Monday, April 30, 2018

If the elections were this week

The attention span of voters is short--like 24-48 hours, but today these four things help the Republicans.

1) Michelle Wolf, sickening comedienne who revolted even Democrat journalists at the White House Correspondents Dinner;

2) the two Koreas meeting and shaking hands when Democrats had predicted WWIII;

3) busloads of central Americans demanding entrance at our borders, well fed and financed by the left;

4) realization by workers that taxes really are lower and Democrats lied again.

Right to life isn’t just about abortion

“Jacob Koehler, a senior from Springfield, Ohio, won the Ohio Right to Life Oratory Contest. The competition, which is held every spring in central Ohio, challenges high school juniors and seniors to write and present an original speech on the many issues pertaining to the right to life: abortion, infanticide, euthanasia or stem cell research. In his speech, Jacob focused on the life of his grandmother, who is currently struggling with Alzheimer's. He passionately spoke of how her life is still valuable, no matter how dependent on his family she might become.

"Jacob's speech was passionate, well-articulated, and really tugged at the heartstrings of the audience," said Mike Gonidakis, president of Ohio Right to Life. "It is crucial that the next generation is able to powerfully and persuasively communicate the pro-life cause. Ohio Right to Life is excited to send Jacob to the National Right to Life Contest where we are sure he will represent pro-life Ohio very well." “

https://www.ohiolife.org/jacob_koehler_wins_the_ohio_right_to_life_oratory_contest

Take care of your teeth

teeth

When I was a young child, health was sometimes combined with art at our school (we had no art classes in either Forreston or Mt. Morris) and we'd color special pages with messages--like "Take care of your teeth and they will take care of you." And it's true. Early and consistent care of teeth will greatly benefit you. Here's some good news. 75% of baby boomers will enter long-term care with most of their natural teeth. Very different from my parents or grandparents generation. My in-laws were in their 40s when I met them, and both had dentures. All sorts of health problems are linked to oral conditions. I still have all my teeth—even my wisdom teeth, but I had a close call with gingivitis in my 30s.  That can lead to periodontal disease which causes loss of connective tissue and bone.  It’s the leading cause of tooth loss.  So I needed surgery to correct it.  You don’t ever want that—very painful.  "The effects of oral health on systemic health," by Shawn F. Kane.  You'll be able to understand most of this.  https://www.agd.org/docs/default-source/self-instruction-(gendent)/gendent_nd17_aafp_kane.pdf

Making cocoa with honey

Hot Cocoa Recipe With Honey

Ingredients:

1-2 TBS (2 for a super chocolaty drink!) cacao powder

2 cups milk (we prefer using organic whole milk for a creamier hot cocoa drink)

3 TBS honey

pinch of salt

Optional additions:

1/4 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 tsp peppermint extract

Directions:

Add all the ingredients into a saucepan in the order listed. Include any of the optional additions that you choose. Heat on medium heat and slowly whisk together as the milk warms. Make sure the milk doesn’t boil since you don’t want to scald it! Boiling the hot cocoa would also destroy some of the health benefits of using raw honey. Once the hot cocoa is hot and mixed well, remove from heat, pour into mugs and enjoy!

This is the recipe from my previous blog, but this is what I made.  I mixed 2 TBSP of cacao with 2TBSP of honey (purchased from a friend who has hives), mixed with 1 1/2 cups of hot decaf plus some whole milk and a smidgen of vanilla.  Tastes fine.

You can see my blogs on the benefits of chocolate.

http://collectingmythoughts.blogspot.com/2015/05/dark-chocolate-is-good-for-us.html

http://collectingmythoughts.blogspot.com/2015/02/habitual-chocolate-users-perform-better.html

http://collectingmythoughts.blogspot.com/2015/03/but-make-it-dark-chocolate.html

A month with no processed food

Can we do it? For the month of May we are giving up processed foods (my definition). So today we are finishing up the donuts and potato chips just to get a clean start. We're not milking cows or harvesting wheat here in the 'burbs, so some processing is allowed.

I couldn't figure out how to make our hot cocoa, but found a recipe for using honey. http://montanahomesteader.com/hot-cocoa-recipe-honey/ Of course, cacao is highly processed, but it's also very bitter along with having lots of health benefits, so you need a sweetener. I just might try this.

Supper tonight: ham, steamed fresh baby spinach, grilled bell peppers with onions and mushrooms, fresh fruit on skewers with some cheese.

Saturday, April 28, 2018

We live in crazy times

Twilight zone

Louie Gohmert on Robert Mueller

https://www.scribd.com/document/377409983/Gohmert-Mueller-UNMASKED#

“I was one of the few who were NOT surprised when Mueller started selecting his assistants in the Special Counsel’s office who had reputations for being bullies, for indicting people who were not guilty of the charges, for forcing people toward bankruptcy by running up their attorney’s fees (while the bullies in the Special Counsel’s office enjoy an apparently endless government budget), or by threatening innocent family members with prosecution so the Special Counsel’s victim would agree to pleading guilty to anything to prevent the Kafka-esque prosecutors from doing more harm to their families.”

On Mueller’s Five Year Up or Out Policy. . . which got rid of a lot of experienced FBI agents

“If an FBI Director has inappropriate personal vengeance in mind or holds an inappropriate prejudice such as those that infamously motivated Director J. Edgar Hoover, then the older, wiser, experienced agents were not around with the confidence to question or guide the Director away from potential misjudgment. I also cannot help but wonder if Mueller had not run off the more experienced agents, would they have been able to advise against and stop the kind of abuses and corruption being unearthed right now that occurred during the Obama administration.

Rather than admit that his Five Year Up or Out Policy was a mistake, Mueller eventually changed the policy to a Seven Year Up or Out Program.”

Friday, April 27, 2018

A movie for the #metoo movement

The Bill Cosby trial and #metoo movement brings to mind a great movie to watch this week-end, just as a refresher in guilt and complicity almost 60 years old. The Apartment (1960).

Jack Lemmon (Baxter) hands over his apartment key willingly to lechers in the firm so he can curry favor and advance in the company. Shirley MacLaine (Miss Kubelik) is the boss's mistress hoping to move up from elevator operator to being Mrs. Sheldrake, for whom Baxter provides the apartment for servicing Miss Kubelik. Fred MacMurray (Sheldrake) has no intention of leaving his wife and 2 kids as he makes the moves on at least 4-5 female employees out of 32,000 including his secretary Edie Adams (Miss Olsen) who after she's fired tells the real Mrs. Sheldrake what's happening at work. The only character even slightly innocent is Baxter's neighbor, Jack Kruschen, (Dr. Dreyfuss) and even he is ethically challenged for covering up Miss Kubelik's attempted suicide in the apartment.

Did none of these #metoo women watch movies? It got five Academy Awards.

Ethnicity vs. nationality

Sunday we celebrated with the Oromo Evangelical Church, which is part of our Lutheran synod. They had recently occupied a church building near Baltimore, Ohio with the financial help of our congregation and other Lutheran churches in central Ohio.  The Oromos are from Ethiopia. I saw many different skin tones and hair styles (and lovely Ethiopian fashions). In this YouTube video the speaker says her parents and grandparents are Ethiopian. But when she referred to herself as African in her video, she got push back from people who said she was too light. Her brother Noah is very dark. So she did a genetics test through National Geographic. 56% east African, about 28% Arabian, some Jewish diaspora (possibly from slavery days in Egypt), some Asia Minor and going way back--Kenya. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4a7Z8Q43cfw

If you keep looking through the sequence, there are several people sharing Ethiopian genetics tests on YouTube. I saw one from UK, and one from Canada.  They too said people had told them they weren’t African because they were too light.

Kanye and Trump

Although I don't think Kanye's remarks were political or economic (I think it was plain old friendship), the Democrats are deathly afraid of economic revitalization for American blacks. If Trump succeeds, they could possibly lose a locked down voting block. He must be stopped, even if the rising middle class will be hurt. Electing black politicians has never helped black citizens; education, strong families, and creation of businesses has always been the way. Many of our largest cities have powerful political machines from the black population, and still the city struggles. Government can help families with a safety net for hard times, but as a wealth builder, government only builds that for politicians.

