The Common Core Curriculum and ‘Informational Texts’

By Headmistress, zookeeper | Published: May 20, 2013

I wrote about this first here,

new education ‘guidelines’ require teachers to pull more than half of the reading assignments for high school from… what? Dickens? Austen? No, of course not. Not even Bradbury, Tolkien, Rowling, or a Stephen King. The new Common Curriculum requires that high school students read- for literature- ‘informational texts.’

Several commenters took issue, mainly because that article was from Fox.*

But in December of 2012,  the UK Telegraph reported:

Schools in America are to drop classic books such as Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird and JD Salinger’s Catcher in the Rye from their curriculum in favour of ‘informational texts’.
American literature classics are to be replaced by insulation manuals and plant inventories in US classrooms by 2014.

A new school curriculum which will affect 46 out of 50 states will make it compulsory for at least 70 per cent of books studied to be non-fiction, in an effort to ready pupils for the workplace.

Books such as JD Salinger’s Catcher in the Rye and Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird will be replaced by “informational texts” approved by the Common Core State Standards.

Suggested non-fiction texts include Recommended Levels of Insulation by the the US Environmental Protection Agency, and the Invasive Plant Inventory, by California’s Invasive Plant Council.

The new educational standards have the backing of the influential National Governors’ Association and the Council of Chief State School Officers, and are being part-funded by a grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

http://www.corestandards.org/a…

There is a table at the head of Page 5 which shows that by grade 12, student reading will align thus-  Literary Reading 30%; Informational Reading 70%

“The Standards aim to align instruction with this framework so that many more students than at present can meet the  requirements of college and career readiness. In K–5, the  Standards follow NAEP’s lead in balancing the reading of literature with the reading of informational texts, including texts in histor/ social studies, science, and technical subjects. In accord with NAEP’s growing emphasis on informational texts in the higher grades, the Standards demand that a significant amount of reading of informational texts take place in and outside the ELA classroom. Fulfilling the Standards for 6–12 ELA requires much greater attention to a specific category of informational text—literary nonfiction—than has been traditional. Because the ELA classroom must focus on literature (stories, drama, and poetry) as well as literary nonfiction, a great deal of informational reading in grades 6–12 must take place in other classes if the NAEP assessment framework is to be matched instructionally.1 To measure students’ growth toward college and career readiness, assessments aligned withthe Standards should adhere to the distribution of texts across grades cited in the NAEP framework.”

Given the issues with how Common Core has been implemented, this isn’t surprising.

Most of the school reforms I read about aren’t really reforms at all, they just a revision of previous failed methods.  The emphasis recently was on ‘critical thinking’ and that strange idea whereby it allegedly didn’t matter what a child learned so long as he learned ‘how to learn.’ Over one hundred years ago the British Educator Charlotte Mason scoffed at that notion, saying it made about as much sense as saying it didn’t matter what a child ate so long as he learned ‘how’ to eat.  Critical thinking has been replaced with deep thinking:

The New Common Core Standards are meant to prepare our students to think deeply on subjects they know practically nothing about, because instead of reading a lot about anything, they will have been exercising their critical cognitive analytical faculties on little excerpts amputated from their context. So they can think “deeply,” for example, about Abraham Lincoln’s Second Inaugural Address, while knowing nothing about the nation’s Founding, or Slavery, or the new Republican Party, or, of course, the American Civil War.

Students’ new Common academic work with texts about which they will be asked to Think & Learn Deeply, may encourage them to believe that ignorance is no barrier to useful thinking, in the same way that those who have written the Common Core Standards believe that they can think deeply about and make policy for our many state education systems, without having spent much, if any time, as teachers themselves, or even in meeting with teachers who have the experience they lack.

 

 

*These days you look sillier and sillier to dismiss a story on the basis that it’s from Fox. After all, the MSM basically boycotted the Gosnell story until they were shamed into practicing some journalism (even then ABC waited until the end of the trial to mention him), either ignored Benghazi or allowed themselves to be led by the nose and used by the WH, and has only barely awakened to the IRS scandal, although many are still dragging their feet and resisting any efforts to practice journalism over that one. And when:

the Third Circuit Court of Appeals issued a ruling invalidating an Obama recess appointments that was made when the Senate was on a short break in between meetings. This is the second such ruling in four months as the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals issued a similar ruling in late January. Predictably, however, both the May 16 broadcast network evening newscasts and the May 17 broadcast network morning shows completely ignored the ruling.

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A Miscellany of Free Books (Free4Kindle)

By Headmistress, zookeeper | Published: May 18, 2013

These books are free at the time of listing. This can change, so be sure to check the cost first, before you download.

You do not need a Kindle to take advantage of these offers. You can read them on various free reading apps

If you’re curious, this is the Kindle I have, and I have used others and mine remains my favorite. Mine has Keyboard 3G, Free 3G + Wi-Fi and I don’t have commercial screensavers.

we love free books

Tales of Troy: Ulysses, the sacker of cities

by Andrew Lang, editor and reviser of the fairy tale books in all the colors of the rainbow. All children should know Ulysses, but most especially the boys.

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The Moonstone

by Wilkie Collins, a very good read from the best of the original gothic mystery writers.

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Far Above Rubies

By George MacDonald, whome C. S. Lewis considered his master. Most readers today find his prose takes some getting used to, but once you do, he’s a very enjoyable read.

From Amazon:

Point: An excellent wife, though she may take a lifetime to be found, is a treasure beyond comparison.

