Impossible. As the movie began, the characters brought to life the grief of an untimely and inexplicable death. The suicide of a teen is at the heart of the movie To Save A Life and the lives that are dramatically affected by it, are followed through out the two hour film. The lead character, Jake Taylor, played by Randy Wayne, of Dukes of Hazard fame, is a senior in high school, with the world as his oyster. The handsome star has the beautiful girl, the letter of intent to his dream university and popularity stemming from his basketball career. But his life is shattered when his childhood friend kills himself in the high school hallway. He begins his search for answers and carries around the “what-ifs” that haunt him.

The movie deals with the raw makings of a high school campus.  The popular kids get invited to the parties, the loners get mocked, and one day, a lonely boy has had enough, and takes his life.  There is nothing sugar coated in this Christian film, but a reality based look at what teens across this nation deal with as they walk out their front doors.  Topics like suicide, cutting, drinking, sex, pregnancy, and divorce are not what one would expect from a Christian film, yet they are dealt with in a manner that will in fact save a life.

Not only are the harsh realities of the secular world explored, but also the realities of Christian hypocrisy found in the youth group of the church that Jake Taylor seeks answers and solace.  He boldly stands up, during a youth event and asks the teens in the youth group if they really give a “damn” or if they are going through the motions.  He is convinced that there has to have been something he could have done to stop his friend Roger from taking his life. He begins to live for others, specifically reaching out to the loners on campus, in spite of the hostility he gets from his former friends.

I, at this point, must admit, that I was a very proud, card carrying Christian.  The movie was living up to what the trailer had enticingly promised and doing an artful job as well.  But perhaps the most authentic aspect of the film is found in the end, when the star isn’t found riding off into the sunset living happily ever after, but is shown living with the consequences of pre-marital sex and an un-planned pregnancy.  His dreams are sacrificially laid aside for his girlfriend, as he stands by her side through the pregnancy, delivery and adoption of their baby.  This is where real life meets real Christianity.

The producer and writer of the To Save a Life is Jim Britts, a pastor at  New Song Community Church in Oceanside, California and a film major from Biola University.  He states in an interview for Biola Magazine,

“It only came from this real experience of working with teens,” Britts says, “Looking back on it, I think He (God) had a plan for me being a screen-writing major and to get a heart for that and then to go into ministry and get a heart for that….The two really connected.   I don’t think I could have written the script if I didn’t do both.”  Brittany McComb

Britt’s love for God, for teens and his passion to see lives saved through the acceptance of God’s love during incomprehensible pain is deeply portrayed in this film.  As much as I tried to remain set apart and unbiased, I was unable to remain unmoved.  The God that is so boldly proclaimed in the movie, is the God that has boldly showed His love for this world by sending His Son Jesus Christ to die for sinful man.  This fact alone moved me to tears and cheers at the end of the showing.

The reviews may be mixed, but the Miami Herald said, “It features good acting, excellent production values and even a solidly eclectic musical score that ranges from rap to alternative.  Gary Goldstein wrote in the Los Angeles Times, “…appealing, poignant and inspiring in ways that are gentle and quite real…. not only potentially healing and elevating, but also kind of cool…. deftly acted, generally absorbing cautionary tale…” Others were not as generous, Andy Webster wrote in the New York Times, “Teenage martyrdom — the piety of it all…. But forget the lame performances and arch, preachy sentiment; the movie’s sham hip-hop and spurious alternative music alone should keep teenagers away. Thank goodness.”

The most important reviews however don’t come from news men sitting alone in a dark theater, but rather from those lives that are truly changed.  One girl stated on the To Save a Life website,

Rachel - Posted on January 31, 2010  ”Just saw this movie yesterday, and I cried so hard! I am somewhat depressed, and have considered suicide in the past. This movie expressed how I felt…alone, like no one cared. I loved the part where Jake is in the youth group and starts telling the kids not to be judgemental! I felt like it was so true. Thanks for impacting my life! Thanks to God and His redeeming love! Save a life!”

