Friday, September 30, 2022

The farm on Daysville Road

 In May we sold our summer home in Lakeside, Ohio, after owning it for 34 years. Part of the sale contract was we would stay until Labor Day, so we did get to enjoy one last summer. That's just a little longer than we owned our home on Abington Road where we raised our family. We bought it in 1988 and I still was suffering from a bad case of "empty nest." I remember how much fun it was to decorate it--we were starting from scratch because everything needed to be refreshed, remodeled, or replaced. In May 1989 Bob and his friend Ron changed the paint color from white to mauve, which it remained through summer 2022, our last year.  Some knick knacks and mementos made the trip from Columbus to Lake Erie, although I didn't want it to look like our home in Columbus.  I shopped in Sandusky for things like sheets and towels, and I believe the wall paper (all the rage then) in cream, mauve, rose and blue, came from a Columbus store. 

One of my own paintings seem to fit the theme of the master bedroom--sort of rural and folksy with maple furniture from the 1940s, so it made the trip to the summer home and stayed for 34 years.  This is an acrylic painting I'd done around 1978 from a photo I'd taken in around 1974 of the field of soybeans and neighboring farm at my mother's family farm near Franklin Grove.  I believe at the time I was told that was the --------- place, and it may have even been a distant relative, but I've forgotten the name. If I had the Lee County History book, I could perhaps look it up.  

I doubt that I painted the buildings accurately because it was the sky, particularly the clouds, that caught my eye that hot day. The sun was high in the sky and the fluffy clouds created a shadow on the fields.  The farm land in that part of Lee County is very flat, so when you're outside, you have a feeling that it's all sky--maybe like Montana which is called "big sky." A story that was told to me, I think by my father, is that this area was all marsh in the 1800s when the white settlers arrived. It was near Inlet Swamp.  I'd heard from my grandmother that her father had tiled the land to drain the water. He got the land very cheap, maybe $1.00 an acre because it was swampy and wet--considered worthless for farming.  If I could see what's west of that farm on Daysville Road in the painting I think it would be Old Mill Road and Franklin Creek Park.  

 So this painting hung in the Lakeside house for 34 years, and is now in the bathroom off my office.



Thursday, September 29, 2022

Joe and Kamala--not a good week

Joe honored a woman in the room who was dead and Kamala said the U.S. was in an alliance with North Korea.

I don't blame them, I blame the Democrats for electing them. They knew exactly what they were getting--a confused old man past his prime (if he had one--he had a 45 year record as a gaffe machine and plagiarist) and a woman chosen for her race who actually called Biden a racist during the 2020 campaign! Now how dumb can the voters be!

And then his Spox Karine Jean-Pierre tried to cover for him when even the usually cover-up press corps brought it up. All she needed to say was, "He misspoke," and although it would have been a lie, it would have been over.  She just went on and on with her fable.

Vice President Kamala Harris commends US alliance with 'Republic of North Korea' in DMZ speech gaffe | Fox News

Watch: Joe Biden Searches Room for Deceased Congresswoman in Incredibly Awkward Moment – RedState

Transgenderism goes mainstream

Does anyone remember maybe 40-50 years ago Billy Graham was vilified by the Leftists for suggesting that rapists might be castrated to stop their attacks on women and boys? He apologized. Now we have everyone from university medical schools, to the AMA to the President of the United States claiming it's OK either through surgery or hormone blockers to castrate boys who fantasize about wearing dresses and attracting men. Yes, even adolescents or younger, no counseling, just confusion or a fantasy. And some of the parents go along to get along. My, how things change in the Halls of Ivy.
 
And we get to participate in this new form of child abuse by funding it with our tax dollars. We've got a clinic right here on the Ohio State campus (and all the other public university campuses like Cleveland, Toledo, Cincinnati). An abusers' "heaven." Only they dress it up (no pun) a little and call it, Transgender Heaven. Look it up, I'm not kidding.

Rare earth minerals

Having sold off so much of the US strategic critical mineral reserves, the US now depends on China for rare earth minerals, which are crucial for everything in the US military from F-35 fighter jets, missiles, and tanks to mobile phones and radio communication.

The rare earths dependency on China stems in part from the fact that extracting rare earth minerals is an extremely polluting process that China has been willing to undertake, while most other countries have not, including the US, which ironically prides itself on having strict environmental regulations in place."

How the US Squandered Its Strategic Minerals :: Gatestone Institute

Compare and contrast the response to Katrina and Ian

Let's review some history of the media and Democrat party (redundant). Remember Katrina? In 2005 New Orleans was devastated. It had a black Democrat mayor responsible for the local evacuation and safety. Louisiana had a female Democrat governor who should have had the rest of the state ready to respond as well as her neighbors. Who did the press blame? President Bush. Why? Because he flew over and looked at the devastation and didn't parachute into the eye of the storm. Makes sense right?
 
Let's contrast to Ian, the storm currently devastating Florida. Some in the mainstream media (not all are so stupid) can't blame Biden so they want to discuss "climate change" which they confuse with weather. That way they can continue to back Biden's inflationary plans for the green new deal (IRA) instead of fighting highest inflation in 50 years, shortages of fuel which could leave Europe freezing this winter, and chaos at our southern border with the sex and drug trafficking.
 
Because DeSantis was better at controlling Florida's economy while the rest of the nation locked down and shuddered at the latest pronouncement of Fauci and CDC (many of which have been proven wrong) the left has temporarily postponed their attacks on Trump (J-6 clown show was set aside) and moved on to DeSantis, like the ugly ladies of the View, the MSM talking heads and the Soros backed twitter bots.

Oh yes, and President Bush was called racist during rescue efforts during Katrina, because many died in the poor, black neighborhoods of NOLA. Four years later when all the data were examined, it turned out that NOLA with 65% black population showed 51% of the dead from all storm related causes were blacks, and it was the elderly that were most vulnerable. That should have been the take away from that disaster. It could have been applied to the pandemic, along with centuries of experience. But no. For holding on to power, Biden needed to control the whole nation, and particularly shut down the churches while leaving bars and tattoo parlors open. Governors (like ours in Ohio, a Republican) followed meekly, trusting one science, but not another. Mayors of blue cities allowed crowds for rioting but not open churches because George Floyd was a good cause (for BLM).
 
