having classes taught by those who may not have a professor’s qualifications. Add to that the increased focus on research by many universities and there is a definite tendency to neglect that quality of teaching in favor of the quantity of revenue.

The US is finding itself up against some serious intellectual competition from China and India and given that college costs are nearly crippling these days, it might be time to evaluate whether we are giving our students value for the money. Today’s college student is tomorrow’s leader, parent, business owner, doctor; we must make sure we are giving them the tools they need to run the country we all live in. Pursuing short-term goals like student retention and appeasement will not serve anyone in the a climate of global competition and it is especially unfair to extract huge sums of money from students who will be burdened with the cost of paying back loans and may not be competitive in the market place. There is an old saying “Prepare the child for the path, not the path for the child”. Our universities owe it to their students to prepare them for life’s path.

Cutting the Cable Cord: It's Easier Than You Think

2011-10-02T14:37:00.000-07:00

The struggling economy and rising costs of living are prompting many people to look for ways to trim monthly expenses. One casualty of America’s new frugality is cable television. Even though the savings from doing without cable TV can be $1200 a year or more, cutting cable may seem drastic. It really isn’t. There are a number of options for people looking to cut the cord.

HD TV antenna: Now that all TV signals have gone digital, there are many HD antennae on the market, some strong enough to capture signals up to forty miles away. You’ll get all of your local channels, and in some cases a few extra, with a picture that rivals any of the cable hi-def packages.

Netflix: For $8 a month you can stream Netflix to your PC, smartphone, iPad, iPod touch or TV. To stream to your TV you’ll need either a Roku receiver, Wii, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 or one of a variety of Blu-ray players, DVR’s or home theatre systems. You’ll find a wide range of movies, documentaries and TV shows available to stream and you can still get DVD’s sent to your home.

Roku receiver: For under a $100 you can hook a Roku receiver up to your HD TV and stream Netflix, Amazon Video on Demand and a host of other sites, some free, some subscription. You can also stream radio stations through your Roku.

Free online TV: Hulu is one option for streaming free shows and movies, many channels have websites that air shows a day or two after they’ve aired on regular TV. Check sites such as channelsurfing.net, tv.blinkx.com or sharetv.org for more online shows. Keep in mind that these sites are largely directories and you’ll have to make sure any sites where you view content is providing it legally. For $8 a month, you can access greater content on Hulu Premium and stream it to your Roku. An HMDI cable adapter will allow you to hook your PC to your TV and stream online shows.

Web TV: There is a growing movement in free web shows, some of which are quite good. Minglemediatv.com is one place to start searching for good web content and there are many more.

Some people, who currently have bundled cable services, where their cable provider is also their internet service provider, are finding that cutting the cord on cable TV results in drastically higher internet access fees and strict usage limits. The solution for this is to switch to one of the growing number of 4G internet service providers, such as Clear or Virgin Mobile, who offer excellent prices for 4G internet coverage, featuring blazing speeds, unlimited usage and contract free options. Both Clear and Virgin Mobile offer portable internet access as well, allowing you to create your own secure wi-fi bubble to take with you wherever you go. No more searching for wi-fi hotspots. If you’re paying for a 3G or 4G internet plan for your phone, chances are you can connect your laptop or PC to it and get online. You’ll need to download an application to get it to work, but I was surprised to find I had this option and didn’t know it. Best of all: the app was free.

Now you can not only cut the cord on cable and save money, you can take your favorite shows with you.

Is Julian Assange One of the Good Guys?

2011-10-02T13:28:00.000-07:00

Reprint from December 24, 2010.

In the wake of the WikiLeaks saga, the question has to be asked: Why would Julian Assange do it? It’s obvious that Mr Assange is trying to cast himself in the role of self-righteous victim, heroic champion of a free press and democratic values, but is he really?

Consider this: along with the right to express oneself publicly, shouldn’t members of a free society likewise have the right not to express themselves publicly? What about members of totalitarian societies? It is a betrayal of monumental proportions that someone from an oppressive regime should risk his or her safety to give information to other diplomatic officials only to have that information broadcast without discretion to anyone with an internet connection. Assange smugly proclaims that the State Department has never proven that anyone has ever been harmed by the release of these classified documents but our common sense tells us that this is a highly likely result and that it would be equally difficult to prove it, totalitarian regimes being far more adept at secrecy than we apparently are.

Recently Assange agreed to answer questions posted by readers in The Guardian, a British newspaper. One former UK diplomat pointed out, in a rather drawn out way, that many positive accomplishments would not have been possible without the guarantee of secure communication and how did Assange feel about the fact that the next international crisis could go unresolved because of it. Assange dodged the moral questions by saying that the question was too long and if the asker would pare it down he would consider answering it. He had no such issue answering long, rambling questions from his admirers.

