CHIPS, CHiPS and chips

What do you think of when you hear the word “chips?”

Three things come to mind: Delectable Chocolate Chip Cookies, Erik Estrada on a motorcycle and the state’s insurance plan for uninsured children. I will touch on all three, starting with insurance. Part of my reason for this is that I have a midterm on Monday covering this, but it’s also good to know about programs in our state and how they affect us and our neighbors.

Nearly 20% of the uninsured Americans are children under the age of 19 and these 9 million children are more likely to lack a consistent source of health care, to go without needed health care, and to experience worse health outcomes than children who have health insurance.

The State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP, or CHIP) is a federal and state funded program developed to take care of uninsured children under title XXI of the Social Security Act. The program was created by the Balanced Budget Act (remember in the Clinton years we had balanced budgets and even created a surplus) of 1997, and allowed states to design their own programs to best meet their needs.

Alabama’s CHIP program is ALL Kids and is for uninsured children under the age of 19. It provides for well child checkups and immunizations, sick child care, prescriptions, vision and dental care, and enhanced care for children with special health care needs. The child must not be covered by other insurance or be eligible for Medicaid.

All Kids has helped Alabama to reduce the rate of uninsured kids by about 2/3, and has improved access and utilization for children’s health care in our state. Since September 1998, over 172,000 children in Alabama have been insured through All Kids.

Each state has flexibility in administering the program and Alabama’s program has helped our state to be ranked fairly high in the number of uninsured kids. The Robert Woods Johnson Foundation has recently released a report that shows that in Alabama 7.2% of children are uninsured. The range among states is 5.6% in Vermont to 20.3% in Texas, and Alabama ranks among the top 10 or so.

http://www.rwjf.org/portfolios/resources/chartsdata.jsp?iaid=132

Remember the TV show CHiPS? I won’t say much about it, but CHiPS stood for California Highway Patrol and aired from 1977 to 1983. Erik Estrada.

See I told you I wouldn’t say much. The picture says it all.

Bessemer has our own version of CHiPS. Bessemer police officer Ed Jones was recently interviewed in the Birmingham News. He is a motorcycle cop, working accidents, issuing citations and providing escorts. Officer Jones is quoted as saying “Black CHiPS. That’s what they call us, you hear that all the time.”

Finally, what you’ve been waiting on. Chocolate Chip Cookies. From Famous Amos to Chips Ahoy, but nothing beats home made.

Gwen Steege has written books on the chocolate chip cookie. Here is a recipe from one of her books:

MONA'S CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES

Mona B. Spencer, Vancouver WA

Whether you choose butter or margarine, Mona's recipe is sure to please. Remember that butter will make the cookies crisp, and margarine will make them cakey.

2 cups plus 4 tablespoons flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
1 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup butter or margarine, softened until almost melted
12 ounces (2 cups) semi-sweet chocolate chips
2 cups coarsely chopped walnuts (optional)

1. Preheat the oven to 375F.
2. Sift the flour with the baking soda and salt. Add the sugars, eggs, vanilla, and butter or margarine, and beat with a wooden spoon until the mixture is smooth and well combined. Stir in the chocolate chips and nuts.
3. Drop by teaspoonfuls onto ungreased baking sheets, spacing cookies about 2 inches apart. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, or until cookies are golden. Remove to wire racks to cool.
Yield: 4 Dozen

I’m heading for the kitchen right now!!!!

P.S.
A sad note, British actor John Inman passed away recently. Inman played Mr. Humphreys on the BBC hit comedy “Are You Being Served?” Inman leaves behind his partner of 35 years.

Clarifications and a quote from Karl Rove

One thing about putting information out there is that if inaccurate information is posted, I quickly receive new more accurate information. Yesterday’s post was one such case. I learned that McNeil Park was actually started by Andrew Bennett, the Park and Recreation Director. He and Herman Lehman wrote the grant that helped fund the park, and matching funds came not from the city but from the county, with help from Sheila Smoot and Mary Buckalew. So let’s tip our hat to Andrew and Herman.

And while on the subject of inaccurate information, Karl Rove was in our state yesterday speaking to students at Troy University. Let me quote him, “The masses are not asses. They will figure it out.”

Rove’s involvement in the firing of federal prosecutors? "The masses are not asses. They will figure it out."

Alberto Gonzales’ motives and role in the firing of federal prosecutors? "The masses are not asses. They will figure it out."
Dick Cheney’s role in the outing of CIA agent Valerie Plame and why Scooter Libby took the fall? "The masses are not asses. They will figure it out." We are not asses. We have figured it out. The three of you need to go.

