Saturday, November 30, 2019

Clarence Thomas on liberals

Justice Thomas: "I felt as though in my life I had been looking at the wrong people as the people who would be problematic toward me," Justice Thomas said in the documentary. "We were told that, 'Oh, it's gonna be the bigot in the pickup truck; it's gonna be the Klansmen; it's gonna be the rural sheriff.' But it turned out that through all of that, ultimately the biggest impediment was the modern-day liberal. They were the ones who would discount all those things because they have one issue or because they have the power to caricature you."  https://pjmedia.com/trending/justice-clarence-thomas-takes-revenge-on-joe-biden-he-wanted-to-get-rid-of-me/

How true. Although I was a Democrat at the time, I was excited about this appointment by GHW Bush in 1991. I remember where I was when it dawned on me what liberal professors at OSU were about. They don't walk the talk. We were at lunch in the Faculty Club and I naively assumed all of us overeducated state employees would be thrilled with this nomination. "Bush is just doing it because he's black," she said, "He's just not qualified."

He has been an amazing justice, and his autobiography is one of the best political and cultural histories I've ever read, "My Grandfather's Son." You'll learn more about the black experience reading that book than attending a year's worth of SJW sniping at a university.

Friday, November 29, 2019

Baby Alexandria

I rarely remember a sermon--and we have such good pastors. Nothing personal--it's a learning disability I've learned to work around since I was a child. Joe Valentino had such a stunning story in his Thanksgiving sermon it's stayed with me--and I'd love to be able to do what those parents did. I may not have all the details correct, but here's the gist of it.

I remembered seeing a notice in the November 17 bulletin about the death of baby Alexandria, and Joe told her story. This much adored and awaited for little girl had a stroke at birth and didn't die, but she was brain dead. Her parents took her home and made a vow to enjoy every moment of her life, to love and cherish her as if each day were their last together. I could hear gasps from the other pews. I believe she died about a week later, and they had kept their vow. We never know what day is our last together, so always be kind and loving and thankful for the time you have.

What happened to my nice life?

I know that the apostles and church fathers spent a lot of time searching the scriptures (what we Christians call the Old Testament) trying to figure out what in the world happened--this isn't the messiah we had hoped for. And to this day, we poke around looking for modern day or future meaning about those old stories of God's faithfulness when we ask, "What in the world happened" to my nice comfortable life that I'd planned out?

While searching for BIG answers, I came across a smaller one today in the story that has inspired a million Sunday School handouts and movies--Daniel in the Lion's Den. Believe it or not, I actually found a warning of what our country will be going through if we elect any of those Democrats running in 2020! Collectively they represent a possible take down of everything important to American Christians, especially the First Amendment.
Stay with me--just a little backstory--We're talking about King Darius the one who follows King Belshazzar, and Daniel, a Jewish survivor (had already been through the furnace story). Darius had a huge, powerful "deep state,"--satraps, etc. and Daniel was one of their supervisors, a pretty great job for a Jewish exile and was highly respected by the King. The deep state hated Daniel and wanted to get rid of him:
"Some men rushed into the upper chamber of Daniel's home and found him praying and pleading before his God. Then they went to remind the king about the prohibition: (think nuns who won't buy health insurance that covers abortion, or bakers and florists who won't celebrate a customer's same sex wedding) "Did you not decree, O king, that no one is to address a petition to god or man for 30 days, except to you, O king; otherwise he shall be cast into a den of lions?" The king answered them, "The decree is absolute, irrevocable under the Mede and Persian law." To this they replied, "Daniel, the Jewish exile, has paid no attention to you, O king, or to the decree you issued; 3 times a day he offers his prayer." The king was deeply grieved at this news and he made up his mind to save Daniel; he worked till sunset to rescue him. But these men insisted. They said, "Keep in mind, O king, that under the Mede and Persian law every royal prohibition or decree is irrevocable." So the king ordered Daniel to be brought and cast into the lions' den. "


So you probably know how that turns out--Daniel is saved by God and Darius the king ends up declaring that the God of Daniel is the real deal because he saved Daniel from the lions. And Darius writes a really lovely hymn/liturgy we can say today. (Daniel 6:27)
He rescues and he saves;
he performs signs and wonders
in the heavens and on the earth.
He has rescued Daniel
from the power of the lions.

Thursday, November 28, 2019

Thankful. Gratitude. Grateful.

Be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, as in all wisdom you teach and admonish one another, singing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God.
Colossians 3:16.

May we give thanks always and for everything in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God the Father. Ephesians 5:30

Thank God! Give him the praise and the glory. Before all the living, acknowledge the many good things he has done for you, by blessing and extolling his name in song. Before all men, honor and proclaim God's deeds, and do not be slack in praising him. Tobit 12:6

The word of God for the people of God.

Life expectancy dropping since 2014

Our behavior is showing up in our health statistics as well as our homes.

"Between 1959 and 2016, US life expectancy increased from 69.9 years to 78.9 years but declined for 3 consecutive years after 2014. The recent decrease in US life expectancy culminated a period of increasing cause-specific mortality among adults aged 25 to 64 years that began in the 1990s, ultimately producing an increase in all-cause mortality that began in 2010. During 2010-2017, midlife all-cause mortality rates increased from 328.5 deaths/100 000 to 348.2 deaths/100 000. By 2014, midlife mortality was increasing across all racial groups, caused by drug overdoses, alcohol abuse, suicides, and a diverse list of organ system diseases. The largest relative increases in midlife mortality rates occurred in New England (New Hampshire, 23.3%; Maine, 20.7%; Vermont, 19.9%) and the Ohio Valley (West Virginia, 23.0%; Ohio, 21.6%; Indiana, 14.8%; Kentucky, 14.7%). The increase in midlife mortality during 2010-2017 was associated with an estimated 33 307 excess US deaths, 32.8% of which occurred in 4 Ohio Valley states."  https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/article-abstract/2756187?

Americans can't smoke, over eat, have multiple sex partners, sooth the soul with alcohol and become a zombie with drugs and not have it show up in a study down the road. Although the numbers ticked up 2010-2017, the behavior began much before that--the 1980's-1990s.

And that Ohio Valley information in the study--straight up from Mexico—black tar heroin.  Read “Dreamland; the true tale of America's Opioid Epidemic” by Sam Quinones. He was a speaker at Lakeside, I think in 2018.  The stories of young men in Mexico, independent of the drug cartels, in search of their own American Dream via the fast and enormous profits of trafficking cheap black-tar heroin to America’s rural and suburban addicts combined with Big Pharma.  https://nihrecord.nih.gov/2018/05/18/author-recounts-how-opioids-took-hold-america

Baby Boomers exceed all other generations in wealth

Where are you in distribution of wealth--born before 1946, or baby boomer, or gen-x, or millennials? The Boomers after 2005 began pulling ahead of the "silents" in wealth accumulation, and never looked back. Even with a little back sliding by boomers during the recession, I see no way the millennials will ever catch up--have they been given too much or just taken on too much debt.

https://www.federalreserve.gov/releases/z1/dataviz/dfa/distribute/table/?fbclid=IwAR3xXjxcnVsekzvw3DtdeeJeDKhOXFec1sCugV2kGGbdGMu6cjoBcY0jpGE#quarter:
119;series:Net worth;demographic:generation;population:all;units:levels

Thanksgiving, November 28, 1872

Whereas the revolution of another year has again brought the time when it is usual to look back upon the past and publicly to thank the Almighty for His mercies and His blessings; and

Whereas if any one people has more occasion than another for such thankfulness it is the citizens of the United States, whose Government is their creature, subject to their behests;

who have reserved to themselves ample civil and religious freedom and equality before the law;

who during the last twelvemonth have enjoyed exemption from any grievous or general calamity, and to whom prosperity in agriculture, manufactures, and commerce has been vouchsafed;

Now, therefore, by these considerations, I recommend that on Thursday, the 28th day of November next, the people meet in their respective places of worship and there make their acknowledgments to God for His kindness and bounty.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed. Done at the city of Washington, this 11th day of October, A.D. 1872, and of the Independence of the United States of America the ninety-seventh. U.S. GRANT

If you have a spare prayer this Thanksgiving . . .

The last time we saw Dan was at the funeral of a mutual friend in 2018.  He and Bob used to work together—I only saw his wife at the wonderful Christmas parties.  They had the most beautiful children—dark, Italian and very well behaved.  According to her story, Dan is now disabled and she has arthritis (plus another surgery from 20 years ago over which she has battled insurance companies and doctors without satisfaction).  So she hired a company to rake and take away the leaves.  On Tuesday.  Well, if you live in the tsunami lane we’ve experienced the last 24 hours, you know that all the neighbors’ leaves are now in their yard, and the money and frustration were wasted.  She said this, which is why I’m asking you to pray for this stranger even I don’t know well—and I suspect there is a hidden message in here for her adult children and grandchildren, so you can throw that in also:

“There are days when I just feel like jumping off a bridge and this is one of them. Last week a hit-and-run driver bashed our only car and took off leaving us to deal with the expense and effort to get it fixed. By "us" I mean me because I have to do everything, large and small, by myself now==which isn't all that different than what I have always been stuck with. All I do is work: cook, clean, fix stuff, laundry, yard work, and so on into infinity. If I had known I was going to spend my entire life getting stuck doing the scut-work nobody else wants to bother with so they can enjoy their lives unencumbered by it all I'd have taken that jump a long time ago.”

