"Best places" to live

It was an article on Facebook. So I took a look.  Olathe, KS, Kirkland, WA, Atascocita, TX, Carmel, IN and many others. Diversity is not highly valued or one of the criteria in these "best of" lists no matter who makes them (and there are many). Kirkland has 1.2% black citizens, Olathe 3.7%. Atascocita, TX, which I've never heard of, has 19.2% black citizens. In fact, cities in the south were all pretty good in that category. So I dug a little deeper. 

 Maryland is the wealthiest state in the country. The town with both a good livability rating and a good racial mix is Columbia (wonder how long it will be allowed to keep that name?). It is about 50 years old and was designed by a Christian businessman to be "perfect," with a mix of housing, business, organizations, religions and races, with easy access to DC. In the livability rating, it doesn't rate as high as McLean, VA, also a DC suburb which has only 1.45% black, but an Asian population double the Maryland percentage. It's just a few miles from Columbia. Both McLean and Columbia rate F in affordability, but A or A+ in other categories like crime, schools, etc. McLean has a marriage rate much higher than Maryland or Columbia.

Women in technology fields

I'm not the least bit concerned about the underrepresentation of women in the tech industry. Those companies hire those who can make them a profit, including a disproportionate number of foreign workers. They all lean heavily to the Left, so take it up with the protestors. Women also don't choose the same career track in college, and when they do get into tech/computer work, many don't like the culture, nerdy, male and strange. No one worried that in my career field (library science) women outnumber the men at all levels. Women outnumber men in almost all the professional colleges--law, medicine, pharmacy, veterinary medicine, and Dartmouth has reported finally women outnumber men in engineering. In many cities, women in similar age groups and education level earn more than similarly qualified men. Where are the protests? A capitalist will look at the bottom line, and if that bottom is on a woman, she gets the job.

http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2017/10/10/women-are-more-concerned-than-men-about-gender-discrimination-in-tech-industry/

https://www.forbes.com/sites/karstenstrauss/2016/04/04/u-s-cities-where-women-earn-more-than-men/#5645bc4c4544

Hefner and Weinstein

From my vantage point, I can see no difference between Hefner and Weinstein. One was eulogized for dying rich with a bevy of bimbos, the other condemned without a trial after years of his accomplices praising him and accepting his wealth. Two guys who got rich using and objectifying women. So I decided to Google it, and found something interesting. Hypocrisy (shocking, I know).

"Hefner and Weinstein were known to use their power to manipulate their victims, but the manipulation lives on as we eulogize these men. We need look no further than the editorials produced around both Hefner's death and the revelations of Weinstein's assaults to see how their influence holds sway over our judgement of them, too. Obituaries unsure whether to memorialize or condemn the creator of Playboy abounded in late September. Now, exposés of Harvey Weinstein similarly vacillate between the bullet points of his lengthy resume and the fact that all the while he has been serially harassing women in Hollywood."  https://verilymag.com/2017/10/news-media-confusing-coverage-of-harvey-weinstein-and-hugh-hefner-10162017

The Iran Deal

HUGH HEWITT: "President Trump is right. The Iran deal is the worst deal ever in American history. We got nothing."

Trump has also been right about the judges who have been appointed who I hope can restore the bench's place, and about returning power stolen by the executive branch to the legislative branch, and reducing regulations which have been strangling the economy.

So-so. The tax reform looks weak to me, but we'll see about that as it gets sliced and diced. 

He's been wrong to go after the NFL. Should have just thanked all those players for kneeling in prayer and adoration when the national anthem was played. Could have brought it to a halt.

The Federal Courts web archive

"The federal courts were created under the U.S. Constitution. Article III, Section 1,  provides for the U.S. Supreme Court and such lower courts that Congress may establish. These lower courts include the U.S. courts of appeals, the U.S. district courts and the U.S. Court of International Trade. In addition, other federal courts have been established under Article I, Section 8, of the Constitution, including the U.S. bankruptcy courts, the U.S. Court of Federal Claims, the U.S. Tax Court, the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces."
http://blogs.loc.gov/loc/2017/10/new-online-federal-courts-web-archive/

One could be lost for days and days browsing this resource. I couldn't find immediately the infamous 9th Circuit, but when I clicked on 10th, and browsed that, I found a partial archive of the 9th, ending in August 2016.

