Month: February 2006

8th Week On The Diet

Current Weight: 261lbs Weight Loss This Week: 1 lbs Total Weight Loss So Far: 4 lbs

I am obviously eating too much still.  The exercise has slipped in the past few weeks and I am not as consistent. I am still eating about 3000 cals a day and need to stop eating at night. That is where I screw up.  At this rate I will never reach my goal of 80 lbs in a year. I am eating more fruits and vegetables and I am sure they are displacing some calories. I really have to try to get the exercise done earlier in the day. At night I just won’t do it.  Thank you to everyone who has written me with words of encouragement. Every bit helps!! Good luck to you all who are dieting along side me too!

 

1 Million Reward For Death Of Danish Cartoonists

A Muslim cleric in Pakistan is now offering a one million dollar reward for the death of the Danish cartoonists that drew the cartoons of Muhammad.  He allegedly offered this during prayers on Friday! This is outragous! No matter how offended, if Muslims don’t make a loud protest against this, they are going to have little respect throughout the world. Enough is enough, people are dying over this issue..and most of them Muslims! If people do not respect human life, something as esoteric as their religious beliefs will never be respected. It is time for the Muslims of the world to take a little more responsiblily for their brethren.  When Pat Robertson called for the assassination of Hugo Chavez, there was much public outrage from the Christian community and he later apologized. If Muslims want their beliefs to be respected, there should be more members speaking out for peaceful solutions, rather than inciting violence. Sadly, it appears not to be the case.

Kudos: YahooNews, USAToday, The Tennessean, CNN

 

Dick Cheney…A Weapon of Mass Destruction

 

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I am amazed at how irresponsible our vice president is. He shoots a man in the face two days ago and does not have the common decency to make a public appearance and apologize? What is even more profound is that his camp actually tried to blame the victim! I am embarrassed to the world for our two bumbling idiots in the White House.

Kudos: YahooNews

Ohio Introduces Gay Adoption Ban

Ten members of the Ohio General Assembly this week introduced HB515, the so-called “Adoptive and Foster Children’s Protection Act,” which would legally prevent foster-care and adoptive children from being placed in the home of a gay, bisexual or transgender person.

Well my dear conservative Christians are at it again. They want to ban adoptions of children by gay people in Ohio. It doesn’t matter that the best available evidence we have suggests that children raised in a gay household are no worse off than those raised in other adoptive households. There are almost 164,000 households headed by gay and lesbian parents in the U.S. alone. Why don’t the conservative Christians ask the the children in these households if they want to leave their families? There isn’t a surplus of married men and women lining up to adopt these children, either. How some Christians can want to deny these kids the chance to be loved and nurtured by anyone is a mystery to me!

 Kudos: PlanetOut, American Psychological Association

Gloria E. Woodward 1926-2006

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Gloria E. Woodward

January 31,1926 – February 9, 2006

Today, my dear Aunt Gloria passed away.  Even though she wasn’t my real aunt, she was a big part of me and my family. There has never been a holiday since I was a child that she didn’t spend with us. She and my Aunt Gen(not my real aunt either!) always remembered us, and never missed an important moment in our lives. When my brother was dying in the hospital, and my parents were by his bedside, I stayed with Gen and Gloria. When I graduated from High School, they were there. College…same thing. When I was in a play, Gloria was there. You name it! Gloria was also very supportive of my relationship with my partner, Mike, and attended our wedding in 2004.

The last few months have been hard to take. Poor Gloria’s body had been riddled with cancer. I had visited her almost every day since September, and it has been very difficult to watch her waste away. I wish I could have done more. Gloria had her peaks and valleys. She was well enough to spend Thanksgiving and Christmas with us. I knew in my heart that these might be her last visits with us. Throughout her illness-I never once heard her complain. She was an amazingly strong woman and I will miss her terribly. I love you GLO.

More Pics of Gloria can be found on my Flikr account.

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Muhammad-The Cartoon Peacemaker?

 

 I don’t understand this whole Muhammad as a cartoon thing. Islam is interpreted to forbid any illustrations of Muhammad for fear they could lead to idolatry. How do they expect non-Muslims to honor this? This is the first time many people have ever heard of it! The idea that you can control other people because of your belief has been shown throughout history to be futile. Muslims should know this more than anyone. Don’t they remember the crusades? Christians haven’t been able to convert and control Muslims for years-why should Muslims be any more successful?

The drawings, including one depicting the prophet wearing a turban shaped as a bomb, have now encited violence among Muslims. Seven people have died this week in Afghanistan during demonstrations. This is madness-no matter what your beliefs!  Where is the outrage from Muslim clerics? Shouldn’t the higher ups in Islam speak out against this violence? Wouldn’t they want to reject any idea that their belief system encouraged violence?  Do they want us to hold the image of Muhammad with a bomb on his head as the truth?  Hypocrisy, no matter what your belief, will never win over anyone.

Kudos: YahooNews

Remembering Karen Carpenter

kc1.jpg23 years ago, on February 4th, 1983, Karen Carpenter suffered a cardiac arrest and collapsed onto the floor of her parent’s home in Downey, California. She was 32. Years of dieting, laxatives, and thyroid pills had weakened poor Karen’s heart.  It is ironic to note that Karen had actually started to turn her life around and was coming to terms with the demons that caused her anorexia nervosa.  Unfortunately for Karen, it was too late.

I was a huge Carpenters fan in the 70s and early 80s. My first album of theirs was A Kind of Hush.  Karen’s soulful voice was amazing! Listening to her recordings today, I swear you can hear her actual pain and anguish in such songs as Rainy Days and Mondays and Good-Bye to Love. Even in her happy song, Sing, I hear a touch of sadness.  The greatest sadness of all is that such a great talent has been silenced… 23 years ago today.

My Karen Carpenter Autograph

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