The New Yorker called it “galling.”  Vox was inside out about it. Rolling Stone said they are “made for each other.” Huffpo claims Kanye is being erratic and outrageous.  Get over yourselves, leftists.

Thursday, April 26, 2018

The importance of relationships in our health

Inheriting good genes and taking care of your body are important, but "Close relationships, more than money or fame, are what keep people happy throughout their lives, the [80 year] study revealed. Those ties protect people from life’s discontents, help to delay mental and physical decline, and are better predictors of long and happy lives than social class, IQ, or even genes. That finding proved true across the board among both the Harvard men and the inner-city participants. . .The people who were the most satisfied in their relationships at age 50 were the healthiest at age 80.”

https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2017/04/over-nearly-80-years-harvard-study-has-been-showing-how-to-live-a-healthy-and-happy-life/

“Good relationships don’t just protect our bodies; they protect our brains,” said [Robert] Waldinger in his TED talk. “And those good relationships, they don’t have to be smooth all the time. Some of our octogenarian couples could bicker with each other day in and day out, but as long as they felt that they could really count on the other when the going got tough, those arguments didn’t take a toll on their memories.”. . .

“Aging is a continuous process,” Waldinger said. “You can see how people can start to differ in their health trajectory in their 30s, so that by taking good care of yourself early in life you can set yourself on a better course for aging. The best advice I can give is ‘Take care of your body as though you were going to need it for 100 years,’ because you might.”

An interview with Ross Douthat on Pope Francis

Ross Douthat is an author and New York Times Op-Ed columnist. He received his bachelor’s degree from Harvard University in 2002. He is the author of several books including, Privilege, Grand New Party, Bad Religion, and most recently, To Change the Church.

https://www.hoover.org/research/change-church-ross-douthat

Douthat and Robinson spend a large portion of the episode discussing the Catholic teachings surrounding marriage, divorce, and communion. They examine the history of Catholicism and divorce, going back so far as to understand the lessons of the New Testament on divorce and how those lessons were radically conservative for the time. They talk about how problematic the terms “conservative” and “liberal” are when used in the context of the Church as the political leanings do not necessarily correlate with moral leanings of religion. They go on to discuss the future of the Catholic Church under Pope Francis and how the Bishops can handle all of the changes.

What’s in my refrigerator and pantry?

Americans spent 5.5 percent of their disposable personal incomes on food at home and 4.3 percent on food away from home. Food is a good buy. (USDA, 2014)

Fruit

Apples

Oranges

tomatoes

blueberries

orange juice

apple cider

bananas (on the counter)

pineapple juice

pie filling, various flavors

applesauce

Vegetables

cauliflower

broccoli

red cabbage

red, green, yellow and orange peppers

onions, cut and bagged

carrots, whole

mushrooms, whole

mixed salad greens, bagged

leaf spinach

butternut squash

peas (freezer and pantry)

cucumber

V-8 juice

green beans

green beans (canned)

black beans (canned)

Dairy

whole milk

5 kinds of cheese

Greek Yogurt, plain

butter

eggs

ice cream bars

Meat

chicken thighs

beef sirloin

pork roast

sausage links and patties

lunch meat, ham

hamburger

salmon (canned)

tuna (canned)

Grains and Nuts

whole wheat bread

baked brown rice

dry brown rice

cookie mix

brownie mix

Banana bread (from our neighbor Jan)

walnuts

pecans

But what I’d really like is a bag of Fritos or potato chips.

Am I the only one who likes to shop?

“Walmart on Tuesday announced an agreement with restaurant delivery firm DoorDash to expand its grocery delivery service in Atlanta. Walmart plans to expand its grocery delivery to more than 40 percent of U.S. households by the end of this year. The company already has assembled a team of more than 18,000 personal shoppers to implement the service.”  E-Commerce Times, April 25, 2018

After exercising at the gym I went to Marc’s today for bananas, and came home with $32 of groceries.

Wednesday, April 25, 2018

Two Kates

two kates

The Deep State Update—Judicial Watch

The scandal in Washington is not about Russia; it’s abuse of power at the highest level, the FBI, the CIA, State Department and embedded and entrenched government loyalists, aided by the media who didn’t even look for any sources other than what was leaked from those agencies. This panel took place yesterday and is an update to discuss “The Deep State Update.”  Panelists are Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH), Vince Coglianese, Lt. Col. Tony Shaffer, Michael Bekesha, and Tom Fitton, who gives the introductions.

https://www.judicialwatch.org/video-update/judicial-watch-expert-panel-deep-state-update/

Tuesday, April 24, 2018

No crust no pie

No one made a better pie than my mother.  But I used to be good too, and was often asked to bring one to a family get together or church pitch-in.

This is the only pie crust I know, and I think it was Mom's. 1/3 cup of shortening to 1 Cup of flour. 1 tspn of salt to 2 cups of flour. 6 TBSP of water for a 2 crust, and 3+ a smidge for 1 crust. So for 2 crust: 2/3 c. shortening, cut into 2 cups of flour with 1 tspn of salt. Add by sprinkling 6 tablespoons of water, mix very lightly and press and roll half of it out between two pieces of plastic-wrap. Lift the top piece, place the pie pan over the crust, and flip. Scrunch down the crust, put in the filling, and roll out the other half for the cover. Got it? Most of the time now I make a crust with peanut oil, but I don't think it is as good as Crisco. Doesn't stay flaky. I've never used butter.

I never knew Mom to use margarine as one of my nieces does. Mom  used lard in her glory days of the 1940s and 50s until it fell out of favor, then switched to Crisco, and then later in life when watching cholesterol or something, she changed to oil (which is why I tried it) and she always complained it wasn't like Crisco. There must have been some years of pie baking that I missed. I've even tried baking the bottom crust a little before I fill it, and it still isn't like I remember. I had a gas stove until 2002, and I can't remember when I started complaining about it. Our daughter makes a beautiful crust, and never comments on mine which are sort of slapped together. Hers are a work of art with little cut-outs.

April is poetry month


Normal day, let me be aware   

           of the treasure you are.

           Let me learn from you,

           love you, savor you, bless you

           before you depart.  Let me not

           pass you by in quest of some rare

           and perfect tomorrow.

                              -Lynne Wilburn, 2011

Treadmill for seniors

https://www.verywellfit.com/treadmill-walking-for-seniors-3436652

This routine pretty much describes mine.  I go to Lifetime Fitness 6 times a week and walk 40-50 minutes on the treadmill--walking not running.  The only thing that doesn't match up is holding on the hand grips.  I do walk swinging my arms and was hoping that is good for balance (and the article confirms that), but only for maybe 10 minutes.  So I'll increase that--the article says that holding on can throw off your posture, or even cause some new aches and pains.  Then 3 days a week I do resistance, all on pulley machines.  I love it when I find a site that agrees with me!

The recommended amount of cardiovascular exercise for seniors over age 65 is 30 minutes per day, five days per week. If you can't do all 30 minutes in one session, it is permissible to break up that 30 minutes, but your exercise session should be at least 10 minutes long.
You should also do strength training exercise two to three days each week, with eight to 10 exercises. You can do this exercise on the same days you enjoy treadmill walking, or on alternate days. Try a 20-minute strength training workout for seniors or a dumbbell strength training workout for seniors.

Monday, April 23, 2018

What if it were a little prince?

Just heard that Kate and William left the hospital with the new baby. Do you suppose if this beautiful boy were found to have an incurable neurological condition like little Alfie Evans and Charlie Gard the UK socialist health service would demand he be killed? Don't think so! Princes have privilege.  Alfie has been made a citizen of Italy.  Charlie, you’ll remember, died from lack of care ordered by the system and upheld through court appeals.

Obama Administration had ZERO intelligence to go after candidate Trump

It was all “trumped” up.  Then Comey “leaked” lies through his buddy to the New York Times. Watch this bombshell interview of Nunes and Bartiromo. In order to launch an investigation you need evidence.  They had none! This is probably the biggest scandal that Obama and the Democrats hide.  At the highest level, a counter intelligence investigation in order to spy on the “other” campaign.  I don’t think this can be blamed on Hillary Clinton—I put it at the feet of Obama.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W54KbYPfkcw

Sunday, April 22, 2018

A dad’s review of Black Panther, guest blogger Fred

“a real shame that Black Panther, a movie unique for its black star power and its many thoughtful portrayals of strong black women, depends on a shocking devaluation of black American men.” Boston Review

“I started a new job a few months ago and have been buried. I stuck my head up from beneath a mountain of paper last night and finally took the kids to see Black Panther. I've been looking forward to it because I'd heard some pretty good things about it from people whose opinions I value. And about mid-movie I started questioning the intelligence of my friends. And yet I sat there with my children, all the way until the final moralistic preening message of responsibility and sharing. I really did want to like this movie.

