Showing posts with label II. Show all posts
Showing posts with label II. Show all posts

Monday, January 30, 2017

AMERICA'S SECOND CIVIL WAR

One of my favorite radio personalities and authors, is Dennis Prager. Last week he published a column indicating that our country is in a (non-violent) civil war. This does certainly seem to be the case. I found the column to be grim and truthful. 




Your Food Diary For:

BREAKFAST Calories
kcal
Carbs
g
Fat
g
Protein
g
Sodium
mg
Sugar
g
Essential Everyday - Butter Flavored Grits 400 84 4 8 1,360 4

400 84 4 8 1,360 4
L U N C H
Omelette - 3-egg Omelette With Cheese, 3 eggs 425 0 21 28 650 2
Johnsonville 170 - Polish Kielbasa Sausage                     340 4 30 14 1,140 2

765 4 51 42 1,790 4
D I N N E R
Pot Roast, Beef 700 0 44 69 111 0

700 0 44 69 111 0
S N A C K S
Jack Link's - Original Beef Stick 330 6 24 15 1,230 3

330 6 24 15 1,230 3
   
Totals 2,195 94 123 134 4,491 11
Your Daily Goal 2,384 298 79 120 2,300 89
Remaining 189 204 -44 -14 -2,191 78
Calories
kcal
Carbs
g
Fat
g
Protein
g
Sodium
mg
Sugar
g
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Your Exercise Diary for:

Cardiovascular Minutes Calories Burned
36 517
Add Exercise
   
Daily Total / Goal 36 / 30 517 / 590  
Weekly Total / Goal 336 / 210 4,232 / 4,130             






America's Second Civil War

Dennis Prager
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Posted: Jan 24, 2017 12:01 AM

It is time for our society to acknowledge a sad truth: America is currently fighting its second Civil War.
In fact, with the obvious and enormous exception of attitudes toward slavery, Americans are more divided morally, ideologically and politically today than they were during the Civil War. For that reason, just as the Great War came to be known as World War I once there was World War II, the Civil War will become known as the First Civil War when more Americans come to regard the current battle as the Second Civil War.
This Second Civil War, fortunately, differs in another critically important way: It has thus far been largely nonviolent. But given increasing left-wing violence, such as riots, the taking over of college presidents’ offices and the illegal occupation of state capitols, nonviolence is not guaranteed to be a permanent characteristic of the Second Civil War.
There are those on both the left and right who call for American unity. But these calls are either naive or disingenuous. Unity was possible between the right and liberals, but not between the right and the left.
Liberalism — which was anti-left, pro-American and deeply committed to the Judeo-Christian foundations of America; and which regarded the melting pot as the American ideal, fought for free speech for its opponents, regarded Western civilization as the greatest moral and artistic human achievement and viewed the celebration of racial identity as racism — is now affirmed almost exclusively on the right and among a handful of people who don’t call themselves conservative.
The left, however, is opposed to every one of those core principles of liberalism.
Like the left in every other country, the left in America essentially sees America as a racist, xenophobic, colonialist, imperialist, warmongering, money-worshipping, moronically religious nation.
Just as in Western Europe, the left in America seeks to erase America’s Judeo-Christian foundations. The melting pot is regarded as nothing more than an anti-black, anti-Muslim, anti-Hispanic meme. The left suppresses free speech wherever possible for those who oppose it, labeling all non-left speech “hate speech.” To cite only one example, if you think Shakespeare is the greatest playwright or Bach is the greatest composer, you are a proponent of dead white European males and therefore racist.
Without any important value held in common, how can there be unity between left and non-left? Obviously, there cannot.
There will be unity only when the left vanquishes the right or the right vanquishes the left. Using the First Civil War analogy, American unity was achieved only after the South was vanquished and slavery was abolished.
How are those of us who oppose left-wing nihilism — there is no other word for an ideology that holds Western civilization and America’s core values in contempt — supposed to unite with “educators” who instruct elementary school teachers to cease calling their students “boys” and “girls” because that implies gender identity? With English departments that don’t require reading Shakespeare in order to receive a degree in English? With those who regard virtually every war America has fought as imperialist and immoral? With those who regard the free market as a form of oppression? With those who want the state to control as much of American life as possible? With those who repeatedly tell America and its black minority that the greatest problems afflicting black Americans are caused by white racism, “white privilege” and “systemic racism”? With those who think that the nuclear family ideal is inherently misogynistic and homophobic? With those who hold that Israel is the villain in the Middle East? With those who claim that the term “Islamic terrorist” is an expression of religious bigotry?
The third significant difference between the First and Second Civil Wars is that in the Second Civil war, one side has been doing nearly all the fighting. That is how it has been able to take over schools — from elementary schools, to high schools, to universities — and indoctrinate America’s young people; how it has taken over nearly all the news media; and how it has taken over entertainment media.
The conservative side has lost on every one of these fronts because it has rarely fought back with anything near the ferocity with which the left fights. Name a Republican politician who has run against the left as opposed to running solely against his or her Democratic opponent. And nearly all American conservatives, people who are proud of America and affirm its basic tenets, readily send their children to schools that indoctrinate their children against everything the parents hold precious. A mere handful protest when their child’s teacher ceases calling their son a boy or their daughter a girl, or makes “slave owner” the defining characteristic of the Founding Fathers.
With the defeat of the left in the last presidential election, the defeat of the left in two-thirds of the gubernatorial elections and the defeat of the left in a majority of House and Senate elections, this is likely the last chance liberals, conservatives and the right have to defeat the American left. But it will not happen until these groups understand that we are fighting for the survival of America no less than the Union troops were in the First Civil War.
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Saturday, June 25, 2016

