What's In Your Water?

What's in your water - literally! Recent studies about various water ways released the following information:


1. Estrogen from the Birth control pills are flooding into the water systems - they are not removed by our waste water sewage systems. (Dr. Karen Kidd, University of New Brunswick in conjunction with the Canadian Rivers Institute)

2. Over 100 million women use a hormonal contraceptive - either combination or single hormone products.


3. Estorgen ends up in the water systems. "Pollutants are metabolized in our bodies as estrogen. And it is the lifetime exposure to estrogens that has increased world cancer rates by 26% since 1980.... We live in a toxic soup of chemicals" according to Dr. Susan Love (cancer surgeon)


4. Hormonal pollutants can affect human health by increasing the rate of breast cancer and other endocrinological diseases. (Carnevali & Mardonna, 2003; Davis et al. 1998)


5. These are the effects of excess estrogen comtaminants found among various fish populations:

• lesions
• reproductive impairment and altered behavior
• feminaization of male fish
• depressed serum testosterone levels
• decreased egg and larval viability
• altered enxymatic activities
• decreased embryonic development and cellular damage
• damaged fish create a threat to the ecosystems by eliminating fish populations (specific) and eventual contamination of human beings via the food web dynamic. (Lascombe et al 2000; Davis et al. 1998)

6. High concentrations of estrogens in water ways are directly proportional to population sizes and degree of urbanization.

7. Brittany Kimball, Univ. of Washington, May 30, 2008 wrote that "public notification of this accumulation has been limited due to a lack of comprehension of the implications by the scientific comunity". So, who is responsible for squashing public notifications? Are the culprits the pharmaceutical companies who stand to lose billions of dollars of revenue as women discontinue using harmful birth control products? Is it the AMA? Will they ever acknowledge their complicity in having duped women into believing that the Pill is harmless when in fact it isn't. Where is the green movement or interest regarding our water ways when hormonal contraceptives are indicted as the pollutants?

8. The estrogen and progesterone compounds are not removed via the waste water treatment policies; nor are they removed with your kitchen sink drinking water filtering systems.

The real question becomes: Are human populations evidencing signs of contamination by excess estrogens? Hmmm, let's think whether there is an increasing feminization among male populations; increasing behavioral problems among both male and female populations; decreasing fertility rates; increasing fertility problems; increasing breast cancer rates (this used to be an old-lady disease but now younger and younger women are diagnosed with breast cancer); increasing incidence of PCOS and other endocrine problems; increasing diagnosis of low testosterone levels in men (requiring treatment with Viagra-like products); early age onset of puberty among girls; or early age onset of menopause among women?

Creeping evidence of all of the above is readily observed. Yes, it is true that younger girls are evidencing abnormally early breast development and early age onset of puberty. Yes, Viagra seems to be in great demand according to the TV ads. Yes, there are increasing fertility issues. As a NFP teacher, I see way more PCOS cases than in previous decades . Are these normal incidences which just show up as blips or are these abnormal blips becoming the norm due to over-exposed -to-estrogen populations?

Herman-Giddens concludes "it's virtually impossible to study since there is no place to find an unexposed population." Creepy! Is it time to protest what's in your drinking water? Just don't drink the tea they serve you at the rallies.

Thoughts & comments?

Nagging - never a good thing

There is a lot of debate raging over the President's speech to the school children today. Here is my opinon with regard to this debate.

Some argue that the President is trying to indoctrinate the children - I would suggest that it takes a lot more than one speech to do that. Society in general is doing a pretty good job at that and not enough parents are concerned about the general indoctrination going on in schools, among peers, by the medical community, and others. So it seems a bit disingenous to worry about a 20 minute speech rather than worrying about the steady indoctrination of television, Hollywood, schools, school based clinics, etc.

Some parents worry about what the President is going to say. I'm not too worried; while he has made many recent blunders I think he will be careful here and not because the kids will be listening but because the parents will be. Another thing; any television address that lasts 20 -25 minutes is too long to hold the children or young adults captive. Their attention to detail will be long lost.

