Having a Good Day

The last couple days have been especially good, and I'm well-contented with life.

First, and most important, my daughter got back from her trip to China (with her dad & stepfamily) safe and sound. She stayed at my house last night, because there was stuff on her bed at her dad's house, where she officially lives, and she was too tired to move it. I don't mind at all.

I took my car to the shop yesterday for them to do the 120,000-mile service, check the wheel bearings, and do the smog check. As I suspected, the bearings on the driver's side were bad, so those were replaced. They said my tire treads are down to 4, with 2 being the legal minimum, and my brakes were each down to 30 (percent? mm? who knows?), and should be replaced when they get down to 20 or 25 (I'm working from memory). The service guy said the front (disc) brakes wear faster than the rear (drum) brakes, so I had them replace the front. I'll save the rear brakes and the tires for later.

The car passed the smog check, the total bill was much less than I was afraid it would be, and now my car is in good working order for the trip. And today I ordered the towbar stuff, which will be installed Wednesday, when I don't have class.

Tonight at class (last night of lecture before the final exam Tuesday, and last night of lab before the final lab exam Thursday--woo hoo!), the lady who is probably flunking and who I've been helping during lab nights gave me a present for being so nice to her. She's so sweet! She said it's just a little thing, a bracelet from Iran, where she's originally from, but it's beautiful.


And during tonight's lecture, the instructor announced that for about a dozen or so of the top students (so far), she had an invitation to be a TA for her Anatomy & Physiology labs in the future. I got one. I'm really excited, because I love to teach, even on an informal basis.

But the instructor issued a caveat: We could be uninvited if we tank on the final lab exam. So all the calculations I did, showing how badly I can do and still get an 'A' in the class were for nothing. I'll have to study after all (which I would have done anyway, but now I have to).

After class, I told the instructor that I was going to be gone on the road for a year, and before I even asked her a question, she said, "As soon as you get back, let me know." This is so cool!

And my daughter is still here. She's been playing the piano that I'm trying to sell, and I could listen to her play forever.

I'm telling you, life is good.

Duka Brothers' Asylum Application Backlogged

Newsweek reported yesterday on the Fort Dix terrorist wannabes.

The arrest last week of three New Jersey terror suspects who entered the United States illegally more than two decades ago is raising new questions about weaknesses in American immigration controls before and after 9/11. NEWSWEEK has learned that an application for asylum filed in 1989 by the family of three suspects in the New Jersey plot stalled inside the federal bureaucracy for 16 years due to a paperwork “backlog.”

The story of how immigration officials apparently fumbled or lost track of the immigration file on the Duka family of Cherry Hill, N.J., three of whose members are charged in the alleged Fort Dix plot, is certain to provide new fodder for critics of the U.S. immigration system.

Mark Krikorian, executive director of the Center for Immigration Studies, a private group that lobbies for tougher U.S. immigration controls, complained that government oversights like the ones that evidently plagued the Duka case are “par for the course” in what he calls “our don’t ask, don’t tell immigration system. We make it as easy as possible for illegal aliens to live here. 'No' never means 'no'.” Krikorian said that immigration bureaucrats were less at fault for these kinds of delays than policy makers who fail to make sure that laws on the books are vigorously enforced.

This is exactly why I vigorously oppose the newest "compromise" immigration bill to pop out of the Senate the way the Alien popped out of the guy's chest and then devoured everyone it could find.

The bureaucracy that couldn't keep up with asylum applications to the point that it had a 16-year backlog is the very same bureaucracy that will deal with all the new applications from all the millions of illegals trying to get in line for legal status. Is there funding in the new bill to hire a few more paper pushers?

How about we hold off on the legalization process for now, take the money earmarked for that, and just build the fence? We can combine that with genuine employer enforcement and then wait a while to see how many of the illegals go back home. Once the border is secure and employers have good reasons to avoid hiring illegal workers, then the potential surge of legal immigration applications should be smaller than it would be now. That's when we can talk about what to do with the people who still want to become Americans.