Click on the link and see the places you'll go!

OH!
THE PLACES YOU'LL GO!

You'll be on y our way up!
You'll be seeing great sights!
You'll join the high fliers
who soar to high heights.
Dr. Seuss

Hierarchy of Angels

Love finding a topic I'd never thought of but which is in the Bible.

Columbus Marathon today

The marathon benefits Children’s Hospital. Everyone is psyched.  Well, not me.  I’m just watching the weather.  Nearly 70 degrees at 5:30 a.m., but windy, and will cool down this afternoon.  I just want to be able to get out and walk.

 It’s good for the brain.

This link only provides the summary, but has an excellent graphic to remind you what lifestyle changes can help your brain. http://pubs.acs.org/doi/pdf/10.1021/acschemneuro.6b00009  You want to stay of the right (green) side, and avoid the lavender/purple.

“Diet, stress, and physical exercise directly act on neural stem cells and/or their progeny, but, in addition, they may also indirectly affect neurogenesis by acting on microglia. Microglia, the guardians of the brain, rapidly sense changes in the brain milieu, and it has been recently shown that their function is affected by lifestyle factors. However, few studies have analyzed the modulatory effect of microglia on adult neurogenesis in these conditions. Here, we review the current knowledge about the dialogue maintained between microglia and the hippocampal neurogenic cascade. Understanding how the communication between microglia and hippocampal neurogenesis is affected by lifestyle choices is crucial to maintain the brain cognitive reserve and prevent the maladaptive responses that emerge during disease or injury through adulthood and aging.”

Exercise

“Cardiovascular exercise such as running, interval training, cross fit and or yoga are the single most effective ways of boosting neurogenesis; they come with a vast array of health benefits for mind and body, and are also important stress relievers. The endorphins produced acting as a potent antidote to cortisol, the stress hormone. Exercise has been found to increase levels of brain derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and glial cell line-derived trophic factor (GDNF), two key growth factors supporting neurogenesis.  It also increases hormones such as testosterone which also seem to have a extremely beneficial effect on neurogenesis, and act as a buffer against the effects of psychological stress. This is increasingly more important as we age.”  http://highexistence.com/boost-brain-harnessing-neurogenesis/  Of course, I don't run, but a brisk walk is good, too.

Paying off insurance companies will stop

Congress refused to fund Obamacare, so President Obama just went around them, illegally as the court decided, and gave the money to the insurance companies. Obama knows exactly how to do a left turn to get more power. 1) Get what you want with abusive executive orders, 2) give candy to a toddler realizing the next guy won't take it away because of the tantrums. Unless the next guy is Trump and knows how to deal and says, "I'll give away the executive power Obama stole and hand it back to Congress so you guys have to do your job."

Obama didn't like Congress' decision so he ordered the money from the Treasury, a violation of the ACA law itself. Only Congress has that power. It was found unconstitutional. Trump has put a stop to the illegal actions Obama created and put it back in Congress' lap.

Washington Post described Trump's reversing Obama's illegal stealing money from Treasury to pay insurance companies as "throwing a bomb into the insurance market places." And that, my friends, is how the left destroys our language--with bombs. He has returned the responsibility to Congress which Obama stole from them. When your legacy is executive actions because you overstep your bounds, you risk the next president undoing them.

Nancy Pelosi who actually is in Congress said she has no idea what's in the order, but it is sabotage. A repeat of her not knowing what was in the ACA to begin with but passed it anyway?
The power of the purse belongs to Congress, not President Obama. Trump is draining the swamp and handing Congress back its authority over the purse.