Let's take it to a practical level - even though many of us disagree with the President on many points I am sure that none of us disagree with every position or statement that he makes. In this light, let's be careful and fight only the worthy fights - the ones which affect faith and morals and leave the nagging aside when issues are frivolous or more worry than substance. We lose credibility when we constantly nag about frivolous or less significant matters. Most of us are wearied by nagging - even if we are the ones doing the nagging. We certainly are wearied when we are nagged against. The Biblical wisdom teaches us not to nag " our children lest they lose heart."

So regarding today's speech, I say the President should tell the kids to listen up, study, and graduate. He should have picked an evening forum rather than school time but he didn't and that is a privilege obtained from his election. I think we have far bigger issues to challenge the president about- for example selecting Czars with power who haven't been vetted by Congress or the American people; the financial affairs of the country; the effort to have the federal government fix life rather than letting states determine the well being of their citizenry; the right to life of all Americans - born and unborn; right to have and hold a job; and more. When we nag about every single issue we lose sight of the bigger fights. We also lose momentum.

Thoughts?

More about the Health Care Initiatives

There is a lot of talk about how to fix the broken medical systems we have in this country. I would like to offer a few thoughts for obvious ways (but not talked about) to increase health and well being in this country. They include but are not limited to the following:

1. Mothers should practise exclusive and long term breastfeeding for their infants. Evidence shows that this practise gets infants off to their best start in life: physically, emotionally, cognitively, health-wise and for optimum growth. There are benefits for Moms as well. To know more read the Art of Breastfeeding.

2. Sex ought to be confined to loving, marital relations between a man and a woman. Promiscuity - a lost word - is proven to cause cervical cancer, STD's, emotional damage, divorce, and more. God's reason for inscribing the Sixth Commandment & the notion of marriage as permanent, loving, monagomous, and faithful.


3. Marilyn Shannon writes in her book Fertility, Cycles and Nutrition that the 80/20 rule will keep most of us very healthy- this means 80% of the emphasis on health needs to address eating right, getting exercise, and getting adequate sleep; it is essential to maintain a healthy BMI through eating properly and getting exercise.

4. Smoking and unhealthy alcohol consumption is bad for one's health. Just say No is important here as well. Illegal drug use is obviously a detriment to one's personal and public health. What happened to the war on drugs?

5. NFP is the ticket to maintaining health. Wonder what NFP is? Check out http://www.ccli.org/ for more information.


6. Forget about delaying pregnancy until the late 30's and early 40's. There are many complications, harms to health, and heavy medical costs associated with any combination of the following: delayed marriage, delayed pregnancy, birth control use, promiscuity, and artifical conception techniques such as invitro fertilizations, sperm donation. Wonder how much each invitro fertilization costs insurance companies? Zillions! Consider this piece of information found on the internet: "As the average IVF cycle charges are between $10,000 and $15,000, analysts have reported costs of about $35,000 per delivery in younger women, while medical costs per delivery are over $132,000 for women over 40. " The medical costs for the eight "octo" babies are many more times the costs of 8 healthy, term babies conceived naturally!


Some natural things to consider!

Town Hall Meetings

We attended last night's town hall meeting with Congresswoman Betty McCollum at Macalester College for two reasons. We wanted to see what the meetings were all about and we also wanted the chance to express our opinions on the "state of the union". The first purpose was satisfied but the second was definitely not - our ticket number was never called out in the random selection process.

Curious to me was the fact that there was more rancor displayed while standing in line than displayed inside as various opinions were expressed. We were surprised by the fact that more people expressed either outright concern, caution, or reprimands in a heavily Democratic-leaning congressional district. All comments - regardless of position - were interesting and thoughtful and their stated opinions were well worth listening to! We are glad we attended.

We felt there were several noteworthy observations:

1. It was obvious that organized efforts came from the Democratic party - they had their perfectly coifed signs saying Thank you and We need Health Care Reform Now. Didn't see any "right wing" organized efforts as so often reported in the various media.

2. Our sign suggesting that the unborn, the elderly needed protections, and term limits for all politicians raised a number of "snotty" & off-based comments from people. One elderly man said he isn't worried about anything - a woman suggested the plump man beside me (who was obviously supporting our sign) "lo0ked like he needed an abortion!" It definitely brought out the worst in people - including myself. I left with less than a positive opinion about many fellow Americans! Mea Culpa.