After the movie I talked to my kids about how unlikely it is that a single spectacular resource (even extraterritorial Vibranium) could enable a people to master the physics of aerodynamics, the science of medicine and the fiction of anti-gravity. (Otherwise, perhaps Botswana would live in diamond palaces and be free of HIV/AIDS.)

I told them about the plight of Venezuela, with its fantastic climate, beaches and oil riches. I talked about the century (or so) of "enlightened" thought that enabled American forefathers to create a system of government that established God-given rights to the individual, supplanting what were previously the rights of society and/or the government. I told them about the principles (and hard work) behind laissez-faire economics, arguably the single greatest factor in driving the most extraordinary technological advancements in history.

But a discussion (that sounds more like a lecture from dad) simply can't compete with Hollywood's CGI, 3D soundscape and idealistic naïveté of a better future.”

Guest blogger, Roy, on Common Core math problem

common core math

COMPLEX LANGUAGE WARNING: you have to learn the extra baggage of the fixed linguistic element "make 10" to be able to carry out the task. Isn't it a lot simpler to just teach that 8 + 5 _is_ 13? I haven't heard of any really good pedagogical reason for not just taking the easy path in answering such single digit questions, at least. Old school for me meant that a lot of life is simplified by just learning some things by rote. Most people are born with 20 digits-- it makes sense to learn by heart without looking what you could count out from the top and bottom on your hands and toes. Depending on whether your language reads from left to right or right to left and top to bottom or bottom to top, one could learn one's digits in order (assigning each a fixed number between 1 and 20) and have a visual backup for that stuff in one's mind at all times.

In my opinion as someone who at one time started on the road to be a linguist, has studied a good deal of philosophy and managed a graduate theological degree, this the pictured method in the meme above is illustrative of a veiled attempt to take all of education and turn it into something, where the _learning_ process becomes the focus (rather than _reality & objectivity_ and how to distinguish (it's really "all the same" they say)) those two.The rotation of that procedural complex(and its implicitly, for outsider's-- at least, incomprehensible language, laden with new technical terminata) has the explicit, but hidden goal of absolutely taking someone two generations away completely out of the communicative process. Now you add the pubescent storming away from logical reasoning as to why some activity shouldn't take place at the moment while yelling "You don't want to understand me because you hate me." to several levels of "I'm not really sure I really did understand what he was asking, but the way I answered was formed with the goal of engendering understanding-- it seems she doesn't want to be understood" The left wants equal outcomes for everybody. The only way they suggest to get there is to replace meaning with feelings in verbal intercourse and make government bigger. Ergo, everybody has to get dumber and poorer.

Mathematical question for budding statisticians: Is the last sentence of the preceding paragraph a betterment or degradation for society?

Saturday, April 21, 2018

The Bush family and Columbus, Ohio

Most of us around Columbus, OH, know about the Bush connection--George H.W. Bush's grandfather Samuel Prescott Bush, was president of Buckeye Steel and built his mansion in Marble Cliff which is now part of Prescott Place luxury condominiums. We admire it during Lent when we go the the fish fry at Our Lady of Victory.  His son Prescott (the senator and father of HW) lived here too and attended Douglas School before going east to a private school. I had forgotten that Barbara Bush's grandfather James E. Robinson was an Ohio Supreme Court justice and lived in Columbus and got his law degree from Ohio State. Wealth and influence married wealth and influence, much like today.

http://www.supremecourt.ohio.gov/SCO/formerjustices/bios/robinson.asp

http://graphics.wsj.com/jeb-bush-family-tree/

Jesus shall reign, by Getty music

https://www.gettymusic.com/ghs18

On Feb. 25, 2018, over a million Christians got together to sing a Watts’ hymn, Jesus shall reign.  Really beautiful.  77 countries.

Friday, April 20, 2018

Mindfulness is a religion, and it’s not Christian

Is your school, community or church pushing "mindfulness" as a non-religious activity to reduce stress and anxiety and do they also offer other religious practices? "“Mindfulness” is rooted in Buddhism and seeks to bring about a state of active, open attention on the present by which one observes his or her thoughts and feelings as if from a distance, without judging them to be good or bad. Although it is promoted as a non-spiritual practice used as a means of vanquishing stress and anxiety, it is practiced through one of several forms of Buddhist meditation, such as “Breathing Space Meditation,” “Body Scan Meditation” and “Expanding Awareness Meditation.” " Susan Brinkmann

Here's some at Ohio State University where I worked, which by the way doesn't offer tax supported Christian prayer and meditation.

Another self-reflective book on the 2016 election

“With the Trump-Russia collusion theory seemingly running out of gas—and few reporters interested in pursuing the actual evidence of FBI abuses—along comes a new 2016 election memoir offering more conspiracy fun.

A story today from the website Daily Beast reports on a new book from New York Times writer Amy Chozick, who reported on Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign. It seems that Mrs. Clinton and her husband thought the Times was too tough on her, especially in its coverage of her mishandling of classified information and related untruths.”  Wall St. Journal, April 20, 2018

https://www.thedailybeast.com/hillary-clinton-they-were-never-going-to-let-me-be-president?

“In the unending debate over what happened in 2016, and whether journalists contributed to Donald Trump’s victory, Chozick offers plenty of self-recrimination, but she still blames Clinton for not grasping how the game was played. “Trump understood our gluttonous short attention span better than anyone,” she writes, “but especially better than Hillary, whose media strategy amounted to her ignoring us.” . . .

The next day [after the defeat by Trump], Times reporters consider what they’d missed — and why. “God, I didn’t go to a single Hillary or Trump rally,” a colleague of Chozick’s admits, “and yet, I wrote with such authority.”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/book-party/wp/2018/04/20/amy-chozick-covered-hillary-clinton-for-a-decade-heres-what-she-learned-and-what-she-endured/?

The 500th anniversary of the Reformation

You probably learned about the Reformation and its myths in school or church. Dr. David Anders, a former Calvin scholar now a Catholic, says what you learned was false and many of the best Protestant scholars agree. There were many causes--many political. When you watch this video, you’ll also see why the sponsor should not put a large bouquet behind the speaker and a plastic water bottle on the podium.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qwpWmXClzv8

Support free pregnancy clinics and the First Amendment

Last night we attended the 2018 volunteer appreciation dinner at the Linworth Road Church (non-affiliated Christian). It’s always inspiring to see and hear about Christians working together to saves lives. We each received tickets for door prizes, but we didn’t win—however, Debbie Price who received a special award for her 19 years of service, gave me the table flowers (mums).  Maybe it will survive my care!

The most concerning issue brought before the group for prayer is the new law in California which requires pregnancy clinics, which exist only to save lives of the unborn and support those women who have chosen to carry to term, to advertise the services of abortion clinics, like Planned Parenthood—giving out phone numbers, locations, services. This is a violation of both our religious protections and free speech protection. Other non-profits are not required to advertise for agencies or events that are contrary to their mission.

Imagine! 

  • If you support a “no-kill” animal rescue, do those facilities have to advertise for animal shelters that kill after a few day"?
  • If you are using a physical therapy clinic for pain, are they required to inform you and advertise about pain clinics that use OxyContin and other addictive drugs? 
  • If you support a sanctuary for wild animals,are you required to advertise for a zoo that keeps them in cages?
  • If a store that sells only organic and vegetarian products required to advertise for fresh meat at the butcher shop?

The good news is that the Supreme Court has agreed to hear this case (Nifla v. Becerra). The proponents claim they want to make sure women are “informed.” Nonsense.  They want crisis pregnancy centers to close their doors. Research shows that over 60% of women who have abortions have been pressured into it, and that minorities have abortions far beyond their percent in the population.