The law they're getting ready to shove down our throats is a bad one. Those of us near the borders, especially the southern one, need to brace ourselves for the influx of illegals who will be crossing into the country now that this crummy piece of legislation has been announced.

Let the backlog begin!

Craig's List

I've posted a few of the things I need to sell on Craig's List. The piano, the writing desk, the exercise bike. And then I got some responses in my email, but there's something not quite right about them.

Are there people out there (Jacob, maybe you know--not that you DO it, but you might know about it) who send responses to people's ads as a joke? Do they do it to make the sellers excited and think it's going to sell, when they had no intention of buying it, and they're laughing their heads off over their beer/tequila/pot?

Last night I posted the piano and got this email:

Hi
I saw your instrument and i will love to buy at your price.
Is it still available?
Reply asap
Tim

I replied that it's still available and when would he like to look at it and gave him my phone number. No response. Not by email or by phone.

Tonight I posted the writing desk and got an almost immediate response:

Hi;

I really like your desk, I like Bombay furniture. I am willing to give you your asking price if you still have it.

Thank you;

Jeb

I did the same kind of reply right away. Nothing in response.

Is this some new joke that nobody told me about? Is this the modern equivalent of stupid kids calling random phone numbers and asking for Prince Albert in a can?

I may be clueless a lot of the time, but I don't enjoy being that way. Somebody help me out here...

Senate GOP Skewering Its Base

I would have used stronger language in the title, but this is a family blog.

Hugh Hewitt is up in arms (and so am I now) over the latest to come out of the Senate. The members of the GOP leadership look like they're about to cave in to the Democrats over immigration.

Word is leaking that the GOP in the Senate are on the verge of agreeing to an immigration bill that has --as a concession to the GOP-- less than half of the fencing promised by law last year.

White flag time on the border, and a national security and thus a political disaster.

The GOP are sending around talking points attempting to make this "compromise" defensible, but it won't and shouldn't fly. Agreeing to it takes the party down the tubes on the issue of border security --because it doesn't provide what the public understands to be border security, a very long, very high fence with a very wide gate. (emphasis in the original)

I really like how Hugh introduces the talking points from the GOP leaders over this proposal (posted in its entirety in his post, with his point-by-point comments): "Four pages of crap."

Here's how the talking points open:

Republicans Standing Together to Fight for Tougher Enforcement and an Immigration System That Better Serves American Interests

As negotiations continue, Republicans are demanding the following from the Democrat majority:

v Beefed-up border security. Republicans are insisting on dramatic and immediate improvements to border security, including 18,000 Border Patrol agents and 370 miles of fencing, as part of a continuous effort to protect the borders.

Last year they promised us--and even passed a bill with it in there--that we'd get over 700 miles of fence. Now the Republicans are "demanding" concessions from the Democrats (as if the Dems would listen to anything that doesn't go their way), including a whopping 370 miles of fence. But what are the chances those 370 miles will ever get funded and built? About the same as the original 700 miles: Zip.

And in exchange for such fierce concessions, what do the Democrats get for their trouble? Amnesty. Oh, it has other names, and the draft memo gives lip-service to making the illegals wait in line after the legal immigrants, but I have trouble believing there will be any teeth in that provision. I especially like this talking point:

Illegal workers not only will be subject to removal from the country but will be permanently barred from any U.S. immigration program.

Ooh. The illegal aliens must be quaking in their boots over being told for the hundred millionth unenforced time that they might be deported and banned from coming back.

If the Duka brothers hadn't been arrested for plotting to blow up soldiers at Fort Dix, they would have been on track for citizenship according to this plan.

But the GOP leadership is telling us we should be pleased with their cave-in, because it could have been worse. Here's the last line of their draft talking points:

If Republicans had not fought for these limits, Democrats would have passed an automatic amnesty bill without any of the restrictions that Republicans have now guaranteed.