3. Betty stated her opinion on the medical care bills but failed to explain what Obamacare covers. She stated "no one was trying to ram something through Congress; in fact there wasn't even a bill to consider yet". What was the 1000 page deal then? She also stated we don't need language regarding citizen benefit only because that's the way it is. She also stated that abortions would not be covered because it is like Medicare coverage right now. I am willing to bet that most politicians want to avoid the abortion debate & the citizen issue - they are satisfied in leaving it "temporarily understated" only to be tackled and pushed through another day. I hope my readers know that this is very similiar to the creation of school based clinics - they were never created to deal with sex issues according to the infamous Jocelyn Elders at a Senate hearing I attended years ago! Surprise, surprise - today they hand out contraceptives, do sex counseling, and more without parental notification - it is legal in the state of MN for minors to provide their own consent in areas of drug, alcohol, and sex matters!
When I questioned one woman about the details of the bill, her reply was that's the way of the legislature- details come later! Woe to us if that's the truth! Who of us would write a contract with the details later after securing the $ and the signatures!

Betty suggested that insurance companies were crooks - she didn't read the paper which stated that they are lobbying blue-dog Democrats hard, giving them money more than any other group for their war chests and the blue-dogs are accepting this money from these so-called crooks. Doesn't that make them a "crook" also? Is this calling the kettle black?

There were many more contradictory statements which leaves me wondering why? I left knowing nothing more!I still don't know what the heck this debate is really all about - is it economics, health care, insurance companies, medical care? Facts are few, emotions run high. Sales people know that they need a straight, clear message when selling a product - it's called the elevator talk. Politicians need this as well. One man summarized it well last night: while Corporations make money they can't take your home, your property, your money, only the Government can do that! Let's make sure the government takes from us what we want them to and doesn't take what we don't want them to!

On a brighter note- go see Julie and Julia; it's a great movie!

Modesty - What Is It?

A number of talks entitled "Dressing for Dignity" have sprung up around the country as parents try to reign in the the sleek, low cut, sexy dressing standards created by our fashion industries. Even news anchors are often seen exposing way more skin and cleavage than previous generations allowed - a sign of the times. These styles have even crept into the designer clothing for younger and younger girls. Some parents wonder what all the fuss is about - others are very concerned when they think their teen is over-exposed. Our costuming is just one more area where the culture is dividing - and sharply.



I would like to capture a short "sermon" I recently heard - it should help drive home the most important reason for modesty. Modesty of dress, mannerism, behaviors, speech, and thought is included in this discussion.



God created man and woman to be different from each other in a very complementary way! A very easily understood example of this obvious complementarity is loving, marital relations. however, original sin caused sexual tension! Today, the sexual, emotional, psychological differences between the two sexes are most often portrayed in a negative way (Men are from Mars and Women from Venus) rather than highlighted as the manner in which men and women are attracted to each other, bond, and love each other. Few of us are interested in talking to ourselves each day - rather different personalities, thought processes are interesting, engaging, and worthy of debate.



The Fall of Adam and Eve were the original reason why tension exists between and among the sexes. The original design of man as protector, defender, explorer, and lover can easily erode to predator, attacker, user, and dominator. The orginal design of woman as nurturer, protector, queen and lover virtues are also easily eroded to opposing vices.



When man leans toward vice, it is the modest woman who helps pull him back toward virtuous living. If she has begun to lean toward vice, she will join him in surrendering to the flesh rather than the spiritual. When a woman respects herself, she does not give in to the siren call that suggests she allow herself to be used by a predatorial male.



Some women suggest that she should be able to dress anyway that she wants - if a man has a problem with cleavage that 's his problem! These women are assenting to disrespect and being used because that's what the predatory male does regardless of her feelings! Furthermore, she may even be using herself as a weapon against male weaknesses - to her advantage.



We are never to use each other or ourselves - we are to act as if we are (and we are) made in the image and likeness of the Creator. He is a lover not a user! And this is the reason we are to instruct our daughters in modesty - so they are respected and treated with dignity by all males.

