Tuesday's Teacher

I got this from Terry and thought it was interesting. It's from the Atlantic


The Case Against Happiness

[Tony Woodlief]

I'm wondering if a parent's happiness is overrated. I've been trying to make sense of the evidence. Will Wilkinson offered us a critique of GMU economist Brian Caplan's argument for additional children as a means of self-satisfaction, which I think was spot on given evidence that parents report lower happiness than non-parents. But then there are those who claim that children increase happiness when they are born into two-parent homes where they are wanted. And there are also those who claim we have to look at twins, because maybe it's inherent psychological factors causing the happiness, which in turn causes the baby-making.

Any parent will tell you children are difficult, and they wear you out, and they likely will just break your heart in the end. And who knows -- maybe when we believe we are feeling deep joy from parenthood (usually over a glass of wine, after all the little stinkers are finally in bed), we are simply sentimentalizing the whole ordeal to keep ourselves from rooting out our unused passports from the sock drawer and dashing off to Europe, never to be heard from again. Or perhaps we just feel too guilty to admit that, while we couldn't bear losing them now that we have them, we very well could have been delightfully satisfied had we never met them.

And here's where I wonder if we ought to re-examine our commitment to happiness. It seems to me that there's possibly some merit -- if we persevere and have the sense to learn from it -- in the other-orientation that is (good) parenting. It's fine to go through life happy, in other words, but I suspect we also want to go through life without becoming big fat self-absorbed jackasses. Children really help in that regard.

To be sure, there are too many parents who, despite their children, remain narcissistic nimrods. But the nature of parenting is to beat that out of you. There's just no time to spend on ourselves, at least not like we would if we didn't have babies to wash and toys to clean up, usually in the middle of the night, after impaling our feet on them.

People are inherently self-centered, and especially in a peaceful, prosperous society, this easily leads to self-indulgence that in turn can make us weak and ignoble. There's something to be said for ordeals -- like parenting, or marriage, or tending the weak and broken -- which push us into an other-orientation. When we have to care for someone, we get better at, well, caring for people. It actually takes practice, after all. I'm still trying to get it right.

I suppose an economist could make this all fit. What I'm really saying, the economist might contend, is that one element of my self-interest, in addition to enjoying a leisurely meal, and plenty of sleep, and the ability to go away on vacations without worrying about who will watch the youngsters, is not becoming (remaining?) a jerk. Kids certainly don't guarantee that won't happen, but they help mitigate the risk. And if we conceptualize that self-interest, in turn, as happiness, we're right back where we started.

But I wonder if the questions would change. Instead of asking parents and non-parents whether they are happy right now, we might ask whether they are becoming more like the people they want to be. And then we might see children not as factors that may or may not be contributing to our happiness, but as opportunities to practice what most of us -- perhaps me most of all -- need to do more often, which is to put someone else before ourselves.

Monday's Tattler

Good Morning!

Another week of Summer. This week we will be going swimming to the pool on Tuesday, and on Wednesday, we will go to Scales Lake. There is no field trip on Friday.

Today we will try a new dish with the kids. It's a cream cheese and sour cream dip with bacon and cheddar cheese and salsa. We think the kids will be crazy about this. For the reticent, we will have peanut butter on crackers. Lots of fresh fruit and a salad to go with this.

Regular school days on Monday and on Thursday.

Glad we will get a break in the weather for a few days.

On Wednesday, Miss Judy will talk about the Garden School at the Optimist's Club down town in Evansville.

Have a great week!

Sunday's Plate

My Internet service is up a minute and then down a minute. It's enough to make you scream. So my Sundays sans service has made this column a bit unreliable.

In my talks with several friends lately, I've come to the conclusion that most people don't even think about the nutrition, the quality, or the long term effects of what they eat. High fat, high calorie, glutenous, over cooked food is the preferred food.

In this column, the idea is to learn to make simple, palatable, quality foods that will impact the body for the good. Food should not make us unhealthy, for goodness sake. It should make us healthy.

Today we will make a Quiche. Whoa! Quiche? It's simple, so don't freak out.

First step is to make the crust. You will need a rolling pin or can and a place to roll. Best crusts are made with lard, but lard is about the worst thing you can eat, so we will use either Crisco or butter. I usually use butter because it's a dairy food and used in moderation, it's saturated fat, but unlike margarine, it's free of chemicals. Margarine is one molecule away from plastic. It should not only never be eaten, it should never be purchased. Crisco makes better crust than butter, but crisco is man made and is suspect.

The best crust is half white flour and half whole wheat pastry flour, but you can make it with 100% whole wheat flour for a healthier meal. You will need 2 cups of flour and a stick of butter.

In a food processor, combine flour and butter and half a teaspoon of salt. Boil a little water and slowly pour about 1/4 cup boiling water into the flour-butter-salt mix while processor is on and when it balls up into one lump, it's ready to be rolled. If the dough fails to ball up it is either too dry or you added too much water. Either add more water - carefully - or add more flour.

A crust which is flaky will have a lot of butter in it. Too much water, and the crust will be tough.

Once the dough is balled, let it sit on the counter for about ten minutes to rest. Now using a well floured surface, roll out the dough with a rolling pin into a plate sized piece. Use plenty of flour to make sure your dough does not stick to the counter or board.

Fold the circle in half and half again and lift into your pie plate. Trim the edges and make sure the dough fits the whole pie pan.

Now for the fun part.

A quiche is really an egg pie made with left overs. Go to the refrigerator and find all the left over fresh vegetables you have and cut them into pieces about the size of a teaspoon and tumble those into the bottom of your unbaked crust. Almost any vegetable can be put into a quiche: yellow squash, zucchini, broccoli, onion, mushrooms, spinach, potatoes, green and red peppers, tomatoes - whatever.

If you have left over bacon, roast, chicken, meat balls, or anything without a bone, you can cube it into pieces and tumble into the bottom of your crust. If you don't have any left overs, you can go meatless. You can also zap a chicken breast or a little bacon in the microwave and cube that.