I HIKE, THEREFORE I AM

On June 10th I visited Kankakee State Park for the first time and hiked along the southern part of the trail that shadows the river. Yesterday I had another appointment with another customer nearby and returned to the park and hiked the northern part of the same trail. I discovered parts of the trail that were deep in the forested area. The weather was just about perfect and the hike was terrific. That hike that I made last October to the peak of Half Dome in Yosemite truly changed my life. I have developed a love of hiking. There is simply nothing better than strapping on my backpack loaded with a few liters of flavored coconut water and some apples and setting forth to see parts of the world that for the previous 58 years of my life have been invisible to me. I hike, therefore I am.
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The Kankakee River is hiding in the background of this photo.

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Kankakee River

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I was definitely enjoying myself on this trail... This was my effort to produce the biggest smile that I am capable of making. Why do I look at this picture of myself and think of the term: grinning idiot?


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My wife made a most delicious meal last evening - homemade enchilladas.  Enchiladas are something that I usually order once per year, every year, in Houston, Texas while attending the International Quilt Market. Year after year, it is one of the best meals of the year. Last evenings meal was just as good! I know it would be helpful if I knew the name of this Houston eatery that I am raving about, but I don't. I promise to take note of the name when I return this October.

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Your Food Diary For:

Friday, June 24, 2016

BREAKFAST Calories Carbs Fat Protein Sodium Sugar
3 Egg Omelette - Ham and Cheese 400 1 30 40 1,225 0
Grits 200 44 3 4 620 2
Malt-o-meal Cereal - Honey Nut 120 24 2 3 210 9

720 69 35 47 2,055 11
L U N C H
Pineapples - Pineapples, 2 Cup 172 33 0 2 2 33
Roast Beef w/American Cheese 360 42 10 27 740 7
Red Delicious Apple, 3 medium apple 285 75 1 2 5 57

817 150 11 31 747 97
D I N N E R
Homemade - Enchilladas 900 97 21 80 2,159 0
Avocado 250 13 22 3 11 1

1,150 110 43 83 2,170 1
S N A C K S
Landshire Ham & Cheese Wedge 260 32 8 18 1,240 7

260 32 8 18 1,240 7
Totals 2,947 361 97 179 6,212 116
Your Daily Goal 3,913 489 130 196 2,300 146
Remaining 966 128 33 16 -3,912 30
Calories Carbs Fat Protein Sodium Sugar
*You've earned 1,983 extra calories from exercise today         
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Your Exercise Diary for:

      Friday, June 24, 2016
Cardiovascular Minutes Calories Burned
192 1,929
61            520

   
Daily Total / Goal 253 / 30 2,449 / 590  
Weekly Total / Goal 713 / 210 7,137 / 4,130             

