Author Archives: DrE

Baby owl takes a bath!

Posted on July 15, 2021 | 6 comments

Here’s a stress-buster 🙂

And this is what a newborn owl looks like:

~E

6 Comments

Posted in God's creation

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Wednesday Funnies!

Posted on July 14, 2021 | 8 comments

~E

8 Comments

Posted in Funnies

Test your balance!

Posted on July 11, 2021 | 6 comments

As we age, maintaining balance becomes critical so we can stay steady and avoid falls. Falling is the leading cause of fatal and non-fatal injuries for older Americans. Falls threaten seniors’ safety and independence and generate enormous economic and personal costs. (National Council on Aging)

Some alarming statistics from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC):

  • As many as 1 in 4 Americans aged 65+ falls each year.
  • Every 11 seconds, an older adult is treated in the emergency room for a fall; every 19 minutes, an older adult dies from a fall.
  • Falls are the leading cause of fatal injury and the most common cause of nonfatal trauma-related hospital admissions among older adults.
  • Falls result in more than 2.8 million injuries treated in emergency departments annually, including over 800,000 hospitalizations and more than 27,000 deaths.
  • In 2015, the total cost of fall injuries was $50 billion. Medicare and Medicaid shouldered 75% of these costs.
  • The financial toll for older adult falls is expected to increase as the population ages and may reach $67.7 billion by 2020.

But falling is not an inevitable result of aging.

Through practical lifestyle adjustments, evidence-based falls prevention programs, and clinical-community partnerships, the number of falls among seniors can be substantially reduced.

Below are three videos on tests to assess your balance and risk of falling. If you’re not able to safely sit and stand on your own power, skip the tests.

(1) 10-SECOND BALANCE TEST:

In this video, fitness expert David Jack shows us how to do a quick balance check:

  • Stand up in open space, i.e., not against a wall or a piece of furniture.
  • Put your feet together, close your eyes, and balance.
  • Stand for 10 seconds.

Did you have a sense of anxiety or fear? Did you start to sway? That’s your brain telling you balance is something you need to work on.

2. 30-SECOND SIT-TO-STAND TEST:

How many times can you sit and stand from a chair in 30 seconds? In this video, David Jack explains how this quick—but important—test can give you clues about your lower-body strength and endurance.

You’ll need a regular, sturdy chair with a seat that’s about 17 inches high.

If you did 19 or more reps, that’s a sign your lower-body strength and endurance are above average.

(3) More Demanding Tests:

How did you do on the three video-tests?

If the results say you need to work on balance, pay attention! 

Having a strong lower body makes it more likely you can keep your balance and avoid falling. Thus, increasing the strength of your thigh, calf and hip muscles should increase your balance. There are balance exercises you can do to improve your stability and reduce your chances of falling. Go here for a video.

But simple things like walking and dancing can strengthen your lower body. A June 2017 report in Disability and Reabilitation tested this idea in older adults with limited mobility. Participants practiced line dancing twice a week for an hour. An untreated group served as the control. After just 8 weeks, the line dancers had greater leg strength and better balance than controls. Interestingly, they also walked faster and felt more mobile.

Stay strong!

~E

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Posted in Health, safety

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Sunday Devotional: The Twelve drove out many demons

Posted on July 11, 2021 | 4 comments

Mark 6:7-13

Jesus summoned the Twelve and began to send them out two by two
and gave them authority over unclean spirits.
He instructed them to take nothing for the journey
but a walking stick—
no food, no sack, no money in their belts.
They were, however, to wear sandals
but not a second tunic.
He said to them,
“Wherever you enter a house, stay there until you leave.
Whatever place does not welcome you or listen to you,
leave there and shake the dust off your feet
in testimony against them.”
So they went off and preached repentance.
The Twelve drove out many demons,
and they anointed with oil many who were sick and cured them.

The above passage from Mark 6 is the gospel reading for today, but I predict that the priest at Mass at my parish this morning will not make any mention of the Devil or of demons or of demonic possession or of our Lord Jesus Christ having given priests the power to drive out demons.

——————————–

UPDATE: As I had predicted, in his homily today, the new pastoral administrator at my parish ignored today’s gospel reading entirely. Not a word about the Devil, or of sin, or of  demonic possession, or of the awesome power and authority Jesus had conferred on him as a successor of the Twelve.

————————————-

Only one of the following three can be true:

  1. The author of the Gospel of Mark was lying.
  2. Jesus was delusional in believing there are demons and that He has  the authority and the ability to cast out demons — an ability He conferred on His twelve Apostles and their successors.
  3. Mark was telling the truth, which makes any priest or minister who refuses to address this subject a coward, at best, or at worst, a liar by omission.