A good litmus test of modesty is this. As a girl enters the room- what is the first thing the male looks at? If it's her face- that is a good sign regarding her dress. If he notices a body part first- other than her face - then she is inviting, inciting, and encouraging lust, disrespect, and being used. Most young girls do not understand that males are more visual than females - girls are more emotional and intuitive than males. This doesn't make one better than the other- it just makes them different. We are not to use the differences to divide, disrespect or coerece; rather we are to understand the differences so we can help each other get to the final destination- Heaven.

Stained Glass Windows

Have you ever looked at the stained glass windows of a Church from the outside? They look rather ugly and uninteresting; some may wonder what the windows depict but most go about their way without considering the windows in much detail simply because there isn't much detail to be seen! From the outside vantage point, the stained glass windows look dark and imposing and even ugly!


Now, regard the stained glass windows as pre-figuring the Church itself. When having an outside vantage point, people fail to see the beauty within the Church. In fact, the Church may appear overly imposing, dark, unfriendly, cold, uncaring, certainly out of step with the outside world's point of view. The windows certainly don't look very special from the outside perspective! The Church opens its wide "portal" doors in hopes of attracting those who get a glimmer of its beauty (from the stained glass windows -figuratively and literally). It attracts the curious, the interested, and the open.


When someone steps inside the Church - both figuratively and literally - he or she sees the beauty of the stained glass windows for the very first time - the light streams through them re-creating them. The windows look incredibly different from the inside than they did from the outside. While light may surround the outside of the windows, it fails to expose the true beauty of the windows. A person with new faith will see a newness and a new-found beauty; they begin to appreciate the depth of the light within the Church. One never fully appreciates the Church's beauty when remaining on the outside looking in; it's only from the inside can we wonder in awe at God's truth and creation.


Until we have the opportunity to see the stained glass from the inside - where the light is allowed to re-create the windows - where the light underscores the imagery and reality of the Church, we fail to see and seek truth. When we remain on the outside, we will only see the "window's" flaws, the cracks or chinks in the windows, the need for tuckpointing, it's broken panes. But when inside the Church, we see things never before possible; we see depth, beauty, variety of colors (gifts), importance, significance, intensity, and necessity. It's from the inside that we can be awed by the stained glass; it's only from the inside that we can fall in love with the stained glass imagery and vibrancy. (sacraments, grace, moral and spiritual teachings, liturgical life, formation). We are all invited in to stay and experience the beauty and richness of the Stained Glass (the Church).



Think of this reflection the next time you go to Mass; study your Church's stained glass windows, regard them as God's invite to you to deepen your relationship with Him. He wants us all to grow in our faith, to renew ourselves, to unite ourselves to the Church. We are asked to draw in others as well. May we all be refined, renewed, re-stored to the Will of God.

Much of this reflection came from a homily I heard this past weekend; I thought you all may enjoy it as much as I did - just wanted to share it with you.


Check out my new release entitled: A Book For All Seasons. This book features beautiful, stained glass pictures which divide the various Liturgical Seasons of the Church Year. The readings and Gospels for each Sunday are given along with reflection questions, space to take homily notes so we can recall them later with family discussions. Finally, space is provided to reflect on the readings and the homily and write spitirual goals for the upcoming week. Check out http://www.fortifyingfamiliesoffaith.com/ for more information. This will make a great gift for yourself and your family and friends.

Vacations

Did you know that the root word for vacation means to empty? Guess that implies that a vacation empties us from past work, duties, assignments, responsibilities, etc. I would argue that few vacations empty us - rather a vacation can take us on a new adventure filled with new sets of opportunities and even work/responsibilities.


For instance, last week we went up north and spent a week on a lake. Getting there meant we had to plan and pack our way up north. We had to make endless trips in and out of the house stuffing the car and boat. Once we were there, our kids spent the entire time beating their brains against their skull while flying over lake waves on a tube and skis. Finally the effects of motion sickness began to take over. In fact, headaches were common.


Isn't it interesting, how headaches, mosquitos, bugs, nasty biting flies, sunburn, water & waves, help us to relax and enjoy each other's company just that much more!