Path: George MacDonald traces the life of young Hector from his idealistic youth to a mature man. Along the way his eyes are opened by Annie Melville, a parlor maid in his home who outshines any elite in his social circle. The story takes shape around difficulties in social status, in-laws, writers block, editors, and a hard life.

Sources: MacDonald shows a thoughtful and realistic understanding of life. He is best known for his allegorical fairytales, but this was sincere and touching.

Agreement: I appreciated this short work by MacDonald more than any of the others I have read. Some may think that it is slow and without a plot, but at points I truly hurt with the characters. The story is simple and the characters normal, but I could feel the fog in which they walked and could see the rainbow lift above.

Personal App: While reading this I thanked God for my own wife. She is truly a treasure far above rubies. Just as Annie opened the eyes of Hector, so she has opened my eyes. I am so blessed to be able to walk through life with her at my side.

Favorite Quote: “This is my wife. You cannot see her very well, for, like Hamlet, I wear her `in my heart’s core, aye, in my heart of hearts!’”

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Backyard Chickens Crash Course – Raising Backyard Chickens For Fun & Food

From the blurb:
Breakfast… dinner… and entertainment!

That’s what you get when you have your own backyard chickens and other backyard poultry.

In the morning (or anytime of the day) if you are raising chickens for eggs then you get to have fresh organic eggs harvested from your own backyard from you own family of layers.

For lunch or dinner you can have antibiotic free, fresh organic chicken meat.

And for all around fun while raising chickens you get to watch your baby chicks chirp their way to adulthood and as adults the scratching, digging, pecking, running and fighting brings both a pleasurable and peaceful experience.

The life of a backyard chicken owner isn’t work; it’s a labor of love that brings lasting smiles and healthy nutritious food.

From chicken breeds to chicken feeds… from chicken coops to chicken poop, inside the “Backyard Chickens Crash Course” you get the short cuts to how to raise chickens successfully and benefiting from your own flock of backyard chickens.

I’m not a writer talking about owning chickens, I’m a chicken owner writing from experience to help you side step the pitfalls, save both you and your chickens grief and make sure both you and your chickens have a long mutually healthy experience.

If you want to experience the multitude of benefits that only having chickens can bring, then download a copy of the “Backyard Chickens Crash Course” to your Kindle reader today and learn how to raise backyard chickens for fun and food.
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How to Sprout Raw Food: Grow an Indoor Organic Garden with Wheatgrass, Bean Sprouts, Grain Sprouts, Microgreens, and More

Grow Your Own Raw Food Anywhere!
Would you like to grow some of your own food this year? Indoors? With no sunlight or soil? At any time of the year and at all times of the year? Sprouts allow you to do all that and more. In fact, you can grow all the vegetables your body needs (plus all the protein as well) in an area that’s no bigger than your microwave oven. I grow sprouts on top of my refrigerator, harvesting baskets of fresh, raw food every week without even going outside.

Growing sprouts is simple and it’s cheap. Sprouts can provide you with the power-packed nutrition your body needs at a fraction of the price of store bought food. You can save money while eating right. There’s no dirt, no pests, and no weeding required.

Raw Food Salads, Sandwiches, Cereals, and More!
This short guide will teach you how to grow sprouts and enjoy eating them. If you like salads, I’ll show you how to make delicious bowlfuls with tasty mild or spicy sprouts. If you enjoy eating cereal for breakfast, try some sprouted grains with natural malt sugars that nourish your body and taste far better than boxed cereals.

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SAT Prep FlexBook III (Questions and Answer Key)

self explanatory, yes?

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A Generation in Transition: Religion, Values, and Politics among College-Age Millennials

Step into the future with Public Religion Research Institute’s 2012 Millennial Values Survey. Find out what college-age Americans have to say about the most pressing issues facing the nation today and learn about the number of Millennials who are leaving their childhood religions. Here young Millennials weigh in on the country’s moral, social, and economic agendas as well as the 2012 election.

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Cuban Comfort Foods

Experience the pleasing textures and flavors of the Caribbean and European Spanish tradition.

Learn how to make chorizo-stuffed pot roast, cheesecake custard, homemade mojitos and killer black bean soup.

With so many of these ingredients commonly available in grocery stores, infusing cooking routines with rich flavors using Cuban techniques is easier than ever.

You do not have to board a plane to Miami to get a taste of Cuban comfort food. All you need to do is pick out an easy-to-follow recipe and get started.

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Intro to ACT

Some colleges prefer the ACT over the SAT, so you should be familiar with both if your student is college bound. This seems to be just a basic starter guide, and it’s not all your student should read before taking the ACT.

What can you expect from the ACT? What type of questions are on the ACT? How long is each section? These questions and more are answered in this introduction to the ACT exam.

This overview of the ACT includes:

What is the ACT?
What does the ACT test?
How is the ACT scored?
Examples for each section of the test
How do I prepare for the ACT?

Kaplan will walk you through the test and help you make decisions that will enable you to get ready for the ACT.

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The How to Book on Building a Raised Garden Bed: Growing Luscious Vegetables, Fruits & Vibrant Flowers / The Thriving Soil System (The Jonah Green Gardening Series)

11 reviews with an average of 4 stars.

Avid gardeners from all over the world that live in a region with really poor will agree that raised garden beds are true saviors. The basic concept of building a raised garden bed(s) is to make your gardening a whole lot easier and much more pleasant. Instead of having to battle with really poor soil conditions, all you need to do is to build above ground – with this, you will have complete control over the texture and ingredients of the soil – yay!

In this report, you will learn how to build a raised garden bed from the scratch, the advantages of building a raised garden bed, the materials you will need, and valuable tips to make sure that your plants/vegetables thrive.

