Sunday Message- are you welcome to help?

This week I was stumbling through Ezra- a book that many preachers use to show us the right way to do things in the name of Christ.  They key on one particular verse- 7:10, "For Ezra had prepared his heart to seek the law of the LORD, and to do it, and to teach in Israel statutes and judgments. "  But today, I'm going to use Ezra to make you question the way you do things.

At the beginning of Chapter Four, you find that a group called in v4 "the people of the land" show up wanting to help.  A little background here:  This is occurring after the captivity in Babylon, when Cyrus the Persian gave Ezra and the people of Judah permission to go back home after 75 years and rebuild the Temple of God.  The "people of the land" are descendents of the conquered peoples that Esarhaddon of Assyria settled there after removing the ten tribes of the Kingdom of Israel into obscurity.  And they came with what may have seemed a neighborly request:

Ezr 4:2  then they drew near to Zerubbabel, and to the heads of fathers' houses, and said unto them, Let us build with you; for we seek your God, as ye do; and we sacrifice unto him since the days of Esar-haddon king of Assyria, who brought us up hither. 

And the leaders of the Jews, Zerubbabel and Jeshua, turned them down flat.  The Jews ALONE would build the Temple, and they would not help in any way.  Which I thought curious at first, as they had already taken material help from the pagan Cyrus once, and would take help again from the Kings of Persia twice more.  What made the "people of the land" different?  Was it their desire to do actual labor?  So I looked into it and found more elemental reasons than that- and they apply to US, when WE want to help in the Church, to help examine our motives and our actions.

First was their intentions.  Due to the way the pages fall in my Bible, I didn't immediately see v1-

Ezr 4:1  Now when the adversaries of Judah and Benjamin heard that the children of the captivity were building a temple unto Jehovah, the God of Israel; 

A ha, they were Adversaries, some versions translate that enemies.  And when they were turned down, they soon showed their true colors:

Ezr 4:4  Then the people of the land weakened the hands of the people of Judah, and troubled them in building, 

Ezr 4:5  and hired counsellors against them, to frustrate their purpose, all the days of Cyrus king of Persia, even until the reign of Darius king of Persia. 

Now, it doesn't take an active opponent of God to cause this kind of problem. I have seen- and been- the person that puts in the roadblock to progress, whether through lack of understanding, need to control, or just plain cantankerous temperament  If you aren't pulling all the same way, then either there better have been a problem with the direction- or there will be.

In addition, there are a ton of false councillors out there.  People love to insert Joel Osteen here- and from what I have read, he would definitely fit- but anyone who isn't following the Gospel to the letter is just as guilty.  There are lots of people in mainstream Christianity with excuses not to follow the Word of God- the Church Fathers/Prophets know better, the Bible was put together by men (the most easily disputed lie), the Bible is out of date (#2 on that list), and so on.

Second, these people didn't worship from the heart.  Go back to the crucial chapter of their origin, II Kings 17.  These were people who came with all their old gods- Succoth Benoth, Nergal, Ashima, Nibhaz, Tartak, Adrammelech, and Anammelech, the Bible names them.  But their old gods left them prey to lions and other wild beasts in the area; so they petitioned Esarhaddon to send them priests of Israel (whom, I might add, hadn't followed Temple worship in two centuries) to show them "the rituals of the God of the land."  

Thus it was that, 150 years later, they came to Zerubbabel and said, "we seek your God, as ye do; and we sacrifice unto him", they were wrong on so many fronts.  And there are two main ways they were wrong.  First, they still thought of God as "Your God"; just another cosmic deity who required spiritual rent for living on his land.  Second, they equated ritual with worship; as the Tao teaches, ritual is the dead husk of true faith.  So they were coming to pay mere lip service to a God that was number two or three on their list.  I seriously doubt I need to explain the applications here.

Third, they weren't blood.  One of the reasons I struggle through Ezra and Nehemiah, despite the interesting plotline, is the interminable lists of genealogy contained therein.  But these have a purpose and that is this:  They knew who was a Jew and who wasn't.  And if you couldn't prove it, you were out. (See Ezra 2:59-60.)  And the "people of the land" were NEVER Jews.