Next part is eggs. Just like you are making scrambled eggs, mix five eggs and a cup of milk together until they are light and frothy. Pour the eggs over the meat and vegetables.

Over the top of your quiche, put a couple of cups of grated cheddar cheese.

Bake at 350 degrees for about an hour. Your quiche will have a nice brown top, and the crust edge will be brown as well.

There is plenty of protein with this meal. It does not need any other food to go with it. It is complete. If the quiche is made with fresh vegetables, it has no preservatives, no chemicals, and aside from some cholesterol, it's not only filling and delicious, it's good for you.

Saturday on the Blog...

An older, tired-looking dog wandered into my yard; I could tell from his collar and well-fed belly that he had a home and was well taken care of.

He calmly came over to me, I gave him a few pats on his head; he then followed me into my house, slowly walked down the hall, curled up in the corner and fell asleep. About an hour later, he went to the door, and I let him out.

The next day he was back, greeted me in my yard, walked inside and resumed his spot in the hall and again slept for about an hour. This continued for several weeks. Curious, I pinned a note to his collar: 'I would like to find out who the owner of this wonderful sweet dog is, and ask if you are aware that every afternoon your dog comes to my house for a nap. The next day he arrived with a different note pinned to his collar : "He lives in a home with 6 children, 2 under the age of 3 - he's trying to catch up on his sleep. Can I come with him tomorrow?'

Friday's Tattler

We had a great time at Scales Lake. We packed up and headed up there early. The beach was beautiful around the lake. The kids found the water warm and inviting especially since the it's been so hot. The top of the water was bathtub warm. This is a VERY shallow lake and teachers always stand at the limit so children are very very safe.

Several of the kids found they could swim better in the lake than at the pool. I spent a lot of time with Isaac, who found he had a lot more water power at the lake. He could go longer and do more in the natural water. I told him it was time he went off the board at the pool, and I think the wheels are turning.

Savannah was thrilled and solitary as she discovered and re-discovered the water and found she could propel herself pretty much at will.

Jayce was thrilled to go as deep as he could - no fear on his part!

It was interesting to watch the kids this first time at the lake. Some were bound to play with each other, and some kids just wanted to go off by themselves to see what they could see.

We had a nice lunch, and the kids ate everything. We went back to the lake after lunch and by about 2:00 the kids were done. We left the park with a brief stop at the little zoo, and the children enjoyed visiting with the goats and the ducks.

Once on the way home, we had five sleepers within seconds of our departure.

At home the children feasted on cantaloupe, juice pops, whole grain chocolate chip cookies and water. All in all it was a great day.

Wise and Wonderful Wednesday

Op-Ed Contributor

Blow Up the Well to Save the Gulf

By CHRISTOPHER BROWNFIELD

Published: June 21, 2010

From the New York Times

TONY HAYWARD, the chief executive of BP, made an astounding admission before Congress last week: after nearly two months of failure, the company and the Coast Guard have no further plans to plug the Macondo oil well leaking into the Gulf. Instead, the goal is merely to contain the leak until a relief well comes online, a process that could take months.

With tens of thousands of barrels of oil leaking from the well each day, this absence of a backup plan highlights a lack of leadership, resources and expertise on the part of the Coast
Guard, which from the beginning was compelled to give BP complete control over the leaking wellhead.

Instead, President Obama needs to create a new command structure that places responsibility for plugging the leak with the Navy, the only organization in the world that can muster the necessary team. Then the Navy needs to demolish the well.

The Coast Guard, of course, should continue to play a role. But it should focus on what it can do well, like containing the oil already in the Gulf and protecting the coast with oil booms and skimmers. It should also use this crisis to establish permanent collaborations with other maritime forces around the globe, particularly those that can get to a disaster area quickly.

But control of the well itself should fall to the Navy — it alone has the resources to stop the flow. For starters, the Office of Naval Research controls numerous vehicles like Alvin, the famed submersible used to locate the Titanic. Had such submersibles been deployed earlier, we could have gotten real-time information about the wellhead, instead of waiting for BP to release critical details.

The Navy also commands explosives experts who have vast knowledge of underwater demolitions. And it has some of the world’s finest underwater engineers at Naval Reactors, the secretive program that is responsible for designing nuclear reactors for nuclear submarines. With the help of scientists in our national weapons laboratories and experts from private companies, these engineers can be let loose on the well.

To allay any concerns over militarizing the crisis, the Navy and Coast Guard should be placed in a task-force structure alongside a corps of experts, including independent oil engineers, drilling experts with dedicated equipment, geologists, energy analysts and environmentalists, who could provide pragmatic options for emergency action.

With this new structure in place, the Navy could focus on stopping the leak with a conventional demolition. This means more than simply “blowing it up”: it means drilling a hole parallel to the leaking well and lowering charges to form an explosive column.

Upon detonating several tons of explosives, a pressure wave of hundreds of thousands of pounds per square inch would spread outward in the same way that light spreads from a tubular fluorescent bulb, evenly and far. Such a sidelong explosion would implode the oil well upstream of the leak by crushing it under a layer of impermeable rock, much as stepping on a garden hose stops the stream of water.

It’s true that the primary blast of a conventional explosion is less effective underwater than on land because of the intense back-pressure that muffles the shock wave. But as a submariner who studied the detonation of torpedoes, I learned that an underwater explosion also creates rapid follow-on shockwaves. In this case, the expansion and collapse of explosive gases inside the hole would act like a hydraulic jackhammer, further pulverizing the rock.

The idea of detonating the well already has serious advocates. A few people have even called for using a nuclear device to plug the well, as the Soviet Union has done several times. But that would be overkill. Smartly placed conventional explosives could achieve the same results, and avoid setting an unacceptable international precedent for the “peaceful” use of nuclear weapons.