I am a staunch believer in free press and if Julian Assange and WikiLeaks were pointing to specific ethics conflicts in specific cases, I would be far more supportive. In cases where that has happened, I do support him and his organization, but many others have been put at risk unnecessarily by this indiscriminate dumping of information to the world without regard for the impact on the obstacles it presents to future diplomatic situations: situations in which innocent peoples’ lives will surely be at stake when a deal for aid or intervention cannot be reached because one diplomat is hesitant to talk to another.

Besides Assange’s questionable methods and dubious agenda, his obvious anti-US bias damages his credibility, much as the US government’s near hysterical reactions damages US credibility. The timing of rape accusations in Sweden seem a little too convenient for coincidence and when a Canadian official is calling for Assange’s assassination, you’ve got to assume he’s right about at least a few important things. The full impact of this drama has yet to play out but it seems that many innocent people are going to get caught up in the crossfire before the final battle is fought.

Is a War Over Water Coming?

2011-10-02T13:27:00.001-07:00

So much attention has been focused recently on terrorism, global warming and the security of the global fuel supply that a catastrophe is unfolding right beneath our feet and for most of us, it is unfolding with little notice. This unseen danger is the draining of the world's aquifers. Aquifers are sources of groundwater that provide a significant amount of the world's potable water and they are being depleted in many places more quickly than nature can replenish them.

Since the beginning of the twentieth century, the use and exploitation of fresh water sources has increased more than six fold. As the world's population crowds into cities and Asia's burgeoning middle class eats more food and uses more water than their less affluent forebears, the situation will grow more dire. In the Middle East, one of the major points of contention in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is the Palestinians' lack of access to and control of, the local supply of fresh water. The conflict in Sudan is, at its heart, an attempt by a stronger people to remove a weaker one and to reduce competition for the area's limited water.

Historically, almost every war has been fought over resources of one sort or another, regardless of the ideology in whose name the common foot soldier believed he was fighting. Whether it has been to secure food, fuel, territory, slaves or tribute, most wars are wars intended to procure or protect resources. The fight for water will be no different, although it may be pursued under another name. Alternatives may be found for fuel, but there is no alternative to water and without water, there is no food. It is no accident that the world's first sophisticated civilization sprung up at the junction of two great rivers.

Conservation efforts must be made in every strata of society, the trend towards irrigated agriculture must be reversed and building over aquifer replenishment areas and delicate wetland ecosystems must be strictly prohibited. Over development and pollution, both contributors to damaged rivers and desertification, must be tackled head-on with cohesive government action coupled with grassroots activism. As in the case of global warming, it is time for humanity to decide what kind of a people it wants to be, what sort of world do we want to hand to our children? If we decide to be the species that continues to do things the way we've always done them, the next World War may be known as the Great Water War.

Why Not a National Lottery?

2011-10-02T13:27:00.000-07:00

The economy seems to be all we can talk about these days and the news mainly goes from bad to worse. While it’s clear that no one wants to pay additional mandatory taxes, what about a voluntary tax? I doubt most people think of buying lottery tickets as a voluntary tax but that’s essentially what it is.

In California, an extra billion dollars a year is generated to fund the public school system. Illinois provides an additional 625 million dollars for its schools and in Massachusetts some 900 million dollars in aid to cities and towns is provided by lottery takings. Granted, this is a drop in the bucket compared to the billions of dollars it takes to run the various communities and school systems but a source of revenue is always a good thing, especially one that’s voluntary. So why not institute a national lottery?

A national lottery could easily generate several billion extra dollars a year, would likely provide multiple winners (the sheer number of players would significantly increase the odds of several winners per week), would add a source of revenue for business owners and would probably even create a few jobs. A national lottery would make it easy for anyone in any state to buy a ticket, as opposed to multi-state lotteries where ticket buyers from neighboring states might have to travel to buy tickets and would be contributing to communities not their own. The takings from a national lottery could be split between the federal government and various state governments to ease any loss of revenue from state lotteries that might occur. Rumors in recent years suggest that a national lottery might not be far off, although the speculation largely surrounds the merging of the Mega Millions and Power Ball lotteries, the nation’s two huge multi-state lotteries. Opponents object to the states' possible loss of revenue, as a larger national lottery is sure to attract more players with its substantial lotteries and co-opting Mega Millions and Power Ball into a national lottery scheme might actually reduce lottery takings as it would most likely trim the number of winning jackpots per week from four to two or even one.

While a national lottery would be a far cry from the answer to our budgetary problems, it seems like a win-win-win scenario to me and maybe, just maybe, it might head off one more involuntary tax.

Why We Lie

2011-10-02T10:00:00.000-07:00

We're taught not to lie from an early age. Calling someone a liar is a sure road to hard feelings. Lying in a court room or to a police officer can land you in jail. The Bible forbids it. So we can all agree that lying is bad, right? Then why do we all do it and do it almost constantly according to the latest research?