Bessemer: A Fistful of Dollars

Continuing in the Clint Eastwood movie theme, money is what Bessemer will need: The Mayor of Bessemer is seeking approval of a bond issue ($5 to 8 million) to get our streets paved.


Mayor Ed May tried this last year, but the council voted it down deeming it a pre-election ploy. Our streets are in desperate need of paving. But is a bond issue the way to do it? I haven’t formed an opinion yet, because I don’t know what the terms of the bond issue will be. We certainly don’t want to be repaying bonds 12 years from now after the proposed repaving is obsolete in 10. Repaving only lasts a few years, and I am not sure all repaving efforts are of the same quality. So there are a lot of variables here. I will try to keep you posted.



This week’s tip of the hat goes to council person Jesse Matthews. Jesse was instrumental in getting the newly (almost) completed McNeil Park opened. Adults and children can use this park.


There is a playground area.

And a water play area.

And picnic tables provided by the Jefferson County Commission,
thanks to Commissioner Sheila Smoot.

Walking around the track I noticed this fruit tree blooming in an adjacent yard.

The park is located at 20th Ave and 13th St. Go by and take a look. And a walk. Thanks, Jesse.

Congratulations to Jess Lanier student Paula Montford for achieving the 2007 Girl Scout Gold Award. Paula is among twelve area girl scouts being recognized. She saw a need among health fairs to address health and safety issues among teenagers, and created a symposium that addressed spiritual health, nutrition and fitness, stress and depression and alcohol and drugs, smoking, safety and tattoos and piercings. The event was held at Sixth Avenue Baptist Church and was staffed by experts on the issues.

Coming soon to the Alys Stevens Center: hometown (Birmingham) Star Emmylou Harris. Will she bring MarkKnopfler with her? Click here to listen to “This is Us” by Emmylou and Mark. She is one of my long time favorites and I will certainly be there. The event is scheduled September 30.

http://www.hyfntrak.com/knopflerharris/nobuy/go.php

Actually you can listen to the whole cd "All the Roadrunning."



Also, there will be Candlelight Vigil at the fountain in Five Points South in Birmingham on March 19, 2007 to mark the anniversary of the Iraq War. The sacrifice of the more than 3000 soldiers who have given their life will be solemnly honored, and the path of the future contemplated. 5:30 pm. Sponsored by Birmingham Peace Project, Pax Christi, Birmingham One Corp and MoveOn.org. This is a nationwide event, come and take part.

Pace is off the Mark

The top U. S. military officer, Gen Peter Pace, was quoted yesterday by the Chicago Tribune as saying “"I believe that homosexual acts between individuals are immoral, and that we should not condone immoral acts. So the 'don't ask, don't tell' [policy] allows an individual to serve the country ... if we know about immoral acts, regardless of committed by who, then we have a responsibility.”

Pace was stating his opinion as the debate over the current “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy continues. The majority of Americans believe that homosexuals should be allowed to serve openly, and many retired and current military officials agree.

Two problems. First, according to many, adultery and even divorce, as described by Jesus, could be considered immoral. Pre-marital sex is also a common practice that many consider immoral. Should all divorced or sexually active applicants for the armed services be turned down? If their divorce or their extra-marital sex occurs during their service, should they be discharged? Some consider actions of "self pleasure" immoral. Soldiers, watch out.

Second, we often hear that our moral authority comes from the Ten Commandments. While homosexuality is not mentioned, killing certainly is. Is it not hypocritical for someone who makes their career based on war and killing to be making arguments based on morality? This is not the time to debate the morality of war or of this war in particular, but many religious leaders came out against this war in particular as being unjust and un-biblical. That would make the killing in this war, immoral.

According to the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network (http://www.sldn.org/templates/index.html) there are over 65,000 gay and lesbian troops now serving in our armed forces. From 1993 to 2005 there were 11,092 gay and lesbian service personnel dismissed. The cost for administering this policy has been reported to be between 200 million and 364 million dollars. The lower figure comes from the GAO (http://www.gao.gov/htext/d05299.html) and the higher figure from the Center for Study of Sexual Minorities in the Military. (http://www.gaymilitary.ucsb.edu)

What a waste of taxpayer dollars, and what a waste of qualified personnel. Oh, but this administration is not concerned about taxpayer dollars (other than returning them to the richest of the rich) or qualified personnel (from the top down).

This was life saving for me

Today I am going to address a subject that is icky for a lot of people. As you are reading this, I am either having a colonoscopy or recovering from it. This is my second. A colonoscopy can be a life saving event. Really and truly, the first one saved my life. Read on, my personal experince is down below. No, it’s not fun, and the prep time is just as bad as the procedure. First this.