Another young man shared,

Geoff (Name changed for privacy) - Posted on January 31, 2010  ”I am 17 years old and I am a recovering cutter. For the longest time I relied on cutting as a crutch to keep me going; even though I was slowly killing myself along the way. Without all of the prayers, my scars would mean nothing but a sign of hatred and depression. But today, I see that they’re trophies that say God can help anyone through anything. Even a sexually confused, depressed, 17 year old outcast like me. God Bless.”

Finally, a young girl’s decision to not settle, but to live a changed Christian life,

Camille - Posted on January 30, 2010  ”I saw this movie with my youth group, and was litterally bawling by the end. This movie absolutely changed my life. Ya, I thought I was a good Christian before, but after seeing this, I know I can’t settle. There is always something more to do that will help in this world. The part that moved me the most was when Jake is in the youth group, and everyone is whispering and Jake stands to say something. My absolute favorite part of the movie is when he says, “What’s the point of all this if you’re not gonna let it change you?” and to me it is totally true. I also love the part when Jake brakes free from the security guard saying, “I have to make things right!”. These quotes inspire me. Don’t pass up the chance to make a difference. By tomorrow, it may be too late.”

These are the reviews that truly matter, because these are the ones who heard the message of the movie and decided to let it save a life.   Don’t let poor press keep you from taking a teen to this film; it will, in fact, impact your life.

In researching my own book, What’s The Matter With California, I had no intent in waging any such argument. In the California spirit, I shied from judgments like “good” or “evil” or even “just plain stupid.”

Instead, I looked at outcomes from a material perspective, namely how does a given phenomenon affect the economy and the ecology of the state and the well being of its citizens.

In doing so, however, I stumbled upon one very powerful rationale for Christianity and, in the stumbling, I stumbled upon one more powerful rationale still.

The stumbling began when I visited Michael and Deborah Grumbine and their family of nine children, now aged 11 to 31, in the Los Angeles suburb of Whittier. I wanted to see how a large family could live on a median income in an area where such an income can buy only 2 percent of the homes on the market.

In Kansas City, by contrast, a family of median income can buy 87 percent of the homes on the market.

What I saw was that a family, bound together by a deeply held belief in God, could live on almost anything, anywhere, even in Los Angeles.

Michael himself grew up in Whittier in a deeply Christian family of twelve children, eleven of whom survived to adulthood. I asked him if he would survey his siblings to see how their 47 children had fared, and he graciously obliged.

As I report in the book, 43 of the 47 have lived their lives with a father in home. Only two of the 47 receive any kind of public assistance. Of the 35 old enough to have graduated from high school, 35 have graduated. None has been to prison. And the many Grumbine cousins have all had to work their way through school and college doing the jobs Americans allegedly won’t do.

I concluded that material poverty does not seem to cause crime. Michael Grumbine grew up in the same metro at the same time as Stanley “Tookie” Williams, whose story I also tell. Tookie was the one with his own bedroom and eventually his own cell on San Quentin’s death row. Michael was the one with his own father.

Obviously, however, there is more to a God-centered life well lived than a civil, self-supporting society. This I saw clearly in reading Michael’s response to the chapter I wrote on the Grumbine family. It speaks for itself:

Dear Jack,

You gave a great deal of joy, comfort and pride to a little bed-ridden lady, covered with sores, and racked with pain from several serious diseases.   My dear mother, who will not likely be with us much longer, and who has all too few joys left in life, was smiling from ear-to-ear as I read to her the Whittier chapter from your book.  She could not stop say “My, oh my” during and after the reading.

And I must also tell you about the difficult moment you presented her with, when I reached the parts where you say:  “If all the materially impoverished children in California had grown up with the support of faith and family that the Grumbine cousins did, California could virtually eliminate serious crime. . . . When all is said and done, the state’s future depends on the Grumbines.”

At that point, I looked over at my mom as she lay stretched out in her bed, her life and purpose now nearly complete.  I watched as her frail and well-worn lips trembled with emotion.

Here was a woman who had lived all of her life in her home as the very antithesis of the militant feminist ideal.  She had never left her children for strangers, and was truly valiant in her self-sacrifice and dedication to her husband and family.  But according to feminist logic, she had wasted away her life on the humdrum and the unfulfilling.

It was truly, truly wonderful, then, to see this humble and dedicated heroine get some public appreciation and honor for the great work she has actually done, before she passes on.