It's so good to know the Republicans are such tough fighters. I'd hate to see them lose their cojones along the way to border security.

Since this is election season already, it's a good time to be reminded of Hugh's Five Points for the GOP:

Win the War.

Confirm the Judges.

Cut the Taxes.

Control the Spending.

Secure the Border.

Our Senators need to fight for these things. For real. If they do, they can't lose. If they can't do that, they don't deserve to win.

Senate switchboard: (202) 224-3121

Contact:
Sen. Mitch McConnell, Senate Minority Leader
Sen. Trent Lott, Senate Minority Whip
Sen. John Kyl, GOP Conference Chairman

They're the guys responsible for these "demands."

Sarkozy Takes Office in France

Photo credit: REUTERS/Jacky Naegelen

The AP reported today that France has a new president.

Nicolas Sarkozy took office Wednesday as the new president of France, waving farewell to the outgoing Jacques Chirac and promising a new era of government that will unite political rivals and give a strong role to women.

Sarkozy said his priorities would include restoring "order and authority" to a nation where riots by largely black and Arab youths erupted in rundown housing projects in 2005, and where tensions and frustration still simmer over discrimination and alienation. He is expected to quickly form a government and has pledged that half the ministers will be women.

Chirac, ending 12 years in power, entrusted the country's nuclear codes to his successor in a private meeting that was a high point of the transition between the two conservatives.

A 21-gun salute from the cannons of the gold-domed Invalides, where Napoleon is buried, heralded the Sarkozy presidency.

The blunt Sarkozy, 52, is the son of a Hungarian immigrant and the first president of France born after World War II.

Let's hope that 21-gun salute is a signal of changes Sarkozy will bring to the more typical French response to the challenges he will face.

Vive le Président!

National Park Service Killjoys

Did they wait until my mom and I decided to go on the road and see a bunch of the National Parks? Am I the only one who sees the timing for this as suspicious?

The AP reported May 6, 2007, that the National Park Service is planning to raise their fees at a lot of the parks. Starting soon.

Entrance fees are due to rise at national parks over the next three summers, though a public outcry over specific increases could cause the government to reconsider.

Through 2009, the National Park Service plans to phase in higher rates for annual park passes and fees paid per vehicle or person at about 130 of the 390 parks, monuments and other areas the agency manages.

The government does not collect any fees at the other two-thirds of sites in the park system.

And which ones are scheduled to go up first? The ones we want to see, of course.

This summer, higher entrance fees are due to be collected at 11 parks:
_Muir Woods in California.
_Black Canyon of the Gunnison and Mesa Verde, both in Colorado.
_Fort McHenry in Maryland.
_Martin Van Buren in New York.
_Big Bend and Guadalupe Mountains, both in Texas.
_Bryce Canyon, Cedar Breaks and Zion, all in Utah.
_Colonial in Virginia.

You turn into a tourist, and they start gouging you . Hmmph!

Bald Eagles Making Comeback

Photo credit: REUTERS/Jason Reed/Files

Reuters reported Monday on the status of Bald Eagles in America.

With the number of Bald Eagles in the United States hitting the highest level since World War II, the Fish and Wildlife Service said on Monday it will decide on removing them from the list of threatened and endangered species by June 29.

The Bald Eagle is the country's national bird and its image bedecks the presidential seal.

There are now 9,789 breeding pairs of Bald Eagles in the lower 48 states, the agency said.

Minnesota tops the list with 1,312 pairs of the white-headed birds. Vermont saw its first baby eagles hatch in 2006.

In 1995, the service downgraded the bird to threatened status from endangered.

The eagles would continue to be managed under the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act.

This is very good news, especially to folks in Minnesota.

I once visited Glacier National Park when the Bald Eagles were there (the eagles don't go there anymore), with 42 of them visible at one time. It was so impressive!

The fact that they're coming back in such good numbers gives so many other people the chance to be just as impressed.

Most Recent

Time to play a new game, called Most Recent. I'll go first!

