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15 Historical Complaints About Young People Ruining Everything
By Jon Seder
A recent New York Times article about millennials in the workforce didn't paint a pretty picture. But a few admittedly astonishing anecdotes shouldn't be used to stereotype millions of people. Nothing is certain in this life but death, taxes, and the existence in every generation of people who complain about young kids ruining everything.
1. "So Fatal a Contagion"
From an 1816 issue of the Times of London:
The indecent foreign dance called the Waltz was introduced ... at the English Court on Friday last ... It is quite sufficient to cast one's eyes on the voluptuous intertwining of the limbs, and close compressure of the bodies ... to see that it is far indeed removed from the modest reserve which has hitherto been considered distinctive of English females...[Now that it is] forced on the respectable classes of society by the evil example of their superiors, we feel it a duty to warn every parent against exposing his daughter to so fatal a contagion.
2. "Self-Admiring, Emaciated Fribbles"
In Paris Fashion: A Cultural History, Valerie Steele published a letter sent to Town and Country magazine in November 1771 by a reader who wanted to get something off of his chest:
Whither are the manly vigor and athletic appearance of our forefathers flown? Can these be their legitimate heirs? Surely, no; a race of effeminate, self-admiring, emaciated fribbles can never have descended in a direct line from the heroes of Potiers and Agincourt...
3. "The total neglect of the art of speaking"
In the preface to the 1780 book A General Dictionary of the English Language, Thomas Sheridan wrote:
The total neglect of this art [speaking] has been productive of the worst consequences...in the conduct of all affairs ecclesiastical and civil, in church, in parliament, courts of justice...the wretched state of elocution is apparent to persons of any discernment and taste… if something is not done to stop this growing evil …English is likely to become a mere jargon, which every one may pronounce as he pleases.
4. "Corrupted the Morals of Many a Promising Youth"
In the 1790 book Memoirs of the Bloomsgrove Family, Reverend Enos Hitchcock wrote,
The free access which many young people have to romances, novels, and plays has poisoned the mind and corrupted the morals of many a promising youth; and prevented others from improving their minds in useful knowledge. Parents take care to feed their children with wholesome diet; and yet how unconcerned about the provision for the mind, whether they are furnished with salutary food, or with trash, chaff, or poison?
5. "A Lessening Sense for Both Duty and Discipline"
In 1904, psychologist and educator Granville Stanley Hall published The Psychology of Adolescence, in which he warned that it was a dangerous time, particularly for young folk:
Never has youth been exposed to such dangers of both perversion and arrest as in our own land and day. Increasing urban life with its temptations, prematurities, sedentary occupations, and passive stimuli just when an active life is most needed, early emancipation and a lessening sense for both duty and discipline, the haste to know and do all befitting man's estate before its time, the mad rush for sudden wealth and the reckless fashions set by its gilded youth--all these lack some of the regulatives they still have in older lands with more conservative conditions.
6. "Lax Habits, Low Moral Standards, Hotel Episodes..."
Besides the devil, nothing was more dangerous to the immortal soul than film—at least, according to "The 'Movies'--The Greatest Religious Menace," published in the November 6, 1926 issue of The Pentecostal Evangel:
...[The screen artists'] beauty, their exquisite clothing, their lax habits and low moral standards, are becoming unconsciously appropriated by the plastic minds of American youth. Let them do what they may; divorce scandals, hotel episodes, free love, all are passed over and condoned by the young... The eye-gate is the widest and most easily accessible of all the avenues of the soul; whatever is portrayed on the screen is imprinted indelibly upon the nation's soul.
7. "A Mere Amusement of a Very Inferior Character"
In its July 1859 issue, Scientific American rallied against a wicked game that made both the mind and body weaker—chess:
A pernicious excitement to learn and play chess has spread all over the country, and numerous clubs for practicing this game have been formed in cities and villages...chess is a mere amusement of a very inferior character, which robs the mind of valuable time that might be devoted to nobler acquirements, while it affords no benefit whatever to the body. Chess has acquired a high reputation as being a means to discipline the mind, but persons engaged in sedentary occupations should never practice this cheerless game; they require out-door exercises--not this sort of mental gladiatorship.
8. "A Mendacious Umbrella"
Robert Louis Stevenson, author of Treasure Island, The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, and the 1894 essay "The Philosophy of Umbrellas," could tell a lot about a person based on what they held over their heads when it was raining:
A mendacious umbrella is a sign of great moral degradation. Hypocrisy naturally shelters itself below a silk; while the fast youth goes to visit his religious friends armed with the decent and reputable gingham. May it not be said of the bearers of these inappropriate umbrellas that they go about the streets "with a lie in their right hand"?
9. "Lewd Wicked Children"
In 1695, Robert Russel wrote in A Little Book for Children and Youth (subtitled Being Good Counsel and Instructions for Your Children, Earnestly Exhorting Them to Resist the Temptation of the Devil...):
... I find by sad Experience how the Towns and Streets are filled with lewd wicked Children, and many Children as they have played about the Streets have been heard to curse and swear and call one another Nick-names, and it would grieve ones Heart to hear what bawdy and filthy Communications proceeds from the Mouths of such...
10. "Dogs at Their Heels and Other Evidence of Dissolute Habits"
In a speech to the House of Commons on February 28, 1843, Anthony Ashley Cooper, the 7th Earl of Shaftesbury, ranted:
...a fearful multitude of untutored savages... [boys] with dogs at their heels and other evidence of dissolute habits...[girls who] drive coal-carts, ride astride upon horses, drink, swear, fight, smoke, whistle, and care for nobody...the morals of children are tenfold worse than formerly.
11. "Full of Self-Conceit and Admiration"
It's probably safe to assume that the writer S.B.S. wasn't invited to any more kids' shindigs after "Children And Children's Parties" was published in The Mothers' Journal and Family Visitant in 1853:
... see the simpering little beau of ten gallanting home the little coquette of eight, each so full of self-conceit and admiration of their own dear self, as to have but little to spare for any one else... and confess that the sight is both ridiculous and distressing... the sweet simplicity and artlessness of childhood, which renders a true child so interesting, are gone (like the bloom of the peach rudely nipped off) never to return.
12. "The Mad Spirit of the Times"
In "Degeneracy of Stature," which appeared in the December 18, 1856 issue of The National Era, Thrace Talmon wrote:
Household luxuries, school-room steam-press systems, and, above all, the mad spirit of the times, have not come to us without a loss more than proportionate...[a young man] rushes headlong, with an impetuosity which strikes fire from the sharp flints under his tread...Occasionally, one of this class...amasses an estate, but at the expense of his peace, and often of his health. The lunatic asylum or the premature grave too frequently winds up his career...We expect each succeeding generation will grow "beautifully less."
13. "A Progeny Yet More Corrupt"
In Book III of Odes, circa 20 BCE, Horace wrote:
Our sires' age was worse than our grandsires'. We, their sons, are more worthless than they; so in our turn we shall give the world a progeny yet more corrupt.
14. "Youth Were Never More Sawcie"
In his 1624 book The Wise-Man's Forecast against the Evill Time, Thomas Barnes, the minister of St. Margaret's Church on New Fish Street in London, bemoaned:
Youth were never more sawcie, yea never more savagely saucie . . . the ancient are scorned, the honourable are contemned, the magistrate is not dreaded.
15. "Throwing Off Every Kind of Social Restraint "
In Hour of Decision, published in 1933 (and translated by C.F. Atkinson in 1942), Oswald Spengler wrote:
The bad manners of all parliaments, the general tendency to connive at a rather shady business transaction if it promises to bring in money without work, jazz and Negro dances as the spiritual outlet in all circles of society, women painted like prostitutes, the efforts of writers to win popularity by ridiculing...the correctness of well-bred people, and the bad taste shown even by the nobility and old princely families in throwing off every kind of social restraint and time-honoured custom: all of these go to prove that it is now the vulgar mob that gives the tone.
See Also...
10 Records You Might Have Owned That Are Now Worth a Fortune
20 Self-Deprecating Notes Found on Vintage Photographs
11 Smells That Are Disappearing
10 Haunting Documentaries That Are Stranger Than Fiction
An earlier version of this list appeared in 2013.


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At the beginning of 2015 I made a few small commitments to improve myself. Call them new years resolutions if you wish, however internally I veered away from that label as it is synonymous with failure. No one ever keeps new years resolutions it seems to me. We state them and forget them. To get over that tradition of failure I decided to approach my goals with a product management type focus. So I understood what the problem was, I formulated a plan, I tracked my progress and and measured the outcome. In short I felt I wasn't reading enough, so I set a reading goal and tracked it in Trello. Geeky but effective.
The goal was to read 25 books. This is probably a 100% increase from the 10-12 book average I managed in recent years. It is a meagre goal for some I know, but for me this represented a challenge and one I felt I could hit. And I am delighted to report that I did. So for no other reason than to revel in the achievement, here is what I read:
- Waking Up: A Guide to Spirituality Without Religion by Sam Harris
- Letters of Note by Shaun Usher
- How We Got to Now: Six Innovations That Made the Modern World by Steven Johnson
- Zero to One by Peter Thiel
- Meditations of Marcus Aurelius
- I Am Pilgrim by Terry Hayes
- The People's Platform: Taking Back Power and Culture in the Digital Age by Astra Taylor
- Geek Sublime: The Beauty of Code, the Code of Beauty by Vikram Chandra
- The Second Machine Age: Work, Progress, and Prosperity in a Time of Brilliant Technologies by Erik Brynjolfsson, Andrew McAfee
- HIIT – High Intensity Interval Training Explained by James Driver
- Werner Herzog: A Guide for the Perplexed by Paul Cronin
- Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson
- Ready Player One by Ernest Cline
- Storyteller: The Authorized biography of Roald Dahl by Donald Sturrock
- The Girl On The Train by Paula Hawkins
- The China Study by T. Colin Campbell and Thomas M. Campbell
- The End of Power by Moises Naim
- Mr. Mercedes by Stephen King
- American Gods by Neil Gaiman
- On Balance by Adam Phillips
- In The Light Of What We Know by Zia Rahman
- Nexus by Ramez Naam
- Benjamin Franklin by Edmund Morgan
- Digital Gold by Nathaniel Popper
- The Thin Man by Dashiell Hammet
- On the Move by Oliver Sacks
Some of these books were real gems. I especially enjoyed Letters of Note, Storyteller (the Roald Dahl biography) and The End of Power. The Steve Jobs book was also fascinating, if not entirely stuff I hadn't already heard. On the fiction side, I ripped through The Girl on the Train, and was mesmerized by American Gods, and intend to read a lot more by Neil Gaiman. Nexus by Ramez Naam was also brilliant and thought-provoking but I didn't feel the need to read the next two in the series straight away. Maybe I'll pick them up in 2016.