I watched her eyes sparkle with nearly uncontrolled pride and delight, to see her singular life’s work acknowledged to the entire country — she truly had made a difference.  It left me with tears in my eyes.

But I could not help but chuckle inwardly at the dilemma you had given her.  For mother is also one of the most completely humble people you could ever know.  And as is typical of such self-effacing saints, they are uncomfortable in moments of high praise.

But soon the “crisis” passed, and once more she graciously rose to the occasion and resumed her graceful demeanor.  She did what she always did – provide me with a lesson in virtue.  For despite her debilitated condition, she has never stopped teaching her family about grace, and the ways of Christian virtue.

For those who wonder why God allows “old people” to painfully linger in this world, I wish they could meet my mother.  For that matter, I wish you had the room in your book to list all of the heroic mothers who have dedicated their lives to their family, and through their selfless efforts and example, allowed culture, civilization, and yes, goodness itself to exist, in a fallen world.

But as Dad used to say, “Life isn’t fair.”

Perhaps not this life, but I dare say that when the final reckoning comes, and all of humanity stands before their Creator with His Son at His right hand reading from the Book of Life, we will finally be able to witness and rejoice aloud in the glory of those unsung heroes.  Indeed, I can’t wait to sing!

Blessings,

Michael Grumbine

Dinesh D’Souza could not have said it any better.

© Jack Cashill
WND.com – November 1, 2007

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There has never been enough money to go around during the holiday season. We always have more year, more month, and more day at the end of each paycheck. We always have more Christmas wishes and guests than our finances can afford, and this year our house will be full again with family and friends, full of love and joy. Each year my heart is filled with the desire to make everyone’s wish list come true and an inability to do so; and now I have the most famous guest of all arriving on December twenty-fifth. How am I to prepare of this? The King of the universe is coming to my humble dwelling. Royalty will be sitting on my old couch. Nothing in this house is clean enough for my Lord. Nothing will ever make my home worthy of such an arrival.

A week is all the time I have to clean, bake, decorate and shop.Only a week to prepare for Immanuel. How have the chosen few from Bible stories of old prepared for this type of visitation? The women during Passover so thoroughly clean their homes that no dust remains even in the darkest corners. Do I have time for that? I must! Jesus can’t enter this house with cobwebs in the eaves and fingerprints on the window panes.

What kind of meal should I prepare? Traditional? Gourmet? Or perhaps something Jewish in flavor? It has to be perfect. Nothing less will do! But I am far from a gourmet chef, so perhaps I should have this momentous meal catered. I better get a cookbook, as well as a restaurant guide, when I go to the store. Who will have the honor of sitting on either side of Him at the dining table? Should I draw straws as each family member enters the dining room? Jesus, of course, will sit at the head of the table. We will request His blessing on our feast, whatever we end up eating. Oh, who will monitor the topics of conversation? What if someone says something wrong? What if somehow we dishonor our Guest?

Finally, what kind of gift should I buy? What does a person wrap up in Christmas red and green for the owner of all the cattle on the hills? What could I possibly give the Give of Life?

So you see my dilemma. I am so honored, yet so unworthy, so unready. I have spent three days spring cleaning my home in the dead of winter. It has never been so sanitary. The carpets are clean, the windows Windexed, an the children’s toys have been wiped down and put in the proper places. Any sign of a mess will result in some form of discipline!

All the customary Christmas decorations are put in place. I wondered if I should put any Santa Clause decorations out, or leave them packed away for next year? Is there anything in my traditional Christmas that would offend my Guest?

I now face the challenge of a lifetime, the mission impossible, the task of finding the perfect present for God’s perfect gift to me. Ironically, I end up at the mall with a mass of humanity also looking for their perfect gifts as well. I wander through the shops and realize how ludicrous it is to search here for a gift for God. What would He want from a mall? A tie? a Sweater? After-shave? How about a monogrammed stationary set? I can just see it now, embossed in gold, “GOD” in the center of the page. Perhaps something from His creation would be more appropriate: a perfect poinsettia or basket of fruit might make a lovely gift. Yet after three days of frantic searching, I still haven’t found anything to wrap up for the King of kings. As I sit at the foot of our Christmas tree, looking at all the other gifts, I weep because of the loss I feel not having something for my Savior.