While it may seem like I am complaining, I am not! Several years back we hear a talk at a convention which emphasized the wisdom of boating with teenagers. It allows boys to assume that wholesome "piracy role and adventure. After hearing the talk, we looked into buying a boat - an older one fit our pocket book. We found one perfect for a family with three kids - ok we settled! While our old boat is certainly not the cadillac on the lake, it has not let us down! The speaker 's assessments of boating with teens was right on!


It has allowed out teens to defy gravity and catch the big ones - fish and waves - OK, the fish are not really that big but big enough. Our son enjoys feeling like the skipper and a pirate! (well sort of). My husband enjoys the thrill of speeding and turning fast - similar to feelings he had while riding his motorcycle years ago! I love being on the water rather than looking at it from the shore. We have all had a great time bouncing over waves, and then stopping to jump in and swim. Tubing is like one giant roller coaster which goes for hours and hours without stopping!

Vacations are great - however I remain skeptical about their ability to empty us. Instead I think they re-fill our "gas tanks" with positive energy and mood!

Parental Mistakes - Our recent one

Recently, as parents, we made a big blunder. We took our kids to an R rated movie that was pure trash. Why didn't we leave? Why did we go there to begin with? What were we thinking? Maybe we should have been alarmed when we didn't see any other kids were in the audience - of course it was pitch black in the theater becuase we were a bit late. While I could give additional excuses for our blunder (with some validity), the truth of the matter is we were not diligent enough (as parents) to protect our children's innocence or even our own.


The movie gave us some talking points but it would have been better to have had the talking points without the visual imagery burned into our memories. Afterwards, it is fair to state, we all felt like we had walked through a garbage dump; it's stench and slime clinging to our memories. The movie was like porn - it's images remained long after we left the theater.

The very next day, our blunder was highlighted by our son's friend's parent when she asked me about the movie. Our mistake had indeed been discovered! Her son had been told by my son that "Mom laughed during the movie" implying I enjoyed it! Yes, I did laugh- parts of it were funny; needless to say, my son and I had to have a second discussion! The parent was interested in knowing about the movie because her son had been asking to see it; she was more diligent than us in that she had read the reviews, saw the ratings and had concerns about the movie. What followed was a great discussion; we each got to know the other much better! Unfortunately I felt convicted as I should have; my reputation deservedly received a bit of a tarnishing. Yes, it is a contradiction to promote chastity and take your kids to this movie!


All parents will make an occasional mistake here and there. We will need to pick ourselves up afterwards, reaffirm why that was a bad decision, make the decision to not repeat it again, and ask God's forgiveness for weakness and poor judgment. But there will be consequences as well to our mistakes.

It brings to mind a recent story about a young woman who decided to become a sister (she lives in Italy). After making her decision, a jilted boyfriend posted nude pictures/poses of her on the internet for a number of reasons. His motives and actions are notably ugly for a variety of reasons; nevertheless, they cause us to also question the motive and reputation of this young woman.


The moral of the stories are: truly we are our brother's keeper. We are all called to help each other stay on the straight and narrow path to our heavenly Father. Our sins will be revealed in either this lifetime or the next! I am indebted to the mother who asked about the movie - I appreciated her investigation into our decision. I was relieved that she didn't just write me off as a bad parent! I appreciated her remarks! She taught me an important lesson that I need to remember. I appreciated the reminder that our sins have a ripple effect- they extend to people we can't even imagine would be affected!


Thank you God for placing people in my life to remind me of you! thank you for trying to make me a better person. Help me be strong for my children.

Ok, I will finally admit to you the title of the movie: The Hangover! Yes, we are that stupid sometimes! Mea Culpa.

What's a Nihil Obstat?

As a Catholic, I was aware of the Nihil Obstat and Imprimatur but unsure of their application for my books. Early on I had received counsel that since the books would be used by parents and teens, and not in classroom settings, I probably didn't need to submit the books to the censorship process within the Church regarding this certificate. However, I regretted not taking this extra step early on after trying to promote the book within diocesan and parish circles. People did want to know whether it passed the censorship process with regard to faith and morals.