On the down-side I thought Steven Johnson's, How We Got To Now, was the weakest of his books I have read. It felt very lightweight compared to those others I have loved such as Emergence and Future Perfect. Digital Gold was also just like reading a long New Yorker article. I wanted more on the impact of Bitcoin. That's not to say it wasn't an enjoyable read, just not what I wanted.
But of them all, the one book that has planted something new and foundational in me is On Balance by Adam Phillips. The book in its entirety grew a little wearisome in the later essays as it dwelled on Freudian, psychoanalytical interpretation. But, the Five Short Talks on Excess were truly fantastic. As someone who has spent his whole adult life striving for balance, especially between work and non-work commitments, these early essays shook me to my core with the simple concept that Balance is perhaps not that desirable:
'There seems to be something singularly captivating in the word balance,' John Stuart Mill said in a talk to the Mutual Improvement Society in 1834, 'as if, because anything is called a balance, it must, for that reason, be necessarily good.
This obvious statement, that balance is not inherently good, was transformative for me. Phillips goes on to show that those "singularly captivating" aspects of our life, those things that are described using excessive, but fundamentally positive, adjectives (captivating, exciting, desirable), unbalance us. Of course it works to the negative side also. But the key is that a life of balance strives to smooth out the very things that make life interesting and progressive. Those things that stir up our passions and drive us forward. When those things that unbalance us enter our lives, it is a sign that something truly matters to us. It is a clue to what makes us tick. So I leave you with this quote, which I read again and again, and is something I now carry with me every day.
It is of some significance that when we talk about many of the things that matter most to us – as the essays in this book on excess, on fundamentalism and on schooling suggest – we soon lose our so-called balanced views. So we should not, perhaps, underestimate our wish to lose our balance, even though it's often easier to get up than to fall over. Indeed, the sign that something does matter to us is that we lose our steadiness.
Happy new year!

subset: commoncrawl


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SARMs For Sale @ www.99sarms.io
If you're overweight, slim down. "Carrying around 10 or 20 pounds of excess weight in the form of body fat is like dragging an anchor," says Wayne Askew, PhD, professor of nutrition and director of the division of foods and nutrition at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City. "The best way to feel energetic is to maintain a proper body weight for your height and frame size."
Forget crash-dieting. It's pretty hard not to get enough calories in our food-privileged country, but lots of women go out of their way to do just that. Low-calorie diets—fewer than 1,200 calories a day, depending on your size—can sap your energy. For one thing, it's more challenging to get the nutrients you need once you go below 1,800 calories a day. And, though every woman has different calorie needs, consuming fewer than 10 calories per pound of body weight is clearly too low, Grandjean says. "The body compensates by going into a lower gear."
The Power Duo
Vitamins and minerals don't provide energy directly, but they're big-time players in processing energy. So if you don't get enough of them, you may find yourself waking up tired and staying that way. Lots of variety in fruits and vegetables is the best way to get the whole array of micronutrients, from vitamin A to zinc. But for energy, try these two strategies:
Drink lots of fresh orange juice. Believe it or not, perhaps one out of three women isn't getting enough vitamin C, says Carol Johnston, PhD, assistant professor of food and nutrition in the family resources department at Arizona State University in Tempe. Vitamin C helps produce carnitine, a molecule that helps your body burn fat for energy. "People likely have up to a 50% drop in muscle carnitine levels when they're vitamin C-depleted," she says. Johnston thinks 200 to 300 mg daily is enough for you to feel more energy, assuming that you were short on C. You can get that much without supplementing if you drink orange juice (one 8-ounce glass a day) and eat a diet high in vitamin C-rich foods, including kiwifruit (70 mg per fruit), raw red or green bell pepper (142 mg and 60 mg per 1/2 cup, respectively), broccoli (51 mg per 1/2 cup cooked), strawberries (49 mg per 1/2 cup), and brussels sprouts (48 mg per 1/2 cup cooked).
Be sure to get enough iron. Iron is a must mineral for energy because of its role in transporting oxygen via red blood cells to wherever it's needed in the body. Too little iron creates a cascade of problems that end up lowering your metabolic rate—and your energy levels. A lot of women aren't getting the 18 mg a day of iron they need in their diets. A half-cup of soybeans contains 9 mg of iron; a half-cup of baked beans, 8 mg; a half-cup of spinach, 6 mg; 3 oz. of beef, 5 mg; and 3 oz of fried oysters, 6 mg. If you think you're anemic or have significantly low iron levels, see your primary-care physician before taking iron supplements.
Power Breakfasts
"When you wake up in the morning, you've gone 6 to 8 hours without taking in any calories," Wein points out. "That is the time to wake up your body by providing it with the right kind of calories to burn for energy."
So if you skimp on breakfast, you run the risk of a lackluster morning, since your blood sugar will probably be low and stay low, depriving your brain of the glucose it needs. Here's how to eat a true power breakfast:
Hold the pancake syrup. Sweet breakfasts are an energy disaster, since nothing plummets your blood sugar faster (after an initial boost) than concentrated forms of simple carbohydrates like corn or maple syrup. Pouring one of them over refined carbohydrates like white flour pancakes or waffles exaggerates the effect. Whittle warns that any sweet topping with corn syrup in it—like the typical maple-flavored syrup or a lot of jellies—is an especially good bet to spike-and-dip your blood sugar to lethargic levels. So try some healthier and more energizing alternatives, she suggests. Go for French toast made with whole grain bread and egg substitute, or use a whole grain flour like buckwheat in your pancake or waffle mix. Top them off with your favorite fruit instead of syrup.
Reach for some protein. While fruit and whole grain cereal are fine morning choices, your breakfast carbohydrates still need to be balanced with some protein foods for more enduring energy, Whittle says. The fat-free milk or low-fat yogurt you add to the cereal will work. Or go for eggs or egg substitutes with an English muffin or a slice of whole grain toast.
Shoot for 3 g of fiber per serving. Whole grains, unlike refined flour products, deliver energy laced with fiber, which slows down the digestion so that the energy is released over a longer period of time. That's why whole grain, high-fiber cereals are an excellent breakfast selection for all-morning energy. "Look for one with at least 3 g of fiber per serving," Wein says. "Some have 8 g or more. Eat it with fat-free milk, and you have a perfect balance."
Stock up on oatmeal. A fiber-packed whole grain cereal, oatmeal is your best breakfast choice for long-lasting energy, says William Evans, PhD, director of the nutrition, metabolism, and exercise laboratory at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences/Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Little Rock. Evans credits oatmeal's energy-boosting ability with its soluble fiber content. Much more than the insoluble fiber in, say, wheat bran, the soluble fiber in oatmeal slows down carbohydrate absorption, thus keeping your blood sugar levels more constant. Both oat bran and rolled oats are high in soluble fiber, so on mornings when you don't feel like eating oatmeal, try oat bran muffins.
You don't need a PhD in biochemistry to know that food is fuel and that it affects our energy levels. But you have to be smart if you're eating for energy. "Certain eating strategies will definitely help you ward off fatigue," says Stacey Whittle, RD, a registered dietitian at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles.
Ironically, the very food we so often rely on for quick energy—concentrated sources of sugar, like candy bars or soda—are the very foods that you should avoid if you want enduring energy, say experts.
Here's why: Your body uses food for energy by turning it into blood sugar, or glucose. Carbohydrates convert most easily into this ready-to-burn fuel, making them your macronutrient of choice for energy eating. The problem is that some simple carbohydrates, like sugar, tend to break down so fast that, after providing a short-lived burst of energy, they leave your blood sugar levels low, your energy inadequate, and your plans for the day unaccomplished. Complex carbohydrates, like grains, replace this spike-and-dip act with a steady energy supply that keeps you going at full throttle.
Striking The Optimal Energy Balance
You don't have to radically change your diet to include nothing but high energy foods to ratchet up your energy levels. Chances are, you're already eating many of the foods best suited for daylong energy. It's simply a matter of eating them at the right time, in the right amounts, and in the right combinations.
What's the ideal mix? High (but not exclusively) carbohydrates, moderate protein, low (but not no) fat. Think of a turkey sandwich with low-fat mayo, a small serving of spaghetti and meatballs, or a bowl of chili.
Distribute your calories equally among breakfast, lunch, and dinner. A skimpy breakfast, a hurried lunch, and a huge evening feast is about the least energy-efficient eating schedule imaginable. "What do you need all those calories for if you're going to bed?" says Debra Wein, RD, cofounder of Sensible Nutrition Connection in Hingham, Massachusetts.
"Anybody who's ever done justice to a Thanksgiving dinner knows that you get tired when you overstuff," says Ann Grandjean, EdD, director of the International Center for Sports Nutrition in Omaha, Nebraska.
Never, ever skip a meal. "Many women skip breakfast," Wein says. "And some may even skip lunch because they think it will help them lose weight." But by skipping breakfast or lunch—or both—not only are you depriving your body of calories just when it needs them the most, you're also likely to compensate with a lethargy-inducing pig-out when you do eat. So much for weight loss! "And if you keep skipping meals, the result over time is a general malaise," Wein says.
Eat five meals a day. The experts favor adding a midmorning and midafternoon snack to your daily meal schedule, and downgrading your other three meals accordingly to keep your total calories where you want them. This mini-meal plan is a super energy booster because you're getting energy into your body right when you need it, you won't be going too long between meals, and you're less likely to overeat or undereat. "If you watch your portion size and take time for that midmorning and midafternoon snack, you'll be surprised at how positively your energy levels are affected," Whittle says.
Wein suggests the following energizing calorie allotments: If you're a fairly typical weight-watching woman, your calorie count per day will probably fall between 1,400 and 2,000. If you're at the higher number, shoot for 500 calories at breakfast, lunch, and dinner, with midmorning and midafternoon snacks at 250. If you're down at 1,400 total calories, your meals should be 400 calories each, with two 100-calorie snacks.