March is National Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month. My doctor gave me a blue bracelet to remind me to get screened (I already had the appointment) but I am wearing it to remind me to tell others to do the same.

During National Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month, these important points about colorectal cancer are communicated:
Colorectal cancer can be prevented.
Screening for colorectal cancer can identify polyps - grape size growths in the colon and/or rectum. These can be removed to prevent cancer from ever occurring.
Starting at age 50, men and women who are at average risk for colorectal cancer should get screened. Men and women who have a higher risk of the disease may need to be tested earlier and should talk to their health care professional about when.
No matter what your age, know the risk factors, know the symptoms, know your family history.
Colorectal cancer is treatable.
Talk with your health care professional today.
Go to this site to learn more. On the left of the page are various topics and a FAQ link that will provide lots of information.

http://www.preventcancer.org/colorectal/facts/crc.cfm

If you are 50, or if you have a sibling or a parent who is 50, they need to know this.

My own experience

When I had my colonoscopy at age 50 two polyps were found and removed. Had I not had the procedure, by now, or in the not too distant future, I would most likely develop colon cancer. A friend of ours was not so lucky. Soon after my procedure, he had the same procedure for the first time. Colon cancer was discovered, and a few months ago he died. He was older than me, and had he been screened at age 50, he might still be alive today.
This is serious stuff. And it is one of the easiest cancers to prevent, by having this simple (well, sort of) procedure. Do your self, and your loved ones a favor. Get screened.

On a more positive note…I learned this week that I have been accepted in to the Masters Program in Epidemiology at the UAB School of Public Health. Of course, I am already taking some courses there, but now they can be applied to my degree.

Newt Gingrich and Red Efts

Newt Gingrich is squirming. He has to be as he tries to weasel his way out of hypocrisy. Yesterday in an interview with Focus on the Family founder James Dobson, Newt said “the honest answer is yes” when questioned about having an extra-marital affair during the time he was pursuing impeachment proceedings against Bill Clinton regarding his denial of such an affair under oath. Now I know some will immediately say the crime of Clinton leading to the impeachment mess was perjury, that Clinton’s lying about his relationship with Monica while under oath, was a felonious act and that what Gingrich did was not a felony, etc, etc. In fact, Gingrich himself is trying to weasel out of by saying “I drew a line in my mind that said, ‘Even though I run the risk of being deeply embarrassed, and even though at a purely personal level I am not rendering judgment on another human being, as a leader of the government trying to uphold the rule of law, I have no choice except to move forward and say that you cannot accept…perjury in your highest officials.” Gingrich says that he should not be viewed as a hypocrite.

Gingrich did not risk embarrassment; he was trying to find a way to embarrass the president and the Democratic Party. There are many of us who don’t spend a lot of time in the courtroom, and while we understand the difference between perjury and lying, in our mind they are the same. Just because one is not “under oath” does not make the telling of a lie, or living a lie, any less offensive, and any less a “sin” in the eyes of fair minded folks or of the one who wrote the commandment. Perjury just leads to a greater (usually) punishment and more publicity.

Rates for extra-marital affairs range from 14 to 55% of married women and 22 to 60% of married men. Probably 95% of those people would lie under oath about the affairs if they thought they could get away with it. Part of the reason might be that they are embarrassed, or they really know the affair was wrong and don’t want to hurt their spouse, but a big reason might also be out of respect for the other party.

I am NOT excusing those who cheat on their spouses, and I am NOT excusing the former president for having an affair or for being messy or for lying about it. But with so many married people doing it, and then add all the unmarried people who have sexual relations outside of marriage, and you have included a majority of the people in the country. Like it or not, this means that what the president did was not that unusual, by standards of behavior in the United States, and it also was not that big a deal, by the standards of national security and presidential business, and certainly not worth the time and energy our congressional leaders of the time spent investigating it.

The question is: Is Newt coming clean (or trying to) as a run up to a presidential bid in 2008? The conservatives are trying to find a candidate they feel comfortable supporting. Good luck!

Newts and Efts

Much more interesting is the life history of the Red Spotted Newt, a common relative of salamanders that is very common in Alabama. Newts have a complicated life cycle, hatching as aquatic larvae living in grassy pools of water and breathing through gills, metamorphing in to terrestrial “efts” that are air breathing juveniles.














They may remain as efts for up to seven years, or they may never mature, but most morph again into adults that live on land but return to the water at some point to reproduce and lay eggs.

Picture credit: http://www.uga.edu/srelherp/salamanders/notvir.htm

Here is an adult Red Spotted Newt.

