Kathy Griffin's apology for her death and mutilation of our president joke

What did you think of Kathy's apology? Not much, here. This would be an apology.

 "Hey there, this is Kathy. I apologize, folks. I went way over that mythical red line. I never did have a heart or soul, but until hate consumed me at least I did have intelligence and a sense of humor. I've lost that too, and I'm deeply sorry. My paycheck is REALLY sorry! But the only persons that I need to apologize to are Donald Trump and his family, and because I'm a Democrat, I just can't do that yet, or maybe never. However, with a little more schooling by my handlers, I'll work on it and get back to you."

Net neutrality, coupons and capitalism

 Many political conservatives or alternate voices in medicine, history and science are going to YouTube, pod-casts, alternative media to be heard, and to get around the blatant media bias filled with Trump hate and Climate scares. Every day I find new sources--some just awful (bad voice quality, bad IT) and some very good.  Meanwhile when I log in the search engine front pages lie about "net neutrality" and how we need it. No, THEY need it to keep the alternative viewpoints and start ups back. The "wild west" internet is what made these giants like Google, Yahoo, Amazon, etc., and like all good capitalists who become Democrats in order to fight competition that made them great, they want to put up the barbed wire fences with the government's help. Lots of lobbyists make their livelihood with this.

Forty years ago when I was writing about the coupon scams, it was the same deal. The largest companies put out the most generous offers so they could block the newer products which couldn't afford that kind of advertising in the cut throat grocery business.. Customers fall for coupons every time--can't believe that companies don't exist to "save" you money. Voters are similar. Capitalism works when the big guy eats or stops the little guy. It's still better than government transfers, but you need to understand the game.

 https://mises.org/library/net-neutrality-scam

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MGtq7Ou-RrY

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Z_nBhfpmk4

How a free media work today

Seth Rich case: Missing cache of thousands of e-mails, Clintons, DNC, dead body, no robbery, FBI stonewalled, strong hints from Wikileaks, DNC PR lawyer on the case, and silence from the broadcast and cable news. Russia interferring in 2016 election case: Thousands of rumors and anonymous leaks, DNC, Clintons, denial by Wikileaks, no evidence of a crime, and 24/7 reporting by the broadcast and cable news.

The blame Russia plan developed 24 hours after Hillary Clinton, the worst candidate they had, lost the election. But the plans to impeach Trump were developed before he became the nominee.  If every kooky idea about Russian hacking were proved false, they have 100 more waiting.

Just where would you go to find the truth on climate change, abortion, voter ID, Wikileaks, the DNC, medical insurance, the Syrian civil war, the payoff to Iran, the pull out in Iraq, Loretta Lynch's meeting with Bill Clinton, Benghazi, Hillary's health, etc. when all you have is Washington Post, AP, Reuters, New York Times, LA Times, Cleveland Plain Dealer, academic research, etc.?  They are all on the same team according to a recent study from Harvard.  On the other hand, I am forced to watch, listen and read the "other side" all the time, and I have to search out an alternative point of view and different angles.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ARqKdNd3Glk

Kathy Griffin's political porn--the severed head of Trump

How do you boost a flagging career?  You go the Colbert route and get more attention. Well, it certainly did keep people talking about her. In some ways it's a page out of Trump's play book. The media are doing it, comedians do it, celebrities do it. The more outrageous, the more attention, the bigger the bucks. Her career, like Colbert's, was on the sunset cruise schedule; now she'll be on top for awhile. But remember when Palin used the word target in her campaign, and the leftists/Democrats accused her of encouraging the killer in the Gabby Giffords case? All she did was use a word that actually is on the building of a retailer and yet the left made her guilty. What crimes associated with beheading and death will Griffin now be responsible for?

 Never mind. That's a rhetorical question; we all know Democrats are never guilty when accused of fake or real crimes; only Republicans. And they tend to fall down and play dead.  Even the latest sicko in Portland, Oregon--a Democrat and Bernie supporter. Trump is being blamed anyway.

 It's not like she doesn't have a track record--from 2010: "On her Bravo TV show Tuesday night, left-wing comedian Kathy Griffin referred to Sen. Scott Brown's two daughters as "prostitutes," and a CNN reporter apparently thought it hysterical." Dana Bush and Griffin yukked it up--Bush's husband had the decency to grimace. Sexism and child abuse are OK if done by women, right?" (My blog)

 http://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/2017/02/15/trump-bump-why-is-stephen-colbert-suddenly-topping-jimmy-fallon-in-late-night-ratings.html

 http://www.cleveland.com/entertainment/index.ssf/2017/02/stephen_colbert_gaining_late-n.html

Calumny and detraction--what's the difference?

Today I was reading about the strange case of Fr. John Corapi, a Catholic priest I used to hear occasionally on the radio.  He was an excellent, challenging speaker, yet one day in 2011 he just disappeared.  Is his case calumny or detraction? Frankly, I don't know that I still understand the difference, and no one seems to know what has happened to Father Corapi.

"To put it in simple terms, calumny is the telling of a lie about someone, almost always with malicious intent—for instance, to damage his reputation. Detraction, on the other hand, is the telling of the truth about someone to a third party who has no right to that truth. Detraction is often done with malicious intent as well, but not always.

In more common terms, most of what we call gossip is detraction; most of what we call backbiting is calumny. The Catechism of the Catholic Church classifies detraction and calumny as "offenses against the truth" (and specifically, as the venerable Baltimore Catechism notes, both are violations of the Eighth Commandment). Both are sins, which can be either venial or mortal, depending on their intent and effects. Even when committed carelessly, without malicious intent, detraction and calumny can cause grave damage to the person being discussed, and the person guilty of detraction or calumny has an obligation to try to repair the damage done by his action."

The fuss over Russia

Watching the media lies and the leftist memes/posters on Facebook about Russia, I'm very aware I missed something important during the Obama years despite the fact I'm sort of a news junky. After all, Obama ridiculed Romney that Russia was any threat to the U.S. at all! Democrats were yucking it up after that debate. What did former president Obama do?  He apparently let something very bad happen. All this fuss can't be just a cover for a horrid candidate and botched election. Or is it? Obama committed so many crimes the media never reported or expanded or blew out of proportion. Wonder what else they are covering up?

Search engines also skewed to support Hillary Clinton

"So far we have found that between May and November 2016, search results displayed in response to a wide range of election-related search terms were, on average, biased in Mrs. Clinton’s favor in all 10 search-result positions," the study's authors write. "This bias could not be accounted for by the bias in the search terms themselves."

"The study even goes so far as to claim that without the bias in search results, the oft-cited lead Mrs. Clinton enjoyed in the popular vote would have been nearly eradicated. “[I]n articles published in February 2016 and thereafter, the lead author of the PNAS study predicted that a pro-Clinton bias in Google’s search results would, over time, shift at least 2.6 million votes to Clinton. She won the popular vote in the November election by 2,864,974 votes. Without the pro-Clinton bias in Google’s search results, her win margin in the popular vote might have been negligible.”

So you see, it pays to have an honest or at least a diverse media, and we don't have that today.  Even if you don't like Fox, or Breitbart or Town Hall, you should at least look at them.  They may have the key sentence your liberal/left is leaving out. Then you can return to CNN or ABC and catch on to what they are doing.

http://bucksexton.com/study-google-other-search-engines-stumped-hard-for-hillary-clinton-throughout-2016-election/

http://aibrt.org/downloads/EPSTEIN_et_al_2017-SUMMARY-WPA-A_Method_for_Detecting_Bias_in_Search_Rankings.pdf

Zbigniew Brzezinski Is Dead

Zbigniew Brzezinski is dead and Lionel Nation can say nothing good about him.  I actually met him when I worked at the Center for Russian language and Area Studies back in the 1960s. The Association for Slavic, East European and Eurasian Studies was run out of our office, and my boss Ralph T. Fisher, Jr. and Brzezinski were on the board together.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3iIzxwnW0fo

Lionel says he is directly responsible for the rise of Al-Qaeda and ISIS.  So does Lew Rockwell.  Even if you read the fawning stories in the liberal press, take a closer look. They seem to agree that much of the mess we have today goes directly back to his days of power. Brzezinski hated Russia--he was a Pole. And he was Obama's advisor, under whom our relationship with Russia deteriorated to the point that the reset button of Hillary's became a bomb.

 https://www.lewrockwell.com/2017/05/no_author/real-story-zbigniew-brzezinski/

Monday Memories--Medical Library Assocation June 1-5, 1996

I got back from the Medical Library Association Annual Meeting in Kansas City about 1 p.m. on Tuesday afternoon.  I was there only 4 days, and chaired two meetings.  Glad that's over.  I know there are people who enjoy that sort of thing, but there are people who like to eat snails and jump from airplanes too, so go figure! 

Kansas City is a lovely city--seems much larger (is) and more cosmopolitan than Columbus, and much more self-aware.  The architecture is varied and dynamic and they've made a big effort to restore various areas.  The train station which used to see 250,000 people a day is empty but I think they are looking for a use for it--maybe a museum.  You get the feeling that KC is your last chance at urban living before hitting the plains, and maybe it was at one time.  The airport is miles and miles from the city, so although my airfare was pretty reasonable, a cab ride to the city is $30.  I found two other librarians at the airport, so we shared a ride. 

I shared a room with Vicki Kok from Virginia and Pat Mullen from Oklahoma.  Our hotel (Westin) was part of an 85 acre urban renewal complex maybe 20-25 years old now with attached shopping mall.  It looks just like Boston and San Antonio and Detroit in that sense.  All the stores and the merchandise are just the same if you stay in a hotel/mall complex.  As a chair of my section, I was invited to the president's reception which was held at Linda Hall Library, a huge privately endowed public library that specializes in the sciences.  I had wanted to see it for about 20 years, and was not disappointed.  It was fabulous.

Instead of going somewhere, our "tour" this year was a Missouri extension agent with his otter; “Reintroduction of River Otters in Missouri” by Glenn D. Chambers, Missouri Department of Conservation and Paddlefoot Productions Incorporated. He and his wife travel around with their two otters and demonstrate their behavior and talk about their habitat to school children.  He estimates he has talked to over 250,000 children in the last 4 years.  It was a very interesting program--I'd never seen an otter, and I guess they were almost extinct (fur trappers and draining swamps about eliminated them) in Missouri at one time, and now have about 800 in the wild.  He got two babies and they "imprinted" to him--he slept with them for the first several months.  He did this because his "real" job is a photographer, and in order to photograph otters in the wild he need some who weren't afraid of him.  He takes them out in the wild and photographs them, and then calls them in and they run and jump in their cages.  He was really great--drawled like a good 'ol boy but you knew he was one really smart guy--has done work for National Geographic and has a movie coming out. 

We had another program given by a guy from St. Louis about the Internet, "The Future of Veterinary Medicine on the Internet" by Ken Boschert, American College of Laboratory Animal Medicine, Division of Comparative Medicine, School of Medicine, Washington University. 

I already knew most of the stuff he talked about and he was doing 3 presentations that week, so it sounded a little canned.  Anyone who talks about computers in a way that I understand--well, I know he's not talking at a very high level, because I really struggle to keep up.

(from a letter to my parents)

Mount Holyoke, college for women welcomes

Biologically born female; identifies as a woman

Biologically born female; identifies as a man

Biologically born female; identifies as other/they/ze

Biologically born female; does not identify as either woman or man

Biologically born male; identifies as woman

Biologically born male; identifies as other/they/ze and when ‘other/they’ identity includes woman

Biologically born with both male and female anatomy (Intersex); identifies as a woman.

Of course, certain standards must be maintained; therefore, anyone in the “biologically born male; identifies as man” category cannot apply for admission consideration. Fortunately, however, those born male who identify as female are welcome to apply.

https://www.mtholyoke.edu/policies/admission-transgender-students

This should boost the athletic team records.

Cleo Crutchfield and Isobel Steele, long time Lakeside neighbors

Cleo Crutchfield, age 83, Our Beloved husband, father and friend to all. The Lord called him home on March 2, 2017 in St. Petersburg, Florida. Crutch was loved by all who knew him; he embodied kindness, strength, faith and humor. A US Army Veteran, teacher in Strongsville and spent 30+ summers at Lakeside on Lake Erie. Married for 58 yrs to Dorothy (Zabor); father of John (Diane) Crutchfield and Sue (Tom) Graske. Loving grandfather of Deborah (Josh), Matthew, Amy, Andrew, Rachael, David, & Joshua. Preceded in death by parents; Ernest & Ruby, mother-in-law; Marian Gue, siblings; Ernie Mae, Cleon, Barbara & Edwin. Survived by siblings, June & Carroll. Memorial Service at Grace Church, 7393 Pearl Rd, Middleburg Hts on Monday, April 17th @ 2:00pm. In lieu of flowers, memorials to Columbia Int'l University Scholarship Fund- 7435 Monticello Rd, Columbia, SC 29203 or any "No kill" Animal Sanctuary. (Plain Dealer)

Isobel C. Steele, age 99, of Wickliffe, passed away March 2, 2017. She was born in Cleveland, on July 19, 1917, to the late Dan and Mayme McKay.

She was a proud and loving wife, mother, grandmother, great-grandmother and friend who will be greatly missed by all who knew her. She was a long time member and served faithfully at Wickliffe Presbyterian Church. Isobel found great joy with her family when they gathered at a family cottage at Lakeside.

Isobel is survived by her children, Bonnie (Bob) Schilling, Scott (Carol) Steele, grandchildren Neil Schilling, Lori Schilling, Julie Steele, Eric Steele, Jennifer (David) Eberly and Brian Steele, great grandchildren McKenzie, Madison, Alex, Hunter, Isobel, Ian and Taylor.  She was preceded in death by her beloved husband of 64 years, Clyde Steele, sister Jean Johnson, nephew Jeff Johnson.

A Funeral Service will be held on Wednesday, March 8, 2017 at 10am at the Monreal Funeral Home, 35400 Curtis Blvd., Eastlake. Visitation will be on Tuesday, March 7, 2017 from 2-4 and 6-8pm at the Monreal Funeral Home, 35400 Curtis Blvd., Eastlake. (Monreal Funeral home)

Friday famly photo--Memorial Day week-end

The wind was really brisk along the lake this morning. I had my 2 mile walk.  The irises are fabulous—I could tell even in the dim light of a cloudy early morning sunrise that had no sun. Since contractors are not supposed to be working during the “season” I could see a lot of remodeling and rebuilding going on as I walked down Third and then the Lakefont. The Design/Review committee doesn’t seem as concerned about size as when Bob was on it, but he just shrugs.

I tore the cottage apart looking for the IT/modem information we need to reconnect our internet which we turn off in the fall and winter. The Spectrum guy was here yesterday to flip the switch, but things were not connected. When our daughter arrived and made many phone calls, we were finally up and running, and she then set up the Roku stick she got me for Mother's Day.

 Meanwhile, I found lots of other “stuff,” including a 1977 photo of Bob, his dad Bob and his brother-in-law Bob. The 3 Bobs. It was taken at a time when Bob Sr. visited his sister, so Bob drove over to see him. As near as I can figure, Bob Sr. was 64, Bob was 39 and Bob Poisal was 44. Bob had longish, auburn red hair and was very slender. 40 years makes a huge difference, not just in the clothing fashion as shown in my recent blog, but our hair styles, bodies and physical fitness.

I took everything off the bookshelves and rearranged, without about 20 books.  We took those and our original wicker 2 seat couch on the porch since 1989 to the South Auditorium for the Historical Society annual sale. We really squeaked in--everything was arranged and ready to go for the Saturday opening.

And I found restaurants menus; I must remember to date them when I pick them up. The Hotel Lakeside; The Patio; Cleats; Nagoya (Japanese restaurant our kids like); and Sloopy’s the local pizza joint. At 5 we left the grounds to drive to Sandusky to Sortino’s, an Italian restaurants our kids like. We each ordered something different, and brought half home to eat on Saturday evening.

Enjoying lasagna and fettuccini at Sortino's in Sandusky 

A few of the neighbors are rolling in—gates are open and charging for the week-end, but most come up to get their cottages ready. Two of our immediate neighbors died over the winter—they lived across the street from each since the 1970s, and died the same day, one in Florida and one in Ohio. Another neighbor is using her cottage for AirBnB, so we never know for sure who will be there.

What else has no evidence?

Despite no evidence, the media have run with a suspicion of collusion and have 55% of Democrats believing that the individual elections in November were hacked by the Russians. Despite not a single leak of a meeting or discussion of Trump with Russians although there are leaks on everything else, the Democrats are preparing for impeachment. So the real threat to our free elections and constitution are the Democrats with their media handlers, not a foreign government.

http://hotair.com/archives/2017/05/23/poll-55-democrats-think-probably-definitely-true-russia-tampered-vote-totals-get-trump-elected/

Another charge for which there is no evidence, but people believe it anyway, just like the Russia-Trump collusion, is that John Brennan, the CIA director,  is a Muslim. There's no evidence he isn't. Try to prove it. But he did vote Communist in 1976. http://www.cnn.com/2016/09/15/politics/john-brennan-cia-communist-vote/

There's also no evidence that cradle to grave health insurance offered by the government creates a healthier nation.  Take the American Indians for example. We have 5 government health plans not counting the failing Obamacare. Democrats don't want unfairness or gaps so they are hoping we can all have the same wonderful care and health results as the Bureau of Indian Affairs has produced. Never mind that death rates for heart disease among American Indian and Alaska Native people are twice as high as the overall US population. Diabetes accounts for up to 75 percent of all cardiovascular events. Kidney disease—including chronic kidney disease and end-stage renal disease requiring dialysis—represents an important epidemic among American Indian and Alaska Native people. We must all be equal and accept what the government offers native peoples. (from Healthaffairs.org)

The budget

Republicans are handing the Democrats the next election. No, not impeachment, not the evil, unfair media that report 90% negative about Trump, but their splitting off and squabbling and internal, “but he promised” reasoning. Now we have the proposed budget to complain about. It’s the Congress’ responsibility, but we’re getting the whining about not enough ships for the Navy like he promised, or where’s my wall he promised, or where’s the infrastructure money he promised, or... literally, whose ox is gored by cutting the pork from Agriculture (which has actually become a giant food program and the rest special crop support). And then there were those horrified by his visit with Saudis, and the conservative Christians who don’t think Catholics are even Christians so why is he visiting the Pope, and the moderate Christians who think the Pope is a socialist. Yes, the swamp is full of bureaucrats, Democrat appointees and civil service employees who make 3x what people in the real world earn, but in draining the swamp, he needs his party’s help, and all they want to do is focus on their own piece of pie which fell into the swamp.

New shooz

I needed a few things so I popped into Meier's. Found some great black stretch jeans that look like slacks for our upcoming trip, and New Balance athletic shoes--not cute and trendy, in wild colors, but they work for me. Solid, and not made of fabric mesh, with a spread heel good for walking.  We'll be doing a lot of stairs, cobble stone, and rough terrain. A sore foot or painful shin bone can really spoil a trip.

 

Now I'm working on fitting it all in a small bag plus my carry on because we'll not be in one place long, and moving around by bus. Most clothing fabric is light weight or t-shirt but can be layered.  I think Scotland in June could be cold. I'll be wearing one outfit and the coat on the plane plus the fat shoes.  My carry on will have a complete change of clothes and a pair of shoes, just in case we get separated from our luggage. When we went to California by train in 2003 we had everything we needed for 2 weeks in 2 small bags.

Black stretch jeans

tan/khaki jeans

Blue stretch jeans

black skirt

print black and beige skirt

black and white dressy blouse

 white vest

2 aqua/pink/purple print shirts with sleeves

aqua short sleeve shirt with collar
pink sleeveless t-shirt

beige sleeveless t-shirt 

black/beige blouse

black sweater

black t-shirt with sleeves 

aqua silk scarf

grey spring coat

white rain slicker

beige sun/rain hat

White jacket

athletic shoes

black Mary Janes, flat

Brown strap shoes 

Pajamas, slippers, underwear, makeup, medication

Monday Memories--the Conestoga trip to Ripley and Georgetown, Ohio

Our Conestoga group supports the Ohio History Connection, and this year we took an all day bus trip on May 18 to Ripley, Ohio, to visit the newly restored homes of John Rankin and John Parker and to Georgetown to President Grant's boyhood home. All three homes are supported by local organizations with the help of the Ohio History Connection. We left the Ohio Center in Columbus about 7:30, and I think the trip was about 2.5 hours. Once the driver got lost as we looked for a McDonald's for our rest stop, so that contributed to some extra driving. Our group was over 40, so we needed to divide into 2 groups to take the tours because both houses are small. One group was dropped off at the Rankin House and then the other traveled to the Parker house which faced the river.

Rev. John Rankin, a Presbyterian minister, built his home in 1829 and he was active in the The Underground Railroad. It is located on a lovely bluff overlooking the Ohio River and the small town of Ripley, which in the 19th century had 9 millionaires. The river was narrower and more shallow then, and slaves came across from Kentucky. The hill was clear in the mid-19th century, so slaves and the conductors had to come at night watching for a candle in the Rankin cottage window. Now the hill is completely forested. The slaves were hidden in the barn as it was illegal to have escapees in the homes which could be searched. Mrs. Rankin and her daughters sewed clothes for them, and shoemakers in the community made shoes--and there were an unusual number of that craft in such a small town. The house didn't look very large from the outside, but had 4 nice sized bedrooms, where the children slept 3 to a bed. The Rankin family left Ripley and went to Kansas after the war, so none of the original furniture is in the house, but it is all appropriate to the era. John and Jean Rankin are buried in Ripley. The site of the Rankin home is having a make-over with a large visitor and education center, but it wasn't ready yet. The home was completely restored in 2014.

Before we switched places we enjoyed a relaxing lunch at Cohearts Riverhouse. The restaurant is located along the Ohio River in the scenic Historic District of Ripley and looks out across the river to the hills of Kentucky. We had selected our menu choice when we signed up so it was all ready for us.

 Half the group then visited the John P. Parker House, home of an African American inventor who helped hundreds make their way to freedom. As a young man he'd been sold 5 times, and his last owner allowed him to work extra at the foundry and save money to buy his freedom. Parker moved to southern Ohio and around 1853 established a successful foundry behind his home in Ripley. Patenting a number of inventions from his foundry, Parker was one of only a few African Americans to obtain a U.S. patent in the 19th century. Though busy with his business, Parker was also active in the Underground Railroad and is believed to have assisted many slaves to escape from the Kentucky side of the Ohio River. Suggested reading: His Promised Land; The Autobiography of John P. Parker Before leaving Ripley.

Then we boarded the coach and traveled about seven miles to Georgetown, Ohio and another Ohio History Connection and National Historic Landmark, the boyhood home of Lt. General and 18th President of the United States Ulysses S. Grant; newly restored to its appearance in 1839. Grant's parents had moved to Georgetown in 1823 and his father was a tanner.  U.S. Grant lived there until he was 17. This home was saved from demolition in 1965 by local preservationists and in 2002 was donated to the state. It had a $1.4 million restoration in 2015. As with the other two locations, we had a wonderful docent.

Originally we'd planned to also visit the schoolhouse Grant attended as a boy, but we were about 2 hours behind schedule so voted to head for home. 

Can you trust political polls? Not many do.

Just 26% of Likely U.S. Voters say they trust most political polls. The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone and online survey finds that 55% do not trust most political polls. Nineteen percent (19%) are undecided. (To see survey question wording, click here.)

Thirty-seven percent (37%) rate the current polling on political issues and events as worse than it has been in the past. Only 11% say polling is better now. Forty-six percent (46%) think it’s about the same.
Just one-out-of-three voters (35%) believe most pollsters are interested in reporting the attitudes of Americans in an unbiased manner when they poll on Trump. Forty-three percent (43%) think most pollsters are trying to block the president from passing his agenda. Just 12% say most are trying to help the president pass that agenda instead.

Not surprisingly, given how wrong most pollsters were about the outcome of the presidential election, 64% of Republicans think most pollsters are trying to block Trump’s agenda, a view shared by 42% of unaffiliated voters but only 24% of Democrats.

The underreported accomplishments of the Trump administration

The underreported: (From American Thinker)

"While the Democrat/media complex tries to whip their base, and the country into a frenzy, this administration is putting good things in place. First and foremost for our culture is the restoration of law and order. That begins with giving the respect due to our law enforcement officials, which has been a hallmark of this administration. The outrageous demonization of law enforcement by the previous administration is gone. The ongoing praise of and cooperation with our police from Trump et al is not only refreshing, it’s going to have a long term positive effect. Violent demonstrators are no longer being coddled (except in Berkeley), instead they are prosecuted. Eventually, they won’t even get away with being lawless thugs in Berkeley. 

The existing border laws are being enforced. Illegal crossings are down 70%. ICE agents have been reenergized, rounding up criminals and deporting them. Bad guys are on notice. Drug trafficking will slow. MS-13 is being fought. This is just the beginning. The Attorney General is simply enforcing laws that exist. With Trump’s resolve to control the borders, these border issues will get better, and become reasonably controlled. If this is successful, the nation will be able to take a deep breath. Genuine assimilation will have a chance to succeed.

Having been a GOP poll watcher in a Democrat precinct, I have witnessed the Democrat drive to encourage vote fraud. Watching my Democrat counterpart demand that anyone be allowed to vote, regardless of identification, regardless of being on the precinct rolls, regardless of their legal status as citizens -- I knew this was a problem. Trump was laughed at when he claimed that Hillary’s popular vote margin was due to vote fraud, yet having been up close and personal, I am certain that more than just a couple of percentage points of voter fraud has gone on many places for many years, including 2016. 

We now have an administration that intends to do something to ensure vote fraud is curtailed. A few may have complained before, but no member of the GOP has seriously challenged this crime. The new executive order, along with the new investigative commission is long overdue. It is certain they will allow states to clean up voter rolls, press for the common-sense demand that voters have proper ID, are US citizens, and vote only once. Other ways to ensure a true vote will be recommended and put in place. We can now be assured there will be less Democrat crime on this front; those who commit vote fraud will be fearful of real prosecution, and our precious franchise will see enhanced integrity. This is an important issue, far more so than discussed. It’s a great move for our country and it will change elections.

Another major push is for economic revitalization. The administration’s proposed policies in this area are wonderful. The response of American business to the Trump administration is a good indicator. The undoing of so many bad regulations from prior administrations is one giant step, with more underway. The unleashing of our energy resources and businesses has been a major win. The first step in positive change to the failing Obamacare is a good sign. If health care legislation, and economic reforms pass, we will be on an economic trajectory that will be exciting, one that will repudiate the failings of Obama’s policies, and we can be confident of another Reagan style recovery. 

In foreign relations, nothing has been a bigger surprise than Team Trump’s many successes. In spite of the media perception of disarray, the Trump team has put together a burgeoning alliance in the Middle East, one that includes Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Israel, Egypt and others. This alliance will be key in dealing with the noxious mess left by the Obama/Clinton years. When Iran tries to flex its might, we will need the repair that the Trump team is working on.

Likewise in Asia. The disaster left us by the feckless Clinton/Abright deal with North Korea is being navigated well. There is no easy fix to having been duped by a mad dictator into enabling his acquisititon of nuclear weapons. Democrats can take solace that most people don’t know the degree of stupidity of their policies with North Korea, and don’t yet grasp the elevl of peril. Trump’s clear skill in negotiating and forming relations with China’s premier was extraordinary. That China is helping us with the Korean mess, perhaps for the first time, is a testament to Trump’s skills.

All of this as a reminder that there is much to be praised since the Trump administration took office. The leftist media wants us to think all is horrible, every day being a constitutional crisis that will end the world, and it’s all Trump’s fault. Truth be known, it’s the reverse. Trump’s successes are finally beginning to overcome the awful years of the Obama/media collusion and their inept failures. Failures in virtually everything they did."

Read more: http://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2017/05/the_underreported_success_of_the_trump_presidency.html#ixzz4hjiKeG4k

Victor Davis Hanson tracks the myth of Russian interferring

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=21&v=Y5TPHHGG6HE

All the mistakes were made by the Obama administration, yet they blame Trump.  Why? Because they want to change the results of the November election, the very thing they accuse Russia of doing. The media actually made the Trump presidency possible with all the free publicity they gave him.  Too late guys, you can't go back. Hillary and Bill Clinton did so much more with and for the Russians, so many more contacts than Flynn.  Clapper found no evidence; FBI paid for bogus research then surveilled Trump  and then unmasked operatives. It's good that Comey is gone.

Constant negative programming about Trump from the media, making it hard to govern and get the changes made that need to be made. VDH thinks some of the Trump hatred is classist--he doesn't fit the ruling class image and he's unpredictable. The blue wall crumbled, they lost the working class, castigated white people with names like clinger and deplorable.  Why should the people love them? But blame Russia.

Finding Bill O'Reilly

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gCQm_jIUSjo

After Fox got rid of Roger Ailes, it then fired Bill O'Reilly. It is now suffering the consequences as its number drop, and the ridiculous Rachel Maddow is now at the top.  That's beyond me, but it happens. In fact, without a conservative source of news, conservatives like me have just turned off the TV news, so we can't hear all the Trump bashing unless someone else is dissecting the latest leak.  I was never a fan of the O'Reilly show, not because he didn't have interesting stuff, but because of his style of interrupting his guests. Bob watched every night, so from my office I could hear what was happening.  This pod cast (YouTube) Bill discusses the life and firing of Roger Ailes and the so-called news (leaks) of the week. So Bill still has his website, and it offering a podcast.  Not sure I'll stay tuned, however, with no guests to interrupt, it's actually better than his Fox show!

Lionel Nation--he's addictive

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pZfbjwnDmOk 
May 18, 2017 report

In my search for news since Fox has gone to the dark side, I found Lionel Nation.  The first YouTube I watched I thought maybe he had ADHD.  Couldn't seem to stay on topic, but now I see his method of sounding real and discussing the. . . well, he calls it Truth. In this report he discusses how Roger Ailes changed the face of news, then moves on to the dangers of a special prosecutor and how he may bring out more on Hillary Clinton and John Podesta (for which there is much more evidence of collusion with the Russians) because the charge includes "the election" not just Donald Trump. And as an aside he lists all the reasons not to go to Times Square in NYC. Also Maxine Waters.  WOW.  You can get whip lash, but his comments (when he stays on topic) are much more informative than the 30 seconds you get on cable TV.

I don't understand exactly how YouTube works, but I think this gets to his regular playlist.  https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCa3-BNaCeCvGSfhMuotYskg

McCarthyism is baaaaack

History really does repeat itself. I remember Joseph McCarthy--I was in high school and we'd discuss it in class. He led the investigation that people like to refer to as McCarthyism--making accusations of subversion or treason without proper regard for evidence--looking for (Russians) aka Communists in the government, business and entertainment fields. The difference between what he did in the 1950s and what the Democrats are doing today is that there really were Communists in the government, especially in FDR's administration, and the entertainment industry. We had real traitors. The truth gradually dribbled out over the years as they wrote their memoirs, and people felt freer to discuss it. It’s the hysteria I remember. And that’s what we hear today. In order for it to be McCarthyism, it must be from people within the government. And it is, with the press piling on.

Friday Family photo--Good bye vintage clothes

For many years I've had a clothing stash of dresses I've enjoyed wearing. It's time to send them along to wherever old clothes go to die, some over 60 years old, some made by my mother. I was going to try to find some cute young thing with a 23" waist to model them, so I could take a photo, but decided to search my photo archives to see ME wearing them.

I think the oldest dress I have isn't in the closet, but on a shelf.  And I don't actually have my dress from 5th grade, but I do have my cloth doll's matching dress.  Both were made by my mother and were identical.  I think the reason the doll dress survived almost 70 years is because by the time Mom made it, I was no longer playing with dolls. Mother made the Sue doll with the yellow yarn hair, but our neighbor Ruth Crowell who had no children made the "white doll," which has always been called that.  I never gave it another name. I also never played with it, so it survived.  It was Blue Doll I loved to death. The chair in the photo is from my great-grandmother's home near Ashton, IL, was painted by my grandmother, and then it was refinished and recaned by my mother in the 1970s. The secretary was made for my husband's grandparents over 100 years ago and is now in our son's home.

 I don't think I ever had a purchased, commercially made formal.  This lovely white faille with a bright red bow was made for the 1955 Christmas dance at my high school.  I'd also just had a new hair cut, going from long to short, so I was feeling like a model. Phoebe modeled it in 1981, probably 8th grade, but even at 13 she was bigger than I was at 16.

My mother made these jackets for me before I left for college. I actually wore the red and grey one to a 1950s birthday party for my sister-in-law Jeanne last year and since scarlet and grey were the OSU colors, I also wore it a few times in the 1990s. My sister Carol had a similar corduroy jacket in brown and yellow; she was attending Goshen College in Indiana and I was attending Manchester College 50 miles away. Mom also made twin bed coverlets and bed skirts for our dorm rooms--mine were pink and grew, all the rage in 1957, but I'm not sure about Carol's.

Our first big date was for the St. Patrick's Ball at the University of Illinois in 1959 for which I wore a borrowed red lace dress belonging to dorm mate Sally Siddens who didn't have a date. But for that dance the next year I wore this beige, brown and gold jersey dress with a big crinoline. Since I was well over 140 lbs then, I thought it might fit me for a 50s party in 2016, but couldn't even get close to zipping it.

When I got married in 1960, I'd planned to make my "going away" dress, but not only was I not a good seamstress, but I chose a difficult fabric--silk.  So a week before my wedding I bundled everything up and took it back to Mt. Morris where my mother finished it for me. I bought a hat that matched perfectly.

My niece secretly mailed my wedding dress to my daughter for our 50th wedding anniversary party in 2010--I was so thrilled to see it after 50 years.  But then there was a problem about what to do with it.  She didn't want it back!  So it resided with my other dresses for 6 years in a bag in the closet, until I finally took it to the cancer resale shop.

This pale blue sheath I bought in 1957 in Ft. Wayne, IN, when I was a student at Manchester College. Don't recall the event, probably a lecture since MC didn't sponsor dances, but I wore it many years.  Here we are in 1962 with our son Stanley.

 I have two items in the closet for which I have no photos. In 1963 I bought a light blue and white, 3 piece knit suit, and still have it.  And my favorite winter coat was red and its with the vintage clothes.  The dry cleaners ruined the buttons, so I didn't wear it after 1968.  Both the suit and the coat showed the influence that Jackie Kennedy had on women's fashion in the 1960s. I think the coat was probably purchased in 1962 or 1963.

For a New Year's Eve party in 1965 I made a snappy red wool dress with a ruffle, sewn in my kitchen at 108 E. White St. in Champaign. We didn't have many occasions to go to parties, so I later took the ruffle off and wore it as a jumper for a number of years. The photo with the children and the deruffled party dress is their birthdays in 1969.

I made Phoebe and me matching dresses for her baptism in 1968, and her dress is packed away with her baby clothes and stored in her basement, and my dress is in my closet. White flocked sheer cotton. It was a hot day in June.  Because I was baptized in Church of the Brethren, as were my parents, grandparents, and great grandparents on both sides, and their practice is to baptize adolescents and adults, we had no sweet little dresses passed down from grandmother to mother to baby.

For our 10th wedding anniversary party, I wore this black pants suit--the only slacks among the vintage dresses.  They were all the rage then, and I loved it.  I wore again in the 90s for some retro event at OSU--don't remember what it was. But it's still in the closet.

Here we are in formal wear for a 1974 Christmas party with Couples Circle 50 of First Community Church. That was also one of my favorite hair styles. I think Jane Fonda made it popular. Bob was so thin in those days, we bought that suit in the Boy's Department of Lazarus.

The class of 1957 had its 30th class reunion in 1987, and I wore my all time favorite, a teal and coral floral polished cotton. I'm in the front row seated far left.  Big shoulder pads, full cut skirt.  Loved that dress. I was a very bad time in my life, but when I wore that dress I felt like a princess. We don't dress up any more for our class reunions.

I had a lovely deep teal silk, with soft pleats at the waist, self belt, probably purchased around 1985 or 1986. It is a size 8 which is how I'm guessing at the year.  I was taking an aerobics class and was quite trim in those days.  My daughter wore it, and my teal suit (obviously liked that color) to have her senior photos taken.  I can't find a photo of my wearing it,  but I remember wearing it to an AIA party we went to with Ken and Connie Becker.

 

Big hair, big shoulders. I'm not sure what year I bought this lovely cream colored silk 2 piece with a full, flowing skirt, but it made a wonderful dance dress, something we were still doing in those days. This photo is from 1988, so it was toward the end of its era.  But I peeked inside the storage bag, and there is was.  Can't show it off with this head shot.

For several years our church, UALC, sponsored a wonderful Christmas dinner with musical entertainment.  In 1991 we took Ron and Nancy Long, old friends from FCC and Lakeside, as our guests.  I had a black velvet outfit with beads and bangles that I just loved.  Some years later, I separated the top and bottom, and bought a near skirt for it that wasn't so tight and uncomfortable.  Still have the top in my vintage closet. I also have a lovely silk dress the same color as Nancy's in my vintage collection (see above), but don't seem to have a photo of me wearing it.  Those deep jewel colored silk dresses were very popular for several years.

 In 1993 the Corbett descendants of Joe and Bessie had a family reunion in Mt. Morris, over 100 attending, and we stayed at a B & B in Franklin Grove where this photo was taken with our son-in-law Mark. This is not what I wore to the reunion, but it definitely was on the trip and in the vintage closet. Linen and polished cotton in coral and taupe with applique on bodice.

Later that year I wore my pink pleated, two piece Mother of the Bride dress at our daughter's wedding. The next year I wore it again at a niece's wedding in Florida, however, MOB dresses don't have many uses.  Usually, they are too fancy.  Also had pink shoes, pink hose and pink purse dyed to match.

The oldest dresses I have in my "currently still wearing" closet will be 8 years old this summer having purchased them in 2010. Last fall I sent to the resale shop my sheer black dress I worse at my sister-in-law's wedding in 2006 (seen above in the photo with the mannequin, so that's where we are today. No more vintage closets.

Today I attended the funeral of Kathy Heinzerling who was at some of the parties where I was wearing these dresses 40-50 years ago.  Appropriate for walking down memory lane.

Higher education costs

Recently we purchased a 40" color TV for $325, 50 years after we paid $375 for our first color TV that required monthly service. The trade off is we now pay a monthly subscription cost to a cable company. In today's dollars that would be $2,752. 60 years ago I paid $1,000 for room, board, and tuition at a private Christian college, and it was about the same as the University of Illinois to which I transferred. Today that should be $7,338. At both institutions, those costs were in part subsidized either by donors, the church or the citizens of Illinois and I was expected to be a donor after graduation. Government regulations and interference have changed the cost of education. Big time. I don't see how Mike Lee's solution will change it, but it's important to know what has happened to put so many families in debt when their only solution seems to be to borrow more money from the government.  

"The Higher Education Reform and Opportunity Act. This bill would allow states to create their own accreditation system for institutions that want to be eligible for federal financial aid dollars.
Each state could then be as open or closed to higher education innovation as they saw fit. They could even stick with their current regional accreditors if they chose to do so."

What's happened to the media? Prager U can tell U

How did we come to distrust and dislike the press/media when their importance is mentioned even in our constitution? There’s now no objectivity, news articles contain vast stretches of opinion, and that is overwhelmingly liberal because each journalist wants to make a name for herself with her colleagues. Social media have also had a huge affect, and sales are dropping.  After all, the USA is a capitalist country, a system that is virtually driving out poverty all over the globe; why advertise in a system that degrades you and your product? Someone referred to Washington Post as Washington Compost.  Close.  It's clearly a fish wrapper these days.

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4B0HV_GQut4

Prager University can undo years of misinformation in college

 Prager U videos are really great--they can teach in a few minutes what you won’t learn in a semester at a major university. In under 6 minutes, you can destroy years of academic misinformation with a Prager U video.

 What does Social Justice mean?  Basically, it’s redistribution of wealth.  That’s how the United Nations defines it. It’s a little like “Women’s Reproductive Health” is actually code for abortion anytime, for any reason. We need F.A. Hayek’s definition: he saw to the core of the issue--a pernicious philosophical claim to amass power for the state.  To the snowflake progressive, it means whatever they want it to mean.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rtBvQj2k6xo

Why do feminists persist with this oppression myth and the gender gap lie?  Because victims make better followers.  The need a base for their power position and interviews in the media and promotion in academe.  Most workplace pay gaps vanish if  you control all points, like part time work, or choosing a lower paying specialty like pediatrics instead of brain surgery.  And why wouldn’t greedy capitalists choose women employees over men if they can get them for less? Repudiate the victim myth, ladies.

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1oqyrflOQFc 

The Judeo-Christian culture has greatly elevated the role and status of women compared to other religions and regions of the world.  Women are commodities in the view of many Muslims.  Which value system do we want in the West? Ayaan Hirsi Ali, an author and activist, ponders the question why American feminists refuse to see what’s happening and won’t offer Muslim women the freedom they have in the West.  They excuse the inexcusable.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wJkFQohIKNI

Oh my. How did the SJW let this slip by? Oklahoma is the Choctaw word for "red people." Maybe when they are finished destroying the history of a vanquished foe in city parks, they can hitch a ride west with their hate? If they keep going, eventually the SJW will have to dismantle the elementary schools and streets named Roosevelt, because FDR sent Italians, Germans and Japanese to camps and prisons in WWII. That's after they've destroyed all those elite universities founded by Christians like Yale, Harvard and Princeton.

Sweet little Baxter

It was 68 degrees at 7 a.m. so I've already had two walks in the air that won't get cooler. This may be the day we turn on the AC.  I stopped to talk to and pet a sweet neighbor dog that is dying, but still cheerful, also out for a short walk. We've known him since puppy hood and we remember the day they brought the little fluff ball home almost 13 years ago.  We will miss him. My husband was the dog walker for their football game days, so we've gotten to know him. He's had a great life--well loved, well traveled, and a faithful guard who barked at us when we came to "his" house.

Some people say their pet is "just like family."  Not me. But we can love them anyway--we can even love the neighbor's.  http://collectingmythoughts.blogspot.com/2006/05/2435-on-loving-our-pets-youre-going-to.html

Kathryn Heinzerling

I was sad to learn of the death of Kathy. We moved to Columbus 50 years ago and she was one of the first to befriend us in our Couples Circle 50 at First Community Church.  Her husband Bob, who died in 1989, was our dentist. We lived a few blocks apart, and back in the day when I was a stay at home Mom I used to walk over there with my kids in the baby stroller.

http://www.schoedinger.com/obituaries/Kathryn-Heinzerling/#!/Obituary

Note: Memorial service will be held at 11 AM on Friday, May 19, 2017 at First Community Church, 1320 Cambridge Boulevard, Columbus, Ohio 43212, with a reception immediately following. Memorial contributions may be made to the Heinzerling Foundation, 1800 Heinzerling Drive, Columbus, Ohio 43223.

Larger babies higher intelligence

"The association between birth weight and intelligence is stable from young adulthood into midlife. These long-term cognitive consequences may imply that even small shifts in the distribution of birth size, in normal-sized infants as well, may have a large impact at the population level."

https://www.forbes.com/sites/ritarubin/2017/05/13/your-childs-birth-certificate-might-hold-a-clue-about-his-or-her-brain-power/#19a08acd4bb0

Political correctness in 1994

I was still a Democrat in 1994 and didn't change my registration until 2000.  The evidence from 1994 is that the worm was starting to turn.  This is an excerpt from a 1994 letter to a friend.

"I've always enjoyed large compilations of information--encyclopedias, handbooks, etc., so when I saw the title The Oxford History of the American West (1994) on the new book shelf at the public library, I checked it out. The cover is a lovely realistic painting of mountains, cowboys, cattle--probably by a WPA artist. But inside. Oh my. Political Correctness reigns. There is not a kind, decent or pleasant word about "our" country, the one we know. It glorifies every ethnic group that ever made it to either shore, and vilifies anyone of European descent. Although the authors are somewhat puzzled about how to write about the Spaniards. After all, someone might realize that Spaniards (Hispanics) were also European. Some sections are so odd, it is almost comical--if this wasn't being taught in schools. For instance, the Indians knew how to treat animals, because although they killed them, ate them and skinned them, they respected them. I seriously doubt that made a difference to the animals. This is followed by a section on how the wives and slave women of the Indian men spent their lives tanning and preparing hides (not presented as a negative against Indian culture). Apparently, political correctness doesn't apply if women are abused within the culture of a maligned minority."

So that was 23 years ago--that's a lot of misinformed students, and it's only gotten worse.

Re-education camps

Last week I wrote about a professor who had refused to attend one of those reeducation events.  Today I received an e-mail ad for one of those diversity reeducation/mind control events. I won't link to it, but the words "white men" was in the title of the organization. Somehow they had twisted research to determine how much money is lost in bullying of LGBTQ in the tech industry. Big name companies were listed which have used their events according to the PR material.

I wonder if anyone ever asks how much money is lost in bullying overweight employees or older workers or skinny men who aren't athletic, or Christians who leave due to bad jokes and slurs or janitors who don't feel appreciated. The victim industry is huge. What group/minority has ever made personal advancement in employment, social life, politics or health by always being a victim? The ones who clean up are those with moral indignation asking for your money.

Should Sewing Be Taught to Children? Guest blogger Sally Perkins

I learned to sew in 4-H in the 1950s (my teacher /group leader was Mrs. Bechtold and of course, Mom helped), and my children learned the basics in a required home economics class in middle school in the early 1980s.  And now?  Let's have Sally, my guest blogger, tell us.

https://www.stitchandsew.net/category/blog/

The teaching of sewing was absolutely essential for previous generations who were clothed by their own handiwork. But in today’s consumer society, where clothes are throw-away items, the art of sewing has dropped off the ‘life skills’ list. However, the last few years has seen the image of sewing transformed in the US. No longer the domain of apron-clad grandmothers, the revived craft is being taken up by younger women seeking a form of creative self-expression. And as adults are taking up the hobby, so are their children, resulting in a surge in sewing classes and boom in sewing machine sales.

What are the benefits of learning to sew?

Sewing is an expensive hobby, considering the outlay on fabric and equipment. So is it really worth it? There are obvious practical benefits of teaching a child to sew. The life-long skill will save them from costly clothing repairs and alterations in the future if they are able to hem a new pair of pants and darn a favorite sweater. But there are many more developmental benefits to be gained:

• Help improve physical dexterity - Introducing hand sewing at an early age will help develop and mature finger dexterity and fine motor skills.
• Teach discipline and patience - Learning to sew demands listening and following instructions. And once the basics are taught, a child will need to follow through a project in a careful and disciplined manner. Threading a machine, reading a pattern and cutting out fabric are all tasks that demand precision, order and patience.
• Enhance math skills - The tasks of measuring, together with the addition and subtraction skills required when piecing fabric together, all help with the development of math skills.
• Encourage creative expression - Once a child has mastered the basics, sewing offers a valuable creative outlet. Your child can select their own fabric and thread, and create their own designs be it clothing, accessories or toys. This may be of particular value to children who find it difficult to express themselves through writing and speech.
• Build self-confidence and promote self-esteem - The satisfaction of completing a sewing project from start to finish will boost your child’s self-confidence and morale.

How do you teach your child to sew?

If you are a stitcher, share your skills with your child. Start with hand-sewing using non-fray fabric such as felt, then let them explore cottons and other materials. Introduce a sewing machine when you and they are ready and eager. Consider investing in a sewing machine with child-friendly features including large dials, good speed control and automatic needle threading. You’ll also find useful books on the market outlining simple first projects.

If you aren't a stitcher, don’t despair as many craft stores offer sewing classes for children. Usually lasting an hour a week, they should provide enough direction for your child to engage in a craft that will grow their self-confidence, inspire their creativity and, at the same time, give them a practical skill for life.

So, should sewing be taught to children? The answer is a resounding ‘yes’!