Wednesday, November 27, 2019

I’m binge watching Hallmark Christmas movies

Sometimes I doze off (have trouble distinguishing between some of the blondes), but I can catch up the next day watching at the gym. I think I've just about have  “Christmas at Graceland” pieced together. I’d never watched them before but I think I’ve got the plan for the plot and could be a screenwriter.

  • Blonde female, brunette male (both gorgeous),
  • she's an executive looking for property and he drives a van, or truck;
  • alternate line is she is single manager/entertainer waiting for next assignment and
  • he is wealthy investor, widower with 3 children;
  • town/village/ski resort has Christmas festival falling on hard times;
  • everyone comes together to cook/decorate or dress elegantly;
  • a minimum of 3 generations, possibly 4 if you can work in the great grandparents
  • kids are always handsome and well behaved,
  • only one or two kisses for the couple
  • no one swears, cusses or throws things.

I did see the first few minutes of one today where beautiful blonde executive is planning to drive her cousin's vintage Mustang from NJ to CO during December.  I'm pretty sure there will be a snow storm with a handsome guy coming to the rescue.  I had to leave. Maybe I’ll see it on Friday at the gym.

One other thing I’ve noticed:  even though it’s snowing and everyone is wearing coats and scarves, if the scene calls for a pretty gown, the lovely main character isn’t wearing a coat so the dress shows well.

Have the hearings affected the market?

Ross Rant, 11/25: "Clearly the Schiff Show had no impact on the market as everyone knows it was all just a reality show for the Dems that has fallen flat with most voters. Most people no longer care. It is now holiday season and parties, no one has time for a bunch of Dem politicians making rash statements for TV. Nobody outside DC and CA cares anymore. Republicans are all geared up to destroy Biden if this goes ahead, and maybe the Dems are figuring that out as the polls now show a majority of voters are not in favor of impeachment. Horowitz will be out in two weeks and that will suck the oxygen out of the room, and may give Republicans some attack points to go after the Dems. Then comes Durham early next year with indictments. And now Biden says he might select Stacy Abrams, the failed GA gubernatorial candidate, as VP. Do I hear the Democratic Palin. Can you imagine trying to sell Abrams as one heart beat from being president with a 78 year old starting his term. Yikes."

Ross assumes his readers know all the players, like Horowitz, Durham and Abrams.  Here’s the score:

https://www.zerohedge.com/political/horowitz-report-coming-horowitz-report-coming-lindsay-graham-signals-early-dec-release

https://www.sgtreport.com/2019/10/deep-state-in-total-panic-as-durhams-investigation-confirmed-to-have-transitioned-to-criminal-phase-indictments-imminent/

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/joe-biden-embraces-the-stacey-abrams-voter-fraud-myth

Tuesday, November 26, 2019

Who is endangering the Constitution?

This latest lie dumped on the country that Trump is destroying the Constitution is just crazy. Really?

  • He's the one denigrating religion--trying to throw nuns and cake bakers out of work because they are Christians?
  • He's the one booing God at the national convention?
  • He's the one tearing down statues,
  • demanding famous buildings be renamed, and
  • organizing mobs to attack speakers on college campuses?
  • He's the one pushing for men in women's locker rooms or competing in their track meets?

President Trump is the one protecting the borders, funding the military, and appointing judges who don't desire to make law usurping the Congress. President Trump is the one who wants to renegotiate trade deals which were giving away the country. President Trump is the one who has said stop hobbling our soldiers and if you have to go to war, at least bring home a victory more often than 75 years. President Trump is the one asking for fewer regulations that put the states at the mercy of the federal government and its unelected bureaucracy.

I ask any Democrat to suggest an unconstitutional act by this president that even comes close to the stage at any of the 2020 game show of Bernie, Kamala, Cory, Pete, Tulsi, et al where they all promise to raise our taxes, jail people who use the wrong pronoun, dismantle ICE, open the borders, kill babies and take away our rights. But they won't be able to because they are so busy hurling insults and bigotry and knitting pink hats that they've forgotten to look for facts and policies to criticize.

Tips on language changes—how not to go to jail

Socialists are so creative with language--like AOC declaring free stuff is now "public goods." They decided "patriotism" is now "nationalism" which is like being a Nazi brown shirt. But being a black shirt Antifa who burns down buildings is OK.

Male and female pronouns have become hate speech. Sex became gender which used to be a part of speech. "Gender reassignment" has become "gender affirmation," because you can't reassign what was always there. Next week, it might be something else and then the word you used this week becomes hate speech.

"Negro" back in the 1960s was OK and "black" was an insult. Then black was OK and Negro was an insult. N-words are pejoratives and can't even be used in 19th c. literature like Huckleberry Finn when they were not pejoratives. They are only OK when used in a million dollar Hip Hop song sung by blacks, but definitely is hate speech when a comedian used it 15 years ago.

The AMA now uses the term "pregnant people" instead of "pregnant women" because faux men who actually are women need women's restroom and menstrual pads and everyone knows real men don't get pregnant.

Bias training, aka reeducation camps, are needed in universities for everyone, but only whites can be racists and white supremacists, or experience micro-aggression (a new term) and implicit bias and be guilty of thought crimes interpreted by Democrats and Socialists. Because hate crimes are so rare, one now needs to find them in experiences and places no one ever sees or experiences.

Everyone at university level are now taught that "implicit bias" is part of the human condition, sort of like original sin, and therefore, all need to have their minds cleansed of this evil--sort of like Christian baptism, but a lot less holy with no route to heaven.

I’ve found the problem; we’re no longer virtuous

Ben Franklin wrote: "Only a virtuous people are capable of freedom. As nations become corrupt and vicious, they have more need of masters."

  • We cannot call ourselves virtuous if we're killing babies and sterilizing children with hormones and chemicals in the quest of a fantasy about sex.
  • We cannot call ourselves virtuous if we destroy dreams of our citizens because they won't submit to socialist big-think and jabberwocky.
  • We cannot call ourselves virtuous if we allow political reeducation camps to reside inside our colleges and universities.
  • We cannot call ourselves virtuous while allowing all manner of data manipulation and cyber-spying to squash original thought.
  • We cannot call ourselves virtuous while allowing regulations by unelected bureaucrats to take the place of our legislators examining the issues and voting our wishes.
  • We cannot call ourselves virtuous if we do not encourage legal immigration to refresh and renew our national spirit and
  • discourage illegal immigration which steals wealth from our workers attempting to get ahead.
  • We cannot call ourselves virtuous if we do not seek truth, beauty and goodness in our art, public buildings, libraries, museums, entertainment, literature and finally, in our homes.

Monday, November 25, 2019

Almost 30 years or more of brainwashing

Larry Burkett wrote a book, "What ever happened to the American dream," Moody Press, 1993. The year Bill Clinton took office. Usually that's a line for the left. Income gap. Dying unions. Shrinking middle class. What happened to the American dream? Burkett writes:

"There is enough material available on the impact of government regulations and their effect on the economy to write an entire book. But, in reality, regulations are just one part of the overall problem. The sad thing is that, with all the misinformation being aimed at the public via our media, America's children are being brainwashed into believing that all those regulations are in their best interests.”

Almost 27 years ago, and Burkett couldn't have imagined what was coming down the pike in the way of regulations. . . especially speech codes, mandatory anti-bias classes for college students, tearing down statues representing our history, use pronouns of choice or lose a job, drag queens for library story hour, hormone blockers for adolescents with consent of parents, doctors and psychologists, 9 month abortions called women's health, 50% of the citizenry bullied as deplorables by a national candidate, environmental disasters in California and skyrocketing homelessness due to disastrous regulations, and the civil war caused by Democrats' failure to accept an election. These weren't laws--they were regulations passed by unelected federal bureaucrats or local boards and committees and increasingly by digital giants infesting our freedoms.

Burkett said that increasing regulations translated to fewer jobs, lower salaries and diminished competition regardless of who was in the White House, but he was definitely on track when he referred to the brainwashing of children. President Trump is trying to bring back America, but because those children of a quarter a century ago have passed on their ignorance and government dependency to their own children, his accomplishments are ignored and his supporters called a cult.