At best, a conventional demolition would seal the leaking well completely and permanently without damaging the oil reservoir. At worst, oil might seep through a tortuous flow-path that would complicate long-term cleanup efforts. But given the size and makeup of the geological structures between the seabed and the reservoir, it’s virtually inconceivable that an explosive could blast a bigger hole than already exists and release even more oil.

The task force could prepare for demolition without forgoing the current efforts to drill relief wells. And even if the ongoing efforts succeed and a demolition proves unnecessary, the non-nuclear option would give President Obama an ace in the hole and a clear signal that he’s in charge — not BP.

Christopher Brownfield is a former nuclear submarine officer and the author of the forthcoming memoir “My Nuclear Family.”

Tuesday's Teacher

Cartoon characters attract kids to junk food, study finds

From Food Navigator

Comment: My suggestion here is to make toothpick holders with your child's favorite character and see if this helps him eat foods he is not fond of. I think if more parents ate WITH their child, more children would eat more food. Mom and Dad are the original role models, and when a cartoon character is more influential than a parent, that says a lot.

By Caroline Scott-Thomas, 22-Jun-2010

Related topics: The obesity problem, Science & Nutrition

Children prefer the taste of foods branded with images of popular cartoon characters and choose those foods more often than unbranded ones, according to research from Yale’s Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity.

The researchers presented a group of 40 four- to six-year-old children with three different snacks – graham crackers, gummy fruit snacks and carrots – each in two different packages. Half the packages were branded with popular cartoon characters Dora the Explorer, Shrek, and Scooby Doo while the other half were unbranded. They found that children were significantly more likely to choose the cartoon-branded products over the unbranded ones – and to prefer the taste of the branded food.

In addition, the researchers found that the effect was weaker for carrots than it was for gummy fruit snacks and graham crackers.

Lead author Christina Roberto wrote: “Our results provide evidence that licensed characters can influence children’s eating habits negatively by increasing positive taste perceptions and preferences for junk food. Given that 13 percent of marketing expenditures targeting youths are spent on character licensing and other forms of cross-promotion, our findings suggest that the use of licensed characters on junk food packaging should be restricted.”

Childhood obesity is at record levels, with 32 percent of US children and adolescents overweight or obese, according to statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The researchers highlighted that the increase in childhood obesity – which has more than tripled since the 1970s – has coincided with increased marketing of products to children. Food and beverage companies spend more than $1.6bn a year on marketing products to younger consumers, according to Federal Trade Commission figures.

“Rather than advocating the use of licensed characters in the marketing of healthy foods, these findings suggest a need for regulation to curtail the use of licensed characters in the marketing of low-nutrient, high-energy foods,” the researchers wrote.

Despite finding no statistically significant preference for the taste of character-branded carrots, children were much more likely to choose all three foods if they were labeled with a cartoon character. A range of 72.5 percent to 87.5 percent of children selected the character-associated carrots, gummy fruit snacks, and graham crackers.

Source: Pediatrics

Published online ahead of print

“Influence of Licensed Characters on Children's Taste and Snack Preferences”

Authors: Christina Roberto, Jenny Baik, Jennifer Harris and Kelly Brownell

Monday's Tattler

Good Morning. My Internet connection was down on and off all weekend. Joys.

This week is going to be especially hot. We will not be going to the ball game on Tuesday. I think some of the kids would really like this, but at 100 degrees for four hours in an unshaded area is too much to ask from anyone. It would be unsafe.

Ditto the pool. After talking to a safety expert, I was told that water does not necessarily keep one hydrated. We will be going on Wednesday, however. I think we can handle one day in the sun, but not two at 100 degrees.

Monday and Thursday are school days, and on Friday, we will be going to Scales Lake in Boonville. It's a nice sandy beach, and for those who swim, there is a water slide.

Please bring your child's favorite water gun. We will be having brief water battles on the playground.

Have a great week!

Saturday's South of the Sun

From Teacher Magazine

Teaching Secrets: Hang on to the Magic

By Gail Tillery

Comment: Brilliant article and a must read book. Ditto. So absolutely true.

It was a Monday last spring in the middle of testing season. At the lunch time “venting” session, people were whining and complaining about the testing schedule, which was indeed an indescribable disaster. I totally understood why people were so angry and frustrated, and I didn't blame them for getting their frustrations out among friends. However, as we were leaving, one of the young teachers in the room said something that really resonated with me: “Twenty-six years and four days.”

It took us a moment to get what she was saying. What did that random time period have to do with anything? Then it hit me: She was pointing out how long it would be until she could retire. The other teachers and I kind of giggled nervously. But it got me thinking. What kind of a profession are we in where people count down the days and years to retirement? How could such an amazing young teacher become so disheartened in her fourth year of teaching?

When I thought more about these questions, I understood the reason for her despair. She would absolutely tell you that her unhappiness has nothing to do with the kids, and everything to do with the forces outside of her control. They’re the same things that drive every teacher crazy. Politicians. Testing. Merit pay. Budget cuts and teacher furloughs. Parents who don't care. Parents who care too much and hover. People in charge of our work who are clueless and don't know what they're doing. All the extraneous forces that combine to suck the life out of even the most positive teachers in the profession.

As I thought about this wonderful young woman who is like the daughter I never had. As I thought about future novice teachers who will face the same issues, I asked myself, “How can I be part of the solution? How can I help young teachers see that, despite the current insanity around our work, this job is still the most magical one there is? I offer the following to the novice teachers out there who are about to embark on their careers.

Lesson one: Acceptance. One of the best prayers ever is the Serenity Prayer, which teaches us to accept the things we cannot change. The way education is set up in this country, teachers do not control their own work. Until legislators get out of the middle of it all, we will continue to struggle with top-down decisions that aren't good for kids. We can rant and whine and cry about it all we want, but we still have to get on with the business of teaching the kids who come to us every day. (Although I firmly believe that if enough legislators had to be in a building for even one day, standardized tests would end tomorrow.) Thus, we must take a deep breath, remind ourselves to control the things we can control, and go from there.