CNS News reported that a 2013 Harris Poll found that although a majority (74%) of U.S. adults still said they believed in God, only 58% or fewer than 6 out of every 10 American adults believed in the Devil. That percentage can only be even lower today. Those Americans must think that Jesus was lying or hallucinating when He exorcised demons.

“The finest trick of the devil is to persuade you that he does not exist. (La plus belle des ruses du diable est de vous persuader qu’il n’existe pas.)” -Charles Baudelaire, Le Joueur gĂ©nĂ©reux, 1864.

How can we armor ourselves against the Devil if we don’t even believe he exists? No wonder Americans increasingly are debauched and depraved.

What’s the best defense against the Devil and demonic possession?

Be faithful to the First and Greatest Commandment of All (Matthew 22:37):

Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.

And may the peace and love of Jesus Christ, our Lord, be with you,

~E

4 Comments

Posted in Christianity

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The slutty duchess Caption Contest

Posted on July 7, 2021 | 9 comments

this caption contest is now closed.

—————————–

This is our 245th world-famous Caption Contest!

Here’s the pic:

 

About the pic: Meghan Markle, Duchess of Sussex and wife of Prince Harry, left her newborn baby Archie in London and jetted to New York for the U.S. Open on Sept. 7, 2019, ostensibly to support her friend Serena Williams. At the tennis match, wearing a shirt-button dress, Markle openly flirted with Williams’ husband, Alexis Ohanian, by spreading her thighs and flashing her crotch. This is confirmed by a recent CDAN blind item reveal.

You know the drill:

  • Enter the contest by submitting your caption as a comment on this thread (scroll down until you see the “LEAVE A REPLY” box).
  • Body and Soul‘s writers will vote for the winner.
  • Any captions proffered by our writers, no matter how brilliant (ha ha), will not be considered. :(

This contest will be closed in two weeks, at the end of Tuesday, July 20, 2021.

To get the contest going, here’s my caption:

People sitting next to Markle: “Ew! What’s that smell?”

For the winner of our last Caption Contest, go here.

~E

9 Comments

Posted in Caption contest, Funnies

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We have a winner!

Posted on July 7, 2021 | 4 comments

. . . for our 244th Caption Contest!

Our writers have voted for their respective #1 (best) and #2 (next best) captions. Each #1 vote is worth 4 points; each #2 vote is worth 2 points.

And the winner of our 244th Caption Contest, with two #1 votes and two #2 votes, totaling 12 points is . . .

Truckjunkie!

Here is the winning caption:

Giant Cicada Wipes Huge Turd off its Butt.

Captain America and vett are in second place, each with one #1 vote and one #2 vote, totaling 6 points each. Here are their captions:

Captain America: “All insects are drawn to their demon lords.”

vett: “Damn Cootie Bugs!”

CalGirl and GregB are in third place, each with one #1 vote and 4 points:

CalGirl: “First verifiably cogent thing I’ve done since the beginning of the basement “campaign. ” At least I stood up to and swatted off a pest. Don’t know that I can do the same with Russia.”

GregB: “Cicadas live in trees, not Joe’s head. Only Trump lives in Biden’s head.”

Hildegard is in 4th place, with one #2 vote and 2 points:

Ahhh, the reek of a brainless walking corpse
irresistible
and worth waiting 17 years for, chirped the cicada nymph afterward in a prime-time interview (it went viral).

WELL DONE, EVERYONE!

Congratulations, truckjunkie!!!

For all the other caption submissions, go here.

Be here later today for our next, very exciting Caption Contest!

~E

4 Comments

Posted in Caption contest, Funnies

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Monday night funnies!

Posted on July 5, 2021 | 4 comments

~E

4 Comments

Posted in Funnies

18 of America’s 20 worst cities are run by Democrats

Posted on July 5, 2021 | 4 comments

WalletHub compared the operating efficiency of 150 of the largest U.S. cities to determine which among them are managed best, based on a “Quality of Services” score made up of 38 metrics grouped into 6 service categories:

  1. Financial stability
  2. Education
  3. Health
  4. Safety
  5. Economy
  6. Infrastructure and Pollution

Each city’s “Quality of Services” score is then measured against the city’s per-capita budget. (To find out more about WalletHub’s methodology, go here.)

Source: WalletHub

No surprise to us, Los Angeles, CA (#134), Chicago, IL (#141), Oakland, CA (#144), Detroit, MI (#145), New York, NY (#148), San Francisco, CA (#149), and Washington, DC (#15o) are ranked among the worst — all governed by Democrats.

