“The parents of every special-needs child know that the Palins have a hard road ahead of them. The heartbreak of watching the isolation and loneliness Trig will face because he wants to be like other kids but isn’t. The first time they find out he sits alone in the cafeteria and on the school bus. The realization that Trig understands why he doesn’t get asked to the movies or birthday parties like other kids but doesn’t know what he did wrong.

The toughest challenges that Sarah Palin will face as the Republicans’ vice presidential nominee will probably look like a walk in the park when, as a mother, she sees how invisible her son is to people who look away or through him at the grocery store or the mall. She will be frustrated by doctors who dismiss her concerns as overreacting or have no answers for her questions. She will grow weary of the mountain of legal documents she and her husband must sign and the annual negotiations and pleas they must endure with a phalanx of teachers, therapists and administrators about what Trig’s curriculum will be at school.”

Read the full story here.

Read the whole article but the highlights are below:

While US Jews struggle to figure out who exactly Palin is, some may look to Israel for cues, but they will look in vain, because Jerusalem won’t oblige; officials are smart enough to realize that it would be extremely counterproductive for Israel to even hint at a favorite in this close and riveting presidential race.

Besides, Jerusalem couldn’t give any cues on Palin, because it has little clue itself about the candidate. If Palin was relatively unknown in the US before being plucked from obscurity and placed on the Republican ticket, in Israel she is completely unknown, her name failing to register not only with regular folks who have other things to worry about, but also even Foreign Ministry officials who pay attention to these matters.

But Palin’s obscurity, her lack of any record on Israel, or even statements on Israel issues, has not changed the overall sentiment in Jerusalem toward the race, and a lack of public endorsement of a ticket doesn’t mean a lack of preference. Privately, the prevalent feeling in Jerusalem’s corridors of power is that in the Obama-McCain race, “more of the same,” the epithet Obama is throwing at McCain, is not that bad.

When it comes to the Middle East, Jerusalem – or at least the current government – is not only unafraid of more of the same, but would actually embrace it from the next White House. The government likes what has come from the Bush administration over the last number of years and is in no hurry to see any change there.

Almost nothing of Palin is known in Jerusalem beyond what has been written in the press over the last few days. But at least in the initial blush following the stunning announcement, that unfamiliarity has not changed Jerusalem’s overall comfort level with the man who has deemed that Palin is indeed of vice-presidential caliber.

Today I had an incredible snack… basically fro yo. Get the 60 calorie sugar free puddings… lots of fun flavors: mint chocolate and chocolate banana are my absolute faves!!

I put it in the freezer and hours later, YUMYY! I had my very own 60-calorie fro yo. And it is 1 point on Weight Watchers (60 calories, 1.5 grams of fat, and no fiber.)

Me Think this is a great discovery! If you try it, let me know…

Please add you favorite low-cal snack here…

Couples tend to gain weight at the same time.

May, 2007—A growing body of research has found a connection between couples and weight. Not only do women and men who live together tend to gain weight at similar times, they also are more likely to achieve better results if they tackle weight loss as a couple.

While it’s true that many factors play a role in determining body weight, so does a shared living environment. There’s a considerable amount of research showing that people who live together, particularly spouses, tend to have similar BMIs, and if that shared environment is conducive to weight gain, there is also an increased risk of obesity.^{1, 2} For example, in a study that followed newly married spouses for two years, researchers found that the couples had similar BMIs and that marriage was associated with a weight gain.³

The reasons why living together may predispose couples to excess weight seem to be twofold. First, marriage generally increases eating opportunities because married people tend to eat together, and they may eat more when dining together than if they were eating alone. Secondly, the newly married person may have less motivation to stay thin.³ In a single world, both men and women want to maximize their attractiveness to the opposite sex and that often includes having a healthy body weight. With marriage, the comfort of being in a stable relationship can lead to a reduced commitment to maintaining one’s weight.