Lesson two: Holiness. No, I don't really mean this in the religious sense. What I mean is, what we do with kids is holy and sacred because it changes lives. We provide lifelines to kids who have no one. We turn kids on to knowledge. We listen to their dramas, let them cry themselves out, help them work through their problems....I could go on and on about what millions of teachers do for millions of kids every day. The excellent teachers in the world are not in the classroom to deliver knowledge and skills alone; they are also there to provide life lessons to children whose futures will be brighter because a teacher cared for them.

I was watching M*A*S*H the other day (my favorite show, ever, forever) and thinking of all the lives that were saved by units like these in the last few wars. I was also thinking, “What must it feel like to know you saved a life?” And then I realized I've done the same thing many times in my classroom. Not literally, of course, but just as importantly. When I help a kid learn a new skill, when I help him or her try one more time instead of giving up and quitting school or making life-altering negative decisions, I am saving lives, too.

Lesson three: Don't take it personally. This lesson is especially important for high school teachers. When we pour our time, energy, and hearts into planning lessons for students, and then they grouse and complain and aren't engaged, we get our feelings hurt. Let go of that. The students' lack of interest and snarky attitudes are not about you as a person. The flip side of this, of course, is to spend the time and energy to create the most engaging lessons possible, but we have to understand that we can't reach every kid every day.

Lesson four: Understand that there are people out there who are content to be mediocre. When I first came to a public school after 12 years of teaching in a private school, I jumped in with both feet and got involved in as many leadership positions as I could. While many of my new colleagues were supportive, others were a little judgmental and critical. I went to a trusted administrator about it, and she told me, “If you step out in front, there will always be people who try to shoot you down.” Step out anyway.

Lesson five: Stay away from the Dark Side. You will learn quickly who the positive people are. Gravitate to them in your department and in your building. Stay away from the people who hate their job and are counting down the days until school ends. They will pull you down with them if you let them.

Lesson six (a corollary to lesson five): Don't let the turkeys get you down. College in the 80's was all about how many buttons you could display on your clothing or your bag. One button I still have in my classroom is a picture of an elephant who is lying on his stomach with his legs spread everywhere. He is covered in turkeys. Enough said.

Lesson seven: Be in balance. Remember that your job is not your life. Your life is your life. When you leave the building, leave everything in it: the kids you can't reach, the kids who are hurting, the Eeyorish colleagues, the insane demands, all the negative stuff. Do not burden your spirit with it. After all, it will all still be there when you come back. Work out, be quiet, worship, sleep, read, laugh. You'll be suicidal by Thanksgiving if you don't.

Lesson eight: Own your power. I have written in other places about how to take charge of your classroom. This version of owning your power is about realizing that every day of your life, you have the power to make a child's life better or worse. You will interact with hundreds, if not thousands, of children through your career, and you will not remember them all. But they will remember you and how you made them feel—whether it was good or bad. Choose your words carefully, take deep breaths, and understand the impact you can have on a child.

Teaching is an art and a science. It is hard every day and challenging every day. But every day something akin to miracles happen in teachers' rooms. Use these lessons to make your room miraculous.

Gail Tillery teaches at North Forsyth High School in Cumming GA, where she was teacher of the year for 2009-10. Among her many roles are British literature lead teacher, literary coordinator, and mentoring coordinator. She earned National Board Certification in 2002. Tillery is also the author of a Teaching Secrets article for new high school teachers, Take Charge of Your Classroom.

Breeding Independence

One of the summer messages we give to the kids is "You can do this all by yourself." Some children come to us not knowing how to get dressed, sit at a table, use the toilet effectively including washing their hands. Some kids can't listen to a direction, a story, a prayer, or do they know how to take a direction and fly with it. Some kids can't eat a meal without an argument, eat more than cold cereal and candy bars, ask a question like, "Can you pass me the lasagna?"

Summer time is the time when the "I can'ts" become the "I cans."

Beginning with the pool, kids begin to figure out how to get the clothes off and the swimsuit on. They learn to stand patiently in line for sun screen. They learn to line up for head counts. They learn to sit on a bus feet forward. They learn how to carry lunch and help those smaller than they are. They learn to deal with the heat, use public bathrooms, and make room for others. But best of all, on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, they learn how to swim.

The Garden School does not take a bunch of kids to the pool to flounder around. We take kids to the pool in order to learn to swim. It's a three hour swim lesson with a picnic lunch break.

First order of the day is to go over the kids in circle time and remind each child what he or she needs to work on. Today, three little boys needed to work on getting their heads wet. The ability to go under at will is the first real sign that swimming is emerging. Three other children were told that it's time to work with a teacher in the deeper end. These kids jump from the side of the pool into the teacher's arms. Then they paddle back to the side of the pool. This strengthens bodies and gets a child ready to keep himself up in the water for as long as the child desires. It's called swimming, and swimming is something that children can do "all by themselves!"

Do teachers look over and see out children prattling around in the ultra shallow end? Nope. Do we see our kids running around on the deck looking for trouble? Nope. We see them in the water doing what they do best - all by themselves- swimming and learning to swim.

Today we took 20 noodles to the pool to help children learn to float. Kids played for a time with these noodles, and then left them for a time to experiment with one underwater game or trick after another. It was a great day at the pool.

Field trips are another great "I can do this all by myself." Field trips are little treks out into the public arena where manners, thoughtfulness, patience, and the sense that "I can go without my mom or dad" and be safe and happy and learn something, and then go home and talk about it is the independence builder.

When kids have traveled all summer, when they've stood in line; learned to be quiet; have eaten on the go what's available to bring on a picnic; when they've helped, hoddied and hand held someone smaller; learned to swim well enough to swim in their clothes at the lake; used an out house that reeks of ick; when they've walked through a cave and listened intently to the guide; when they've sweat in the sun, been thirsty in the heat; when they've climbed, run, seen, experienced, watched, listened, and after weeks of seeing new things, they become independent.