What is the most recent:

Book you finished?
America Alone, by Mark Steyn (That was over a month ago. I haven't finished anything since then???)

Book you started?
Medical Terminology: A Programmed Systems Approach

Movie you saw at the theater?
Spiderman 3

Movie you watched at home?
Fantastic 4

Chore you did around the house?
Scrub the kitchen baseboards with 409, a toothbrush, and a toothpick

Music CD you listened to?
Adie: Don't Wait

Song that got stuck in your head?
Chris Tomlin's How Great Is Our God

Radio show you listened to?
Hugh Hewitt

TV show you watched?
Some house-flipping show on TLC that isn't "Flip That House"

Computer game you played?
Zuma

Non-computer game you played?
Uno, with my son :o)

Restaurant you ate at?
California Pizza Kitchen

Gift you gave?
A leather passport holder with ancient maps on it (similar to the second picture down in this post), to my son for no reason other than it was perfect for him.

Gift you received?
Birthday presents from my kids.

Hug you got?
From my son on Mother's Day :o)

It's your turn now. Have fun!

Congress Approval Below Bush

The Gallup News Service reported today on their latest poll, showing Congress's approval rating has dropped below that of President Bush. Here's the summary:

A new Gallup Poll finds continued low levels of public support for both Congress and President George W. Bush. Twenty-nine percent of Americans approve of Congress, down slightly from last month's reading (33%) and this year's high point of 37%, while Bush's approval rating is holding steady at 33%. Both the ratings of Congress and the president are slightly lower than their respective 2007 averages. Approval ratings of Congress are higher among Democrats than Republicans, while Bush's ratings are much higher among Republicans.

When the Democrats took power this year, their leadership announced that they were given a mandate by the American people to govern. Judging by the Gallup results, the American people don't think Congress is governing very well.

It's a tough time for the average conservative Joe right now, with the President at odds with us over illegal aliens and the Congress at odds with us over everything. The times we're in are serving to forge in us the virtues of patience and endurance, neither which is pleasant, but both of which are necessary for what's still to come.

Tales from the Tempest

My online classes at the Michigan college started today. There's a 1-unit class, Wellness, that I need to take if I do the Michigan Ultrasound program, because I've never taken a PE class at the college level, and they require it for an Associate's degree.

We have to do a Personal Challenge project in some area of wellness (exercise, weight control, nutrition, stress management, addiction to dangerous behaviors, relationships, sense of purpose). My weight is under control, I'm eating right, I've already quit my stressful job (though getting ready for the trip has its own stress), my only addiction is tea, I have wonderful friends (more on that in a bit) and will be renewing my relationship with my mom and sister, and I have a sense of purpose (that would be Jesus and living for Him).

So that leaves exercise, and scrubbing walls won't last long enough get me through the three weeks of the project. I think I'll get a pedometer and see if I can get the numbers high enough on that thing, once I figure out how to work it.

Then there's Medical Terminology. I looked at the syllabus this morning, and the kicker is that the final exam for that class has to be proctored by a college employee or librarian or similar person. I'll have to make arrangements for proctoring by the sixth or seventh week of class and get the instructor's approval. It looks like I'll have to take the test in early August, so I think my mom and I will just have to be sure to arrive in Kalispell a little early for her high school reunion, I'll take my test, maybe at the community college, and then we can go extra times to Glacier National Park and visit with friends until reunion time.

The third class is Introduction to Diagnostic Imaging, which gives a broad theoretical view of the radiological disciplines as well as sonography. I'll have to write a term paper about some new advance in imaging technology.

Meanwhile, my finals for Anatomy & Physiology are next week. I have two more lectures, one more lab, and then the lecture exam is next Tuesday and the lab exam is next Thursday. I started writing up my lecture flashcards on Saturday, when I was waiting for the Toyota's oil change. I have to take the car back for the 120,000-mile service Wednesday, plus have them check the wheel bearings, because something related to wheel speed is making noise. I should get LOTS of flashcards made. And reviewed.