Pray!

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/courts_law/supreme-court-questions-california-law-requiring-antiabortion-centers-to-disclose-that-the-state-provides-abortion-services/2018/03/20/69bcd7ec-2c54-11e8-8688-e053ba58f1e4_story.html?

https://www.wsj.com/articles/supreme-court-to-review-california-law-on-disclosure-of-abortion-other-services-1510588410

Thursday, April 19, 2018

The Chick-fil-A squawk--again

“The New Yorker's current issue online "features the bigoted lament of writer Daniel Piepenbring, who decries the fast-food chain’s “creepy infiltration” of the Big Apple and warns against the company’s “pervasive Christian traditionalism.” Chick-fil-A opened its fourth location in the city last month. The largest franchise in the country, it seats 140, employs 150, and along with the other NYC locations, donates an estimated 17,000 pounds of food to a local pantry for the homeless and hungry. The company is reportedly on track to become the third-largest fast-food chain in the world." Michelle Malkin

I wonder how much food the New Yorker donates to the homeless? It is owned by Conde Nast and looking at its "social responsibility" page I saw something about fashion shows and violence against women, but nothing for the poor or homeless. New Yorker writes that Trump has given millions to charity, but not "millions and millions."

According to Pew Research, 77 percent The New Yorker's audience hold left-of-center political values, while 52 percent of those readers hold "consistently liberal" political values. So that's often anti-Christian--playing to his audience. Do as I say, not as I do is a common philosophy--just let the government do it. God forbid Christians should try to make a difference with a successful business model that employs over a thousand with excellent benefits. And a job is still the best antidote for poverty.

The go-to gal for on-line relationships

Ohio State has an interesting site devoted to statistics about faculty, rank, staff, ethnicities with a link to the twenty most popular professors for expert advice, appearing as talking heads on TV news shows, in topical information websites and popular magazines.  In the area of video games and social media people turn to an assistant professor in the arts and sciences, Jesse Fox who describes her research as—“how our online selves and social interactions influence our offline identities, attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors, including relationship initiation, development, maintenance, and dissolution.” So I looked at her research the public might come across—like a dating website Dating Advice dot com.  Apparently we’re all narcissists on social media. Hmm, what about professors who appear before thousands on TV?  All that appears on the FAR (Faculty Annual Review) which goes before the Promotion and Tenure committee.

“In the publication titled “The Dark Triad and Trait Self-Objectification as Predictors of Men’s Use and Self-Presentation Behaviors on Social Networking Sites,” Fox used data from an online survey that consisted of 1,000 American men aged 18 to 40.

Her main goal was to look at their representations on social networking sites, as well as the role of “the dark triad of personalities,” which includes narcissism, Machiavellianism and psychopathy.

She had three major findings:

  • Trait self-objectification and narcissism predicted time spent on social networking sites.
  • Narcissism and psychopathy predicted the number of selfies posted on social networking sites.
  • Narcissism and trait self-objectification predicted editing photos posted on social networking sites.

“All of that stuff is highly relevant to online dating,” she said.”

Wednesday, April 18, 2018

Where is she now? Uncle Sam's step daughter.

I wonder what happened to Robert C. Waterbury's granddaughter who must now be about 24?

Waterbury wrote an opinion piece for the Wall Street Journal in August 1996 about his son--an industrious, hard-working young man who served more than 8 years in the Marines, but in civilian life he was working 2 full time jobs and had no health or life insurance, no pension or profit sharing plan, and survived week to week. His son had a daughter with his girl friend who had three other children.  However, she couldn't marry the younger Waterbury, because she was already married to Uncle Sam who provided money, food stamps, medical and dental treatment.  Legal marriage he wrote terminates welfare assistance, but absentee fathers and others may visit for purposes including sex.  If his son's girlfriend got a job the welfare system would penalize her by reducing her benefits.

So grandpa was wondering how he could help his granddaughter escape the welfare system.

A brief history of KEO Club, Group D, 1968-1976, Columbus, Ohio

In a 2012 blog I mentioned our KEO Club in noting the obituary of Judge Duncan who had been a guest speaker at one of our get togethers. At that time I didn’t have or hadn’t found any documentation, but now I have.  This is what I wrote in 2012.
“Back in the late 60s and early 70s, we belonged to an interracial couples group called Know Each Other (KEO).  It was modeled on the First Community Church Couples Circles plan, but instead of church membership it consisted of 5 white couples and 5 black couples. The membership was quite fluid with divorces, career changes and relocations and people moving on to other activities, but I think we stayed together about 5-7 years. We had some interesting programs and great parties. Interestingly, the black couples were higher up the professional and income ladder than the white couples. Somewhere I probably have a list of names in an old Christmas card book.
Each host planned our meetings and discussions, and one of our members was a judge (don’t remember the title), but he knew Robert Duncan, and invited him to our group to talk.  It must have been before he became the first black on Ohio’s Supreme Court, but maybe not, since that happened in early 1969. I know our group was meeting in 1968.”
Last night I came across a history of Group D I had written and had probably sent it with our Christmas letter of 1976 which I also found. I don't remember when the group disbanded. It probably had a 10 year life, which isn't bad for a social group, and I recall one "reunion" in the mid-80s of the ladies.  The list of our activities is exhausting--at least for the age I am now.

"In November 1968, eight couples from several areas of Columbus met at our home in Upper Arlington to organize a KEO Club (which means we were 29 and 30).  Original members were, in addition to the Bruces, Betty and Marion Willis, John and Virginia Baker, Sandy and Hayden Boyd, Ken and Molly Hood, Jim and Rosie Doughty, Julia and Jim Pearson, and Wilma and Alan Jones.  The intent was to racially balance a couples group to help build bridges of understanding and friendship, however, no information on race was included in the original calling list, so there was no way to know the "balance" until we met! [I believe this was the brain child of Paul VanNatta/Vancouver, a member of First Community Church who was active in a local human relations council.  It was modeled on a First Community Couples Circle one of which we were already members.]

In 1969, Ed and Carol Reese, Ed and Janet Sullivan and Earl and Sylvia Thompson joined us.  Our first fall get together was a spaghetti dinner at our home.  During our first year together we had programs on welfare, employment problems of the poor, jazz, a discussion of drugs and the vice squad, and social gatherings. In 1970 we gained Tommy and Clarence Wiggs and Bob and Judy James and lost the Bakers and Doughtys, and the Boyds moved to Rochester.  Ed and Evelyn Stafford joined us several months before their wedding.  By this time there were 9 other KEO groups with members totaling about 200.  Several functions were planned for the entire membership such as  a play, a square dance, social gatherings at the Cavaliers  Club [black social club on the East side], a retreat at Camp Akita [belongs to First Community church], a Halloween party and a picnic.

In 1971 the group suffered a blow to its continuity when three of the white couples, in separate and unrelated decisions, chose not to go on with the group.  Divorce and job change seemed the problem and not the fellowship or goals.  We were fortunate to find Gus and Jesse Anagnostis, Tom and Pat Mendelsohn, John and Sandy Shanfelt and Bob and Jean Crooks (with us only briefly) to fill out the group.

According to a 1972 Christmas Card list, our membership included Anagnostis, Mendelsohn, Pearson, Reese, Shanfelt, Stafford, Sullivan, Thompson, Wiggs, Willis and Bruce, five white couples and six black couples.  In 1972 the Boyds returned to the city and rejoined our group, and Bill and Nancy Tucker began meeting with us, but dropped out after two years.  During this time we had programs on the equal rights amendment, a meeting with a conservative school board member, a talk on white racism in American history, a program on sickle cell anemia, slides on Greece, a talk on criminal justice by an ex-convict, a program on values clarification, a presentation on Freedom Heritage Foundation, a talk by a native Liberian, old movies, a poetry reading, some picnics, two Christmas dance parties with a hired band, several plays, and get togethers with the dwindling membership of the other KEO club members.  Busy schedules took the Sullivans (a dentist) and Pearsons (a municipal judge), and the Boyds moved to Detroit (we said good-bye with class at the Christopher Inn in downtown Columbus).  Shanfelts moved out of town.