Summer is a great and exhausting time, but the rewards are irreplaceable. This is teaching; this is learning; this is what living is all about.

Wonderful Wednesday

Louisville Zoo Trip this year. It was HOT but it was fun.

Teaching Tuesday

FDA, NOAA increase Gulf of Mexico seafood safety efforts

From Food Navigator

Comment: It will be interesting to see how much fish is available and what the prices do.

By Caroline Scott-Thomas, 15-Jun-2010

Related topics: Food safety, Financial & Industry, Food safety and labeling, Meat, fish and savory ingredients

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has said it is increasing its efforts to ensure the safety of fish and seafood from the Gulf of Mexico, and has released new guidance for industry.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the FDA have released a joint statement outlining how they plan to tackle seafood safety issues related to the ongoing oil spill in the region. Specifically, the plan includes precautionary closures of fishing areas, increased testing of seafood samples, and a protocol for reopening affected areas of the Gulf.

Undersecretary of commerce for oceans and atmosphere and NOAA administrator Dr. Jane Lubchenco said: “Closing harvest waters that could be exposed to oil protects the public from potentially contaminated seafood because it keeps the product from entering the food supply. Combining the expertise of NOAA and FDA is the best way to use our scientific abilities to help the American people in this emergency."

The FDA said that it would initially concentrate on increased sampling of oysters, crab and shrimp, which retain contaminants in their bodies longer than finfish. The agency added that it would target seafood processors that obtain their products directly from harvesters in an effort to stem any possible contamination problems at the first step in the supply chain.

“Monitoring this first step in the distribution chain will help to keep any potentially contaminated seafood from consumers,” the FDA said.

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In addition, the FDA and the NOAA said it would increase inspection of seafood processors to ensure proper documentation detailing the provenance of all seafood entering the US food supply, and to stop seafood of unknown origin from coming to market.

FDA commissioner Dr. Margaret Hamburg said: “It is important to coordinate seafood surveillance efforts on the water, at the docks and at seafood processors to ensure seafood in the market is safe to eat."

The federal government declared a “fishery disaster” in the Gulf of Mexico late last month due to the massive oil spill in the region.

The fishing area affected includes Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama, an area where more than 1bn pounds of fish and shellfish were harvested in 2008, according to the most recent available government figures.

Louisiana is the top provider of shrimp, oysters, crab and crayfish in the United States, providing about a third of the seafood consumed, according to the Louisiana Seafood Promotion and Marketing Board.

The FDA’s letter to the fish and fishery products industry is available here .

Monday's Tattler

Good Morning.

My Internet has been down most of the weekend. Only catching up now that it's on for a few minutes.

Today will be a class day.

Tuesday and Wednesday are swim days. Please bring your suit fee and your sun screen if you have not already done that.

Thursday will be a regular class day.

Friday, we will be going to a big cat rescue preserve. This preserve is at exoticfelinerescuecenter.com We asked what they needed because we always like to make friends when we travel someplace new, and the director said "chickens." So if you would like to donate, please send a fresh or frozen chicken this week. I have plenty of freezer space!

If you are reading this, and your children no longer attend the GS but you would like to come along, the price is $25.00.

Your child's swim suit has been laundered. Please take your dirty towel home on Wednesdays and bring it back on Tuesdays.

Questions? Ask Miss Judy.

Friday's Tattler

We had a smashing time at the zoo in Louisville. The whole trip went off without a hitch. we boarded the bus at 8:00 and headed East. It was great cool day in the morning, and the kids seemed to love the bus ride. We pulled into the zoo about 10:15. We used the facility, and then split into two groups - the older group and the younger group. Miss Amy, her daughter Jessica, Savannah's grandma and Mr. Casey, Alexis's dad, took the smaller children while Miss Leigh, Mr. Roger, Jill's dad, and Mr. Matt and Miss Dayna took the older children.

The younger kids looked at all the inside stuff - the orangutans, the birds and crocks, the reptiles, the fish, and the dragon, and then headed off to see the snow leopards, the flamingos, and all the animals on the way to lunch.

We lunched at the playground on choice of sandwich, watermelon which seems to be a favorite this year, chips, and carrots and pickles, and milk, and then we went to the water park and got soaked. It was wonderful. Then we swapped places and toured the other end of the park. The little guys saw the tigers, the gorillas, the zebras, the elephants, the rhinoceroses, giraffes, the lions who were growling, and some interesting new animals.

We made it back to the bus in good time, and had a soda and cookies and boarded the bus and made it home by about ten to five. It was very hot, and one of our kiddos got a little sun burned, but otherwise, it was a great trip.

Not sure what we will be doing next week because Toyota has canceled our tour. Wish they had told me that three months ago when I first called.

We have some options, not sure what we will do.

Kids were wonderful and everyone seemed to have a great time.

Tuesday's Teacher

High blood pressure in young people concerns experts

By Caroline Scott-Thomas, 20-May-2010

From Food Navigator

Related topics: Sodium reduction, Science & Nutrition, Flavors and colors, Preservatives and acidulants

About one in 30 Canadian children and adolescents have high blood pressure or are at risk of developing it, according to a new study from Statistics Canada.

Comment: With so many people dependent on quick, easy, freezer to oven, fast, boxed and premade food, it's hard to avoid illness due to poor food management. We are unnecessarily addicted to salt and bland, and that's a shame, because salty, bland food is reducing our care free years on earth.

The study, said to be the most comprehensive direct measures health survey ever carried out in Canada, is the first examination of hypertension in Canadian children since 1978. It looked at data from the 2007 to 2009 Canadian Health Measures Survey (CHMS) for 6- to 19-year-olds. The researchers found 0.8 percent of children and adolescents had hypertension, while 2.1 percent had borderline levels.

In comparison, about 20 percent of Canadian adults have the condition, which is associated globally with 7.6 million premature deaths a year, and 92 million disability-adjusted life years, the government agency said. The study also found that the risk of developing the condition increased with weight.