Bad framing

Don’t let the left frame the argument—where anything you say that they don’t agree with is hate speech, or they restrict your freedom of religion and redefine it as bigoted or racist.

https://www.prageru.com/video/the-dark-art-of-framing/

Sunday, November 24, 2019

Some companies focus just on women

What if there were a company that focuses on pushing men ahead in business? Is that legal? Women have been ahead of men over a decade in college enrollment rate and graduation. And in many cities with similar education and jobs, women are earning more than men, not because they are better, but because the companies get perks for hiring women. If women still need a boost, how about letting them have their own athletic events and locker rooms; they are smaller with different body builds and that won't change with some regulatory bureaucrat demanding women and men are the same with interchangeable parts.

https://www.geekwire.com/2019/wework-fallout-isnt-affecting-women-focused-co-working-startup-riveter/

“The Riveter is unique among the rising tide of companies offering flexible office space, not only with its focus on women but its business model. Less than half of its revenue comes from co-working rent fees, and 80 percent of its membership base does not work out of the company’s nine locations across the U.S.

Riveter members pay $19 per month to be a “Riveter Ally,” and $199 to $400-plus per month for coworking space. They get benefits such as discounts on travel and event tickets, along with the access to a network. The company also offers corporate memberships.”

Lakeside on Lake Erie prices for 2020

Details for Lakeside prices 2020 (from Lakeside FB via Suzanne Wolf Hanselman).

"Each November, the Lakeside Chautauqua Board’s Finance Committee begins the budgeting process for the upcoming year and determines the sources of revenue that will be needed to support the Lakeside grounds, facilities and our signature summer Chautauqua program. With what has been created in recent years, including the Grindley Aquatic & Wellness Campus, Bettinger Park sports courts, a new restaurant and the Hubbard Pickleball Center, there's more value in a Chautauqua Pass than ever before.

The work of the Finance Committee was presented to the Board at the November meeting, and the Board approved the following for 2020:

- Regular pricing for Memorial Day weekend, June, August and Labor Day weekend will be the same as 2019, $24.50 for adults and $16.25 for youth. As always, kids age 12 & under and guests age 90 & older are free.

- Peak pricing for July. A Daily Chautauqua Pass in July will be $28 for adults and $18 for youth (ages 13-24).

- Premium pricing still applies to Friday and Saturday Passes purchased on that day. Passes purchased on Friday and Saturday will cost $30 during regular price periods and $33.50 during July's peak price period. There's no premium pricing for Youth Passes. Please remember that guests can bypass this increase by purchasing passes in advance or buying a multi-day pass.

- The last week in August will still include Reduced Rate Passes. From Sunday, Aug. 23 through Thursday, Aug. 27 during Week 10, Daily Chautauqua Passes will be $16 for adults and $10 for youth. There will also be limited Chautauqua programming during this time.

- With Labor Day being very late, and Week 11 mostly in September, the gates will not be in operation during that time. Gates will not operate Monday, Aug. 31 through Thursday, Sept. 3, therefore, there will be no programming and most facilities will not be in operation at this time. Gates will go back into operation on Friday, Sept. 4 and operate through Labor Day weekend. The weekend will include the usual Labor Day weekend programming.

- Season Chautauqua Passes continue to offer the most value for those wishing to enjoy Lakeside frequently during the summer. For 2020, a Season Chautauqua Pass purchased before June 1 will cost $820 for adults and $470 for youth.

- Coupon books will no longer be sold. However, in order to provide similar value to our loyal Season Chautauqua Pass holders, we will offer Season Pass holders the opportunity to buy $200 gift cards for $170. Season Pass holders may purchase up to a maximum of 3 cards or $600 in total gift card value for only $510. The gift cards offer much more flexibility as they can be used to purchase other types of passes, like Auto or Golf Cart Passes, plus any unused card value this year can be used in future years.

The Finance Committee will continue working on the budget throughout the winter, with the budget ultimately being approved by the Board at its February meeting. Lakeside’s 2020-2021 fiscal year will begin April 1. "

Saturday, November 23, 2019

John Solomon’s stories have been validated by Schiff’s witnesses

  1. Hunter Biden’s hiring by the Ukrainian gas firm Burisma Holdings, while it was under a corruption investigation, posed the appearance of a conflict of interest for his father. That’s because Vice President Joe Biden oversaw US-Ukraine policy and forced the firing of the Ukrainian prosecutor overseeing the case.
  2. Ukraine officials had an uneasy relationship with our embassy in Kiev because State Department officials exerted pressure on Ukraine prosecutors to drop certain cases against activists, including one group partly funded by George Soros. 
  3. There were efforts around Ukraine in 2016 to influence the US election, that included a request from a DNC contractor for dirt on Manafort, an OpEd from Ukraine’s US ambassador slamming Trump and the release of law enforcement evidence by Ukrainian officials that a Ukraine court concluded was an improper interference in the US election.

All three of these points have since been validated by the sworn testimony of Schiff’s witnesses this month, starting with the Bidens.

https://johnsolomonreports.com/impeachment-surprise-how-adam-schiff-validated-my-reporting-on-ukraine/

Vindman, the bombshell

A GQ story from Oct. 29 said that Lt. Col. Alexander VIndman, a key witness in the impeachment inquiry into President Trump, originally ran with a line saying that Vindman was awarded the Purple Heart after being injured by an IUD. Well, in these days of gender confusion I suppose that possible, but generally, it's extremely difficult to fit a man with an IUD. They do injure women, but not men since a uterus is not one of the usual pieces of equipment they are issued. Shaped like a "T" and a bit bigger than a quarter, an IUD fits inside a woman's uterus. It prevents pregnancy by stopping sperm from reaching and fertilizing eggs.

GQ has corrected its mistake--it was an IED, a bomb. However, the testimony was indeed a bomb.

Tulsi Gabbard—what do Democrats have against her?

Tulsi Gabbard is just as far left as the rest of the Democrat party candidates running for 2020, but she's younger, prettier, more talented, more articulate, a veteran, a minority and a female. She should be the dream candidate, a photogenic trifecta, but they are attacking her. Why?

Let me float this one. She's a threat to the one they are grooming--AOC--and they know they can pull her strings. Gabbard they aren't sure about.

Every witness--same story


Friday, November 22, 2019

95% of printed Bibles are in English

Numbers, rate, percentage and misinformation. Today I was browsing a newsletter of a Christian organization which said 95% of all printed Bibles are in English, but that only 4.8% of the world population knows English.

Apples and oranges. And this was an appeal for more translation projects.

I look to my right and I have 10 Bibles--including one in Spanish and one in Russian. And that doesn't count what's in my husband's office or other rooms. It would make more sense when talking about Bibles to use "household."

There are 983 million people in the world who speak English, 372 as a first language and 611 as a second (about 13%). Yes, having the Bible in your own heart language is important, but it would be important for those with an English language Bible in their home to open it and read.

English was the language of the Union Jack, and the King James Bible went where ever the British went. The Crown had a monopoly and colonists couldn't print and distribute the KJV Bible. The Geneva Bible (1599) was the original Bible of the colonies--came with the Pilgrims in 1620. That said, English Bibles were translations of Greek, Latin and Hebrew.

The first European language Bible printed in the future United States was in German in 1743, not English, and it was for the Brethren (Church of the Brethren current name). The first Bible in any language printed in America was in Algonquin in 1661, which brings us back to the point of the article I read--translations are important.

Christianity in America, a handbook, 1983.

Lutheran Bible Translators.  The Messenger, Christmas 2019.

Fiona Hill is right—the nation is being torn apart . . . by the Democrats

"The impact of the successful 2016 Russian campaign remains evident today. Our nation is being torn apart. Truth is questioned. Our highly professional and expert career foreign service is being undermined." Fiona Hill opening statement, Schiff Show aka Impeachment Hearings

Jeffrey Varasano: This woman [Hill] is an undeniable loyal agent of the deep state, pushing the hoax that Russia elected Trump. To this day they have yet to come up with a plausible theory, or even an implausible one, to explain why Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Michigan voted for Trump. Whose vote was switched and how? One hour's worth of MSM propaganda exceeds in breath all of the supposed Russian media influence. Her "highly professional and expert career foreign service" did nothing to stop China, Iran, Russia, or global graft on a grand scale. We saw you experts loading piles of cash onto pallets to jet off to Iran and we voted you out. But you won't leave.

Ambassador Sondland disappoints

Bombshell witness implodes:

"So no one told you," Turner pressed on. "Not just the president. Giuliani didn't tell you, Mulvaney didn't tell you. Nobody. Pompeo didn't tell you. Nobody else on this planet told you that Donald Trump was tying aid to these investigations. Is that correct

"Yes," Sondland replied.

"So, you really have no testimony today that ties President Trump to a scheme to withhold aid from Ukraine in exchange for these investigations?" Turner asked.

"Other than my own presumption," Sondland said.

You Democrats wet your pants and drew your knives for that?

