Monthly Archives: July 2008

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Ok...I followed the plan beautifully!  Right number of points (I even had some left over)...and I gained .8 pound.  I'm not surprised, the heat and humidity is making me retain water so that my feet are "oozing" out of my sandals.

The plan for next week:

  • water.  Lots of water
  • focus more on the "types" of food.
  • More lean protein, more healthy fat
  • Fewer simple carbs, fewer "frankenfoods"
  • with the heat...5,000 steps if the weather is over 85, 7,000 if over 80, 10,000 if under 80.
  • Start Strength training 4 times next week

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    LINKS:

    Bad news: I lost my pedometer (or maybe that's good news).

    Good news!  Right after UPS brought the new one, I found the old one!  (That mean Manda has it).

    Product review coming up...
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    Recipe:  Asian Salmon

    **NOTE:  I used "grilling planks", which I am now hooked on for cooking fish on the grill
    * Exported from MasterCook *

    Asian Salmon - 5 points (core)
    Serving Size  : 6
    Categories    : 5 Point meals, Core, fish, grill, Oriental

    Amount  Measure       Ingredient -- Preparation Method
    --------  ------------  --------------------------------
    2             pounds  salmon -- fresh side, boned but skin on (about 3 pounds)
    For the marinade:
    2        tablespoons  Dijon mustard
    3        tablespoons  soy sauce
    2          teaspoons  olive oil
    1/2      teaspoon  minced garlic

    Light charcoal briquettes in a grill and brush the grilling rack with oil to keep the salmon from sticking.

    While the grill is heating, lay the salmon skin side down on a cutting board and cut it crosswise into 4 equal pieces. Whisk together the mustard, soy sauce, olive oil, and garlic in a small bowl. Drizzle half of the marinade onto the salmon and allow it to sit for 10 minutes.

    Place the salmon skin side down on the hot grill; discard the marinade the fish was sitting in. Grill for 4 to 5 minutes, depending on the thickness of the fish. Turn carefully with a wide spatula and grill for another 4 to 5 minutes. The salmon will be slightly raw in the center, but don't worry; it will keep cooking as it sits.

    Transfer the fish to a flat plate, skin side down, and spoon the reserved marinade on top. Allow the fish to rest for 10 minutes. Remove the skin and serve warm, at room temperature, or chilled.

    - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

    Per Serving (excluding unknown items): 198 Calories; 7g Fat (32.8% calories from fat); 31g Protein; 1g Carbohydrate; trace Dietary Fiber; 79mg Cholesterol; 678mg Sodium.  Exchanges: 4 Lean Meat; 0 Vegetable; 1/2 Fat; 0 Other Carbohydrates.

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    and (of course) the political party...

    (from a blog comment: "This not-so-subliminal image of the cross was very deliberate. This guy is like McCarthy, Hitler & George Wallace trying to pass himself off like a boyscout leader.... This guy could actually end up being worse the GW Bush...."

    From Peggy Noonan:  I love the cross. The sight of it, the fact of it, saves me, literally and figuratively. But there is a kind of democratic politesse in America, and it has served us well, in which we are happy to profess our faith but don’t really hit people over the head with its symbols in an explicitly political setting, such as a campaign commercial, which is what Mr. Huckabee’s ad was.

    And then there's Mr. Obama.

    (Edit:  I think this may be where the "sidebar" issue is)

    From CBN: The Obama campaign has consistently believed that their candidate can compete for the “religious vote”. A lot has been made about how Obama hasn’t done as well with Catholics compared to Clinton. But let’s remember one thing: Obama has a story to tell about how Jesus came into his life. You can bet we will be hearing more details about it on the stump in the fall. (if Obama is the nominee)

    (and Huckabee didn't?)

    (EDIT:

    please

    excuse

    the

    editorial

    antics

    while

    I

    try

    to

    drop

    the next post down...)

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    This first one is important...we will begin to see religious freedoms eroded, shipped away at or litigated away.  This is not a "Christian" issue, but it is one that Christians should stand behind, for the sake of the freedom for all.

    From Texas:

    A small rural school district in Fort Bend County and a determined mother are tangled in a dispute over hair.

    Michelle Betenbaugh says her 5-year-old son, Adriel Arocha, wears his hair long because of religious beliefs tied to his Native American heritage.

    But the leaders of the Needville school district have strict rules about long hair on boys and don't see any reason to make an exception in his case.

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    From Florida:

    BRADENTON - A 94-year-old man whose arrest in a prostitution sting here caused an international buzz will not be prosecuted. A judge ruled Tuesday that Frank Milio was a victim of entrapment.

    Milio, who has dementia, was unable to get into a care facility while his case was pending.

    Okay...he's 94!  and demented...

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    All is not well in Democrat-land...

    or Republican-land...

    Oh...it is going to be an interesting election cycle.

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    Tom McMahon by Tom McMahon

    Barack Obama's sitting at a bar when a man comes up to him and says: "Wanna hear a Barack Obama joke?" Obama: "Er, hold on there, buddy — I am Barack Obama."  "Oh. all right then, I'll tell it in Spanish."

