Tuesday, December 31, 2013

The sands of time

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Short and sweet

Funnily.  Funny, it's been around since 1814, but I've only noticed it in 2013. http://www.grammarphobia.com/blog/2010/07/is-funnily-enough-cringeworthy.html

No one seems upset about Robertson when he addresses the sexual sins of 98% of the rest of the population, only gays. I wonder why?

Jesus said there are no goats in heaven, only sheep. (Matt. 25)

83% of abortions in Ohio are for unmarried women, so there are a lot of irresponsible men out there--it takes two.

Past data has found that when it comes to weight loss, race and genetics are real obstacles that doctors just cannot ignore.

The uninsured in the United States get more preventive care than the insured in Canada. John Goodman, MD

When making a resolution, cross out the word "try." It's a wimpy verb.

I was trying to look up some biographical information on W. E. Farbstein, and found this instead. "The dog is mentioned in the Bible eighteen times—the cat not even once." W.E. Farbstein. Quoted in "Hundkeit," Mondo Canine, ed. Jon Winokur, Dutton (1991).

                          Cold shower poem

From my mother’s Commonplace book, 1942 Good Housekeeping

A prayer for 2014: "Two things I ask of you: deny them not to me before I die: Remove far from me falsehood and lying: give me neither poverty nor riches: feed me with the food that is needful for me, lest I be full and deny you and say, “Who is the LORD?” or lest I be poor and steal and profane the name of my God (Proverbs 30:7-9, ESV).

The glaze I made for the ham Christmas Eve was so delicious, I made a small amount to put on cooked carrots for a glaze for a buffet at the Zimmers. I can hardly keep from tasting. Maple syrup (real), red wine vinegar and mustard.

"Femininity has become a legal disability, and the irresponsible male has become a legal ideal." Patrick Lee, Institute of Bioethics at Franciscan University of Steubenville (Ohio)

Best slogan I've seen this week. "Hope and chains."

Who knew? Don't put fresh pears in a fruit salad. Bleh. I should have taken home ec instead of college prep. They turn brown and mushy.

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My son’s living room on Christmas Eve.

Irony. The opposite of wrinkly.

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Crock pot salsa chicken

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 Ingredients

  • 2 lbs. (32 oz.) chicken breasts, boneless and skinless
  • 1 cup salsa
  • 1 cup petite diced canned tomatoes
  • 2 tbsp. taco seasoning
  • 1 cup onions, diced fine
  • 1/2 cup celery diced fine
  • 1/2 cup carrots, shredded
  • 3 tbsp. sour cream

Directions

Place the chicken in a slow cooker. Sprinkle the taco seasoning over the meat then layer the vegetables and salsa on top. Pour a half cup water over the mixture, set on low and cook for 6-8 hours. The meat is cooked when it shreds or reaches an internal temperature of 165°F. When ready to serve, break up the chicken with two forks then stir in the sour cream. Makes eight 1 cup servings.

Nutrition Info: Calories: 164.9; Fat: 2.5g; Carbohydrates: 7.3g; Protein: 27.6g

Monday, December 30, 2013

Who is homophobic?

Not sure why the other 97% are called homophobic when so many celebrities, athletes and stars hide who they are--Elton John didn't and he came out of the closet about 40 years ago--didn't hurt his career or income. Ellen came out in 1997, both on her show and in real life.

http://chicagodefender.com/2013/12/30/robin-roberts-comes-out-thanks-long-time-girlfriend/#.UsGj4UbFEXx.facebook

 

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Write a check, save a life

Planned Parenthood is the largest abortion provider in the United States and gets approximately $1.5 million a day from your tax dollars. You can donate to your local pregnancy help center that saves babies and women. In Columbus that is Pregnancy Decision Health Center, 665 E. Dublin-Granville Rd., Suite 120, Columbus, OH, 43229. One more day for a tax deduction, one more day to save lives in 2013.

Not enough shelves

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12 important things about demons and angels by Kuyper and Kreeft

Abraham Kuyper was a Dutch Calvinist statesman and theologian; Peter Kreeft is a Roman Catholic, a convert from Reformed Church in America.

Demons--

1. There exists a spiritual world outside of and apart from our human race.

2. There are two hosts or groups of these spirits, namely angels and demons.

3. The host of demons is subject to the rule of Satan.

4. Both angels and demons have powers, gifts and talents that they received from their Creator.

5. These spiritual beings have been called to use their powers and gifts in the service of God, not only to praise Him, but also as instruments for the development of His Kingdom.

6. These spirits exert all kinds of influence on this earth, not only in the spiritual realm, but just as much in the physical, visible and material realm.

7. After their fall, the demons have misused their powers in order to destroy both this earth and our human race.

8. Until the coming of Jesus and with the exception of Israel, these demons had established the kingdom of Satan over the peoples and nations that made Satan in effect the ruler of the world.

9. Christ has come in order to destroy the works of the devil and to establish Himself as Head and King over this world.

10. The temptations of Christ in the wilderness and the gradual casting out of demons must be understood in the context of that struggle.

11. The power of Satan was broken down in principle during this struggle, so that Jesus could exclaim, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven” (Luke 10:18).

12. The outpouring of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost introduced into this world a holy spiritual force that was designed to ceaselessly push back that demonic atmosphere that had for so long oppressed the life of the nations.

