Today’s smoothie

First I prepared an eggnog with honey and vanilla, gently cooked it. Then I used carrot juice, watercress, romaine lettuce and a banana.  Very mild, pale yellow green.  For breakfast.

“Romaine lettuce is an excellent source of vitamin A (in the form of carotenoids), vitamin K, folate and molybdenum. In addition, romaine lettuce is a very good source of dietary fiber, manganese, potassium, biotin, vitamin B1, copper, iron and vitamin C. It is also a good source of vitamin B2, omega-3 fatty acids, vitamin B6, phosphorus, chromium, magnesium, calcium and pantothenic acid. “

http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=61

Clinton on Kavanaugh

Hillary Clinton claims that a SCOTUS justice who follows the constitution will return the country to the 1850s. Wow. I'm so thrilled I made the right choice for president. Maybe she should read her party's platform of 1856:

"That Congress has no power under the Constitution, to interfere with or control the domestic institutions of the several States, and that such States are the sole and proper judges of everything appertaining to their own affairs, not prohibited by the Constitution; that all efforts of the abolitionists, or others, made to induce Congress to interfere with questions of slavery, or to take incipient steps in relation thereto, are calculated to lead to the most alarming and dangerous consequences; and that all such efforts have an inevitable tendency to diminish the happiness of the people and endanger the stability and permanency of the Union, and ought not to be countenanced by any friend of our political institutions. "
1856 Democrat Party Platform

What is leadership?

I really disliked President Trump during the campaign of 2016. My loyalties and contributions shifted as the fabulous strong bench of the brightest and best narrowed, my final choice being Cruz, who is, I believe, still the finest speaker and sharpest guy in Congress. About 2 days after Trump was acknowledged as the Republican candidate, I realized although he was no prize personally, he was head and shoulders above the alternative. Time and again he has since proven me wrong about his abilities, intelligence and common sense, and I've seen his brashness, pomposity, energy and shady deals pay off, most recently this week as he seems successfully to be calling Europe to accountability, when 40 years of chiding and mealy mouthed pretty speeches by former presidents resulted in zip, nada, zilch.

I'm reading "Making a Difference; stories of vision and courage from America's leaders" by Capt. Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger. It's a collection of stories about what qualities make one a leader--people as different as Tammy Duckworth, Michelle Rhee, and Jim Sinegal. I see Trump's qualities in many of these stories. Sully is a much admired American hero, but if he were to run on a political ticket--either party--he would be roundly denounced.

Lena Raman who Walked Away

There is a growing movement in the U.S. called hashtag Walk Away, and primarily it is former Democrats/Progressives/RINOs and why they’ve left the party that oppressed them.  Lena Raman writes:

“While I was volunteering for an organization in San Francisco, a group of women in hijab came to talk to us about how “America is oppressing them.” I sat in the back row silently listening. When the time came and the girl asked if we had any questions, I raised my hand.

I said, “I am an ex Muslim woman who is half Iranian and half Indian. I’ve lived in Iran for 5 years with little to no rights. Forget having the opportunity to stand before a group of Americans, bashing America. . .I couldn’t even stand before a group of Iranians without a guardian. Today, you stand before me bashing the country which has given me the right your country didn’t. When the Iranians found out that my father was Indian, they would double tax his products. My mother couldn’t leave the house without being harassed. Not saying every Muslim is this way, but why don’t you talk about the extreme oppression which goes on in your country. You are standing on the land of the free. Though the government might not be perfect, but I’d be damned if you said my country oppressed me.”

I didn’t walk away necessarily, but I was asked to leave.

I am a PROUD LEGAL IMMIGRANT. My family fought long and hard to be part of this country. Never will I forget the nightmare I’ve escaped from. It is so easy to point fingers and bash a country which gives you the right to do so. You can’t speak oppression if you can freely practice your religion here. You can’t possibly be oppressed if you can stand in front of a group of Americans, bashing America. You can’t possibly be oppressed if you can leave the house wearing what you want. These are the rights America has given me and trust me when I say. . .
I WILL NEVER APOLOGIZE FOR BEING AMERICAN. “

Today’s smoothie

Watercress
Egg
Milk
vanilla and honey
banana
pineapple

“Watercress contains more vitamin C than an orange, more calcium than milk, more iron than spinach, and more folate than bananas. The phytonutrients are where the health benefits of watercress are contained. Watercress contains vitamin A, vitamin B6, vitamin B12, iron, magnesium, calcium, and phosphorus, which are required for a healthy body.” https://www.organicfacts.net/health-benefits/vegetable/watercress.html

I made the eggnog first, then heated it to be sure there were no bacteria, since uncooked eggs can be tricky. This turned out to be a pale green.

Taking the low road

Border patrol agents say they are alarmed by the growing number of migrants illegally crossing the border with children – who are not their own – to avoid long-term federal custody. But never mind. It is fodder for the anti-Trump hysteria, food and fuel to keep the masses agitated. Yes, they know it's wrong, that it is hurting children, but it's working and they've sunk this low.