In NOLA during Katrina and aftermath many of the elderly died when the power was out. In Florida, I heard on an interview yesterday, all nursing home and retirement facilities have 100% secondary back up for power. (Those fleeing in electric cars were just out of luck.)

Wednesday, September 28, 2022

Are you a classicist?

A Pelosi staffer (an intern) interrupted Victor Davis Hanson in a luncheon presentation for government staffers accusing him of being a classicist. Puzzled, VDH questioned what he meant. He said that because he was a classicist he was oppressing the poor and working classes. When VDH calmly explained that a classicist was a scholar who studied ancient languages, literature and history of Greece and Rome his attacker stormed out, grabbing several boxes of pizza as he left. And that my friends is what goes on in the bubble we call D.C. (VDH show on Sept. 27, podcast)

Joe Biden just doesn't care

Joe Biden doesn't care about those who worked and paid their own costs for college--tuition, fees, transportation, housing, meals, and social life for four or five years, more if they went to graduate school.

Joe Biden doesn't care about those who applied for loans and grants and graduated with debts they paid off just as they had agreed to do.

Joe Biden doesn't care about those who were promised more than could be delivered, who left college with debt that plagued them for many years. Like the appliance repairman who was here a few days ago who left college with $40,000 debt and a job that didn't pay as well as he had before he enrolled.

Joe Biden doesn't care about those who finished high school with a degree or GED and went on to build a successful life and never went to college or accumulated no debt for their training on the job.

Joe Biden doesn't care that each U.S. household since he's moved in part time at the White House has lost about $4600 a year due to inflation.

Joe Biden doesn't care that he's adding $4 Billion (CBO figure) to that 8.5% inflation to illegally forgive student debt which will affect the middle income much more than the lawyers and doctors who can now spend more without their student debt.

Joe Biden doesn't care that he's given the green light to academic administrators to raise their tuition and fees even more.

What Joe Biden really cares about is the votes he's buying for the November election to keep the Democrats in power to spend, lie and steal.





St. Lorenzo Ruiz Feast Day

 One of the advantages of using a Catholic publication (Magnificat) for my morning meditation time is the history and fine art that I learn.  As a protestant, my exposure to Christian history, after the death of the disciple John, was whatever happened after 1708 (Church of the Brethren) or later when we joined Upper Arlington Lutheran Church, the dispersion and scattering of Christians into thousands of denominations after Martin Luther (German) and John Calvin (French) in the 16th century. 

On the Catholic calendar today is the feast day of St. Lorenzo Ruiz, the first Filipino saint, and he was born around 1600 and canonized by John Paul II in 1987.  Although some U.S. Christians deny that Christians today are martyred or persecuted for their faith (the largest number by Communists), that's not what the statistics show.  Just because we have the First Amendment to our Constitution in the U.S. and do not feel personally persecuted doesn't mean it isn't happening in Asia and Africa where the growth is the strongest. 

"[He] and his 15 companion martyrs, all members and associates of the Dominican Order, were slain in Japan between 1633 and 1637.  Persecutions stemmed from a 1603 edict by the Shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu banning Christianity.  From 1623, suspected Christians were forced to tread on images of Mary and Jesus. Those who refused were executed.  The tortures from his period were designed to force the victims to renounce their Faith.  Some Christians did apostasize.  The men and women honored today spent their last excruciating hours with their hearts raised in prayer and hymns of praise." (Magnificat, vol. 24, no. 7, p. 388-389).  

So of course, I had to turn to the internet for more information since my personal library is not much help. His death is just too gruesome to repeat, I don't even recommend that you look it up, but I was struck by the fact he was sort of an accidental martyr.  Although a devout Christian, he really hadn't intended to be a missionary to the Japanese, and got there by accident fleeing his homeland on a homicide charge. He arrived in the middle of a terrible persecution, but his faith and early training held up and endured the most terrible torture. 

Because this group of Christians who were killed in the 17th century were in Nagasaki, one of the bombed cities at the end of WWII, I continued looking through historical material on the internet.  I found out a remnant of the Christians survived, and even had a thriving community in the 1940s.  That area of Nagasaki where they lived was at the center of the destruction and was destroyed.  One Christian survivor of the A-bomb  believes "the war ended because of our sacrifice.” https://blog.nationalgeographic.org/2015/10/08/nagasakis-hidden-christians-survive-persecution-and-the-atomic-bomb/

Christian Persecution in the 21st Century - Good News Christian NewsGood News Christian News (goodnewsfl.org)



Tuesday, September 27, 2022

Compare the media treatment of Trump and Biden

Let's do a dose of "whataboutism."

Remember how hysterical the media Democrats (redundant) were about the Charlottesville attack with a car during a protest about removing a statue from a city park 4 years ago? Remember who they blamed? That's right. President Trump, who had nothing to do with it, and had said nothing violent or "fascist" about the local dispute. They condemned him as a racist for NOT condemning the perp strongly enough, even though at the time there was no motive, no information on the killing. They blasted that all over the news for months. Now compare that to the crickets from the Left and Joe Biden's handlers in the recent death of teen-ager Cayler Ellingson, 18, who was killed on Sunday in North Dakota after 41-year-old Shannon Brandt ran over him with his car deliberately following a political dispute. Brandt claims Ellingson is (was) a right wing, Republican terrorist, using the words of Biden, Clinton, and other Democrats hyperinflated with their own power. Brandt not only hasn't been condemned for following the suggests of Biden in how to deal with right wing opponents even if they've never done anything, he's walking free on low bond. Meanwhile, parents are terrorized by the government for speaking out at school board meetings, and the FBI is sent to arrest a pro-lifer in Florida whom they claim "pushed" a pro-abortion agitator. Well, Brandt "pushed" an opponent with his car, and killed him. And that guy goes free.

Democrats, especially the media, have no standards, no foundation in goodness, and no idea of truth and justice. They are all talk and they redefine the words to fit their narrative--it's not justice, it's JUST US. Whether it is about the value of life (willing to abort babies and sexually abuse children with "medical" transcare), or the security of our nation (allowing millions of unexamined border hoppers in), or the rights of women (forcing them to compete with men with the slice of a knife, or popping a hormone pill or just fantasizing about their bodily needs), they twist and turn the words to stay in power.