    More here.  (the page linked here is clean.  I take no responsibility for where it goes from here - and I didn't go past here)
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    (AP) A federal judge has overturned a decision by the U.S. Forest Service to allow oil and gas drilling near a forest and a river in Michigan's northern Lower Peninsula.

    U.S. District Judge David Lawson of Detroit ruled Thursday the agency had acted "arbitrarily and capriciously" in 2005 by giving Savoy Energy LP of Traverse City a permit to drill an exploratory well near the Au Sable River's south branch.

    When I was a kid I fell in love with the idea of Kirtland's Warbler.  It was the "underdog"  and I had never seen one.  My family (grandparents) owned property in Grayling and I remember the time spent there very fondly.  I believe at that time the "specialists" were pretty sure the bird would be extinct soon and it would have been if they had not worked hard to protect it.

    One of the rarest birds in the world, Kirtland's Warbler is a small songbird.  They spend winters in the Bahamas and during the summer all of these birds come to the Northern Lower Peninsula of Michigan.

    They are in danger for two reasons:  1) habitat and 2) cowbirds.

    In the article I linked to above, a judge has ruled that the drilling company cannot drill in the area for which they paid for a permit to drill (and said permit was granted).


    Here are the two quotes that (for those who care to pay attention) make the Sierra Club and the judge (a collaborative effort) look like idiots.

    quote #1:

    But the judge ruled the Forest Service didn't consider how degrading the area could harm tourism, and said the agency did a "woefully inadequate" job of evaluating how the drilling might affect the Kirtland's warbler, an endangered songbird that nests in the area.

    quote #2

    "We've said from the beginning we didn't want to stop them from drilling," said Marvin Roberson, a forest policy specialist with the Sierra Club. "We want them to drill from a place that won't be harmful to the old-growth forest or the recreational experience."

    This is where a person has to have a little bit of knowledge to know that these two things are mutally exclusive.

    • Old-growth forest
    • Kirtland's Warbler...

    Folks...Kirtland's Warblers...DON'T NEST IN OLD GROWTH FORESTS!!!There are not many areas of old-growth forest in Grayling - the only significant acrage that is listed anywhere I could find is inside the boundries of Hartwick Pines State Park (we camped there a couple of weeks ago).  This is not where the drilling would be taking place.  Sierra Clubs appeal to "old growth" is a misleading at best.

    Kirtland's Warblers nest in Jack Pine Forests - one of the first tree to grow after a forest fire.  A Jack Pine Forest is  NEW GROWTH FOREST.

    Not only does this darling little bird not nest in "old growth forests", they don't even next in older Jack Pine forests!  Kirtland's Warblers nest under (not in)  Jack Pine trees that are young - between 8 and 20 years old.

    The DNR in Michigan is giving Kirtland's Warblers new and safe habitat in which to live.

    How do they do this?

    BY CUTTING DOWN TREES AND BURNING AREAS FORESTED WITH MATURE TREES!

    Local anglers can make a good case for prohibiting drilling withing a reasonable distance of the AuSable River.  The Mason Tract (where the drilling would be angling under) was given to the state with the intent that it be maintained as wilderness.  I think that it should be maintained as wilderness.

    So I am NOT saying that drilling should happen (there are good reasons that it should not), but that the people who want it stopped should at least get their act together and not let the Sierra Club undermine their credibility by appealing to the Kirtland's Warblers nesting area in the Old Growth Forest.

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    WordPress has "pages" that will stay in a hierarchy position (you can find it from the front page).  It seems to me that some of the communication problems that blog writers have is with definitions.  So I'm going to start a "page" that links to posts on "definitions".

    The first one I'll define is "gender role".

    I've heard a few egalitarians say, "male or female isn't a 'role', it's part of who we are." (or something to that effect).

    If you (generic "you") are using the term in an acting (in a play) sort of way.  Yes, you are correct, being male or female isn't a role we play.  In fact, if you use the word "role" as a stand alone phrase, you would still be correct
    HOWEVER...context, context, context.  When we write of "gender roles" we are not referring of acting. The term "Gender role" consists of two words used together that have a specific and  SOCIOLOGICAL  meaning.

    When we write "gender roles", we are  referring to an "SOCIOLOGY" term.

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    From Answers.com

    A gender role is a set of perceived behavioral norms associated particularly with males or females, in a given social group or system. It can be a form of division of labour by gender. It is a focus of analysis in the social sciences and humanities.  Gender is one component of the gender/sex system, which refers to "The set of arrangements by which a society transforms biological sexuality into products of human activity, and in which these transformed needs are satisfied" (Reiter 1975: 159). All societies, to a certain effect, have a gender/sex system, although the components and workings of this system vary markedly from society to society.

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    So we read here that "gender roles" are not a "faked" or "acted out" part in a play.  Gender roles (at least in history) have played a part in meeting the needs of society.

    In a Biblical worldview, the gender debate surrounds "complementarian" (although I may choose to use a more descriptive term for what I believe is correct) and "egalitarian" beliefs.