“Echoing the results of other studies, the study found that mean systolic blood pressure was significantly higher among boys aged 12 to 19 and girls aged 6 to 11 who were overweight or obese,” Statistics Canada said.

Although the measured prevalence of hypertension in young people was actually lower than previously thought, co-author of the study and an assistant professor at the Centre for Obesity Research and Education at Queen’s University in Kingston, Dr. Ian Janssen still expressed concern at the results.

“It’s concerning when you see any type of risk factor developing at a young age. When you tend to have high blood pressure as a child, that tends to follow you as you become an adult,” he was quoted as saying in the Globe and Mail.

Meanwhile, US-based Dr. M. Isabel Roberti, director of pediatric nephrology and transplantation at Saint Barnabas Medical Center in New Jersey, said she has seen an increase in the number of children with high blood pressure unrelated to any preexisting medical condition or disease.

Despite food industry efforts to reduce sodium content in foods, she said high sodium intake is difficult for children and adolescents to avoid, with an estimated 75 percent of sodium coming from processed foods.

“While processed, pre-packaged and restaurant foods are commonplace in today’s society, the sodium these items contain pose a great health risk to children and their parents who consume them,” Dr. Roberti said.

She has encouraged parents to read labels carefully to check for sodium content, and advises them to avoid foods with more than 200mg per serving.

A full copy of the Statistics Canada study is available to download via this link .

Monday's Tattler

This week:

Monday: we will be doing regular classes in the morning and art in the afternoon.
Lasagna, salad and fruit for lunch
Muffins for breakfast and a new delicious recipe for snack.

Tuesday: Pancakes for breakfast, picnic for lunch and cookies for snack.
We will leave for the pool at 10:45. Please think about those undershirts.

Wednesday: Sticky buns for breakfast, picnic for lunch and cookies for snack.
Pool again from 10:45 - 3:00 P.M.

Thursday: regular classes and art in the P.M.
Chicken Quesadillas with fresh fruit and salad.
Brownies for snack.

Friday we will go to Louisville Zoo. We will have cereal for breakfast at 7:30. The bus will pull in at 8:00 and we will leave promptly after. We will return at 5:00 P.M. Parents are welcome. The fee is $25.00.

Sunday's Plate

Today's menu is Spaghetti, salad with dressing, and lightening cake.

Spaghetti is the simplest of dinners and most kids love it.

The first thing to do is buy your ingredients. For every family member, buy six ounces of ground meat. This can be any ground meat, but the leaner the better for YOU and your child. That means you want the really really red stuff. Spaghetti sauce can be made with ground lamb, ground pork, ground chicken, ground turkey or with no meat at all.

You will want to buy noodles to put your spaghetti sauce on. There are many many kinds of pasta. It does not have to be the long thin strands we normally see. Spaghetti is one kind of long thin strand. Shop for pasta the way you shop for a dress. Get exactly what you want. My favorite thin strand is vermicelli because the sauce tastes more powerful than the pasta when I use vermicelli. Buy whole grain noodles. I am not fond of the whole wheat because I find it grainy. I like whole grain - tastes better and you know it's good for you. Regular white pasta is not good for you. It's one of those foods that makes you fat without adding anything to the nutrients chart! Might as well be eating Twinkies.

Next thing to buy is the sauce ingredients. There is tomato sauce in a can, tomato paste which is much thicker and sometimes bitter, there are tomatoes diced in a can, and there are cans of whole tomatoes and spiced tomatoes. There are so many kinds of tomatoes in a can, it's an industry!

I personally use the plain stuff. For every two people I'm serving, I use a can of plain tomato sauce and a can of diced plain tomatoes. I don't want someone else seasoning my sauce. Mr. Terry uses tomato paste, but then he adds sugar.

The next question is: do you want vegetables in your sauce? At home the answer is always yes; at school it is always no. Kids are not fond of mushrooms, green peppers and onions which are the usual spaghetti sauce ingredients. So make your mind up about that, and if you want the veggies, buy an onion, a green pepper and any kind of mushrooms you think you like.

Spices are not hard that hard to understand. If you like the way it smells, you will probably like the way it tastes. You can buy fresh spices in the green grocery section of your market, or you can buy dried jar spices in the baking department. Sometimes for beginning cooks, the "Italian blend" is perfect. I grow a lot of my own spices, and my favorite is the wide leaf basil. You will need salt.

Don't forget to pick up some Parmesan cheese.

At home, pull out your big frying pan and your big pot. Put enough hot water into your big pot to fill about three quarters full. Put the lid on and turn the burner on high.

In your big frying pan, you will brown your meat. That means on a fairly high heat you will want to cook the ground meat until it is gray. You will find that the fat separates from the meat and you will lose about 2 ounces by way of fat. Drain this fat off into the garbage pail. It reduces the wear and tear on your drains.

Slice your vegetables if you decide to use them. Slice your onions thin with your good knife. Cube or slice your green peppers and your mushrooms. If you cut these vegetables too small, you will have what amounts to cat food, so leave them fairly large. Some women grind them in a food processor so the kids don't know they are there. I used to cook mine separately, and add them if desired at the table. This let the kids off the hook.

Add your vegetables to your drained meat. Experienced cooks will sigh about the fat, because the mushrooms and the onions will absorb the fat and enhance the taste, but the less fat, the healthier your meal - so let's go healthy for the sake of the kids. When your veggies have been slightly cooked, add your salt and your spices. Try a half teaspoon of salt first. Too little and it's bland; too much and you can't eat it. So go easy on the salt. You can always add more, but once it's in, you can't take it away.

Add your spices as slowly as you added your salt, and taste a little. Then add your tomato products and stir and turn your heat down to low. Let this simmer a little.