And still today, you have to be of the Blood- the blood of Christ Jesus.  If you are not covered by His blood, you are wasting your time in church.  You are wasting your time on the building committee, the Bible study, the vacation Bible school, or even your own private devotionals.  And Jesus will refuse you just as surely as Zerubbabel did them.  It isn't enough to say, "But I went to church, I served the poor, I got baptized or confirmed" or whatever.  If you are not at the point where you SINCERELY name Jesus "MY God," instead of "your god", you're just one of the people of the land.

And when you DO accept Him, then comes the NEXT stage- you can't be the one looking for reasons this ain't right or that sermon's wrong.  You have to submit to the will of Christ, and do as He says.  No one will get to heaven saying, "Lord, You could do this better."  Believe me, it don't work that way.

And finally, it has to be more than ritual.  WHY do you go to church?  What do you take home from it?  Do you go home and then "pass your children through the fire"?  You might escape the "lion" that way, but you won't escape the Judge.

Time Machine co-ordinates VX4183317

Today, we sail high above the political landscape and re-enter space-time in March 1978- the 3rd to be precise.  Yesterday, Vladimir Remek became the first non-American or Russian to go into space.  He was the son of a Czech mother and a Slovak father- a Russian propaganda "coup".  Today, a supposedly theretofore "respected" reporter released a book in which he claimed a billionaire had had a clone made of himself.

The March 3, 1978 edition of the New York Post bore a glaring headline declaring the birth of the first human clone. But scientists didn't buy it — they read the book and felt it was full of shit. (David) Rorvik (Post medical reporter) had based his cloning technology on one that was only known to work with frogs — there was no way that this could have been used to clone a human. Then an Oxford geneticist cited in the book sued Rorvik for making false claims and won, and the courts ruled that Rorvik's book was "a fraud and a hoax."

Remek- space hero and current Czech ambassador 

Dave Rorvik- 98% of scientists find him full of shit

And so starts another lovely trip in the musical Tardis, and this week:  The return of "4 new debuts"; A SPLIT Panel for the first time in the 70's; the story of George Jones' first number one- and what it has to do with Lynyrd Skynyrd; and what a beautiful woman has to do with Leif Garrett (not much these days...)!  And the longest titled number one in M10 history- or tied for it, depending on how you figure it up!

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So we are approaching the spring of '78, and that means we have a LOT of Bee Gees in the countdown.  So, like I have done for the Beatles in the past, I'm going to give you a "Bee Gees" candidate list, and a "Non Bee Gees" list.  And that will start- right after our first debut!

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Debut #1 came across my feed this weekend in the form of a re-packaged and re-mastered re-release of a 1967 lp called 13 Big Hits.  I perused the lp (not knowing at the time it was a very young 50) enjoying such songs as Hold On I'm Coming and You Keep Me Hanging On, but not finding one I liked enough until I hit the second to last song ( the order is different from the original, I found later).  That song was called I Know, and it debuts at #10.

The singer?  Tom Jones.





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So, if we go by the TRUE charts from this week, here are your contestants:


One of two non-Gibb written tunes on the list, ,Barry Manilow's Can't Smile Without You, which was #17 and climbing on Cashbox.

Samantha Sang and Emotion, #2.

The other non-Gibb, Billy Joel and Just The Way You Are, #4.

Andy Gibb with Love Is Thicker Than Water, #1 this week.

Night Fever, which sat at #6.

Annnd Stayin' Alive, #3.

Now, what you had if you subtracted the Gibbs boys and their songs?  A hard job, as there were 7 Gibb songs in the Hot 100 this week.  But I have them, and you'll see them-

-right after the second debut.

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(I kinda like these asterisks...)

Our second debut is another one off the 2012 self titled lp by Melody's Echo Chamber.  And she comes in at #9 this time:





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And the 21-station No Bee Gees list of candidates:

Again, Can't Smile Without You, and Just The Way You Are;

Chic and Dance Dance Dance (Yowzah, Yowzah, Yowzah), the week's #11;
Raydio and Jack And Jill (which tells me I was listening to CKLW these days), the #21;
Eric Clapton and Lay Down Sally, #9;
Steely Dan and Peg, #8;
Dan Hill and Sometimes When We Touch, #5;
Jay Ferguson and Thunder Island, #16;
Look out, Mich!  It's Queen with We Are The Champions/We Will Rock You, on the way down at #15;
And Art Garfunkel, with Paul Simon and James Taylor, and What A Wonderful World at #18.