Bioflavonoids, also sometimes referred to as "vitamin P," are super-antioxidants found in many natural foods. Scientists have found that bioflavonoids have specific capabilities to increase bodily health in many different ways. They support strong cell formations and, according to some medical services, even suppress poor cellular growth in order to deliver an anti-carcinogenic effect. Bioflavonoids contribute to good heart health, and combat atherosclerosis, as well as conditions like Alzheimer's disease. Bioflavonoids are found in many of the same foods that contain vitamin C, an essential nutrient for the daily diet, and these super antioxidants complement vitamin C, enhancing its effect on the body.
Foods Rich in Bioflavonoids
Fresh fruits and vegetables are generally the top choices for getting plenty of bioflavonoids in a diet. Here are some of the most popular ways to get the most of these helpful nutritional elements.
- Red Bell Peppers or Sweet Peppers – Red peppers contain three times more vitamin C than orange juice, according to some medical sources. Scientists agree that raw bell peppers are an effective way to get bioflavonoids into the system.
- Strawberries – These luscious red berries are a great source of bioflavonoids. Other berry types are similarly rich in these kinds of antioxidants. This leads to specific claims of health benefits for berry-made wines and derivative foods.
- Citrus Fruits – Oranges are a significant source of bioflavonoids. Lemons and limes, as well as peaches, nectarines and other fruits all contain vitamin C and bioflavonoid superoxidants.
- Broccoli – This green vegetable has a lot of vitamin C, as well as some other essential vitamins for a healthy diet. As with other foods, use broccoli raw for best results.
- Brussels Sprouts – For a hearty meal, include these cabbage type sprouts. Rich in antioxidants, they are also packed with their own unique taste for a delicious way to get bioflavonoids and vitamins.
- Tropical Fruits – Exotic fruits, like mangoes and papayas, have a lot of bioflavonoids and other nutritional elements packed under their skins. These are becoming more accessible at supermarkets everywhere. Don't miss out on what they have to offer.
- Garlic – By most accounts, garlic is a superfood. Our food culture has long been aware of its anti-inflammatory properties, but now scientists are counting it as among the natural foods rich in bioflavonoids, and therefore able to deliver the antioxidant values we associate with "healing foods."
- Spinach – Popeye wasn't kidding: this stuff has all of the qualities you would associate with a green vegetable rich in antioxidants. Spinach is a good all-purpose nutrient – try it in place of lettuce for a salad that's bursting with nutrition.
- Teas – Green tea and other teas are known to have a lot of powerful chemical elements that contribute to longevity and good health. Lots of health minded caffeine drinkers are switching from coffee to tea to get the effects of essential vitamins in their morning drinks.
Raw vs. Processed
These are just some of the top producing fruits and vegetables that deliver bioflavonoids and vitamin C to the table. Vitamin rich foods are always more effective in their raw form, so be aware of the difference between buying and using fresh produce, and eating these foods canned, cooked or processed. Overall, look for colorful, fresh fruits and vegetables to benefit from a diet that will contribute to your health in many ways.
Eating and exercise go hand in hand. When and what you eat can be important to how you feel when you exercise, whether it's a casual workout or training for a competition. Consider these eating and exercise tips.
1. Eat a healthy breakfast
If you exercise in the morning, get up early enough to finish breakfast at least one hour before your workout. Most of the energy you got from dinner the previous night is used up by morning, and your blood sugar might be low. If you don't eat, you might feel sluggish or lightheaded when you exercise.
If you plan to exercise within an hour after breakfast, eat a light breakfast or drink something to raise your blood sugar, such as a sports drink. Emphasize carbohydrates for maximum energy.
Good breakfast options include:
- Whole-grain cereals or bread
- Low-fat milk
- Juice
- Bananas
- Yogurt
- A waffle or pancake
And remember, if you normally have coffee in the mornings, a cup before your workout is probably OK. Also know that anytime you try a food or drink for the first time before a workout, you risk an upset stomach.
2. Size matters
Be careful not to overdo it when it comes to how much you eat before exercise. The general guideline:
- Large meals. Eat these at least three to four hours before exercising.
- Small meals. Eat these two to three hours before exercising.
- Small snacks. Eat these an hour before exercising.
Eating too much before you exercise can leave you feeling sluggish. Eating too little might not give you the energy to keep you feeling strong throughout your workout.
3. Snack well
Most people can eat small snacks right before and during exercise. The key is how you feel. Do what works best for you. Snacks eaten soon before exercise probably won't give you added energy, but they can help keep up your blood sugar and prevent distracting hunger pangs. Good snack options include:
- Energy bars
- Bananas or other fresh fruit
- Yogurt
- Fruit smoothies
- Whole-grain bagel or crackers
- Low-fat granola bars
- Peanut butter sandwiches
A healthy snack is especially important if you plan a workout several hours after a meal.
Berries are low in calories and rich in vitamins and minerals, as well as antioxidants and phytonutrients, which have been shown to protect against heart disease and some cancers. Try adding a cup of fresh or unsweetened frozen strawberries, blueberries, or raspberries to your morning cereal, oatmeal, or yogurt.
Cold cereal:
While cold cereal has been vilified in recent years for its sugar content, there are nutritious options out there. Check the ingredient lists and nutrition-facts labels and look for cereals that have at least 3 grams of fiber and 6 grams or less of sugar per serving. Also, choose cereals that are made with whole grains and that have sugar low on the list.
Cottage cheese:
High in protein and calcium, cottage cheese is an excellent choice in the morning. To limit saturated fat, choose 1 or 2 percent milk-fat varieties. If you don't like the texture, says Blatner, "puree it smooth and it becomes a great spread on toast with sliced apple on top and cinnamon."
Rich in protein, eggs eaten as part of a balanced breakfast will keep you full all morning long and supply more than a dozen essential nutrients. For those concerned about cholesterol, Blatner says not to fret: "If someone is worried about blood cholesterol levels, they should be primarily concerned with keeping saturated fat low and making sure fiber in the diet is high."
Green tea:
Green tea is rich in antioxidants called catechins, which have been shown to prevent cell damage to the body. Blatner suggests steeping green tea 4 to 5 minutes to release the catechins. Another benefit is that green tea has about two-thirds less caffeine than coffee does. "You can still get a little pick-me-up without all the caffeine," she says.
Oatmeal is packed with soluble fiber, which helps lower cholesterol and regulate blood sugar levels, and which can keep you satiated for hours. Avoid high-sugar instant packets and opt for the plain ones, or try rolled (old-fashioned), quick, or steel-cut oatmeal prepared with low-fat milk or water. "Two ideas for oatmeal that I usually give people are natural peanut butter stirred in with some chopped-up bananas or mixing chopped apples with uncooked rolled oats and milk to make a muesli," says Blatner.
Peanut butter:
Natural peanut butter is a good source of monounsaturated fat, which may help lower bad cholesterol in the blood. (Look for a brand that contains peanuts and not much else.) It's also a good source of protein and can help you feel satisfied without becoming stuffed. Moderation is key, so limit your portion to 1 to 2 tablespoons per sitting.
Smoothies are an easy and delicious way to meet the recommended daily servings of fruits and vegetables. Start with a protein-rich base of low-fat milk or plain yogurt, then add unsweetened frozen fruit, such as berries or bananas. If you're feeling adventurous, throw in some flaxseed for its omega-3 fatty acids or a handful of kale.
Whole-grain breads:
Compared with refined white bread, whole-grain varieties are a better source of fiber and many nutrients, including iron, B vitamins, and vitamin E. They've also been shown to lower the risk of a number of chronic diseases such as heart disease and type 2 diabetes. For breakfast, try a whole-wheat English muffin or toast.
Yogurt is packed with filling protein and bone-building calcium. Blatner suggests buying plain yogurt and adding your own sweetener. "The fruit-flavored ones have a lot of sugar that's added. It would be better to get plain and then add a teaspoon of honey," she says.
As people age, their diets may need to change, especially if their diets are not well-balanced. Generally, doctors will recommend a well-balanced diet for elders, meaning that they should eat a variety of fruits, vegetables, protein and whole grains to maintain and improve overall health. According to Ruth Frechman, registered dietitian and spokesperson for the American Dietetic Association, in addition to eating a healthful variety of foods, there are specific things a caregiver can incorporate into their parent's diet to boost his or her health.
Prepare meals rich in these nutrients
Omega 3 fatty acids
The acids have been proven to reduce inflammation, which can cause heart disease, cancer and arthritis. They can be found in many different types of fish and in flaxseed oil. Your parent should have foods rich in this nutrient twice per week. If this is impossible, check with their doctor to see if an Omega 3 supplement would be beneficial.
Calcium and Vitamin D
The need for calcium and vitamin D increases as people age. This is primarily to preserve bone health. One added benefit of calcium is that it helps to lower blood pressure. Adults over the age of 50 need at least 1200 milligrams per day of the nutrient – equal to about four cups of milk per day. Many people find it challenging to consume this much calcium per day by eating and drinking, so check with your parent's doctor to see if he or she should take a calcium supplement.
Limit sodium content
Most elders have hypertension – high blood pressure. One of the most important things caregivers can do to help reduce a parent's hypertension is to prepare foods with low sodium. Most people are surprised to know that table salt accounts for only a small percent of sodium content in food. Avoid giving your parent frozen, processed or restaurant food, as these are extremely high in sodium. The foods with the lowest sodium content are fruits and vegetables, so try and incorporate them as much as possible in their diet.
As people age, they do not get thirsty very often, even though their bodies still need the same amount of liquids. If you notice that your parent is not drinking liquids very often, make sure that you provide them with it. If they do not feel thirsty, chances are they may not think about drinking a glass of water.
If you are concerned that your parent may not be properly hydrated, check his or her urine. Urine is the surest sign of hydration or lack of it. If the urine is clear and light, then your parent is most likely properly hydrated. If, however, urine is dark and/or cloudy, your parent will need to start drinking more liquids.
Making dietary changes can be difficult for anybody. It can be especially difficult for elders, though, because people get stuck in habits. If your mom or dad needs to make dietary changes to increase their health and well-being, there are specific things that you, the caregiver, can do to help with the change. Frechman recommends three important areas in which caregivers can help.
Incorporate changes gradually
Older people are usually skeptical of change. They need to make small changes gradually. As the caregiver, you should reinforce this and make sure that your parent is incorporating the new foods into their diet.