This is one of the most interesting concepts in the field of psychology: the idea of exercising restraint in one area (say, not talking to a boy) and as a result, having less mental strength in other areas (say, not eating junk food or not spending money shopping.) [Note: not that I have any personal experience in trying not to speak to boys... or trying to diet!]

DECLINING house prices, rising job layoffs, skyrocketing oil costs and a major credit crunch have brought consumer confidence to its lowest point in five years. With a relatively long recession looking increasingly likely, many American families may be planning to tighten their belts.

Interestingly, restraining our consumer spending, in the short term, may cause us to actually loosen the belts around our waists. What’s the connection? The brain has a limited capacity for self-regulation, so exerting willpower in one area often leads to backsliding in others. The good news, however, is that practice increases willpower capacity, so that in the long run, buying less now may improve our ability to achieve future goals — like losing those 10 pounds we gained when we weren’t out shopping.

The brain’s store of willpower is depleted when people control their thoughts, feelings or impulses, or when they modify their behavior in pursuit of goals. Psychologist Roy Baumeister and others have found that people who successfully accomplish one task requiring self-control are less persistent on a second, seemingly unrelated task.

In one pioneering study, some people were asked to eat radishes while others received freshly baked chocolate chip cookies before trying to solve an impossible puzzle. The radish-eaters abandoned the puzzle in eight minutes on average, working less than half as long as people who got cookies or those who were excused from eating radishes. Similarly, people who were asked to circle every “e” on a page of text then showed less persistence in watching a video of an unchanging table and wall.

Other activities that deplete willpower include resisting food or drink, suppressing emotional responses, restraining aggressive or sexual impulses, taking exams and trying to impress someone. Task persistence is also reduced when people are stressed or tired from exertion or lack of sleep.

NEW YORK (AP) — Maybe men had it right all along: It doesn’t take long to satisfy a woman in bed. A survey of sex therapists concluded the optimal amount of time for sexual intercourse was 3 to 13 minutes. The findings, to be published in the May issue of the Journal of Sexual Medicine, strike at the notion that endurance is the key to a great sex life.

But, the article warns:

If that sounds like good news to you, don’t cheer too loudly. The time does not count foreplay, and the therapists did rate sexual intercourse that lasts from 1 to 2 minutes as “too short.”

And the rest of the article:

Researcher Eric Corty said he hoped to ease the minds of those who believe that “more of something good is better, and if you really want to satisfy your partner, you should last forever.”
The questions were not gender-specific, said Corty (who, it must be noted, is male). But he said prior research has shown that both men and women want foreplay and sexual intercourse to last longer.

Dr. Irwin Goldstein, editor of the Journal of Sexual Medicine, cited a four-week study of 1,500 couples in 2005 that found the median time for sexual intercourse was 7.3 minutes. (Women were armed with stopwatches.)

It’s difficult for both older men and young men to make sexual intercourse last much longer, said Marianne Brandon, a clinical psychologist and director of Wellminds Wellbodies in Annapolis, Md.

“There are so many myths in our culture of what other people are doing sexually,” Brandon said. “Most people’s sex lives are not as exciting as other people think they are.”

Fifty members of the Society for Sex Therapy and Research in the U.S. and Canada were surveyed by Corty, an associate professor of psychology at Penn State Erie, The Behrend College, and student Jenay Guardiani. Thirty-four members, or 68 percent, responded, although some said the optimal time depended on the couple.

Corty said he hoped to give an idea of what therapists find to be normal and satisfactory among the couples they see.

“People who read this will say, ‘I last five minutes or my partner lasts 8 minutes,’ and say, ‘That’s OK,’” he said. “They will relax a little bit.”

By James Carville

Last Friday the New York Times asked me to comment on New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson’s endorsement of Sen. Barack Obama for president. For 15 years, Richardson served with no small measure of distinction as the representative of New Mexico’s 3rd Congressional District. But he gained national stature — and his career took off — when President Bill Clinton appointed him U.S. ambassador to the United Nations and later made him energy secretary.

