Special Handwriting on the Wall

By Dan Samaria
Publisher/YC
Feb. 15, 2010

Do you know what “Joylogy” means? It is the study of caring, sharing, and listening and Sacrifice.

This was written by Mr. Jeineke in 1975

We would like to know what you think: dan@youngchronicle.com

What is a Joyologist? A joyologist then would be one who studies joy logy. Frankly our world could use a great many joyologists whose mission in life is to actively research the effects of discussing and sharing joy.

The research could branch out into how joy affects our careers, family lives, and friendships. The very act of doing the active research should spread jubilation throughout the world and bring about positive results. What a fun job!

All one needs to start with is to share the words joyism, joy logy, and joyologis with others. Use the words daily and make them a part of the world’s vocabulary.

The upcoming year is going to challenge us all. Here is something we need to think, this is from an unknown reader. It is called:  Special Handwriting on the Wall

 

 

By Unknown

A weary mother returned from the store,
Lugging groceries through the kitchen door.
Awaiting her arrival was her 8 year old son,
Anxious to relate what his younger brother had done.

“While I was out playing and Dad was on a call,
T.J. took his crayons and wrote on the wall!
It’s on the new paper you just hung in the den.
I told him you’d be mad at having to do it again.”

She let out a moan and furrowed her brow,
“Where is your little brother right now?”
She emptied her arms and with a purposeful stride,
She marched to his closet where he had gone to hide.

She called his full name as she entered his room.
He trembled with fear–he knew that meant doom!
For the next ten minutes, she ranted and raved
About the expensive wallpaper and how she had saved.

Lamenting all the work it would take to repair,
She condemned his actions and total lack of care.
The more she scolded, the madder she got,
Then stomped from his room, totally distraught!

She headed for the den to confirm her fears.
When she saw the wall, her eyes flooded with tears.
The message she read pierced her soul with a dart.
It said, “I love Mommy,” surrounded by a heart.

Well, the wallpaper remained, just as she found it,
With an empty picture frame hung to surround it.
A reminder to her, and indeed to all,
Take time to read the handwriting on the wall

 

Source: Joyology

Remove Obama Statue

by Rod McGuirk
Feb. 15, 2010

JAKARTA, Indonesia – Authorities removed a statue of Barack Obama from a park in the Indonesian capital due to a public backlash and moved it Monday to a nearby elementary school that the U.S. president attended as a child.

The bronze statue, inspired by a childhood photograph of a 10-year-old Obama in shorts with a butterfly perched on an outstretched thumb, had been targeted by critics since it was erected in the Jakarta park last December. Detractors argued that an Indonesian hero should have been honored instead, noting that Obama still could pursue policies that hurt Indonesia’s interests.

Obama, whose American mother married an Indonesian after divorcing his Kenyan father, went to school in the capital from 1967 to 1971 and is regarded fondly by most Indonesians.

Edi Kusyanto, a teacher at the affluent government school Obama attended, said the 43-inch (110-centimeter) statue would be standing in the school grounds by the time the president visits Jakarta from March 20-22.

“There is no controversy about the statue being here. Everyone at the school welcomes it,” Kusyanto said.

The statue was erected with private funds raised by the Jakarta-based nonprofit group Friends of Obama Foundation, but Jakarta Gov. Fauzi Bowo is paying for its relocation.

Ron Mullers, an American living in Jakarta who came up with the idea for the statue and raised money for it, declined to say whether he thought moving it was an overreaction.

“It’s a beautiful statue and it had become a tourist attraction,” Mullers said.

“My feeling is that the park is a place where more Indonesian people can see it,” he said.

Still, he said he was happy that the statue might inspire the school’s students to follow their dreams.

Heru Nugroho, leader of a Facebook campaign to remove the statue, welcomed the move but added that the decision had taken too long. He said he would now drop court action seeking the statue’s removal.

Indonesia is home to the world’s largest Muslim population and many here believe Obama will improve relations with the West.

Source: Yahoo News

 

Editor’s Note: We would like to know what you think. dan@youngchronicle.com

Need a Degree to be President?

By Chris Kyle
Feb. 15, 2010

John F. Kennedy, the 35th president of the United States, once suggested that we “remember that our nation’s first great leaders were also our first great scholars.”

Case in point: Five of our first six U.S. presidents received a college degree  and the sixth, George Washington, received a surveyor’s certificate from The College of William and Mary.

In honor of President’s Day and the 43 men who have held the job, let’s take a look at some certificate and degrees available today, and the presidents who earned them.