Christmas morning arrived and the children rushed out happily to ransack their stockings. I was caught up in their smiles and happiness as we sat down to read the Christmas Story from the Bible. As the story unfolded, and the children sat quietly listening to the part where the angel told the shepherds about Jesus’ birth, a quiet rap came from the front door. All became silent as we realized Whom the knock represented. I quickly surveyed the room and the children, as my husband and I made our way to the door. Were we ready to welcome the Birthday Guest into our home? Before I could answer the knock however, my youngest child reached the entry way, threw open the door, and jumped into the arms of Jesus.

My heart stopped as I watched Jesus walk through the door with my child hanging on His arm. This wasn’t how I planned this moment. Was Jesus offended by such a rambunctious and an utterly un-worshipful welcome? I was mortified at what it said about my child’s behavior and my parenting!

The moment of entry seemed to last an eternity, until the shrill squeals of my brood restarted the hand of the clock. I realized that I had been holding my breath, as I sharply exhaled. I then caught a glimpse of Jesus’ face and the delighted twinkle in His eyes, as He reached down to touch each child. How I wanted to weep and repent, dance and laugh, at my foolish heart. I recalled the verse in an instant, that says, “Suffer the little children to come unto me and forbid them not.” I had been so worked up about how to make my home, my children and my life acceptable, that I had forgotten that He only requires my love. Nothing more, but my love. All else had been done for me two thousand years ago on the cross.

He looked at me as He entered the room and held His arms open wide. I walked to Him and embraced Him with every ounce of love and devotion a hug could convey. He wiped the tears from my face and led me to the couch. We sat down and Jesus began to tell us about His Christmas Story. We were mesmerized as the familiar Sunday School lesson was told by the Author Himself. Awestruck, the children hardly moved as they listened to Jesus. The perfect Christmas gift sat on our couch and we worshiped Him.

As other guests arrived, the peace, joy and love that permeated our humble home, filled each heart. No other Christmas will equal the one spent with Jesus as the Honored Guest. Never will I forget how He played with the new train set or teasingly put on the princess crown and feather boa. Always will we remember the laughter over Christmas dinner and the reverent thanks offered to God our Father.

However, my greatest memory was the forgiveness, unconditional acceptance and the love His smiling face, twinkling eyes and warm hug conveyed to me. Merry Christmas my Lord! I am honored to have You in my house each and every day!

Written by Mary Selby for her children Christmas 2003.

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A book review By D.

As a fan of the “Little House” books by Laura Ingalls Wilder, Laura is someone I always admired. Some really terrible things happened to Laura over the course of her young life, yet she persevered and “poor but happy” seemed to be her mantra in life. No matter how bad things were Laura didn’t seem to let it get her down.

Reading Sarah Palin’s book “Going Rogue, An American Life” reminded me of Laura Ingalls. I think Sarah Palin is as close to a modern day Laura Ingalls as you can get. And I believe that is why she in part, like Laura, is so admired. While Palin denies in her book that her life is like “Little House on the Tundra” that’s the way it came across to me.

The book did not strike me as all that political in nature. Although I think there was definitely an undercurrent need to explain to her readers her side of the story as far as the criticism she has received from the liberals. But why bother? Supporters will continue to support, no matter what, and detractors will continue to detract, no matter what.

One thing I believe I gained from this book is a firmer grasp of her personal seemingly unapologetic conservative philosophy. But the most important part of the book for me is on page 46 in the second paragraph. Palin is explaining what she admired about Ronald Reagan. Palin’s description of his appeal to her actually succeeded in explaining her own appeal to Conservatives;

“I appreciated Reagan’s passion and conviction, and the way he so plainly articulated his love for our country. Like millions of others, I related to him personally-he was one of us. I liked him, and I liked the fact that he was never afraid to call it as he saw it.”

When I read it, I smiled because if we took the name “Reagan” and the word “he” out of the paragraph and substituted name “Palin” and the word “she” it seems to me we could perfectly define her appeal to the millions.

While it is not the type of book I would normally read, I’m glad I read this one because of page 46 – I realize that Americans need to believe in their leaders and in order to do so they need to identify with them, apparently Palin, like Reagan, realizes that too.

