Proposition 8 as viewed by some or most of the Mormons...

"In short, if the arguments used in the war in heaven were persuasive enough to draw billions of God's spirit children away from Him, why should we not expect them to be used on the present battlefield? The same minions cast out from the Father's presence still remember what worked up there.

The stakes are critical. If same-sex marriage advocates can dilute and hollow out the central part of the Creator's plan, the whole structure collapses — the family, the nation, and in time civilization itself. The time has come for those of us who believe that God, not man, created marriage (fortunately still a majority) to take a stand and defend it.

Proposition 8 is a defining moment, a tipping point, a critical battle in our existence, melodramatic as that might sound. This is not a political sideshow. Long after the world only vaguely remembers a President McCain or a President Obama, people will continue to be affected by what happened in the California battle to protect marriage in the fall of 2008."

This came from Meridian Magazine. I have written to the editors objecting to it. The author is a California pollster, BYU graduate and Stanford PhD. His name is Gary Lawrence and the author of a forthcoming book How Americans View Mormonism; Seven Steps to Improve Our Image. He and his wife, Jan, have four children and four grandchildren.

This thinking makes me angry and challenges me as to how I can fit in this culture of fear and homophobia. If my religious faith and experience is defined by people like Brother Lawrence I would drown.

I went to Equality California and made a donation. Their web site is http://www.eqca.org/

40 DAYS...

BP is 120/80 this AM. Down from 150/90+

40 days without caffeine

No more Cokes!

A Spider's Brain on Caffeine...

True or False

Caffeine is a central nervous system and metabolic stimulant with a number of positive benefits to the human body.

True – It is used both recreationally and medically to reduce physical fatigue and restore mental alertness when unusual weakness or drowsiness occurs. Caffeine stimulates the central nervous system first at the higher levels, resulting in increased alertness and wakefulness, faster and clearer flow of thought, increased focus, and better general body coordination, and later at the spinal cord level at higher doses. Once inside the body, it has a complex chemistry, and acts through several mechanisms.

Caffeine is completely absorbed by the stomach and small intestine within 45 minutes of ingestion. The effects of caffeine last up to three or four hours.

True - After ingestion it is distributed throughout all tissues of the body and is eliminated or removed by the liver. The half-life of caffeine—the time required for the body to eliminate one-half of the total amount of caffeine consumed at a given time—varies widely among individuals according to such factors as age, liver function, pregnancy, some concurrent medications, and the level of enzymes in the liver needed for caffeine metabolism. In healthy adults, caffeine's half-life is approximately 3–4 hours. In women taking oral contraceptives this is increased to 5–10 hours, and in pregnant women the half-life is roughly 9–11 hours. Caffeine can accumulate in individuals with severe liver disease when its half-life can increase to 96 hours. In infants and young children, the half-life may be longer than in adults; half-life in a newborn baby may be as long as 30 hours. Other factors such as smoking can shorten caffeine's half-life.

Caffeine is hazardous to many animals.

True - While relatively safe for humans, caffeine is considerably more toxic to some other animals such as dogs, horses and parrots due to a much poorer ability to metabolize this compound. Caffeine has a much more significant effect on spiders, for example, than most other drugs do.

Caffeine increases our capacity for mental and physical labor.

True – Caffeine is an ergogenic: increasing the capacity for mental or physical labor. A study conducted in 1979 showed a 7% increase in distance cycled over a period of two hours in subjects who consumed caffeine compared to control tests. Other studies attained much more dramatic results; one particular study of trained runners showed a 44% increase in "race-pace" endurance, as well as a 51% increase in cycling endurance, after a dosage of 9 milligrams of caffeine per kilogram of body weight. The extensive boost shown in the runners is not an isolated case; additional studies have reported similar effects. Another study found 5.5 milligrams of caffeine per kilogram of body mass resulted in subjects cycling 29% longer during high intensity circuits.

Caffeine consumption is tied to serotonin levels in the brain. In the central nervous system, serotonin plays an important role as a neurotransmitter in the modulation of anger, aggression, body temperature, mood, sleep, sexuality, appetite, and metabolism.

True - A reduction in serotonin levels when caffeine use is stopped can cause anxiety, irritability, inability to concentrate and diminished motivation to initiate or to complete daily tasks; in extreme cases it may cause mild depression. Together, these effects have come to be known as a "crash".

Withdrawal symptoms—possibly including headache, irritability, an inability to concentrate, and stomach aches—may appear within 12 to 24 hours after discontinuation of caffeine intake.

True - Withdrawal may peak at roughly 48 hours, and usually last from one to five days, representing the time required for the number of adenosine receptors in the brain to revert to "normal" levels, uninfluenced by caffeine consumption.


Caffeine dependency can result in a number of unpleasant physical and mental conditions.