Studies are stacking up that show most people lie anywhere from once a day to a couple of times per minute. Never one to believe in extremes, I have to assume that the truth lies somewhere in the middle. My conclusion? We're all a bunch of dirty rotten liars. OK maybe not dirty and rotten but liars for sure.

We love to lie. We lie to get our own way, we lie to get out of trouble or keep someone else out of trouble. Most often we lie to protect someone's feelings or to initiate social discourse. How many of us have sat through conversations we care nothing about while feigning interest for the sake of being polite? We lie to ourselves most of all, about our accomplishments, our grades, our love lives, our kids, our jobs, you name it.

What's intriguing about so much of the research on deception lately is that liars seem to be more well-liked than people who tend to tell the truth more. (We all know the truth hurts, but don't we all hate being lied to?) It gets stranger, People who exaggerate about themselves are more confident and happier than people who don't. They are generally ore successful too. So what's the downside of lying? Well, getting caught is a big one

While researchers have discovered that people who lie enjoy a range of perks associated with lying, oddly the majority of people still considered lying to be immoral. Does this mean we lie so much we don't know we're doing it? Or is some lying considered worse than others? Most of us would all agree that telling Grandma her bland cookies are wonderful is harmless enough or fibbing to our kids to achieve a specific result (yes I did tell my kids that my car has a special ignition that won't start unless everyone's seat belt is clicked in) but covering up a crime or cheating on your spouse are universally condemned. What about when the lie is more subtle? Suppose you see your friend's husband out with another woman? Should you tell her? Is it lying if you don't?

The difference, it seems, is in the intent. Lying done to save feelings or for a greater good is usually given a pass while lying with the intent to hurt or cover up a greater wrong is considered more damaging. Worse is the feeling of betrayal upon discovering someone you trusted has lied to yo, particularly about something major. There isn't anyway to completely eliminate lying from our social interactions but we can mitigate it. We can do our best to be honest when it really counts, when the greater good is not served by prevarication. I'm a horrible liar, I've been told enough times that when I lie it's written all over my face and yet I know I'm guilty of every kind of white lie without ever being called on it. Going forward I'm going to worry less about lying specifically and more about being a better person who will tell you your ugly dress is gorgeous but will give you the straight deal when it comes to the creep you just started dating. No, really. You can trust me.

Sarv-e Abarqu, the World's Oldest Cypress

2011-10-02T06:37:00.000-07:00

Sarv-e Abarqu, (the cypress of Abarqu or the Zoroastrian Sarv) located in Abarkuh, Yazd, Iran, is the oldest living cypress in the world and one of the oldest trees. At more than 4,000 years old, it is possibly the oldest living thing in Asia. Think about what that means. This tree was young when the predecessors of the Romans first moved into what would become Italy. Stonehenge was being built. Judaism was new. Spokes were added to wheels, enabling migration across Europe.

This tree has seen the rise and fall of empires: the Qa’leh Shoga culture was in full swing when Sarv-e Abarqu first sprouted. It would already be old when the Elamites grew to prominence and fought a lengthy war with Mesopotamia. The Bronze Age ended and the Iron Age began. By the time of Cyrus the Great, the world’s oldest cypress was 1500 years old. It would be 200 years before Alexander swept into Persia and destroyed Persepolis and another 200 until the Parthian Empire yielded its superior position to an emerging Rome. Islam would not arrive in Iran until Sarv-e Abarqu was 3,000 years old.

Imagine the untold millions who have passed by this tree, stopped to rest under it, sheltered under its branches on summer day. Although a national monument nowadays, I can’t help but wonder how many people saw this tree and had no idea that they were looking at a piece of history that pre-dated Buddha by 1500 years, Jesus by 2000 and Mohammed by 2600. Today Sarv-e Abarqu stands at 82 feet high, is 59 feet in diameter and is now a major tourist attraction. It’s truly incredible that a tree that has seen so much turbulent history in a corner of the world where civilization first flourished has remained standing, resistant to war, the elements and the vagaries of human taste. The cypress has long been a favorite garden tree in the Mediterranean region. Perhaps that has worked in favor of Asia’s oldest tree.

Through conservation and cultivation efforts, maybe we can leave such magnificent trees for our descendants to sit under, marvel at and wonder at the history that has passed beneath their branches.

In Defense of the Small Family

2011-10-01T06:17:00.000-07:00

Like many couples starting out, my husband and I had planned on having two or three children. Fate had a different idea however, and after several years, three miscarriages and numerous medical issues, we were blessed with one little boy. One perfect, healthy, smart, funny little boy whose mother worried day and night that he would carry the lonely burden of being an only child in a world full of siblings. Luckily he has an older half-sister who loves him to pieces but at nine years his senior, would it be enough?

I was one of four and my husband one of nine, my mom one of eight and so on. My brothers and I were considered an average family size when I was growing up and I went to school with children who were one of seven, nine, twelve and even several siblings from a family of seventeen. Granted we were Catholics and attended Catholic school so the families tended to be larger but still, I worried. Was my son missing out by not having any close siblings in the house? Would his development suffer? Would he resent not having built-in playmates?