The bureaucratization of the killers and the dehumanization of their victims

I noticed this phrase in a City Journal article about the Russia vs. Ukraine war: "Russian atrocities against Ukrainians rely on the bureaucratization of the killers and the dehumanization of their victims." Re-read that carefully. Read it again. Let it sink in. In a less bloody form, that's the battle we are experiencing in the U.S. A huge bureaucracy, wealthy, powerful, masked and murky is battling their imaginary foe made up of their brothers and sisters of the same culture, history and language with demeaning, dehumanizing name calling like "deplorable," "racist," "terrorist," and "you-name-it phobics." More recently and with just a veneer of benign slurs, Colleen Shogan, Joe Biden’s nominee to lead the National Archives and Records Administration (the agency going after Trump), was questioned about a paper in which she disparaged every two-term Republican president since World War II as being not too bright--perhaps too stupid to run the country. See the slant? Demean and diminish. Divide and conquer. Just a change in flag and uniform. Methods are the same.

"In all these cases, in circumstances as distinct as those in Germany, Rwanda, Armenia, or Ukraine, we find a machinery of barbarism with no particular relation to one or another culture. It has been perfectly demonstrated and analyzed during trials for genocide, particularly in the 1961 trial of Adolf Eichmann in Jerusalem. The barbarism always stands on two foundations: the bureaucratization of the killers and the dehumanization of the victims."

Boring books

I've mentioned before that I listen to a lot of podcasts. They are more interesting than radio or TV shows and most don't have commercials. Particularly for walking outside, loading the dishwasher or sleeping. Today I found one called "Boring Books for Bedtime," and it consists of truly boring books read slowly by a woman with a soft, husky, hushed voice. The list of titles is indeed boring. Just to try it out I listened to the 1897 Sears Roebuck Catalog Grocery Department. But some titles are on butterflies, or oceans, Aristotle, Darwin, Thoreau, political issues of 50 years ago, or home building (in 1894). Here's one that actually sounds like it would keep me awake--"Pictures from Italy" by Charles Dickens. Truly a wonderful idea.



Monday, September 26, 2022

Italy has its first female prime minister

So the new prime minister of Italy is "far right wing" according to U.S. media--no to gender nonsense, yes to traditional family and border security, no to Muslim terrorism. Sounds like the U.S. before Obama decided to "fundamentally" change the country in 2009.

Baby names

Today I was going through papers from my desk at our Lakeside house (sold) that I brought back to Columbus. Some warranties, notes from Mrs. Thompson (previous owner) on names of plants, and old bills. Like removal of 4 skunks, $60, about 30 years ago. I'd never paid attention to his name before, but it was Ulice. The first thing I thought of was that Mama didn't know how to spell Ulysses. But I looked it up. Yes, it is an American male name, though very rare. Then I learned it was first recorded in 1886 as a birth name. Ulysses S. Grant was president from 1869-1877. I'm going with my first guess.

Speaking of skunks last week we reported a huge wasp nest in the tree in front of our house, and I looked out just now and saw a guy with a big ladder wearing a haz-mat suit and big hat. Not an easy job, I'm sure. I will observe from inside and won't ask him his name.

There are so many workers out there who at the end of the day can say they've accomplished more than our Congress and President.

Saturday, September 24, 2022

Biden steps in it again--on abortion

 He doesn't speak for the Roman Catholic Church.

Biden commented on abortion at a Democratic fundraiser on Thursday during a discussion about a Republican proposal to restrict abortions after 15 weeks of gestation. “I happen to be a practicing Roman Catholic,” Biden said, “my Church doesn’t even make that argument.”

“This may be the most outrageous thing Joe Biden has ever said,” said CatholicVote President Brian Burch regarding Biden’s comment about what the Church teaches. Burch pointed out that the president was essentially arguing that the Catholic Church, for the first time in its history, now endorses abortions in some cases.

“Since the first century the Church has affirmed the moral evil of every procured abortion,” the Catechism of the Catholic Church states. “This teaching has not changed and remains unchangeable. Direct abortion, that is to say, abortion willed as an ends or a means, is gravely contrary to the moral law” (No. 2271).

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops also has addressed the difficult situation of a pregnancy conceived in rape.

“(A)ny woman subjected to sexual assault needs our compassionate and understanding care, including psychological and spiritual as well as medical support,” Richard Doerflinger, the then associate director of the pro-life secretariat, said in a July 2013 commentary on the U.S. bishops’ website.

“(A)ny child conceived in rape is, like his or her mother, an innocent victim. That child, too, has a right to life, and destroying the child does not punish the rapist or end the woman’s trauma,” he added.

“Does Joe Biden think he knows more about abortion than the pope?” said Burch. “More than our bishops? More than 2,000 years of Church teaching that abortion always ends the life of an innocent unborn child?”

Friday, September 23, 2022

Sustainability of phosphorus, an essential plant nutrient

We need phosphorus for food, and it's being wasted, so we might run out, but it is also a pollutant according to globalist researchers. I noticed in the recent LAS publication, The Quadrangle, that a professor of sociology and law at the University of Illinois, Anna-Maria Marshal, is a co-principal investigator with the National Science Foundation in STEPS which received a $25 million grant for research in phosphorous sustainability. That's a lot of money but STEPS involves 9 universities. Her part--study how people can be encouraged to adopt innovative technologies. So when I looked up her bio, which wasn't included in the article--guess what? She's also an associate professor of gender and women's studies, and associate professor of global studies. Her research interests are environmental justice movement and the LGBTQ movement. For background on this phosphorus sustainability movement I looked up one of the references.