For example, if your parent is diabetic and needs to adjust their carbohydrate intake consistency, incorporate oatmeal as breakfast once or twice per week. As they get used to it, oatmeal can be added to three to four times per week. If your parent normally eats white bread, give them a wheat bread sandwich a couple times per week, and gradually increase it so that white bread is completely cut out of their diet.
Set an example
When an elder has to change their diet for health reasons, they can feel singled out. Eating is a social activity and it is important to eat meals with your parent. It is equally important that when you eat with them, you eat the same foods as them. When sitting down for a family meal, don't make a special meal for your parent and something different for everybody else. By eating with them and eating the same foods as them, the dietary changes being made won't seem so drastic.
Make smoothies
Sometimes older adults simply refuse to make necessary nutritional changes, even if they are doctor recommended. People with dementia, especially, may refuse to eat certain things. Be creative. If your parent needs protein, try making them a smoothie with wheat germ – this is not a supplement that may interact with your parent's medications, but an actual food with very high amounts of protein. Sometimes, foods can be blended into a smoothie to ensure that your elderly parent consumes the necessary nutrients.
Lack of research and regulation in energy drinks, as well as their high consumption and the fact that there are reported cases of toxicity are a serious health risk for children, adolescents and young people.
According to the authors from the University of Miami, 30-50% of the young population consume energy drinks are consumed regularly. In the U.S. these drinks are categorized as food supplements and by that they avoid the FDA limit on caffeine content of 71 mg per 12 ounces (about 355 ml) in soft drinks. Furthermore, safety tests and leaflets (which are mandatory for all kind of medicament) are also avoided. As a result, there are energy drinks that contain up to 400 mg of caffeine and that is only the stated caffeine. There are also unstated amounts of stimulants made from ingredients such as guarana, seeds of Cola (cola nuts), cocoa and yerba mate.
46% of 5448 reported cases of caffeine overdose in 2007 in the U.S., are from people under 19 years of age. The authors recommend a maximum caffeine intake of 2.5 mg / kg for children and 100 mg / kg for adolescents. A study from New Zealand (also included in the survey) claims that the consumption of only 1 energy drink leads to the exceeding of the recommended intake of 2.5 mg / kg.
The toxic effects of energy drinks are being monitored in countries like Germany, Australia and New Zealand. There is a significant number of reported cases of adverse effects associated with consumption of energy drinks: liver damage, kidney failure, respiratory disorders, agitation, confusion, seizures, psychotic states, nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, rhabdomyolysis, tachycardia, cardiac dysrhythmia, hypertension, myocardial infarction, heart failure and death.
The long-term health effects of the regular consumption of energy drinks in children and teenagers are still unclear, but all gathered information indicates that these drinks can have many harmful, even potentially fatal effects.
The marketing of energy drinks is primarly aimed at men which are pre-adolescents, adolescents and young adults, says Dr. Higgins of the University of Texas. The bare fact that a child can enter the supermarket and buy and consume such beverage is frightening.
Don`t think that just because you started going to the gym and doing weight-loss wxercises, you will automatically start losing weight.
For a period of 16 months researchers from the University of Kansas observed a group of young people who where doing exercises. Exercising was held regularly and was observed. The diet was not specified by the scientists and each participant was eating at his/her own discretion. It turned out that young people didn`t make any changes in the ratio of fat, protein and carbohydrates in their food. Women in particular were making the following mistake: they thought that increasing their physical activity allows them to eat everyting that they want. So then everybody was weighted, it turned out that men lost an average of 10 lbs. and the women didn`t lose any weight. There were even women who gained weight.
When discussing the food the participants were consuming during the experiment, it become clear that women didn`t think about the number of calories in the food they were eating and consumed around 700 calories more tha usual, while men did much better by consuming just 200 calories more.
According to the scientists, this experiment is a proff that despite the increased physical activity, wrong diet will always prevent you from losing weight. This is why the experts think that planning is very important as to the people who want to want to lose weight, as well us to the ones who want to gain muscle mass. As boring as counting calories is, it important to know how many calories you are taking with your daily meals and how many calories you are losing while exercising or performing other activities. Think about it – the difference of 500 calories a day between the both sexes is the reason why the women in the experiment didn`t lose any weight while the men did better (but no by much).
Phytases belong to the class and subclass of hydrolases phosphatases that catalyze the hydrolysis of monoesters of phosphoric acid. Phytase performed stepwise cleavage of orthophosphate ions of phytic acid to form as intermediates in the penta-, tetra-, tri-, di-, and inositol monophosphates (Nayani NR, Markakis P., 1986).
In accordance with the International Nomenclature of enzymes IUPAC-IUBMB three types of phytases: 3-phytase, 5-phytase and 4/6-phytase. Phytase types begin the transformation of phytic acid hydrolysis of an ester bond at different carbon atoms inositol ring, resulting in the formation of various isomers lower inozitolphospate. Phytate hydrolysis mechanism and the structure of the protein molecules of the same type phytases may vary. Phytase of the same type can be attributed to the acidic, neutral or alkaline phosphatase, according to the optimal pH level.
Phytase (myo-inositol-1,2,3,4,5,6-geksakisfosfat-fosfogidrolazy) – a group of enzymes belonging to the subclass of phosphatases carrying release of at least one phosphate ion from the molecule of phytic acid. Hydrolysis of phytic acid formed the lower, ie containing less than six residues of phosphoric acid, inozitolfosfaty, inositol and inorganic phosphate, as well as associated with phytates released cations.
First phytase activity was found in rice bran (Suzuki U. et. Al., 1907) and calf blood (McCollum EV, Hart EB, 1908), ie, in the variety of living organisms. Later phytase were found in bacteria and fungi, including yeast. Consider that in the digestive secretions monogastric animals, including humans, no phytase and phytate hydrolysis is carried out under the influence of enzymes and microflora acidic environment of the stomach. Today we know a lot of enzymes with phytase activity, a growing number (Haefner S. et. Al. [1], 2005; Oh BC et. Al., 2004; Vats P., Banerjee UC, 2004)
Most (about two thirds) of the total phosphorus in plant feed is presented in the form of salts of phytic acid – phytates (Simons PCM et. Al., 1990). Phytase carries both synthesis and hydrolysis of phytic acid. Due to the inability of livestock and poultry produce endogenous phytase, phosphorus, calcium, protein and other related phytic acid nutrients become less available. For the management of potential nutrient feed and more cost-effective and environmentally friendly production of meat and poultry should be used microbial phytase. Enrichment of the diet of microbial phytase makes more available phosphorus, calcium, zinc and copper, improves digestibility and stimulate weight gain. Effective use of microbial phytase dose-dependent, the ratio in the diet of calcium and phosphorus (Ca: P), vitamin D3, composition of the diet, age, and genetic features of animals and birds. [2]
Let's talk more about different ways to improve your looks. Of course, we know that all of you want to look better and there is always something to improve in yourself.
So, the easiest way to achieve that goal is to choose the right cosmetic surgeon in London. Read the rest of this entry »
Some foods have such a low energy content that you can eat large quantities of them without risking weight gain. Here's how to use these foods to your advantage.
Slimmers are always on the lookout for quick fixes to help them in their desperate quest to lose weight. A popular subject is the use of 'negative-energy foods' or so-called 'free foods'.
As the latter name implies, these are foods with such a low energy content that you can eat large quantities of them without risking weight gain. Sounds like magic, but when you see the list of foods, you'll realise that you can't survive on these foods alone.
Free foods
Diabetics and other people who have to control their food intake carefully will be acquainted with so-called 'free foods'. According to Krause's Food, Nutrition, & Diet Therapy (Mahan & Escott-Stump), a 'free food' is defined as "any food or drink that contains less than 20 calories [84 kJ] or less than 5g of carbohydrate per serving".
Vegetables (serving = 1 cup)
Eggplant (brinjal)
Turnip greens
Beans, green
Gem squash
Vegetable marrow
Beet leaves
Brussels sprouts
Sweet peppers
Fruit (serving = 1 cup)
Rhubarb cooked with artificial sweetener
(All raw or cooked and sweetened with artificial sweetener)
Very-low-energy foods (use as desired)
Clear broth
Bouillon (fat-free)
Dill pickles
Gelatin, unsweetened
Lemon juice
Fat-free foods (3 servings spread out over the day)
Cottage cheese, fat-free: 1 Tablespoon
Mayonnaise, fat-free: 1 Tablespoon
Non-stick cooking spray
Salad dressing, fat-free: 1 Tablespoon
Salsa: 1/4 cup
Sugar-free or low-sugar foods
Boiled sweets: one sweet
Chewing gum, sugar-free
Gelatine, unflavoured
Jam, low-sugar or lite: 2 Tablespoons
Jelly, sugar-free
Need for other foods
Clearly, no person can exist and do a day's work if he or she only eats the foods listed above.
For example, to obtain just 4200kJ or 1000cal from eating strawberries only, you would have to eat 3.3kg of these berries.
Even when you're slimming, it's important to eat a varied, balanced diet and to obtain enough energy from your diet to sustain your basic energy needs. This will prevent your body from going into starvation mode and will also make it possible for you to do some physical exercise to stimulate weight loss.
How to use free foods
These negative-energy foods can be used to give variety to your diet, to increase nutrient intake (most of the fruits and vegetables listed above are rich sources of vitamins and antioxidants) and to fill out meals.
Free foods are also excellent for preventing cravings, so use them as low-energy snacks whenever you feel peckish.


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It's the simple things that are the best things.
These are none other than that. Little, fluffy, pockets of buttery goodness. I like mine with a little jam, but butter and honey is a close second.
Angel Biscuits
Yields: about 40 1" biscuits or 20 3" biscuits
Original recipe here.
1/2 oz. active dry yeast (2 packets)
1/2 cup warm water
2 cups buttermilk, warm
5 cups flour
1/3 cup sugar
2 tsp. salt
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1 cup shortening
butter, melted (optional)
Dissolve the yeast in the warm water and let stand for 5 minutes. Stir in the warm buttermilk and set aside. Combine the flour, sugar, salt, baking powder, and baking soda in a large bowl, stir together. Cut in the shortening with a pastry blender until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Stir in the yeast/buttermilk mixture and mix well. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead lightly 3 - 4 times, then roll out to about 1/2" thick. Cut with a biscuit cutter (for normal size, use 3", for teeny ones like mine, use 1") Place on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Cover and let rise in a warm place for 1 1/2 hours. Bake at 450 F for 8 - 10 minutes. Lightly brush the tops with melted butter when they come out if desired.