I decided to find out. Happily, there was plenty of good news. Healthychildren.org, a website created by pediatricians to provide parents’ with advice, lists a number of benefits to having a smaller family. Parents have more time and attention to spend on one or two children. More resources available for sports, education and other activities such as music or dance give children in smaller families the opportunities they might not otherwise have had. “If I do it for one I have to do it for all” was a common refrain in my parents’ house, meaning ‘there are four of you, I can’t afford to send you all to camp/music lessons/martial arts’. Children in one or two child homes, it turns out, have higher levels of academic and personal achievement as well as higher self-esteem than children in larger families. Is this due to the extra resources, time and attention they receive? I can’t imagine children in larger families being any less capable or intelligent than small family kids. The difference must certainly be environmental.

The latest census shows that single child families are the fastest growing family type in the US. This is also true in much of Western Europe and we all know about the long-standing, controversial one-child policy practiced in China. Singletons are certainly not alone these days. So it’s all sunshine and lollipops, right? Not exactly.

The downside is that parents of only children can often over-indulge (mea culpa), over-protect (mea culpa) and over-coddle (mea maxima culpa) their little singletons. Often only children are more sensitive and more prone to feeling the pressures of having all of their parents’ collective expectations placed squarely on their shoulders. Let’s face it; adult only children won’t have it much easier, having to manage the care of both aging parents without any siblings to take up the slack.

Armed with this information I felt decidedly better about my son’s (almost) only child status. We’ve made certain he has lots of play dates with friends and cousins, he is involved in school and extracurricular activities and we are putting a health-management and financial plan in place for our later years so he won’t be unduly burdened. I make a concerted effort not to spoil, coddle or do for him what he can very well do for himself. Is it exactly how I pictured my life? No, not exactly. Is it perfect? All I have to do is look at my son and I think: Yes, it’s absolutely perfect.

Is the American Dream Spiraling Out of Reach?

2011-10-01T06:11:00.000-07:00

The United States of America, often called the Land of Opportunity, has long prided itself on offering a successful life to those determined enough to work for it. Sadly, this paradigm seems to be slipping further and further out of the reach of many Americans, particularly the lowest earners in society.

After World War II, in the wake of the country's post-war economic boom and extensive government investment in the aerospace and technology sectors, America's rising star seemed as though it would shine brightly forever. Incomes rose faster than the costs of living, corporations were still loyal to employees and parents could reasonably expect their children to do better financially than they had done.

The oil embargo of 1973, OPEC's punishing response to US support for Israel after the failure of Arab military aggression against the Israelis in the Yom Kippur War (the embargo would eventually backfire on OPEC nations, forcing Western countries to develop non-OPEC oil fields and diminishing OPEC's market share) was an ominous warning sign of the dangers of dependence on foreign energy. De-regulation, costly foreign policy misadventures and the globalization of markets and corporations all converged to chip away at the hard won gains of the middle class. Americans lost pensions, benefits, affordable health care and reasonably priced higher education at an alarming rate while the nation's manufacturing base practically disappeared altogether. In the 1980's, for the first time since the country was founded, the up and coming generation could no longer expect to fare better, or in many cases even as well, as their parents had.

The service sector, which buoyed the American economy for a time after the collapse of manufacturing, soon became the next target of American boardrooms. Global communications enabled the outsourcing of white-collar jobs while an uncontrolled supply of illegal laborers undercut the wage base of many formerly well-paying blue collar jobs. The American middle class, both upper and lower, continued to lose ground.

Recently published research by the Brookings Institution, a Washington based think tank, found that downward mobility is now as common in the US (one third of families) as upward mobility with the remaining third staying the same. This means that upward mobility is now available to a minority of the US population, and the majority of those who are experiencing upward mobility were born into the upper echelons of American society. The next generation is expected to fare even worse. More disturbingly, the same study showed that incomes for the top 20% of earners rose dramatically over the same period during which almost everyone else's failed to keep pace with the rising cost of living.

The US has seen an increase in poverty among the employed, a lessening of retirement benefits for the elderly and the prohibitive costs of health insurance and higher education leaving more and more Americans out of the equation. Despite its reputation as a nation where all things are possible if you simply work hard enough, the sad truth is that for an ever-widening margin of the American population, the American Dream is spiraling out of reach.

Sunset at My House

2011-10-01T06:00:00.000-07:00

Isn't this a great sunset? I caught this the other day from my back porch. No photo shopping, no picasa enhancements, it looked even better than this because, no matter how much money I spend or how many cameras I buy, I seem incapable of operating them with any skill whatsoever.

The Theory of Evolution vs the Second Law of Thermodynamics.