I set up a spreadsheet with my grades on it and then calculated my final grade based on various final test scores. Because of all the extra credit they allow, if I get a 'C' on each of the last two tests, I'd still have a solid 'A' in the class. If I get 50% on each test, I'd still squeak out an 'A' in the class. So I don't have to sweat it to the point of actual sweat.

Then on the house front, I finally broke down in Sunday School a week ago and expressed a need for help (very hard for me to do). One of the ladies in class said she'd love to come and help me scrub walls, and then during the week another one said she was eager to join the party. The walls needed more than the usual handprints at corners and door frames. Abby had left a grayish stripe around the bottom of all the accessible walls, where she'd rub her sides when her skin allergies bothered her.

My friends came over this past Friday and then again this morning. With their help, we scrubbed all the living room and family room walls, and most of the dining room (there are a few things in the way there), and also all the kitchen cabinets and the miniblinds that don't need to be replaced. The house looks so bright! Plus today, one of them brought her husband, who weed-eatered my yard for me (which gets me out of trouble with the association, which had left another "Mow your weeds, or else..." notice for me a week ago).

One of my friends recommended a handyman, and I called him, but he was driving, so I'm waiting for him to call back when he gets home. He wants to come tomorrow bright and early, and I like that idea just fine. I have a list of some little (fix a few screens, rebalance the ceiling fans, re-caulk the tub) and some bigger (replace the shower door) items for him to take care of. It will be a relief to have all that done.

That still leaves touch-up painting, and when the painting is done, replacing the kitchen faucet. And going through my books to decide which ones to part with, which ones to store, and which ones to bring along on the trip. Really, the same goes for all my stuff: Keep or Toss/Give to Charity.

I'm using the Tornado method of deciding, inspired by Bekah's sister, who lost nearly everything in the Greensburg tornado. It goes this way: If I lost this in a tornado, would my heart be broken? If not, it's outta here. Of course, I'll try not to take it too far by tossing handy stuff like paper supplies and useful kitchen gadgets.

But that means all the furniture except my bedroom set needs to be sold or donated. Within three weeks. While I'm studying for Anatomy exams and starting new classes and trying to get the house prettied up enough ("smoke and mirrors") to sell.

As far as getting all my stuff for the trip out to Texas with me, I looked into a one-way U-Haul truck rental that could tow my car (which still needs to get the towbar attached), and they want over $2,000! No, thanks. But my friend pointed out that I can box up the softer things, like my winter clothes, and mail the boxes to Texas, and even with the increase in postal rates, it would cost way less than $2,000. Then I can just drive the car with the things that will fit in it. Good plan!

So little time. So much still to do.

Happy Mother's Day

Here's the link to my post earlier this week on the orphaned owls.

I really love the picture. The babies look so wide-eyed and clueless. The mom is 100% focused on being there for the babies. There's something about it that keeps me going back to look at the four little ones huddling up to their "mom."

Today is the day for huddling up to your mom, if you still have her with you here on earth, and if you're a mom yourself, for huddling up to your (not so) little ones.

Have a wonderful Mother's Day!

Hollywood vs. Smoking

The Los Angeles Times reported today that Hollywood is considering adjusting their movie ratings.

Movies and cigarettes used to go together like Bogie and Bacall, with Hollywood and its stars glamorizing the habit on screen and off.

Now films could earn a tougher rating if their characters light up.Under a policy announced Thursday, the Motion Picture Assn. of America said its movie raters would take into account "depictions that glamorize smoking or movies that feature pervasive smoking outside of a historic or other mitigating context."

"There is broad awareness of smoking as a unique public health concern due to nicotine's highly addictive nature, and no parent wants their child to take up the habit," MPAA Chief Executive Dan Glickman said. "The appropriate response of the rating system is to give more information to parents on this issue."

I hate it when Hollywood, the Dysfunctional World, gets on its holier-than-thou soapbox and starts shoving their choice of better health down our throats. It's for our own good, after all.