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We're your trusted knife sharpening specialists in Albany and are here to help you take care of your tools. Having a properly sharpened knife is essential to almost every aspect of cooking, and a blunt knife will quickly become more than just a minor irritation.
That's why we offer a premier knife sharpening Albany service. You can send your knife to our professional knife sharpeners and enjoy the benefits of working with a razor-sharp knife. While we don't currently offer a mobile knife sharpening service in Albany for instant results, we do offer a unique, simple process that ensures we can use the best on-site facilities to sharpen your dull blades.
The Process
Our knife sharpening service couldn't be easier to use. When you place an order, we'll send you a sleeve and an envelope to keep your knives safe during their journey to us. The envelope already has a tracking number and insurance; all you need to do is to pop it in your nearest Australia Express post box.
Once we receive your knife, our knife-smiths will evaluate the knife, which includes examining the size, bevel, and current state. Once they understand your knife, they'll use a combination of sharpening tools, including ceramic abrasives and high-grit belts, to hone your knife to a fine, sharp edge.
Why KnifeCare Knife Sharpening Albany
While some knife sharpening services use high-friction methods that can damage your blade, we take our time and use a slower, more delicate process that ensures that your knife stays sharper for longer. Our knife sharpener in Albany will even polish the knife to a mirror finish, giving you the best-looking blade in town.
Once your knife is in excellent condition, we will carefully package it and send it back to you. You will be amazed at the difference in feel and comfort that a quality sharpening can deliver. Place your knife sharpening order with us today and never have a dull knife in your kitchen again!
Place your knife sharpening order
In just 3 clicks you can place your order with us. We will send your KnifeCare envelope to you as soon as we receive your order.
Protect and pack your blunt knives
Protect your knives using the supplied KnifeCare knife sheaths and ship them back to us in the supplied envelope.
Your knives are shipped to our workshop
Your knives are trackable and fully insured. We typically receive your knives within 1-3 days.
Where the magic happens...
Our KnifeCare knifesmiths get to work straight away and within 24 hours have lovingly restored your knives back to their former glory.
Your knives are returned to you
You will recieve your beautifully restored, repaired and sharpened knives delivered to your home, ready to start slicing and dicing with ease.
Want some knifeCare tips and recipes?
From learning how to care for your newly restored knives to delicious ways to put them to work, check out our Tips & Recipes.


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The Best Singing Bowls mallet series add a whole other dimension to the experience of listening to singing bowls. Every singing bowl has a rich and varied soundscape waiting to be revealed. Our precision mallets are designed to bring out this full potential in a way a stick or basic tapper simply cannot.
Singing bowls have a fundamental tone, their place in the sound spectrum. Matching a mallet to this sweet spot is the best way to bring out the full native power a bowl.
Singing bowls are not just one note, they all have many overtones. Our mallets are designed This is where mallet play gets interesting. By selecting mallets above and below the native tone of a bowl you get to hear something very different from the same bowl. The way the mallets do this is by dampening some frequencies and exciting others.
The Best Singing Bowls mallet series has four mallets for smaller bowls and five for larger. If you listen closely you will be able to hear these four or five different soundscapes from any singing bowl. The mallets for smaller bowls are tuned a little higher than those for larger ones so the series has nine distinct tones.
Mallets designed forsmaller bowls have smaller heads with natural birch handles and a slightly oval shape for greater contact area.


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The Yolo Causeway is the stretch of the 80 linking Davis and West Sacramento; First built in May 1916 and spanning the Yolo Bypass, this stretch of the 1928 Lincoln Highway allows passage during rainy months when swollen creeks and rivers are diverted into the bypass. Should flooding ever result in a massive evacuation from either side of the causeway, be forewarned that Yolo County has a contractor ready to send forklifts to both sides of the causeway to keep traffic flowing. Their sole mission is to lift up any stalled car and drop it off Interstate 80 into the waters below. Before the causeway was constructed and the Yolo Bypass was simply a natural seasonal basin, it was nearly impossible to travel between Sacramento and the Bay Area... crossed by narrow roads that flooded seasonally, travelers generally made the trip on riverboats, until the raised Yolo Plankroad was built through the Yolo Basin. However, the wooden road was still subject to extreme flooding in some years and it ended up being more trouble than it was worth. The Plankroad was eventually replaced by the Tule Jake Road, hardly an improvement since it was often only usable in the summer months. Railroads were built through the Yolo Basin some years later. If you head to Sacramento from Woodland, you can still drive some of these old roads that parallel the raised railroad tracks during the dry months.
Though it is sometimes referred to sarcastically as "The Fabulous Yolo Causeway" or "The Scenic Yolo Causeway," the Yolo Causeway (including bridges 22-044 and 22-045) on Route 80 in Yolo County is officially designated the "Blecher-Freeman Memorial Causeway". Roy P. Blecher and W. Michael Freeman were veteran California Highway Patrol officers shot to death during an enforcement stop on Route 80 near the Yolo Causeway in the early morning hours of December 22, 1978 at the hands of an armed felon. The current Causeway was completed in 1962, and named by Assembly Concurrent Resolution No. 119, Chapter 147, in 1994. From: California Highways.
Joking aside, the view over the rice fields is actually quite nice sometimes, and many people prefer to bike across rather than drive through the rush-hour traffic... a slow drive down the access roads is also nice. The causeway is home to over 250,000 bats as well as a large amount of other fauna. On the south side are large rice fields, and the north side has a long view of the railway. To the west you can usually see the beginnings of the coastal range rising up on the horizon over Davis, while the downtown skyline of Sacramento lies to the east.
The ground below the causeway is what makes this area most unique. The causeway crosses an approximate 16,000-acre area known as the Yolo Bypass Wildlife Area which is a model of a public-private partnership that shows that wildlife, flood control and agriculture can co-exist in a largely urban setting. The Yolo Basin Foundation provides monthly tours of the Wildlife Area and frequent trips during the summer months to view the evening fly out of bats http://yolobasin.org/.
On the south side of the causeway on the way into Sacramento you can see the message rocks.
The causeway is blown up in Dale Brown's novel set in Sacramento, The Tin Man.
See also Davis Wetlands, Yolo Bypass Wildlife Area, Conaway Ranch, and Yolo Basin Foundation.


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Sailor 1911 Large - Black/Gold Trim
- Black/Gold Trim
- 21K Gold Nib
- Fill Mechanism: Cartridge/Converter (Sailor proprietary)
- More Sailor
Comes with a converter and a cartridge
Sailor was founded in 1911. The founder Kyugoro Sakata was given a fountain pen by a friend returning from the UK after studying at the Royal Navy. He was inspired and determined to start making fountain pens in Japan. Sailor became the first fountain pen company in Japan, and earned many more firsts in Japan -- first ballpoint pen in 1948, first ink cartridge in 1954 and first brush pen in 1972, etc.
In the 1970's, Sailor made a popular beginner fountain pen, "Candy," that sold more than 15 million within a few years. However, the number of the fountain pen users were declining as ballpoint pens became more mainstream.
In 1981, Sailor decided to go in the opposite direction from their "Candy" pen and began focusing on producing a higher standard series, which is the 1911 series we see today. Their focus on making a higher standard provides a great foundation for their later series of pens. Today, Sailor makes one of the most diverse lines of nibs, some of which are designed for specific writing purposes such as writing musical notes to one that is best for character writing.
The 1911 offers a great balance and a smooth writing experience. The pen writes with a slight but satisfying feedback and it fits perfectly in the hand.
- Capped: 14cm
- Pen only: 12.2cm
- Posted: 15.4cm
- Cap: 1.6cm
- Barrel: 1.33cm
- Section: 1.1cm
Weights: 24.5g


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By Aaron Glantz and Emmanuel Martinez —
This story was originally published by Reveal from The Center for Investigative Reporting, a nonprofit news organization based in the San Francisco Bay Area. Learn more at revealnews.org and subscribe to the Reveal podcast, produced with PRX, at revealnews.org/podcast.
Fifty years after the federal Fair Housing Act banned racial discrimination in lending, African Americans and Latinos continue to be routinely denied conventional mortgage loans at rates far higher than their white counterparts.
This modern-day redlining persisted in 61 metro areas even when controlling for applicants' income, loan amount and neighborhood, according to a mountain of Home Mortgage Disclosure Act records analyzed by Reveal from The Center for Investigative Reporting.
The yearlong analysis, based on 31 million records, relied on techniques used by leading academics, the Federal Reserve and Department of Justice to identify lending disparities.
It found a pattern of troubling denials for people of color across the country, including in major metropolitan areas such as Atlanta, Detroit, Philadelphia, St. Louis and San Antonio. African Americans faced the most resistance in Southern cities — Mobile, Alabama; Greenville, North Carolina; and Gainesville, Florida — and Latinos in Iowa City, Iowa.
No matter their location, loan applicants told similar stories, describing an uphill battle with loan officers who they said seemed to be fishing for a reason to say no.
"I had a fair amount of savings and still had so much trouble just left and right," said Rachelle Faroul, a 33-year-old black woman who was rejected twice by lenders when she tried to buy a brick row house close to Malcolm X Park in Philadelphia, where Reveal found African Americans were 2.7 times as likely as whites to be denied a conventional mortgage.
The analysis — independently reviewed and confirmed by The Associated Press — showed black applicants were turned away at significantly higher rates than whites in 48 cities, Latinos in 25, Asians in nine and Native Americans in three. In Washington, DC, the nation's capital, Reveal found all four groups were significantly more likely to be denied a home loan than whites.
"It's not acceptable from the standpoint of what we want as a nation: to make sure that everyone shares in economic prosperity," said Thomas Curry, who served as America's top bank regulator, the comptroller of the currency, from 2012 until he stepped down in May.
Yet Curry's agency was part of the problem, deeming 99 percent of banks satisfactory or outstanding based on inspections administered under the Community Reinvestment Act, a 40-year-old law designed to reverse rampant redlining. And the Justice Department has sued only a handful of financial institutions for failing to lend to people of color in the decade since the housing bust. Curry argued that the law shares part of the blame; it needs to be updated and strengthened.