So here's the gig:  Vote if you like on both, but the Presidency will go to the SECOND list, as the Bee Gees have already had ONE turn.


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Debut three from a veteran from the 1990's getting his first nod here, and it's an unusual story.  You see, instead of releasing a new lp in one shot, he's releasing it in 3 4-song EPs.  From the second, called The Search For Everything Wave Two, here's John Mayer:





Helpless comes in at #8.


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So I did the same thing as the Panel on our UK feature; And here to tell us about it is Rythm Heritage keyboardist, multi-awarded arranger and producer, and Contemporary Christian star Michael Omartian:

Thank you, Chris, and while I can't really say it's an honor to be here, I will say... um, here's the UK list.  With the Bee Gees, it goes like this:  The highest charting UK hit in America was Stayin' Alive, which was #4 there and #3 here; while the highest charter here that charted there was Emotion, which was #2 here and #16 there.

Without the Brothers Gibb, the highest UK in the US was Sweet's Love Is Like Oxygen, #9 there and 76 here in its second week in the Hot 100; and the highest here that charted there was Just The Way You Are, which was 19 there and 4 here.

And number one in the UK either way- Abba's Take A Chance On Me, which was a summer song here.  How's that?

"Can't really say it's an honor..." REALLY?

Dude, I have three grammys, three Dove awards, and was the first producer to have #1 hits in three decades.  President for a week on a low-readership blog is like being the star of Tool Time on channel 112...

Cold, man, real cold....

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Our highest debut is actually on the charts.  Last week, this song peaked at #37 on hot rock songs, #31 on alternative, and #2 on adult alternative.  Here, it debuts at #7.  I give you- the Shins:





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Our #78 in '78 is Leif Garrett's cover of the Paul Anka-written Put Your Head On My Shoulder, a song a lot of people have covered...

Including Potsie on Happy Days!

Anka had hit #2 back in 1958; the Lettermen did a fantastic job on it in 1968, though only reaching #44; and a young lady named Sunday Sharpe, who did more than one countryfied Anka cover, took it to #49 on the country charts in 1975...

Oh, and Leif got to #58.

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When George Jones recorded his first country #1, White Lightning, back in '59, they went through 80 takes trying to get it right- mostly because George was drunk.  The bassist, Buddy Killen, had fingers so badly blistered, he apparently threatened George with an ass-whuppin'.  The song itself was written by none other than the Big Bopper, BTW.  It featured on George's recording a not-as-blistered piano player named Hargus "Pig" Robbins, a veteran session man also heard on Roger Miller's Dang Me.

How does all of this get us to Lynyrd Skynyrd?  Well, Pig also played piano on 1974's Merle Haggard Presents His 30th Album;  a track on that lp called Honky Tonk Night Time Man, was covered by Skynyrd on their last lp before the tragic plane crash, Street Survivors (which was in fact released just 3 days before the crash), and that lp contained the highest charter this week with no Panel love, the Cashbox #7, What's Your Name.


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And the remains of the M10:

At number six, Foxygen slides two with Follow The Leader.

The Orwells fall back 2 to #5 with Black Francis.

Didn't I tell you?  Well, I know I told somebody, but Colony House reverses gear and returns to #4 with You And I.

And the Peppermint Twist falls out of #1 for Sweet, dropping to #3- which means the latest streak of weeks without a one-week number one ends at the same place the first one did- 17 weeks.

The Pretenders/Neil Tennant climb a quick three to #2 with Let's Get Lost.

And, at #1, M10 says-

...Chicano Batman, with Friendship (Is A Small Boat In A Storm)!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


This makes them by words tied for the longest song title for an M10 #1 with Dent May's Face Down In The Gutter Of Your Love- but by letters they beat Dent 30-25.

And the Panel?

Well on the Bee Gee side, the winner by an 11-4 margin and 52.3 percent of the vote- Stayin' Alive.

