Take a look at our June newsletter!
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June 2021
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MEET OUR HOUSEHOLD HEMINGWAY 10 FUN FACTS ABOUT MY DAD, ROBERT STEPHEN CARTER
A few years ago, I was on a fishing boat with my dad, my brother, and one of my brother’s colleagues. The colleague was in the military and had recently returned from Iraq. While we were on the water, my dad lifted and adjusted the boat motor. Watching him, the soldier turned to me and my brother and said, “Your dad is a man’s man!” I’ll never forget that moment, because he was right: In a lot of ways, physicality and outdoor pursuits encapsulate my dad. He reminds me a bit of Earnest Hemingway without the worst aspects of the writer’s personality. Fishing, hunting, jogging, and weight training have been his favorite hobbies through the years. Even now, in his 80s, he loves to get outdoors and walk. But that’s far from a complete picture of who he is. My dad has led a full and interesting life, and truly doing his story justice would take far more than one newsletter article. Still, in honor of Father’s Day, I’d love to share a few fun facts about him. Here are 10 of them! 1. My grandfather enlisted in the Navy during World War II, and my father and his brother were quite a handful for my grandmother to raise alone. Once, he thought it would be a really good idea to paint the inside of their garage red, and he followed through! 2. My dad was passed from relative to relative as a child. Instead of pushing him away from his family, this process made him very loyal, and he took care of many relatives in their old age. 3. My dad was a math major at the University of Texas. He went on to become a mainframe programmer and worked for a contractor supporting the first moon launch! Once, a friend of mine mentioned his name in a job interview, and the interviewer froze in awe. “Oh, Steve Carter!” he said. “He’s the database guru.”
carefully avoid stepping on his head, and then circle back to do it all again!
7. As my parents have aged, my dad has become my mom’s biggest advocate. He’s attentive to her health needs and always looks after her and the seven of us kids without hesitation. 8. My parents’ church ran an employment center for several years, and my dad was in charge of that operation. He gave everyone who passed through his time and attention, and he coached hundreds of people through the process of finding jobs. 9. Because of his background, my father can sympathize with anyone who is down on their luck. He and my mom often take in relatives, friends, and friends of friends who need a place to stay. 10. Over the years, my dad has become extremely involved in researching family history and connections. He loves digging into the Carter genealogy and finding long-lost relatives. Before the pandemic, he and my mother would travel across the country to meet the family members he discovered. I hope you enjoyed this snapshot of my father’s life! I can’t wait to catch up with him this Father’s Day. If your dad is still living, I hope you do the same.
4. My dad sported a neatly trimmed beard and mustache long before that look was “cool.”
5. Early in his career, my dad was evaluated for an intelligence position with the government. That included an interview with a psychologist, who tried his best to unnerve him and get him to break his gaze. He never did! 6. When my siblings and I were kids, our dad had back pain, so he would regularly ask us to walk on his back. We would form a line and walk up his legs and spine to make his back pop,
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The Super Benefits of Yoga
June 21 is International Yoga Day, which makes it a great time of year to talk about the unique benefits of yoga — the “superfood” of fitness. As a mixture of exercise and mindfulness, yoga is not only challenging but also has myriad health benefits. Many people assume yoga is mainly useful for increasing your flexibility. However, it’s also excellent for further developing your strength, mobility, and balance. These can be key benefits for living a healthier lifestyle, whether you’re an athlete or concerned about aging.
Multiple studies agree: Yoga can significantly decrease the secretion of cortisol, the primary stress hormone. In one study, 64 women with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) participated in a 10-week program, performing yoga at least once a week. By the end of the 10 weeks, 52% of participants no longer met the criteria for PTSD at all. As with starting any new hobby or regular exercise, it may help to set clear goals for yourself. By doing yoga regularly, there are several physical improvements you can look forward to, such as:
• Improved range of motion or ease of movement
Kaitlyn Hochart, a yoga instructor from San Diego, California, writes on Healthline, “During yoga, your body goes through a full range and variety of motion that can counteract aches and pains associated with tension or poor postural habits.” Yoga can help you become more aware of these habits, “[allowing] you to fix these imbalances and improve overall athleticism.” Many forms of exercise are useful against depression and cardiovascular disease, but in yoga’s case, you don’t have to break a sweat to start benefiting from its stress-relieving properties. “The breathing exercises you practice during yoga can help lower your heart rate and shift your nervous system into a more relaxed state. It also promotes better sleep and increased focus,” Hochart writes.
• A reduction in pain, discomfort, or other symptoms
• An increase in physical strength and endurance
• Less weight fluctuation
• Changes in the way your clothes fit
• Better-quality sleeping habits and increased or stabilized energy levels One of the best qualities of yoga is that you can be of any age or fitness level. So, pull up a YouTube video, find a soft surface, and give it a try!
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However, more restrictions have come up. In Miller v. California (1973), the U.S. Supreme Court found that the First Amendment’s freedom of speech doesn’t apply to obscenity.