 

TEACHING CERTIFICATES

Lyndon B. Johnson earned his teaching certificate from Southwest Texas State Teachers College in 1930 (now Texas State University-San Marcos) and worked as a teacher before and after graduation.

Woodrow Wilson served as president of Princeton University and worked as a teacher prior to becoming President of the United States. John Adams taught before he went into politics, as did Andrew Jackson and Grover Cleveland (who landed an assistant teacher position through the help of his brother William).

  

ASSOCIATE’S DEGREES

Harry Truman attended Kansas City Law School (now the University of Missouri-Kansas City). Though he didn’t complete his Juris Doctor (JD) degree, his two years of schooling would have been enough time to earn an associate’s degree in paralegal studies or court reporting.

Barack Obama has been very vocal about the power of an associate’s degree. “In an economy where jobs requiring at least an associate’s degree are projected to grow twice as fast as jobs requiring no college experience, ” he says. “It’s never been more essential to continue education and training after high school.”

  

BACHELOR’S DEGREES

Most of our presidents – 34 to be exact – have earned a bachelor’s degree.

Jimmy Carter and Herbert Hoover studied engineering in college and earned bachelor’s of science degrees. They are the only two presidents to have found work as engineers.

Ronald Reagan studied sociology and economics at Eureka College in Illinois, becoming an actor and sportscaster before launching his career in politics.

MBA DEGREES

When he was elected in 2000, George W. Bush became the first U.S. President to have earned his master’s in business administration (MBA), though this fact isn’t so surprising when you consider that the world’s first MBA program wasn’t established until 1908.

Today, online MBA programs are redefining the business school model, perhaps paving the way for the very first president with an online MBA degree.

LAW DEGREES

More than half of our 44 presidents (23 total) have been lawyers, including Obama, which is a trend that began with John Adams, our second president.

Obama earned his JD from Harvard, where he served as the first black president of the school’s law review.

William Howard Taft is the only president who also served as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. He received his bachelor of laws, a precursor to the JD, at the University of Cincinnati.

If our presidents have taught us anything, it’s that many different degrees can lead to greatness.

So look into online degree and certificate programs today and who knows… We could be celebrating you on a future Presidents’ Day.

 

 

Source: Yahoo News

 

Editor’s Note: We would like to know what you think. dan@youngchronicle.com

Honor Presidents’ Day – A Prayer from Ronald Wilson Reagan

By Dan Samaria
Publisher/YC
Feb. 15, 2010

To honor Presidents’ Day, I would like to share a prayer from one of the greatest Presidents of all time. In his own words, he made this speech to the American People on Feb. 6, 1986.

 

 

By President Ronald Reagan

To preserve our blessed land we must look to God… It is time to realize that we need God more than He needs us… We also have His promise that we could take to heart with regard to our country, that “If my people, which are called by my name shall humble themselves, and pray and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.”

Let us, young and old, join together, as did the First Continental Congress, in the first step, in humble heartfelt prayer. Let us do so for the love of God and His great goodness, in search of His guidance and the grace of repentance, in seeking His blessings, His peace, and the resting of His kind and holy hands on ourselves, our nation, our friends in the defense of freedom, and all mankind, now and always.

The time has come to turn to God and reassert our trust in Him for the healing of America… Our country is in need of and ready for a spiritual renewal. Today, we utter no prayer more fervently than the ancient prayer for peace on Earth.

If I had a prayer for you today, among those that have all been uttered, it is that one we’re so familiar with: “The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make His face to shine upon you and be gracious unto you; the Lord lift up His countenance upon you and give you peace….” And God bless you all.

 

Editor’s Note: Lets honor this day and never forget all those past Presidents that has served us during good and bad times.

We would like to know what you think. dan@youngchronicle.com

Teachable Moments

By Time to Talk
Feb. 8, 2010

The kitchen offers endless opportunities for getting together, so while you’re checking out recipes, mixing and baking chocolate treats together, you can catch up on your children’s busy lives, and also talk about some serious subjects in a relaxed setting.

Parents and caregivers can turn baking delicious desserts with their families into Teachable Moments that encourage children to make good choices for themselves.

While it’s important to talk to your children about the dangers of drug and alcohol abuse in order to safeguard them from these risky behaviors, the best recipe for open honest communication with your kids is equal parts listening and learning from the cues your children give you.

 

Here are some Teachable moments:

(1) Learn From Your Child By Listening To Them:

Listening to your children can be the best lesson for parents.