As long as you know your way around a tool box, you can build your very own raised garden beds and enjoy every moment of your gardening.

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Garden Guide – A No Nonsense, No PhD, No Fuss Guide to Great Gardens with Hand-Holding How To’s for Beginners and Straightforward Instruction for Advanced Gardeners

12 reviews, an average of 5 stars.

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Preserving Food at Home: A Step-by-Step Guide to Canning, Freezing, Drying, Brining, and Root Cellaring

Inspire Justice: 365-day Devotional On Poverty and Justice

Poverty, war, famine, disease; there are a lot of things in this world that are unsettling. While the solutions aren’t always so clear to us, God’s Word can be a frequent reminder that everything is under God’s control and that in the end, he will bring justice to all who have been oppressed.

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The Table Experiment: Loving Your Neighbors One Meal at a Time (Everyday Church Series Book 1)

The church in the West is losing its influence. But, the call of Jesus to love our neighbors has not changed. The church has bought into the lie that cool events, the latest fad programs, and lasers and smoke will draw people to the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Instead of the latest fad… how about rediscovering the art of hospitality? How about sharing our lives, homes, and food?

In this short, practical, and biblically based book, you will be challenged to love your neighbors through eating and sharing meals with others. Instead of the latest fads, you will learn the simple art of loving your neighbors.

Come and join The Table Experiment!

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IRS Scandal Grows. Like a Cancer.

By Headmistress, zookeeper | Published: May 18, 2013

IRS Scandal just continues to embarrass and shame anybody who thinks the idea that Big Government isn’t as dangerous as Big Business, and even more so.

The IRS Executive in charge during the targeting scandals, and who now runs the IRS arm of ObamaCare, got over 100,000 in bonuses. Did Obama sign off on those? Read here.

The 2010, 2011 and 2012 bonuses were awarded during the period when IRS harassment of the conservative groups was most intense. The newspaper obtained the data via a Freedom of Information Act request.

If this isn’t making you distrust Big Government, either you’re not paying attention, or you already knew better than to trust Big Government:

At this point in scandalpalooza, I don’t think the IRS can ever be trusted to do their job in a non-political, professional way. Not when you have a largely unioned work force that overwhelmingly donates and supports Democrats and is largely incompetent. Are you willing to now trust them to oversee Obamacare compliance? I’m not. I have zero faith in their ability to their jobs in a fair and impartial way. Factor in the Administration’s response by asking for resignations from someone who was retiring anyway and from another guy who had been in the job a week, they really aren’t serious in addressing what is wrong with the IRS. Resignations aren’t enough either. Jail time needs to happen. You know, serious repercussions. Otherwise it’s like the 4 State Department folks that got fired for Benghazi. They lay low, wait a bit and then come right on back into a job paid for with taxpayer money.

Steyn, as ever, is must reading, but do set your coffee just out of reach so you don’t anoint your keyboard.  He begins with some light scoffing at :

the president himself, who insists with a straight face that he had no idea that the Internal Revenue Service had spent two years targeting his political enemies until he “learned about it from the same news reports that I think most people learned about this.” Like you, all he knows is whatt he reads in the papers. Which is odd, because his Justice Department is bugging those same papers, so you’d think he’d at least get a bit of a heads-up. But no doubt the fact that he’s wiretapping the Associated Press was also entirely unknown to him until he read about it in the Associated Press. There is a “president of the United States” and a “government of the United States,” but, despite a certain superficial similarity in their names, they are entirely unrelated, like Beyoncé Knowles and Admiral Sir Charles Knowles. One golfs, reads the prompter, parties with Jay-Z, and guests on the Pimp with a Limp show, and the other audits you, bugs your telephone line, and leaks your confidential tax records. But they’re two completely separate sinister entities. So it’s preposterous to describe Obama as Nixonian: Beyoncé wouldn’t have given Nixon the time of day.

If you believe this, there’s a shovel-ready infrastructure project in Brooklyn I’d like to sell you.

Do read the rest.

Look, even Chris my leg tingles Matthews sees that the IRS was targeting conservative groups.

I mean, if this were on the other foot, and this was a George W. administration, they were targeting groups that were calling themselves progressives, I would say it’s prima facie evidence of targeting. I don’t think it’s complicated.”

I will close with this, from Paul Ryan:

PR: Of course it troubles me. Are you kidding me? Look, this is why, again, the point I’m trying to make here is let’s not think of this as just, oh gosh, some bad people at the IRS did those dumb things, and then oh, some overzealous prosecutor at the Justice Department did that, and oh, gosh, you know, some low level person at the State Department did this. We should not be thinking like that. We should be thinking this is what you get with big government in practice. This is what you get when you have a government that just has gone beyond its moorings, that has gone beyond its scope, and this is the kind of government you get with progressive politics. And that’s just not in keeping with our Constitution. That’s not what we deserve. We want equality under the law, and that’s not what we’re getting, whether we’re a reporter, a taxpayer, or a citizen.

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4 Moms Share Vegetarian Recipes

By Headmistress, zookeeper | Published: May 16, 2013

4moms35kids-1This week our theme is vegetarian recipes.

At the Common Room we aren’t vegetarian, although I have been a vegetarian before. My husband wouldn’t go full vegetarian with me, and my midwife talked me out of it, and now we are all meat-eaters here. However, I still like a vegetarian meal from time to time, and this is one of my favorites:

This recipe is also from The Vegetarian Express Lane Cookbook, and it’s a keeper (which is why I still have this recipe even though I don’t have the cookbook anymore).