Merriam-Webster word for the day, heterodox

Today's M-W word is "heterodox," meaning different opinions or ways of perceiving things. I looked at the website for "Heterodox Academy" and found pretty much what I thought. Anything can be good or useful or instructional, but not if perceived as orthodox, conservative, and traditional. In fact, you could pretty much throw out the concepts of truth, goodness or beauty. I glanced through the blog written for Heterodox Academy and found a take down of Canadian psychologist/professor Dr. Jordan Peterson, who actually is best known for challenging orthodox leftist theory and mind control. Funny how words work. When Jordan Peterson challenges punishments for using the obvious pronoun, he's alt-right. Ten years ago, he would have just been using correct English. But the LGBTQ lobby has become very powerful in recent years and now the obvious has become the hateful.

Peterson has a best seller that is just driving the Leftists around the bend. It's called, "12 rules for life; an antidote to chaos." You can see from the title why it would upset those who want society in constant chaos--like attacking Chick-fil-A or killing off the unborn so they need to ship in more immigrants who have a higher birth rate. And admittedly, Peterson does give young people outrageous, non-leftist advice such as:

#1 Stand up straight with your shoulders back.
#5 Do not let your children do anything that makes you dislike them.
#8 Tell the truth--or, at least, don't lie.
#12 Pet a cat when you encounter one on the street.

You can see who is really heterodox. Peterson. He sprinkles his writing with basic psychological research, studies about animals (he particularly likes lobsters), some Judeo-Christian concepts, and a little Greek and Roman history. Except for the lobsters, people my age scratch their heads and say, This is best seller stuff? What our parents taught us? You'd never find such outrageous concepts in the writings of a recently tenured American professor at an elite university charging you $75,000 a year.

Thursday, November 21, 2019

The Democrats have pitted Americans against each other

Devon Nunes opening reports in today’s Schiff Show:

“President Trump, we are to believe, was just about to do something wrong, and getting caught was the only reason he backed down from whatever nefarious thought-crime the Democrats are accusing him of almost committing,” Nunes continued before dovetailing to his key point about it being the Democrats “who got caught.”

As evidence, he cited everything from the debunked Russian collusion delusion conspiracy theory that they gleefully touted for three years straight to their unscrupulous handling of the partisan whistleblower complaint:

♦ “They got caught falsely claiming they had more than circumstantial evidence that Trump colluded with the Russians to hack the 2016 elections.”

♦ “They got caught orchestrating this entire farce with the Whistleblower and lying about their secret meetings with him.”

♦ “They got caught defending the false allegations of the Steele dossier, which was paid for by the Democrats.”

♦ “They got caught breaking their promise that impeachment would only go forward with bipartisan support because of how damaging it is to the American people.”

♦ “They got caught running a sham impeachment process featuring secret depositions, hidden transcripts, and an unending flood of Democrat leaks.”

♦ “They got caught trying to obtain nude photos of President Trump from Russian pranksters pretending to be Ukrainians.”

♦ “And they got caught covering up for Alexandra Chalupa — a Democratic National Committee operative who colluded with Ukrainian officials to smear the Trump campaign — by improperly redacting her name from deposition transcripts and refusing to let Americans hear her testimony as a witness in these proceedings.”

“That is the Democrats’ pitiful legacy in recent years: They. Got. Caught,” he added.

Meanwhile, he continued, the accusations that have been levied against the president by the Democrats’ star witnesses have all been based on second-hand information and hearsay.

“Ladies and gentlemen, unless the Democrats once again scramble their kangaroo court rules, today’s hearing marks the merciful end of this spectacle in the Impeachment Committee, formerly known as the Intelligence Committee,” he added.

“Whether the Democrats reap the political benefit they want from this impeachment remains to be seen. But the damage they have done to this country will be long-lasting.”

He argued for instance that the Democrats’ impeachment drive has “pitted Americans against one another” in ways not seen before.”

Ukraine timeline from 2014

Remember the good old days (of last month) when the media were denying the coup--calling it hyperbole and fantasy? Now they praise an unelected careerist bureaucracy displayed during the hearings that seeks to overturn the president and the 2016 election.

John Solomon has laid out the Ukraine timeline beginning in 2014--there may be deeper political reasons, but protecting Biden's son and Kerry step-son and the families' wealth has certainly got to be at the top (or bottom). Although Solomon was reporting on the first tidbits of the scandal when most Americans had never heard of Ukraine, I really think if loose-lip, slightly demented Joe had never confessed in public to getting that prosecutor fired, this could still all be under the Obama era rug. You remember? The one with no scandals.

https://johnsolomonreports.com/the-ukraine-scandal-timeline-democrats-and-their-media-allies-dont-want-america-to-see/

https://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2019/nov/21/victor-davis-hanson-the-deep-state-at-w/?news-columnists

Ambassador Sondland’s testimony

"On examination, Ambassador Sondland admitted that only his presumptions tied conditions to the aid. His actual exchange with the President offered only, "I want nothing from Ukraine! Tell him to do what he ran on; tell him to do the right thing. I want nothing from them - there is no quid-pro-quo!"

The MSM did not report the examination of the Ambassador to its viewers!

They instead told their viewers that a conviction in the Senate was made inevitable by Sondland's testimony, ignoring altogether, Sondland's admission that only his presumptions tied conditions to the Ukrainian aid." (Patricia Anthone)

It's been shocking to me to listen to Democrat friends who watch and listen to testimony yet only hear "fact" instead of assumption, where people are clearly speculating about and interpreting the mind of someone they hate. They become enraged and unhinged if you point out what wasn't said. FACTS.

Would any of these Democrats, well educated, loyal Americans, want to face a jury this biased and hateful?  Would they agree to marriage counseling or arbitration if this sort of bias were taken as reliable information or fact? Why do people expect justice for themselves but no justice for people they hate?

What Democrats are doing should frighten you

My thoughts exactly. Even if you hate President Trump, you should be very afraid of the way Congressional Democrats and the media are destroying our justice system and basic principles of evidence and innocence. It's the show trials of the 1930s, USSR.


Wednesday, November 20, 2019

The Sondland Nothingburger

“Democrats are working on another nothingburger today with Ambassador Gordon Sondland's testimony. Not only did Sondland admit again that the only direct evidence he has on Trump is Trump's own statement saying he wanted nothing from Ukraine — "no quid pro quo" — but he also had to admit he has zero evidence Trump even tried to connect the military aid to the investigations of 2016 election interference and Burisma.” PJ Media. https://pjmedia.com/trending/amb-sondland-admits-he-has-no-evidence-trump-tied-ukraine-military-aid-to-investigations-other-than-his-own-presumption/

I listened to a small part of this scratching my head that Democrats were wetting their pants in anticipation of. . . Trump saying he wanted nothing?  What’s going on with these crazies?

In this whole mess, the only one who has admitted to wrong doing, to quid quo pro, is Joe Biden when he bragged about getting someone fired. Oh well.  The Obama Administration was protected.

Children have been rescued by ICE

This is sure to upset Leftists who want ICE shut down. Children have been rescued. "Special agents, investigators and analysts from across HSI have dedicated themselves to protecting children and rooting out predators for more than two decades. In FY 19, HSI initiated 4,224 child exploitation cases resulting in 3,771 criminal arrests, and identified or rescued 1,066 victims – an increase of nearly 18% over FY 18 and reflecting HSI’s firm commitment to ending these heinous crimes against children, wherever they occur.

Locally, HSI agents in the Seattle AOR arrested hundreds of individuals for child pornography violations, including a youth sports coach, elementary school music teacher, nurse assistant, suspected rapist, child sex tourist and a number of other previously convicted, registered sex offenders. . ." And Seattle? Wow

https://www.ice.gov/news/releases/ice-hsi-helps-remove-more-3500-sexual-predators-community-18-over-last-year

"HSI is committed to eradicating individuals from our communities who seek to prey on children,” said Eben Roberts, acting special agent in charge of HSI Seattle. “HSI’s agents, in cooperation with our law enforcement partners, work tirelessly to find and bring to justice, individuals who commit these heinous crimes. Moreover, we are dedicated to rescuing from harm’s way our most precious population – our children – and those who seek to harm them should consider this a warning.” "

But how do you eradicate people from the community who are sexually abusing children legally with the cooperation of their parents with the transgender hoax aka "gender affirmation surgery." Check the internet for any major city—Boston, Cincinnati, Columbus, LA—and you find these gender affirming clinics. Follow the money.  Where were they 10 years ago?

Nothing a patriot can’t do

What makes Donald J. Trump so popular with the people and so successful in accomplishing things other politicians could only dream about? He loves America!

New book by his son reveals his zest for life. https://spectator.org/the-book-on-the-president/

When visiting with the president in the Oval Office, the writer of this article in American Spectator expected to find the man who is maligned in the press--stormy, erratic obsessed—the guy the Trump haters like to pick on.