2010-10-23T07:56:00.000-07:00

by Keith Erskine

The theory of evolution states that all life started spontaneously in one direction through a process of variation and natural selection, that is, over time a simple form of life will evolve into one that is irreducible and complex. The second law of thermodynamics states, that for any natural process that occurs in an isolated system, the final state of the system is more disordered than the initial state. What is important here is the direction of the process. Each process points in the opposite direction and is considered irreversible, hence the term ‘irreducible complexity’, and increase randomness. Entropy is quantitative measure of randomness or disorder and the total entropy of the universe increases in the same direction over time. It increases. The second law is also a statement of impossibility, meaning that, it is impossible for any spontaneous natural process to proceed in the opposite direction, from disordered to ordered. At the same time there is no denying irreducible complexity, the eye, ear, brain and also species found at the microscopic levels are examples of irreducible complexity. How is this possible? Can nature through variation and natural selection assemble itself? Can nature violate its own laws? Or is this a process of purpose, designed by intelligence leading to specification?

We can see the effects of the second law in our every day lives, both socially and physically. Consider the following processes, old houses, marriages, heat flow, and a new deck of card. My experience with an old house shows me that, its present state is worse now than before, it randomly deteriorated over time. As a result of this, I’m constantly working on it, doing repairs to restore some order and keeping it from falling apart. This effect can be observed in all material objects, without maintenance it deteriorates, well man made objects, even the atom does. Assuming that all marriages started out as a perfect union, then why does fifty percent end in divorce? This breakdown can be explained using the second law of thermodynamics, over time couples drift part proceeding to a lower state in the relationship, sometime to a state of irreconcilable differences. It can also argue that even at the coming together of the union, the total entropy increases because two systems coming together increases its total entropy. Only unions where both parties are willing to work together will survive the effects of the second law and restore order.

Consider a new deck of cards that is sorted out by suit (hearts, diamonds, clubs, spades) and number. Shuffling the cards increases its disorder into a random arrangement, shuffling the cards back into its original order is highly unlikely, however someone who understands the information on the card could put them back in the correct order, suit and number. Also consider two particles moving in a uniform and organized motion towards each other, assuming they have an inelastic collision, the ordered motion is then transformed into random motion, from an orderly state to a random state. Heat flows in one direction, from a warm to a cooler source. As a result, the internal energy of the colder body, such as ice, increases and its molecules gain random motion, this water can be can be collected and be refrozen, reversing the process. What do all of these processes have in common? They have all obeyed the second law of thermodynamics, proceeding in the same direction from a higher state to one that is lower: an increase of randomness.

So what chance does evolution have in the face of the second law? The chance of nature assembling itself must be billions and billions to one, I’m not sure what the cut off point is, but it is highly improbable. The inverse relationship between randomness and probability shows that as randomness increases probability decreases, so as randomness approaches infinity probability approaches zero. Therefore evolution as a process of variation and natural selection spawning life into existence has zero chance, by the scientific definition, in the face of the second law.

Getting back to the earlier considerations, to prevent my old house from falling apart, I had to put some work into, a little bit of energy will restore some order. It won’t happen by itself. Also you may not be able to shuffle the cards back into its original state, but if you know about a deck of cards, you can place them in the order of suit and number, you could also collect the melted water and refreeze it. Again, what is common here is that for these processes to point in the same direction as evolution, they required work or the energy of an intervention, they cannot spontaneously reverse direction. So it is safe to assume, that reassembling order from randomness requires work, with a purpose, to perform this task. Hence, purpose must be taken into consideration and where there is purpose you have design, where there is design, you have information and education, where you have information and education you have intelligence.

This implies that the entire universe is a product of design, and that the only way for any spontaneous natural processes to point in the opposite direction from that of the second law, requires intervention from an outside source. So, wherever we perceive order in randomness, irreducible complexities, regularities and all the laws of nature that can be formulated and theorized; the perception of order itself is recognition of intelligence and design.

Keith Erskine is an artist, engineer, philosopher and thinker who imagines things I can barely get my head around.

Ophelia

The Sound of Trains

2010-10-21T12:49:00.000-07:00

I have always lived near train tracks. When I was a child, the 5:15 commuter rail used to wake me up every morning with its whistle. Now I live near a freight line that doesn't whistle but makes a rumble in the wee hours of the dawn that carries through the stillness and makes me think of faraway places. I've heard neighbors complain about the noise of the train as it passes by so early but I've always found it comforting. Even when the world is asleep it reminds me that someone is still going somewhere, goods are still moving from point A to point B. The sound of trains isn't the frantic, mournful wail of a siren, when you know someone out there in the dark is hurt or in trouble and you say a quick prayer that it isn't anyone who belongs to you. The sound of trains is a steady rhythmic hum of every day life passing by my window. I've woken up to the sound of trains my whole life, I can't imagine waking up alone.