The Story of Phosphorus Sustainability implications of global phosphorus scarcity for food security, by Dana Cordell, PhD thesis, published January 2010, abstract, https://www.researchgate.net/publication/265282063

"In a world which will be home to nine billion people by the middle of this century, producing enough food and other vital resources is likely to be a substantial challenge for humanity. Phosphorus, together with nitrogen and potassium, is an essential plant nutrient. It is applied to agricultural soils in fertilizers to maintain high crop yields. Phosphorus has no substitute in food production. Therefore, securing the long-term availability and accessibility of phosphorus is crucial to global food security. However the major source of phosphorus today, phosphate rock, is a non-renewable resource and high quality reserves are becoming increasingly scarce. This thesis estimates peak phosphorus to occur before 2035, after which demand will exceed supply. Phosphorus scarcity is defined by more than just physical scarcity of phosphate rock and this thesis develops five important dimensions. For example, there is a scarcity of management of phosphorus throughout the entire food production and consumption system: the global phosphorus flows analysis found that only 20% of phosphorus in phosphate rock mined for food production actually reaches the food consumed by the global population due to substantial inefficiencies and losses from mine to field to fork. There is also an economic scarcity, where for example, while all the world’s farmers need access to sufficient fertilizers, only those with sufficient purchasing power can access fertilizer markets. Institutional scarcity, such as the lack of governance structures at the international level that explicitly aim to ensure long-term availability of and access to global phosphorus resources for food production that has led to ineffective and fragmented governance of phosphorus, including a lack of: overall coordination, monitoring and feedback, clear roles and responsibilities, long-term planning and equitable distribution. Finally, geopolitical scarcity arising from 90% of the world’s remaining high-grade phosphate rock reserves being controlled by just five countries (a majority of which are subject to geopolitical tensions) can limit the availability of phosphorus on the market and raises serious ethical questions."

What if you've been told for two decades that phosphorus is dangerous What Is The Purpose Of Phosphates In Laundry Detergent : Phosphate Fertilizer (finefertilizer.com) and now you're told you need it because it's essential so farmers should conserve and limit use, Phosphorus progress in Ohio – Ohio Ag Net | Ohio's Country Journal (ocj.com).



"Phosphorus plays many roles in society today – both desired and undesired. At any moment in time, phosphorus fulfils numerous different functions – on vastly different temporal and geographical scales: transporting split-second signals to the brain in the chemical ATP*, or immobile as a Ca3(PO4)2 molecule in apatite-rich phosphate rock that took tens of millions of years to form, awaiting extraction, or gradually being drawn up from soil solution by plant roots via chemical diffusion, or discharging from our bodies in a momentary drop of urine before being diluted by a flood of flush water to join other household and industry wastewater at a distant treatment plant, polluting water bodies as cyanobacteria, or simply cycling naturally between land, biota and water without being noticed by most of society. Because of its multiple roles and manifestations, phosphorus is perceived quite differently by different sectors. Table 5-1 identifies 12 different forms of phosphorus, each with different perceived societal functions and each relating to different societal sectors.62" p. 80 of title cited above, followed by excellent graphics, tables, etc.

On p. 102 of this 2010 paper the problem of Morocco and Western Sahara which is phosphate rich was noted. In President Trump's backed Abraham Accord The United States recognized Morocco’s claim to sovereignty over Western Sahara. "By the end of November 2021, the government of Morocco announced that it had earned $6.45 billion from the export of phosphate from the kingdom and from the occupied territory of Western Sahara. If you add up the phosphate reserves in this entire region, it amounts to 72 percent of the entire phosphate reserves in the world (the second-highest percentage of these reserves is in China, which has around 6 percent). Phosphate, along with nitrogen, makes synthetic fertilizer, a key element in modern food production. While nitrogen is recoverable from the air, phosphates, found in the soil, are a finite reserve. This gives Morocco a tight grip over world food production." Morocco drives a war in Western Sahara for its phosphates : Peoples Dispatch

*Adenosine triphosphate (ATP) is a complex organic chemical that is found in every cell of the human body.

Using Radio Garden and finding Gunsmoke

 Using the Radio Garden app, you can listen to radio all over the world, so after browsing Oberlin, Ohio and Nantucket, Massachusetts, I landed in Chicago (globe has bright green lights to guide across the world), but no city names until you stop. I found a radio station, Wild West Old Time Radio, and it was playing an episode of Gunsmoke.  William Conrad played Matt Dillion. Gunsmoke (radio series) | Gunsmoke Wiki | Fandom According to the fan site, Conrad was considered (but not seriously) for the Marshall Dillion part when it went to TV, but he was too heavy.

"[Some] argue the radio version was more realistic. Episodes were aimed at adults and featured some of the most explicit content of their time, including violent crimes, scalpings, massacres, and opium addicts. Many episodes ended on a somber note, and villains often got away with their crimes.

Nonetheless, due to the subtle scripts and outstanding ensemble cast, over the years, the program evolved into a warm, often humorous celebration of human nature."

Interesting to hear the commercials--especially for cigarettes. The writing and sound effects are so good, you don't even need an old black and white TV to enjoy it.  I seem to remember my sister Carol being a big fan of this show which ran from 1952 to 1961.


Thursday, September 22, 2022

News of the day

" Criminals discovered that 2011 to 2021 Kias and 2015 to 2021 Hyundais equipped with ignitions that use a physical key, rather than a wireless key fob and push-button, could be started by using the tip of a USB cable, and the technique was posted online last year. Tens of thousands of the cars have been stolen since, some of them by teens not even old enough to have a driver's license." Fox News

And speaking of keys and stealing, I've been locked out of my Facebook account. A friend asked if it was a hack to steal my information, but I suspect that because I've been a member for over 10 years, the old timers never gave away as much as the newer enrollees. Now it wants a cell number so it can check to see if it's really me signing in. Hmmm. Sounds like a way to harvest phone numbers and sell them. My friend Connie (I have her e-mail address) told me it has happened to her, but she is able to use her cell phone to log-in, so maybe I'll try that. Other friends (Justine, Bev, and Dena) say they've not had that message.

And speaking of hacks, don't ever try that one to silence the beep on your microwave. It really works, and now how to get it back! You never know how important they are until you lose them.

Mike Huckabee suggests the government's motives for taking Mike Lindell's cellphone and what's happening with inflation. Morning Edition - September 22 - Latest News - Mike Huckabee As a retiree on a fixed income we do worry about inflation. And as an American, I am concerned about how the Biden administration is punishing anyone who questioned the 2020 election--although not all the Democrats like Al Gore, Hillary Clinton, or Stacy Abrams who questioned elections they didn't win before 2020.

"A federal watchdog on Thursday found that fraudsters may have stolen $45.6 billion from the nation’s unemployment insurance program during the pandemic, using the Social Security numbers of dead people and other tactics to deceive and bilk the U.S. government." Washington Post.  Am I shocked?  Nope. There was so much graft, greed and corruption in the Covid pandemic it's just crazy. 