"I hate to report back to his enemies, but he was not erratic, not gloomy, not obsessed with his enemies. In fact, we hardly talked about his enemies. The president was upbeat, optimistic, and full of fun. He was in very good form, and his aide, Brad Parscale, remarked that this is one of the reasons Parscale enjoys working with him. Never once did the president mention a conservative writer, but he mentioned things American. When I mentioned my visit with a Fox News contributor, he said he had had a similar experience. “They’re [the president’s enemies are] living in a bubble,” the Fox reporter said. The president is having a ball, and if he is obsessed with his enemies he never showed it to us."

Oops. Wrong president.

A story that claimed the Trump administration had the highest number of children in detention in the world was suddenly withdrawn by several media outlets because the study upon which the story was based used data from 2015 when Barack Obama was president. (PJMedia)

Of course, there will be no further stories on the plight of immigrant children because unless Trump can be vilified and maligned, there is not story. Just doesn't sell. Who cares about kids, anyway?

You haven’t seen anything yet

Wall Street Journal today opined "The left’s culture warriors always need new monsters to slay. Among their most improbable targets in recent years is the famously friendly restaurant chain Chick-fil-A, which this week appears to have surrendered.

In 2012 CEO Dan Cathy, a committed evangelical Christian, sinned against the progressive ethos by expressing support for the traditional view of marriage. That prompted a political campaign against Chick-fil-A."

Most of us who stood in front of a pastor, judge or someone with a mail-order license and daisies in her hair always believed marriage was between a man and woman. Even most homosexuals. But after activists succeeded in the insurance and work benefits demands, and told everyone it was just about love, things changed after the Supremes again made law and decided to change thousands of years of history. Now if you believe God had something in mind, or even if directionless evolution lurched forward to protect the human race, now you are a hater, bigot, and evil person. And an awful lot of gay guys ended up at the altar (and later in divorce court) who thought they were protected from all that their heterosexual friends and associates were going through.

But is wasn't enough, as we've seen from the growing transgender wars--which threaten homosexuals as much as heterosexuals and will destroy their movement. This Chick-fil-A thing is just one more hole in the wall through which the nation will be attacked at its base--the babies that are unnecessary and inconvenient; the easy divorce or no marriage at all putting generations of children at risk; the demand that we ignore biology and pretend men have periods and babies (which seems to be the only time the Left want babies to live); ignoring the child trafficking across the real border; performing drag queens during library story hour; the dropping birthrate to the place where our population can't be replaced without importing people like oxen to do the dirty work; and the required reeducation camps supplied by our "woke capitalists" and leftist universities. No one will be allowed to have a thought differing from the socialist/communist cabal that is controlling the government and academe.

It will not make any difference if in 2019 you were a social justice warrior who supported gay marriage or the chemical castration of little boys so they can pretend to be girls--eventually even YOU WILL FIND a split in the road and say you won't go down that path. You'll ask, "Where's my country?" Maybe it will be legalized pedophilia, or the redefinition of so much history you'll think you didn't go to school, or digital spying everywhere, or losing your job because you aren't a minority. Look out. Then they'll haul you off to the reeducation camp or the phony trial where you'll have no right to presumption of innocence because in 1850 your family came here from Germany or Ireland.

Tuesday, November 19, 2019

Chick-Fil-A caves to radicals

"Chick-Fil-A said on Monday that it has stopped funding two Christian charities after coming under fire in recent weeks from LGBTQ activists. The fast-food chain’s foundation has donated millions of dollars to The Salvation Army and the Fellowship of Christian Athletes. Both organizations have a history of opposing same-sex marriage." (CNBC)

And who are the unfortunates being hurt by withdrawing funding from the Salvation Army? Who are the people being hurt by the LGBTQ activists? The homeless. The mentally ill. The single moms with little kids. Take a look at the full homeless report for Los Angeles--the one that breaks down this disfunction by district, race, age and sex. There is a tiny percent of people who are transgender in this country, yet their rate for homelessness is beyond absurd--and these are the very people Salvation Army helps. S.A. doesn't ask gender, race or creed--but the Left does. The Left has polluted everything about our country--there is no decency, kindness or integrity in the whole movement. They poison everything they touch.

Monday, November 18, 2019

Do something small that won’t change lives

Today I packed a bag for a family or household to have complete sides with the turkey Lutheran Social Services will distribute--mashed potatoes, 2 different vegetables, 2 fruits, a cake, gravy, cranberry sauce and pumpkin. I also packed a bag for "God's Hygiene Help Center" which includes personal care items for women who need to get back their dignity. This was started by Tammy Jewell about 8 years ago who was using her own disability check to buy things for those less fortunate. I packed shampoo, hand lotion, cotton balls, razors, deodorant, hand sanitizer, feminine hygiene products, and new Christmas socks, just for fun.

No one's life will be permanently changed. But the recipient may just be on a temporary slide and can bounce back, but she could be mentally ill and spend the rest of her life on the street. Why not have one good day to feel like everyone else? Would that be so terrible?

A few years ago I was visiting in Mt. Morris around the holidays and my Uncle Gene stopped by to chat. He was feeling great--he and a bunch of guys at the bar had taken up their annual collection for turkeys and were going to distribute them to (there was a list). They felt good and there were some families who had a nice meal--nothing life changing, just people helping people.

I was thinking about this because two Nobel Prize winners won on the basis of small projects enhanced by competition and incentive—finding out that children in Africa learn better if the teacher shows up, and that children are more like to get immunizations if they and the health care worker show up.  So simple.  Yet the author of the article was critical.

https://www.econlib.org/nobel-laureates-aim-too-low-on-global-poverty/

Are you ready for a happy ending story?

Many years ago my daughter inherited her grandmother's deviled egg plate. Oh, the wonderful egg delicacies we enjoyed for Indiana holidays--I think they were made by grandpa Jim along with his oyster dressing. Anyway, last Thanksgiving, it broke in the dishwasher and she was crushed. So she started looking on the internet, but everything was just too Easter-ish or was colored glass/pottery, and the ONE was clear and plain. Finally, she saw one on e-Bay, and contacted the owner, who happened to live right here in central Ohio. He told her it was made in Indiana, so she had him send some more photos and then ordered it. It is perfect and wonderful, and we're back in the holiday business.

I think I found the right photo. . .


Saturday, November 16, 2019

$100 million from DOJ to fight sex trafficking

One of the issues with the Border Wall (which Democrats used to support) is sex trafficking and trafficking of children. DNA tests show that many of the children of "family groups" are not related, and the kids are passed around. Leftists whine about cages, but don't seem to worry about trafficking. The women are being trafficked, and probably make their handlers more money than drugs, which can't be reused. So when Trump announces that his administration has had about 8x more arrests for sex trafficking (aka slavery) than Obama's the left just howls. First, they try to make it a women's rights issue (how lame) and second, they just hate him so they paste a Pinocchio nose on him based on tweets.

I haven't exactly determined how the money spent differs between Obama and Trump, and it wouldn't make any difference since James Little would find a corresponding cartoon article on the left denying it, but the recent figure is that DOJ has awarded more than $100 million to combat human trafficking and assist victims is reliable and here's a list of the grants, just in case you want to check if any of these agencies are near you. My problem with some of the recipients is they are leftist organizations sopping up federal money who have no particular value system that includes this issue.

https://ojp.gov/newsroom/pressreleases/2019/ojp-news-10082019_a.pdf?

Another problem with the list is that about 80% appears to go for training, task forces, information, marketing, "collaborative models," evaluations and salaries. Sure, you can't run a program for abused women and children without trained staff, but I sure would like to see more go directly to the women who need to rebuild their lives--you know, the basics like rent, food, medical care and job training. All the things they didn't have that may have pushed them into the trade. What happens in these cases, the church non-profits pick up the slack and scramble to assemble bedding, cleaning supplies, food, and winter coats.

The critics of Trump need to look in the mirror

The same people who scream and cry at Trump's behavior and claim he doesn't have American values (like my cousin Ron and former tenant Vern) and should be impeached are the ones lusting after every crazy program the 2020 candidates can come up with to distinguish themselves from the next socialist on the ballot. Green new deal. Death to the unborn. Confiscate the guns. Destroy free speech. Force the NFL to have 20% LGBTQ (I made that one up, but it they want it for TV why not football?). Tax wealth, not just income. Legalize and encourage homelessness with increased housing regulations. Start more forest fires with bad environmental rules. Fly in the illegals--don't make them walk; and force all artists and doctors to violate their religious beliefs.

A simple prayer: Jesus, here I am, it’s Norma

When people ask how our family is doing in this difficult time, I usually mumble something like, just pray for a miracle, that's really all we need. That said, so many people have been Jesus with skin on we're so very grateful. Cards, e-mails, meals, invitations, even visits from complete strangers. Even the really awkward conversations that quickly become a tale of woe about their own problems, are meant well.  I read a story this morning about prayer, I'd like to share (from Magnificat, Nov. 2019, Saturday, Nov. 16, 2019, pp. 248-249)

Cardinal Nguyen Van Thuan (d. 2002) was a prisoner of the north Vietnamese for 13 years, and after his liberation people suggested he must have had a lot of time to pray. He told them he was often so exhausted from the confinement and silence, he couldn't say a single word, then he told this story.