In fact, 18 of the 20 worst managed cities have Democrat mayors. The two exceptions are #146 Gulfport, TN (Republican mayor Billy Hewes) and #147 Chattanooga, TN (Independent mayor Tim Kelly).

But that fact won’t deter the voters of those cities to reelect Democrats, which is a sure indicator of their mental illness.

Here’s the list of the 150 cities, ranked from best (#1) to worst (#150):

Overall Rank (1=Best)  City ‘Quality of City Services’ Rank  ‘Total Budget per Capita’ Rank 
1 Nampa, ID 23 1
2 Boise, ID 4 3
3 Fort Wayne, IN 63 2
4 Nashua, NH 5 9
5 Lexington-Fayette, KY 44 6
6 Lincoln, NE 8 19
7 Durham, NC 25 11
8 Rapid City, SD 81 4
9 Las Cruces, NM 65 5
10 Virginia Beach, VA 2 36
11 Raleigh, NC 11 29
12 Missoula, MT 67 12
13 Oklahoma City, OK 88 8
14 Manchester, NH 29 20
15 Provo, UT 3 38
16 Sioux Falls, SD 31 21
17 Billings, MT 86 13
18 Madison, WI 6 42
19 Chesapeake, VA 17 34
20 Huntington Beach, CA 1 55
21 Louisville, KY 80 17
22 Greensboro, NC 57 23
23 Arlington, TX 28 31
24 Salem, OR 54 26
25 Mesa, AZ 58 25
26 Bismarck, ND 12 48
27 Charleston, SC 15 44
28 Columbus, GA 95 16
29 Cedar Rapids, IA 34 39
30 Warwick, RI 26 43
31 Albuquerque, NM 127 10
32 Tucson, AZ 111 14
33 Warren, MI 74 28
34 Huntington, WV 114 15
35 Aurora, IL 51 37
36 Phoenix, AZ 65 35
37 Grand Rapids, MI 33 47
38 Lewiston, ME 85 30
39 Tulsa, OK 110 22
40 Topeka, KS 76 40
41 Reno, NV 43 49
42 Worcester, MA 48 52
43 St. Petersburg, FL 42 54
44 Mobile, AL 96 32
45 Fort Worth, TX 56 53
46 El Paso, TX 64 50
47 Wichita, KS 124 24
48 Portland, ME 21 69
49 Corpus Christi, TX 99 41
50 Colorado Springs, CO 78 51
51 Baton Rouge, LA 129 27
52 Las Vegas, NV 49 61
53 Aurora, CO 79 56
54 Gary, IN 141 18
55 Fairbanks, AK 102 45
56 Des Moines, IA 53 62
57 Eugene, OR 38 71
58 Fort Smith, AR 123 33
59 Rutland, VT 59 67
60 Fargo, ND 35 79
61 Spokane, WA 60 68
62 San Diego, CA 7 97
63 Santa Ana, CA 39 81
64 Jackson, MS 148 7
65 Omaha, NE 27 86
66 Little Rock, AR 122 46
67 Hialeah, FL 55 78
68 Indianapolis, IN 93 60
69 Portland, OR 19 95
70 Boston, MA 14 100
71 Akron, OH 97 65
72 Montgomery, AL 119 58
73 Garland, TX 52 89
74 Salt Lake City, UT 16 106
75 Anchorage, AK 83 82
76 Tallahassee, FL 73 85
77 Fremont, CA 13 113
78 Houston, TX 100 73
79 Jacksonville, FL 109 70
80 Frederick, MD 22 108
81 Dayton, OH 101 74
82 Austin, TX 10 117
83 Columbia, SC 103 76
84 Dover, DE 120 64
85 Springfield, MA 121 63
86 Miami, FL 50 96
87 Casper, WY 104 80
88 Tampa, FL 40 101
89 Providence, RI 116 72
90 San Antonio, TX 47 103
91 St. Paul, MN 45 104
92 Columbus, OH 82 92
93 New Orleans, LA 136 57
94 San Jose, CA 20 121
95 Dallas, TX 89 93
96 Burlington, VT 32 114
97 Norfolk, VA 107 88
98 Charleston, WV 128 77
99 Bridgeport, CT 117 83
100 Richmond, VA 87 98
101 Kansas City, MO 112 91
102 Anaheim, CA 69 111
103 Cincinnati, OH 72 112
104 Fort Lauderdale, FL 41 120
105 Charlotte, NC 24 126
106 Toledo, OH 142 66
107 Orlando, FL 61 118
108 Bakersfield, CA 130 86
109 Shreveport, LA 147 59
110 Milwaukee, WI 126 90
111 Nashville, TN 105 105
112 Lubbock, TX 118 101
113 Knoxville, TN 46 130
114 Seattle, WA 9 140
115 Minneapolis, MN 37 133
116 Modesto, CA 108 109
117 Stockton, CA 145 75
118 Birmingham, AL 132 94
119 Syracuse, NY 84 123
120 Sacramento, CA 92 122
121 Pittsburgh, PA 68 129
122 Buffalo, NY 91 125
123 Riverside, CA 90 127
124 Atlanta, GA 77 132
125 Wilmington, DE 113 119
126 Fresno, CA 133 107
127 Long Beach, CA 62 139
128 Baltimore, MD 135 110
129 Cheyenne, WY 98 135
130 Denver, CO 71 141
131 Kansas City, KS 138 116
132 St. Louis, MO 149 84
133 Memphis, TN 143 115
134 Los Angeles, CA 75 143
135 New Haven, CT 137 124
136 Yonkers, NY 70 144
137 Philadelphia, PA 134 128
138 Rochester, NY 115 138
139 Tacoma, WA 106 142
140 Hartford, CT 144 131
141 Chicago, IL 140 136
142 Cleveland, OH 139 137
143 Flint, MI 146 134
144 Oakland, CA 94 147
145 Detroit, MI 150 99
146 Gulfport, MS 125 145
147 Chattanooga, TN 131 146
148 New York, NY 36 148
149 San Francisco, CA 18 149
150 Washington, DC 30 150