Conestoga trip to Cleveland

Today our Conestoga group toured the Cleveland Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, had a visit with the CEO Greg Harris, ate in the new lunch area, and saw the newly installed (July) Power of Rock film in the renovated I.M. Pei spectacular building. Harris is a charming story teller in his early 50s, obviously in love with his job, and told us about some of the exhibits, including the wedding invitation on which Doc Pomus wrote the words for "Save the Last Dance for Me." He had polio... as a child and couldn't walk, let alone dance, but at his wedding he watched his bride dance with others, and then wrote that song, covered by many, and known by just about everyone who came of age before the 90s. Probably not a dry eye in our group after that one. We had never been there (opened 22 years ago), but it's well worth the trip and brings millions of tourist dollars to Cleveland every year, offsetting the original and renovating costs many times over.

Then we boarded the bus for a short drive to tour the Christmas Story (film) house. The film about Ralphie and his family is based on the book of Jean Shepherd's semi-fictional anecdotes in his 1966 book In God We Trust: All Others Pay Cash. Years after the 1983 film, the house came up for sale on E-Bay and was purchased, then renovated and additional property was bought for a museum and gift house. It opened for visitors in 2006.  It's now quite a popular tourist spot, yet the neighborhood remains much the same.  The docent/employee guide told us that Cleveland was chosen for the set (Shepherd was from Hammond, IN) because Higbee's was the only department store willing to allow them to film the scenes of visiting Santa. That was a year Cleveland didn't have snow, so that is artificial in the Cleveland scenes--and the guide explained how that was done.  Other scenes were filmed in Canada, and there are a few inconsistencies based on the 2 locations, according to our guide.

When you gotta go. . .

There's construction going on by city workers on our property to repair a culvert. The porta potty is sitting on the sidewalk because there is a steep drop off there and no place for it to sit level. My husband was taking a walk yesterday when a woman jogger flew past him. When she got to the potty, she stopped, opened the door, and used it.

Update:  Yesterday (Oct. 14) I went for a walk and at the drive way met a neighborhood (St. Tim's) woman (named Kathryn) pushing a double wide stroller with her grandchildren.  We stopped to chat because she was catching her breath after the uphill walk.  So I began to help her push the stroller and we walked about a mile until she turned east.  We had a wonderful time.  Later my husband went out for a walk and met the same woman who was then returning the children to their home a mile or so the other direction.  He talked to her a few minutes, and then saw her approach the porta potty and stop.  One of the children needed to go.

Another perspective on guns, guest blogger from Arizona

I live in Arizona halfway between Phoenix and Tucson at the intersection of I8 coming from San Diego and I10 connecting Phoenix and Tucson. I am about 2 hours north of the Mexican border. An Indian reservation stretches from the border all the way to Interstate 8. It is a major drug and human trafficking corridor with about 60% of the drugs coming into the U.S. coming across the Arizona border. I am surrounded by desert and small mountain ranges similar to what you see around Phoenix with Camelback and South Mountain if you’ve ever been there. The population in our area is around 60% Hispanic from many Central American countries with very low income levels, poor English skills and a high number of illegals. We have gangs in the area including MS-13. We have 5 prisons in the area mostly private serving the states of California and Hawaii and an ICE prison. We have an active Border Patrol station here part of the Tucson Sector. People that live here do so because they like the outdoors, nature, climate and of course the scenery including beautiful sunsets and night skies. People love to hike in the desert and mountain climb. Rattlesnakes, wildcats, mountain lions and the cartel members can be encountered on those hikes. It may be hard to believe but most rural roads are still dirt roads.

Having said all that, it is a good place to live. The cost of living is relatively low and access to the cities of Phoenix and Tucson is less than an hour away as is Phoenix Airport. Crime is actually quite low, less than in the larger cities. The biggest issues are robbery and drug related. But, most of the people I know have guns. They carry them while hiking or when traveling in less secure places. They are business owners who are small mom and pop operations. They are ex-military and now gun collectors. They are retired police. They are sheriff auxiliary on patrol with deputies. They are game hunters. They are farm operators with hundreds of acres of open land. They are ordinary people who feel more secure with a gun in the house. There are shooting ranges in the area that are heavily used. People think twice about breaking into a home or starting a confrontation with someone because you never know who has a gun. So in that case it is a deterrent. Most shootings here involve domestic disputes usually around drugs, mental illness or estranged spouses.