Wednesday, September 21, 2022

The Gospel of Matthew

Biden is hiring 87,000 new IRS agents to come after the middle class--particularly the Trump supporters (because that's where we be). How do we know that? Well, there are only about 700 billionaires, so if he's looking to find some unreported wealth to cover his misbegotten spending, that would leave a lot of these guys/girls with nothing to do. And he certainly won't go after the faithful Planned Parenthood manager, or the Head of the D. I. E. department at your local college, or a woke classroom instructor at Google.

However, it was a deceitful, money grubbing, hated tax collector who wrote the Gospel of Matthew. His life was transformed after he met Jesus. Let's pray for those 87,000, pray that they wake up and see what the boss is doing, and leave the cushy government security job for something better. Look at the lives changed by that other tax collector. Jesus did that 2000 years ago, he can do it again.



Canned stewed tomatoes, a taste of home

Last week our daughter brought over some freshly canned tomatoes and pickles, but I told her 2 pints of tomatoes would be plenty. I was thinking of spaghetti or casseroles. Then today I opened one to pour over a beef roast, and tasted a few chunks. Wow. Memory overload. My mom used to can tomatoes until I thought I'd never look at another stewed tomato. My dad (and the fathers of my friends) used to crumble soda crackers over them and add sugar to eat as a dessert. It would make me gag, but I guess it was a Depression era treat. Thus I had not tasted cold stewed, freshly canned tomatoes in about 60 years. It was like greeting a long lost friend.


Prager U, Stephen Moore, Red State vs. Blue State America

"We're supposed to be the United States of America. But in many ways, we're now divided into two very different nations.

There is red state America.

And there is blue state America.

The red states favor conservative, small government, free market policies: low taxes, light regulation, tough-on-crime policing, and worker freedom. Think Florida, Texas, Tennessee, Arizona, and Utah.

The blue states favor a liberal/left, big government approach: high taxes, heavy regulations, high minimum wages, and mandatory union membership. Think New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Illinois, Oregon, and, of course, California.

Progressives like to argue that their big-government, high tax policies are economically superior and thus better for the poor, minorities and working-class Americans than those of red states. Conservative policies, progressives contend, are culturally backward, and tilted to benefit the rich.

Let's test this thesis by comparing three of the largest red states: Florida, Texas, and Tennessee with three of the largest blue states: California, New York, and Illinois.

If progressive policies really work, then Americans should be rushing to get into the blue states.

But just the opposite is happening.

Americans are packing up their U-Hauls and heading to the red states. According to the New York Times, in August 2020, so many people wanted to leave New York City that moving companies were turning away business. They just couldn't handle the demand.

This exodus may be accelerating, but it's not new.

Over the last decade the three big blue states each lost an average of one million people to other states, while the three big red states gained almost a million from other states.

Makes perfect sense. Americans like freedom. Small government means more freedom.

And freedom means opportunity.

Let's say you're looking for a job. Over the last decade, Florida, Texas and Tennessee have gained twice as many jobs as the progressive states.

Not only that, but your money goes further in red states. According to a 2019 Tax Foundation study, your $100 stretches to $111 in purchasing power in Tennessee, while in New Jersey it shrinks to $89.

If you're a big corporation or a small company looking for a business-friendly environment, affordable housing or maybe just a better quality of life, where are you going to go?

The tough decision is not choosing a red state or a blue state. The tough decision is which red state to move to.

Progressives like to say that this isn't about economics, it's about weather. The red states tend to be in the South and southwest where the weather is warmer.

But that doesn't explain why so many people are leaving California which has the best weather in the country.

So, what does explain the migration from blue states?

Start with taxes. The two most populous blue states — California and New York — have the highest tax rates in America, while the two most populous red states — Texas and Florida — have no income tax at all.

When taxes get too high, people move to where taxes are lower. The problem for the high-tax states is that these people take their money, their ambition, and their employees with them.

Then, there is crime.

Do blue cities do better than red cities?

The answer, of course, is no. Of the twenty cities with the highest murder rates, 18 are run by left-leaning Democrats — and for the most part, have been for decades. And these cities aren't getting safer; they're getting more dangerous.

A good chunk of Minneapolis was burned to the ground as a result of riots, following the death of George Floyd.

Portland had over 90 consecutive nights of rioting — not peaceful protests, rioting.

Seattle allowed an entire section of the city to declare itself an autonomous zone — a first in American history!

Progressive governors, progressive mayors, progressive police chiefs run all these cities and states.

Ask any resident of Los Angeles or San Francisco about the rise in homelessness and you'll get a litany of horror stories. Both cities, of course, have a long history of progressive mayors.

How about keeping us healthy and safe? Surely the progressive states, with their strict lockdowns, did a better job saving lives from the coronavirus.

Nope.

Adjusted for population, as a resident of New York, New Jersey or Illinois, you were three, four or even five times more likely to die of the virus than if you lived in a red state like Florida, Texas, Georgia, Utah or Arizona.

Progressives and liberal Democrats may mean well. They certainly talk a lot about how much they care about the poor, minorities and the working class.

Yet somehow, it's always the poor, minorities, and the working class who pay the price for their bad policies. That's why those who can move, move. Those who can't get stuck with the short end of the stick.

Red state America is prospering. Blue state America is in meltdown.

So, where do you want to live?

I'm Stephen Moore, economist at FreedomWorks, for Prager University.

Tuesday, September 20, 2022

Elizabeth Truss, new Prime Minister UK

My friend Bill (from high school) says: "UK voters have to be thrilled! Their newly elected Prime minister, Elizabeth Truss, announced today massive changes for the UK. The UK is now suffering from 14% inflation and high energy cost we can not even understand. She is cutting income taxes as well as adjusting the income tax scheduled levels which will further reduce income taxes on citizens of the UK. In addition she is opening up fracking immediately to address the energy situation the population faces. There are other changes as well to address the problems the UK faces. You will not get any news in the USA on these changes as it is a total embarrassment to the present administration in the USA. Can the UK take over the world leadership ,position that the USA continues to destroy ? As we move into a second class country lead by the current administration we continue on our down ward direction and in many ways based upon our supply situation moving to a third class country. I don't know if the UK can supply enough energy to fill the void from Russia as the USA could have ,but it is very interesting. Prime Minister Truss immediately takes over a positive imagine in the image of Margaret Thatcher as well as being compared to Ronald Reagan and Donald Trump in terms of positive change employed in a speedy fashion."

What do you think? Why aren't we in a position to supply energy? That's a trick question. We all know it is Biden.