But on the NON- Bee Gee side, the winner by a 5-3 margin and 23.8 %, next week's POTM (President of Time Machine):

...Billy Joel and Just The Way You Are!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Whew, long post!  Tune in next time for... 1965!

MWN and fun

So if you are tired of Dale's comments on the last post (and I know I am), I will only add to that the following.  First, a hearty thanks to Dale for proving most everything I said in the original post through sheer stick-to-it-iveness.  Second, I'd like to share a comment I made on a long ago post on trolls and troll-hood back in the day;

Trolls are nice. They make the merely intelligent look like geniuses.

And God knows I could use the help.  So I thought I might mix a little MWN....

with a look back at some past pics, as I have not been feeling right (blaming the Lipitor, which I have just been told to cut the dosage in half) and haven't been out much.

ITEM: Look before you leap- In Singapore, a young man died from a Snapchat stunt gone wrong.  Apparently, he and his lady friend thought a ledge on the other side of a railing was concrete, but...

“We both thought the ledge was made of concrete, but when he jumped, he fell straight through,” Ruth said. “I knew it was dangerous, but before I could stop him, he already jumped over.”

She said that the 17-year-old came up for the idea for the stunt while they were clothes shopping at the mall. “Help me take a Snapchat video and I’ll jump,” she said Chow told her.

Apparently the young man couldn't tell the difference between concrete and plasterboard- a four story mistake that cost him his life.  Yep, social media really brings out the best in all of us!

Two years ago tomorrow, we were digging out of a snow the likes of which we haven't had since.

ITEM:  Explaining that whole "wet-foot dry-foot" thing:  2015 MLB Rookie of the Year Jose Abreu testified under immunity on how he entered the country illegally way back then in order to meet a deadline to sign his contract.  Instead of trying to get a waiver to do things the right way, he got false documents from a pair who are now on trial for running a ring on this principle.  He was instructed to destroy the document once he was in flight- and once he landed without documents, he was free to go under this wet-foot rule.  But the amusing thing is HOW he destroyed the document:

It was Latouff (a third man indicted in the ring), Abreu testified, who got him the passport and booked the Air France flight, telling the ballplayer to destroy the document on the plane. But instead of tearing it up and tossing it in the garbage, Abreu said he ordered a Heineken beer and chewed it up in his seat.

"Little by little I swallowed that first page of the passport. I could not arrive in the United States with a false passport," he said.

Would like to see Neil Patrick Harris do THAT on a commercial...

Roughly the same spot, just under one year later...

ITEM:  A little greed can really bite you:  I don't rightly remember if I ran this story at the beginning, but a while back, Bulgarian National Radio got in a dust up with music copyrighter Musicautor.  It seems that Bulgaria couldn't afford to pay the copyright fees and had to revert to playing only music 70 years old or older.  What the original story didn't exactly point out was that Musicautor had TRIPLED their fees for the latest sign-up.

Well, the good news is, BNR and Musicautor have reached an agreement, where the raise will now be phased in over several years.  HOWever...


However, BNR is now thinking twice about reverting to its old style of music programming in the aftermath of the new agreement. Balkan Insight reports that latest ratings show that its audience increased by around 20% during the dispute, and the new interest in classics could mean changes at the radio, including the possibility of new stations. "We will not change the profiles of the programmes, we will rather launch new channels with various types of music," BNR's Velev told reporters.


So Musicautor gets to raise the rates on a lot LESS music played.  God bless the USA Bulgaria!

Three years ago, it was snowy but nice enough to check out the new boardwalk to Shoaff.

ITEM:But aren't they, y'know, kinda indisposed?

Anton Bakov, a former MP who now leads the Monarchist Party (in the island nation of Kiribati), had offered the Kiribati government an investment of $350m (£280m) to build a tourist resort, Radio New Zealand reports. However, the government in Tarawa rejected his demand that the deal include sovereign rights over three of the nation's uninhabited islands - Malden, Starbuck and Millennium Islands - in Kiribati's eastern island chain in order to re-establish the Romanov dynasty which was overthrown in the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution, Papua New Guinea Today says.