Space, The Final Frontier

2010-10-21T08:41:00.000-07:00

While it was just a TV show, that little speech at the beginning of the original Star Trek show really did do a good job of capturing our feelings about space. It is those feelings that drive our love of astronomy and our desire to learn more and more about it.
The thing that is most exciting about studying the universe is also the most frustrating and that is that no matter how expert we get, we are always just getting started. But if its any consolation, some of the most advanced minds in science and from history always felt that way about space. Even the greats such as Copernicus and Einstein looked up into space and felt like they were just a spec in the presence of such infinity.
But conquering the final frontier of space means more than just seeing more stars and planets and building the biggest telescope we can. There are some mind blowing concepts about how space works that we have ahead of us to conquer. The big bang and the expanding universe alone was enough to set your mind to spinning. But then we have the coming of Einstein and the theory of relativity to set the entire idea on its ear. All of a sudden space is not just three dimensions but the dimension of time becomes exportable and the twisting and maybe even travel through time seems almost possible.
Of course space is not infinite. It has to be finite which means somehow there must be an end to it. But if there is, nobody on this tiny planet has figured out where it is. The only thing that has brought us to the end of the universe is our limited ability to see any deeper into space.
The frontier of space is as much a journey of the mind as it is of distance. When Steven Hawking showed us the mysteries of black holes, all of a sudden, time and space could collapse and be twisted and changed in those intergalactic pressure cookers. If not for the wonders of radio astronomy, these ideas would remain just ideas but slowly science is catching up with theory.
But the brilliance of mathematicians and genius minds like Hawking and Einstein continue to stretch our concepts of space. Now we have the string theory that could revolutionize everything we know about space, time and how the universe relates to itself. We cant just say, no, we have discovered enough. Its the final frontier. The Starship Enterprise would not stop exploring so neither can we. Because there is a hurdle still ahead that has a name but no real answer to it yet. Its called the Unified Field Theory and those that know tell us that when the Einsteins and Hawkings of our day crack that theory, every other theory will fall into place.
But the brilliance of mathematicians and genius minds like Hawking and Einstein continue to stretch our concepts of space. Now we have the string theory that could revolutionize everything we know about space, time and how the universe relates to itself. We cant just say, no, we have discovered enough. Its the final frontier. The Starship Enterprise would not stop exploring so neither can we. Because there is a hurdle still ahead that has a name but no real answer to it yet. Its called the Unified Field Theory and those that know tell us that when the Einsteins and Hawkings of our day crack that theory, every other theory will fall into place.
For mankind, that is often enough. If we can get the vision that we can conquer something, even if it is something so massive, so impossibly huge, it seems that we are capable of anything. And the love of astronomy, maybe unlike any other force on earth, has brought together mankind toward that common goal of conquering the universe. The quest to establish an international space station and to cooperate on spreading our reach off of this planet seems to find commonality between nations that otherwise cannot get along on the surface of the earth.
That alone may be a reason that we must continue to support astronomy locally and the space program nationally. It is something that seems to bring peace rather than war and make us a better people. But more than that it is as though this is what we were created to do. To reach out to the stars may be our destiny. If so then our love of astronomy is more than a hobby, its a calling.

By: Jonathan Richardson DIP

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Are We, Too, Not the Sons and Daughters of Revolution?

2010-10-20T17:33:00.000-07:00

I came across a picture I took at a RevWar encampment last year and with all of the strikes and protests going on in France, it got me thinking about the US and how we came to be where we are today. Most specifically, I started pondering the American reaction to the strikes in France. Reading CNN and a few other news outlets, I was shocked to find how many Americans are critical of the French in their fight for what they consider to be their civil rights. As Americans work longer hours for less pay, struggle against rising costs of living and lowering healthcare and educational standards while watching the middle class and our prospects for a comfortable retirement dry up and blow away in the wind, I can’t help but wonder if things might have been different if Americans had protested as vociferously as the French when overpaid, lavishly fed politicians started chipping away at our prosperity.

Suppose, instead of crying out that the wealthy 1% might have to kick in an additional 3% of their income to the tax coffers, we took to the streets when the retirement age was first raised, or when schools were first closed or when the first person went without cancer treatment due to lack of health care, would our society today look any different than it does? While I don’t support the property damage being committed by a few hoodlums, the solidarity of the French people ought to be admired by, of all people, Americans. Are we not both the sons and daughters of revolution? Why have the French remembered and Americans forgotten what it means to go out and snatch your rights back from the greedy maw of corporations and governments?

I can’t pinpoint the exact moment in time when Americans bought into the notion that we exist solely for the purpose of putting money into the pockets of the corporate elite but it seems an idea that is particularly difficult to dislodge. Are we really meant to work until we are blinded and crippled with age? Is the only value the one that comes with a dollar sign in front of it? While the French worry about the quality of their lives, we seem to have gotten lost in the quantity of our (cheaply made) goods. It is far too much to ask of Americans that we call a general strike, march on Washington, close our shops and buses and railways to make the point that we will no longer settle for the gradual wearing away of a decent standard of living, a proper education for our children, the security of decent healthcare when we are ill and a comfortable retirement when we are old enough to have spent the bulk of our years contributing to society’s cumulative wealth but still have the vitality left to do something other than stare at the walls of a nursing home, for which privilege the government will take our family homes from our heirs.