1 medium head broccoli
2 bunches green onions
2 large minced cloves garlic
2 tablespoons minced fresh ginger (you can use dried, but fresh is better)
2 tablespoons peanut butter
1 tablespoon sugar (omit if you are using peanut butter with sugar added)
1/4 cup soy sauce
3 Tablespoons water or vegetable broth
2 tablespoons lemon
salt to taste
8 ounces of pasta
oil

Cut up the broccoli into florets and 1 inch pieces. Do no discard the stalk- break it off and then peel the tough outer skin and dice the juicy, tender inner stalk. Actually, I like to eat the peeled broccoli stalks fresh and raw- they are sweet, tasty, and I like them better than the florets.

Cut off the roots and any wilted greens from the green onions. Snip them up with your kitchen shears (shhh, don’t tell, but for years I just used regular paper scissors for snipping my green onions). Snip them right into a small bowl and add the garlic, ginger, peanut butter, soy sauce, and sugar. Stir well, blending the peanut butter. Add the remaining ingredients (liquid, lemon juice and salt).

Cook your noodles (we would use something like soba, spaghetti, or vermicelli) until al dente. Drain, rinse with cold water, drain again and set to one side.

Heat oil in a large, deep skillet (a wok would work) Stir fry the broccoli for three or four minutes. Add the noodles, stirring continuously so they won’t stick (you may need more oil. I almost always do). Give the peanut butter stuff one more good stir to mix in the spices well, and add it to the broccoli and noodles in the pan, stirring well so it all gets coated with the peanut butter/spice mixture. Serve immediately.

This makes enough for about 4 people, less if they are very hungry people who like this sort of asian flavor (which several of us do).

We’d love for you to share your own vegetarian dishes in the linky below.  Be sure to link back to one of us in your post.  Thanks!

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That’s all I have for now.  As always, visit the other Moms, and feel free to share your own advice in the comments- even if you think I am all wrong- or maybe especially if you think I was wrong.=)

Life in a Shoe

Kim at Life in a Shoe, homeschool grad, mama to a family of 13

 

 

smockityfrocks.com Connie at Smockity Frocks, married 25 years, mom to 8. We were blog buddies for a year or two before we realized that we had very dear mutual friends in real life. How cool is that?!

Me, DeputyHeadmistress  at  The Common Room and our cooking blog, The Common Kitchen; married 30 years, mom to seven plus unofficial foster mom to two little boys, Mama-in-Law to two, and Grandmama to five blessings under 3,  and yes we are very proud.=)

Posted in cookery, food, Four Moms | 1 Comment

Free4Kindle: Summer Reading Books

By Headmistress, zookeeper | Published: May 15, 2013

we love free books

Saving Money This Summer: How to Be Frugal and Still Enjoy Family Fun (More for Less Guides)

TABLE OF CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION
CHAPTER 1: BUDGETING TO SAVE MONEY IN THE SUMMER
CHAPTER 2: FINANCIAL LESSONS FOR YOUR CHILDREN THIS SUMMER
CHAPTER 3: HOW TO SAVE MONEY ON GROCERIES THIS SUMMER
CHAPTER 4: GROWING YOUR OWN FOOD THIS SUMMER
CHAPTER 5: HOW TO SAVE MONEY ON YOUR ELECTRIC BILLS THIS SUMMER
CHAPTER 6: HOW TO REDUCE YOUR SUMMER DRIVING COSTS
CHAPTER 7: HOW TO SAVE MONEY ON SUMMER CLOTHING
CHAPTER 8: CHILD-RELATED EXPENSES FOR THE SUMMER
CHAPTER 9: INEXPENSIVE SUMMER VACATION IDEAS
CHAPTER 10: INEXPENSIVE SUMMER PARTY IDEAS
CONCLUSION
FURTHER READING
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Businesses Your Child Can Build

Want to learn exactly how to get your child started making a buck and becoming a child entrepreneur?

Discover The Secrets to Your Child Successfully Having a Job or a Business That Will Teach Them How to Handle Responsibility and Money…Even As A Beginner!

Just Follow These Tips And Instructions And They’ll Be Young Entrepreneurs In No Time!

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The Joy and the Challenge

Articles and resources from SENG’s National Parenting Gifted Children Week. Topics include identifying and recognizing giftedness, the challenges of parenting a gifted child, underachievement issues and twice exceptionalism, gifted minorities and gifted boys and girls, misdiagnosis and depression in gifted youth, advocacy, and parenting supports and resources.

Feature contributors include: Edward R. Amend, Paul Beljan, Lori Comallie-Caplan, Rosina Gallagher, Jean Goerss, Tiombe Kendrick, Carolyn Kottmeyer, Linda Neumann, F. Richard Olenchak, Vidisha Patel, James T. Webb, and Nadia E. Webb

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The Anvil of the Craftsman (Jon’s Trilogy)

Christian suspense

A doctoral candidate in Theological Studies accepts recruitment by a friend in the U.S. State Department for an initiative to the most troublesome province in 2006 Iraq. The many challenges of nation building expand the mission from diplomacy to a survival situation as local and international interests position themselves to oppose a State Department initiative: one vital to progress in an uncertain theater.

Terrorism and counter-terror operations threaten to keep the team from leaving the relative safety of Baghdad. Until, that is, a former USAF Special Tactics operative hunting the men who want to kill them draws duty as their protector. The simple questions posed during a tribal council threaten provincial and regional stability; the conclusions reached explode into a clash of faith, loyalty, schism and betrayal that will help shape the future of two nations.