So I decided to submit the books - after publication - to the censorship process and take my lumps. I wanted to know if the books contained any substantive errors with regard to faith and morals - a slip of one word here or there can impact this scrutiny. The Great News - which I am greatly relieved about - is that Daughters Forever, Sons Forever has received the Nihil Obstat certifcation! It's a relief knowing that I will not have to retract any paragraphs or sentences in this program.

I believe and understand that the Catholic Church has been given the authority by Jesus in matters of faith and morals. It is important that the Church scrutinize works which discuss faith and morals in order that they profess the true faith without error. (Catholic Catechism 890)

Each diocese in the Catholic Church has one or more censors which carefully review books such as mine - without charge - and give them the certificate if nothing therein is found to be contrary to the Faith (relevant Canon Law: "Title IV: The Means of Social Communication," ¶ 822-832)

The procedure should work like this: write a book, submit the manuscript (pre-publication) to the Diocesan Censor. A phone call to the Chancery office will help you determine who this person is. When the Censor gives his stamp of approval for the works , he notifies the Diocese who then notifies the author. If there are objections to parts or paragraphs, the author will have to change the work, resubmit the refreshed manuscript, and the review begins all over again.

After receiving the Nihil Obstat, the book is also sent to the Bishop for review. When a Bishop finds nothing objectionable in a work, he awards the "Imprimatur" which means, "let it be printed." When the book is written by a person who is a member of a religious order, the manuscript is first sent to his religious superior before going to the Diocesan Censor. The religious superior will give the book the stamp of Imprimi Potest; this means that the book can be printed. The work is then passed onto the Diocesan Censor.

The "Nihil Obstat" and "Imprimatur" are official declarations that a book is free of doctrinal or moral error. This in no way implies, that the Diocesan Censor or the Bishop agrees with the content, opinions or statements expressed in the book. It does not mean they necessarily like the book or that the book is without error regarding secular information. It certainly doesn't mean that the book is infallible! Rather, Nihil Obstat means that the doctrinal and moral teachings of the Church are not undermined, attacked or taught with error.

I am happy that Daughters Forever, Sons Forever has been given this certificate - now I can promote it with even more assurance. For those thinking about writing a book that will be promoted within the Church, take the time to have it reviewed by a Censor before getting it published.

Another Stop?

Vacation stops elicit obvious emotional responses from our kids - young and old. They are either excited about the next stop and look forward to it or they complain or whine about having to take one more hike, get out for one more overlook, or make one more bathroom visit.

We must not let their "ignorance" or negative emotional outburts prevent that next stop! When they least expect it, a dreaded stop suddenly becomes the most interesting, the most challenging, the most rewarding place our children have ever seen!

This past weekend we were driving along Lake Superior aka Gitche Gumee and made "that one more stop" which created a thunderstorm of protest by a certain teenager of ours - he thought it would be the most boring ever. Our thick parenting hides refused to give in to his protests. Is he ever glad we didn't listen to him! It turned out to be the most adventurous stop "he has ever had" including the opportunity to jump off at least a 20 foot rock into the cold waters flowing into Lake Superior. We even captured it on video. Stunningly beautiful for all who visit the shores along Lake Superior! Refreshing for those who dare to enter its waters. An obviously God-made world to all who look with eyes and hearts that are open to His Creations.

Parents present their children with so many learning opportunities as they travel along the highways and biways of this great land. Stop to visit those historic sites & religious shrines including old, barely recognizable presidential centers, Civil War battle sites, Revolutionary War Sites, shrines, cathedrals, and other civic sites your kids thought would be boring! Don't give into their whining and pre-visit complaining. They never know what is truly around the next corner or stop that fuels their interests, peaks their thirst for knowing more about this country, their faith, or their ancestry.

As parents we can appreciate the fact that it is actually fun to learn new things every day. Parents, kindle that love of learning that is all too often lost upon many of the young people around us because it's going to be boring!

Fuel their sense of adventure by letting them learn about lives from long ago - have them hike those same trails, live those same simple lifestyles. And above all, know that many times our kids "doth protest too much" about things they simply do not know.