We should embrace the French concepts of liberte’, egalite’, fraternite’ because they are truly living their ideals by doing the dirty work of revolution: keeping the embers of freedom alive long after the fire was first lit. Instead, Americans chide them for wanting to live on handouts, for being too lazy to work until they drop. Where did we come by the concept that the wealthy become so in a vacuum, and without the labor of the less affluent? When did it become a handout to expect the government to provide for your education, healthcare and retirement from the taxes you have already paid? Governments do not have money. Governments do not make money. Governments take a portion of our money. Is it so radical an idea to expect them to use it for the greater good and not to expedite the wishes of small, powerful special interest groups?

The French have successfully prevented their government from shelving portions of their generous social system before and now are trying to stop the government from raising the retirement age from 60 to 62 because they can rightly see that this is the beginning of a very slippery slope, one that will see them working longer hours for more years on stagnant wages for generations to come. It’s ironic that Americans typically see the French as weak and cowardly. We let our government send our children to war to protect all manner of corporate profit, only to send them home in body bags or in wheelchairs and then provide their families with a mockery of a death benefit or the survivors with third rate care but we say nothing. We see the cost of education and healthcare skyrocket while the quality plummets but we say nothing. We work sixty hours to keep the jobs we did in forty hours three years ago because we’re afraid to be one of the people standing on the unemployment line but we say nothing.

We see crime rates rise and police officers laid off but we dare not say a word because we might lose what little we have manged to keep. We see banks take billions upon billions of dollars of our tax money and then refuse to lend it back to us at interest…….AT INTEREST…..while we lose our homes and livelihoods but we still have not taken to the streets. One could be forgiven for asking who the real cowards are. Perhaps one day, when Americans wake up and remember that we once believed that the government is a tool that belongs to the people, that we are not chattel who belong to the government, maybe then we will see Americans in the streets, shutting down commerce until our voices are heard. Maybe then we will be as brave as the French.

Couple Costumes - Couple Halloween Costume Ideas You Should Know

2010-10-17T17:32:00.000-07:00

Couple costumes are certainly one of the best costume ideas you can come accross for you and your mate. Men and women can party together and be sure to recognize their half at the party. Plus, the possibilities are almost endless and you can choose styles from movies or real life, be these funny, scary or any other kind. Here are few couple costume ideas you can think of.

So we said movie costumes. Well two big movies, super productions come to my mind, and may be yours too : Avatar and Alice in Wonderland. Though Alice is not a new story, the movie is and so are the costumes. So Tim Burton's Alice In Wonderland costumes can be an excellent couple costume idea, the Mad Hatter for men and Alice or the Queen of Hearts for women.

As for Avatar, let's play with blue color! Jake Sully and Neytiri are two characters that will not be forgiven. You can be insanely popular if you party as a couple with these! In addition to the costumes you can find the specific Avatar makeup kits, and also accessories like wig, masks and weapons.

In the pure spirit of Halloween, vampires are creatures you want to embody, they always look great, elegant and sexy. The costumes, generally comes in black, white and red colors. Though you could take a random male and female vampire costumes, couple Halloween costumes exist and you will find both men and women version of a costume, such as the Gothic Vampire and Vampira Elite costumes. You may also find ghosts, mummy and many other couple costumes designed specifically for couples.

So you have a lot of possibilities. If you just have to think about movies you could find tons of couple costumes ideas. But you may also look at real life items, I once saw a salt and pepper costume, or ketchup and mustard one, Well these are for kitchen lovers but still you can match two complementary objects, or two totally opposite and have a great time partying like this!

By: Tom Leroy

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Hey now is the time to see some costumes, just take a second to check these couple Halloween costumes. There are many more to see at Couple Costumes