How does the court define obscenity? There are three things they’ll take into account:
1. Will the average person (applying contemporary “community standards”) find the work appealing to the overly sexual interests?
2. Does the work depict or describe, in an offensive way, sexual conduct or excretory functions as defined by state law?
3. Does the work, when taken as a whole, lack serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value?
deletes a post, these actions don’t count as violations of free speech. Could that change?
Certain types of hate speech are legal, so long as they don’t incite violence and cannot be categorized as obscenity as described above. But what about more ordinary political opinions? Can those be legally censored?
According to legal experts, the big question now is how to treat large social media platforms. Clay Calvert, professor of law at the Levin College of Law, asks, “Should we treat them differently and regulate them more closely? Have we reached that stage where we need to antitrust litigation, perhaps, and say they have such powerful platforms, they’re like near-monopolies that we should do some trust-busting and break them up?”
The First Amendment’s Boundary
Corporate censorship and censorship by private entities are legal because the First Amendment only applies to government censorship. That’s why when Twitter bans an account or Facebook
Would it be a good idea for the First Amendment to apply to private entities? We’ll leave that to the future debates that are sure to come.
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TAKE A BREAK
ARE GROCERY SUBSCRIPTION BOXES WORTH IT?
June is National Fresh Fruit and Vegetables Month, so let’s explore one popular way to get more fresh produce into our lives: subscription-based delivery services like Full Circle and Imperfect Food. Are these services actually worth it? Do they save money and provide what they promise? Here’s what the research turned up. Can they save you time? The Verdict: Yes, without a doubt. Subscription-based grocery delivery services appeal to consumers because they save time. With somebody else doing your grocery shopping, you don’t have to think about when you’re making a trip to the grocery store this week. Someone else is doing it for you! Plus, some services even offer meal kits if you can’t decide what to make. There’s no argument here — these services definitely save you time. Can they save you money? The Verdict: Sometimes, since it depends on your existing shopping habits. If you find yourself making impulsive purchases while strolling down the aisles at the grocery store, then a set (but customizable) weekly list of delivered groceries might be a great way to stick to your budget. Unfortunately, not many grocery subscription-box delivery services offer nonfood items like toilet paper or cleaning products, so you may still have to make a trip to the store every once in a while. Is the food quality great? The Verdict: Yes, but it depends on your area. You have a higher chance of getting better grocery items if you buy from an organic grocery box service, like Imperfect Foods or Farm Fresh to You, since these companies work closely with your local farms. Keep in mind that some services, like Imperfect Foods, are designed to deliver fresh foods that are a little “imperfect” in size, shape, or color to help prevent food waste — but, as a benefit, it’s more affordable! However, we’ve found some services, like Full Circle, will prepackage their boxes from warehouses that may not be local to you, so do a little research before picking one. All in all, we’ve been pleasantly surprised to find that these boxes aren’t such a bad idea. Consider looking into it if you’re tired of the weekly grocery store time crunch!
GRILLED CHICKEN SHAWARMA
Inspired by FeastingAtHome.com
A spice-filled marinade and time do all the work in this recipe that features Middle Eastern flavors.
Ingredients
• 2 tbsp ground coriander • 2 tsp kosher salt • 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper • 2 tsp turmeric • 1 tsp ground ginger • 1 tsp ground black pepper
• 2 tsp allspice • 8 garlic cloves, minced • 6 tbsp olive oil • 2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken thighs
Directions
1. To create marinade, whisk all spices with the garlic and olive oil in a medium bowl. 2. Add chicken to the bowl, coat well with marinade, cover, and let sit in the fridge for at least 20 minutes — or up to 48 hours. Strain off excess marinade before cooking. 3. Preheat grill to medium-high heat. Grill thighs for 10–12 minutes
on each side, or until a meat thermometer reads 165 F. 4. Serve with rice, vegetables, or pita bread with tzatziki.
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INSIDE THIS ISSUE
Meet Jerry’s Adventurous Dad
1
The Super Benefits of Yoga
2
Grilled Chicken Shawarma Are Grocery Subscription Boxes Worth It?
3
Legally Speaking, What Is Censorship?
4
Legally Speaking, What Is Censorship? A Brief Dive Into the First Amendment
The Freedom to Speak — Without Obscenity or Inciting Violence
The First Amendment has been the centerpiece of a contentious debate about what can legally be posted (and deleted) on social media like Twitter and Facebook. But before we can define “censorship,” we need to know what is defined as “free speech.” What exactly does the First Amendment say about free speech? What are the boundaries for what people can and cannot do?
The First Amendment covers the freedom of speech, press, and religion. It’s arguably one of the most fundamental amendments to American democracy, but its interpretations can vary significantly. This is how the full First Amendment reads: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.” Why is it that the Ku Klux Klan and Westboro Baptist Church have gotten into legal trouble for expressing their opinions? Their groups often promote acts of violence against another group, which violates the “peaceably” qualifier to the people’s right to assemble.
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