Democrats long road of racism

Ninety nine Democrats and 2 Republicans in Congress signed the “Southern Manifesto” in 1956. The Southern Manifesto declared the signatories’ opposition to the Supreme Court’s decision in Brown v. Board of Education (declared separate schools for blacks and whites illegal) and their commitment to segregation forever.  As the South has become more Republican it’s become less racist as has fly over country, leaving the northeast and west coast Democrats to carry on that mantle.  As Democrats gain power in the largest cities, they return to their roots of race baiting, name calling, shaming, and violence which kept blacks in line in the early 20th century.  In Ohio over 40% of abortions are for black women, and nationwide, more black lives are snuffed out in 4 days than in the entire 80+ years of Democratic party terrorism of the KKK and lynching. Abortion is the linchpin of Democrat morality and philosophy. Just watch the hysteria over [fill in the blank] selection for justice of SCOTUS.

NATO costs—for decades Presidents have chided them

I've been browsing what past leaders and presidents have said about NATO costs, and there's virtually no difference from Trump--or rather, the difference is he means it. I'd forgotten that President Clinton was behind the expansion of NATO in the mid 90s and had virtually no plan to pay for it (except we'd continue the lion's share). It's no wonder it's like trying to get a house back from your sister after you've provided it rent free for 50 years. The tenant is insulted and hurt--why now you big meanie? You're picking on me.

Here's Bernie Sanders during the 2016 campaign. "Sanders said, "We spend about 75 percent of the entire cost of the military aspect of NATO. Given the fact that France has a very good health care system and free public education, college education for their people, the U.K. has a good National Health Service and they also provide fairly reasonable higher education, you know what, yeah, I do believe that the countries of Europe should pick up more of the burden for their defense." (Politifact, April 19, 2016)

Politifact is liberal so of course it quibbled. It refigured the math and said it was ONLY 72%. Bernie did say "about," but never mind. The choice was to criticize the Obama administration, or to support the socialist.

So maybe President Obama sounded like Mr. Rogers when he said it, but essentially on April 25, 2016, he said what Trump said sounding like a President of the U.S., and the media did not have a melt down.

“We need to stay nimble, and make sure our forces are interoperable, and invest in new capabilities like cyber defense and missile defense. And that’s why every NATO member should be contributing its full share — 2 percent of GDP — toward our common security, something that doesn’t always happen. And I’ll be honest, sometimes Europe has been complacent about its own defense.” . . . Oh yes, and Obama said he wanted a good relationship with Russia in that same speech.
In fact, the Washington Post claimed candidate Trump was essentially saying what Obama said about NATO. But that was then. . . 2016.

Today’s smoothie

Carrot juice and organic spinach for vegetables, and frozen pineapple, fresh peach (with skin) and banana.  Yummie.

Where were the ICE protests in 2013?

https://www.ice.gov/news/releases/ice-busts-significant-sex-trafficking-ring-operating-florida-north-carolina

Donald Trump wasn’t president in 2013, so there was no need to protest.  Obama was the deporter-in-chief according to some on the far left.  But thousands were released into the U.S. population, never to return for their court date.

Very sad news for our church family

“It is with great sadness that I inform you that Pastor Dave and Pam Mann’s son, Josh, died early this morning. Josh encountered numerous complications following surgery in late June and today he was called home by his Heavenly Father.

Funeral arrangements have not yet been completed, but that information will be shared with you once plans are finalized.

Thank you for your prayers thus far. It has been a blessing to the family to know that so many people have been lifting them in prayer. Please continue to pray for Pastor Dave, Pam, their children Joelle, Isaac, EJ, and the entire Mann family as they grieve the loss of their son and brother.
May we all find comfort and peace in the hope and promise of the Resurrection!”

This just a week after the death of their 4 day old grandson, EJ’s baby. The whole congregation is just reeling.

“Unaccompanied Alien Children” (UAC) included admitted murderers, rapists, drug smugglers, prostitutes, and human traffickers in 2014

"Judicial Watch today released 224 pages of documents containing nearly 1,000 summaries of Significant Incident Reports (SIRs) from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) revealing that “Unaccompanied Alien Children” (UAC) processed during the Obama administration included admitted murderers, rapists, drug smugglers, prostitutes, and human traffickers.

The documents, from the HHS Administration for Children and Families reported to the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR), are for the approximate six-month period May to November 2014. The reports Include 1,000 ‘Significant Incident Reports,’ revealing UAC ‘refugees’ admitting to murder for drug cartels, prostitution, and sexual predation."

I believe 2014 was on Obama's watch and these "children" were separated from their parents and "refugees" detained for crimes. I'm not expecting to see or hear of this on the evening news. Possibly an opinion show like Tucker Carlson might cover it. This is a long document with details and links. If you remain ignorant about what is going on/what went on, it's by choice.

https://www.judicialwatch.org/press-room/press-releases/judicial-watch-new-hhs-documents-reveal-that-unaccompanied-alien-children-processed-during-obama-years-included-violent-criminals-drug-smugglers-and-human-traffickers/

Diversity and White Privilege

“Do not underestimate the Trump voter. When they channel-surfed cable news, or heard of the antics that took place on college campuses, or saw street-theater demonstrations on television, they boiled at the idea that they had often worked at minimum wage, saw their jobs outsourced, never discriminated against anyone, and yet were being damned by smug youth who in a few years would draw on their college B.A. cattle brand, their parents’ lobbying, and the good-old-boy network of being rich, white, and from the proper zip code to inherit their rightful place in business, investment, politics, entertainment, the media, or the university. Google all the rich, white, privileged pundits who at one time or another, both in jest and in all seriousness, have called to deport the deplorables and in their stead give amnesty to illegal aliens or import “better” people from abroad.”