I realize we all have some skewed ideas about what "the good ol' days" constitute, but re-establishing a dynasty that was murdered 100 years and 7,000 miles away as a tourist resort?

And people think having a resort chain based on ME is strange...

Apparently I was occupied elsewhere at the turn of the month, 2013.  I had to go back to mid-February to share this squirrel with you.  He was subsequently eaten by a fox that summer.  Rest in peace!

ITEM:  Sauce  bratwurst for the goose...


A German city council is kicking up a fuss over a vegetarian street festival because it won't be serving local meaty delicacies.
Councillors in Kassel, in the central Hesse region, want the event's organisers to ditch its veggie theme and allow stalls to sell popular regional sausages, including the cured ahle wurst, the Hessenschau website reports. The festival is being organised by environmental group UmweltHaus to mark Earth Day on 23 April.
At a meeting on Monday, councillors backed a motion asking UmweltHaus to serve local organic meat at the event. It frames the sausage ban as an affront to the city's identity, although some of those present noted a whiff of politics in the air, as Kassel is in the midst of a mayoral election campaign.
"This is an issue that is close to people's hearts, and for that reason it is of course something we can't ignore in local politics," said Dominique Kalb, mayoral candidate for the conservative CDU party. He added that ahle wurst is "simply an essential part" of local street festivals.
The Greens abstained from voting and their candidate, Eva Koch, suggested people shouldn't get too worked up over sausages. But she conceded that for some the meat-free event would be "a real kick in the guts".


That is the height of laughing at the PC police- demand sausage at a veggie Earth Day celebration!  I think we should keep this great idea in mind...

"Th-th-that's all, folks!"

Coming back into the sunshine

I think I did a pretty good job of trying to give those with liberal leanings on social media a fair turn.  I've invited questions and answered.  I have tried hard to wean myself from treating them all like trolls, tried to hear their sides.  And I might have agreed on a few things with them, if not for...

I wasted a weekend discussing with two of them about how telling CNN, "I don't want to talk to you", is the blade's opposite side in a free speech, free press world.  You can report what you want; I simply don't have to share anything with you if you're going to pervert it all.  But, my debaters were sure, that this constitutes censorship, and makes the person unwilling to speak a Nazi.  Yes, the high crime of insulting CNN is the same as the crime of nearly wiping a continent off the map.

Oh, but Hitler didn't start out killing people, I was told.  As if you can parse evil like that into more easily digestible bits to use at your convenience.  Never once stopping to think that, while they claim that their version of "never again" includes extreme diligence in this regard, that they are falling for the same fear mongering hate that caused Germany to sit back and let Hitler do what he did.

This is what bugs me.  It's not about policies.  For example, the convo came back to the refugee ban.  I tried to explain that it wasn't a religious ban, because it included 7 nations without responsible governments.  Which was turned around with the concept that it was STILL a Muslim ban because there were no non-Muslim nations on the list.  Oh, and it was only nations that DIDN'T have dealings with the President.  So which is it?

Or how about the one where the MSM is now CONSERVATIVE.  When I pointed out that Fox stands virtually alone on broadcast news against CNN, MSNBC, BBC, and the other three broadcast networks, the reply was, "But Fox out draws them all, so it's a conservative mainstream media."  Well, dude, there's a REASON Fox outdraws them all- and it's the same reason why ESPN and the NFL are losing viewers.  It's called liberal bias, and a lot of the nation is sick of it.

But the final straw for me wasn't that.  Nor the barrage that I got on twitter of "What would Jesus do" posts- and without trying to be anti-semitic, it was a man of the Jewish persuasion trying to lecture me on my Lord.  No, the final straw for me was a man that I so recently respected as a decent human being and thoughtful debater retweeted some idiot post about Melania Trump's past.  To which I replied that this just proves the point- that for a lot of liberals, this has nothing to do with policies, or what's good for this nation, but just destroying anything that disagrees with their position.

His answer?  "Oh, well."

Let that sink in.  An admitting that it has nothing to do with anything but hate for what disagrees with it.  This kind of liberalism, so prevalent in Hollywood, in the MSM, on social media, is nothing but a rancid, sucking cancer that knows nothing but class hate and how to destroy.