When your water is boiling, drop your noodles into the boiling water and stir. Turn your heat down to medium and let the noodles cook about 8-10 minutes. A high heat will cause your noodles to starch out and go over the side of your pot. That's a mess, so cook them on medium. When the noodles taste like they do on the table, drain them or let the water out. This is tricky without a colander. You can use a towel in the sink, but go slow and don't use the garbage disposal side ;-}

Put your pasta on a plate and add a cup or two of your sauce. Add Parmesan cheese. Voila!

Dessert:

Lightening Cake

2 cups of white or whole grain pastry flour
1/2 cup white sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 egg
1 cup milk
1/4 cup canola oil
1/2 teaspoon salt

Mix all the ingredients in a bowl with the big whisk. Beat until smooth about two minutes.

Spray your 9x9 inch glass baking pan with pan spray or take a paper towel and and use a teaspoon of oil to coat the bottom of the pan so the cake does not stick to the pan.

Topping:

1/2 stick butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Cut the butter into small pieces. Work in the brown sugar, cinnamon and flour with your fingers until you have a crumby looking stuff. Use this on top of the simple cake.

Bake at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes.


Salad:

A salad is simply a group of broken or cut vegetables mixed together and served with a sauce. My favorite salads have walnuts, fruit, goat cheese, and onions to go with a dark romaine lettuce.

But a beginners salad begins with lettuce. Buy a nice medium lettuce and cut or break it into bite sized pieces. Add tomatoes, cheese, onions, anything you like.

Salad Dressing:

Salad dressing begins with either mayonnaise or oil.

Thousand Island Dressing:

1/2 cup mayonnaise - NOT MIRACLE WHIP
1/4 cup ketchup
1/4 cup lemon juice

Sludge:

1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons ketchup
tablespoon of lemon juice
tablespoon of soy sauce
tad mustard
tad salt
tad pepper

Ranch

1 cup mayo
1 packet ranch dressing mix
1/2 cup milk

‘Fat tax’ opposition varies by location, education

From Food Navigator

By Lorraine Heller, 04-Jun-2010

Related topics: Legislation

People living in the eastern parts of the United States are the most supportive of placing a tax on soft drinks and fast food as a way to deter obesity, but the idea is still opposed by the majority of the country’s consumers, finds a new survey.

Comment: I am struck with awe about this idea. On the one hand, I think any new taxes are too much government, and on the other hand, I think the junk eating needs to halt. It amounts to child abuse when it is used as an easy way to feed a child. What do you think?

Imposing an ‘obesity tax’ – or ‘fat tax’ – has been a controversial and much debated issue across the country, as individual cities and states have considered this as a means to discourage unhealthy eating.

According to the new nationwide survey of American adults conducted by Harris Interactive, 56 percent of consumers are opposed to an ‘obesity tax’, with 42 percent saying they are ‘strongly opposed’. Just under a third of consumers (31 percent) support the tax.

Location and education

Regina Corso, director of The Harris Poll at Harris Interactive highlights that consumers’ location makes a difference in their attitudes to the ‘obesity tax’.

“Those who live in the East are the most supportive of the tax on soft drinks and fast food with 42 percent supporting it and just half opposing it, followed by those in the West where 35 percent support it and 53 percent oppose the ‘obesity tax.’ However, just one-quarter of those who live in the South (25 percent) support the tax while three in five (61 percent) oppose it. Midwesterners are not that different from those in the South, as 28 percent of them support the ‘obesity tax’ and 57 percent oppose it.”

The online survey, conducted last month with 2,140 participants, also found differences in opinion according to income. Only around a quarter of consumers earning under $50,000 support the tax, while almost 40 percent of those earning $75,000 were in favor.

The poll also found that the more educated the consumer, the more likely they were to support a tax on fast food and soda. A quarter of those with a high school education supported the tax, compared to 34 percent of those who attended college and 41 per cent of those with at least a college degree.

“These taxes are being hard fought and it is not just those in the industry who are against them. At the moment, supporters of the taxes on fast foods and soft drinks need to convince the American public that they are both necessary and that they will help curb this problem,” says Corso.

Tax proposals

Despite strong opposition from consumers and industry, several states around the country have already gone ahead with proposals for tax on soda.

New York governor David Paterson revived the idea of a penny-per-ounce tax on sugary drinks in January, as the city looked for ways to close its budget gap. Mississippi’s state representative John Mayo introduced legislation to tax the syrup used to sweeten soda at a distribution level in January. In Kansas, Senator John Vratil put forward a proposal for a penny tax per teaspoon of sugar in soda, and Colorado has removed existing tax breaks on sugary beverages and candy. Just last month, the Washington D.C. Council voted to include sweetened soft drinks in its six percent sales tax bracket.

However, a proposed federal-level soda tax was left off the agenda in February, and last month a proposed two-cent-per-ounce soda tax in Philadelphia was shelved.

Friday's Second Tattler

Great first field trip, but boy was it hot out there. The kids were great, and we enjoyed ourselves a lot. We traveled an hour into the Spencer County Forest. We stopped at the Lincoln Museum and Miss Judy asked the kids to "go look, and find the one thing that was MOST important to the pioneers. The kids spent a few minutes looking at all the things in the museum, and one by one they told me what they thought was the most important item. We had wonderful answers like: the carousel, the grave yard, the spinning wheel, the house, I don't know, and many more. The correct answer was the ax. Four children got it right: Javeon, Lily, Kamden, and Isaac. Good for them.

We ran from the museum to the flag pole and stopped for a picture and a salute to the flag and the Star Spangled Banner. Then on to the little grave yard at the top of the hill where Lincoln's mother is buried.

Then it was a down hill run to the picnic area and when we crossed the train track there, the kids all put their ears to the rail to see if we could hear the train.


Then it was off to the farm. There were not as many farm animals this year. The children enjoyed the house, the smoke house, the barns, and the run space. We got a lesson about animals and the way of life back then from Mr. Louie. The kids climbed and ran and played.

Then it was back to the picnic area where we ate ham and turkey; peanut butter and honey; tuna and egg salad on whole wheat bread. We had watermelon, apples, carrots and celery, chips and home made wonder cookies. The kids literally ate it up.