Earlier Earl Thompson had left Columbus and our group to go on the stage in New York, and we all went to see him in a play at the Springfield Dinner Theater in January, 1975.  The Mendelsohns moved to Michigan in the fall of 1975, but we gained Ken and Marian Adams, Dick and Gerry Morgan, Jim Banner, Mary Lou Young, and Ruby Brown.  In 1975 we had a talk on genealogy, learned first aid from the Upper Arlington Emergency Squad, heard Chuck Taylor, and partied at the Neil House.  We seemed celebrative in 1976 so we danced at Bill Howard's studio, played games at the Adams' and Young's and picnicked at the Morgans'.  At an informal gathering at Sylvia Thompson's new home in November, 1976, we planned yet another party for December at the home of the Willises with a gift exchange.

The Bruces, Mendelsohns, Staffords and Boyds over the years added five children to the group--one of our social events was a baby shower for the Staffords--the Willises, Wiggs and the Adams added grandchildren to their families.  A lot of kids have grown up and gone off to jobs and college, and we're all heavier, grayer, smarter, and better looking!!!"

Monday, April 16, 2018

Observations at a recital

Yesterday we attended a musical recital.  Everyone there was a parent spouse or sibling of one of the pupils, except us.  Afterwards, as we were on our way to our next event (an unusually busy Sunday), my husband asked if I enjoyed it.  “Enjoy” is not exactly a word I’d choose for beginners’ and learners’ music, but I certainly enjoyed meeting the people, watching the pride in the students’ accomplishments, and. . . wondering about the ethnicities.

Four of the five children were from families of mixed ethnicity; three were Asian and Caucasian, and one was African-American and Asian. I think this may reflect the interest Asian parents have in music and exposing their children to opportunities to excel or at least to perform. 

Sunday, April 15, 2018

The Daily Examen–5 steps

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=194&v=TYi-oR9a6b4

Fr. Michael Sparough, SJ, suggests the Examen as a tool to help us in daring to look inside ourselves.

Montana State University and University of Texas students and the rights of others, including their professors

Earlier I’d blogged about a Montana State University student newspaper that had depicted Jesus as a porn star.

This is not a matter of TOLERANCE.  Speaking as a Christian, I know that tolerance is not a Biblical value, nor is our current worship of the idols of diversity, which simply has come to mean protecting the minority at the expense of the majority, denying millions their First Amendment rights.   Also Christians are told in the Epistles to expect the type of ridicule and hate the college students in the paper promoted.

Tolerance is squishy and subjective, but is implied in secular law, and as such is being violated in many sectors of society.  We are promised in the Bill of Rights (also not in the Bible—roots are the Magna Carta, various colonial documents and the Northwest Ordinance) that Government will not abridge our freedom of religion. A state university is the “government.”  In this case and because it is also “in loco parentis” (allows institutions such as colleges and schools to act in the best interests of the students as they see fit, although not allowing what would be considered violations of the students' civil liberties) should discipline some unruly, rude students who have used other guaranteed freedoms—freedom of speech and freedom of the press. 

The Christians, if there are any on that campus, then have another freedom in the first amendment, to petition the government to redress their grievances.  There may be national organizations, like Campus Reform, who might step in if asked, but I seriously doubt that will happen. College administrations are at least as liberal as the faculty (it’s rare for a conservative to make it through the gate keepers of promotion and tenure), since that’s where they come from, and they don’t want to have demonstrations outside their offices or risk losing their cushy jobs. Even very left of center administrators (Larry Summers, for example) have been booted for not having the correct slant on women or gays.

Today we have another example of intolerance on the campus—a University of Texas professor—a leftist—is being eaten by his own for not reporting a male student who confided in him with honest questions about what was taught in his “masculinity” class. https://spectator.org/the-electric-cars-that-might-have-been/  Assistant professor Robert L. Reece wrote a column running afoul of feminist dogma.

Saturday, April 14, 2018

Nightmare bacteria

More than 23,000 Americans die each year from infections caused by germs resistant to antibiotics, twice the number of homicides by guns. New nationwide testing in 2017 uncovered 221 instances of unusual resistance genes in “nightmare bacteria.”

Check out the CDC’s containment strategy. https://www.cdc.gov/vitalsigns/containing-unusual-resistance/

https://www.cnn.com/2018/04/03/health/nightmare-bacteria-cdc-vital-signs/index.html

College in Montana show Jesus as porn star

Students showed Jesus in Easter week as sexy porn star.  https://www.campusreform.org/?ID=10716   Students have to pay fees to support this paper. No choice.

It’s odd that students will rise up and defend the less than 1%, but rail against and insult the 70%.  Unfortunately, college age Christians are usually poorly catechized having spent their high school years playing games and singing rock and praise songs at church and trying to cut their apron strings to home, so they go along with the insults to look cool and “liberal.” They allow their first amendment rights to be violated because they are ignorant of what a blessing that is.

On the issue of fees, those quietly go up and up, and then the college/university decides who gets which portion.  Often conservative or Christian groups don’t make the cut. Fees are used for everything from bus service to foreign student clubs to transcripts to taking on-line courses. Here’s a list for OSU. https://registrar.osu.edu/policies/feesexplanation.asp

Facial cues to illness

Most of us can tell from facial cues and personality changes when someone we know is ill. Women particularly are skilled at this--but they use additional cues like voice, hair, clothing, tremors, gait, etc. But can you identify when a stranger in before and after photos is ill? Apparently, there is evidence that we can, and that ability may have saved our ancestors (and us) from being exposed to illness.

https://www.statnews.com/2018/01/02/illness-sick-faces-detection/

Engineer who became a teacher comments on education

Thaddeus Eugene Hughes commented at Daily Signal: "I retired early from business and industry. After I got bored, I decided to do something I had longed to do. I became a teacher. Well, first I had to get certified. I signed up at the University of Washington (then rated top 10 in the country for teacher education). Although I started with a M.S. M.E., it took me two years to complete their program and get certified. I took a lot of teacher ed courses and I wrote a lot of papers. Only four of the courses had any impact on the quality of my subsequent teaching. Of course, they had to see that we learned a lot of rules & regulations. I was the first kid in my class to get a job. I was 55.

I went to a little town in Montana to teach physics and mathematics. The kids were lovely. I thoroughly enjoyed them and we had some spectacular achievements. Of a graduating class of 65, I had ten kids who took my second year course in integrated physics-mathematics. All ten subsequently got university degrees in science or technological courses. The sharpest one got her degree in mechanical engineering and then industrial management. The next one on the totem poll got his PhD in chemistry. After the second year, I got fired because I had raised hell about safety standards and non compliance with OSHA regulations. So, I went on to another school.

One of the things that I learned in my 15 years of teaching is that we have a plethora of bright and capable youngsters in our schools. All they need is a good teacher."

Wednesday, April 11, 2018

Mr. Zuckerberg goes to Washington

Unfortunately, Zuckerberg was not well informed on what his company does to conservatives and Christians and Trump supporters.  Or so he said. There are many complaints on FB about conservatives being silenced, while liberals are allowed to write or propose or speculate on anything.  By “a platform for all ideas” he doesn’t mean Trump supporters—those get classed with terrorists. Since most of my liberals friends and relatives have blocked me I don’t see what appears on their wall, but it’s enough to read Huff Po, WaPo, LATimes, Daily Beast, and read the comments section. They all have Facebook pages.

Sen. Ted Cruz: “Mr. Zuckerberg, I will say there are a great many Americans, who I think are deeply concerned that Facebook and other tech companies are engaged in a pervasive pattern of bias and political censorship. There have been numerous instances with Facebook. In May of 2016, Gizmodo reported that Facebook had purposefully and routinely suppressed conservative stories from trending news, including stories about CPAC, including stories about Mitt Romney, including stories about the Lois Lerner IRS scandal, including stories about Glenn Beck. In addition to that, Facebook has initially shut down the ‘Chick-Fil-A Appreciation Day’ page, has blocked a post of a Fox News reporter, has blocked over two dozen Catholic pages, and most recently, blocked Trump supporters Diamond and Silk’s page with 1.2 million Facebook followers, after determining their content and brand were, ‘unsafe to the community.’ To a great many Americans, that appears to be a pervasive pattern of political bias. Do you agree with that assessment?”

