Pat and I hiked Eagle Creek today

We are going to try to get out and hike more. Here's hike #1, Eagle Creek Trail. We hiked into Punchbowl Falls.

Accomplishments of Sen. Edward M. Kennedy

(Source: Fox News)

The following is a list of legislation molded in whole or part by Kennedy:

1964: Head Start -- Provided meals and early education to pre-school children through the Employee Opportunity Act.

1965: Hart-Cellar Act: -- Changed immigration policy to abolish quotas and lift a 1924 ban on immigration from Asia.

1968: Bilingual Education Act-- Mandated for schools to provide bilingual education programs.

1970: Voting Age-- Lowered the age to vote to 18.

1971: Federal Cancer Research Program -- Quadrupled the amount of money spent by the federal government to fight cancer.

1972: Meals on Wheels-- Strengthened the federal program offering nutritional meals to homebound seniors.

1972: WIC-- Offered food, nutrition counseling and health services to low-income women, infants, and children.

1972: Title IX-- Demanded equal funding for men's and women's athletics on college campuses.

1974: Campaign Finance-- Imposed limits on contributions to political candidates and set up a public financing option, post-Watergate.

1975: Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA)-- Guaranteed free and appropriate public education to children with disabilities.

1978: Civil Rights Commission Act Amendments-- Expanded the jurisdiction of the Civil Rights Commission to protect people from discrimination on the basis of disability.

1978: Airline Deregulation-- Allowed airlines to choose their own fares, reducing costs for consumers.

1980: Refugee Act-- Established a U.S. policy for providing humanitarian assistance, admission and resettlement to refugees around the world.

1981: Fuel Assistance-- Provided home heating fuel for low-income and working poor families.

1983: Martin Luther King Day -- Established a national holiday to celebrate Martin Luther King's birthday.

1984: Improved Access to Polling Stations-- Required polling stations to provide physical accessibility for physically disabled and elderly people on federal election days.

1986: Employment Opportunities for Disabled Americans Act-- Allowed disabled workers to receive SSI benefits and Medicaid coverage.

1986: Anti-Apartheid Sanctions-- Banned the purchase of gold, coal, iron, and other goods from South Africa to protest apartheid.

1987: Even Start-- Offered early education, family literacy and related services to disadvantaged parents and their children.

1988: Fair Housing Act Amendments-- Prohibited discrimination towards people with disabilities in the sale or rental of housing.

1989: National Military Child Care Act-- Established the Department of Defense child care system.

1990: Americans with Disabilities Act-- Prohibited discrimination against any qualified individual with a disability in job application procedures, hiring or discharge, compensation, advancement and training.

1990: Ryan White CARE Act-- Provided assistance to states to develop effective and cost-efficient AIDS care programs, aimed particularly at early diagnosis and home care.

1991: Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty-- Halved the world's nuclear arsenal through cooperation with the U.S.S.R.

1991: Women in Combat-- Lifted the ban on women serving as combat aviators.

1992: Summer Jobs for Youth Program-- Appropriated $500 million to give 300,000 youth with summer employment.

1992: Mammography Quality Standards Act-- Ensured the safety and accuracy of mammograms and promoted the use of the procedure

1993: National and Community Service Trust Act-- Created AmeriCorps and the Corporation for National and Community Service to help expand volunteerism and education grants for students who choose to volunteer for service after college.

1993: Student Loans-- Allowed students to borrow money for college directly from the federal government.

1994: Family and Medical Leave Act-- Provided up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave for family emergencies or after the birth of infants.

1994: Crime Act-- Secured funding for 100,000 new police officers, imposed new penalties for crimes involving gangs and firearms and authorized the Police Corps, a program to award college scholarships to students in return for a commitment to serve as police officers.

1996: Kennedy-Kassebaum Act-- Enabled employees to keep health insurance after leaving their job and prohibited insurance companies from refusing to renew coverage on the basis of preexisting medical conditions.

1996: Mental Health Parity Bill -- Eliminated limits on mental health coverage that differ from other covered illnesses.

1996: Temporary Assistance to Needy Families Act-- Established Welfare-to-Work Initiatives to reduce the number of families dependent on government assistance.

1996/2007: Minimum Wage-- Increased the minimum wage from $4.25 to $5.15 in 1996, and then again from $5.15 in 2007 to $7.25 by 2009.

1997: State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) -- Supported state efforts to provide health insurance to uninsured children in low-income families.

2000: Minority Health and Health Disparities Research and Education Act-- Improved data systems and research on the extent and severity of minority health problems, and authorized significant resources to help enhance the delivery of health care to minorities.