Victor Davis Hanson, https://www.nationalreview.com/2018/07/strange-career-of-white-privilege/

Kavanaugh is the pick

Therese Okoumou, the ungrateful legal immigrant

By Peggy Traeger Tierney, who has a blog and Facebook page.

“The woman who shut down the Statue of Liberty on Independence Day by illegally climbing on it, Therese Okoumou, 44, and then, after saved by the police, denounced the United States of America as "oppressive," is a legal immigrant who came to America from the Congo in 1995.

She has spent the last 20 years as an liberal activist AGAINST America, arrested numerous times, while women are mass raped, children are decapitated and soldiers eat villagers for dinner in the Congo, her country of birth. Let's ask her why she fails to address the nightmare happening in her own African country. It's on the brink of genocide. Why isn't she protesting the horrors in the Congo, where she was born, instead of being a pawn for the resistance, dishonoring America, the country that gave her a second chance at living a free and normal life. What an ungrateful, selfish, pathetic individual.

Rebels and government troops in the Kasai region of the Congo commit sickening atrocities including mass rape and cannibalism. Boys in the Congo rape their own mothers while blood-drinking soldiers feast on the flesh of dying victims. In one horrific massacre, 186 men and young boys from a single village had their heads chopped off. Little girls and boys are told that witchcraft will make them invincible against bullets. Women are forced to choose between gang rape or death.
Witnesses say the Congolese militia actually sport female genitals as medals. They cut up, cook and eat human flesh, including penises cut from men who were still alive and from corpses and drink human blood. Children are killed by machine-gun fire and their bodies are buried in mass graves … or are sometimes piled in trucks by soldiers to be buried elsewhere. Is this the 3rd world culture we want to bring to America? This is the culture Therese escaped and is disingenuously saying is somehow better than America? Lies.

Is this what Michelle Obama meant by "when they go low, we go high"? One would have to be HIGH to avert their eyes from this horror story. Therese, go home and channel your rage where it's needed most. Enough of your faux outrage over America. America is the best thing that ever happened to you.

PS: This is not her first victimhood rodeo: She claimed in 2005 that she was treated “in a demeaning manner” by her bosses and told that she would be fired “for complaining of discrimination.” It’s unclear why her complaint was tossed out.

In 2011, Okoumou made headlines after she was hit with an astounding 60 violations for illegally posting ads for her services as a personal trainer.

The Department of Sanitation slapped her with $4,500 in fines that year after she spent five hours one Sunday posting the fliers on Manhattan utility poles.

In 2017, she was arrested and charged with obstructing governmental administration, unlawful assembly and trespassing during a demonstration at the Department of Labor building. She had allegedly covered her mouth with tape and refused to respond to police demands. What a delightful woman.”

https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/rest-of-world/mass-rape-cannibalism-dismemberment-un-team-finds-atrocities-in-congo-war/articleshow/64846559.cms
s

Today’s NutriBullet

I now have two Magic Bullet machines for making smoothies and/or mixed vegetable and fruit drinks.  One I bought at a WalMart for about $50, and the other, which is  much more elaborate with 4 cups and lids, strainer caps and 3 mixing units for $10 at a yard sale up the street in Lakeside.  I should be all set for replacing patio Donuts with delicious health drinks.

Today’s (breakfast and lunch) is carrot juice, baby spinach, banana, frozen pineapple, and melon.  It’s sort of a pale moss green—if I’d added strawberries or blue berries, it would be dog poop brown. We’ve tried the drinks using kale, but the spinach works better with our digestive systems. These drinks are not juices—contain all the fiber (except for the carrots). I don’t usually think of bananas as having a strong flavor, but when mixed with other fruits, you can always taste it.

Spinach slightly edges out kale, according to a source I quoted in 2015. But both are good. https://health.usnews.com/health-news/blogs/eat-run/2012/11/08/mango-or-papaya-spinach-or-kale-food-face-offs  I also blogged about this in June. https://collectingmythoughts.blogspot.com/2018/06/stems-leaves-and-stalks-in-vegetable.html

One cup of spinach meets 36 percent of the recommended daily iron value, whereas kale supplies 6 percent. As for other nutrition facts: one cup spinach has 41 calories, 4.3 grams of fiber, 5.3 grams of protein, 244.8 grams of calcium, and 838.8 milligrams of potassium. The same quantity of kale has 36 calories, 2.6 grams of fiber, 2.5 grams of protein, 93.6 grams of calcium, and 296.4 milligrams of potassium. Besides being an excellent source of potassium and calcium, spinach is a nutritional powerhouse delivering vitamins K, A, C, E, and B2. Kale is also a nutrition winner, packing vitamins K, A, C.