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After dinner, my daughter wanted to go to Target to pick up a small treasure. As long as she was agreeable to walking there, she had a very willing companion. 
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Something about this spot I found overlooking the river reminded of the INTO DARKNESS movie poster. (Is it still considered a 'selfie' if the photo is taken with a timer with no human behind the lens?)
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A more relaxed photo taken at the same place as my 'Into Darkness' photo. You cannot imagine how scary this ledge really was overlooking the Kankakee Rivers from 50 or 60 feet above the riverbank. This would have been an amazingly cool spot to take a photo from a different angle and at some distance if someone had been with me and could have captured just how isolated this rock bluff was. I remember precisely where this was on the trail - a place worth returning to sometime in the future.
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Weather conditions for this TWELVE MILE, THREE HOUR HIKE were just about perfect! Although it was actually 81°F  one can clearly see that with the wind blowing from the East at 6mph, it felt like 82°F!
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and finally....Saturday morning is time for my weekly weigh-in...232.5 lbs.  This is only .4 lbs down from last week. I would have preferred to see a bigger downward movement.  On the other hand, if I were to lose .4 pounds every week for 52 weeks -  I would drop 20 pounds over the course of one year. The important thing for me to remember is that this is a long distance race with no finish line - not a sprint. 

Sunday, April 3, 2016

THE PROCRASTINATOR

I am in the middle of a temporary and undesired lifestyle change.  For the next week (maybe two) I cannot exercise with the reckless abandon with which I have become accustomed.  Yesterday, after just a few days of removing ALL EXERCISE from my daily routine, as I allow myself to recover from a groin pull, I stepped on the scale and was aghast at my weight of 236 lbs. I should have decided then and there to REVERSE COURSE immediately. However, I chose to procrastinate. In fact, my procrastination will continue today. Call be THE PROCRASTINATOR. 



Tomorrow, I am going to make an effort to return to those 'thrilling days of yesteryear' when I was existing on a 1000 calorie per day diet. If I should allow myself to get to 1500 calories - that will be perfectly OK. What I cannot do is allow myself to continue to consume 3000, 3500 or nearly 4000 calories per day as I have been doing which was at least partly offset by vigorous exercise sessions. If I cannot exercise, I cannot eat with the same modified reckless abandon with which I have recently become accustomed to. I should start today - but I just don't feel like it. Tomorrow it begins.


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Hopefully, it will not be too long until...

I'll be recovered from my groin pull.
I'll be exercising again.
I'll be see my weight below 230 lbs.
I'll be back.


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Your Food Diary For:

Saturday, April 2, 2016
BREAKFAST Calories Carbs Fat Protein Sodium Sugar
Cinnamon & Spice Instant Oatmeal, 4 packet 640 128 8 16 840 44
Red Delicious Apple, 2 medium apple 190 50 1 1 4 38

830 178 9 17 844 82
L U N C H
Cabbage Soup 300 31 1 7 235 17
Flatbread Cracker, 6 cracker 300 36 12 12 570 6

600 67 13 19 805 23
D I N N E R
Homemade Vegetable Beef Stew  500 58 10 48 904 7
YOGURT PRETZELS 380 56 0 4 360 38

880 114 10 52 1,264 45
S N A C K S
Endangered Species Chocolate - Natural Dark Chocolate With Cherries, 1 Bar 500 44 32 6 0 22

500 44 32 6 0 22
Totals 2,810 403 63 93 2,913 172
Your Daily Goal 2,090 261 69 105 2,300 78
Remaining -720 -141 5 11 -612 -94
Calories Carbs Fat Protein Sodium Sugar
*You've earned 160 extra calories from exercise today         
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       Your Exercise Diary for:

Saturday, April 2, 2016




NOT APPLICABLE - NO EXERCISE
              

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total calories consumed 2810 calories
total calories burned (from additional exercise) 0 calories
total net 2810 calories
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fitbit day 213
5003 steps
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Wednesday, October 21, 2015

BACK TO THE FUTURE - OCTOBER 21, 2015

Many sports fans, and practically all Cubs fans, know that the Chicago Cubs were predicted to win the 2015 World Series in the movie Back to the Future II, which was released in 1989.  Did you also know that the day and date that the TIME TRAVELING DELOREAN CAR arrives in the future is October 21, 2015.  You might want to re-check your calendar.  That date is today!   Back to the Future II also predicted that the CHICAGO CUBS would win the WORLD SERIES in 2015.  That prediction was looking better a few days ago.  Unfortunately, the NEW YORK METS now lead the championship series 3 games to none.  So, while, there is still hope....THERE IS NO CHANCE!