Palin proves to me that Americans still love pioneers like Laura Ingalls, most of them love solid folks who share their beliefs, speak plain and have the courage of their convictions. Understanding Palin’s continued success, despite their best efforts to bring her down, will continue to elude the liberals because she seems to understand what they do not; the way most Americans think.

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In Thursday’s Jackson news, it appears that the federal D.E.A. is getting involved in the case, raising suspicion that what I’ve called “Hollywood health care” — celebrities like Anna Nicole Smith, Heath Ledger, Chris Benoit, and probably Jackson getting prescriptions for just about anything they want from sycophantic doctors who’ll compromise their medical ethics to be part of a celebrity’s “inner circle” — is in play here. Good, I’m glad the D.E.A.’s getting involved. As I’ve said, the only way to curtail the practice of Hollywood health care is for doctors who might consider administering it to see doctors who have in fact administered it spending less time in L.A. nightclubs with the stars and more time in prison with other felons. Also on Thursday, Debbie Rowe, the “mother” of Jackson’s oldest two children, reportedly expressed a desire to be involved in the determination of their permanent guardianship, suggesting that maybe she wants custody. While a biological mother, assuming that’s what she is, normally would be ahead of a grandmother in the custody line, Rowe’s claim, as I’ve said, is tainted by her lack of involvement in the children’s lives until this point, when their guardian may also get some control over the minors’ likely-substantial future assets. As a child custody expert, it’s tough to imagine a court determining that the best interests of the children would be best served by placing them in Rowe’s care, especially when that would mean splitting them up from the youngest Jackson child, but this case does illustrate something fairly typical of custody cases — no candidate for custody is ideal (e.g. a nearly-80-year-old woman who’s married to a man with a reported history of child abuse vs. a virtual stranger who apparently was willing to abandon the children in exchange for money until it seemed like maybe there was more money involved in parenting them). Stay tuned.

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Study this: On the subject of pain relief, new research has revealed that poking people non-invasively with toothpicks is about equally effective as acupuncture in treating pain. That could mean one or a combination of two things: 1) acupuncture’s effect is pure placebo (i.e. it’s all psychological — people think it’ll help them, so they perceive that it does), and/or 2) it’s not really about the “puncture” of the skin; it’s about stimulating certain nerve endings at the skin’s surface that somehow dulls or dilutes other (pain) nerve responses.

Another new study revealed a brief questionnaire that’s supposed to be extremely accurate at identifying people who are at high risk for developing Alzheimer’s early in the disease process. In the reported study, the questionnaire correctly identified 88% of the participants who went on to develop full-blown Alzheimer’s, but that brings up an important issue about psychological (or any diagnostic) testing. “Sensitivity” refers to a test’s ability to identify people who are positive for some trait, in this case, Alzheimer’s risk. Identifying 88% of the people who had that trait in the reported study is fairly good sensitivity, but for the test to be really useful, it must also have “specificity,” and I haven’t heard about its specificity yet. “Specificity” refers to the test’s ability to exclude people who are negative for the trait. See, I could easily make a test that would assess Alzheimer’s risk with 100% sensitivity by simply asking the person, “Are you a human being?” and if he/she says yes, then he/she gets flagged as “positive” for high Alzheimer’s risk. That way, 100% of the people who went on to develop Alzheimer’s would’ve had a “positive” result on my test. Of course the test would be meaningless though because it would also flag many people who really were not at elevated risk for Alzheimers. In other words, it would have no specificity whatsoever. Assuming that this new test has both good senstivity and good specificity, it’s a good development in Alzheimer’s research, but it’s one that will become much more useful when more effective early interventions are available. (May 16, 2009)

Dr. Brian Russell is a licensed psychologist, attorney at law and familiar national television pundit on psychological, legal and cultural issues.

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By: Jill Serbousek and Mandy Polk

We have been receiving fitness and nutrition questions for several weeks, so I thought that we would answer several for you.

Q1: If a person’s goal is to lose 10 pounds, and to get “fit,” what is the best strategy for them?

A1: Create a caloric deficit. This is best done through diet. It is easy to cut out 800 calories but really really difficult to burn 800 more calories.