If your son or daughter tells you about a friend who got in trouble at school for smoking, drinking or using drugs, use this opportunity to reinforce why drugs are dangerous and why you want your kids to avoid making the same mistakes their friend made.

Let them know they can always be honest with you, come to you with any questions and that you love them and want to protect them.

 

(2) Learn From Others Mistakes:

Your teen’s favorite movie star or musician has just entered drug/alcohol rehab for the third time. You and your child have seen the reports on TV and have read stories on the internet about how this popular star is constantly in trouble with the law.

Use this as a perfect opportunity to reinforce the point that role models should also be those who behave responsibly, don’t do drugs or have taken the initiative to get help for a drug or alcohol problem.

 

(3) Healthy Bodies, Healthy Lives:

Encourage your kids to play sports and participate in outdoor activities or join afterschool clubs in order to keep them active.

Reinforce the importance of health and taking good care of our bodies in addition to remaining active and making good choices for themselves.

Remind your son or daughter that using drugs and drinking is not only dangerous to their health, but can have lasting consequences that will prevent them from doing the fun things they enjoy in the future.

Source: Time to Talk

 

Editor’s Note: we would like to know what you think. dan@youngchronicle.com

NFL Texans Cheerleaders Put Show for Troops Overseas

Indoctrinating Kids: Obama-Terrorists, No Difference

by Audrey Russo
YC/Staff
Feb. 11, 2010

Proverbs 22:6 says, “Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it.” A solid principle that can be used for good…OR for evil….

Terrorist crud got this a long time ago. Taint the kids while they’re young. Carefully saturate their minds with hatred…and you will have killer-bots for life, however short that life may be…

And guess who else got it…yes, that’s right…good old Barry…

Organizing for America (OFA), formerly Obama for America, is up to no good in our public schools.

They have been busy handing out Internships in organizing. Something Obama’s idol, Saul Alinsky, would have been plotzing (exploding from excitement) about.

In Alinsky’s book, Rules for Radicals, he focused on the 1960s generation of radicals, drafting his views on organizing for mass power.

The Obama weekly internship curriculum is Alinsky paraphrased and can be seen here.

This is Obama’s model. And he knows, as Alinsky did…that you need to train the children well and early. Funny thing is…Jihadists see it the same way.

In the Islamic world, children as young as 3 years of age are indoctrinated with the hateful ideology that Islam offers.

Their curriculum is not concerned with the future and potential of these children, but rather with accomplishing their vicious agenda toward Jews…and the rest of the infidel world.

If you’re thinking that the Obama-Terrorist analogy is off…I beg to differ. Obama’s socialist agenda is a cruel enslavement of the people, an interminable lingering death of the individual. Jihadists instruct to achieve a quick terrorizing death of the individual…and as the Muslim world indoctrinates to achieve their goals, so does O and his ilk.

(And neither is willing to live under what they require the children to. So there’s hypocrisy to boot…).

The brainwashing by both of these entities results in the death of the individual…and therefore, the cessation of liberty. Is THIS what we dreamed for our posterity?

Shalom through strength…

 

 

 

Editor’s Note: we would like to know what you think. dan@youngchronicle.com

Sign Language

by Lexi Walters
Feb. 8, 2010

Why teach children sign language? It helps babies learn to communicate before they can talk, and teaches kids to appreciate a language used by some of the deaf community. Start with these easy signs for words about food and eating.

 

 

 

Drink

1. Hold your hand up to your mouth as if you were drinking from a glass.

2. Tilt head back, as if taking a sip.

carolinaemay says:

what happens when babies get so used to signs that they don’t want to talk?

 

 

 

Eat

1. Squeeze the tips of your fingers together to form a point, and place that hand in front of pursed lips.

2. Bring your hand away from your mouth, then back to it.

 

 

 

 

Cheese

1. Place your hands, palms touching, in front of you.

2. With heels of palms touching, rotate your hands back and forth.

 

 

 

 

Cookie

1. Put one hand in front of you, palm facing up.

2. Cup your other hand and place your fingertips on top of the other palm.

3. Rotate your hand back and forth.

 

 

 

 

Spoon

1. Cup one hand, palm facing up, in front of you.

2. Using the pointer and middle fingers of your other hand, pretend to scoop out of your cupped hand.

 

 

 

 

Apple

1. Make your hand into a fist, keeping the knuckle of your pointer finger extended a little farther than the other fingers.

