Thanksgiving has come and gone and I hope that each of you had a blessed holiday with close family, good friends and plenty of scrumptous goodies to feast on.  Black Friday and Cyber Monday have also passed…(hope you all survived) and December is just around the corner.  Time for putting up the tree and decorating for the Christmas season.  Yes, it is CHRISTMAS.

I ran across an article from Web MD that may be of interest to some readers who suffer from allergies.  I have reprinted it for your convenience:

A study on a live Christmas tree showed that they could be a source of allergenic mold. Measurements showed that mold counts were 800 spores per cubic meter of air during the first three days, which are just about normal levels. However, mold counts began rising from the fourth day on, and by day 14, when the tree was taken down, the measure was 5,000 spores per cubic meter of air.

Mold allergies affects about 15 percent of the population. Allergic reactions can include nasal, eye, and throat irritation, nasal stuffiness, and headache. There is also a link between mold and asthma attacks, and a risk of invasive fungal disease for those people with compromised immune systems.

Most Christmas trees are cut in advance of the holidays and stored in a moist environment, making them a likely mold source. However, artificial trees and ornaments collect dust in storage and are therefore another possible source of allergy irritation.

Luckily, I do not suffer from allergies, but I know many who do, so if allergic outbreaks increase after putting up your tree, then your tree may indeed be the culprit.

Other Christmas Tree Hazards:

But there are other, more common Christmas tree hazards to also keep in mind this season. Follow these important tips to keep your family and home safe:

1.      Avoid using artificial snow sprays, which can cause lung irritation if inhaled

2.      Always turn off your tree lights when you go to bed or leave the house 

3.      Never burn Christmas tree branches in your fireplace. It can cause the buildup of creosote, which is a highly flammable compound

4.      Make sure your tree is placed as far away as possible from heat sources, such as a fireplace or portable heater

5.      Hang all ornaments that are breakable, have small, detachable parts, or that look like food or candy on higher branches where small children can’t reach them
(Courtesy of Mercola.com)

With all the commercialism that surrounds Christmas, take the time to remember that Jesus is the reason for the season!

God Bless,

Dave

Attention Parents: This post contains references that may be unsuitable for your children.

Abstinence: "forbearance in indulgence of the appetites," from L. abstinentem, prp. of abstinere (see abstain). Specifically of sexual appetites. (Online Etymology Dictionary)

Abstinence: The act or practice of refraining from indulgence in an appetite, as for certain foods, drink, alcoholic beverages, drugs, or sex. (American Heritage Stedman’s Medical Dictionary)

Abstinence: voluntary forbearance especially from sexual intercourse or from eating some foods (Merriam Webster’s Medical Dictionary)

Abstinence: The act or practice of refraining from indulging an appetite or desire, especially for alcoholic drink or sexual intercourse. (American Heritage Dictionary)

Abstinence: abstention from sexual intercourse (Merriam Webster Online Dictionary)

Why all the definitions and what is the point of this post you ask? Let me explain.

I was reading a news clip on One News Now that reported on a study of California teens ages 12-16 concerning their interpretation of abstinence and sexual activity. The study was conducted by the Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation and was published in the Journal of Adolescent Health.

According to the study, 12 percent of the children believed they were abstinent if engaging in sexual (vaginal) intercourse. For 14 percent of the youth, anal sex was considered abstaining. More than 44 percent considered genital touching an abstinent behavior, and 33 percent believed oral sex qualified as abstinence.

These teens have done a great job of learning what they have been taught. On the popular advice column posted by Columbia University, a student asks Alice, "I have a question from my college sexuality class: In what behaviors can one participate and still be sexually abstinent?"

Alice responds, "To some, abstinence is not having any type of sexual experience. To others, it means not having oral, anal, or vaginal sex. Some define abstinence specifically as not allowing penetration or not having vaginal or anal intercourse, but believe that oral sex is acceptable for them to give or get."

To clarify, Alice offers up concrete examples. She advises this student that "with a partner" she can try "window shopping" … or "taking a shower." Tomorrow the student and her "partner" might enjoy "picnicking in the park" … or they might "cuddle, caress, or stroke each other with fingers, lips, and tongues, with or without clothes on." Either this … or that … it’s all abstinence.

And just to make sure there is no confusion, Alice wraps up her 500-word description of sexual abstinence with this guiding light: "It’s important to think about what abstinence means to you, and then to live by that belief (until you choose to change your mind, rather than changing it in the heat of the moment). [underlining added]

Ask Alice at Columbia University is not an aberration. She is representative of comprehensive sex education programs.

Now since three of the definitions listed above refer to refraining from “sexual intercourse” perhaps we should take a look at that definition as well.

Sexual Intercourse: 1 : heterosexual intercourse involving penetration of the vagina by the penis : coitus 2 : intercourse (as anal or oral intercourse) that does not involve penetration of the vagina by the penis (Merriam Webster Online Dictionary) & (Merriam Webster’s Medical Dictionary)

Sexual Intercourse: 1. Coitus between humans.2. Sexual union between humans involving genital contact other than vaginal penetration by the penis. (American Heritage Dictionary) & (American Heritage Stedman’s Medical Dictionary)

Sexual Intercourse: genital contact, esp. the insertion of the penis into the vagina followed by orgasm; coitus; copulation. (Dictionary.com)

Intercourse: physical sexual contact between individuals that involves the genitalia of at least one person <heterosexual intercourse> <anal intercourse> <oral intercourse>;

From all the definitions I believe one could reasonably conclude that abstinence means refraining from all sexual relations between two people that involve the genitalia. Of course when you have a U. S. president that claims engaging in oral sex with a young woman does not constitute having sexual relations with her, and sex education programs that represent everything as being “relative,” it’s no wonder our teens are having problems setting limits and defining boundaries.

Why is this important? "In California," explains Valerie Huber, executive director of the National Abstinence Education Association (NAEA), "96 percent of schools teach comprehensive sex education, and according to a recent report in the California Journal of Health Promotion, there has been 1.1 million new STD cases reported in Californians ages 15 to 24.

1.1 million new cases of sexually transmitted diseases in a state that utilizes a comprehensive sex education program in 96 percent of their schools. That is certainly a statistic to be proud of now isn’t it? I’m just taking a shot in the dark here, but I would say that sex education in the classroom is not working so well. Something needs to change and that change needs to begin at home.

Children need guidance in making decisions that will ultimately affect the rest of their lives, and that guidance needs to come from the parents that love them, not from a tainted educational system littered with the hidden agendas of over educated bureaucrats with no common sense.

What do you think?

Till next time,
Dave