A taste of fall

Today we enjoyed a taste of fall--about 77 degrees here in Columbus. Our noon meal we ate on the deck--grilled salmon with honey/cinnamon glaze, butternut squash, steamed cabbage, salad of orange sections and onion slices on fresh spinach leaves topped with shredded carrots. Bob got some chocolate chip cookies, but I'd already eaten 2 while baking them this morning. A perfect day. We began eating our main meal at noon about 6 months ago.




Wokeism and abortion in the miliary

It seems Leftists in government aren't worried about wokeism now being demanded for our military to create disrespect and hate for whites is a threat to our safety, but pregnancy of female soldiers is. Rand Corp. study: "The Dobbs v. Jackson Supreme Court ruling will limit service women’s and DoD civilian women’s access to reproductive health care and affect the health of these critical populations." War isn't pleasant and people are killed, including innocent civilians. However, killing the unborn citizens to protect the readiness of the military? Now that's cold. Can our female soldiers not be continent long enough to complete their enlistment?

And yes, we tax payers paid for this, so how could the results have been any different? "This research was sponsored by the Office of the Secretary of Defense and conducted within the Forces and Resources Policy Center of the RAND National Security Research Division (NSRD), which operates the RAND National Defense Research Institute (NDRI), a federally funded research and development center (FFRDC) sponsored by the Office of the Secretary of Defense, the Joint Staff, the Unified Combatant Commands, the Navy, the Marine Corps, the defense agencies, and the defense intelligence enterprise." They admit at the beginning of the study that they deliberately made the military dependent on female recruits. 4 women with interests in "gender studies" diversity and inclusion and advanced degrees in psychology, sociology and Spanish are the authors.

The Rise of Wokeness in the Military | Imprimis (hillsdale.edu)

Landmark Women's Reproductive Health Survey Shows Need for Improvements in DoD Reproductive Health Care | RAND

Ob-Gyn: No, The Dobbs Decision Does Not Put Women's Lives In Danger (thefederalist.com)


Monday, September 19, 2022

The hypocrisy of the Biden administration

Joe Biden has authorized the "inhumane political" shipment of 1.7 million illegals throughout the country, making all states "border states." Yet the liberals go all "safe space" on us if they get 50 bussed or flown into their million dollar home neighborhoods and ship them off to towns that have better social services. Wow. What hypocrites.



Aunt Leta and Uncle Ben

I can't recall when I signed up for Family Search, the huge Mormon data base of genealogy, but every now and then I get an interesting e-mail alerting me that there's new information in my family tree. Lask week it was the marriage certificate of my Aunt Leta and Uncle Ben. She was my grandmother's sister, and he was my grandfather's cousin. She lived in Illinois and he lived in Tennessee, but for some reason (I never heard a family story about it) they were married in Henerson Kentucky.  In my memory, they were always "old," but I was surprised to see they didn't get married until 1940, Ben was 46 and Leta was 34. Leta's baby sister, Ada, who would have been about 26, was one of the witnesses. They had no children, but Ben had a son Gene from a first marriage who was mentally challenged. Gene died in 1999 having lived many years in a care facility, and by then there was almost no one to look after the final arrangements and burial. Except my dad who was in his 80s. He made the arrangements and went to the cemetery with a few other distant cousins in the cold and snow to pay respects, because that's what families do. I think he got pneumonia. You just never know what old memories will show up in your e-mail.

Friday, September 16, 2022

Eat real food, get more rest, and move more

It's odd for me to enjoy podcasts (auditory processing), but I do. Since I got a smart phone, I use it more for podcasts than phone calls. Here's Bari Weiss (one of my favs) in a conversation with Dr. Casey Means, a Stanford trained physician who left the traditional medical system behind to solve the one problem that she says is going to ruin us all: bad food.

Honestly with Bari Weiss: Eating Ourselves to Death on Apple Podcasts

I've often wondered about the "equity" push in medicine and public health. A large number of health problems are caused by lifestyle--eating, drinking/drugs, exercise (or lack of) and sexual promiscuity. Like Covid. We knew 2.5 years ago obesity was a predictor of serious Covid complications, including death. But pushing pills and vax was the solution. What if "equity" is just one more way to kill off Americans, particularly minorities? (Someone out there hates BIPOC, and it isn't the Trumpsters).

Dr. Means in this podcast talks about all the body parts that go bad from poor nutrition, and particularly obesity. 4 out of 5 black women are obese or overweight. Body positivity can kill you and that's a hot trend. Healthy at any size is a lie. 93% of us have metabolic disfunction according to her even if we aren't obese. By the time you find out you're pre-diabetic, it may have been 10 years in the making. Is this all a part of Big Pharma profits? Which foods are really bad for you, according to Dr. Means? Fake meats (highly processed); seed oils; sugar. She approves of intermittent fasting.

Just bought Halloween Candy today. The first 4 ingredients in those little orange pumpkin candies are sugar, corn syrup, salt and honey. Now I'll have to hide it from me.

Thursday, September 15, 2022

Northern, rich sanctuary cities complain about illegal invasion

"MSNBC’s Chris Hayes called the migrant flights “deeply deeply sick and dehumanizing” as if the 50 individuals were shipped to a concentration camp. CNN actually compared the flights to one of the nation’s most glamorous vacation spots to the Nazi Holocaust. The Washington Post’s Max Boot, who last month called Martha’s Vineyard “the real America,” condemned the move as “beneath contempt” for the Florida governor.

The majority-white, wealthy liberal enclave where median home sales are north of $1.3 million and where 150,000 tourists descend every summer should, however, be well-equipped to absorb 50 new migrants into its community. After all, rich white liberals have spent the better half of the last decade lecturing Americans to bring home “your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free” and welcome unchecked illegal migration."

Kinley Shogren painting

Kinley Shogren (1924-1991) was a "fine Cleveland artist of the mid-20th Century. He became known for his popular watercolor scenes around rural Ohio, and was an authority on Great Lakes shipping and ships. He painted a great number of the freighters and other craft sailing the Great Lakes, including an accurate detailed written description of the boat for each." From an auction site description.

And today I was browsing through art items at the cancer resale store and noticed a Kinley Shogren painting of a boat in a harbor--sort of misty with two other boats barely seen in the fog.  I'd never heard of the artist, but noticed the note on the back that he was from Mansfield, Ohio and the painting was a class study. Usually, I'm not impressed with their art items, but for $10 I thought it was wonderful.  So I bought it. There's some glare on the glass but this is a pretty good likeness.



https://danielebrady.blogspot.com/2019/12/ohio-artist-kinley-shogren.html  Local paper features a show, include the obituary.

https://www.wkyc.com/article/features/local-artists-painting-finds-new-church-home/464098118  A painting of Jesus by Shogren done for a church is placed in another church 40 years later.  His son tells of posing for his father.


His typical style is very tight and realistic, particularly the ships and landscapes.  He was concerned with accuracy.  But I like the fresh and quick sketch look of my "find." Here are others I found at auction sites.




  


Update.  The name on the back of the painting (seems to be original owner) is Neal Layne.  I looked him up and he lived our community, died in 2003, and was an architect.  Bob remembers him!  Services were here in UA but he is buried in Mansfield, where the artist taught and had his studio. 

Wednesday, September 14, 2022

Napping benefits

I like to post about napping, because I've always been one to nap--my mom did too. This study has a little age on it--9 years, but I was wondering if I would work a few math problems before I napped, I might get better at math. Sleep On It | NIH News in Health

“We’ve learned that sleep before learning helps prepare your brain for initial formation of memories,” says Dr. Matthew Walker, a sleep scientist at the University of California, Berkeley. “And then, sleep after learning is essential to help save and cement that new information into the architecture of the brain, meaning that you’re less likely to forget it.”

Monday, September 12, 2022

The real costs of an abortion

The Unintended Costs of Abortion (buzzsprout.com)

Why are pregnant mothers dying at much higher rates in the United States compared to other developed countries? Dr. Monqiue Chireau Wubbenhorst, an OB/GYN, has the answers.

EP027: Dr. Monique Chireau Wubbenhorst

In this episode of The EDIFY Podcast, Dr. Monique Chireau Wubbenhorst tackles the data and debates surrounding maternal mortality rates in the United States. As an OB/GYN, Dr. Wubbenhorst also discusses some of the unintended consequences of abortion and the dangers she sees with the growing advocacy for abortion-by-mail. This podcast is a must-listen as our states start to debate these issues.

Who are the fascists?

"If there are fascists in America these days, they are apt to be found among the tribes of the left. They are Mr. Biden and his people. . .whose opinions have, since Jan. 6, 2021, hardened into absolute faith that any party or political belief system except their own is illegitimate, inhuman, monstrous, and (a nice touch) a threat to democracy. The evolution of their overprivileged emotions – their sentimentality gone fanatic – has led them in 2022 to embrace Mussolini’s formula: “All within the state, nothing outside the state, nothing against the state.” Or against the party. . . meanwhile their thinkers wonder whether the Constitution and the separation of powers are all they’re cracked up to be." Lance Morrow, WSJ

Even with the border wide open for anyone to walk across, we still hear H. Clinton and Biden Spox solemnly mouthing, "threat to democracy" when frowning about Trump supporters. Yet we are in the midst of the most totalitarian government in post WWII in the USA.

The Democrats are the election deniers and have been since 2000

The Democrats have been the worst election deniers. Why is that not an insurrection via the media and fake impeachment procedures? Who did Trump put in jail in his 4 years? They made up the Russia story and ran with it. Gaslighting. Lies.

https://youtu.be/XX2Ejqjz6TA

Saturday, September 10, 2022

An immigrant who is a MAGA Republican has a message for Joe Biden

Message from an immigrant for Joe Biden.

https://youtu.be/lP5gOqkUF_A He wants someone to get this to Joe Biden.

Thursday, September 08, 2022

Important exercises for older adults

While any movement is always better than none, there are certain foundational exercises that need to be performed on more than designated workout days, says Ann Phelps, D.P.T., a physical therapist at Athletico Physical Therapy in Chicago.

Why? Because that’s how you’ll get the results you want, from improving strength and mobility to building better balance to staying independent longer.

Below, Phelps shares the four most important exercises to add to your daily routine.

4 Exercises Older Adults Should Do Every Day (silversneakers.com)


Reminders of Lakeside

Yesterday I bought some long stem sunflowers at Kroger, but when I looked in our cabinets, I didn't like the choices of vases. Instead I cut the stems and selected a small blue bowl made by our Lakeside friend, Ed Day, who died in 2020. I think Ed and Happy had a sale when they moved from Dayton to Lakeside after retirement. That's probably how I happened to have it. It's inscribed on the bottom with his name and date. Then I added some lovely hand painted Blue Ridge China (Mountain Ivy pattern) from the Southern Potteries company (1916-1957) Erwin, TN. I bought these from the Lakeside Archives in 2020 when they had a little store (for just one season) of donated items where the Archives is now located on Walnut St.

  

  

Biden calls out GOP MAGA as fascist

It's nothing new to point out how the Democrats accuse the Republicans of doing what they themselves are doing. Like smearing all Trump voters as fascists because they question the tricks and travesties of the 2020 election, when Hillary Clinton, Stacy Abrams, Al Gore, etc. have all done it earlier, longer and louder. But they have "science" to back them up. Well, social science. There was a pseudo-scientific study done in the 1950s , "The Authoritarian Personality" by Theodor Adorno and others. It was massaged a bit for American academe and was popular in the 1980s with all sorts of levels of personality traits to explain the Germans of WWII and the right wing Americans. And of course, they could then pin it on anyone not buying into the Democrats' left party line from pronouns to polar bears. It's now used to explain any form of patriotism, flag display, devotion to western family structure including traditional marriage, and common civil qualities like merit, hard work and duty. It fit right into the whole BLM fight created by 3 over-educated Marxist lesbians who needed a scam to make money. They may hate capitalism, but they LUV money.

Just 2 of the qualities on the scale of fascism show how silly it is, since they most perfectly describe the horrors of today's Leftist in government and academe--concern that the world is going to end (anyone heard of ramping up fear of climate change?) and obsession with sex (whoa! 50+ genders and boys can be girls by just imagining it and famous universities with medical departments to remove healthy breasts and implant penises in little confused girls?) There's more, but you get my drift. Crying fascist while pointing one finger with four pointing back at the accuser is just typical Democrat sign language.
 