"The Community Reinvestment Act has aged a lot in 40 years," he said.
Since Curry departed nine months ago, the Trump administration has gone the other way, weakening the standards banks must meet to pass a Community Reinvestment Act exam. During President Donald Trump's first year in office, the Justice Department did not sue a single lender for racial discrimination.
The disproportionate denials and limited anti-discrimination enforcement help explain why the homeownership gap between whites and African Americans, which had been shrinking since the 1970s, has exploded since the housing bust. It is now wider than it was during the Jim Crow era.
This gap has far-reaching consequences. In the United States, "wealth and financial stability are inextricably linked to housing opportunity and homeownership," said Lisa Rice, executive vice president of the National Fair Housing Alliance, an advocacy group. "For a typical family, the largest share of their wealth emanates from homeownership and home equity."
The latest figures from the US Census Bureau show the median net worth for an African American family is $9,000, compared with $132,000 for a white family. Latino families did not fare much better at $12,000.
What Lenders Keep Secret
Lenders and their trade organizations do not dispute the fact that they turn away people of color at rates far greater than whites. But they maintain that the disparity can be explained by factors the industry has fought to keep hidden, including the prospective borrowers' credit history and overall debt-to-income ratio. They singled out the three-digit credit score — which banks use to determine whether a borrower is likely to repay a loan — as especially important in lending decisions.
"While quite informative regarding the state of the lending market," the records analyzed by Reveal do "not include sufficient data to make a determination regarding fair lending," the Mortgage Bankers Association's chief economist, Mike Fratantoni, said in a statement.
The American Bankers Association said the lack of federal enforcement proves discrimination is not rampant, and individual lenders told Reveal that they had hired outside auditing firms, which found they treated loan applicants fairly regardless of race.
"We are committed to fair lending and continually review our compliance programs to ensure that all loan applicants are receiving fair treatment," Boston-based Santander Bank said in a statement.
New Jersey-based TD Bank, which denied a higher proportion of black and Latino applicants than any other major lender, said it "makes credit decisions based on each customer's credit profile, not on factors such as race or ethnicity."
Reveal's analysis included all records publicly available under the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act, covering nearly every time an American tried to buy a home with a conventional mortgage in 2015 and 2016. It controlled for nine economic and social factors, including an applicant's income, the amount of the loan, the ratio of the size of the loan to the applicant's income and the type of lender, as well as the racial makeup and median income of the neighborhood where the person wanted to buy property.
Credit score was not included because that information is not publicly available. That's because lenders have deflected attempts to force them to report that data to the government, arguing it would not be useful in identifying discrimination.
In an April policy paper, the American Bankers Association said reporting credit scores would be expensive and "cloud any focus" the disclosure law has in identifying discrimination. America's largest bank, JPMorgan Chase & Co., has argued that the data should remain closed off even to academics, citing privacy concerns.
At the same time, studies have found proprietary credit score algorithms to have a discriminatory impact on borrowers of color.
The "decades-old credit scoring model" currently used "does not take into account consumer data on rent, utility, and cell phone bill payments," Republican Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina wrote in August, when he unveiled a bill to require the federal government to vet credit standards used for residential mortgages. "This exclusion disproportionately hurts African-Americans, Latinos, and young people who are otherwise creditworthy."
A Case Study: Philadelphia
Philadelphia was one of the largest cities in America where African Americans were disproportionately turned away when they tried to buy a home. About the same number of African Americans and non-Hispanic whites live in the City of Brotherly Love, but the data showed whites received 10 times as many conventional mortgage loans in 2015 and 2016.
Banks also focused on serving the white parts of town, placing nearly three-quarters of their branches in white-majority neighborhoods. Reveal's analysis also showed that the greater the number of African Americans or Latinos in a neighborhood, the more likely a loan application would be denied there — even after accounting for income and other factors.
When Faroul applied for a loan in April 2016, she thought she was an ideal candidate. She holds a degree from Northwestern University, had a good credit score and estimates she was making $60,000 a year while teaching computer programming as a contractor for Rutgers University. Still, her initial loan application was denied by Philadelphia Mortgage Advisors, an independent broker that made nearly 90 percent of its loans to whites in 2015 and 2016.
"I'm sorry," broker Angela Tobin wrote to Faroul in an email. Faroul's contract income wasn't consistent enough, she said. So Faroul got a full-time job at the University of Pennsylvania managing a million-dollar grant.
But that still wasn't enough. When she tried again a year later, this time at Santander Bank, a Spanish firm with US headquarters in Boston, the process dragged on for months. Her loan officer kept asking for new information, she said — or sometimes the same information again.
By this time, Faroul had been trying to get a mortgage for over a year, and the process itself was damaging her credit. Every time a lender pulls a hard inquiry on a credit report, the score goes down to guard against people who are trying to take on a lot of debt.
"They had done so many hard pulls that my credit score had dropped to 635," she said.
Then, an unpaid $284 electric bill appeared on Faroul's credit report. It was for an apartment she didn't live in anymore. She paid the bill right away, but the bank said it couldn't move forward.
Civil rights groups and real estate professionals said Faroul's experience follows a familiar pattern of discrimination by banks and mortgage lenders that has kept people of color from building wealth.
"It's one thing after another. It's like pulling layers off an onion," said Arlene Wayns-Thomas, president of the Philadelphia chapter of the National Association of Real Estate Brokers, which represents African American real estate professionals.
Wayns-Thomas, who has been selling real estate for 30 years, said her black clients are treated differently by lenders.
"They may not like what happened between the last time you were working on this particular job to this one. They may see there was a gap," she said. "I have seen situations where they've asked people for the children's birth records."
"The things that happen behind the scenes is what's disturbing," she said.
A Change of Tune From Lenders
For Faroul, things suddenly took a turn for the better after her partner, Hanako Franz, agreed to sign on to her loan application. At the time, Franz — who is half white, half Japanese — was working part time for a grocery store. Her most recent pay stub showed she was making $144.65 every two weeks. Faroul was paying for her health insurance.
The loan officer had "completely stopped answering Rachelle's phone calls, just ignored all of them," said Franz, 32. "And then I called, and he answered almost immediately. And is so friendly."
A few weeks later, the couple got the loan from Santander and bought a three-bedroom fixer-upper. But Faroul remains bitter.
"It was humiliating," she said. "I was made to feel like nothing that I was contributing was of value, like I didn't matter."
Contacted by Reveal, the lenders defended their records. Tobin, who turned down Faroul on her first application, said race played no role in the rejection.
"That's not what happened," she said and abruptly hung up. A statement followed from Philadelphia Mortgage Advisors' chief operating officer, Jill Quinn.
"We treat every applicant equally," the statement said, "and promote homeownership throughout our entire lending area."
Faroul's loan officer at Santander, Dennis McNichol, referred Reveal to the company's public affairs wing, which issued a statement: "While we are sympathetic with her situation, … we are confident that the loan application was managed fairly."
Reveal's analysis of lending data shows that nationally, Santander turned away African American homebuyers at nearly three times the rate of white ones. The company did not address that disparity in its statement but said it was more likely to grant a loan application from an African American borrower than five of its competitors.
Redlining History Repeating
Lending patterns in Philadelphia today resemble redlining maps drawn across the country by government officials in the 1930s, when lending discrimination was legal.
Back then, surveyors with the federal Home Owners' Loan Corporation drew lines on maps and colored some neighborhoods red, deeming them "hazardous" for bank lending. Leading causes of risk, according to government officials, included the presence of African Americans or immigrants.
This practice has been outlawed for half a century. And for the last 40 years, banks have had a legal obligation under the Community Reinvestment Act to solicit clients — borrowers and depositors — from all segments of their communities.
But in many places, the law hasn't made much difference. When you combine home purchase loans, refinancing and home equity lines of credit, banks were more likely to deny a conventional loan application than grant it in more than 40 percent of Philadelphia. People of color were the majority in nearly all those neighborhoods.
"You're killing us here," said Cindy Bass, a member of the Philadelphia City Council, who worked for a mortgage company before entering politics. The data shows banks have frozen out borrowers in much of her district — including Nicetown, a North Philadelphia neighborhood where boarded-up row houses dot the landscape.
"We need dollars. We need investment," Bass said, "like every neighborhood needs investment."
Nicetown is among the neighborhoods redlined in the 1930s. In his assessment, government surveyor W.R. Hutzel said the hazardous neighborhood had some positives, including "new industry — good transportation" and a high school. On the other hand, he wrote, it had a "heavy concentration of negro."
Today, the economic recovery largely has bypassed Nicetown. Blight is a major concern. Some of the vacant homes, empty for years, have attracted squatters. Although it's just a few blocks from Temple University Hospital, banks and mortgage brokers largely stay away. Lenders have been particularly stingy when it comes to home improvement loans. From 2012 to 2016, they made 67 home improvement loans here and denied 315.
"It creates this cycle where properties fall into dilapidation for a long period of time," said contractor Eric Marsh Sr., 48, whose family has lived in Nicetown for three generations.
Marsh started his own construction business "because I saw dilapidation and empty houses," he said, and wanted to help. But because banks rarely lend here, there's no capital to improve the neighborhood. So Marsh gets most of his jobs in more affluent sections near the center of town.
"I was wondering why people weren't purchasing these houses or renovating them," he said. "As I've gotten older and talked to people, I've found out that a big part of it is the lack of lending in neighborhoods like this."
"It's Like a Glass Ceiling"
It's not only historically redlined areas that suffer from a lack of credit. Some neighborhoods that were predominantly African American decades ago have since gentrified and are now majority white. Today, they benefit from a large number of home mortgages from banks.
Other neighborhoods that experienced white flight after World War II have become home to a substantial black middle class. And in those neighborhoods, banks are more likely to turn away borrowers.
Four miles from Nicetown, toward the suburbs near the Awbury Arboretum, the homes of Germantown are set back from the street behind garden patios and beautiful stone facades.
This area wasn't redlined in the 1930s. Government officials colored it green — "the best" — and blue, which meant "still desirable," and told banks to lend here. Back then, most residents of Germantown were white.
Today, this part of Philadelphia is majority African American, and the homes are occupied by middle-class workers — teachers, nurses and union craftsmen. Yet in every year from 2012 to 2016, banks denied more conventional loans of all types than they made in Germantown.