There's broad awareness of alcohol as a unique public health concern too, but I haven't heard Hollywood going after movies that glamorize drinking. And I don't expect that they will. That would hit too close to home.

No, cigarettes are an easier target. Pay no attention to the drunk guy behind the curtain!

And what will they target next, after they've started rating movies for cigarette use? Will they give a PG-13 to a Disney movie with a character who eats a cheeseburger? Will an otherwise 'R' rated movie get bumped down to PG-13, if the main character eats his vegetables instead of a big, fat, juicy steak?

There's a point where the rating system goes so far it becomes meaningless. I think they're crossing that line with their cigarette ratings. Let Hollywood's movie makers and movie stars get their own lives in shape before they start trying to manage ours.

North Korean Farewell

Photo credit: REUTERS/Newsis

Another photo from today's Reuters top photos of the past 24 hours. The caption reads:

North Koreans bid farewell to their South Korean family members after their three day temporary family reunion at the Mount Kumgang resort in North Korea May 11, 2007. About 100 South Koreans are at a mountain resort in North Korea until Friday to reunite with their children, siblings and other relatives left behind in the 1950-1953 fratricidal conflict. (NORTH KOREA)

This breaks my heart.

I don't know how often the North Koreans have allowed families to reunite for a few days, but judging by the pain on these people's faces, it's not nearly often enough.

It's easy to think of North and South Korea in political or economic terms: Communism vs. Liberty, starvation vs. prosperity. But it's still a penninsula populated by too many families torn apart.

Governments, like that of Kim Jong-Il, that must use force to keep their people in do not deserve to stand.

Dog With Cat

Photo credit: REUTERS/Alexander Natruskin

This is one of the photos in today's Reuters top photos of the past 24 hours. The caption reads:

A police dog carefully lifts up a cat when ordered to, in a display of skill, during a show at the Russian OMON riot special police training base outside Moscow, May 10, 2007. (RUSSIA)

What an obedient dog!

And what an obedient cat to not run away when approached by a big dog with big teeth. That's amazing for a smushy-faced cat. Cats whose noses stick out farther than their eyes are well-known to be smarter than cats who can't figure out how to get their noses out where they can do some good.

Aaaarrrgggghhhh!!!!

I am so frustrated I can't even see straight (OK, with my reading glasses on, I can see the computer straight. But that's it). Trying to figure out what medical discipline to learn is going to be the death of me.

Last we heard, I was leaning toward switching from Ultrasound to Radiology. On Tuesday, I officially switched to Radiologic Technology at the school where I'm taking Anatomy & Physiology. That program has a three-year (or more) waiting list, and they take you first-come first-served, provided all your prerequisites are satisfied. Mine will be, once I take Medical Terminology, and I'm due to start that on Monday, through the online Michigan school. But some of the people in my A & P class have said that the college we're at is really picky about which other Terminology classes they'll accept as equivalent, so there's a chance they won't accept my online class.

But if I end up attending another school, like the online one, what does it matter? The online school will get me finished sooner (albeit more expensively).

So then I thought of another plan (they suggested this during our Intro to Health Occupations class, but I ignored them at the time): Become a Medical Assistant while I wait, get a job, and when it's my turn, start the Radiology program. I could even become a Medical Assistant, move to another state with a shorter waiting list, work in the new state for a year to establish residency, and then start the Radiology program. Think of the money I'd save, not having to pay Michigan all that out-of-state tuition.

Or maybe I should just pay it and be done ASAP, which would still be 3 years away. Oy!

So I went back to the internet and started searching some what-if scenarios. What Radiology programs are accredited in some of the states that might be affordable? Tons of them! But funny thing, the Radiology program at the Michigan school is NOT ACCREDITED by the gold-standard accreditation board. Their Ultrasound program is accredited (different accreditation board), but not Radiology.

This is not good.