~E

4 Comments

Posted in Crime, Finances, Health, safety

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Sunday Devotional: Power is made perfect in weakness

Posted on July 4, 2021 | 2 comments

2 Corinthians 12:7-10

Brothers and sisters:
That I, Paul, might not become too elated,
because of the abundance of the revelations,
a thorn in the flesh was given to me, an angel of Satan,
to beat me, to keep me from being too elated.
Three times I begged the Lord about this, that it might leave me,
but he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you,
for power is made perfect in weakness.”
I will rather boast most gladly of my weaknesses,
in order that the power of Christ may dwell with me.
Therefore, I am content with weaknesses, insults,
hardships, persecutions, and constraints,
for the sake of Christ;
for when I am weak, then I am strong.

The above passage from St. Paul’s letter to the Corinthians is a puzzle and a seeming contradiction, for how can power be made perfect in weakness?

The answer is in the sentence from which the phrase is lifted. The complete sentence reads:

Three times I begged the Lord about this, that it might leave me, but he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness.”

In other words, instead of asking that we be spared life’s inevitable problems, challenges  and tragedies — the nefarious consequences of Adam and Eve’s sin — we are told to trust in God and to turn to Him for help. And when we do that, God will manifest His power in us, and we will find strength and fortitude, for “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” (Philippians 4:13). His power will be made perfect in our weakness.

The post that immediately precedes this post is an example.

The past year of COVID-19 quarantines and lockdowns had exacted a terrible toll not just in business closures and unemployment, but also on our mental health. According to Harvard Medical School professor David H. Rosmarin:

  • The incidence of mental disorders increased by 50%.
  • Alcohol and other substance abuse surged.
  • Young adults were more than twice as likely to seriously consider suicide than they were in 2018.

The only group whose mental health actually improved during the past year were those who attended religious services at least weekly, in-person or online. 46% of religious Americans said their mental health was “excellent” — an increase of 4% from a year ago.

Pretty amazing, isn’t it.

~E

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Posted in Uncategorized

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Religious Americans are only group whose mental health improved during coronavirus pandemic

Posted on July 3, 2021 | 3 comments

We have evidence from study after study of the beneficial effects of religious faith on one’s physical and mental health.

Here’s the latest.

In “Psychiatry Needs to Get Right with God,” for Scientific American, June 15, 2021, David H. Rosmarin, an associate professor at Harvard Medical School and director of the McLean Hospital Spirituality & Mental Health Program, writes:

In the past year, American mental health sank to the lowest point in history: Incidence of mental disorders increased by 50 percent, compared with before the pandemic, alcohol and other substance abuse surged, and young adults were more than twice as likely to seriously consider suicide than they were in 2018. Yet the only group to see improvements in mental health during the past year were those who attended religious services at least weekly (virtually or in-person): 46 percent report “excellent” mental health today versus 42 percent one year ago. […]

My own research has demonstrated that a belief in God is associated with significantly better treatment outcomes for acute psychiatric patients. And other laboratories have shown a connection between religious belief and the thickness of the brain’s cortex, which may help protect against depression.

~E

3 Comments

Posted in Christianity, COVID-19, Health, Science and Christianity

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