"It's like a glass ceiling," said Angela McIver, CEO of the Fair Housing Rights Center in Southeastern Pennsylvania. "OK, we'll allow you to go this far, but … you're not going to go any further."
Emmanuel Martinez is a data reporter for Reveal. A graduate of UC Irvine, Martinez received his Master's degree from the University of Southern California, where he studied radio and data journalism. Prior to joining Reveal, he interned for KPCC, the Los Angeles NPR affiliate, where he helped reporters acquire, clean and analyze data. Martinez is based in Reveal's Emeryville, California, office.
Aaron Glantz is a senior reporter at Reveal who produces public interest journalism with impact. His reporting has sparked more than a dozen congressional hearings, a raft of federal legislation and led to criminal probes by the Drug Enforcement Administration, the FBI and the Federal Trade Commission. Because of his reporting, 500,000 fewer US military veterans face long waits for disability compensation, while 100,000 fewer veterans are prescribed highly addictive narcotics by the government. He is also the author of three books, most recently The War Comes Home: Washington's Battle Against America's Veterans.


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GOP Rebranding? Roger Ailes Isn't Buying It
Written by Eric Boehlert
A question for Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus, who this week unveiled a nearly 100-page "autopsy" report on the GOP's recent electoral failings that urged the party to soften its image and become more inclusive: Do you think Roger Ailes is more concerned with his new biography hitting the top ten on the best-seller list, or with the Republican Party successfully appealing to more minority voters?
The answer to that question might go a long way in determining whether the GOP has any luck rebranding itself in the coming years. Early indications are Ailes and Fox News have no interest in moderating their form of attack programming, the bare-knuckle brand celebrated in Zev Chafets' new bio of the Fox News president, Roger Ailes: Off Camera.
Dubbed the "Growth & Opportunity Project," the RNC's laundry list of campaign failures urges the party to become more inclusive, tolerant and able to engage and persuade non-believers. Or to at least be able to not turn them off entirely with angry, absolutist rhetoric. "On messaging, we must change our tone," the report concluded.
Right now though, the Republican Party, riding a White House losing streak (2-4 since 1992), has a massive messaging problem, thanks to Roger Ailes.
As Variety confirmed last year, "the voice of Republican opposition throughout the Obama administration has been Fox News Channel, and the de facto leader of the GOP its chairman-CEO Roger Ailes."
It's fitting that the RNC report, which represents a concerted effort by the GOP to turn the page on its losing ways, arrived the same week Ailes was busy taking his book-release star turn and presenting himself as a clarion voice of the conservative movement. Via the book we learned Ailes, when not making weird media references to Hitler and Stalin and comparing Islamic charities to terrorist organizations, dismissed America's first black president is "lazy" liar who's "never worked a day in his life." (Ailes was clumsily misrepresenting comments Obama had made about himself in a 2011 interview with Barbara Walters.) Then in an interview with the Daily Beast, Ailes lashed out at another prominent African American, Van Jones, calling him a "communist infiltrator" who " has one job, to stir up racism whether he can find it or not."
So yes, thanks to a curious bit of timing, this week nicely captures the two paths, or the two options, that lay before Republicans. There's the "Growth & Opportunity" path of tolerance vs. the Roger Ailes path of divisiveness.
But Republicans aren't supposed to mention the Ailes conundrum. Instead, the Fox chief is like the crazy rich uncle who owns the fancy beach house where the dysfunctional family reunion is taking place; nobody wants to disparage the patriarch. Or, to mix metaphors, Ailes is the elephant in the elephant's room. So all week long there's been a running conversation among Republicans about their messaging, yet there's been virtually no public discussion about Ailes and Fox News, which own the GOP's messaging.
There's been little public acknowledgement that there can be no effective rebranding of the Republican Party if Ailes doesn't sign off. Meaning, the GOP can turn itself inside out if it wants, but if Fox News, the self-appointed face and voice the GOP, doesn't change, none of it matters because Fox will still be pounding home every negative stereotype that party leaders now want to erase. (i.e. Antagonistic, paranoid, narrow minded.)
That's the only approach Ailes knows: the phony Outrage Machine approach. (Obama did what?!) But it's growing stale. In January, Fox logged its worst ratings since August 2001. (Ratings rebounded somewhat in February.) Even some conservative pundits have grown bored of the Fox News model. It's the decade-old model that features the same tired voices making the same tired claims.
As I asked two months ago, has the Fox phony Outrage Machine damaged the conservative movement? Is it standing in the way of Republican progress and electoral success?
I think the answer from the "Growth & Opportunity Report" is that yes, it clearly has. Fox's slash-and-burn, name-calling style is part of the GOP's larger messaging trouble and is a key reason the party is perceived as angry, intolerant, and out of touch. As conservative Erick Erickson wrote this year, "Who the hell wants to listen to conservatives whining and moaning all the time about the outrage du jour?" (Ironically, Erickson joined Fox as a contributor less than two weeks after leveling that criticism.)
The permanent state of victimhood that Fox markets on behalf of the GOP might keep a loyal audience of Obama haters happy on cable television. But all it's produced for the party is two landslide Obama victories.
Esquire's Ton Junod, who wrote a lengthy profile of Ailes two years ago, recently noted Ailes' political failings. "For all his instinctive showmanship, and for all his purported populist genius," wrote Junod, "Ailes saw Obama cobble together his new majority right under his nose, and knew neither what to call it or how to stop it."
Priebus and his colleagues at the RNC now think they know how to stop the Democratic majority, but Roger Ailes isn't interested.


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I'm sure you do.
My latest distraction (well, apart from Daniel Craig) can easily be traced to our fabulous Myriam and her marvellous Browniebabe events.
For weeks I've pondered my options. At first it was an ice creamy concept--a luscious, creamy white vanilla ice cream with loads of chewy and chocolatey treasure. As I pored over my options the idea morphed from a classic chocolate brownie, studded with buttons of bittersweet chocolate and pecans to a peanut butter brownie.
Easier said than done. I must admit that in my household, peanut butter is a sandwich spread, something with which I attempt satay sauces, or is simply eaten straight out of the jar...sometimes with a spoon. I exhausted my books and pored over online recipes. I just couldn't find what I wanted: a swirly brownie that married chocolate and peanut butter, not a layer of chocolate iced in peanut butter. I wanted the peanut buttery batter baked into the treat, but not as a homogeneous, all-over pb&c treat...I wanted variances with every bite. I didn't want to read about how I could tweak a packet mix. I also wanted a treat that was fudgey and dense, but not reminiscent of uncooked batter that, um, so many brownies I've had are.
That's not too much to ask, I'm sure.
I saw I wasn't alone in my quest...which led me to this. If I can't find a recipe that gives me what I want, I'll just have to put a couple of recipes together.
As luck would have it, my copy of the UK imprint of Nigella's How To Be A Domestic Goddess arrived (more on that at a later date). I opened it to her brownie recipe and adapted it, thanks to Laura Rebecca's tips.
These are fudgey and dense and have a lovely papery top crust...and quite addictive. My friends and colleagues all came back for seconds...some came back for fourths.
I will warn you. This makes a lot of brownies...a lot of brownies. In its purest state, Nigella's version fits a 33cm x 23cm/3L (13" x 9"/3qt) pan. For these, I used a 38cm x 27cm/4L (10" x 15"/4qt) glass lasagna dish. That's a lot of brownies...thank goodness I have several brownie fiends in my life. The peanut butter batter will not be as loose as the chocolate, so you won't be able to do lovely feathering effects, but that's okay as the mottled caramel and cocoa top is beautiful in its own right.
Peanut Butter Chocolate Brownies
adapted from Nigella Lawson's Brownies (How To Be A Domestic Goddess) and Laura Rebecca's Peanut Butter Swirl
375g softened unsalted butter
375g bittersweet chocolate
7 large eggs
1 Tbsp vanilla paste
560g granulated sugar
225g plus 2 Tbsp plain flour
1 tsp vanilla salt
200g creamy peanut butter
55g unsalted butter, melted
- Preheat the oven to 180C/ 350F. Butter and line a 38cm x 27cm (10" x 15") tin.
- Melt together 375g butter with chocolate until glossy and set aside to cool slightly.
- Beat six eggs, 500g sugar and two tsp vanilla. Sift together 225g flour and salt.
- Beat the chocolate into the egg mixture. Add the flour mixture and combine until smooth. Set aside.
- Blend together the peanut butter, remaining 60g sugar, melted butter, two tablespoons flour, remaining teaspoon of vanilla and egg.
- Pour two-thirds of the chocolate batter into the prepared pan, then dot the pan with spooned blobs of one-third of the peanut butter mix. Cover with the remaining chocolate batter. then spoon the rest of the peanut butter batter over top.
- Bake for 35 minutes or until the top is papery and the sides pull away from the tin.
- I rarely recommend brands or other such things, but I highly suggest using organic peanut butter and organic chocolate, as they have far less sugar and salt than many other brands.
- If you are using a glass pan, you'll need a longer baking time--mine was closer to 45.
PS: If said Mr. Craig happens to find this post and wants to try some of these wondrous treats (or, I suppose anything else I've posted about), I am more than happy to oblige him...
tags: Brownies Chocolate Peanut Butter
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Bycatch Management Information System
The Bycatch Management Information System (BMIS) focuses on bycatch mitigation and management in oceanic tuna and billfish fisheries*. It is an open resource useful for fishery managers, fishers, scientists, observers, educators and anyone with an interest in fisheries management. As a reference and educational tool, the BMIS aims to support the adoption and implementation of science-based management measures so that bycatch is managed comprehensively and sustainably. The BMIS is concerned with highly migratory species with low reproductive rates, including seabirds, sharks and rays, sea turtles and marine mammals.
BYCATCH SPECIES DATA LINK Beta Version


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Kelly Clarkson to Perform at 2018 Super Bowl Pre-Parties
We may be less than two months away from the biggest event of the NFL but excitement continues as another artist is added to the Super Bowl festivities.
American Idol winner Kelly Clarkson will make various pre-party appearances for Super Bowl ticket holders leading up to February's big event.
According to JustJared, the 35-year-old singer will perform at the 52 Live pre-party at The Armory the weekend before the Super Bowl followed by another appearance at the Delta 360 Sky Club inside the U.S. Bank Stadium before the game on Sunday, February 4.
Meanwhile, it was announced in October that the Super Bowl Halftime show will be headlined by Justin Timberlake.