There are tons of ways to do this.

First you need to know about how much you’re taking in. Keep a food journal for a week. Weigh yourself at the beginning of said week and at the end. If you lose weight, congratulations, you created a caloric deficit by being more conscious of your intake.

If you do not lose weight, then you need to decrease calories by 500 daily to see a loss of 1 lb. per week. 500×7=3,500 which is the amount of calories in a pound.

Exercise enters the equation for a variety of reasons. There are so many health benefits, but an obvious one is muscle retention during caloric restriction. If you tell your body it needs muscle (by strength training) then it will retain it.

Also, exercise will increase your caloric deficit. But remember, diet is #1.

Q2: What if their goal is to lose 100 pounds?

A2: Do the same thing, but for longer!!!

Q3: After a strength training work out with you, I feel like I can do anything. Why is that?

A3: Testosterone increases for approximately 15 minutes post workout. This hormone certainly makes you feel stronger. Also, endorphins make you feel euphoric and powerful. Of course, there’s a sense of accomplishment to be had from improving your performance every single workout and doing the difficult workouts I put you through.

Q4: What are some of the basic nutrition requirements for a middle aged male or female?

A4: Sufficient calories for proper energy. To maintain weight for example, you would eat your bodyweight times 15.

Eat at least 4 times a day to control appetite and blood sugar.

Take a multivitamin.

Eat your bodyweight in protein grams.

Consume the rest of your calories in fruits, vegetables, healthy fats, and whole grains.

At least two liters of water a day.

Focus on fiber and also, a probiotic may be helpful for digestion.

Q5: How much cardio should you work into a lifestyle fitness program? How do you balance cardio exercise with strength training?

A5: It depends on how much daily activity you get. Sedentary people need to try to get at least 3 cardio sessions a week for health benefits.

For fat loss, I have clients who do no cardio and maintain or improve fantastic body composition. They focus on nutrition and get a great deal of cardiovascular work from their strength training sessions.

Cardio is the last piece of the puzzle when it comes to fat loss but is often the focus of many folks’ programs.

diet>resistance training>cardio

I would never recommend cardio more than 5 times a week for general health and even fat loss in most cases.

Q6: What is Borage oil? Why is it important?

A6: Borage oil is the richest GLA source you will find. It contains more GLA than evening primrose oil

GLA is a fatty acid that is an uncoupler of brown adipose tissue.

What this means is that this is a fat that breaks down some of our most stubborn and essential bodyfat to burn for energy. Pretty cool stuff eh?

It also has the other benefits GLA offers, which includes hormonal regulation for females, immune system boost, arthritis and general inflammation relief, slowing progression of MS symptoms, reduction of cholesterol, and health of skin, hair, and nails.

Q7: What about alcohol? Does a daily glass of wine impact a person’s fitness?

A7: It can if you drink too much wine to function the next day and also make poor food choices as a result. The wine can also affect your fitness if you over-drink your caloric requirements. Wine can cause you to lose your inhibitions about food and go off your diet.

However, if it fits into your daily caloric intake and doesn’t impact your fitness decision making then it is absolutely fine.

Q8: What are the safest exercises to do if you have a “bum” knee? Like a meniscal tear?

A8: Anything that exerts a shearing force is a no. Examples would be a leg press or leg extension. Anything else is okay if you feel no pain. If it hurts, don’t do it. For example, if you hurt from stairs, don’t run stairs as part of your workout!

Q9: My spinal surgeon says that strengthening your “core” muscles is the most critical way to keep your back healthy. Why is that?

A9: There are so many different muscles in this region. People develop poor posture and bad habits as a result of underdeveloped muscles in this area. This makes you injury prone or can cause irritation to your spine.

For example, my lower back used to be overdeveloped which caused my spine to arch, or maintain a lordotic position. This caused my facet joints to rub together and now they are arthritic. Focusing on trunk flexion (the opposite of lumbar extension AKA arched lower back) has helped me to eliminate my back pain almost entirely.

Another example is someone who has underdeveloped spinal erectors goes to unload her groceries. When she’s twisting and arching with a load, she injures a disc (slip, herniate, or bulge). All because her muscles were not strong enough to properly support her spinal region. It sounds crazy but it happens all the time.

