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Beth posted some videos of Tim Hawkins, the guy that does the parodies. He does Cletus Take the Reel. Go to her site to see a couple of funny ones. I like this one...
4:15 p.m.....I just took 2 arthritis tests. Noooo....not to see if I have them. We already know that - I have both. These are online tests to see how much you know about osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis. One was to see if you can tell the difference between osteo and rheumatoid arthritis.
The first test I got 20 out of 21 questions right. The only one I missed was incorrectly guessing the number of Anericans projected to have Osteoarthritis by the year 2030. The answer is 70 million rather than 60 million. And, of course, that is pure speculation. On the test , about the differences between osteo and rheumatoid, I got all 23 right.
Go me. 
An extremely common misconception about osteoarthritis is that only old people have it, or people who have been injured in an accident (like jumping in a moonwalk and blowing out tendons in your ankle  , or playing football). That's just not true. Osteoarthritis is an auto-immune disease just like rheumatoid arthritis. But there are major differences. Osteo is more slow-growing, so it is far more common in older people. But the type I have is where the cartilage in the joints is attacked by your immune system, and it usually happens at an earlier age. It breaks down, causing the bones to eventually rub together and cause great pain. It is worse in weight-bearing joints like knees and hips because the weight causes the cartilage to break down faster.
In advanced rheumatoid arthritis, the finger and wrist joints become deformed. In osteoarthritis, you develop nodules on the joints, but it doesn't bend the hands in strange shapes.
Osteoarthritis does not cause redness and warmth around the joint like rheumatoid does. And osteoarthritis can start in just one joint, on one side of the body. Rheumatoid is usually in both sides of the body, such as both hands, or both ankles. And with rheumatoid arthritis, morning stiffness lasts much longer, and sometimes, never really goes away. Osteoarthritis pain is usually worse at the end of the day, after activities (and I can guarantee that!)
So next time you hear somebody say, "You're too young to have arthritis," tell them, "Hogwash. It has n othing to do with age." (I know....that bores some of you to tears....unless you have one of those conditions.)
Ok...it's 3:15 a.m....and I'm fixing to go to bed. Remember the other day when I said there were too darn many Crenshaws? Well...there are an equally aggravating number of McDonalds. I am a McDonald (as is Beth's former stalker), but I'm not researching my family line. I've been looking up information for a McDonald who is a friend of Holly's. He does not know his family genealogy and he needs it for a class.
And since stalking researching is fun, I put my sources to good use.
It's so quiet and peaceful outside at 1:00 in the morning. It's the perfect time and place to pour your heart out to God.
Order in the Court
Common sense has finally prevailed in California, the site of one of the nation's most disgraceful court rulings in at least a decade. The Second District Court of Appeals, which shocked Americans by banning homeschooling by any parent without a teaching license, has vacated its decision. The court has agreed to rehear the case later this spring and is soliciting briefs from various state officials, teacher unions, and the Los Angeles Unified School District. For weeks, the three-judge panel received blistering criticism from state leaders, pro-family organizations like FRC, and hundreds of thousands of American families. In the hands of an activist court, what began as a simple child welfare case turned into an indictment of the entire homeschooling movement. Even Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) denounced the ruling, saying, "Parents should not be penalized for acting in the best interests of their children's education. This outrageous ruling must be overturned by the courts, and, if the courts don't protect parents' rights, then, as elected officials, we will." The judges' retraction is a testament to the power of the public's response. It still counts!
Marriage No Longer England's Cup of Tea
A new report on the crisis of marriage in the U.K. is sending shockwaves throughout the nation, as the proportion of Britons who tied the knot in 2006 is the lowest it's been since records began in 1862. The Office for National Statistics said that in 2006 "fewer than ten in every 1,000 single adults in England and Wales" got married. And the biggest culprit for the decline appears to be none other than the British government. The U.K.'s tax code rewards single parents and penalizes married spouses, leading more couples to beat the system by "living apart together" in civil unions. By embracing--and even incentivizing--these civil partnerships, the U.K. is fueling the traditional family's complete collapse. When you rob marriage of its meaning, as Britain has done, and deemphasize it, a nation naturally experiences less of it. In the U.S., we see the European influence slowly creeping across the pond and into American public policy as more liberals devalue traditional marriage and family. Leaders in the U.K. insist that this report is the wake-up call the nation needed. In the last week, many MPs have pledged to introduce legislation that would entice more couples to marry. Let's pray it's not too late.
Planned Parenthood's Biggest Advo-Kate
Actress Kate Walsh isn't a doctor in real life, but apparently playing one on ABC's "Grey's Anatomy" and "Private Practice" qualifies her to talk about reproductive health on Capitol Hill. Yesterday, Walsh, who sits on Planned Parenthood's Board of Advisors, hosted a congressional forum sponsored by the nation's biggest abortion trafficker. In ads for the event, Planned Parenthood played host to "Kate Walsh Talks About Sex on Capitol Hill: Actor Leads Congressional Briefing on Real Sex Education." In case you're wondering how Walsh describes "real" sex education, this is what she says in a 2007 interview: "If you're going to have sex, use a condom." She speaks openly about her desire to zero-out federal abstinence funds, a goal shared by the monopolists at Planned Parenthood. Contrary to what Walsh and her liberal friends believe, doing away with abstinence education won't lower teen pregnancy rates; instead it would squelch one of the most effective methods of reducing teen sexual risk. Moreover, according to Adolescent and Family Health, 67% of teen birth reductions are a direct result of abstinence. The Medical Institute notes that "sexual activity places teens at high risk for getting sexually transmitted diseases--and using contraception does not eliminate that risk." It also leads to elevated risks of suicide, depression, substance abuse, anxiety, and dating violence. However, the implications of yesterday's event go beyond Planned Parenthood's unsound advice. As a recipient of nearly $300 million a year in taxpayer funds, more than a few eyebrows were raised when the organization tried to lure in a big crowd by offering a free lunch. Under the new ethics rules, it's unlawful for nonprofit groups to provide meals to congressional members or staff. How is it, then, that Planned Parenthood is able to violate government rules? In light of the organization's latest scandals, which span everything from fraud, criminal cover-ups, and clinic deficiencies, I think we'd all agree that Capitol Hill's time is better spent investigating the group than promoting it.