You can do greater things than Christ, by Abraham Kuyper

Angels--

  1. They really exist. Not just in our minds, or our myths, or our symbols, or our culture. They are as real as your dog, or your sister, or electricity.
  2. They’re present, right here, right now, right next to you, reading these words with you.
  3. They’re not cute, cuddly, comfortable, chummy, or “cool”. They are fearsome and formidable. They are huge. They are warriors.
  4. They are the real “extra-terrestrials”, the real “Super-men”, the ultimate aliens. Their powers are far beyond those of all fictional creatures.
  5. They are more brilliant minds than Einstein.
  6. They can literally move the heavens and the earth if God permits them.
  7. There are also evil angels, fallen angels, demons, or devils. These too are not myths. Demon possessions, and exorcisms, are real.
  8. Angels are aware of you, even though you can’t usually see or hear them. But you can communicate with them. You can talk to them without even speaking.
  9. You really do have your very own “guardian angel”. Everybody does.
  10. Angels often come disguised. “Do not neglect hospitality, for some have entertained angels unawares”—that’s a warning from life’s oldest and best instruction manual.
  11. We are on a protected part of a great battlefield between angels and devils, extending to eternity.
  12. Angels are sentinels standing at the crossroads where life meets death. They work especially at moments of crisis, at the brink of disaster—for bodies, for souls, and for nations.

Angels, the 12 most important things by Peter Kreeft

This will protect a woman more than a condom

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CDC has an educational unit on "safer sex" condom use (safe sex actually isn't the term, because it's virtually impossible), aimed at female teens. After reviewing the results after 12 mo. no statistically significant intervention effects on sex risk behaviors or STD recurrence were observed, so the "intervention package is not available at this time."

Only ten broken promises? Oh, it’s just Obamacare—from Newsmax

1. The website is simple and user-friendly

Just days into its disastrous rollout, the Obamacare website was out of order until mid-morning Oct. 8, a public relations headache . . . on Dec. 20, a mere three days before the deadline to sign up for coverage starting Jan. 1, yet another outage lasted for several hours.

2. "If you like your plan, you can keep your plan."

Obama's June 6, 2009 assertion was wrong. . . . Charles Krauthammer railed Obamacare itself was a fraud from the beginning.

3. "If you like your doctor, you can keep your doctor."

Obama's 2009 promise was wrong again, we learned in 2013. . .  conservative blogger Cam Harris writes

4. Premiums will fall by as much as $2,500 per family
That won't happen. Forbes magazine, comparing Affordable Care Act premiums versus pre-Obamacare premiums, finds this presidential assertion a dud.

5. Obamacare won't add 'one dime to our deficits'

But it does. Even the Government Accountability Office's report of Feb. 26, 2013, projected Obamacare will increase the long-term federal deficit by $6.2 trillion.

6. The ACA will cost around $900 billion over 10 years

Not even close. A Congressional Budget Office’s report from May 2013 puts the real price tag more around the area of $1.8 trillion.

7. Families making less than $250,000 won't see 'any form' of tax increase

Far from it. Obamacare contains 18 separate tax hikes, fees, and penalties, many of which heavily impact the middle class, the Heritage Foundation maintains. . . .

8. The ACA will keep healthcare costs down.
So says the president's Council of Economic Advisers.
But it's just not so, according to senior fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center and American Enterprise Institute visiting fellow James Captretta writes in the Weekly Standard.

9. You have a deadline and a mandate.

Maybe. Squishy deadlines, and "fixes" have been a hallmark of Obamacare almost from the start. . . Another "fix" came Nov. 14, a week after the president apologized for the cancellations . . . As for sign-up deadlines, it's been confusing at best. . .  HHS also pushed back the deadline when the first month's premium would be due, and insurers obliged, extending the payment deadline nine days, to Jan. 10.

10. Sure, the national exchange is glitchy, but the state sites are working great.

Obamacare’s state-run enrollment operations have had technological delays and low sign-up levels. Several states even replaced top executives.

http://www.newsmax.com/Newsfront/obamacare-broken-promises/2013/12/29/id/544262#ixzz2oyC0XUSr

The Holy Innocents Matthew 2:16-18

16 Then when Herod saw that he had been tricked by the magi, he became very enraged, and sent and slew all the male children who were in Bethlehem and all its vicinity, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had determined from the magi. 17 Then what had been spoken through Jeremiah the prophet was fulfilled:
18 “A VOICE WAS HEARD IN RAMAH,  WEEPING AND GREAT MOURNING,  RACHEL WEEPING FOR HER CHILDREN;  AND SHE REFUSED TO BE COMFORTED,  BECAUSE THEY WERE NO MORE.”

"Just a few days ago, billions of Christians around the world celebrated the birth of an infant who was born to a young, impoverished, and unmarried woman. This weekend, many Christian churches also recognized the feast day of the Holy Innocents - the day when King Herod, fearing he may lose his political power, ordered the death of all the male infants in Bethlehem and its surrounds. Historians and historical representations of the numbers of children lost vary - from 15-20... infants . . .to 64,000, and medieval writers liked to use the number 144,000. The exact number is immaterial. The reality is that our modern sensibilities cannot fathom a world in which political leaders order the death of countless innocent infants in order to secure their own political power." (Columbus Right to Life)

But they do, don't they? Or at least they are complicit in the killing through laws, insurance and cultural pressure. It is estimated that 85% of women who abort have been pressured by parents, boyfriend, husband, or "friends" who convince her carrying to term would ruin her life, his life, her education, their economics, etc., and allowing the baby to live and be adopted by another family--well, that would just be too difficult. In Texas, home of the popular blonde politician in pink tennies, 63% of abortions were for black or Hispanic babies.

Sunday, December 29, 2013

There’s a clawback feature in Obamacare

“The government has long been permitted to seek reimbursement for healthcare services by attaching the assets of deceased Medicaid enrollees. But before ObamaCare, an asset test was mandatory for Medicaid applicants and only those with few or no assets could qualify for government provided care. As a result, there was little of value which the state could attach after death.

ObamaCare, however, has done away with the asset test. Eligibility for Medicaid is now dependent only upon income. And at 138% of the federal poverty mark, that eligibility level is much higher than in previous years. Therefore, countless Americans who have accumulated valuable assets yet show little income will now qualify as Medicaid recipients.

So if parents have been placed on a state Medicaid roll, the house, car or other assets they had intended leaving to their children will be attached by that state upon their death. A lien will be filed and full payment for those “free” healthcare services provided from the date of enrollment until the time of death will be confiscated from any available estate holdings.”

http://www.westernjournalism.com/obamacare-shock-strip-assets-dead-seniors/#!

http://www.cjr.org/the_second_opinion/covering_an_obamacare_clawback.php?page=all

http://hoofin.wordpress.com/2013/01/06/the-obamacare-clawback-provision-a-trap-door/

http://www.thelundreport.org/resource/poorest_oregonians_could_be_hurt_by_obamacare

Racists are upping the ante

This is what GLAAD and NAACP are trying to call racist. Phil Robertson, unlike some ivory tower academics, poverty pimps, and civil rights careerists, worked along side blacks in the fields. In the GQ interview he said,

"I never, with my eyes, saw the mistreatment of any black person. Not once. Where we lived was all farmers. The blacks worked for the farmers. I hoed cotton with them. I’m with the blacks, because we’re white trash. We’re going across the field.  They’re singing and happy. I never heard one of them, one black person, say, ‘I tell you what: These doggone white people’—not a word! Pre-entitlement, pre-welfare, you say: Were they happy? They were godly; they were happy; no one was singing the blues.”

He didn't say no black was ever mistreated; he was talking about his fellow workers. He said they were godly people. Now Democrats think it's just great to keep poor people on welfare instead of working (but it's OK for "undocumented workers" to be in the fields). Who is the phony looking for trouble? And "Jim Crow?" Those were regulations and laws put in place by Democrats.

 http://www.newsninja2012.com/racist-naacp-agenda-to-paint-phil-robertson-as-racist-starts-to-become-weak-argument-to-many/

Crockpot-Tamale-bake

http://crockpotladies.com/recipe-categories/entrees/crockpot-tamale-bake/

Ingredients

1 Lb. lean ground beef or ground turkey

1/2 cup finely diced onion

1 teaspoon minced garlic

3/4 cups yellow cornmeal

1 egg

1 1/2 cups milk

1 (15.25 oz.) can corn, drained

1 (14.5 oz.) can diced tomatoes, undrained

1 (1.25 oz.) envelope taco seasoning mix

1 (2.25 oz.) can sliced black olives, drained

1 Cup shredded cheddar cheese

Minced green onion, for garnish (optional)

Instructions

  1. In a large skillet brown and crumble your ground beef with the onion and garlic until the meat is no longer pink.
  2. Drain ground beef to remove excess fat.
  3. In a large bowl combine cornmeal, egg and milk and mix until smooth
  4. Add to the cornmeal mixture the corn, tomatoes, taco seasoning, olives and ground beef mixture and mix well.
  5. Dump mixture into the bottom of a 4 quart crock-pot.
  6. Cover and cook on LOW for 6 hours or HIGH for 3 hours.
  7. Sprinkle with cheese and cover again and cook for an additional 15 minutes until cheese is melted.
  8. To serve, spoon into bowls or onto plate and garnish with chopped green onion.

Legalized gambling and recreational pot

The push to legalize pot and various state government’s agreeing to that and other dissipating activities like casino gambling (now legal in Ohio) bring to mind what Frederick Douglass said in his autobiography about why slave owners gave slaves a week holiday between Christmas and New Year’s and encouraged drinking and all manner of evil activity—for them it was a taste of “freedom,” enough to convince them they were better off as slaves. He wrote that by making this concession the owners were assured of obedience and the slaves were less likely to revolt.

“They do not give the slaves this time because they would not like to have their work during its continuance, but because they know it would be unsafe to deprive them of it. This will be seen by the fact, that the slaveholders like to have their slaves spend those days just in such a manner as to make them as glad of their ending as of their beginning. Their object seems to be, to disgust their slaves with freedom, by plunging them into the lowest depths of dissipation. For instance, the slaveholders not only like to see the slave drink of his own accord, but will adopt various plans to make him drunk.”  Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/sns-rt-us-usa-marijuana-colorado-20131228,0,6459410.story

http://www.governing.com/gov-data/state-marijuana-laws-map-medical-recreational.html

Barack Obama’s Rules for Revolution; the Alinsky Model

Most revolutionaries never had a plan writes David Horowitz in "Barack Obama's Rules for Revolution." They have a vague idea of the kingdom of heaven they propose to create. . . Marx's "kingdom of freedom," Alinsky's "open society," or the current left's "social justice." Otherwise they never spend two seconds thinking about how to make an actual society work. How to keep people from committing crimes against each other; how to get them to put their shoulder to the wheel; how to provide incentives that will motivate individuals to produce wealth." p. 51.

                         

Both Obama and H. Clinton are fans of Alinsky. http://www.discoverthenetworks.org/articles/rules%20for%20revolution%20(2).pdf

Hillary Clinton’s 1969 Thesis

David Horowitz's parents were members of the Communist Party USA; and he was a Communist as a young man, until he began to see their ruthlessness. Now he is a Conservative.

“When Obama announced a paltry $100 million in budget cuts, and insisted this was part of a budget-trimming process that would add up to “real money,” he clearly understood that the public processes these numbers very differently from the way budget wonks do. Alinsky wrote: “The moment one gets into the area of $25 million and above, let alone a billion, the listener is completely out of touch, no longer really interested, because the figures have gone above his experience and almost are meaningless. Millions of Americans do not know how many million dollars make up a billion.”” National Review online

Saturday, December 28, 2013

Obama has not kept his oath of office

We know how he has shredded his own legacy—Obamacare. Supposedly, it is the law of the land, but you’d never know that from the way he has worked around and violated it.  But it isn’t the first time, or the last.

One of Obama’s first acts as president—only a month since he took the oath of office—was to announce his elimination of the Yucca Mountain site in Nevada for storing highly radioactive nuclear waste. He flouted decades of scientific study and countermanded the explicit decisions of Congress set forth in duly-enacted laws over many years. In 1982 Congress directed the government to assume responsibility for commercial nuclear waste. In 1987 it singled out Yucca Mountain for evaluation as the repository because of its remote and dry location. After years of research, Congress in 2002 endorsed the Yucca Mountain site.

Between 1987 and 2009, when Obama put himself above the law by effectively revoking it, $13.5 billion was spent on the program; a five-mile tunnel was bored into the mountain, and hundreds of studies determined the safety of the site for thousands of years. The nuclear industry was also forced to pay $22 billion to the Energy Department for establishment of the repository. Obama is not a scientist, and his decision was not made from a review of the scientific research. But that is not the point, nor is the billions of dollars of taxpayer money that went down the drain.

http://blog.heartland.org/2013/12/obama-vs-the-constitution/

Cat hair

Today I bought a "Fur Be Gone," a tools which is supposed to work on the carpet and the cat. Usually I just use a roll of masking tape. Anyone ever tried this?http://www.petbuddies.com/prod_details.php?cat=35&p=204

Green is for cats; blue is for dogs. I now expect pet tools to start appearing on my Facebook page and along the side of any page I visit on the internet; I’ve been getting ads for coconut oil since I blogged about that.

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There is no alternative; why Margaret Thatcher matters

Our January book club selection is the above title about Margaret Thatcher, written by Claire Berlinski, published in 2008, before her death in April of this year, but after the amazing economic turnaround of Britain and before the whole globe was experiencing a recession.

“When Margaret Thatcher came to power in 1979, Britain was in economic crisis, and had been for some time. From 1974, the top rate of income tax had been 83%, in some cases rising to an incredible 98%, killing growth, job creation and economic prosperity,[i] while inflation was dangerously high at 27%. In addition, powerful trade unions had taken control of the country’s many nationalized industries.” American Thinker 

The left both here at home and in Britain still demonize her. 

I’m enjoying the author’s writing style—a bit like following her around as she searches the archives and interviews people who knew her. She’s no lap dog, and it’s not hard to spot the areas she dislikes about Thatcher.

Your politics will decide whether you think Obama snubbed the British with the delegation he sent to her funeral (similar to those he sent to Chavez’ funeral which happened in the same time frame).  Of course, compared to the hoop-la of Mandela, there’s just no comparison.

My New Year’s Resolution 2013

I did this.  Only put 4 slips of paper in it.  But I looked at it today.  I had forgotten all 4, so it’s still a nice plan, if you can keep up with it. I guess this is what blogs are for: web logs, a log you keep on the world wide web.

Apple seeds

From the World’s Healthiest Foods Tips, Dec. 28, 2013
Is it OK to eat apple seeds?

“I don't recommend eating apple seeds, and it is not because a tree will grow in your stomach! Apple seeds, like many fruit seeds, contain compounds called cyanogenic glycosides, such as amygdalin, which act as part of the plant's natural defense mechanism. Cyanogenic glycosides are naturally occurring cyanide/sugar compounds that can release small amounts of toxic cyanide when their sugar groups are removed.

Prune and peach pits, which are well studied in the research world, have far greater concentrations of cyanogenic glycosides than apple seeds; however, the lower levels in apple seeds could still pose problems in terms of stomachache or food poisoning, and a few seeds chewed by a small child could result in poisoning. Although the severity of the problem caused by ingesting apple seeds would depend upon many factors, including a person's health, I don't think that the potential risk here is worth taking.”

Holzbecher MD, Moss MA, Ellenberger HA. The Cyanide Content of Laetrile Preparations, Apricot, Peach and Apple Seeds. J Toxicol Clin Toxicol. 1984;22(4):341-7.

I eat an apple almost everyday, and for the last two years, also an orange.  My favorite apple is the Honey Crisp, which are almost unavailable now. But I’ve never eaten the seeds.  Good to know.  Health benefits of apples.

Friday, December 27, 2013

Military sexual assaults

Most sexual assaults in the military are male on male. NYT made a big step by reporting this, but completely gives gay perps a pass either by referring to them as "self identified" heterosexuals, or not mentioning them at all, and blaming homophobia as the reason it's not reported. Needs a bit more serious research or we'll never see anyone charged, only victims treated.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/24/us/in-debate-over-military-sexual-assault-men-are-overlooked-victims.html?hp&_r=1

http://www.bandbacktogether.com/male-sexual-assault-resources/

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2449454/More-men-raped-US-women-including-prison-sexual-abuse.html

Mix equal parts of narcissism and hubris

"I am absolutely certain that generations from now," Barack Obama said the night he won the Democratic Party's presidential nomination in 2008, "we will be able to look back and tell our children that this was the moment when we began to provide care for the sick and good jobs to the jobless; this was the moment when the rise of the oceans began to slow and our planet began to heal." 

And then came five years of the lies, exaggeration, the narcissism, the snooping, the power grabs, the distain for Americans, and now he looks ridiculous.

Planned Parenthood’s disgusting parody of the 12 Days of Christmas

Tim Welsh, President and CEO of Pregnancy Decision Health Center writes:

“The twelve days of Christmas have a lot of meaning to me.

You see, I was raised in a rather conservative Catholic household and all eleven of us children knew what the twelve days meant. We knew it went from Christmas to (what Catholics refer to as) the Feast of the Epiphany and represented a celebration of the infancy of our Lord.

Indeed, my father (now almost 90 years old) is proud to say that he was born on the Feast of the Epiphany, traditionally observed on January 6th.

So it's painful to write about what the Arizona affiliate of Planned Parenthood did this Christmas season.

They changed the words of the traditional Christmas carol, "The Twelve Days of Christmas", to promote the abortion industry.

It's disgusting.

They call it "The Twelve Days of Christmas (the contraceptive version)".

In their version, instead of your true love giving you turtle doves and gold rings and drummers drumming, you're given condoms, birth control pills, and a box of Plan B. Instead of piping pipers, swimming swans, and French hens, you'll get Depro-Provera shots, diaphragms, and NuvaRings.

This is true love?

I don't think so.

True love is kind. It's patient and not jealous. It does not brag, nor is it arrogant. It does not represent a quick fix and it lasts forever.”

I’ll be making a year end contribution to PDHC, and I hope you will too, or help a similar organization in your city or county.

Pregnancy Decision Health Centers | 665 E. Dublin-Granville Rd. | Suite 120 | Columbus | OH | 43229

Which is the future of America?

"I've noticed that there are lot of commercials on television this Christmas season by groups asking for help to stop the euthanizing of animals in animal shelters. They have actors holding pets and photos of abused animals all designed to get you involved in saving the life of an animal. However, I haven't seen one commercial asking for help to save the lives of unborn children. I haven't seen one commercial that shows what unborn babies look like when they've been ripped apart as they were sucked out of their mother's womb. I'm all for helping animals. I love animals, especially Siamese cats and Weimaraner dogs. But, I'm more concerned about saving the lives of unborn children who are even more defenseless than pets. What have we become as a people, a nation, when we see a higher premium placed on the lives of animals than on the lives of human children? Are animals the future of America or are children? Maybe you can answer that question for me." - Mychal Massie (http://mychal-massie.com/premium/category/massiedaily/)

Friday family photo—the George family

            George marker Ashton

My mother and aunt used to go to the cemetery in Ashton, Illinois, to place flowers on Memorial Day.  Before them, my grandparents did this.  Now my brother and his wife do this.

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In a series of Job-like disasters, David George's wife, three of his four adult children, and two of his grandchildren preceded him in death. Willy died of diphtheria in 1877; Martha George Sanders and her baby daughter Grace died of childbirth complications in 1888; Susan Reed George died in 1898; Ira George died in 1907 of blood poisoning from a farm accident; and Mary's son Oliver died at birth in 1908. Only Mary lived to an old age, just like her father.

Did sequestration matter?

“While the sequester is an imperfect mechanism to reduce spending, as the brunt of the cuts falls disproportionally on defense, it only amounts to a 2.5 percent reduction in spending over 10 years. This hardly lives up to the President’s warnings that the cuts would be “harmful” to the economy and would decimate government services. As you can see, the U.S. has a long way to go to rein in its growing spending.”

http://blog.heritage.org/2013/12/27/money-pictures-top-5-charts-2013/

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Did you notice that the sequester and the government shut down actually helped the third quarter?

Salvation Army is pro-life except when it isn’t

Makes exceptions for disability (over 90% of Down Syndrome babies are aborted); health of the mother; rape or incest. We pulled our check out of the pile today and tore it up.

The position from their website:

The Salvation Army believes all people are created in the image of God and therefore have unique and intrinsic value. Human life is sacred and all people should be treated with dignity and respect. The Salvation Army accepts the moment of fertilisation as the start of human life. We believe that society has a responsibility to care for others, and especially to protect and promote the welfare of vulnerable people, including unborn children.

The Salvation Army believes that life is a gift from God and we are answerable to God for the taking of life. As such, The Salvation Army is concerned about the growing ready acceptance of abortion, which reflects insufficient concern for vulnerable persons including the unborn. We do not believe that genetic abnormalities that are identified in an unborn child who is likely to live longer than a brief period after birth are sufficient to warrant a termination of pregnancy.

The Salvation Army recognizes tragic and perplexing circumstances that require difficult decisions regarding a pregnancy. Decisions should be made only after prayerful and thoughtful consideration, acknowledging the tremendous pressures that occur during an unexpected pregnancy. There is a responsibility on all involved to give the parents of the unborn child, particularly the woman, appropriate pastoral, medical and other counsel. The Salvation Army believes that termination can occur only when

  • Carrying the pregnancy further seriously threatens the life of the mother; or
  • Reliable diagnostic procedures have identified a foetal abnormality considered incompatible with survival for more than a very brief post natal period.

In addition, rape and incest are brutal acts of dominance violating women physically and emotionally. This situation represents a special case for the consideration of termination as the violation may be compounded by the continuation of the pregnancy.

The Salvation Army affirms and supports professional people engaged in the care of pregnant women who feel on religious, moral or ethical grounds, that they cannot be involved in any way with the procuring or undertaking of an abortion.

Thursday, December 26, 2013

We can’t blame Obama for this one

“Beginning January 1, 2014, the federal government will ban the use of 60-watt and 40-watt incandescent light bulbs. The light bulb has become a symbol in the fight for consumer freedom and against unnecessary governmental interference into the lives of the American people.”

MB12.26_v2 - light bulbs

Although we know from other power grabs and 20+ changes he’s personally made in the PPACA law, he could have stopped this.  The “energy efficient” bulbs are made in China in coal fired factories, belching black smoke.

"A subsidised and enforced worldwide replacement of unprofitable patent-expired simple, cheap, well known, safe, and easily locally made bright broad spectrum light bulbs in an odd coalition between global capitalist manufacturing executives, left-leaning governments, and environmental organizations." http://freedomlightbulb.blogspot.com/2011/11/deception-behind-ban.html

Coconut oil for skin care

Perhaps one of the best, and cheapest tips circulating the internet is to use pure organic coconut oil for skin care. I had a jar in the cupboard for cooking, so I squished some (it is solid but melts with just skin heat) into an unused pill container and put it in the bathroom. This stuff is amazing. I'd had 2 stubborn spots on my face, and after using it for both removing make-up and a moisturizer under make-up, they just disappeared; last night I slathered it on my hands and put on cotton gloves, and this morning my hands feel like summer; and there is no water or alcohol or chemical lab list to worry about. There are lots of new babies in the family and I see it's good for stretch marks http://coconutoilcooking.com/coconut-oil-blog-posts/top-10-uses-of-coconut-oil-for-skincare/

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I've only used it once for cooking, so have a lot on hand. It seems expensive for shortening, but when compared to a mid-price brand of lotion or moisturizer of a few ounces with all the unpronounceables on the label, it's a bargain.

Just three decisions will make a life time of difference

Just three decisions can change the course of a life time and family. None depend on party affiliation, race or religion.

"Consider three decisions that young people make: at what points to stop their education, begin work, and marry and have children. Brookings Institution calculations of census data for 2009, a deep recession year, show that adults who graduated from at least high school, had a job, and were both at least age 21 and married before having children had about a 2 percent chance of living in poverty and a better than 70 percent chance of making the middle class — defined as $65,000 or more in household income. People who did not meet any of these factors had a 77 percent chance of living in poverty and a 4 percent chance of making the middle class (or higher)."

http://www.brookings.edu/research/opinions/2012/03/29-middle-class-myth-haskins

There is no transfer of wealth or invasive, snoopy government program required for this vast difference in poverty between the married and unmarried, the employed and the unemployed, the high school graduate and the drop out. It won't close the "income gap" between you and the President, who is a millionaire and actually did these 3 things, but it's almost a guarantee with God's blessings that you won't remain at the bottom.

"The average cohabiting union lasts about two years, with roughly half ending in marriage. Once married, formerly cohabiting parents have a much higher dissolution rate than couples who did not live together prior to marriage." http://www.clasp.org/.../publications_states/files/0086.pdf

Thursday Thirteen Christmas season 2013

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Christmas  these days seems to begin around Halloween when Christmas themed merchandise appears in the stores, although for some retailers it’s even earlier and you see craft and decorating items stocked in strategic places.  This year Thanksgiving was the latest it could be and so the festivities and shopping had one less week. Our holiday season was saddened by the death of brother in law John Sterling, whom we had visited in October in California. He died the Sunday before Thanksgiving.  For us, Christmas more or less began at Thanksgiving when we began to discuss how we would do the holidays.  Usually our daughter has Thanksgiving dinner, but her father-in-law who lives in  Cleveland and who has been ill, was unable to travel, so they needed to be free “just in case,” so we had dinner here, and decided that I would host the family on Christmas Eve, and then we’d all go to our daughter’s for Christmas Day. I fixed a huge turkey, and we’ve had leftovers off and on since.  So beginning with Thanksgiving, we all went to church together at the Lytham Road campus of Upper Arlington Lutheran Church at 10 a.m. where we had worshipped when the children were growing up (began attending in 1974 and joined on Palm Sunday 1976).  Pastor TJ Anderson, our new senior pastor, gave the sermon. At this service we bring sacks of groceries to be distributed by the Lutheran Food Pantry. Our location of UALC has a traditional style worship with hymns and organ; Mill Run has contemporary style worship with praise songs and communion.

1.  On Wednesday, December 4, we attended with our neighbors Tom and Joyce the annual Conestoga (friends of the Ohio Historical Society) Holiday Party at The Boat House at Confluence Park. It was a lovely venue with views of the river and the downtown skyline lit up for Christmas.  Conestoga has 203 individual members and we learn about Ohio history, travel around the state together visiting historical places, and have fund raisers.  All the money supports the Ohio Historical Society. Our current endowment is about $66,000.

2. Mid-week day time Advent services are held on Thursday at the Lytham Rd. location, and we served communion on December 5.  Wednesday evening services are held at our Mill Run Campus. Usually serve at all these Thursday services, but this year we had conflicts on the other two dates. These services are followed by lunch in the fellowship hall.  Generally, it’s an older crowd, and follows the Thursday morning Bible study.

3.  On December 7, the combined choirs of Lytham and Mill Run presented a wonderful Christmas Concert on Saturday evening, “Glory, Peace, Joy” with conductors Brian Carlton and Michael Martin, with an orchestra. Members of our pastoral staff gave the readings from Isaiah, Colossians, Luke, and Matthew. I sat with the other women of our SALT group—our husbands were at home watching the OSU-Michigan football game, and they missed a beautiful concert.

4. On Sunday December 8, we attended our own service (8:15) and the 9:30 Celebration Service at Lytham, so we could participate in the installation of Pastor Thomas J. Anderson. Pastor David Wendel, assistant to the NALC Bishop performed the installation, with Pastors Brodie Taphorn and Buff Delcamp participating. Pastor TJ follows Pastor Paul Ulring who ended his service with the church in September. Pastor TJ said, “My primary mission is to kick you out of the nest.”

5. We were thrilled to have our friends Martti and Riitta Tulamo of Helsinki, Finland with us December 11-13.  We did some touring of the OSU campus where Riitta was a student at the veterinary college in 1978-80.  We spent a lot of time together in those days, so our children remember them well, and we had a dinner here on Friday night before taking them to the Brens where they would enjoy a few days, then going to the Rigolli home in Worthington before returning to Finland. We attended Advent services on Thursday and then stayed for a very nice lunch of lasagna and salad.

6. On Saturday December 14 our church’s Mission ministry had a pot luck at the home of the Camerons to meet with our missionaries Dave and Pam Mann who teach in Haiti and are home during the month of December.  It was so good to see them, and hear about what is happening at the school and clinic.

7.  On Sunday December 15 members of Conestoga were invited to a buffet and program at the Ohio Historical Society.  We went with our neighbors the Rieslings. The theme for this fall/winter has been the 50s—and there is a Lustron on display, so it was decorated with the much more simple décor of the 1950, including an aluminum tree and plastic poinsettias.

8.. Party with Faith of our Fathers study group Monday Dec. 16 and my  first training session with the Pregnancy Decision Health Center on Wednesday Dec. 18 where I hope to continue volunteering.  This is a Christian ministry that saves lives—of babies, but also mothers who may be in great distress with a pregnancy

9. Party for condo association hosted by the Thompson and Rieslings on Sunday Dec. 22.  The Thompsons had their twin 18 month old granddaughters with them, which really enhanced the environment. Joan and Joyce put out a beautiful spread of of wonderful food, and I think I gained back all the weight (6 lbs) I’ve struggled to lose during the fall.

10. We had a get together after exercise class at instructor Christine’s home on Monday December 23, and will have a 2 week hiatus.

11. We hosted our family for Christmas Eve for dinner—ham, roasted squash, potato salad, mixed fruit, cookies. Then together we attended the  UALC  9 p.m. service.  On  Christmas Day, we opened gifts at home after a leisurely morning, then attended church at 10 a.m. where we served Communion, and then went to our daughter and son-in-law’s for a lovely Christmas dinner and more gifts. Such lovely thoughtful gifts, and my daughter spiffed up my wardrobe, something I always look forward to.

12.  Friends of ours are hosting events in their homes in the next week, on Saturday December 28  the Sloughs, and on Monday evening December 30, the Zimmers.

13.  We will attend the New Year’s Eve Jazz Concert and Worship with Communion at our Mill Run church on Tuesday December 31 beginning at 5:30 for music and 6:00 for worship.

Wednesday, December 25, 2013

Obama’s obsession prevents him from doing his job

“Virtually all of the data cited by the left to decry the supposed explosion of income inequality, as Lee Ohanian and Kip Hagopian point out in their seminal paper, "The Mismeasure of Inequality" (Policy Review, 2011), use a Census Bureau definition of "money income" that excludes taxes, transfer payments like Medicaid, Medicare, nutrition assistance, the Earned Income Tax Credit, and even costly employee benefits such as health insurance.

Thus the data that is conventionally used to calculate the so-called Gini coefficient—the most commonly used measure of income inequality—ignore America's highly progressive income tax system and the panoply of benefits and transfer payments.”

http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702303773704579269990020773098?mod=trending_now_4

Income inequality?  There’s a huge gap between the Obama household and the Bruce household. And Oprah Winfrey and the  Obama household. And George Soros and Oprah Winfrey. And Bill Gates and George Soros. Good luck Mr. President in making us all equal.

Phil Robertson preaches it

Preaching in California for our eternal health care.

A beautiful day

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Tuesday, December 24, 2013

How to destroy more entry level jobs—get the unions involved

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Requirements for entry level

“Many fast food workers are high school students because the industry doesn't require much in the way of formal education or experience, and offers plenty of part-time positions. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics notes that around half of food service workers were employed part time in 2010. Some employers have strict dress and appearance codes, while others provide more leeway. However, a neat, clean and polished appearance during the application process gives a good impression and can help you land a job.”

The job also requires adequate communication skills (pronunciation, grammar, ability to make eye contact, etc.) arriving on time, and not chattering with co-workers or reading smart phones while on duty. Good manners are a plus.  Workers are on their feet a long timeThe worker must be able to follow directions without getting mouthy or arguing.

I love cabbage—this looks so good

Garlic Rubbed Roasted Cabbage Steaks

This is a simple side dish worthy of a dinner party and couldn’t be easier to make. Four ingredients, a couple of minutes to prepare and toss in the oven for an hour.

Ingredients

  • 1 (approximately 2lb) head of organic green cabbage, cut into 1″ thick slices
  • 1.5 tablespoons olive oil
  • 2 to 3 large garlic cloves,
  • smashed kosher salt
  • freshly ground black pepper
  • spray olive oil OR non-stick cooking spray Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 400F and spray a baking sheet with non-stick cooking spray. Pull outer leaf off cabbage (it’s usually dirty and nasty looking), cut cabbage from top to bottom (bottom being root) into 1″ thick slices. 2. Rub both sides of cabbage with smashed garlic. 3. Use a pastry brush to evenly spread the olive oil over both sides of the cabbage slices. 4. Finally, sprinkle each side with a bit of kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper. 5. Roast on the middle rack for 30 minutes. Carefully flip the cabbage steaks and roast for an additional 30 minutes until edges are brown and crispy. Serve hot and Enjoy!

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Copied from Jodie Strickland’s FB page, who got it from Skinny Body Care with Greg.

Not everyone has snow

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But this is a lovely, if stylized, memory of Christmas as it probably never was.  I saw it at Flyover Culture on Facebook, which has the most beautiful photos of our country.  And promotes the conservative values and culture which I admire. We do have a light dusting of snow this morning and I’ll be meeting with friends of 30+ years for coffee.

Yesterday we got a note inside a Christmas card updating us on a small family we haven’t seen since Christmas 1965.  They were renters of the apartment in our duplex where we lived in Champaign, IL.  When we waved good-bye to them and their little daughter, I didn’t know we’d still be in contact almost 50 years later.  Except we aren’t. Until this year, the card simply had a signature.  Somewhere along the way the husband’s name was dropped from the card, then we got one photo card years ago with mom, daughter (now grown) and her husband.  The note reports the daughter’s daughter has just graduated from college.  However, the note which updated us, was intended for someone else and got in the wrong card.  Sigh.

Monday, December 23, 2013

Monday Memories—listening to the Christmas story

Some children may have learned the Christmas story from TV cartoons, but I can remember sitting on the interior stairs of our school in Forreston, Illinois (12 grades in one building) while the principal, John I. Masterson, read aloud the story from Luke 2.

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January book club selection

"There are as many species of socialism as there are species of insects, and Thatcher loathed them all. I use the word "socialism" here as a shorthand for a system of government in which property is largely owned or controlled by the state, rather than by individual citizens, and in which wealth is redistributed to create a more egalitarian society. Equality is the ideal, coerced redistribution the means, and state the agent." Claire Berlinski, "There is no alternative; why Margaret Thatcher matters," (Basic Books, 2008)  the January selection for our book club.

                           

Sunday, December 22, 2013

December 22, The American Prohibitory Act

“On December 22, 1775, the Parliament of Great Britain, under Lord North, First Lord of the Treasury, decided that sterner measures would be taken to subdue the rebellion now underway in the 13 American colonies. To this end, they decreed a blockade against the trade of the American colonists by passing the Prohibitory Act. “All manner of trade and commerce” would be prohibited, and any ship that was found trading “shall be forfeited to his Majesty, as if the same were the ships and effects of open enemies.”  The goal of the Act was to destroy the American economy by making it incapable of operating by means of prohibiting trade with any country.”

It became a declaration of war.

The Founder’s  Blog

A sweet card

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I didn’t know there was an Equine Cancer Society.

The Equine Cancer Society is a non-profit organization dedicated to the education of all horse owners on equine cancer. ECS also helps to raise funds for equine cancer research. Cow's Cause, named for Scout aka "Cow" the inspiration behind ECS, raises funds for the veterinary care of horses fighting cancer.

This and that. . .

I made snickerdoodles with dried cranberries today for a Christmas party tomorrow (like I REALLY needed this).  I actually tasted the raw dough.  Remember when we were kids and that was the favorite part of Mom’s baking?  Now everything is unsafe.

http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/12/12/beware-of-raw-cookie-dough/?_r=0

Tooting my own horn. I think I have licked the caffeine addiction and the awful coffee at home syndrome. I've been drinking coffee since I was 13--and trust me, I'm a librarian who researches everything, coffee doesn't taste good, some just is less awful than others. It's an acquired taste and it actually does have health benefits--with or without the caffeine. Maybe it's the cold weather or da...rk mornings, but showing up at the coffee shop down the road at 6:30 a.m. just doesn't have the appeal it used to, so I've been making decaf at home, but a little stronger than directions. I've bought half n half, and just about, almost, maybe it tastes fine. I still show up occasionally to make sure everyone at Panera's is OK, but it will save about $10 a week for my Travel to Spain in 2015 fund. Even a small amount of real coffee will cause me problems, but not to worry--it actually helps some people with arrhythmias.

http://www.webmd.com/food-recipes/features/coffee-new-health-food

Thursday I made the Cheeseburger in Paradise, but used sausage just to see if it might be good for a brunch.  The next day I gave a slice to my son who had stopped by to give us his Christmas ham.  He called later raving about it.  I guess it passes the test, uh?

David Meyers and Elise Meyers, well known Columbus authors (prisons, popular music, Lazarus history, Columbus jazz, true crime), are beginning a new project--the famous, now gone (as of 2000) Kahiki restaurant. I'm guessing some of you went there for special events in the past and perhaps you have memories or old photos you'd like to have memorialized in their new book. You can e-mail me for further information on arrangements to share what you know about a Columbus landmark.

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My friend Lynne loves to say around this time of year that we are closer to Spring than we were in September.

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It’s hard to choose, he told so many

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Saturday, December 21, 2013

Obama’s next big grab, because the last one was so successful

“If you believe the left, the leading economic problem that Americans face today is not a lack of jobs
or the cost of living, but a crisis . . . of income inequality. . .

The left inflicts poverty and then campaigns against it. It raises the prices of products and the cost of services, it devalues incomes, destroys jobs and raises energy prices… and demands even more regulatory powers so that it can finally solve the poverty mess it creates once and for all.”

http://sultanknish.blogspot.com/2013/12/the-poverty-of-income-inequality.html