There is an old joke...perhaps you have heard it.  What tastes better in October: a Yankee Stadium hot dog or a Wrigley Field hot dog? The answer is easy.  Of course the Yankee Stadium hot dog.  One cannot usually purchase a Wrigley Field hot dog in October. This year, this joke is not so funny to this Yankee fan.  The Yankees were eliminated two weeks ago. And the Cubs are still hanging on by a thin thread.  They trail in the Championship Series against the (hated) Mets 3 games to 0.  Still, with the Cubs in the playoffs, at least for another day, it seemed appropriate for me to walk to Wrigley Field as part of my 13.1 mile urban (half marathon) walk on Tuesday.  It is also an opportunity to highlight the haircut I treated myself to on Monday afternoon in Elgin, Illinois.  I do not shave my head, I ask for my hair (what little there is) to be cut to 1mm. (I think a shaved head would be too extreme.  I know what you are thinking... there's a difference?)


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I also checked out three statues that are right outside the stadium.

Mr. Cub: ERNIE BANKS

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RON SANTO


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BILLY WILLIAMS
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This particular walk started of by walking my daughter to school.  Sara does sometimes walk home.  She often takes the bus. Occasionally, if I am around, I will drive her to school.  I do not think that she has EVER walked to school.  That changed today.  

My daughter, for some reason, is not a fan of selfies - but I did  manage to get some level of cooperation.
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For the third day in a row, I walked 13.1 miles (the distance of a half marathon)    The payoff has been terrific.  For the first time in months, it is crystal clear that my weight is declining once more.  For nearly one year, I have maintained the discipline to weigh myself on Saturday mornings.  (Every once in a while, I hop onto the scale to see if anything good, or bad, is happening)  Yesterday morning, I weighted 218 lbs.  I am now down a full 91 lbs from my initial weight on December 24, 2014.  Once again, the elusive goal of getting down to 200 or even 195 lbs seems possible.




TOTAL CALORIES CONSUMED 2691 CALORIES
TOTAL CALORIES BURNED 3792 CALORIES
NET CALORIES 1101 CALORIC DEFECIT

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fitbit day 48
46536 steps
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Your Food Diary For:


Tuesday, October 20, 2015 
BREAKFASTCaloriesCarbsFatProteinSodiumSugar
Kashi - Dark Chocolate Coconut Bar, 2 bar240427810014
John McCann Steel Cut - Oat Meal, 1 cup60010801600
Forrelli - Rice Cakes Multigrain Thin, 18 SLICE36072003600

1,20022272446014
L U N C H
Cape May - Chopped Clams, 0.75 cup7530127500
Campbell's Chunky - Manhattan Clam Chowder, 2 cup240366101,6006
Quaker - Chewy Chocolate Chip Granola Bar, 1 bar (24G)1001741757
Kashi - Dark Chocolate Coconut Bar, 1 bar1202144507

5357713272,47520
D I N N E R
Forrelli - Rice Cakes Multigrain Thin, 18 SLICE36072003600
Chicken Noodle - Healthy Choice Soup, 2 cup (243g)180242167804
Salmon Sockeye Burgers - Orca Bay, 4 oz11024192800
EARTHBOUND FARM - ORGANIC BABY SPINACH, 255 g (approx 3 oz, two cups)600061950

710986411,6154
S N A C K S
WHOLE FOODS - NATURAL WASABI GREEN PEAS, 0.683332634105444 cup (30 grams)24639684924

24639684924
Totals2,691436321005,04242
Your Daily Goal5,7227151902872,300214
Remaining3,031279158186-2,741171


CaloriesCarbsFatProteinSodiumSugar

Your Exercise Diary for: 

Tuesday, October 20, 2015 
CardiovascularMinutesCalories Burned
Walking, 4.5 mph, very, very brisk pace1752,514
Walking, 4.5 mph, very, very brisk pace27382
Walking, 5.0 mph31683
MFP iOS calorie adjustment Ic_iN/A213
Add Exercise
Daily Total / Goal234 303,792 590
Weekly Total / Goal402 2106,286 4,130










*You've earned 3,792 extra calories from exercise today