"There was an older man named Jim who would go to church every day at noon for just a few minutes, and then he would leave. The sacristan was very curious about Jim's daily routine, and one day he stopped him to ask: "Why do you come here every day?" "I come to pray," Jim answered.

"That's impossible! What prayer can you say in 2 minutes?"

"I am an old, ignorant man. I pray to God in my own way."

"But what do you say?"

"I say: 'Jesus, here I am, it's Jim.' And then I leave." After some years, Jim became ill and had to go to the hospital, where he was admitted to the ward for the poor. When it seemed that Jim was dying, a priest asked, "Jim, tell us how it is that from the day you came to this ward everything changed for the better? How is it that the patients have become happier, more content, and friendlier?"

"I don't know. When I could walk around, I would try to visit everyone. I greeted them, talked a bit with them. When I couldn't get out of bed I called everyone over to me to make them laugh, to make them happy. With Jim they are always happy!"

"But why are YOU happy?"

"Well, aren't you happy when you receive a visitor?" asked Jim.

"Of course, but we have never seen anyone come to visit you."

"When I came here I asked you for 2 chairs. One was for you, Father, and one was reserved for my guest."

"But what guest?" the priest asked.

"I used to go to church to visit Jesus every day at noon. But when I couldn't do that anymore, Jesus came here."

"Jesus comes to visit you? What does he say?"

"He says: 'Jim, here I am, it's Jesus!'" Before dying, Jim smiled and gestured with his hand toward the chair next to his bed, as if inviting someone to sit down. He smiled for the last time and closed his eyes.

The Cardinal continued. When my strength failed and I could not even pray, I repeated: "Jesus, here I am, it's Francis." Joy and consolation would come to me and I experienced Jesus responding: "Francis, here I am, it's Jesus."

Friday, November 15, 2019

Enjoying the Uline Catalog

Found a tidbit in the back of the Uline catalog (uline.com) comparing Texas and California--Uline has branches in both. So Liz Uihlein does a little comparison:

"Californians pay the highest income tax in the country, 13.3%; Texas does not have state income tax.

In California homeownership is at the lowest level since the 1940s.

California public schools system ranks 36th out of 51, Texas ranks 41st. Both states need to do better. [ I'm so old I remember when the California school system was the envy of the nation in the 1960s, although it was in decline, then came Proposition 13.]

Texas is the best state in which to do business and California has some of the most burdensome occupational licensing requirements in America [in case you didn't know this, that really hurts small business, particularly minorities, the backbone of the economy].

California's cost of living is 40% higher than the national average, whereas Texas is 9% lower.

California has the highest gas prices in the country and electricity rates are 50-75% higher than the national average. "

In Norma’s opinion: People are moving out of California, and many flee to Texas, Nevada and Arizona, but they are dragging with them their liberal values and voting which is what destroyed their lives in California! A California academic called rural people stupid, yet California produces 13 percent of the total cash agricultural receipts for the U.S., it is the sole producer of many crops. We could do with fewer elitist academics and more figs and olives.

California is controlled by leftists/Democrats/ socialists/progressives, or whatever you want to call them--if you've got money they want it. Young people and homeless people love it there. Unfortunately, this tsunami of bad decisions is coming our way.

Climate Change as religion

Senator Mazie Hirano of Hawaii (Democrat of course) believes Climate Change needs to be treated like a religion. Most conservatives thought it already was being promoted that way with more protections than real religions. Of course, if it were treated like a religious cult, maybe we could get it out of the classroom and every media source. I'm sure my public library has more books on climate change than Christianity, especially for children.

https://pjmedia.com/trending/democrat-sen-mazie-hirono-believe-in-climate-change-as-though-its-a-religion/

https://legalinsurrection.com/2019/09/climate-change-as-religion-seminary-students-confess-their-sins-to-plants-in-ritual/

https://www.pewresearch.org/science/2015/10/22/religion-and-views-on-climate-and-energy-issues/

The party of Woke

Deval Patrick, recently of Bain Capital and Fox Business News, newly declared Democrat candidate for chief oligarch, states he loves that his party is moving further to the left. Indeed, we see that being played out in the hearings whereby the Democrats attempt to undo the election of 2016 and destroy the Constitution by inventing crimes, a system well known by leftists (Communists, Fascists, Socialists, statists of all stripes).

On MSNBC: “First of all, I love that the party has moved to the left. I love that we are the party of the woke,” Patrick said. “I believe that we also have to be the party of the still waking, and I have always conducted my personal life and my business life . . . yada yada" Strange talk for a wealthy venture capitalist.

By "still waking" I suppose he means more Antifa riots and college protests to silence conservatives, forcing women to accept men in their athletic events and locker rooms, destroying public schools with radicalized teachers, open borders for the 75 different nationalities entering the U.S. in the south including terrorists and trafficked children, full rights to our social safety net for illegal aliens, shredding the first amendment rights, confiscating guns from private citizens while allowing them for criminals, confiscatory green taxes to fill the wallets of government bureaucrats, reduction and weakening of the military, more sexual abuse of children aka transgendering through surgery and chemical castration and stealing your assets through a wealth tax.

Thursday, November 14, 2019

Have the holidays been cancelled?

Our son who has brain cancer has decided that this year we won’t celebrate November birthdays, Thanksgiving, or Christmas.  Of course, we are disappointed, but he needs to be careful about viruses.

But that set me to thinking about other unusual holidays.  Our son Stanley died on February 13, and we were receiving Valentine cards and sympathy cards in the same mail drop. Our son Patrick died shortly before Thanksgiving, so that holiday in 1964 was pretty much a blur.  I can’t even remember if we made the trip to Mt. Morris or stayed in Champaign.
 Stanley, Christmas 1962
Bob's mother, grandmother, Aunt Babe, Aunt Bert

And my dear Mother, always one for stern advice, warned me not to let bad memories interfere with future enjoyment of holidays.  It was wise advice, especially since I didn’t know she especially cared about holidays, which were always rather low keyed in my family, compared with my husband’s family blow outs and budget busting gifts.

Christmas both of those years was just awful.  My sisters had adorable toddlers the same age as Stanley, which we needed to admire and coo about while remembering an earlier Christmas with Mom and Dad beaming holding 3 babies. I have a few photos from those years and I look like death warmed over, as we used to say in the 20th century.

 Our final Christmas in our home of 34 years, 2001

Thanksgiving 2009
                               
Another holiday alone memory is the fall of 1957.  My college roommate, JoElla, and I decided we would just stay on campus for Thanksgiving and not face that 6 hour drive back to Illinois. We could relax, read, maybe go to a movie and catch up on laundry.  What a disaster!  We had no idea how deserted and lonely the campus would be, or how everything would be closed and we’d eat cold food in our dorm room.  By Christmas I was so homesick I could barely function.

Then there was the year that my sister and I decided we’d do something totally different for the holidays because our adult children were squabbling with each other—I don’t even remember the year—sometime in the early 2000s—or what the disputes were.  By comparison with this year, they were certainly minor. So we got together at Rehoboth Beach and had Thanksgiving dinner at a lovely hotel known for that event.

For years we shared and alternated our winter holidays with our son in law’s parents in Cleveland. I think we ate alone in a restaurant or would drive to Indianapolis to have dinner with Bob’s family—usually a huge crowd and that often made us feel even more lonely because by that time some of our nieces and nephews were grandparents and we couldn’t even identify some of the people.

And Oh My.  The years I cancelled at the last minute our plans to drive to Illinois to spend Thanksgiving or Christmas with my parents.  One of us would always seem to come down with a cold and it would go through the family so I’d cancel the 10 hour trip. And guiltily I confess, that I often wasn’t too sad, because what looked like a fabulous idea during Indian Summer in October’s bright colors didn’t look so great in the ice and snow of late December.  Mom was always understanding and gracious—not to worry, they would drive to Oregon and eat at the nursing home with my grandparents.

Again the holidays of 2017-18 were really bad.  Our daughter had planned a great neighborhood football party, the invitations were out, the food was prepared, and their sweet little Chihuahua Abby died very suddenly. It was a horrible shock.  We were all devastated, especially since in the previous 3 months Phil’s dear Rosa and our Lotsa Spotsa had died and it was like opening a raw wound.  At the last minute, the five of us did get together, enjoyed the food, and watched the game. We cried and laughed and helped each other get through a very bad time. It was momentary—you don’t get over a tragedy just by enjoying a few laughs and some great food.  But it helps.

The early Americans were still thankful for their good harvest in spite of all their losses, and Jesus was still born in a manger in Bethlehem to be setting out for the cross years later.  We’ll remember what holidays are about and will be thankful for our hope which is in the Lord, and for modern technology and drugs which will battle this disease for us.