2. Place that hand on your cheek near your mouth and rotate that hand back and forth.

 

 

 

Source: Parents

 

 

Editor’s Note: We would like to know what you think. dan@youngchronicle.com.  Photos by Dean Schoeppner

We Should Honor Stay-at-Home Dads

by Gary Drevitch
Feb. 10, 2010

Every Father’s Day, grandparents honor the dads in their grandchildren’s lives, with an array of ties, robes, fishing lures, and colognes.

For grandparents whose grandchildren are being raised primarily by at-home dads, though, there may be some lingering doubts in their gift boxes as well.

While the number of at-home dads is surging nationwide, it remains an uncommon choice for a father to put his career on hold for diaper and playground duty — and it was virtually unheard of when many of today’s grandparents raised their own kids.

In 2006, the Census Bureau estimated there were about 159,000 stay-at-home dads in the United States, a 60 percent increase from 2004, but demographic experts say those numbers have almost certainly risen since then, as families react to two trends — the tightened job market nationwide, and the increase in the number of couples in which the wife out earns her husband, currently between a quarter and a third of all marriages, according to various estimates.

How are at-home dads handling their role? The evidence suggests that they, and their kids, are not only surviving but thriving.

According to a research by University of Texas psychology professor Aaron Rochlen, at-home dads not only report higher overall satisfaction with their lives than the general parenting population, they also report greater job satisfaction than they had when they last worked full-time.

Here are a few more reasons to celebrate the at-home dads in your lives:

 

His Kids Get More Attention

Parenting researchers have found that children with at-home dads may actually get more overall parenting attention than other kids. That’s because full-time working dads are more likely to sacrifice time with their children for their jobs than are working moms, who remain reluctant to let go of time with the kids.

“If there’s a choice between the mom staying at home and the dad staying at home,” says Joan Williams, director of the Center for Work Life Law at the University of California-Hastings law school, “the child ends up with more parental attention when dad stays home.”

It’s the Best of Both Worlds

As should be obvious to any grandparent who has spent significant time in a playground, moms and dads parent differently. In general, dads are a little more rough-and-tumble, a little more “challenging” than most moms. And that’s great for the kids, says Scott Coltrane, associate director of the Center for Family Studies at the University of California-Riverside.

“It’s important for children to be exposed to different parenting styles, and men and women parent somewhat differently.” Even though some moms may criticize dads for their non-verbal tendencies, that benefits kids too, Coltrane says.

“A father might be less verbal and more physical than a mother. And so children learn to read people differently, and develop greater emotional and communication competence.”

 

He May Just Be Better at It

Before Mark Haskett married his wife, Christine, they talked about how they’d raise their kids. Neither wanted to hire a nanny or place children in full-time day care. But while Christine, now a partner at a San Francisco law firm, had no desire to stay home full-time, Mark, a photographer at the time, said he’d have no problem with it.

Now an at-home father of two, Mark has never looked back. His mother, Grandparents.com contributor Kathleen Curtis Wilson of Alameda, Calif., admits, “I would never have thought this would work out way back when he was 18, but it’s worked out very well.

He’s absolutely the one in the family who should be at home. He goes with the flow much easier, and it’s amazing how much the kids have bonded with him. I’d never seen a stay-at-home dad firsthand before. They’re raising two wonderful children.”

Kathleen Wilson writes of her efforts to find more time to spend with her at-home dad son and his children.

But He Still Needs Your Support

As fulfilling as at-home dads find their role, a skeptical or critical parent or in-law can still cast a cloud over their homes. “For a lot of guys I’ve met, getting their parents to understand the decision to be an at-home dad was one of the tougher parts of making the transition,” says Brian Reid, who produces Rebel Dad, a nationally recognized website for at-home fathers.

“I think that fatherhood has changed enough in the last generation that the new crop of grandparents doesn’t always get it at first. The fathers who have sat down and explained exactly what they’re doing and why tend to be able to get their parents’ support more quickly,” Reid adds.

“If there’s one thing that grandparents understand, it’s the well-being of their grandkids — a happy dad raising happy kids goes a long way toward getting grandparents on board.”

 

Source: Grandparents

 

 

Editor’s Note: Columnist Beverly Beckham’s son has spent time as an at-home dad. “The time he has spent with his daughter has been the best of times, harder than he anticipated,” she writes.

We would like to hear your story if you are a stay at home dad. dan@goldcoastchronicle.com

One in Five at Risk

by Dr. Mercola
Feb.10, 2010     

A study by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has found that over 20 percent of teenagers in the U.S. have elevated cholesterol levels.

The national study covered more than 3,000 teens whose blood test results were collected by the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.

High levels of LDL or triglycerides, and low HDL levels were associated with weight, and the heavier the teenagers were, the more likely they were to have abnormal levels (nearly 43% if they were obese), but even among those with normal body weight over 14% had unhealthy levels.

High cholesterol levels were at first associated with the middle-aged and elderly, but are increasingly beginning to appear in late childhood and the teenage years.

This finding already has researchers urging cholesterol screening for about one-third of teens who are overweight or obese, which will put many of these kids right in the line of fire to be prescribed a dangerous statin drug.

In 2007, the American Heart Association first recommended the use of statin drugs for children with high cholesteron.

Then in 2008 the American Academy of Pediatrics followed suit, recommending cholesterol-lowering drugs for children as young as 8!

There is such overwhelming evidence — nearly 900 studies compiled in this link — showing the damage statins inflict, that this recommendation should qualify as criminal malpractice.

Some of the possible consequences of taking statins for a lengthy period of time, which many of these kids undoubtedly would do, include:

 

Cognitive lose

Neuropathy

Anemia

Acidosis

Frequent fever

 Cataracts

Sexual dysfunction

 

Then there is the serious risk of potentially permanent muscle damage, and the depletion of Co-Q10, which can harm your heart and muscles alike.

Statin drugs used to lower cholesterol are the best-selling drugs in the United States. In 2008 alone they brought in $14.5 billion in sales!

The odds are very high, greater than 100 to 1, that anyone taking statin drugs does not need them. 

The ONLY subgroup that MAY benefit are those born with a genetic defect called familial hypercholesterolemia, as this makes them resistant to traditional measures to normalize cholesterol.

And the first step to understanding why lies in understanding the role of cholesterol in your health, not in disease.

 

Why Cholesterol is Not “Evil”

 Cholesterol has been traditionally vilified, when in reality it is essential and crucial for a wide variety of vital functions in your body.

It’s an integral part of your cell membranes, and it’s also the precursor (the raw material) your body uses to make your steroid hormones – one of which is vitamin D.

Your skin contains cholesterol, and when UVB rays from the sun hit your skin, it converts that form of cholesterol to vitamin D3, which is then transported to your blood.

Your body then further converts it into the active form of vitamin D.

It’s important to realize that there’s a big difference between “average” and “healthy” cholesterol levels. It’s very similar to what we’re now seeing with vitamin D levels. 

Please understand that you have not been told the whole truth about cholesterol. Rather, what you’re getting from most conventional health practitioners is little more than cleverly distorted marketing.

Before 2004, a 130 LDL cholesterol level was considered healthy. The updated guidelines, however, recommended levels of less than 100, or even less than 70 for patients at very high risk.

In order to achieve these outrageous and dangerously low targets, you typically need to take multiple cholesterol-lowering drugs.

So the guidelines instantly increased the market for these dangerous drugs. Now, with testing children’s cholesterol levels, they’re increasing their market even more.

Total Cholesterol Level is a Virtually Useless Test

 If your doctor is urging your child to get a total cholesterol level check, you should know that this test will tell you virtually nothing about his or her risk of heart disease — unless it is 330 or higher.

And, perhaps more importantly, you need to be aware that cholesterol is not the CAUSE of heart disease. 

If you become overly concerned with trying to lower your child’s cholesterol level to some set number, you will be completely missing the real problem.

In fact, I have seen a number of people with levels over 250 who actually were at low heart disease risk due to their elevated HDL levels.

Conversely, I have seen even more who had cholesterol levels under 200 that were at a very high risk of heart disease based on the following additional tests:

 

Your HDL/Cholesterol ratio

Your Triglyceride/HDL ratios

HDL percentage is a very potent heart disease risk factor. Just divide your HDL level by your cholesterol.

That percentage should ideally be above 24 percent. Below 10 percent, it’s a significant indicator of risk for heart disease.

You can also do the same thing with your triglycerides and HDL ratio. That percentage should be below 2.

 

Finally, please do make sure your, and your child’s, vitamin D levels are where they need to be. Vitamin D is not “just a vitamin,” but rather the only known substrate for a potent, pleiotropic (meaning it produces multiple effects), repair and maintenance seco-steroid hormone that serves multiple gene-regulatory functions in your body.

Low levels of vitamin D are associated with an increased risk of heart disease, which is what parents of teens with “high” cholesterol are most concerned about.

About 70 percent of U.S. children have low levels of vitamin D, so this should be one of the first issues you address to keep your teen’s heart healthy.

 

 

 

 

 Source: Dr. Mercola

 

Editor’s Note: We would like to know what you think. dan@youngchrobnicle.com

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