The Anvil of the Craftsman, the debut novel by author Dale Amidei, will be appreciated by fans of a broad range of fiction; from aficionados of the haunting themes of Ernest Hemingway to readers of the tightly woven plots of Tom Clancy and popular titles of authors like Vince Flynn, David Baldacci, W.E.B. Griffin and Richard Marcinko.

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Invisible (An Ivy Malone Mystery Book #1): A Novel

Christian suspense

She’s not your average crime fighter!

Ivy Malone has a curiosity that sometimes gets her into trouble, and it’s only aggravated by her discovery that she can easily escape the public eye. So when vandals romp through the local cemetery, she takes advantage of her newfound anonymity and its unforeseen advantages as she launches her own unofficial investigation.

Despite her oddball humor and unconventional snooping, Ivy soon becomes discouraged by her failure to turn up any solid clues. And after Ivy witnesses something ominous and unexplained, she can’t resist putting her investigative powers to work again. Even the authorities’ attempts to keep Ivy out of danger and her nosy neighbor’s match-making schemes can’t slow her down. But will the determination that fuels this persistent, quirky sleuth threaten her very safety?

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The Journey (The Adventures of Jecosan Tarres, #1)

christian historical fiction

His father killed in war before he was three, his mother unexpectedly dying when he was eight, Jecosan Tarres is young and poor, yet he has something not many men have: a faithful heart, a strong spirit, and the knowledge of truth taught to him by his mother and Priest Shaledan. Alone for a year, but later befriended by Dalian the blacksmith, he has already beaten the odds of being destitute and forgotten, but clearly something or someone is at work in his life. With his faithful dog Gart and his friend Dalian, he sets out on a life defining journey after a messenger visits him with a commission to go to Kanavar, the ancient capital of Meoria, where he is to enter the king’s service and somehow prevent the war that is about to break out in his country. There are powerful forces interested in his journey, both to fail and succeed. Join young Jecosan as he struggles along, escaping sudden traps, facing prison and captivity, fighting pain and despair, losing and making friends.
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Past Imperfect: A John McIntire Mystery (John McIntire Mysteries)

A grizzled Lake Superior fisherman with a massive allergy to bees dies very early one morning alone on his boat. Was he stung to death? John McIntire, retired from a career in military intelligence and striving to regain a place in his boyhood home after 30 years away, is serving as township constable. He questions the easy verdict. The town of St. Adele has little experience with violent death — or murder. Nor does McIntire, despite fighting in two world wars. Worse, all the suspects are friends and neighbors, men and women he grew up with “talking Swede.” The dead man, last of a Norwegian family who came to raise apples in the struggling rural township sandwiched between the Huron Mountains of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula and the southern shore of Lake Superior, had no real enemies despite his gruff temper. And he had little to leave aside from a heavily mortgaged boat. So, who wanted to kill him?

Saddened by violence striking Utopia, worried his British bride might cut and run, his task complicated by taciturn witnesses and six party telephone lines, the naturally humorous McIntire, while bringing a murderer to justice, struggles to evolve a new perspective on a rural community he has idealized for three decades. Rich in magnificent landscape, vivid characters stepping from a past both thoroughly Midwestern and multi-ethnic, and a secret-laden story, filled with laughter and warm insights, Past Imperfect offers a new voice of great promise reminiscent of the debuts of Steve Hamilton, A Cold Day in Paradise, and William Kent Krueger, Iron Lake.

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The Smolder

Fantasy, set in the future. Oleevaba is the proud, pampered breed representative of the Advanced Midstate New York breed of humans – until she’s kicked out of society for having too much initiative. She’s expected to dutifully starve to death, like other expersons. Instead, she’s rescued by a parallel civilization she never knew existed. This civilization has been good at staying out of sight. But that’s about to change.

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Bradamant’s Quest

Bradamant’s Quest is set in a rarely used fantasy world, that of romances about Charlemagne. It starts after the battle of Ronseval, where the emperor’s nephew Roland has died, along with many peers and knights. Among those who died with Roland is Bradamant’s husband; she is mourning him and the others when Berman’s novel begins. Bradamant is a woman knight, borrowed from Orlando Furioso, a romance about Charlemagne’s knights by the Italian Renaissance poet Ariosto. In Berman’s version. she is an admirable character; intelligent, tough, stoic, resourceful, ambitious for honor and loyal. While she is still grieving for her husband, she is given a quest by Oberon, the king of the fairies. She must recover the magical tools that have belonged to members of her extended family and return them to Oberon. It s an entertaining journey through a France described in loving, realistic detail. Although Berman is drawing on medieval and Renaissance romance, she gives us real landscapes, real food, and the real problems while on a quest. This realism is one of the charms of the novel. Berman anchors her romance in everyday pleasure and discomfort, in the grit and beauty of ordinary life. I’m not going to tell you the end of the story, except to say it ends happily. It s a novel about loss and recovering from loss. Though magic is gone or going, ordinary life remains; and ordinary life is pretty darn fine. What else is there to say? The book is has images that stay in my mind: the marsh filled with gargoyles, the stony waste, and Bradamant’s journey roped to a sea-orc, like Ahab to Moby Dick, though with a better ending. Read it! –Eleanor Arnason

Bradamant’s Quest is a youthful fantasy from Ruth Berman who presents a story of Bradamant, who is charged in recovering her family’s magical talismans after Charlemagne’s wars are over. But faced with the forces of magic . . . Bradamant’s task is anything but easily done. Bradamant’s Quest is an excellent pick that shouldn’t be overlooked. –Midwest Book Review