True - In large amounts, and especially over extended periods of time, caffeine can lead to a condition known as caffeinism. Caffeinism usually combines caffeine dependency with a wide range of unpleasant physical and mental conditions including nervousness, irritability, anxiety, tremulousness, muscle twitching (hyperreflexia), insomnia, headaches, respiratory alkalosis and heart palpitations. Furthermore, because caffeine increases the production of stomach acid, high usage over time can lead to peptic ulcers, erosive esophagitis, and gastroesophageal reflux disease.
There are four caffeine-induced psychiatric disorders recognized by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition: caffeine intoxication, caffeine-induced anxiety disorder, caffeine-induced sleep disorder, and caffeine-related disorder not otherwise specified (NOS).

Excessive consumption and long term use of caffeine cause sleep disorders.

True - Two infrequently diagnosed caffeine-induced disorders that are recognized by the American Psychiatric Association (APA) are caffeine-induced sleep disorder and caffeine-induced anxiety disorder, which can result from long-term excessive caffeine intake. In the case of caffeine-induced sleep disorder, an individual regularly ingests high doses of caffeine sufficient to induce a significant disturbance in his or her sleep, sufficiently severe to warrant clinical attention. A study in the British Journal of Addiction concluded that caffeinism, although infrequently diagnosed, may afflict as many as one person in ten of the population.

Caffeine may prevent Parkinson’s Disease.

True - Several large studies have shown that caffeine intake is associated with a reduced risk of developing Parkinson's disease (PD) in men, but studies in women have been inconclusive. The mechanism by which caffeine affects PD remains a mystery. In animal models, researchers have shown that caffeine can prevent the loss of dopamine-producing nerve cells seen in Parkinson's Disease, but researchers still do not know how this occurs.

Caffeine may be a ‘nootropic’ or smart drug.

True - An array of studies found that caffeine could have nootropic effects, inducing certain changes in memory and learning. However, it is still not definitely clear whether the effect is negative or positive.
Researchers have found that long-term consumption of low dose caffeine slowed hippocampus-dependent learning and impaired long-term memory. Caffeine consumption for 4 weeks also significantly reduced hippocampal neurogenesis compared to controls during the experiment. The conclusion was that long-term consumption of caffeine could inhibit hippocampus-dependent learning and memory partially through inhibition of hippocampal neurogenesis.
Another study showed that subjects—after receiving 100 milligrams of caffeine—had increased activity in brain regions located in the frontal lobe, where a part of the working memory network is located, and the anterior cingulum, a part of the brain that controls attention. The caffeinated subjects also performed better on the memory tasks. However, a different study showed that caffeine could impair short term memory and increase the likelihood of the 'tip of the tongue' phenomenon. The study allowed the researchers to suggest that caffeine could aid short-term memory when the information to be recalled is related to the current train of thought, but also to hypothesize that caffeine hinders short-term memory when the train of thought is unrelated. In essence, focused thought coupled with caffeine consumption increases mental performance.

Used in significant amounts over time caffeine dependency results in unpleasant side effects and two 12 oz. Starbucks consumed within several hours could send you over the edge.

True - An acute overdose of caffeine, usually in excess of about 300 milligrams, dependent on body weight and level of caffeine tolerance, can result in a state of central nervous system over-stimulation called caffeine intoxication, colloquially "caffeine jitters". The symptoms of caffeine intoxication are not unlike overdoses of other stimulants. It may include restlessness, nervousness, excitement, insomnia, flushing of the face, increased urination, gastrointestinal disturbance, muscle twitching, a rambling flow of thought and speech, irritability, irregular or rapid heart beat, and psychomotor agitation. In cases of much larger overdoses mania, depression, lapses in judgment, disorientation, loss of social inhibition, delusions, hallucinations, psychosis, rhabdomyolysis, and death may occur.

Caffeine coupled with analgesics such as aspirin contribute to tinnitus or ringing in the ears.

True - I went to an ENT specialist this past week and he recommended cessation of caffeine consumption. In the three weeks I have stopped consuming caffeine the ringing is still present, seems to be unchanged. I do have hearing loss associated with with the tinitis in the high frequency range.

My dose has been generally two, but sometimes three in a morning. We have bottles of Excedrin in every vehicle, suit case, brief case, and I carry them in my shirt pocket like breath mints. Never leave home with out them. For comparison here are caffeine amounts in chocolate, meds, tea, sodas and coffee:

Excedrin tablet 1 tablet 65 mg,
Chocolate, Dark (Hershey's Special Dark) 1 bar (43 g; 1.5 oz) 31 mg.
Soft drink, Coca-Cola Classic 355 mL (12 U.S. fl oz) 34 mg.
Tea, leaf or bag 177 mL (6 U.S. fl oz) 50 mg.
Coffee, drip 207 mL (7 U.S. fl oz) 115–175 mg.
Soft drink, Jolt Cola 694 mL (23.5 U.S. fl oz) 150 mg.
Coffee, Starbucks (Tall 12 U.S. fl oz) 240 mg.
Wired X344 473 mL (16 U.S. fl oz) 344 mg.