Zuckerberg: “Senator, let me say a few things about this. First, I understand where that concern is coming from because Facebook and the tech industry are located in Silicon Valley, which is an extremely Left leaning place. And this is actually a concern that I have and that I try to root out in the company is making sure that we don’t have any bias in the work that we do, and I think it is a fair concern that people would at least wonder about.”

Cruz: “So let me ask this question. Are you aware of any ad or page that has been taken down from Planned Parenthood?”

Zuckerberg: “Senator, I’m not. But let me just, can I finish?”

Cruz: “How about MoveOn.org?”

Zuckerberg: “Sorry?”

Cruz: “How about MoveOn.org?”

Zuckerberg: “I’m not specifically aware of those.”

Cruz: “How about any Democratic candidate for office?”

Zuckerberg: “I’m not specifically aware. I mean, I’m not sure.”

Cruz: “In your testimony, you say that you have 15,000 to 20,000 people working on security and content review. Do you know the political orientation of those 15,000 to 20,000 people engaged in content review?”

Zuckerberg: “No, Senator. We do not generally ask people about their political orientation when they’re joining the company.”

Cruz: “So as CEO, have you made hiring or firing decisions based on political positions or what candidates they supported?”

Zuckerberg: “No.”

Cruz: “Why was Palmer Luckey fired?”

Zuckerberg: “That is a specific personnel matter that seems like it would be inappropriate to speak to here.”

Cruz: “You made a specific representation that you didn’t make decisions based on political views. Is that accurate?”

Zuckerberg: “I can commit that it was not because of a political view.”

Cruz: “Do you know of the 15,000 to 20,000 people engaged in content review, how many, if any, have ever supported financially a Republican candidate for office?”

Zuckerberg: “Senator, I do not know that.”

Cruz: “Your testimony says, ‘It is not enough that we just connect people. We have to make sure those connections are positive.’ It says, ‘We have to make sure people aren’t using their voice to hurt people or spread misinformation. We have a responsibility not just to build tools, but to make sure those tools are used for good.’ Mr. Zuckerberg, do you feel it’s your responsibility to assess users whether they are good and positive connections or ones those 15,000 to 20,000 people deem unacceptable or deplorable?”

Zuckerberg: “Senator, you’re asking about me personally?”

Cruz: “Facebook.”

Zuckerberg: “Senator, I think that there are a number of things that we would all agree are clearly bad. Foreign interference in our elections, terrorism, self-harm. Those are things…”

Cruz: “I’m talking about censorship.”

Zuckerberg: “Oh, well, I think that you would probably agree we should remove terrorist propaganda from the service. So that I agree, I think is clearly bad activity that we want to get down and we are generally proud of how well we do with that. Now, what I can say, and I do want to get this in before the end here, is that I am very committed to making sure that Facebook is a platform for all ideas. That is a very important, founding principle of what we do. We’re proud of the discourse and different ideas that people can share on the service, and that is something that as long as I’m running the company, I’m going to be committed to making sure is the case.”

Cruz: “Thank you.”

Diamond and Silk on Fox today called FB a political playground for Democrats. 

https://www.dailysignal.com/2018/04/10/ted-cruz-grills-mark-zuckerberg-over-facebooks-political-bias-censorship/?

Tuesday, April 10, 2018

The Trump witch hunt

“The special counsel’s office is investigating a $150,000 donation a Ukrainian businessman made to President Donald Trump’s charity in 2015, according to a new report.

The donation, from steel magnate Victor Pinchuk, pales in comparison to contributions he gave to the charity Bill and Hillary Clinton set up. The billionaire has contributed $13 million to the Clinton Foundation since 2006 and had access to Hillary Clinton while she served as secretary of state.”

http://dailycaller.com/2018/04/09/mueller-trump-pinchuk/

Hate Speech Code 1993 at Ohio State

The Office of Legal Affairs had prepared a draft of a proposed addition to the Code of Student Conduct which appeared in the student newspaper, The Lantern (year 113, no.2).  The policy was drafted by Robert M. Duncan, Chief Legal Council and Vice President, and the article included comments by various professors who thought it was illegal. I added my 2 cents in a letter to Duncan, with a copy to President Gee on June 24, 1993, which I just found today while cleaning out files. I had a few suggestions for additions to the hate speech code:

“For instance: I’m awfully tired of constantly hearing “shit” and “fuck” used as verbs, adjectives, and nouns in place of something more descriptive and meaningful.  I’m particularly offended when they appear 2 or 3 times in an ordinary sentence, and frightened when they are even more frequent.  This creates a very hostile and intimidating environment for females, even though there are a few females who also use these terms (usually to try to sound tough).  So if you get this “hate” thing passed, please add these terms to the list, and make it retroactive so that any man who has used them, say in the past five years, will be appropriately sanctioned, or even fired.

Then as a Christian, my cultural religious group, I’m deeply offended by the constant use of “Jesus Christ” as an expletive.  If you are going to protect other groups from hate words, there is nothing I find more hateful than that, and I’d like not to have to hear it.  While we’re on the subject, I don’t want my religion ridiculed any longer in the classroom or in the arts or in graduation speeches.  This creates an intimidating and hostile environment for learning for at least 40-50% of your students.

Certain words in English slang have been reclaimed for everyday use—for instance, “bitch” has recently been reclaimed as a positive word for women according to one woman author; “nigger” is now part of the name of a rock group who is making big money; “queer” has become part of the official name of a homosexual rights group.  The “hate” terms in this code will need to be very flexible—maybe you should pencil them in?

Behavior that use to be considered hostile or harassing, like crotch grabbing, is now making millions for Madonna and Michael Jackson, so that can’t be too serious anymore.  Alcoholism, obesity, and other health problems have many pejorative terms associated with the, such as “fatty,” “lardo,” “boozer,” and “klutz,” so can you also write those in?  I will be 54 on my next birthday, so let’s cut out anything disparaging about gray hair, wrinkles, or forgetfulness.

Implementing shouldn’t be a problem.  By the time the code is enforced, there won’t be anyone left on campus to be insulted.”

So that was 25 years ago, and political correctness was in full swing then or I wouldn’t have written a tongue in cheek letter about the silliness of it.  And it’s much worse now.

Monday, April 09, 2018

A call to battle by a father who knows

Drug overdoses kill more Americans under the age of 50 than anything else. More Americans died from drug overdoses in 2016 than during the entirety of the Vietnam War - and numbers are surging.

For years, Admiral James Winnefeld helped run the most powerful military in the world, but that was nothing compared to his battle to help his son combat addiction. Last year, Admiral Winnefeld lost his 17-year-old to the opioid epidemic. Following his loss, he turned tragedy into action and is now dedicated to urging solutions to stem this growing national catastrophe.

Admiral Winnefeld wrote an article for Atlantic after his son died at the University of Denver.   https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2017/11/an-epidemic-from-which-no-one-is-safe/546773/  You won’t agree with everything said, but it’s important to listen to those who have suffered this loss.

“There are several gateways to opioid addiction. Some people suffer a physical injury, and slowly develop a dependency on prescribed painkillers. Others self-medicate for mental ailments using whatever substance is available. Because the brain is so adaptable while it’s still developing, it’s highly susceptible to dependencies, even from non-opioids such as today’s newly potent marijuana strains. We now understand that early marijuana use not only inhibits brain development; it prepares the brain to be receptive to opioids. Of course, like opioids, marijuana has important medical applications, and it seems to leave less of a mark on a fully matured brain. It’s worth examining whether it would make sense to raise the legal marijuana age to 25, when the brain has fully matured.”

Stop the Addiction Fatality Epidemic (SAFE)

https://www.thecipherbrief.com/podcasts/familys-fight-reverse-americas-opioid-crisis  Interesting interview with Winnfeld

Clinton and Obama get tough on illegal immigration

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a7Bysn8u1QI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T7LGoHV3aKs

They sound like President Trump.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VvAqPigWBMk (Lou Dobbs, 2016)

The rich are getting richer. . . but

https://www.prageru.com/videos/rich-get-richer-poor-get-richer

the poor are getting richer faster.

Sunday, April 08, 2018

$1.75 Billion collected for student fees

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=66&v=J3BD8Qfpw50

Fees are used to fund many things, including ideological groups the students may not agree with.