Q10: What type of nutrition advice do you have for parents with young children?

A10: I think it’s important to encourage a balanced diet but also include “normal” kid things so your children don’t have food fear as they get older.

For example, if you bake fish and cook green beans for dinner, by all means let your kids have some macaroni also. But don’t get into the habit of making three dinners each night either. Teach your children to enjoy their vegetables and eat proteins and healthy fats. Their bodies and their brains will thank you for it,

Also, the most common bad eating habit I see in children is skipping breakfast. Do not let your kids skip breakfast! Their blood sugar will be all wacky, they will be lethargic at school, and it throws off their eating schedule for the rest of the day.

Don’t give your kids a lot of spending/lunch money because who knows what they will be buying and eating. A little trouble on your part goes a long way in establishing healthy lifestyle habits for the whole family.

Also, for the parents of young children trying to be mindful on nutrition, my best advice is to cook in bulk. Take a few hours on a Sunday to bake a lot of chicken and/or fish, broil some red meat (if you eat it), chop up some salad, bake some sweet potatoes, and steam some rice. Pack it all away in tupperware. Then all you have to do is include your additional fruits and veggies at your meals and you’re all squared away!

Include protein shakes, greek yogurt, and string cheese in your diet for quick and healthy protein-filled snacks on the go? Your kids may want to try these, especially the string cheese!

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Carbon12, LLC is a California limited liability company founded by Sohrab Gollogy, MD, an active orthopedic spinal surgeon and Jill Serbousek, a spinal surgery patient. The founders have worked together for over 9 years in providing online patient education information for millions of pre-patient consumers, patients and care-givers. Their most recent project is called Healthandsharing.com, which is a social networking site dedicated to health care and lifestyle issues. Access to quality information and quality health care is Carbon12’s goal. Please join the conversation.

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In the State of Crisis known as California, Girl Pundit found a true Jane in Gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman. Sound familiar? It might if you’re a fan of the Wall Street Journal–or if you sold your Aunt Mabel’s hideous porcelain cats online. She’s the former CEO who guided eBay from a 30-person start-up to the “eBehemoth” it is today. A fan Mitt Romney and a late-stage national co-chair of McCain’s presidential campaign, Whitman is taken seriously by the RNC, and with good reason.

Both Whitman’s high-powered history running multi-billion dollar organizations and her experience in interviews show. A graduate of both Princeton and Harvard, she’s sharp, articulate, and has no trouble controlling the conversation to stay on message.  She’s powerful without coming across as snarky, and is as practical as she is smart.

So, what does she believe is the key to a conservative comeback in California? What she calls “the Power Alley”.

In Whitman’s view, Power Alley issues are those core values that appeal to virtually every voter. The big one: economic recovery. Admittedly, libs may argue with her strategy to achieve this recovery (lower taxes across the board, pro-business policies, smaller government), but she believes that the message will resonate with Californians she’s targeting—namely the Conservative core of the GOP, the huge numbers of women who’ve left the party (she’s even started a “MEGa WOMEN” coalition to unite California’s politically minded females), and 18-29 year olds who overwhelmingly sway left.

These groups, she believes, will respond to a vision of the future where government gets out of the way and lets small businesses create wealth, where jobs are plentiful and future generations aren’t drowning in this generation’s debt.

Whitman hopes that her Power Alley is strong enough to offset her conservative Achilles heel: Her decidedly more liberal stances on socal issues. Whitman’s betting that the wide appeal of her fiscal policies will outweigh her position on these issues in her state. While her positions may not play as well in other parts of the nation, in California’s more socially-diverse and financially-stricken environment, this may be a good bet.

Whitman’s confident that Californians will respond to her Power Alley message: “We’ve got to fix the state’s economy.  We’ve got to start creating jobs again.” And that’s worth more than all of Aunt Mabel’s cats put together.

For more information on Meg Whitman or the MEGa WOMEN coalition, see http://www.megwhitman.com/

Dear Kemp grandchildren — all 17 of you, spread out from the East Coast to the West Coast, and from Wheaton College in Illinois, to Wake Forest University in North Carolina:

My first thought last week upon learning that a 47-year-old African-American Democrat had won the presidency was, “Is this a great country or not?”