Because of the ‘rebound’ headaches I have been suffering from over the years I have gone ‘cold turkey’ with respect to all caffeine consumption, namely Excedrin and Cokes, and generally all analgesics. Chocolate still remains in my diet due to its salutary effects and simply how much I enjoy it. The headaches occur daily and some days they are worse than others causing me to take a couple Ibuprofens on Sunday. Headaches seem to run in the family and I have been, no doubt, an over medicator of Excedrin. Time will tell if the headaches decrease in the long term and any lowering of blood pressure. Haven’t checked it since I stopped consumption.

To Consume or Not to Consume...

True or False

Caffeine is a powerful pesticide.

True - Caffeine is found in varying quantities in the beans, leaves, and fruit of over 60 plants, where it acts as a natural pesticide that paralyzes and kills certain insects feeding on the plants.

It is found in Yerba Mate, Guarana, the kola nut and coffee bean.

True - It is most commonly consumed by humans in infusions extracted from the beans of the coffee plant and the leaves of the tea bush, as well as from various foods and drinks containing products derived from the kola nut or from cacao. Other sources include yerba mate, and guarana berries.

Caffeine is the world's most widely consumed psychoactive substance, but unlike most other psychoactive substances, it is legal and unregulated in nearly all jurisdictions.

True - In North America, 90% of adults consume caffeine daily.


High caffeine levels have also been found in the surrounding soil of coffee bean seedlings.

True - It is understood that caffeine has a natural function as both a natural pesticide and as an inhibitor of seed germination of other nearby coffee seedlings, thus giving it a better chance of survival.

Chocolate derived from cocoa and cocoa drinks contain caffeine.

True - They contain small amounts of caffeine. The weak stimulant effect of chocolate may be due to a combination of theobromine and theophylline as well as caffeine. Chocolate contains too little of these compounds for a reasonable serving to create effects in humans that are on par with coffee.

In recent years various manufacturers have begun putting caffeine into shower products such as shampoo and soap.

True – Some personal care product manufacturers are claiming that caffeine can be absorbed through the skin. However, the effectiveness of such products has not been proven, and they are likely to have little stimulatory effect on the central nervous system because caffeine is not readily absorbed through the skin.

Humans have consumed caffeine since the Stone Age.

True - Early peoples found that chewing the seeds, bark, or leaves of certain plants had the effects of easing fatigue, stimulating awareness, and elevating mood. Only much later was it found that the effect of caffeine was increased by steeping such plants in hot water. Many cultures have legends that attribute the discovery of such plants to people living many thousands of years ago.

The first use of coffee to stay awake during religious services occurred about 500 years ago.

True - 15th century the Sufis of Yemen routinely used coffee to stay awake during prayers. Maybe this would help us all in those warm meetings when it is High Council Sunday.

The US Government at one time seized barrels of Coke syrup alleging it was unsafe for public consumption.

True - In 1911, kola became the focus of one of the earliest documented health scares when the US government seized 40 barrels and 20 kegs of Coca-Cola syrup in Chattanooga, Tennessee.

Justice Department attorneys alleged that the caffeine in Coca Cola was a threat to virtue and lead young women at one girl’s school down forbidden paths.

True - On March 13, 1911, the government initiated The United States v. Forty Barrels and Twenty Kegs of Coca-Cola, hoping to force Coca-Cola to remove caffeine from its formula by making claims, such as that the excessive use of Coca-Cola at one girls' school led to "wild nocturnal freaks, violations of college rules and female proprieties, and even immoralities."

Congress, not happy with this progressive judge’s rule introduced bills warning Americans of the potential evil of Coca Cola.

True - Although the judge ruled in favor of Coca-Cola, two bills were introduced to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1912 to amend the Pure Food and Drug Act, adding caffeine to the list of "habit-forming" and "deleterious" substances which must be listed on a product's label.

This concludes the first half of the true/false test. To follow will be the effects of caffeine on the body. To consume or not to consume…to be continued.

When a Child is Born

The Prius

Prius Sales, Prices Soar

Toyota has said battery and electric engine supplies will only permit them to sell 150,000 Prius in the U.S. this year.
Monday, June 30, 2008


(UPI) - U.S. supplies of the Toyota hybrid car Prius have outstripped supplies, shooting prices upward, dealers and car owners said.
A one-year old Prius -- a car that boasts a fuel rating of 48 miles per gallon when new -- now often sells for more than the original purchase price and dealers are bumping prices as much as $5,000 above the sticker price, the Dallas Morning News reported Monday.

"It's hybrid hysteria," said John Mathews managing partner of Pat Lobb Toyota and Scion of McKinney, Texas.

"Nothing else comes even close to the Prius in mileage," Sonny Morgan a managing partner of Sport City Toyota in Dallas said.

Supplies are limited due to soaring demand, but Toyota has said battery and electric engine supplies will only permit them to sell 150,000 Prius in the United States this year, the report said.

Dallas resident Amy Meaux looked for a Prius in May, the Morning News reported.

She found 10 available at one dealership. But, when she inquired again two days later, there were none left on the lot, she said.

"That's when I knew we'd have to pay over window-sticker price for the car," she said."

Looks like we bought ours at the right time.