Journalists Admit They Tend to Lean Left
Family News in Focus
Two-thirds say the line between reporting and commentary is blurred.
Only 6 percent of journalists describe themselves as conservative, while more than 30 percent say they are liberal. That's according to a survey from the Project for Excellence in Journalism.
"There’s a heavy tilt to those describing themselves as liberal," said Amy Mitchell, deputy director of the group.
But do the political leanings of reporters find their way into stories? Yes, according to the survey. Almost two-thirds of journalists conceded that the line between reporting and commentary is blurred.
Cliff Kincaid, editor of Accuracy in Media, said the number of conservatives in the media seems even lower than 6 percent.
“There are very few," he said. "This is based on not only the surveys but personal experience. The fact is that conservative students tend not to go into journalism.
“Liberal students want to change the system. They see journalism as a tool to accomplish that.”
Faith an Asset, Not a Liability
If getting rich is your goal, steer clear of a conservative Protestant church. That's the absurd conclusion of a study by Duke University professor Lisa Keister, who authored "Conservative Protestants and Wealth: How Religion Perpetuates Asset Poverty" in this month's American Journal of Sociology. Keister suggests that wealth is "among the most fundamental indicators of well-being" and, according to her, the church is sorely lacking it. When comparing net worth in the year 2000, conservative Protestants (CPs) averaged $26,000 compared to $66,200 for the wider population. "[The findings] are consistent with the argument that long-term exposure to CP values, particularly during the critical childhood years when people learn to save, adversely influences asset ownership..." Keister tries to validate the liberal stereotype of Protestants as poor, uneducated people who force their women to stay home barefoot and pregnant. She claims that biblical teachings are hostile to the accumulation of wealth and cites people who say that it "prevents one from knowing God." Unfortunately, Keister ignores the obvious explanations, which are that believers are more inclined to give sacrificially and place less priority on material things. In fact, as Arthur Brooks notes in his book Who Really Cares, one of the best things that could happen in the fight to reduce poverty would be for Americans to become more religiously conservative. Brooks writes, "Religious people are, inarguably, more charitable in every measurable way." In contrast to Keister's theory, most Protestants don't have an objection to riches but refuse to be defined by them. As our Dr. Pat Fagan has pointed out, men and women of faith place a higher priority on producing human capital than financial capital. Keister's report seems to feed into society's notion that that success is determined by what you accumulate, rather than what people accomplish or how they serve. In the end, wealth is no more an indication of success than it is of happiness.
Time to Bring out the Good China
The U.S. State Department must have selective hearing when it comes to defending the victims of Chinese oppression. No sooner had the Tibetans clashed with Chinese government than Secretary Condoleezza Rice intervened, calling for an end to the violence that killed 19 people this month. While it may be fashionable to defend the Dalai Lama, Rice has shown no interest in offering the same aid to persecuted Christians in China, where the brutality and torture grows more severe by the day. In February alone, dozens more were arrested, including 11 children. A new report by Freedom House rates the regime among the bottom dwellers on civil liberties at a time when the State Department rewarded China by downgrading its threat as a human rights violator in its latest report--despite outlining several instances of "extrajudicial killings, torture, coerced confessions, the use of forced labor, and arbitrary deprivation of life." As Doug Bandow writes in today's American Spectator, the West cannot afford to be complacent about China. Yet four months after FRC and members of Congress contacted the State Department about helping to free imprisoned church leaders, complacency continues to be the official policy of this administration.
Time to Bring out the Good China
The U.S. State Department must have selective hearing when it comes to defending the victims of Chinese oppression. No sooner had the Tibetans clashed with Chinese government than Secretary Condoleezza Rice intervened, calling for an end to the violence that killed 19 people this month. While it may be fashionable to defend the Dalai Lama, Rice has shown no interest in offering the same aid to persecuted Christians in China, where the brutality and torture grows more severe by the day. In February alone, dozens more were arrested, including 11 children. A new report by Freedom House rates the regime among the bottom dwellers on civil liberties at a time when the State Department rewarded China by downgrading its threat as a human rights violator in its latest report--despite outlining several instances of "extrajudicial killings, torture, coerced confessions, the use of forced labor, and arbitrary deprivation of life." As Doug Bandow writes in today's American Spectator, the West cannot afford to be complacent about China. Yet four months after FRC and members of Congress contacted the State Department about helping to free imprisoned church leaders, complacency continues to be the official policy of this administration.
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I'm actually related to some McDonald's..
1. Fascinating details... I've had osteo since at least age 18 (probably prior). It developed after having bone surgeries on both of my feet at age 15. It also runs in my family. It started in the feet/ankles ~ and is now throughout my entire body.
2. When is Beth's surgery?
3. I'm praying for her and for you . . . hope you are feeling better, and not so depressed anymore.
Mucliesterest!! :love::heartbeat::love: :wave: