Thursday, January 29, 2009

Senators

Tonight I emailed my senators regarding the:
Obama Stimulus Package

Where I went to college for my first degree, they recommended the power of communication with our political authorities.

Wednesday, January 28, 2009

Psalm 121:8

The LORD shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth, and even for evermore.

We have had such a snowy winter and cold winter thus far, we will probably break a record, the above verse give me comfort as a face such bad weather.

Monday, January 26, 2009

Bride Wars

I went to see Bride Wars (yes, I do have a life outside of movies, I guess since it has been so snowy and cold-movies have been a fun alternative to the weather)

Well, I liked it, would ssee it again, not a must buy...the movie is PG but there is one distinct scene that I am surprized did not raise the movie to PG13.

I like Kate Hudson's acting more than Anne Hathaways.

Slumdog Millionaire

I went to see Slumdog Millionaire, it was interesting and I was thankful I did not have to pay full price. I would never buy it or care if I ever saw it again.

Papers

I am currently working on my second college degree.

One of my professors encourages us to have an online site "read" our papers to ensure that it not going to be considered plagerism. He wanted us to know that he could type our paper on this site in the event he believes we have copied someone else's paper and thus determine how much is our original work. I guess the computer must check to see if you directly copied it from an online source, I do not know how the computer can know if you copied someone's paper back from the days of typewriters for example, where the paper from the typewriter would never have been posted online.

I thought this was amazing technology. I know a school in the area that your paper that you write has to pass the plagerism test before you can submit the paper via online to the teacher. This makes sense if you are submitting via online technology and the computer may even verify your work among other classmates who too submitted via online.

Associated Content

In these hard economic times, you maybe able to earn a few extra dollars by writting at associatedcontent.com

Tuesday, January 20, 2009

Abortion

I have had a heavy heart for the issue of abortion recently...I found the following from:

http://www.citizenlink.org/FOSI/bioethics/abortion/A000002160.cfm

Abortion Statistics

by Carrie Gordon Earll

How many abortions have occurred in the U.S. since legalization in 1973? What are some characteristics of women who have abortions?

The United States has one of the highest abortion rates among developed countries.1

Based on accumulative data from the two primary sources of U.S. abortion statistics (Centers for Disease Control and Alan Guttmacher Institute), it's estimated that around one million abortions take place annually and more than 44 million abortions have been performed in the U.S. since 1973.

Reported number of legal abortions in the United States for selected years according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Abortion Surveillance Report 20042:

1972 — 586,760

1973 — 615,831

1980 — 1,297,606

1985 — 1,328,570

1990 — 1,429,247

1992 — 1,359,146

1995 — 1,210,883

1996 — 1,225,937

1997 — 1,186,039

*1998 — 884,273

*1999 — 861,789

*2000 — 857,475

*2001 — 853,485

*2002 — 854,122

*2003 — 848,163

*2004 — 838,226

*At first glance, the table listed above appears to show a considerable drop in the number of reported abortions performed in the U.S. between 1997 and 1998. Upon closer examination, however, the decrease is more moderate.

Here's why: In 1998 and 1999, the number of abortions reported to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) excluded data from four states - Alaska, California, New Hampshire and Oklahoma - that did not provide information. Data from Oklahoma were included in the 2000-2003 statistics. In order to compare reported abortions in 1997 to the subsequent years, the CDC recalculated abortion totals for 1995, 1996 and 1997, minus these non-reporting states. The adjusted number of reported abortions are as follows:


Year
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
Reported Abortions
908,243
934,549
900,171
884,273
861,789
857,475
853,485
854,122
848,163
839,226
Change from Previous Year
unavailable
3 percent increase
3.5 percent decrease
2 percent decrease
2.5 percent decrease
0.5 percent decrease
0.5 percent decrease
0.1 percent increase
0.7 percent decrease
1.1 percent decrease


The CDC attributes the majority of the decrease in reported abortions after 1997 to the absence of California’s data. In 1997, the CDC estimated the number of abortions in California to be 275,700. The CDC acknowledges that the numbers of abortions reported to the agency are probably lower than the actual number performed. The lack of uniform, mandatory abortion reporting for all fifty states hampers the CDC’s ability to accurately report the number of abortion performed in the U.S, as evidenced in the 1998 to 2004 reports.

According to the CDC report, in 2004:

41 percent women who had abortions in the U.S. had no other children;
44 percent of women who had abortions in the U.S. had at least one previous abortion;
82 percent of women who had abortions in the U.S. were unmarried.
According to the Alan Guttmacher Institute, the research arm of the nation’s leading abortion provider, Planned Parenthood:

At current rates, an estimated 43 percent of American women will have at least one abortion by the age of 45.

Two-thirds of all abortions are among never-married women.
Fifty-two percent of U.S. women having abortions are younger than 25 years old.
About 13,000 abortions each year are attributed to rape and incest—representing 1 percent of all abortions.3


(This page was originally posted on September 9, 2003.)





Carrie Gordon Earll is the Senior Policy Analyst for Bioethics at Focus on the Family and a fellow with the Center for Bioethics and Human Dignity.







--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1Alan Guttmacher Institute, Facts in Brief, New York, NY, 1995.
2Center for Disease Control and Prevention, “Abortion Surveillance 2003 Report,"November 23, 2007, accessed online January 8, 2008 at
http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/PDF/ss/ss5609.pdf
3Alan Guttmacher, Facts in Brief: Induced Abortion, 2002.

Thought

I heard this in church on Sunday...

God assumes responsibility for our needs when we obey Him.

Quote

"our strength often increases in proportion to the obstacles imposed upon it"--paul de rapin

Saturday, January 17, 2009

Annoying

right now I am waiting for my car to be repaired, thus why I have been "blog" happy with posts...

this guy is standing watching the progress of his vehicle and jingling the change in his pocket...I think this is one of the most annoying/distracting habits on earth

now he is ratteling a mint wrapper as he struggles to open it, again another annoying thing to me, people that struggle to open a mint wrapper to try to be "quiet" while it actually takes longer thus rattles longer...

Swan Creek Candles


so far I have not found a candle I like better than Swan Creek Candles...

their website is...http://www.swancreekcandle.com/

Here is a store that I have been to...I have been to 4/7 of their stores

Lightbulb


When I was taking Biology we had to take pictures of energy efficient stratgies we are implementing ... I took this pictures... I am not sure why it facinates me so...I think it is because of the light and dark contrast

Tales of Surivial Inside 'Miracle' US Airways Jet

This event just amazed me, I think it is because it reminds me that God is truly in the details...

The following is from: http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/story?id=6656804&page=1

Passengers: First Engine on Fire, Then Frigid Water

Tales of Surivial Inside 'Miracle' US Airways Jet

By RUSSELL GOLDMAN, RICH ESPOSITO and EMILY FRIEDMAN

Jan. 16, 2009

A giant crane and a barge were brought in today to begin hauling a partially submerged jetliner out of the Hudson River, one day after it was apparently knocked out of the sky by birds and spectacularly splashed down alongside Manhattan's skyscrapers.

Many survivors were exposed to the frigid water of the Hudson River.

More PhotosThe US Airways Airbus A320 has been lashed to a Manhattan pier since all 155 passengers were safely evacuated by a flotilla of ferries, tug boats, and emergency craft. A giant crane and a barge began working today to drag it ashore.

While the passengers were stunned, bruised and shivering from their icy ordeal, they were largely unhurt and are hailing the plane's pilot Capt. Chesley B. Sullenberger III as a hero.

Tales of fear and survival inside the plane began to emerge today.

Irina Levshina told "Good Morning America" that she was sitting in the last row of the plane.

"I feel quite shaken still," Levshina said.

Thursday, January 15, 2009

"Nurses eat their young"

I am currently going thru interpersonal relations difficutlies at work. I cannot remember ever struggling as much with coworkers as I do in the health profession.

I am learning that a lot of nurses do not take care of themselves thus making them more irritable. In addition a lot of nurses are burnt out from the demanding job.

I found the following interesteing...

taken from: http://www.medhunters.com/articles/doNursesEatTheirYoung.html



"Nurses eat their young" is a frequent subject of discussions in nursing chat rooms, and is one of the top discussion threads on allNurses.com. For those unfamiliar with the phrase, it refers to the idea that older or more experienced nurses are unhelpful, unsupportive, critical, and even mean, predatory, and generally destructive in their interactions with new graduate nurses and nursing students.

“But even if it's not a problem unique to nurses, it's a problem that does exist. And to help solve the problem, the recommendations from nurses range from extreme ideas (e.g., warn once, then fire nurses who can't be kind to coworkers) to excellent ones that may not work due to liability issues (e.g., have recently retired nurses "who still have their grey matter functioning reasonably well" act as preceptors, to take pressure off the other nurses). Here is a summary of the suggestions from various discussion boards:

• Nurses: Support and respect each other, and model and promote supportive and respectful behavior. Think of the Golden Rule, and model the behavior you would like to have experienced, rather than the behavior that you have experienced.

• If you see someone being bullied, speak up. (This is especially true for experienced staff members.)

• Speak up to debunk the negative stereotype, and advertise positive experiences.

• Stop making generalizations about "eating the young."

• Don't expect that "being eaten" is a given.

• Experienced nurses: Don't think that new nurses know nothing, and don't think you know everything.

• New nurses: Don't think that you know everything, don't think that all older nurses are out-of-date, and don't let people make you believe that you know nothing.

Wednesday, January 14, 2009

Katie Brown

Hello-

I have been watching Katie Brown's cooking and craft show for several years...check out her web page at: http://katiebrown.com/index.cfm

Tuesday, January 13, 2009

My Grandpa

My last surviving Grandpa died this early AM. He had suffered from dementia. The last few days of his life were filled with pain, immobility, and of course confusion.

He passed away at home with less than 24 hours of Hospice Care.

I am thankful that I was able to know him as he lived about 30 minutes away.

I am thankful that both of my grandmas are still surviving.

Wednesday, January 7, 2009

Valkyrie

My brother took me to Valkyrie for my birthday. It was such an intense movie. Very well produced. Very good quality on the movie screen (sometimes movie screens are distorted/scratchy looking). I felt like it was an educational experience, easy to follow-well worth it.

Valkyrie PG-13
Starring: Tom Cruise, Kenneth Branagh, Bill Nighy, Tom Wilkinson, Carice Van Houten
Director: Bryan Singer
Written by: Christopher McQuarrie, Nathan Alexander
Type: Suspense/Thriller
Length: 2:00
Learn more at: http://valkyrie.unitedartists.com/
A proud military man, Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg is a loyal officer who serves his country all the while hoping that someone will find a way to stop Hitler before Europe and Germany are destroyed. Realizing that time is running out, he decides that he must take action himself and joins the German resistance. Armed with a cunning strategy to use Hitler’s own emergency plan--known as Operation Valkyrie--these men plot to assassinate the dictator and over-throw his Nazi government from the inside. With everything in place, with the future of the world, the fate of millions and the lives of his wife and children hanging in the balance, Stauffenberg is thrust from being one of many who oppose Hitler to the one who must kill Hitler himself.

Sunday, January 4, 2009

Media Reviews

Hi-
This blog is just random for me, I am throwing away a journal and in its place posting...if that makes sense...

Not all inclusive

Movies Completed
You've Got Mail
Places in the Heart
Sabrina
Second Hand Lions
Sound of Music
Two Weeks Notice
Wizard of Oz
Return to Me

Audio Books Completed
James Patterson's Sam's Letters to Jennifer
Nicholas Sparks A Walk to Remember
True Believer by Nicholas Sparks
At First Sight by Nicholas Sparks
The Guardian by Nicholas Sparks
Bend in the Road by Nicholas Sparks
Dear John by Nicholas Sparks
The Ivy Chronicles by Karen Quinn
The Christmas Shoes by Donna VanLiere-tear jerker
The Christmas Blessing by Donna VanLiere-tear jerker
The Christmas Hope by Donna VanLiere-tear jerker


Books read
Hamlet by Shakespear

Eagle Eye

Hi-

My mom and I watched Eagle Eye this weekend...the first 20 minutes are so slow...but then the movie becomes enjoyable.

Saturday, January 3, 2009

Bedtime Stories

My sister and I went to see Bedtime Stories on Friday.

I liked it better than I thought I would.

It is not a MUST see.

I liked the balance of imagination, comedy, and romance.

Monica from Friends is in the movie and she acts a lot the same.

Thursday, January 1, 2009

Worrying and swim plugs

For those of you that know me, you know I worry a lot, I am getting better but I think worry will be with me forever as it is my creation.

What has helped me with worry recently is swimming...when I am in the water I have to work so hard to stay a float that is all I think about...when I am underwater I just focus on the amazement and stamina of holding me breath a little more each time I swim. I feel so much better physically too.

My Grandma blessed me with Christmas money, I used some of the money to buy custom made swim plugs. Do you remember having to have an impression made of your mouth? Well that same substance was injected into both of my ears.

I pick up the swim plugs in two weeks from an audiologist, who did the procedure too.

I was not happy with the gummy swim plugs you can buy-that you roll. They fell out of my ears multiple times and I did not always receive the same "blockage" from the water into my ears.

I have sensitive ears so that it is why I chose swim plugs.

New Year's 2009

Hello-

God has blessed me amazingly so I do not want this to sound like a "sad" post.

I was listening to the radio on New Year's Eve and they were talking about resolutions that can be completed without God's help versus resolutions with God's help.

For example if your resolution was to be more on time, well you do not need God's help with this (to an extent).

But if you have resolutions that you would truly have to step back and say that could only be completed by God.

So I have God resolutions this year. Where at the end of the year I hope to be able to say only God could have done that this year.

Happy New Year!