But if you ever doubted, take a look at the slavish devotion to chaos commands of the BLM/Antifa movement and the mindless Democrats who rushed to cry "defund police," but now deny they ever said it during the George Floyd riots. The travesty of the J-6 trial and their obsession with destroying Donald Trump are perfect examples of the authoritarian scale they love to use on others.
 
Warning: I know nothing about this author (a British Jazz saxophonist and political writer whom the left calls racist and anti-Semitic, of course) or platform, and the site is censored by FB, so that's something. But on this topic, they are right. Our own media shows it every day in every way. Like Biden's last speech. When you have nothing to say and are an empty suit, accuse half the country of being fascist.

Tuesday, September 06, 2022

Laying siege to the Institutions--Christopher Rufo

Christopher Rufo is the new "hate on him" guy that the Left loves to ridicule and demean. Why? Because he exposes Wokeism, CRT, trans-agenda, queer theory, intersectionality, etc. with the Sword of Truth, and a clear explanation of their own Leftist/Marxist history and direction. What looks like chaos to you, is well planned."The leftist dream of a working-class rebellion in America fizzled after the ’60s. By the mid-1970s, radical groups like the Black Liberation Army and the Weather Underground had faded from prominence. But the leftist dreamers didn’t give up. Abandoning hope of a Russian-style revolution, they settled on a more sophisticated strategy—waging a revolution not of the proletariat, but of the elites, and specifically of the knowledge elites. It would proceed not by taking over the means of production, but by taking control of education and culture—a strategy that German Marxist Rudi Dutschke, a student activist in the 1960s, called “the long march through the institutions.”

This idea is traceable to Italian communist Antonio Gramsci, who wrote in the 1930s of “capturing the culture via infiltration of schools, universities, churches, and the media by transforming the consciousness of society.”

This march through our institutions, begun a half-century ago, has now proved largely successful. Over the past two years, I’ve looked at the federal bureaucracy, the universities, K-12 schools, and big corporations. And what I’ve found is that the revolutionary ideas of the ’60s have been repackaged, repurposed, and injected into American life at the institutional level." https://christopherrufo.com/laying-siege-to-the-institutions/

Controlling K-12 of public and private education is essential. Why else have the DoJ attack parents? The younger the better. Perhaps the only Biblical principal the Left has learned well, is Proverbs 22:6--"Train up a child in the way he should go, And when he is old he will not depart from it." In my opinion, the Leftists are the losers with old, tired ideas in contrast to our U.S. Constitution (which they hate) has the fresh, recent and revolutionary ideas. The only similarity might be that the 60s Weather Underground and the 2011 Occupy Movement were the white, young, wealthy and best educated; our Founders were also white, young, wealthy and well educated. The difference is the radicals of the 1960s and 21st century were spoiled brats and guilt ridden by their own abundance. Their only desire was/is to create chaos--and the plan now begins in the schools--even pre-K. To create confusion about family, marriage, sex, religion, purpose, meaning, ambition, merit, etc.

Monday, September 05, 2022

Tracking down an artist, Julia Crainer


We brought all our artwork to Columbus on Saturday from our recently sold Lakeside home.  One I had always enjoyed, but didn't have the provenance, had defeated my internet searches. From the signature on the original painting of hot peppers I bought at Cottage Accessories, a little resale store in Lakeside in 2008, I was looking for Julia Grawer. I did find other paintings by that signature, at an Minnesota auction site of radishes, garlic and lettuce.  It had been sold but it did have an enlargement feature for the signature.  When I clicked on that, I could see that the name was Crainer, not Grawer.  The i and the n looked like a w without enlargement.  So I kept looking, and finally found an auction site where someone had left a comment about her:

"Julia Crainer is a lovely artist from Texas who has taught at Coastal Bend College and Concan Porcelain Art School. I have been lucky enough to take a watercolor class with her 3 times. Loved EVERY minute of learning from her. She painted this watercolor of corn which she either grew or bought at the market. Her signature style in some of her prints... is to watercolor...and when finished....add fine ball point pen marks on top in black ink." :D

Once I'd tracked her to Texas I looked for an obituary that mentioned "art teacher," and I found one, very lovingly written by a son. She died November 19, 2015 at 90.
"Julia was born in Bay City, Texas to MacMillan and Gladys Ballard Arrington on November 29, 1924. In Passing, She was undoubtedly greeted after hugging her Soulmate husband Everett, by many of the family, friends, and students that she loved, taught, mentored and inspired in her long, productive, and inspiring life that crossed over previously.

Julia’s life was centered on family and art. When at three she was given paints, her natural gift for art was discovered and encouraged by her gifted parents. Later her talent was recognized by several artists who mentored her. A short autobiography written for a 2010 gallery display of Crainer’s multi-media artwork states,

“…. My life has been too long and full for me to include everyone who has been significant in my life and career, but I must mention Everett Mac and Jim, my dear sons who, along with my Everett, have been the center of my adult life. I thank my family, teachers, students, and friends for all they have done to enrich my life.

I also want to thank God for giving me my gift and a family that encouraged me to use it. As a two time cancer survivor, I also thank God for restoring my health. I believe God gives each one of us gifts that he expects us to use for others and for Him. I was put here to have two sons. As a teacher, I try to help others develop their gifts as many helped me develop mine. I hope to teach as long as God grants me health and life.”

The Lord gave mom over 70 years as a Teacher, 56 Yrs as a wife, 70 yrs as a Loving Mother and almost 92 years of living Life making so many new loving friends along the way.

Crainer’s joy was creating special Art works for her family, but her Artwork is known far beyond her family, friends, and state. Many of her paintings reside in foreign countries and other states. 
More here.  https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/202953990/julia-ballard-crainer

Sunday, September 04, 2022

She makes a great pork tenderloin

 So I asked her.  How do you do this?  She told me, but I was on my walk at Lakeside, and had stopped by her house (she was sitting outside reading), so then she texted  me.

Salt, pepper, olive oil, bacon grease/ however you choose to season

> Braise to brown on stovetop
> 400* oven, do not cover
> 20-25 min.
> Done when 145* internal temp./I use a meat thermometer
> Let rest 5-10 min. before slicing.
> Serve & enjoy!

She's a vegan.  But remembers when she wasn't, so she still does a great dinner party. She had put bacon in the coleslaw, so that's how she happened to have the bacon grease. It was yummy too.