Thursday, April 05, 2018

About the caravan, Pueblo Sin Fronteras, People without borders, and the churches

“Pueblo Sin Fronteras, the group in charge of the annual “migrant caravan,” launched its effort during Holy Week by invoking the Stations of the Cross with biblical costumery and prop crosses. When they’re not serving as human traffickers masquerading as human rights activists, these travel agents for amnesty busy themselves constructing shelters along their illicit pathways that span the globe. Catholic groups have sponsored and subsidized such nation-sabotaging campaigns for decades.”

Michelle Malkin, a Catholic, has thoughts on how churches are aiding and abetting this: http://www.theconservativeinsider.com/caravans-churches-and-criminal-sanctuaries/?

Wednesday, April 04, 2018

Ugly as sin, but they don’t age

“In the world of animal models, naked mole rats are the supermodels. They rarely get cancer, are resistant to some types of pain, and can survive up to 18 minutes without oxygen. But perhaps their greatest feat, a new paper suggests, is that they don't age.”

http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2018/01/naked-mole-rats-defy-biological-law-aging

https://www.theatlantic.com/video/index/551627/animalism-the-naked-mole-rat/

Republicans continue to fund fetal research

“In December 2014, before the newly elected Republican Senate could take office, the House Republicans cut a deal with President Obama and the lame-duck Democratic Senate. It funded all federal departments except Homeland Security through fiscal 2015.”

“According to these NIH estimates, it spent $40 million on "human fetal tissue" research in fiscal 2008; $63 million in 2009 (including $22 million added by Obama's stimulus); $79 million in 2010 (including $24 million from Obama's stimulus); $66 million in 2011; $71 million in 2012; $67 million in 2013; $76 million in 2014; $80 million in 2015; $103 million in 2016; and a record $107 million in 2017.”

This “donor” tissue from elective abortions can be from 20-24 week fetuses and is being transplanted into lab animals.

https://www.cnsnews.com/commentary/terence-p-jeffrey/funding-aborted-baby-parts-research-under-gop?

Disgusting. Disgraceful.

And yes, Trump signed the recent bill—the paragraph denying NIH this money to use fetuses from induced abortions which was in the original House version was taken out of the Senate version. He must have known what was in it. Much worse than tweeting. You can’t build an army with dead fetuses.

Tuesday, April 03, 2018

DACA, the Wall, and the Caravan

A wall won’t help much if the gangs and criminals come in legally, as they have been doing.  Remember the 2014 unaccompanied minors story?  Glenn Beck rounded up volunteers and money from his viewers to go to the border to help them.  I think churches rushed to help the poor “children” [received federal grants to feed and house and put them in schools]  who’d been sent on ahead by parents, or who were supposedly joining parents already here. With no ID or birth certificates, our ICE agents had to accept their word about their age.  I remember seeing some footage and just shaking my head at the idea these were children or teens. 

Ninety nine members of MS-13, a violent gang that recruits among Hispanic youth, have been arrested by ICE in the last 11 months.  They all were “unaccompanied minors” in that disastrous Obama program (I think it was legal, based on a loophole). 64 of the 99 had special “Immigrant Juvenile Status,” which as I understand it is a step toward legal immigrant status for those who have entered illegally.  Some had committed murder in their home countries. Obviously, given the crazy illegal immigrant laws and the bizarre sanctuary cities (and states) protecting them, a wall won’t mean much.

The current caravan that Trump is talking about in tweets is made up of central Americans, which Mexico allows to pass through but doesn’t want because they want only light skinned people, and are already sending its brown people north so they can send home billions in remittances. Mexico’s immigration laws are stricter than the U.S. So are Canada’s. After these caravans make it to the border and get a hearing for refugee status, they disappear into our population and rarely return for a hearing.  Another loophole—our immigration law about returns doesn’t apply to non-contiguous countries like Honduras and El Salvador—only Mexico and Canada.

https://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/terence-p-jeffrey/us-arrests-99-ms-13-gangsters-who-entered-unaccompanied-minors?

I’ve read the “other side,” the Trump-hater, no borders side.  Essentially, they confirm all this, but with outrageous, ridiculous, paranoia.

I don’t eat lamb, even with an interesting history

An article in a nutrition newsletter encouraged me to eat more lamb.  No thank you.  I also don’t eat veal.  http://whfoods.org/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=117

“Sheep were among the first animals ever to be domesticated by humans, occurring more than 10,000 years ago. The domestication of sheep most likely started out in the Middle East, in what is now Turkey. As a source of not only food but also textiles (wool), sheep were introduced and became popular throughout many regions of the world. The Romans introduced sheep into Great Britain, where lamb remains very popular, over 2,000 years ago. Lamb was not introduced into the Western Hemisphere until the early 16th century when the armies of the Spanish explorer Hernán Cortés brought sheep with them on their explorations.

What was most prized by early civilizations was not the meat obtainable from sheep but rather their wool. In Babylonia, Sumaria, and Persia, the raising of sheep for their fleece became an important industry to such an extent that flocks of sheep were used as the medium of exchange between countries engaging in barter. In Greek mythology, fleece from sheep—known as "the gold-haired winged ram"—played a pivotal role in the myth of Jason and the Argonauts, as the quest for it related to Jason proving his worthiness of kingship to King Pelias. Since ancient times, lamb has been regarded as a religious symbol. It was commonly used as a sacrifice, and a symbol of sacrifice, in many religions including Judaism. In many countries, lamb is a traditional dish at Easter in commemoration of the Last Supper at which lamb was likely served. Jesus is often referred to as the "Lamb of God."

Lamb is a staple in cuisines throughout the world including Turkey, Greece, New Zealand, Australia, Africa, and countries of the Middle East. In the U.S., per capita consumption of lamb is much lower than in the rest of the world, averaging 14 ounces per year. By contrast, world consumption averages 4 pounds per person, African consumption averages 5.5 pounds per person, and consumption in Australia and New Zealand averages 25 pounds per person.

Lamb farming reached its peak in the U.S. in 1884 with 51 million head of sheep. Today, lamb farming involves about 6 million head. The U.S. produced about 161 million pounds of lamb and mutton in 2011 (as compared with 50 billion pounds of all red meats, including veal, beef, and pork). Australia, with 70 million head of sheep, and New Zealand, with 32 million head, export more lamb than any other countries. In 2011, for example, these two countries combined exported nearly 1.4 billion pounds of lamb. Half of all lamb consumed in the U.S. is imported, and within this category of imported lamb, nearly 68% comes from Australia and 30% from New Zealand. “

This history doesn’t mention it, but sheep were used as dairy animals before cows were. http://www.sheep101.info/dairy.html

“Sheep have been raised for milk for thousands of years and were milked before cows. The world's commercial dairy sheep industry is concentrated in Europe and the countries on or near the Mediterranean Sea. The dairy sheep industry is in its infancy in the United States. There are approximately 100 dairy sheep farms in the U.S. They are found mostly in New England and the Upper Midwest. There are several large commercial sheep dairies in New York and California.”

There are over 50 English words for sheep and 11 years ago I wrote a blog about them. http://collectingmythoughts.blogspot.com/2007/07/thursday-thirteen-13-words-for-sheep.html

A head turning voice—Roseanne?

Every time this ad for an Ohio candidate comes on the TV I turn my head to watch because of her voice, which sounds like Roseanne Barr.

http://leneghanforcongress.com/

https://www.forbes.com/sites/bryanrolli/2018/04/02/roseanne-adds-record-6-6-million-viewers-following-massive-season-premiere/#50cd31d75c66

Consumer electronics and other stats

In the Consumer Electronics market, 39.0 % of total revenue will be generated through online sales by 2021.   In 2017 it was 29%.  Other statistics: https://www.statista.com/outlook/15000000/102/consumer-electronics/europe#

Also:  84% of Americans celebrate Easter.  According the statista.com. Unfortunately, probably not in the way intended (only 51% attended church) celebrating the Risen Lord.

Americans have mixed feelings about the news environment—they are more positive about videos (58%), the internet (57%) and news aggregators (57%), than they are about cable news (44%), political leaders using social media (45%) and social media in general (42%).