Echo from the past on climate change

"There is a rational reason why the academic community so readily has accepted what appears to be bad science. It's called MONEY. There are huge sums of taxpayers' money being spent to "save" our planet and much more to be spent in the future. We're not talking about mere billions here; we're talking trillions. . .

The clarion for global unity [by traditional liberals] was the threat of communism, although many of the same people had cheerfully embraced the teachings of Marx and Lenin earlier. With the collapse of world communism, their platform quickly shifted to global ecology and the threat of worldwide environmental disaster. As I heard one commentator remark, "The Reds have turned into the Greens." . . .

I readily admit that I also am biased in my evaluation of the radical leaders of the environmental movement. In reviewing the names that usually accompany environmental rallies they're almost always the same ones that enlist with groups like Planned Parenthood, NOW, the ACLU, Queer Nation, ACT UP, and many others. These radicals also go to great lengths to keep any contrary views out of the media, and they are not against blacklisting anyone who disagrees with them."

Sound familiar? This book was published in 1993--AOC was 4 years old. She knows nothing because that's all she knows. Think of the inroads into the heads of mush of college students that have been infected in the last quarter century, nonsense already 25 years old when this book was published! This climate change stuff and "socialism is great" were being fed to their parents in the 1990s. "Whatever happened to the American dream," by Larry Burkett, 1993.

The Kingdom of God is among you

"The Kingdom of God is Among You [within you]." How often I've heard that, or read it, and found the explanation (mine or theirs) unsatisfactory--especially the quibbling over the translation. As a protestant, particularly a Lutheran, I always get to be the Pope, the theology professor, the preacher of the day, the one who knows best, and most of the time, that's daunting. The words were heard in Jesus' spoken language, recorded in Greek, translated to Latin, and retranslated into hundreds of languages in multiple versions written and edited and published by people with beliefs and biases. But I like what Pope Benedict XVI wrote in "Jesus of Nazareth," Ignatius Press, 2007. He's has a great mind, and a fabulous translator.

"The new proximity of the Kingdom of which Jesus speaks--the distinguishing feature of his message--is to be found in Jesus himself. Through Jesus' presence and action, God has here and now entered actively into history in a wholly new way. The reason why now is the fullness of time (Mark 1:15), why NOW is in a unique sense the time of conversion and penance, as well as the time of joy, is that in Jesus it is God who draws near to us. In Jesus, God is now the one who acts and who rules as Lord--rules in a divine way, without worldly power, rules through the love that reaches to the end (John 13:1) to the cross . . .

In this context we understand Jesus' statements about the lowliness and hiddenness of the Kingdom; in this context we understand the fundamental image of the seed. . . in this context we also understand his invitation to follow him courageously, leaving everything else behind. He himself is the treasure; communion with him is the pearl of great price."

The book (in Latin) was developed before he became Pope, and his preface is worth looking at.

https://www.catholiceducation.org/en/culture/catholic-contributions/preface-from-jesus-of-nazareth.html?

Wednesday, November 13, 2019

The czar/tsar list

There was an earlier attempt to clean up the swamp back in 2011 with a bill introduced by Republicans because Obama had so many czars/tsars (good solid Russian term for Caesar) in place that were unelected, unconfirmed and unaccountable. They were not successful. George W. Bush had a similar number but most were confirmed, as were most of FDR's (who began the tradition). Imagine if someone had put in the effort and time to investigate and threaten each Obama czar the way Democrats have been completely focused on destroying Trump's choices or demanding they be leakers.

I haven't found a czar list for President Trump--just advisors, or friends/family which the media and Democrats have bitterly criticized, ridiculed and threatened. If there is a complete list, let me know.

Obama list:

AIDS Czar: Jeffrey Crowley

Auto Recovery Czar: Ed Montgomery

Border Czar: Alan Bersin

California Water Czar: David J. Hayes

Central Region Czar: Dennis Ross

Climate Czar: Todd Stern

Domestic Violence Czar: Lynn Rosenthal

Drug Czar: Gil Kerlikowske

Energy and Environment Czar: Carol Browner

Faith-Based Czar: Joshua DuBois

FCC's Diversity Czar: Mark Lloyd

Government Performance Czar: Jeffrey Zients

Great Lakes Czar: Cameron Davis

Guantanamo Closure Czar: Daniel Fried

Health Czar: Nancy-Ann DeParle

Information Czar: Vivek Kundra

Intellectual Property Czar: Victoria Espinel

Intelligence Czar: James Clapper

Manufacturing Czar/Car Czar: Ron Bloom

Mideast Peace Czar: George Mitchell

Oil Spill Escrow Fund Czar: Kenneth Feinberg

Regulatory Czar: Cass Sunstein

Safe Schools Czar: Kevin Jennings

Science Czar: John Holdren

Stimulus Accountability Czar: Earl Devaney

Sudan Czar: J. Scott Gration

TARP Czar: Herb Allison

Technology Czar: Aneesh Chopra

Terrorism Czar: John Brennan

Urban Affairs Czar: Adolfo Carrion Jr.

War Czar: Douglas Lute

Weapons Czar: Ashton Carter

WMD Policy Czar: Gary Samore

9/11 Health Czar: John Howard

Cyber Czar: Howard Schmidt

Oil Spill Czar: Ray Mabus

Economic Czar: Paul Volcker

Ethics Czar: Norm Eisen

Afghanistan Czar: Richard Holbrooke

This was an O-list as of 2011--not worth the effort to update. A few I remember--like John Brennan, Paul Volcker, Cass Sunstein, James Clapper, Aneesh Chopra, Richard Holbrooke--they just join think tanks and wait for the power shift.  I counted 10 drug czars—Nixon began that tradition—and the probably has just gotten worse.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U.S._executive_branch_czars

https://www.thenation.com/article/trump-kicks-off-the-return-of-the-czars/  (2016—but he wasn’t president yet)

Long term problems, guest blogger Jeffrey Verasano

Some sobering thoughts about our future, many I'd been thinking myself--the swamp of unelected sycophants in DC is indicative of all the institutions around us, many of which we've willingly chosen. 

Jeffrey: 

"There are several long-term problems that seem insurmountable.

  • - The demographic time bomb has already been set
  • - Most major institutions have been subverted from the inside as the Long March through the institutions reaches its peak. It's a lot harder to rebuild these then to destroy them. Being mad at liberal insanity is easy. Running for the school board, replacing principals and teachers, and rebuilding University education degree programs is a lot harder. Rebuilding Church attendance, taking over the bureaucracies. These are multi-decade challenges and I don't see any plan to even begin. [This is REALLY sobering}
  • - The right is angry but the left is relentless. The very nature of the right being individualistic, versus the left being collective, puts the right at a long-term systemic disadvantage.
  • - The default form of government is an oligarchal hierarchy, typically a monarchy or similar. Continuous centralization of power is natural whereas checks and balances are complex and artificial, historically present when rare circumstances align. We had those for a while but no longer do. Thus we see a relentless return to the default.
  • - Empires occur in cycles and don't last forever. Whether you look at the Tytler cycle or others that have been written about, it is clear that's great societies arise out of specific values but once arisen their very success breeds alternate values which makes sustaining the empire nearly impossible. Courage breeds success, but success breeds laziness and ingratitude, plus attracts parasites and competitors.

Of course, the timeline for these civilization scale changes is up in the air and collapse could be put off for our lifetimes. But empires don't last forever and all the forces that have killed others are glaringly visible and on the rise. Other civilizations have had people just like us, who screamed warnings. Some of these may have created temporary patches, but no permanent solution is ever found.

The huge wild card is artificial intelligence. That is unlike any factor ever faced by mankind. In a generation or two the need to work and the competition that breeds will be all but eliminated, as robotics will multiply the productive capacity many, many times. But controlling AI may be impossible. The normal rules would have us comparing the geopolitical strategies and capacities of China, Islam, Marxists and Constitutionalists. But AI as a force will dwarf all of these.

So who knows..."

Tuesday, November 12, 2019

Google and our health data

According to a story I watched on Fox today, we're not to be concerned that Google is controlling and distributing our health information and data--they are being HIPAA compliant. Big Whoop. What about being compliant with our wishes, with our concerns? Remember Henrietta Lacks? Did her medical information only matter because she was black? Researchers are lusting for this information--imagine having the data for 1500-2000 people with disease xyz with a key stroke instead of the 30 or 40 you can find with months of appeals and research. And cha ching, your data is part of a study which may bring the researcher/company millions.

https://www.engadget.com/2019/11/11/google-ascension-patient-records-project-nightingale/

https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/henriettalacks/

Too much food

Read e-mail invites carefully. Last night I took a lovely arrangement of peanut butter cookies and chocolate mints wrapped in green foil to our fall condo meeting. Beverage and desserts were supplied--didn't need to do that. Now I have waaaay too much food here, and my daughter just stopped by with some frozen meals--her fabulous lasagna and beef stew. So I ate some cookies--just to free up some space.