And I am cutting it out of my life.


I don't need your cancer. I can well decide myself on what is right or wrong, evil or good.  And I'm done trying to point out to you when you're making valid points and when you're making a jackass of yourself.

I'm coming into the world of sunshine, a world where I don't have to spend my waking hours spreading paranoia and hate and the destruction of lives.  I'm going to celebrate the great things happening in our nation, and when necessary I'll hold the government I voted for to the fire.  Prolly a lot more now that I'm not wasting my time on those who only sneer behind my back anyway.

So, enjoy your humorless humor, your pointless fears, your tired insults.  I'm gonna sing in the sunshine.  Who wants to come along?

Pictures are back...

...so here's what you missed the last few days...

Can you believe, a first flower sighting on February 20th?

Redwings and robins at play

All kind of birds out that day.  Woodies...

...and nikes...

Day to sit out back.

Scrappy parties with the neighbor's doggie...

Too fast to be captured on camera, BUT when mom said it was time to go, he comes to ME begging me to let him stay, lol!

Later in the week, the Bluebirds of happiness make their return...

Sunday, Grandma Laurie goes to visit Peanut

Sunday Message: a quick look at heaven

After last week's rather long soliloquy, I wanted to make this one a lot shorter, even though it was one of the most profound "duh" moments God ever let me to.  I was listening to David Jeremiah as he was discussing the concept some people have about heaven being "boring".

Now to a point, I can see how some people might think that way.  What are we going to be doing?  Sometimes one gets into a pattern of thought that thinks, "We'll be in like an everlasting Church service", with singing praises and worshipping, throwing down our crowns, etc.  To the mortal mind, you tell yourself, this seems like it will be a bit repetitive.  But wait just a minute.

Jeremiah could have just said, "Yeah, but you'll be in heaven, with this glorified body and mind, and it will seem a lot different."  That's what I always said to myself as I swept the topic into the "you'll figure it out when you get there" category.  But he didn't.  Paraphrasing as close as I can from memory.  "Do you really think the SAME God who gave you taste buds to enjoy all the flavors of the mortal world, eyes to see the beautiful things He created, ears to appreciate the music, the sensory system to feel all of the things you touch and feel and savor, saved the best of these for the MORTAL world?"

Think about that.  The best of everything we tasted, touched, and saw in this life, pumped to the Nth degree!  With new eyes and new mind to appreciate it all- PLUS God is RIGHT THERE!!??!!

And besides, we aren't always going to be before the throne worshipping, I don't think.  Jesus said, "In My Father's House, there are many mansions, and I go to prepare a place FOR YOU."  He did NOT say, "In My Father's Cathedral there are many pews, do not fear that you will have to sit next to a guy with gas for eternity."

It's gonna per personal.  It's gonna be wonderful.  And all the bills are paid!

The Lipitor Post

So as you may have noticed on Time Machine, I have been put on Lipitor.  Why, you might ask?  Well, my recent blood work had my triglycerides about 56% higher than they are supposed to be.  And last night (Thursday night) I decided to look into the things you should avoid if you have been bad enough to warrant Lipitor.  Now, I just looked at "cholesterol" and not "triglycerides", so I may be completely full of it, and we'll look at that a bit later on in the post.  But...  I found this page on something called TheStreet listing "15 foods you should avoid if you have high cholesterol.  And it was not pretty for me.  Here they are, with their current status in my diet and possibility of cutting them out of said diet.

LIVER.  Can't stand liver, this is no problem.  Next?

MUFFINS, baked at home with whole milk and eggs.  Unpleasant, but still not a big deal.  Looking good so far.

MARGARINE.  Our first deal breaker.  Although, I found another site that claimed some margarines are actually good- perhaps as compared to butter.  I would say this is a 5-10 percenter.

MICROWAVE POPCORN, loaded with salt and butter.  Not all that big a popcorn guy, so this again is a dealable thing.

COMMERCIAL BAKED GOODS, like cake and cookies.  This is a real tooth gritter, although I have actually already cut out such things considerably.  I'm beginning to see the list as "if it really helped to cut this, why do I need the Lipitor?"  But the fun's about to begin.