10 Free Software Programs You Should Download Right Now

2010-10-17T10:49:00.000-07:00

by Justin Robinson

Everybody loves trying out new software. It's something I've loved to do for years. Sometimes it might be a new software utility to help manage your computer. Other times it might be a new web browser, IM client, or computer game. There are thousands of different programs you can download and there are many hidden gems out there. So are you looking for some new programs to download? Check out this top ten list of programs you should download right now.
1. Startup Inspector
Startup Inspector is a very useful program. It's main purpose is to help you manage the items that run at start-up. One of the quickest ways to slow down your computer is having 50 different programs running when you turn the computer on. With Startup Inspector, you can take care of that problem and pick which items YOU want to run when you turn on your computer.
2. ManyCam
ManyCam is a really fun software program. With ManyCam, you can have fun with your webcam and use all different kinds of effects. For instance, want to look like you are wearing a Santa hat? Want to wear funny sunglasses? Want to give yourself a warp view? All of that and more is here with ManyCam. Definitely a fun way to break the ice with someone you are talking to for the first time on webcam.
3. Snood
Snood! This game has been around for years, yet I never get tired of it. It is very similar to the Bust-A-Move arcade games that were around many years ago. The object is to shoot the objects at other objects with the same color. When you group them, they are eliminated. Your goal is to eliminate all of the objects before you run out of room. Fun game!
4. TeamViewer
Ugh, if only this software would have been around years ago! This is one of the most useful software applications I have ever used. TeamViewer allows you to access a desktop remotely over the internet. This is perfect for helping your mom or a friend with their computer problems. With TeamViewer, you can literally see the other persons screen and move their mouse. It's a perfect way to fix someone's computer and not have to resort to trying to explain each step. Don't worry though, it's very secure and is password protected, so you don't have to worry about people accessing your computer without your consent.
5. WorldWide Telescope
If you have any interest at all in astronomy, then WorldWide Telescope is a must have. WorldWide Telescope is to the universe what Google Earth is to Earth. With WorldWide Telescope, you can explore the sky and find details about the thousands of stars that you see in the sky. WorldWide Telescope includes photos from the Hubble, so you can see just what these stars actually look like up close. Very educational and a lot of fun. There have been nights after looking at the stars where I came home and immediately loaded WorldWide Telescope to find out the names of those stars I was looking at. Isn't technology great? :)
6. Trillian
For every person that is using multiple IM Messengers, I ask them, "Why aren't you using Trillian?". Trillian is an all in one messenger that includes support for AIM, ICQ, MSN, Yahoo, and more. Not only does it load all of them at once, but running Trillian takes up less memory then AIM alone! Imagine how much RAM you can save if you run Trillian instead of every single messenger that you use. Do yourself and your computer a favor and install Trillian. Don't worry, it still has all the major features that the messengers have.
7. Opera
All the computer techs always talk about FireFox vs Internet Explorer. Which browser will be on top 10 years from now? Which one has better security features? My response? Don't forget about Opera! Opera is an amazing web browser that in my opinion has more features then Internet Explorer OR Firefox. Seriously, give Opera a try. You just may choose it over FireFox.
8. Audacity
What is Audacity? In short, Audacity lets you edit your audio files. This may sound simple or boring, but Audacity is so much more and can be very fun. Audacity has all types of features like slowing down and speeding up music, changing the pitch, adding effects, etc. It can be entertaining taking your favorite song and hearing how different it sounds with certain effects added. In a way it's like taking a peek at being a record producer. After you spend some time with Audacity, you can easily learn to make your own remix of your favorite song. Give it a try!
9. Spybot Search & Destroy
This program should come with every computer when it's first bought. Spybot is the best way to protect yourself from spyware. Spybot has a lot of great protection features and its scanner is top-notch. The team at Spybot also releases updates frequently, so you can stay protected against the latest spyware threats.
10. Elastomania
Let me start off by saying, Elastomania is a very addictive game. Do you like impressive graphics? You won't find them here. What you will find though is a motorcycle game that is insanely addictive. Each level features many obstacles and it is your goal to finish the level without dying. The graphics are a good 15 years old, but that doesn't matter because it's so addictive. Seriously, check this game out!
I hope with this list you were able to find some new software programs to try out. Discovering new software applications can be a blast, and hopefully you will have fun trying out these new software programs. Have fun!

About the Author

Justin Robinson has been interested in computers for over 11 years. He enjoys helping people with their computer problems. Justin Robinson also runs a blog which he uses to post the latest computer tips, reviews, and more.

Visit Justin at Truth Computer for more great tips!

Taunting Kitties, in Which the Kitties Laugh Last

2010-10-11T07:16:00.000-07:00

This is why you should not taunt your kitties with electronics accessories.

Having witnessed the destruction of my iPod charger, you'd think I wouldn't have immediately reached for my headphones. You would have lost that bet.

The Shutterbug Has Struck Again

2010-10-08T14:21:00.000-07:00

You know I'm starting to think I just toss pictures on my blog when I can't think of anything to say. These are pictures of other people's gardens that I took over the spring and summer. I'll start on my fall pictures when the leaves start turning.

We went walking in the woods recently (hubby's idea, I'm not very outdoorsy) but I did get some nice landscapes.

Can you see the duck. Can you? Can you? Yeah, not really.

Green stuff and some water!!!

Green stuff without water!

Water without green stuff!

Bridges. In case you were wondering.

And bison.

And our corn.

And a farm in New England. Does it seem like I spend a lot of time at farms in New England? I don't, but I sure do take a lot of pictures of them when I do.

I'm done torturing you with pictures of my mundane life that are substituting for witty discourse. You may go.