Our loss

Protestants gave up so much when the book of Wisdom was removed from the Old Testament.

Wisdom 2:23-3:9 Today's reading.

God formed man to be imperishable;

the image of his own nature he made them.

But by the envy of the Devil, death entered the world,

and they who are in his possession experience it.

But the souls of the just are in the hand of God,

and no torment shall touch them.

They seemed, in the view of the foolish, to be dead;

and their passing away was thought an affliction

and their going forth from us, utter destruction.

But they are in peace.

For if before men, indeed, they be punished,

yet is their hope full of immortality;

Chastised a little, they shall be greatly blessed,

because God tried them

and found them worthy of himself.

As gold in the furnace, he proved them,

and as sacrificial offerings he took them to himself.

In the time of their visitation they shall shine,

and shall dart about as sparks through stubble;

They shall judge nations and rule over peoples,

and the Lord shall be their King forever.

Those who trust in him shall understand truth,

and the faithful shall abide with him in love:

Because grace and mercy are with his holy ones,

and his care is with his elect.

The Washington Post—a fantasy

I have a dream. No, it's more a fantasy. Jeff Bezos needs money (See? A fantasy since he's the richest man in the world). So he decides to sell the Washington Post which daily poisons the minds of elitist, sourpuss coastal Leftists and Democrats, those self-righteous, angry haters of America and those terrified of cleaning up the DC mess. He has every technological trick known to spew 1,200 articles a day, mostly anti-Trump . He doesn't get a lot for the fish wrapper in my fantasy--maybe $14.97--but a smart conservative snatches it up, and we again have a vibrant, interesting, fair and balanced, well-written, mature source of information and opinion in the land. We'll have real news instead of constant opinion written by 20-somethings. Some men want money, some want power. Through digital magic, he has both. [Businessinsider, this source, is also controlled by Bezos.]

https://www.businessinsider.com/how-the-washington-post-changed-after-jeff-bezos-acquisition-2016-5?

Monday, November 11, 2019

Veterans Day, 2019

When we were kids, November 11 was called Armistice Day—because it was the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918—the end of World War I.  And oh my, how many wars since then!  My parents remembered and told stories about the first Armistice Day since they were about 5-6 years old and remembered the celebrations.  I like to think of them running around as kids, in adjoining counties—Lee and Ogle--but not knowing each other, listening to the farm bells, celebrating what they probably didn’t understand. But since both my grandfathers had been registered for the draft, at least they could put that worry aside.

Dad, being deceased, technically is not honored today—that’s for Memorial Day, but he  “was inducted into the Marine Corps in March, 1944, at San Diego, California.  After completing his training, he was assigned to the U.S.S. Mayo and made two trips across the Atlantic and one trip each to Okinawa, the Philippines and Japan.  He was discharged in December, 1945.” [War Record of Mt. Morris]  It is my recollection he was home in time for Christmas that year, and I think Mom went all out—we got the doll house (to share) and the sled (to share). I’m not sure what he gave my brother, but we three girls each got pure silk hand bags—mine was red and yellow—I had it well into adulthood packed away, but have no idea where it is now.  Dad had worked for Standard Oil before going into the service, and he still had a job, but not the same territory, so he was driving every day to the area around Forreston and Freeport, and that’s why we moved in 1946 (or could have been early 1947—memory is a bit rusty).

The Mt. Morris Index kept up with all the soldiers away from home and although we have none of his letters  I was able to include one of his letters to the Index about a mix-up in his mail, August 1944 when he was still a private in one of my memory compilations of 2002.  The information from the Index I found in a file folder Dad kept in his desk on Lincoln St.--they would be 75 years old if someone in the family still has those newspaper clippings.  There are a few references to our family which moved to Alameda, California, while he was stationed in California. I think the editor (Tommy ?) did that for all the men who were in the war.   In the June 29, 1945, clipping it mentions he was a payroll clerk on the Mayo.  He told me years later that because he could type (won a prize at Polo H.S.) he wasn’t in combat.  I’d always figured it was because he had 4 children and was in his 30s—much older than most of the men!  He had a leave he spent in Mt. Morris because his ship was docked in Boston, but we were on the road with our mother returning from California, and didn’t get to see him.

This is so sad. . . evil in our land

“As the left has increasingly exposed itself in the Trump era as rabidly illiberal, irrational, and immoral, it is time for the right to acknowledge that the left is not merely wrong, but evil.

As an ideology, Progressivism – the rebranding of Communism – embraces totalitarianism and absolute statist control, which always and everywhere leads to misery, corruption, and brutality, and never elevates humanity.

Conservatives who believe that it is still possible to reason with the left and engage them in fair-and-square policy debates are clinging to a failed strategy, sadly. We must accept the reality that leftists have long since abandoned rational rules of engagement, if they ever had any; instead, they operate from a hate-filled mob mentality, a bloodlust for power, and a complete absence of moral boundaries. We cannot afford a lack of moral clarity about the undeclared civil war raging across the United States of America.” Richard Helmold  commenting on Mark Tapson article https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/2019/02/leftism-not-just-wrong-evil-mark-tapson/?. . .

“The Democrat Party is the face of Moloch, the Canaanite god whom Milton called the “horrid King besmear'd with blood / Of human sacrifice.” It is a cult of criminality and death. On every political issue, Democrats take the side of chaos and destruction, crime and disorder. They hype the threat of white supremacism while whitewashing Islamic terrorism. They are actively engaged in erasing our history and undermining our rights. They support open borders over national security; sanctuary cities for criminal aliens and the abolishment of ICE over law-abiding citizens and legal immigration; infanticide over the sacredness of human life; the dismantling of Western civilization over its preservation. This is not simply wrong – this is evil.”

Saturday, November 09, 2019

Baltimore and the Democrats, by guest blogger Peter

“There is a clear strategy by the Democrats to obtain majorities by using districting and migration to win elections.

We see it very clearly in Maryland. The northern part of the state is majority Republican voters. Roscoe Bartlett used to be our Congressman and he had a farm, took care of his animals and then drove to DC. He was one of only 3 scientists in Congress.

Then they resliced his district and we are now part of Elijah Cummings’ District. Needless to say, he was out of touch with rural issues.

But here is what else is happening. Under O’Malley, Baltimore City became an attractive destination for Mexican illegal immigrants. He could be seen posing on the webpage for the illegal immigrant organization that provides job referrals for the illegals in Maryland. They provide, for example, the labor to clean up Oriole stadium after the games. With the upcoming census, they will be counted allocating more Congressmen in Baltimore.

Around Baltimore city is Baltimore County which is light blue. So how to you secure those seats? By forcing migration from Baltimore City to Baltimore County.  How?

They just passed a new county law that rental property owners have to accept Section 8 housing vouchers, whether they like it or not. And the tenants don’t have to disclose that this is how they plan to pay the rent ahead of the lease.  This will trigger migration from Baltimore City with largely failing schools to Baltimore County with better schools.

I would not be surprised if there are similar undercurrents in Delaware county, PA, since the geographic and demoscopic situation is very similar.”

And then Peter adds:

“Now that we moved about 2 months ago to Harford County, its been a real eye opener. Harford County really has it together, runs a better than balanced budget, no proposed tax increases, a completely different environment in racial harmony than Baltimore City or Baltimore County despite the Trump flags flying everywhere in this county, schools that are run with a lot more common sense, a strong county procurement initiative to reduce sourcing costs across the board. We are still surprised on a daily basis. A couple days ago, we found out that we can source very inexpensive health insurance through the Harford County Schools for our kids. It’s actually a very innovative idea that actually reduces the cost for the school system.”

Friday, November 08, 2019

Two months ago

Where were you 2 months ago? Sept 8. Looking back at my diary, I see it was a quiet, peaceful Sunday, good church service and we were getting back into our fall routine after a great summer at Lakeside. Not a thought about brain cancer and how our lives would change forever in a few weeks.

And where were you 2 months before you were born? I was living a very quiet, peaceful life in my mother's womb, kicking and swimming, and so were you (different years and different mother, of course). Mom was 27 and chasing after my 2 older sisters. I don't know if we--all of us--were living at 203 E. Hitt St., not sure I ever asked when they bought the home I remember. The newspapers were full of the growing tension in Europe caused by Hitler who in a few weeks, about the time of my birth, would march into Poland, but the U.S., including FDR, was still planning to be neutral.

Two months before you and I were born we were the same persons we are today, just smaller. Yet there are women walking into "clinics" today, November 8, who have changed their minds and will kill their babies who could have survived outside the womb. “Oh, but that's rare,” you say—“It's a woman's right.” OK, name the figure, the number of babies, that is acceptable to you. 50? 100? Perhaps 1,000? Pick a number.

And remember, once you too were counting down 2 months to launch.