You may have expected your grandfather to be disappointed that his friend John McCain lost (and I was), but there’s a difference between disappointment over a lost election and the historical perspective of a monumental event in the life of our nation.

Let me explain. First of all, the election was free, fair and transformational, in terms of our democracy and given the history of race relations in our nation.

What do I mean?

Just think, a little over 40 years ago, blacks in America had trouble even voting in our country, much less thinking about running for the highest office in the land.

A little over 40 years ago, in some parts of America, blacks couldn’t eat, sleep or even get a drink of water using facilities available to everyone else in the public sphere.

We are celebrating, this year, the 40th anniversary of our Fair Housing Laws, which helped put an end to the blatant racism and prejudice against blacks in rental housing and homeownership opportunities.

As an old professional football quarterback, in my days there were no black coaches, no black quarterbacks, and certainly no blacks in the front offices of football and other professional sports. For the record, there were great black quarterbacks and coaches — they just weren’t given the opportunity to showcase their talent. And pro-football (and America) was the worse off for it.

I remember quarterbacking the old San Diego Chargers and playing for the AFL championship in Houston. My father sat on the 50-yard line, while my co-captain’s father, who happened to be black, had to sit in a small, roped-off section of the end zone. Today, we can’t imagine the NFL without the amazing contributions of blacks at every level of this great enterprise.

I could go on and on, but just imagine that in the face of all these indignities and deprivations, Dr. Martin Luther King could say 44 years ago, “I have an abiding faith in America and an audacious faith in mankind.” He described his vision for America, even as he and his people were being denied their God-given human rights guaranteed under our Constitution.

You see, real leadership is not just seeing the realities of what we are temporarily faced with, but seeing the possibilities and potential that can be realized by lifting up peoples’ vision of what they can be.

When President-elect Obama quoted Abraham Lincoln on the night of his election, he was acknowledging the transcendent qualities of vision and leadership that are always present, but often overlooked and neglected by pettiness, partisanship and petulance. As president, I believe Barack Obama can help lift us out of a narrow view of America into the ultimate vision of an America where, if you’re born to be a mezzo-soprano or a master carpenter, nothing stands in your way of realizing your God-given potential.

Both Obama in his Chicago speech, and McCain in his marvelous concession speech, rose to this historic occasion by celebrating the things that unite us irrespective of our political party, our race or our socio-economic background.

My advice for you all is to understand that unity for our nation doesn’t require uniformity or unanimity; it does require putting the good of our people ahead of what’s good for mere political or personal advantage.

The party of Lincoln, (i.e., the GOP), needs to rethink and revisit its historic roots as a party of emancipation, liberation, civil rights and equality of opportunity for all. On the other hand, the party of Franklin Roosevelt, John Kennedy and now Obama must put forth an agenda that understands that getting American growing again will require both Keynesian and classical incentive-oriented (supply-side) economic ideas. But there’s time for political and economic advice in a later column (or two).

Let me end with an equally great historical irony of this election. Next year, as Obama is sworn in as our 44th president, we will celebrate the 200th anniversary of Abraham Lincoln’s birth. I’m serving, along with former Rep. Bill Gray of Pennsylvania, on the Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Board to help raise funds for this historic occasion. President-elect Obama’s honoring of Lincoln in many of his speeches reminds us of how vital it is to elevate these ideas and ideals to our nation’s consciousness and inculcate his principles at a time of such great challenges and even greater opportunities.

In fact, we kick off the Lincoln bicentennial celebration on Wednesday, Nov. 19, in Gettysburg, Pa. The great filmmaker Ken Burns will speak at the Soldier’s National Cemetery on the 145th anniversary of Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address. On Thursday, Nov. 20, at Gettysburg College, we will have the first of 10 town hall forums, titled “Race, Freedom and Equality of Opportunity.” I have the high honor of joining Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr., Professor Allen Guezlo and Norman Bristol-Colon on the panel, with Professor Charles Branham as the moderator.

President-elect Obama talks of Abraham Lincoln’s view of our nation as an “unfinished work.” Well, isn’t that equally true of all of us? Therefore let all of us strive to help him be a successful president, so as to help make America an even greater nation.

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