SHELLFISH, including lobster, which is a pain but only a special occasion thing.  Still relatively good.

MACARONI AND CHEESE.  This is in the "not gonna happen" category.  While I have been pretty good at limiting pasta to whole grain, don't ask me not to add as much cheese as feasible to it.  A good 5% er here.

HAMBURGERS.  The chances of me giving up cheeseburgers are roughly the same as the odds of hitting Powerball.  This is about 15% of diet level.

FRIED CHICKEN.  Not a huge dent, but I'm not skipping it when presented.

FRENCH FRIES.  See Hamburger.  In fact, just don't bring up anything to do with any form of potato.

CREAM CHEESE.  This is something I'm only beginning to explore.  Already lobbying Laurie to make more of those cheesecake-oreo things that she whipped up for Christmas.  Not a significant level item here... yet.


ICE CREAM.  The article led this one with the comment, "This one might sting a little."  Yeah, that boat sailed previously.  Ice cream has been a way-cut down ever since I got the "sugar lecture", and unless I ever find a sugar-free ice cream in my grocer's freezer, not a big deal.


EGG YOLKS.  Somebody at work suggested I could do the egg substitutes.  My answer: "I am NOT eating FAKE EGGS."  I may look into this, though, as a token effort.  I wouldn't hold my breath, though.


BUTTER.  First margarine, now butter.  JUST WTH AM I SUPPOSED TO USE???  Okay, guys, choose one.  Both is not occurring.  Not in this life nor the next.

RED MEAT.

They go on to add to this last one:

Healthy alternatives to red meat include vegetable proteins, like beans, chicken (not fried), and fish, such as salmon, which is high in heart healthy omega-3 fatty acids, the AHA says.

"Vegetable Proteins".    I eat lots of beans, and salmon- although I CAN'T make patties anymore since I use eggs.  But I go on to look up vegetable proteins, and here's the suggested list:

Peas, spinach, kale, broccoli, sprouts, mushrooms, brussels sprouts, asparagus, and corn.  Now peas I can swallow whole in moderation; spinach I've learned to put up with in certain dishes, love mushrooms.  I think I have prolly had kale in salads but wouldn't know it unless it jumps out of the bowl and slapped me.  Asparagus brings up the whole pee thing from last MWN, corn I was told to cut down because of the diabetes thing, and I would rather drop dead than eat the rest of this list.  All in all, there is not much hope of me surviving on a "vegetable protein"-centric diet.


So we look up triglycerides and what to cut, and WebMD says-

Cut the starchy veggies- like PEAS and CORN.  So much for the vegetable protein.

Baked beans with sugar or pork.  And there goes the fiber.

Small portions of fruit.  No prob there, I'm well under their fruit limit.

Alcohol.  Can't even drink the blues away.

Canned fish packed in oil.  What?  My sardines now?

Coconut.  ABSOLUTELY no problem there, I can't stand the stuff.

Cutting servings on starchy food.  They say, " A serving is a slice of bread, 1/3 cup of rice or pasta, or half a cup of potatoes or cooked oatmeal."  At those rates, that recommendation better be "per hour".

Sugary drinks.  BUSTED!

Honey or maple syrup.  HAH! Gotcha!  Already switched to Truvia nectar and sugar free syrup.

Baked goods (with a side of bitching about butter in the article.  Covered this already.

Fat meats.  "You don't have to give up meat completely. But consider choosing leaner cuts. Also, avoid all processed meats, including bacon, sausage, and ham".  Bacon?  Really?  And this article wasn't banned in America?

Butter or Margarine.  This again?  They suggest olive oil as a replacement in cooking, but how do you spread that on toast?  Bright side?  We already use margarine made with olive oil, so screw you.

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Long story short, I'm gonna continue to watch the things that I have been watching- many of which I have gotten lazy about of late- and cheerfully go on with my day.  When I looked into what I needed to do to control sugar and sodium several months back, I made an emotional wreck of myself.  THIS CRAP IS NOT WORTH IT.  That may sound bad, but I am not going to worry myself into a hole about it.  I ain't got that much life left, and I intend to spend it moderately enjoying it, not starving to death as they slowly add to the list of stuff I can't eat until I end up licking rocks.