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Andrew, the Protoclete
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Dear Brothers and Sisters,
In the last two catecheses we spoke about the figure of St Peter. Now, in the measure that sources allow us, we want to know the other 11 Apostles a bit better. Therefore, today we shall speak of Simon Peter's brother, St Andrew, who was also one of the Twelve.
The first striking characteristic of Andrew is his name: it is not Hebrew, as might have been expected, but Greek, indicative of a certain cultural openness in his family that cannot be ignored. We are in Galilee, where the Greek language and culture are quite present. Andrew comes second in the list of the Twelve, as in Matthew (10:1-4) and in Luke (6:13-16); or fourth, as in Mark (3:13-18) and in the Acts (1:13-14). In any case, he certainly enjoyed great prestige within the early Christian communities.
The kinship between Peter and Andrew, as well as the joint call that Jesus addressed to them, are explicitly mentioned in the Gospels. We read: "As he walked by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon who is called Peter and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen. And he said to them, "Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men'" (Mt 4:18-19; Mk 1:16-17).
From the Fourth Gospel we know another important detail: Andrew had previously been a disciple of John the Baptist: and this shows us that he was a man who was searching, who shared in Israel's hope, who wanted to know better the word of the Lord, the presence of the Lord.
He was truly a man of faith and hope; and one day he heard John the Baptist proclaiming Jesus as: "the Lamb of God" (Jn 1:36); so he was stirred, and with another unnamed disciple followed Jesus, the one whom John had called "the Lamb of God". The Evangelist says that "they saw where he was staying; and they stayed with him that day..." (Jn 1:37-39).
Thus, Andrew enjoyed precious moments of intimacy with Jesus. The account continues with one important annotation: "One of the two who heard John speak, and followed him, was Andrew, Simon Peter's brother. He first found his brother Simon, and said to him, "We have found the Messiah' (which means Christ). He brought him to Jesus" (Jn 1:40-43), straightaway showing an unusual apostolic spirit.
Andrew, then, was the first of the Apostles to be called to follow Jesus. Exactly for this reason the liturgy of the Byzantine Church honours him with the nickname: "Protokletos", [protoclete] which means, precisely, "the first called".
And it is certain that it is partly because of the family tie between Peter and Andrew that the Church of Rome and the Church of Constantinople feel one another in a special way to be Sister Churches. To emphasize this relationship, my Predecessor Pope Paul VI, in 1964, returned the important relic of St Andrew, which until then had been kept in the Vatican Basilica, to the Orthodox Metropolitan Bishop of the city of Patras in Greece, where tradition has it that the Apostle was crucified.
The Gospel traditions mention Andrew's name in particular on another three occasions that tell us something more about this man. The first is that of the multiplication of the loaves in Galilee. On that occasion, it was Andrew who pointed out to Jesus the presence of a young boy who had with him five barley loaves and two fish: not much, he remarked, for the multitudes who had gathered in that place (cf. Jn 6:8-9).
In this case, it is worth highlighting Andrew's realism. He noticed the boy, that is, he had already asked the question: "but what good is that for so many?" (ibid.), and recognized the insufficiency of his minimal resources. Jesus, however, knew how to make them sufficient for the multitude of people who had come to hear him.
The second occasion was at Jerusalem. As he left the city, a disciple drew Jesus' attention to the sight of the massive walls that supported the Temple. The Teacher's response was surprising: he said that of those walls not one stone would be left upon another. Then Andrew, together with Peter, James and John, questioned him: "Tell us, when will this be, and what will be the sign when these things are all to be accomplished?" (Mk 13:1-4).
In answer to this question Jesus gave an important discourse on the destruction of Jerusalem and on the end of the world, in which he asked his disciples to be wise in interpreting the signs of the times and to be constantly on their guard.
From this event we can deduce that we should not be afraid to ask Jesus questions but at the same time that we must be ready to accept even the surprising and difficult teachings that he offers us.
Lastly, a third initiative of Andrew is recorded in the Gospels: the scene is still Jerusalem, shortly before the Passion. For the Feast of the Passover, John recounts, some Greeks had come to the city, probably proselytes or God-fearing men who had come up to worship the God of Israel at the Passover Feast. Andrew and Philip, the two Apostles with Greek names, served as interpreters and mediators of this small group of Greeks with Jesus.
The Lord's answer to their question as so often in John's Gospel appears enigmatic, but precisely in this way proves full of meaning. Jesus said to the two disciples and, through them, to the Greek world: "The hour has come for the Son of man to be glorified. I solemnly assure you, unless a grain of wheat falls to the earth and dies, it remains just a grain of wheat; but if it dies, it produces much fruit" (12:23-24).
Jesus wants to say: Yes, my meeting with the Greeks will take place, but not as a simple, brief conversation between myself and a few others, motivated above all by curiosity. The hour of my glorification will come with my death, which can be compared with the falling into the earth of a grain of wheat. My death on the Cross will bring forth great fruitfulness: in the Resurrection the "dead grain of wheat" a symbol of myself crucified will become the bread of life for the world; it will be a light for the peoples and cultures.
Yes, the encounter with the Greek soul, with the Greek world, will be achieved in that profundity to which the grain of wheat refers, which attracts to itself the forces of heaven and earth and becomes bread.
In other words, Jesus was prophesying about the Church of the Greeks, the Church of the pagans, the Church of the world, as a fruit of his Pasch.
Some very ancient traditions not only see Andrew, who communicated these words to the Greeks, as the interpreter of some Greeks at the meeting with Jesus recalled here, but consider him the Apostle to the Greeks in the years subsequent to Pentecost. They enable us to know that for the rest of his life he was the preacher and interpreter of Jesus for the Greek world.
Peter, his brother, travelled from Jerusalem through Antioch and reached Rome to exercise his universal mission; Andrew, instead, was the Apostle of the Greek world. So it is that in life and in death they appear as true brothers a brotherhood that is symbolically expressed in the special reciprocal relations of the See of Rome and of Constantinople, which are truly Sister Churches.
A later tradition, as has been mentioned, tells of Andrew's death at Patras, where he too suffered the torture of crucifixion. At that supreme moment, however, like his brother Peter, he asked to be nailed to a cross different from the Cross of Jesus. In his case it was a diagonal or X-shaped cross, which has thus come to be known as "St Andrew's cross".
This is what the Apostle is claimed to have said on that occasion, according to an ancient story (which dates back to the beginning of the sixth century), entitled The Passion of Andrew:
"Hail, O Cross, inaugurated by the Body of Christ and adorned with his limbs as though they were precious pearls. Before the Lord mounted you, you inspired an earthly fear. Now, instead, endowed with heavenly love, you are accepted as a gift.
"Believers know of the great joy that you possess, and of the multitude of gifts you have prepared. I come to you, therefore, confident and joyful, so that you too may receive me exultant as a disciple of the One who was hung upon you.... O blessed Cross, clothed in the majesty and beauty of the Lord's limbs!... Take me, carry me far from men, and restore me to my Teacher, so that, through you, the one who redeemed me by you, may receive me. Hail, O Cross; yes, hail indeed!".
Here, as can be seen, is a very profound Christian spirituality. It does not view the Cross as an instrument of torture but rather as the incomparable means for perfect configuration to the Redeemer, to the grain of wheat that fell into the earth.
Here we have a very important lesson to learn: our own crosses acquire value if we consider them and accept them as a part of the Cross of Christ, if a reflection of his light illuminates them.
It is by that Cross alone that our sufferings too are ennobled and acquire their true meaning.
The Apostle Andrew, therefore, teaches us to follow Jesus with promptness (cf. Mt 4:20; Mk 1:18), to speak enthusiastically about him to those we meet, and especially, to cultivate a relationship of true familiarity with him, acutely aware that in him alone can we find the ultimate meaning of our life and death.
* * * * *
To special groups
I welcome all the English-speaking visitors present, including groups from England, Ireland, Japan, Malaysia, Taiwan, South Africa and the United States. I greet in particular the Felician Sisters gathered in Rome for their General Chapter. Upon all of you and your families, I invoke God's abundant Blessing of peace and joy!
Lastly, I address a cordial greeting to the young people, the sick and the newly-weds. The Feast of Corpus Christi is a favourable opportunity for deepening faith and love for the Eucharist. Dear young people, nourish yourselves frequently with the Body and Blood of Christ, our spiritual food, and you will advance on the path of holiness. May the Eucharist be for you, dear sick people, support, light and comfort, in trials and in suffering. And may you, dear newly-weds, be able to draw from this Sacrament the spiritual energy to live the great love of which Christ gave us proof in offering us his Body and his Blood.
Tomorrow, the Feast of Corpus Christi, we will celebrate Holy Mass at 7:00 p.m., as we do every year, in the Square of St John Lateran. It will be followed by the solemn procession along Via Merulana to St Mary Major. I ask the Christian Community to gather in this act of profound faith in the Eucharist which is the most precious treasure of the Church and of humanity.
© Copyright 2006 - Libreria Editrice Vaticana
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Dēmos · Classical Athenian Democracy · a Stoa Publication
[ link colors: Demos | External Source | Citation to Evidence| Word Tools ]
S.C. Todd, selections by Michael de Brauw, edition of March 16, 2003
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atimia (abstract noun) · Lit. "loss of time, honour." In early archaic Athens, atimia seems to have meant outlawry, the total deprivation of all rights, such that a citizen could kill an atimos (pl. atimoi: person suffering from atimia) without committing an offence or apparently incurring blood-guilt. Well before the classical period, however, atimia had already been restricted in its scope to mean the loss of some or all of a man's active rights as a citizen. Such atimia could be partial or total; it could be imposed permanently by a court, or it could be the (theoretically) temporary result of an unpaid debt to the state, a condition which would automatically terminate if the debt were ever paid off. A man subject to total atimia could not appear in certain public places, could not take part in public life, and could not appear in court. If he broke any of these bans, he was liable to apagoge and death. But he did retain his private rights as a citizen: to kill him would be murder; he was not formally exiled; and he continued to own his property—though his lack of the capacity to sue may have made it difficult procedurally to defend these rights, and many may have found life under such restrictions so intolerable that voluntary exile seemed preferable. A man subject to partial atimia lost either a particular right or rights, or else the power to exercise his rights in a particular situation: for instance, the ability to bring certain types of prosecution.
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