Everyone always looks at the mass shooting or violence in the bigger cities but what do you say to my neighbors who have and use guns correctly, for protection or for hunting. How do you structure laws to allow my neighbors to have guns but control mass shootings or inner city killings. I’ve always been taught to look at root causes. In this case is the gun the root cause or is it the laws on the books that are not being enforced or followed? Is it training on the proper use?  Just look at TV and movies and how guns are promoted. Should we start with outlawing video games, or limiting TV violence? It seems to have worked for drinking and smoking on TV shows and commercials.
Truthfully, I’m more frightened about being hit by a drunk driver or impaired driver than by being shot. We have laws against driving impaired, but yet it still happens and people die. What do we do, have laws outlawing cars to prevent drunk people driving them? We seem to be dancing around what to do with driving under drug influences. It’s an emotional issue for those who have been around and used guns all their lives. It reminds me of how traumatic is for someone to have to give up a driver’s license because of age after driving all their lives. A part of your life is being taken away. I also think the discussion is driven by the large number of deaths in any one instance. It’s like one large plane crash where hundreds die being heavily investigated trying to establish fault yet many more smaller plane crashes where one or two people are killed go unnoticed even though the total deaths is more in the single plane crashes.

The wrong questions about immigration; why do we aid Mexico?

We're asking the wrong questions about immigration. Why is Mexico exporting its poor and brown citizens north when it is a wealthy country?

Actually, we know why. Immigrants, legal and illegal, send money home. For Mexico, it's $24.8 billion, higher than oil revenues--and Mexico has a lot of oil. https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/BX.TRF.PWKR.DT.GD.ZS Stop that. It's cheaper than a wall, and more humane.

Have you ever seen a person of color or any ethnic diversity on Telemundo or Univision (both American companies immune from all diversity rules)? Is Mexico working to get rid of its population that is not European heritage? The Mexican government seems to be working with sanctuary cities to make sure they don't get their citizens back, especially the criminal element.

For U.S. businesses, Mexican immigrants are concentrated in service and construction industries and are good workers. For U.S. higher education institutions, Mexican immigrants are a ready source for ambitious students, eligible for aid. About 90% of DACA applicants and renewals are for Mexicans not born in the U.S. 

 

For the Democrat party, Mexican immigrants are seen as voters to be held close through special favors.

What are the NFL protests about?

 I have some suggestions.

•  If some players say this is about police, give each man a copy of the FBI Uniform Crime Reports.
•  If some players say this is about the election, give each man a copy of the constitution and underline the part about the electoral college.
•  If some players say this is about oppression, give each man a history of the civil rights movement since thousands shed blood in the 1860s, beginning with the formation of the KKK and Jim Crow laws (Democrat party), moving on to the desegregation of the schools and military, on to modern socio-economic statistics, and underscore poverty stats and single moms.
• If some players say it's about voting rights, show them the black voter turn out in 2008 and 2012 with higher voting rates for blacks than whites.
• If some think it's about income inequality, hand them a copy of their latest multi-million dollar contract to compare with their high school friends who didn't work as hard or get the scholarships to play in college.

Twitter blocks Rep. Marsha Blackburn

According to Politico and AP, Twitter is barring a top Republican Senate candidate Rep. Marsha Blackburn from advertising her campaign launch video on the service because a line about her efforts to investigate Planned Parenthood was deemed "inflammatory." Really? It's inflammatory to investigate use of fetal tissue, but not to threaten to assassinate the president? https://apnews.com/0d8828bd7d204b40af61172628d0a7f6

Monday Memories--our trip to Illinois and Indiana

We left early Thursday October 5 to make a quick trip to visit the siblings. Due to various frailties, we did a lot of eating out--2 restaurants in Mt. Morris, one in Byron, and one in Indianapolis--which I'll probably notice the next time I step on the scale. 

Brother Stan and me at the new condo in Byron

Stan and Casey with the beautiful view from the deck of their new home

Sister Jeanie and the new puppy, Diva

Getting acquainted with Diva

Niece Joan showing off her new look (lost 86 lbs)