One of the guys in Anatomy said he just switched to Respiratory Care, because he'd be able to start in the fall (no waiting list for that program, and it seems to pay about as well as Rad Techs with almost as much demand).

When we had our presentation on Respiratory Care in the Intro to Health Occupations class, I wasn't very interested for three reasons: (1) People with respiratory problems tend to retch up bodily fluids that are better left inside (Eeewww!); (2) It involves quite a bit of chemistry (you need to analyze blood gases), which has intimidated me for much of my life, though I couldn't say why; and (3) I really find the guy who runs the program annoying.

He's the guy who ran the Intro class, and throughout the entire class he had that obnoxious smile people get when they know something that you don't know and they darn well aren't about to tell you. To spend two years learning at the feet of a man who just won't stop with the aligator-smile, well, I'm not sure I'm up to it.

But I could start soon, and people say Respiratory Care is more rewarding because you keep the same patients for a long time, rather than having one broken leg after another coming in on an assembly-line basis. I don't know. I don't know anything anymore.

I sure miss my dad. If he were still alive, I'd have called him by now. He'd know what to say and how to ask me questions that would help me figure out a good course of action. Instead, I'm up way past my bedtime, spilling my guts all over a laptop and hoping that the spilling will miraculously put it all in the best order.

But it's not working yet. I'm still making endless circles.

I'm going to bed.

Roadkill Dress-Up

The Hartford Courant reported Monday on the roadkill situation in Edwardsville, Illinois.

For the past several weeks, drivers near Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville have been noticing odd things about some of the roadkill on the sides of the area's highways.

Some of the dead possums and raccoons have been dressed in pet or human baby clothes and have had their claws painted with nail polish. The carcass of a deer has been adorned with gold paint.

The culprit is SIU-Edwardsville graduate art student Jessica May, 24, of West Lafayette, Ind.

In an interview with the Belleville News-Democrat, May said she is not an animal rights activist; she is just interested in seeing if people would give more thought to the animals if they were somehow given human attributes.

May, a 2006 graduate of Purdue University, said she takes precautions in dealing with the carcasses.

"I wear gloves," she said. "I don't know that I could touch it with my bare hands, because by the time I find them, they're pretty far gone."

The only downside to this article is that they don't have any pictures. I can't imagine...

Memory Help

A couple memory-related items are in the news.

Memory-freezing tool helps fight crime:

The Scotsman (UK) reported today on a new tool developed to help crime witnesses remember more details.

SCIENTISTS at a Scottish university have developed a powerful new crimefighting tool that "freezes" the memory of crime scenes in the minds of potential witnesses, it was revealed yesterday.

The system uses a self-administered interview (SAI) form which allows witnesses to capture images and details of crime scenes and perpetrators in their minds - particularly small and seemingly insignificant details that could turn out to be crucial in solving cases.

Tests have shown that witnesses using the form were 42 per cent more accurate than other witnesses who were simply asked to report as much as they could remember.

I hope these scientists share their new form with our law enforcement agencies.

Cramming works if you sleep before the test:

The Hartford Courant reported Tuesday on a new study on memorization.

Researchers at Harvard Medical School in Boston asked 48 subjects to learn a list of 20 pairs of words and then tested them 12 hours later on their recall of the pairs. Some subjects were taught the words at 9 a.m. while others learned the words at 9 p.m. and then went to sleep.

The results were a wake-up call for all-night exam crammers: Subjects in the sleep group remembered 12 percent more words from the list than subjects who learned the words at 9 a.m.

Half of both groups also were asked to learn a second list of words just before testing, to study the effect of distracting information on recall. Yet again, subjects in the sleep group did better, recalling 44 percent more words than subjects in the nonsleep group.

OK. This is not new. When I was getting my Psychology degree (2001 - 2002), my professor for Adulthood and Aging and also for Psychological Testing told us all kinds of good research on memory and studying. In addition to getting sleep, other research has shown that you'll remember better if you quit studying for a short time immediately before bed. For some reason, the break helps with retention.