So, when asked on Good Friday about Richardson’s rejection of the Clintons, the metaphor was too good to pass by. I compared Richardson to Judas Iscariot. (And Matthew Dowd is right: Had it been the Fourth of July, I probably would have called him Benedict Arnold.)

I believed that Richardson’s appointments in Bill Clinton’s administration and his longtime personal relationship with both Clintons, combined with his numerous assurances to the Clintons and their supporters that he would never endorse any of Sen. Hillary Clinton‘s opponents, merited a strong response.

I was fully aware of what kind of response calling someone a Judas would evoke.

And a closing point:

I believe that loyalty is a cardinal virtue. Nowhere in the world is loyalty so little revered and tittle-tattle so greatly venerated as in Washington. I was a little-known political consultant until Bill Clinton made me. When he came upon hard times, I felt it my duty — whatever my personal misgivings — to stick by him. At the very least, I would have stayed silent. And maybe that’s my problem with what Bill Richardson did. Silence on his part would have spoken loudly enough.

Date Obama but Marry Hillary

Who among us can resist Obama’s boyish charm, oratorical flourishes, the “messianic” crowds that follow him everywhere and his message of unity and hope? I know I can’t. When I was younger, I couldn’t resist men who have a certain “savoir faire”, a “master of the universe” attitude towards their present and a “manifest destiny” outlook towards their future. I was the plodding student, the one who did her homework, who obsessed about her grades, who prepared for contingencies real and far-fetched and was grateful when disaster did not strike. I took nothing for granted. So, of course, I was attracted to men who seemed unchained by mortal constraints and unfettered by doubt. Twenty-five years later, I see the world differently. As my husband can attest, not only do I want a man who claims to know power tools but a man who can wield them, a man who not only knows where to buy the groceries but who knows what should be on the grocery list and where they should be stored in the pantry. I am less impressed by professed skill sets, best-laid plans, and home improvement ambitions as I am in his proven ability to fix the leaky toilet, manage roof contractors and keep the family fed and in clean clothes in my absence. These are the unglamorous, tedious and thankless chores that sustain a “marriage” and maintain a household. In three long decades of painstaking attention to details, dogged persistence and political nimbleness, Sen. Hillary Clinton has shown that she can breathe life and form to the ideals that she and Sen. Obama espouse on the campaign trail. Sen. Obama may have these qualities as well but his mettle has not been forged in the crucible of the national political arena — a forum that often rewards perception at the expense of substance, unforgiving of the slightest missteps and susceptible to “me-too” stampedes. Flirt, date and be swept away by Sen. Obama but in the end, bring Sen. Clinton home to your parents and marry her because she will help us put food on the table, clothes on our backs, a roof over our heads and give our children the chance to grow up in the America of Sen. Obama’s dreams.

Some NCAA Bitching…

Everyone knows why the NCAA men’s basketball tournament is a must-watch event. We all love the unveiling of the brackets; we all love San Diego and Western Kentucky and we really love Davidson. We all agree Tennessee‘s band should get a bid every year if only to play “Rocky Top” at least a dozen times a game, and there are few things better than being in a building when a major upset is brewing and all the so-called neutral fans start screaming for a group of kids none of them could have picked out of a lineup two hours earlier.

That’s all good. But the NCAA tournament is far from perfect, in large part because the NCAA, in spite of all its yammering about doing what’s best for the “student-athlete,” sold its soul years ago and continues to put it up for resale to make a few extra bucks every year.

Click the link to read all the suggestions the writers have. Click! It is funnnny.

And check out this great last line:

Then again, they’re usually quiet during the official timeouts and the 20-minute halftimes while the PA guy thanks all the corporate champions, tells everyone the second game will start at 10:10 and reminds everyone that NCAA “student-athlete” day is April 6.

Seriously, they do that.

Thank God for Davidson.