Prose by a poet. I look forward to rereading this many times. –Phyllis Ann Karr

It’s time to give back the gifts of Faerie, said Oberon. They are too powerful for mortals to use safely… And so this king in Faerie asks Bradamant, a warrior of strength, back from the wars, to seek out these treasures. She agrees, seeking honor and glory as her only reward. Who wouldn’t like to go along on a quest to return the gifts of Faerie magic with Bradamant and her companion hippogriff? Part eagle, part lion, part horse, he proves to be a useful, if not always reliable, animal. I enjoyed the journey, feeling close to Bradamant as she planned her days and her actions in accord with her bodily rhythms and knowledge of herself. Not least was my delight in descriptive words and phrases. I could hear the footsteps as they squelched along the muddy road. And I wanted to hand a handkerchief to the man who was crying as he walked, until his nose was stuffed up, and it was hard to breathe. I hope author Ruth Berman will continue following Bradamant through this heroine s life in her fantasy world. It’s fine writing and a fine story. –Norma Gaffron

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5 Ingredients 15 Minutes Prep Time Slow Cooker Cookbook: Quick & Easy Set It & Forget It Recipes

15 minutes or less of prep time and absolutely no acrobatics. If you can chop an onion and twist a can opener, you can make these dishes. The recipes include nutrition data, and most include serving tips.

In this cookbook, you will discover 40 recipes for delicious home-cooked meals that only require 5 ingredients (PLUS OPTIONAL INGREDIENTS AND A FEW STAPLES COMMONLY FOUND IN A WELL STOCKED KITCHEN, SUCH AS SALT, PEPPER, WATER, COOKING SPRAY, MUSTARD, KETCHUP, SUGAR, VINEGAR, COMMON SPICES, ECT… ) 15 minutes (or less) of prep time and 1 turn of a switch. Your slow cooker takes quick and easy meals to a whole new level.

At the end of the day, what you want to do is put your feet up and rest. But what you need to do is get dinner on the table. Now you can do both!

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Quinoa Salad and Side Dishes: Quick and Easy Quinoa Salad and Side Dish Recipes

Best Selling Author of Quinoa Recipes for Weight Loss and Baking With Quinoa, Sarah Clarence is now delighting us with her third quinoa recipe book: Quinoa Salads and Side Dishes.

Quinoa is a delicious and easy way to add powerful nutrition to your diet. With Quinoa Salads and Side Dishes, Sarah Clarence provides fabulous recipes such as, “Quinoa Almond Berry Salad,” “Smokin’ Quinoa Salad,” “Nutty Quinoa Pilaf,” and “Vegetarian’s Delight,” that are quick and easy to make. This book contains a variety of recipes, surely to please everyone in the family!

Scroll up and click buy now to be making delicious quinoa salads and side dishes today!
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101 Elephant Jokes for Kids (Animal Jokes for Kids – Joke Books for Kids vol. 10)

Elephant Jokes are anti-jokes. A joke that doesn’t have a traditional punchline but a deliberately daft answer that is funny because it is so silly – the kind of jokes kids make up themselves! Some of the jokes included in this collection are traditional but the majority are classic elephant anti-jokes!

101 Elephant Jokes for Kids for Kids is a wonderful, natural way for children to improve their reading. They are able to practice their reading skills whilst enjoying themselves.

Joke books for kids have the added benefit of improving memories, and importantly, instilling confidence. Children are given a great reason to talk in front of groups and with practice are able to feel comfortable doing it.

Joke books for kids on kindle are also a fun way for a family to interact, laughing – or moaning – at the jokes.

How do you know if there’s an elephant in your wardrobe?
The door won’t shut!

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Things To Do While Avoiding Things To Do: And 56 More Fun Lists for Procrastinators

This has lots of very positive, and hilarious, reviews.

Countless books through the ages have offered wisdom on how to be more productive. Things To Do While Avoiding Things To Do humorously tackles the flip side of time management with essential lists to make you a proud procrastinator. So, go ahead, take a break from your to do list, and let go for a while.

Productive Ways To Spend An Unproductive Day

Research the genealogy of the trees on your property.
Buy a pair of back up shoelaces for every pair of shoes you own.
Create a riveting Wikipedia entry for yourself.
Recondition the leather on your slippers.
Create a beautiful collage of your childhood memorabilia.
Thoroughly clean the soap scum out of your soap dishes.
Photograph every room in your house, so you’ll always have a memory of it.
Carefully remove all lint and dust from between your computer keyboard keys.
Buy a battery tester and determine the power strength left in all of your household batteries.
Track the usage of everyday household items and create a monthly projection budget. Then comparison shop to lower your cost by 10%.

How To Make Killer Art Out Of Office Supplies

Line up colored pencils of different lengths to make a cool domino maze.
Connect paper clips to rubber bands to make a funky necklace or a cheap Christmas tree ornament.
Make a group of paper airplanes and turn a document divider upside down for a hanger.
Turn file folders upside down to make a Tee Pee Village.
Make an avant-garde sculpture out of used toner cartridges.
Turn your rolodex into a flip photo album.
Empty your drawer organizer, fill it with sand, and turn it into a Zen garden.
Use a pencil cup holder to plant a bonsai tree.
Connect large reams of paper to make a huge tic-tac-toe board. Use a rubber band ball for O’s and two pens crossed for X’s.
Spell out the “word of the day” on your desk using staples.

Each list is interspersed with invaluable productivity tips, like:

Do your most critical work at the same time every day—the last minute.
If life is what happens while you’re busy making other plans, why make any?