We took a nice long walk through the woods and ended up at the flag pole again, and the children rolled down the big grassy hill. Then it was off to the bus.

A nice short trip, but one of my favorites.

Friday's Tattler

Good Morning!

Field trip to Lincoln today. Please have children wear short shorts, school shirts and shoes and socks.

We should leave at 10:00 and return about 3:30. We will see the museum, and walk in the woods to the cabin and enjoy the farm for about an hour. We will eat lunch about 12:30 and visit the woods again, and then come home. It's our maiden voyage. Teachers will evaluate the children today and try to comb out the tangles, so to speak.

If you are a parent traveling with us, the cost is $25.00 per family. This cost helps with our enormous field trip expense. Some of our trips cost $1000.00.

Lunch will be a choice of peanut butter and honey, Miss Judy's famous egg salad, tuna, and a ham turkey combo on whole wheat bread. We will have chips, watermelon, apples, pickles, and carrots and dip, milk and water.

It's going to be hot... 90 degrees with a 60 percent chance of thunderstorms.

Wednesday's Wonder

My Darling Husband,

Before you return from your business trip, I just want to let you know about the small accident I had with the pick up truck when I turned into the driveway. Fortunately it's not too bad and I really didn't get hurt, so please don't worry too much about me.

I was coming home from Wal-Mart, and when I turned into the driveway I accidentally pushed down on the accelerator instead of the brake.

The garage door is slightly bent but fortunately the pick up came to a halt when it bumped into your car.

I am really sorry, but I know with your kind-hearted personality you will forgive me. You know how much I love you and care for you my sweetheart.

I am enclosing a picture of the damage for you.

I cannot wait to hold you in my arms again.

Your loving wife.
XXX

Tuesday's Teacher

This is the story of our Mothers and Grandmothers who lived only 90 years ago.


Remember, it was not until 1920
That women were granted the right to go to the polls and vote.


The women were innocent and defenseless, but they were jailed
Nonetheless for picketing the White House, carrying signs asking
For the vote.


And by the end of the night, they were barely alive.
Forty prison guards wielding clubs and their warden's blessing
Went on a rampage against the 33 women wrongly convicted of
'obstructing sidewalk traffic.'






(Lucy Burns)
They beat Lucy Burns, chained her hands to the cell bars above
Her head and left her hanging for the night, bleeding and gasping
For air.











(Dora Lewis)
They hurled Dora Lewis into a dark cell, smashed her
Head against an iron bed and knocked her out cold. Her cellmate,
Alice Cosu, thought Lewis was dead and suffered a heart attack.
Additional affidavits describe the guards grabbing, dragging,
Beating, choking, slamming, pinching, twisting and kicking the women.

Thus unfolded the 'Night of Terror' on Nov. 15, 1917,
When the warden at the Occoquan Workhouse in Virginia ordered his
Guards to teach a lesson to the suffragists imprisoned there because
They dared to picket Woodrow Wilson's White House for the right
To vote.
For weeks, the women's only water came from an open pail. Their
Food--all of it colorless slop--was infested with worms.

(Alice Paul)
When one of the leaders, Alice Paul, embarked on a hunger strike, they tied her to a chair, forced a tube down her throat and poured liquid into her until she vomited. She was tortured like this for weeks
Until word was smuggled out to the press.
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/collections/suffrage/nwp/prisoners.pdf

So, refresh my memory. Some women won't vote this year because-
-why, exactly? We have carpool duties? We have to get to work?
Our vote doesn't matter? It's raining?



(Mrs. Pauline Adams in the prison garb she wore while serving a sixty-day sentence.)

Last week, I went to a sparsely attended screening of HBO's new
Movie 'Iron Jawed Angels.' It is a graphic depiction of the battle
These women waged so that I could pull the curtain at the polling
Booth and have my say. I am ashamed to say I needed the reminder.












(Miss Edith Ainge, of Jamestown , New York )
All these years later, voter registration is still my passion. But the
Actual act of voting had become less personal for me, more rote.
Frankly, voting often felt more like an obligation than a privilege.
Sometimes it was inconvenient.









(Berthe Arnold, CSU graduate)
My friend Wendy, who is my age and studied women's history,
Saw the HBO movie, too. When she stopped by my desk to talk
About it, she looked angry. She was--with herself. 'One thought
Kept coming back to me as I watched that movie,' she said.
'What would those women think of the way I use, or don't use,
My right to vote? All of us take it for granted now, not just
Younger women, but those of us who did seek to learn.' The
Right to vote, she said, had become valuable to her 'all over again.'






HBO released the movie on video and DVD . I wish all history,
Social studies and government teachers would include the movie in
Their curriculum I want it shown on Bunco night, too, and anywhere
Else women gather. I realize this isn't our usual idea of socializing,
But we are not voting in the numbers that we should be, and I think
A little shock therapy is in order.

(Conferring over ratification [of the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution] at [National Woman's Party] headquarters, Jackson Pl [ace] [ Washington , D.C. ]. L-R Mrs. Lawrence Lewis, Mrs. Abby Scott Baker, Anita Pollitzer, Alice Paul, Florence Boeckel, Mabel Vernon (standing, right))
It is jarring to watch Woodrow Wilson and his cronies try to persuade a psychiatrist to declare Alice Paul insane so that she could be permanently institutionalized. And it is inspiring to watch the doctor refuse. Alice Paul was strong, he said, and brave. That didn't make her crazy.

The doctor admonished the men: 'Courage in women is often mistaken for insanity.'

Please, if you are so inclined, pass this on to all the women you know.

We need to get out and vote and use this right that was fought so
hard for by these very courageous women. Whether you vote democratic, republican or independent party - remember to vote.

(Helena Hill Weed, Norwalk , Conn. Serving 3 day sentence in D.C. prison for carrying banner, 'Governments derive their just powers from the consent of the governed.')
History is being made.