2000 Public Health Threats and Emergencies Act-- Introduced initiatives to control the spread of germs resistant to antibiotics, and to protect the country against bioterrorism.

2001: No Child Left Behind Act -- Required more rigorous testing of public school students and permitted parents to transfer their children from low-performing to higher-performing schools.

2002: Bioterrorism Preparedness Act-- Established plan to help the country prevent, prepare for and respond to bioterrorism and other public health emergencies.

2002: Enhanced Border Security and Visa Entry Reform Act-- Expanded the country's intelligence and law enforcement capabilities to help identify individuals who have violated visas or have links to terrorist organizations.

2003: Up-Armored Humvees-- Provided funding for additional armor for military vehicles to meet the safety needs of American troops.

2003: PROTECT Act-- Provided funding for AMBER Alert notification systems along U.S. highways and awarded grants to states for the implementation of improved communication technologies.

2005: Gulf Coast Recovery and Preparedness Act-- Provided emergency funding to assist in the recovery efforts after Hurricane Katrina.

2006: Family Opportunity Act-- Provided states the opportunity to expand Medicaid coverage to children with special needs and allowed low- and middle-income families with disabled children the ability to purchase coverage under the Medicaid program.

Diabetes

A day after my 54th birthday my doctor informed me that I had developed Type II Adult onset Diabetes. So, the carb thing is more than a theoretical concept. More ont his later.

On being a Liberal Catholic

In most of the U.S. Roman Catholic churches, conservatives rule and liberals are in the closet. In this closet we find gay men and women, people who practice birth control, others who don't take most of the bible literally, believers in evolution, eccumenists, stem-cellers, the divorced, democrats and few community activists. It's a crowded closet these days. Most actually didn't really like it in the closet, and just walked out leaving the Church behind. Many still consider themselves Catholic however.

I decided to stay in the Church but became more introspective and less engaged. Rarely do I feel the Church affirms me. I know from personal contacts in the Church that many religious and laiety retain a liberal world view. I would describe this view as concerned with social justice, one who recognizes and names evil when it is seen, scientific truth reveals God's glory, charity, finding social and political solutions to those things that suppress liberty, being willing to stand up again oppression, anti-war, peace through community, the dignity of every human, the willingness to view the world through the eyes of the other, and having hope for the creation of a better world [through our own efforts and the grace of God).

Uncle Roger used to say the Church was only one hundred years behind the times. Still at her heart is the Eucharist, and in this is a constant source of renewal. How does Christ's love pour out on us through this mystery? How does it span time and space? I guess you either believe in Christ's divinity or not, and when you do believe then the mystery of the Eucharist is simply amazing.

A few Sundays ago our pastor spoke about Catholics experience and beliefs of Eucharist and those of other Christians. If you believe... If you believe that Christ was God, then you believe in transubstantiation of the bread into his body, wine into his blood. You patiently wait for the priest to clean the bowl and chalis, knowing even the crumbs then are part of this mystery. Crumbs of mystery... If we only could understand even a crumb of this mystery.

I enjoyed that sermon, so maybe attending Church is making me less liberal, more a believer in the fundamentals of our faith. I don't think that liberalism is truely reactionary by nature, defining itself by that which it rejects. I don't think I even do reject most of what the Church stands for or does. Unless something is being shoved down your throat, most of the time when it comes to the Church, I maintain a sense of obedience. But, it's not blind obedience. I need to think about it and if I can't support a position I decide whether it's more important to be fundamental to my position or to simply "hold" my position. Should I be fundamental to my position, I would have to decide whether it was important enough to seperate myself from the Church, that is, what's more important, my belief or obedience? I guess I would answer that by saying that I "hold" my belief and remain obediently a less than "good" Catholic but firmly authentic in my own skin.

God rest the soul of Edward M. Kennedy. Another role model dead. He'll be missed by me. Maybe it's time to become my own role model. I'm 54, so what the hell am I waiting for?

Why I eat.

I am way too fat. I don't know how fat, actually. Maybe about 250 pounds. Like, half a beef.

So, why do I eat? Seems like a simple question but it's not really. Like many people I don't only eat when I am hungry. Just watched Bear Grils eat a worm, saying, "It may taste like pus but it will give me protein and energy I need." So, from that level of eating to the eating that's really done throughout the day, there's a wide gulf.

1. I eat for comfort. Eating is psychologically and socially an intensly positive experience. We are no doubt hard coded programmed for this. But, I think this relates more to serving size. I could eat half a cup of rice, but I will eat a whole cup of rice because it makes me feel good. There is a bio-chemical reaction to certain foods that goes right to the narcotic receptors on my neurons. OK, it's a fix.