Monday, April 02, 2018

Look away, look away liberals

“In 2016, 4,300 people were shot in Chicago—one person every two hours. . . .If 4,300 white people had been shot in any city of the country, there would be a revolution. But because the victims were black, it would be dog-whistle racism to call attention to them. Racism once consisted of ignoring black-on-black violence as a fact of nature that was beneath concern. It is a bizarre twist in contemporary liberalism that drawing attention to the black victims of street crime is now the racist position. This deflection has come about in order to avoid acknowledging that the perpetrators of this crime are black, too. So it is better to look away entirely. “

Heather MacDonald  https://www.city-journal.org/html/looking-away-urban-crime-15722.html

Coffee congestion

  • Delays waiting in line at the coffee shop for your daily latte, cappuccino or mocha cost U.S. consumers $4 billion every year in lost time;
  • The typical coffee drinker loses more time waiting in line at Starbucks than in traffic congestion;
  • Delays in getting your coffee are likely to increase because our coffee delivery infrastructure isn’t increasing as fast as coffee consumption.

Is this a joke?   People actually research this?

Well, yes, it was published on April 1—April Fool, but it did follow the same methods used to determine traffic congestion costs.

http://cityobservatory.org/the-cappuccino-congestion-index-2/

Given the constant hateful reports, this is hard to believe. Bezos must try harder to defame.

Rasmussen notes that "Trump's overall job approval rating is now running ahead of where Barack Obama's was at this stage of his presidency."
Rasmussen: Trump Approval Hits 50 Percent | Newsmax.com

Falsified cancer research at Ohio State

From the Columbus Dispatch:

“A prominent cancer treatment researcher at Ohio State University has resigned after an investigation showed he intentionally falsified data or acted recklessly in his review of data on more than a dozen occasions, affecting eight scientific journal articles.

Ching-Shih Chen, a professor in Ohio State’s College of Pharmacy, resigned in September after the university’s research misconduct review, the university announced Friday.

Approximately $5.9 million in grant money was tied to research related to Chen’s misconduct findings, said Ohio States spokesman Chris Davey.”

I wonder if OSU has to give the money back.

http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2018/03/cancer-researcher-ohio-state-university-resigns-following-multiple-misconduct-findings

http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/front/archives/2018/04/01/2003690449

https://patents.justia.com/inventor/ching-shih-chen

From the Wall St. Journal—benefits to the Trump presidency

“Much of the media is too consumed with hatred of Donald Trump to appreciate that there may be some benefits to his presidency. But for good and for ill, so far he is largely keeping the promises on economic policy that he made as a candidate in 2016.

The Washington Post is in a rhetorical war with the President, but give the Post credit for noting that at this point in his presidency the rust-belt revival he promised appears to be underway:

As he ran for president, Donald Trump promised to lift up regions of the country that had been left behind by the economy. “I want to go into the neglected neighborhoods, the failing schools, the forgotten stretches of this nation, and unlock their potential for all of our people,” he said in September 2016.

The argument proved persuasive — many of the nation’s most economically distressed regions voted for Trump.

Now the early returns are in: In the first year of the Trump presidency, places that voted for Trump are doing better economically than at the end of the Obama administration... not only are these counties adding jobs, but also job growth has accelerated the most in counties where Trump earned the most votes, according to a Washington Post analysis of Labor Department data.

In other words, even if the counties that supported Trump most are still struggling relative to the rest of the country, they’ve experienced the largest reversal of fortune.”

Personally, I doubt that any president could succeed for long with the hatred being lobbed at Trump by the media and culture snobs.  The Democrat media would be more than happy to see the economy fail as long as they could blame Trump.

Tim Scott

Politico isn’t so liberal that you have to avoid it or feel we’re going to hell in a handbasket, but I found this paragraph a bit odd.  The writer is interviewing Tim Scott, a black Congressman representing North Carolina’s Republicans. https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2018/03/16/senator-tim-scott-black-republican-trump-profile-217237

“Yet in the age of Trump, he is coming to terms with an uncomfortable truth: The fixation on his color is a feature, not a bug. No matter his achievements or aspirations, Tim Scott is sentenced to exist in America’s collective political subconscious as a black man first and everything else second.”

So which party traffics in skin color?  Democrats.  Who has the fixation on race, color, gender, sexual orientation (or advocates for no recognition that there are sexual differences) , income status, and religion (or advocates for no religion). Democrats.  Who believe children of immigrants should have special privileges that citizens don’t have, but would abort them denying them life if the mother wanted that?  Democrats.  Which party protects people who demand no borders thus endangering the very victims it elevates?  Democrats.

Sunday, April 01, 2018

Facebook and Obama in 2012

Did Facebook violate Federal Law by giving Obama campaign free access to our data?

“The type of data that the Obama campaign was mining from Facebook is a more sophisticated version of the type of data that has long been provided by professional direct mail marketers—something pioneered by Richard Viguerie.

Viguerie, for example, has detailed personal data on “12 million conservative donors and activists” to whom his company sends letters and emails on behalf of his clients. He provides information to campaigns looking for votes and money, and to nonprofit and advocacy organizations raising funds.

Political campaigns must pay for these services. Under a Federal Election Commission regulation, giving a mailing list or something similar to a campaign is considered an “in-kind contribution.”

So if Facebook gave the Obama campaign free access to this type of data when it normally does not do so for other entities—or usually charges for such access—then Facebook would appear to have violated the federal ban on in-kind contributions by a corporation. And the Obama campaign may have violated the law by accepting such a corporate contribution.”

The Trump campaign paid for its marketing information; Obama didn’t.  And that’s illegal.

https://www.dailysignal.com/2018/03/28/facebooks-favors-obama-campaign-may-violated-federal-law/?

April is national poetry month

My brother in law is very clever and loves a good rhyme.  So I sent him my poem about April, and he responded in kind.

April by Nelson

What’s more scary than a right wing zealot?

A former liberal, Harry Stein, writes:

“Extreme right-wing zealots are the second-scariest thing out there,” Stein says. “Extreme left-wing zealots, who would impose their view of what’s appropriate thought, scare me more, because they have a hell of a lot more institutional power, mainly through the media and the universities.”

Although that sounds quite contemporary—just like what’s happening at campuses with Black Lives Matter and Antifa and teen agers marching on Washington with the financial backing of Oprah and Planned Parenthood, he wrote that 18 years ago in a book about why the essayist and novelist got “left behind” by liberals.  He was a “red diaper baby” (someone whose parents were members of the Communist party and very sympathetic to the ideas)  who began rethinking his politics in the early 80s when he discovered he was condemned and ostracized by fellow leftist for questioning some feminist dogma about child care after he became a father.

He went on to write “How I Accidentally Joined the Vast Right-Wing Conspiracy (and Found Inner Peace)” and now almost 20 years later writes for conservative media. Link to C-Span interview is below.  https://nypost.com/2000/05/30/old-fashioned-liberal-who-got-left-behind/

https://www.c-span.org/video/?158396-1/how-accidentally-joined-vast-wing-conspiracy

https://www.city-journal.org/html/laughing-left-12883.html

Rosanne beats out Stormy

I was never a fan of the Rosanne show—when it came on the rerun channel, I always changed.  Too much whining and yelling.  So I didn’t watch the remake redux which has the media mavens all a twitter with hate and angst.  18.2 million viewers, a comedy with some poignant moments and it beat out Stormy (prostitute) interview in the numbers and rating game.  From what I’ve heard on the filters, it shows family can disagree on politics and still love each other.  Who knew?

“Most of the sparring is between Roseanne and younger sister Jackie (Laurie Metcalf), who shows up at the Conner home after an angry year-long estrangement wearing a pussy hat and sneeringly greets the family matriarch with, “What’s up, Deplorable?” By the book hilarity ensues.

“Aunt Jackie thinks every girl should grow up to be president,” Roseanne informs her granddaughter, in their most heated exchange, “even if they’re ‘Liar, liar, pantsuit on fire.”

“I think we know who’s a liar and who’s on fire, Roseanne,” counters Jackie.

Jackie doesn’t like it one bit when, before saying grace, her sister asks if she first wants to take a knee, and concludes the prayer by thanking the lord “for making America great again.””

https://www.city-journal.org/html/more-deplorable-please-15800.html?