The other thing she told us was that people learn better when the air they breathe is cold. So she'd come into the classroom about half an hour before class and crank down the air conditioning. We learned after the first week to wear a coat or heavy sweatshirt to class when Shirley was our professor. A light jacket or sweater wouldn't do.

So there you have it. Now get some sleep before you forget...

Tornado Aftermath

An F5 tornado hit Greensburg, Kansas, last Friday, and it was all over the news. For most of us, Greensburg is a town we've never heard of in a state we never think about until disaster hits. And now we think of it as a town that, for all intents and purposes, rises no higher than the piles of rubble we see on the 6 o'clock news.

But for blogger Bekah, over at Bekah's Bits, Greensburg is where her sister, brother-in-law, and niece call home, and where her brother-in-law is (was?) pastor of a church. It's a town that her heart constantly returns to in love and prayer.

Bekah has been posting what she can about what her family is going through, from the perspective of a loved-one hundreds of miles away. If you'd like a glimpse into the story of a family that the news isn't telling you about, check out Bekah's Bits. The links to her posts so far, in chronological order are here:

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8

If you're so inclined, please pray.

The New Me

Those of you who have been reading my blog for a while may have noticed that my "About Me" box at the top right corner almost never changes.

I don't remember what it said when I first started blogging and my only readers were my mom, my sister, and a couple people at work. But then there was that scandal a long time ago (long enough that I can't remember the details) when some blogger was accepting payment from some company to influence what he said on his blog.

So I changed my statement on "About Me" to say that I never accepted any money to influence what I wrote (as if anybody would offer...). That way, you could be comforted by the notion that no outside individual or organization was pushing me to write about Lizard Spit or Exploding Toads or How to Escape from Quicksand. No, I decide what to blog about all by myself, sometimes to my own chagrin.

Well, the time has come to change "About Me" again, to reflect the coming changes in my life and my blog. I'll have to change it again when I leave, to be in the present tense rather than the future tense.

I've remained mostly anonymous all this time (though if you tried really, really hard and with the right combination of search keywords, you'd be able to find out my real name anyway), because I wanted to protect myself and my pretty young women (my daughter and her friend who lived with us) from angry, blog-reading marauders.

Well, the girls have moved out, most of my angry blog-readers live in Australia (not you, Jacob--you're not that angry), and I'm about to hit the road. So anonymity is less important now.

I've had to get a new email address to take with me on the road, since my current (unpublished) email is tied to the cable company from whom I will soon part ways. So, I've added my email address (in secret code) to "About Me" as well, and when I reply to you, my real name (gasp!) will show up on the email. But I'm still going to keep my real name hush-hush on my blog, because I've grown fond of being SkyePuppy.

Lizard Spit

The Telegraph (UK) reported today on new medication developed from the saliva of the Gila Monster.

Diabetes sufferers could avoid complications including heart disease, kidney failure and blindness thanks to a new drug based on the spit of a giant poisonous lizard.

Scientists have developed a new treatment for the disease following the discovery that a chemical in the saliva of the pink and black Gila monster contains a chemical in its saliva, which is similar to a human hormone that helps regulate blood sugar.

Exenatide, which works by stimulating the pancreas to produce more insulin in response to raised blood sugar, was launched in the UK last week under the brand name Byetta. A chemical in the lizard’s saliva called exendin-4 was shown to act in a similar way to the human hormone glucagon-like-peptide-1 (GLP-1).

In healthy humans, GLP-1 triggers the production of insulin in the pancreas when blood sugar levels get too high. In those with Type 2 diabetes the signal to make more insulin is weak or missing.

“The Gila monster only eats three or four times a year, and a compound produced in its salivary glands called exendin-4 may help them digest these meals very slowly over time. That is an advantageous quality when translated into controlling diabetes.”

This is great news for diabetics, and taking lizard spit as a medicine is way better than taking some derivative of bugs or spiders.