2. I eat fast food whenever I can summon up an excuse to. My day has been too hectic to take the time to get better food. Etc. etc. etc. Also, when making a meal for myself would seem too trivial compared for other stuff on my mind.

3) I eat out of fear. Ah, you weren't expecting that one were you? I've had RLS, Restless Leg syndrome for most of my life (back to early teen years). But, in my adult years it became nearly constant. It was't until about 2002 that I had medication for it. Certain cold remedies would help, that is, before I started Requip, and food was a key thing too. The family knows I used to have a late night bowl of Cheerios. This was after I feel asleep from the often high carb supper, and then work up due to the RLS. The Cheerios provided me another boost of carbs that made me drowsy, and broke whatever the brain waves were that triggered the RLS to a more wakeful pattern. So, what does this have to do with the current reasons I eat. Well, in the evening I'm sitting on the sofa, getting relaxed before bed and then some RLS twitches hit. My conditioning, given the past, is to get up and get a snack. I've moved away from Cheerios now to, oh, some cheese or an apple, but it's the same conditioning.

What other reasons do I eat? Humm, hunger is in there somewhere. Rarely is it #1. Any other ideas? I susppose there is ... because it's there, too.

So, what's up with all this? I'm going on a low carb diet to loose weight, and I thought it would help to get some of these things out. Confessions of a carb-aholoic.

Thank you Kids!

I love the new weather station. It's all set up and working great. To mount it I used scrap stuff from around the house. An old piece of PVC heavy duty drain pipe for the mast, and parts from a garage sale gold cart (see, it did come in handy after all) to mount the mast to the house. Thanks everyone. I love it.

Who Would Jesus Heal? [and WWJD?] about the US Healthcare/Health insurance debate?

To all Christians, who did Jesus heal?

A man with leprosy(Matthew 8 v 2-3 Mark 1 v 40-42 Luke 5 v 12-13)
An army officer's servant (Matthew 8 v 5-13 Luke 7 v 1-10)
Peter's mother-in-law (Matthew 8 v 14-15 Mark 1 v 30-31 Luke 4 v 38-39).
A paralysed man (Matthew 9 v 2-8 Mark 2 v 1-12 Luke 5 v 18-26)
The woman who touched him (Matthew 9 v 20-22 Mark 5 v 25-34 Luke 8 v 43-48)
Two blind men (Matthew 9 v 27-31)
A man with a withered hand (Matthew 12 v 9-13 Mark 3 v 1-5 Luke 6 v 6-10)
A man born blind (Matthew 20 v 29-34 Mark 10 v 46-52 Luke 18 v 35-43)
A deaf and mute man (Mark 7 v 31-37)
A blind man (Mark 8 v 22-25)
A crippled woman (Luke 13 v 10-17)
A man with dropsy (Luke 14 v 1-4)
Ten lepers (Luke 17 v 11-19)
Malchus (Luke 22 v 50-51; John 18 v 10)
The official's son (John 4 v 46-54)
The paralysed man at the pool (John 5 v 1-9)
A man born blind (John 9)

The rich, the privileged, the homeless, friends, relatives, the disabled, the outcast. Consider whether the “Public Option”, whether “Single Payer”, whether “Universal” Health Insurance, isn’t something more like WWJD than the alternative. You decide.

A Great Weekend

Well, yeah. That says it all. Pat and I went up to Belfair, Wa to visit with Dominic and Kelsie. We drove up in the Smart car (Which does 75 on the freeway just fine, thank you), on Friday night, and stayed until Saturday afternoon. We really enjoyed the new chicks Dom had hatched in his incubator and then got the hen to adopt by first putting golf balls in her nest. She shared with us some of their squash and cucumbers, and we brought up blueberries, potatoes and corn on the cob.

Sunday morning I went to the garden to harvest the rest of the green beans, and what do you know there was also more corn that was ready (another 26 ears). I brought the last of the green beans home with the sweet corn, and canned 11 pints of corn and 7 pints of green beans. Then put on some vegetable soup for supper, washed the two cars, mowed the lawn and did laundry and dishes. Suddenly I'm feeling tired. Oh, and my letter to the editor at the Columbian was in today's paper and I already got a call from a fan. So, I challenge anyone to top this weekend!

Oh, see the picture at the bottom. That was two seonds before the chicken nibbled on Dom's ear, and one second before he turned his head to look at the chicken, and when the ckicken pecked him in the eye.