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The Story Bible

Have you ever set out to read your Bible only to get stuck in Leviticus, the prophecies of Ezekiel, the seemingly endless lists of First and Second Chronicles, or the genealogy of Jesus in Matthew or Luke? It’s common to start out determined to read through the Bible only to get bored, confused, or discouraged as you struggle through genealogies, prophecy, or sanctuary rituals.
Prophecy, genealogy, and sanctuary rituals all have their proper place within the bounds of Bible study. But for the new believer, these things can be difficult and confusing.
To resolve this difficulty, I created The Story Bible. The idea was to remove from the text those things that are complicated and/or confusing for the new believer, or for anyone who is new to Bible reading. For example, the books of First and Second Chronicles contain some great stories. But they include so many numbers and lists that the narratives get lost in the shuffle. So in The Story Bible I simply removed the lists, while leaving the stories to be read and enjoyed. Another example is the book of Numbers, which also contains some fascinating stories. But the stories are interspersed with descriptions of sanctuary rituals and census data that can become boring or confusing to the new believer. So again, I simply removed the sanctuary ritual descriptions and the census data while leaving the stories in place to be enjoyed without frustration. What I have produced is a Bible that can be read by a new believer from cover to cover without getting stuck.
After serving as a Christian pastor for many years, I not only recognize the problem of new believers getting stuck in genealogies, sanctuary rituals, etc., but I also recognize that what new believers need most is familiarity with Bible stories. The Bible narratives form the backbone for everything else in scripture. Prophecy, sanctuary rituals, pastoral letters, genealogies, and even census data find their place once the new believer becomes familiar with the stories.
Keep in mind that I have not edited the narratives themselves. Every word of The Story Bible is from the text itself. I have only removed that which is not narrative, so that the narratives are no longer obscured and can more easily be enjoyed. Another way to put it is to say that The Story Bible is a compilation of all the stories of Scripture. Every portion of the Bible that is narrative was included. I did not edit, condense, or rewrite the narratives. I only compiled them.
The translation I used for this project is the Bible in Basic English. It was translated by Professor Samuel Henry Hooke (1874-1968), an English scholar and Professor Emeritus of Old Testament Studies in the University of London. The BBE was printed in 1965 by Cambridge Press in England. Published without any copyright notice and distributed in America, this work fell immediately and irretrievably into the public domain in the United States. The BBE is easy to read, since it utilizes a 1000 word vocabulary.
My hope is that new believers will be drawn in by the Bible stories and discover how relevant and practical the Bible is for us today.

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1.99: Shepherding a Child’s Heart

Don’t Make Me Count to Three!

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Awwwww

By Headmistress, zookeeper | Published: May 15, 2013

I love you, said the DPG to Pip.

I love you, too, she said back.

I love JennyAnyDots,” he said.

That’s funny, said Pip.  I love her, too!

Yes, said the DPG.  I wish I could hug ALL of you right now.

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Gov’t Standards on Salt Intake More Risky for You Than Actual Salt Intake

By Headmistress, zookeeper | Published: May 15, 2013

Which is something that natural health, nourishing traditions sorts community have been saying for, oh, YEARS.

More here.

After years of government warnings that Americans must lower sodium levels in their diet to avoid heart disease and strokes, a new study commissioned by the CDC finds that the 1500-mg level long championed by policymakers is not just wrong, but so low as to potentially cause health problems:

In a report that undercuts years of public health warnings, a prestigious group convened by the government says there is no good reason based on health outcomes for many Americans to drive their sodium consumption down to the very low levels recommended in national dietary guidelines.

Those levels, 1,500 milligrams of sodium a day, or a little more than half a teaspoon of salt, were supposed to prevent heart attacks and strokes in people at risk, including anyone older than 50, blacks and people with high blood pressure, diabetes or chronic kidney disease — groups that make up more than half of the American population. …

But the new expert committee, commissioned by the Institute of Medicine at the behest of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said there was no rationale for anyone to aim for sodium levels below 2,300 milligrams a day. The group examined new evidence that had emerged since the last such report was issued, in 2005.

“As you go below the 2,300 mark, there is an absence of data in terms of benefit and there begin to be suggestions in subgroup populations about potential harms,” said Dr. Brian L. Strom, chairman of the committee and a professor of public health at the University of Pennsylvania. He explained that the possible harms included increased rates of heart attacks and an increased risk of death.

New study? 

Shades of the lipid hypothesis:

The government created the problem in the first place, and exacerbated it in the second.

A few years later a thirteen member panel of the National Academy of Sciences looked into the issue of diet and cancer, and its recommendations are also by nutrient rather than by food. Pollan blames this on fall-out from the McGovern/Beef industry kerfluffle as well as pressure from corporate industry and special interests as well, although he offers no substantiation of this claim, and it seems to me to be more likely to be a case of the cult of the expert preferring its own jargon.

More errors of the lipid hypothesis:

But remember, you’re the idiot if you don’t believe your doctor when he tells you to take your 13 year old off of whole milk and move her to skim milk, or you turn down a prescription to reduce your cholesterol, or if you believe meat (grass fed) is healthier than breakfast cereal made from extruded grains, mixed with a sugar slurry, and sprayed with lab manufactured vitamins. In fact, this is a government sponsored position, the lipid hypotheses as we know it. As you see, there wouldn’t be research to support it until after the government gave its stamp of approval (and offered grants). There are and always have been independent scientists who disagreed with the government approved position on the lipid hypothesis (which was never derived from sound research in the first place)

Much of what we think we know about nutrition and health is just, so, so wrong.