Picture credit http://www.bio.umass.edu/biology/conn.river/newt.html

To confuse matters a little, some aquatic larvae never leave the water, and bypass the eft stage and remain gilled adults. Go figure. I had red efts in a terrarium as a college student, part of a project where we observed them shedding and eating their own skin for a herpetology class I was taking. I would bet that these critters are in the Watercress Darter National Wildlife Refuge habitat. I might go on a hunt, and will let you know what I find. We won’t take any critters from the refuge of course. We will only take pictures.

What do yall like best, the political stuff or the science stuff? Let me know.

Bessemer: The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly

Today I am just going to write about some issues here in Bessemer. I might start doing this on Thursdays each week, because both The Western Star and The Birmingham News West News arrive on Wednesdays. Before I forget, be sure and read the comment left on yesterday’s post (No News) by Jennifer, who is voicing her concern about go-carts on the streets. I live in the area she is referring to, and I have seen them too. One guy a couple of days ago was (actually) stopping at a stop sign and was using his foot on the asphalt to stop his vehicle. Didn’t the Flintstones do this? For their own safety, even if they are going to continue to break the law, they should put those flags on the go-carts so people in vehicles might see it out of the corner of their eye.

Here is the good. Being a student of science (again…literally) I was excited to read in both papers about the return of the science fair to Jess Lanier High School. My hat is off to anatomy and physiology teacher Harriet Westbrook who reintroduced the program. I remember two science projects in particular that I did in public school. One was a volcano made of different colors of modeling clay, representing the different layers of the earths crust. Part of it was cut away to show the layers. Also, we had a substance (I can’t remember what it was) that I could put down in the crater of the volcano and light, and it would smoke and spew and make a little lava flow. This was a long time ago, and probably you couldn’t get away with that now (using open flame and explosives), and probably I released toxins into the atmosphere of the lunchroom/auditorium that might still be affecting me now, but it was fun. I won’t bore you with the other project. 1000 Science Projects from A to Z was the book that I got a lot of ideas from when I was a kid. I wish I still had that book.

Congratulations to third place winner Trenton Hearns (9th Grade) whose project compared modern digital music players to older record players, second place finisher Shemarkus Johnson (10th Grade) who analyzed the microbes that live on our hands, and first place winner Rickey Brown (10th Grade) whose project explored water purification.

Included in science is biology and a part of the study of life is ornithology. A recent article in the Birmingham News brought to my attention conservation efforts that have made a city park in Roebuck a birdwatcher’s haven. The Great Backyard Bird Count was recently completed, and there are bird watchers here in Bessemer too. Twelve counters reported 30 species of birds and 1228 total birds. Of course this is just a small sample of the actual number of birds around, but it gives an idea of what we might see. View Bessemer’s bird counts here: http://gbbc.birdsource.org/gbbcApps/report?cmd=showReport&reportName=CitySummary&city=Bessemer&state=US-AL&year=2007

Another thing we have in Bessemer is a National Wildlife Refuge. Did you know? The Watercress Darter National Wildlife Refuge is just off Eastern Valley Road, and was created in 1980 and contains a pond known as Thomas Spring which is vital to the survival of the endangered Watercress Darter. The 23 acre refuge is managed by the Mountain Longleaf National Wildlife Refuge in Anniston. The web site is http://www.fws.gov/southeast/watercressdarter/index.html and here is the Watercress Darter.




The refuge is next to the McAdory house. There are no informational signs up yet, but there are improved paths for hiking and bird watching. Email me for directions.

By the way, the web site has not been updated and says the Refuge is managed by Wheeler National Wildlife Refuge.

Now for bad. This building is one block from my house. It has been abandoned for years, and why the thunderstorms and strong winds don’t finish it off I don’t know. The building was pictured on the front of The Western Star months ago, to try to draw attention, but I guess the right people have not seen it. Maybe they will see this picture.

Can we not just all get on one side and blow real hard?

One more thing. In case you don’t know, the Galleria Mall now has online shopping for its stores. The site is http://www.riverchasegalleria.com/html/index12.asp, and from there you can type in a product, for instance "Clark shoes", and find where they are sold, and in some cases what styles are available and can reserve them. Type in “Weather Radio” (which we all should have) and several options come up. Also is a listing of “Hot Stores” and information for “mall walkers” and various other things. Explore, shop, spend!

And this is the Ugly. I will close with a quote from The Western Star of March 7, 2007. In an editorial, owner Bob Tribble says, “And we as newspaper folks must protect the rights of those with whom we disagree as well as those whom we agree” (Jefferson Was Definitely A “Visionary”). If only the editor, Dale Jones, agreed.