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    Fiber One Haystacks

    (1 Stack - 71 calories, 4g fat, 12 carbs, 5g fiber, 2g protein - 1 WW point)

    SERVES 6

    Ingredients

    • 1 cup Fiber One cereal
    • 1 (1 1/2 ounce)  milk chocolate candy bars
    • 1 tablespoon reduced-fat peanut butter

    Directions

    1. Melt bar and peanut butter in microwave until smooth, at 30-second intervals.
    2. Be careful not to burn or overcook.
    3. Stir chocolate and peanut butter mixture.
    4. Add cereal and gently toss till coated.
    5. Drop onto wax paper, making 6 stacks.
    6. Refrigerate until chocolate hardens (about 30 minutes).

    Enjoy!

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    Another Pair of Hands Poem

    The skills of the hands used in a gesture of love
    Sends receiver and giver blessings from above
    For the nature of hands outstretched holds within such a power
    They console and comfort at each and every hour

    Through hunger, thirst, discomfort and pain
    Another Pair of Hands helps share the strain
    Of the misery and woe man inflicts on another
    Held gently in Prayer the hands find our Father

    And it is he who teaches, instructs and guides
    He who calls us to explore the treasures we hold inside
    Called to release our love like an ever-flowing stream
    To elevate others to achieve their dreams

    And so as His foot-soldiers we wait and accept God’s call
    To out-stretch our hands to one and all.

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    I understand that the metaphor breaks down (metaphors do).

    I understand that a wife does not exist to worship her husband (nor should she).  If the comment thread goes in that direction...it would be a bad idea.

    I understand that a husband is not God (see above note about the comment thread).

    What Can We Learn From Adam and Eve?

    1) Eve was not a "less than".  Adam was the only creature that was created in the way that he was and Eve was the only creature created in the way that she was.

    2) Eve was created to be a helper fit for Adam.  "ezer" was not in any way a "less-than" term.  It is used to describe God and it is used to describe help from God.  To be an "ezer" from God is to have a very special role and (I would think) would be a privilege and honor.  This is what Eve was created for.
    3)  Eve was created to be a companion.  God said, "It is not good for man to be alone", and then, "I will make a helper for him."  One flesh - bone of my bone.  This is what Eve was created for.

    My belief in reading all of this (including the parallels of a husband and wife to Christ and the church) is that Eve, created second, created as a helper and created "out of" man - was the...well...helper.  She (as helper) would have filled the need that Adam had for another "pair of hands".  God set the "job description", Adam set the path within that job description and Eve (by defintion as helper) helped.

    How does that relate to Christ and the church?

    How often have we heard the line, "Jesus with skin on?"   We (the church) are the representatives of Christ walking around on this green earth.

    There is a job to be done, set by the Bridegroom.  Spread the gospel.  Protect the weak.  Feed the hungry.  Care for the homeless.

    God, the Trinity, set the job description.  Christ gave us the "Great Commission".  The bride of Christ is His representative on earth to carry out the plan.

    And a husband and wife?

    God sets the job description - what are we supposed to do?  The husband (if the wife is to submit to her husband as Christ submits to the church) sets the path and the wife (as ezer) is his helping hands.

    Does this make her "less than"?  No - it gives her an honorable part in the job that Christ has given.

    Does it make the husband "more than"?  In the plan of Christ, no.  It gives him the burden of making (and taking responsibility for) the working out of the plan.

    What can we learn from Christ and the church by looking at the first husband and wife?

    Unity.  Job descriptions.  Honor in both roles.  Honor in service.  Job descriptions written by God.

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    I'm starting to do this...not only with places I visit, but also my own blog.  What is the "mood"?  I'm all for controversey - iron sharpens iron.  But when it's all about that, moods change.

    Look at the last 10 20 posts.

    Are the posts (okay, take away the "fluff", which definately has its place in the fun) about what that person believes and feels?  Do the posts challenge you, without being insulting (unless you are insulted because people disagree with you )?

    Do the posts primarily tell you what's wrong with everybody else?  This person's sin and that person's heresy?  That can get wearying.  I visit a couple of those because they sometimes have news items that are useful, but I can come away with an eye toward the worst of people, not the best.

    I have strong opinions and I want to be able to put forth those strongly.  Positively:  This is what I believe.

    I have (and will) at times write strongly about somebody I disagree with, but I don't want the message of my blog to be hate.

    And I do see that out there.  One blog, in particular..was started as a (frustrated) response to being ignored and simultaneously attacked - and having their denomintion attacked with falsehood.  Their comments were deleted (as were mine, actually) so this blog was started that (in the earlier times) focused a lot on "this is what ___ has wrong".  I watched to see what would happen and over time it became less of that and more of an apologetics blog, "this is what we believe and the basis on which we believe it".  It is a pleasure to read because (even though I disagree with a few points) it is written (primarily) in a positive perspective - although at times it points back to the original reason for the creation of the blog.  Which is fine, since the disagreement is no longer the only focus, the apologetics contribute much.

    Another blog I read...there is no such balance.  Nearly every post has invective in it.  It's in my blogfeed so I get new posts when they come out, but I skim and seldom stay long.  The impact on my emotions is not the best.  (If you think it's you, it mostly likely is not...if you're that curious, ask)
    So, there it is in a nutshell.  Test the mood...