Moreover, it turns out that obesity is not quite the health disaster the tort lawyers would like it to be. In a 2005 paper published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), Katherine Flegal and her coauthors showed that people who are “overweight” but not obese are less likely to die of any cause than people of “normal” weight. Meanwhile, people who are “grade 1” obese are as likely to die as “normal” people. Only people who are underweight or have grade 2 or 3 obesity are more likely to die. In other words, obesity can lead to health problems but does not necessarily do so—and is only a serious concern for people who are very obese. These results were confirmed in a follow-up study by Flegal published in JAMA in January, which analyzed 97 studies giving a sample size of more than 2.88 million individuals.

Now, the proportion of people with grade 2 or 3 obesity did increase significantly in the 1980s and 1990s, rising from about 5 percent of the population in 1980 to about 15 percent in 2000. But over the same period, the proportion of those with grade 2 or 3 obesity who died from all causes fell. The most likely explanation for this is some combination of the following: First, improvements in medical interventions addressing a range of obesity-related problems, from diabetes to cardiovascular disease, mean that people suffering these obesity-related ailments fare better today than they would have done 30 years ago. Second, whereas previously obese people tended not to get much exercise, many more are now both physically fit and obese. Most likely, the group that really do suffer substantial increases in health problems are those who are “grade 3” obese; and this may in part be because above a certain weight there seems to be a vicious circle of declining exercise and increasing weight—even though those who are most obese are likely to benefit most from exercise.

Posted in food, government, health | 3 Comments

Media and the White House

By Headmistress, zookeeper | Published: May 15, 2013

Journalists reacted with shock and outrage at the news that the Justice Department had secretly obtained months of phone records of Associated Press journalists.

They could have been doing their jobs instead of working for Obama all this time, and I would feel more sympathy.  Still.  Wrong is wrong.

They could start fighting back.  Maybe this would make a good start:

When there is evidence of scandalous or bizarre behavior on the part of a political figure, and no reasonable explanation is revealed within 24 to 48 hours, then the truth is probably as bad as everyone suspects.

Nobody withholds exculpatory information. Nobody who’s been accused of something wrong waits for “just the right moment” to unveil information that proves the charge baseless. Political figures never choose to deliberately let themselves twist in the wind. It’s not the instinctive psychological reaction to being falsely accused, it’s not what any public communications professional would recommend, and to use one of our president’s favorite justifications, it’s just common sense.

So…

You and I both know, in our guts, and based upon everything we’ve seen in Washington since we started our careers, that there’s no innocent explanation for the Obama administration’s actions before, during, and after the Benghazi attacks.

If there were good reasons for why the requests for additional security from staff in Libya didn’t generate any serious response in the halls of the State Department, we would have heard it by now.

 

There is a hint that the media is waking from its dormant journalism in this video: Obama’s Press Secretary as Baghdad Bob- http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2013/05/worst-performance-ever-by-a-white-house-press-secretary.php

Maxine Waters: ‘Obama Has Put In Place’ Secret Database With ‘Everything On Everyone’; http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=49a_1360284775

And…. WHAT?

Holder: I can’t remember when I recused myself from the AP investigation, and I know I didn’t do it in writing

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The IRS Story

By Headmistress, zookeeper | Published: May 15, 2013


 The IRS Story just got worse.  My jaw dropped. The IRS actually demanded to know details about what materials a group is reading, and they essentially wanted book reports on those books. They sent the Constitution. http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2013/05/irs-asks-for-reading-list-tea-party-group-sends-constitution/

The IRS also targeted groups whose focus was teaching about the Constitution. Fair enough. I can see why this administration views Constitutional knowledge as a dangerous thing. http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/05/13/irs-scrutiny-went-beyond-tea-party-criteria-broader-than-thought/?cmpid=cmty_twitter_fn

IRS ordered conservative educational group to hand over names of high school students it trained.

This is his excuse?

The government is simply too big for President Obama to keep track of all the wrongdoing taking place on his watch, his former senior adviser, David Axelrod, told MSNBC. “Part of being president is there’s so much beneath you that you can’t know because the government is so vast,” he explained.

So, really? Government is just too big? That’s what you want to go with? Who knew David Axelrod and I could be in such total agreement?

Is anybody else connecting the dots that the IRS abuses its power for political purposes AND is tasked with overseeing Obamacare?

And just like that, the next thing I read is that the IRS is Being Sued Over Improper Access To Tens of Millions Of Health Records

Pro Publica: IRS Office That Targeted Tea Party Also Disclosed Confidential Docs From Conservative Groups
“The same IRS office that deliberately targeted conservative groups applying for tax-exempt status in the run-up to the 2012 election released nine pending confidential applications of conservative groups to ProPublica late last year.” (via Ace’s sidebar)

 

More great images here.

And the scandal continues- IRS now discovered to have targeted ro-life groups as well.

And now this:

To no one’s surprise, it is already evident that the Obama administration has been lying about the scope of the IRS’s harassment of conservative-leaning non-profits. The Washington Post has obtained documents that show the anti-conservative effort was directed from Washington, D.C., and was not a rogue operation out of the agency’s Cincinnati office, as the administration has claimed…

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Abercrombie & Fitch For The Homeless

By Headmistress, zookeeper | Published: May 14, 2013

Abercrombie and Fitch’s CEO Mike Jeffries only wants cool folks wearing A&F clothes- so his company policy is to refuse to make them in larger women’s sizes, because larger women are like the outcasts from high school, and the company policy is also to refuse to donate any surplus or slightly imperfect clothing to charity.  They burn it instead, so as to be sure to keep their precious, precious brand off the backs of the great unwashed and uncool.   Because waste and pollution is so much cooler.

Greg Karber has a wickedly witty response to this.  You’ve got to see it for yourself.

Posted in Uncategorized | 7 Comments