Rev. Wright, Dr. Whitaker and Obama’s wide stance

I’ve been reading about the bribe to keep Rev. Jeremiah Wright quiet during the 2008 campaign (although I personally think he enhanced Obama’s resume for many radicals) and now the contract for about $6 million that the Chicago medical center v.p. who offered the bribe got from the administration (Dr. Eric Whitaker) the same medical center that appointed Michelle to its board with a fat salary after Obama became senator, and I’m wondering how this is so different than the John Edwards scandal, taking money for his mistress that was intended for the campaign and lying that the baby was produced by a campaign staffer. A bribe is a bribe is a bribe.

Also, now that Newsweek has announced that we have a gay president and we know that some of the gay PACs were pressuring him to flip flop yet again (first he was for it when running for Senate, then against it when running for President, now he’s for it) and we know Axelrod was orchestrating first the “leaks” about his girlfriends before the gay support, then put Biden out there to test the waters of the west coast, then the eastern establishment, so Obama could do his graceful flip into that messy sludge, why is a “wide stance” in a men’s restroom rumor enough to get a Republican run out of office, when openly soliciting money from the gay demographic is supposed to be a strong reason to reelect the president for evolving to a position we all knew he held?

I know we’re supposed to believe campaigns today are just as down and dirty as the 18th century when sexuality rumors were standard fare, but I do think the Obama campaign has scraped the bottom of the smelly, rotting offal barrel. And all this to distract from an expanding war, weakened borders, and a flagging economy?

Is it legal to buy votes?

"Health-insurance companies must tell customers who get a premium rebate this summer that the check is the result of the Obama administration's health-care law, according to federal guidelines released Friday," The Wall Street Journal reports.

Keeping up with sex acronyms

Having been a librarian, I developed a real fondness for acronyms of all kinds.  I came across an unfamiliar one today, because, well, it’s not one I would need often, and even in the medical literature I can’t recall seeing it before: AFAI—age at first anal intercourse—and no surprise here, “There appears to be a strong link between AFAI and infection with HIV/STIs, as well as tendencies to engage in higher risk sexual behaviour.”  Although for older baby boomers that age was 35, for Gen-Y it is 18.  I would attribute that to the increasing acceptance, and even encouragement of gay sex, since this study was exclusively about gay men.  And, my, how flippant the writers are about this, calling it a “sexual debut.”

http://sti.bmj.com/content/88/4/252.full

“Further education around safer sex practices that specifically targets gay-identified youth may also be required to ensure their sexual debut does not lead to poorer sexual health outcomes. “ As we’ve learned from the “safe sex” message given to school children, it actually encourages all sex, and is now increasingly called “safer sex” because there is no such thing as “safe sex.” There are always consequences, whether psychological, sociological, spiritual or biological.

The perversion and redirection of charity

Really, it's enough to make one never want to donate to a foundation, even one that funds good causes. The next generation bespoils the direction and intention of the founder. It becomes a playground of the left.

"The Kresge Foundation, established with a $1.6 million endowment from K-Mart founder Sebastian Spering Kresge in 1924, has morphed into a $3 billion behemoth. Ideological giving has grown along with the foundation’s fortunes under the stewardship of former Minneapolis mayoral candidate Rip Rapson.

The group gave approximately $9 million to Washington, D.C., organizations between 2003 and 2006 with nearly half that money going to the American Red Cross. Rapson took over in July 2006; between 2007 and 2011 Kresge gave $52 million to 68 organizations based in Washington, D.C. Nearly all of that money has gone to liberal groups, including lavish grants to the Center for American Progress, Tides Foundation, Sierra Club, and Progressive America Fund.

None of these political groups received funding from Kresge prior to 2007."

Read the whole story.

Together again--after 27 years

This was my Mother's Day surprise. Our son and Kristina, a girlfriend from high school days, stopped by for a visit.

The State’s interest in marriage—procreation

Marriage is and always has been heavily regulated by the state or even its precursor—the tribe.  Why? Despite the fact that some couples are infertile, or never intend to have a family, or are too old to have children, the reason is the very existence of the state—stable families are beneficial to the state.  For thousands of years marriage had very little to do with love or sex, and everything to do with stabilizing society.   “The secular case against gay marriage,“  The Tech, Vol. 124, issue 5, Feb. 17, 2004, p. 5

“Some argue that the link between marriage and procreation is not as strong as it once was, and they are correct. Until recently, the primary purpose of marriage, in every society around the world, has been procreation. In the 20th century, Western societies have downplayed the procreative aspect of marriage, much to our detriment. As a result, the happiness of the parties to the marriage, rather than the good of the children or the social order, has become its primary end, with disastrous consequences. When married persons care more about themselves than their responsibilities to their children and society, they become more willing to abandon these responsibilities, leading to broken homes, a plummeting birthrate, and countless other social pathologies that have become rampant over the last 40 years. Homosexual marriage is not the cause for any of these pathologies, but it will exacerbate them, as the granting of marital benefits to a category of sexual relationships that are necessarily sterile can only widen the separation between marriage and procreation.

The biggest danger homosexual civil marriage presents is the enshrining into law the notion that sexual love, regardless of its fecundity, is the sole criterion for marriage. If the state must recognize a marriage of two men simply because they love one another, upon what basis can it deny marital recognition to a group of two men and three women, for example, or a sterile brother and sister who claim to love each other? Homosexual activists protest that they only want all couples treated equally. But why is sexual love between two people more worthy of state sanction than love between three, or five? When the purpose of marriage is procreation, the answer is obvious. If sexual love becomes the primary purpose, the restriction of marriage to couples loses its logical basis, leading to marital chaos. [There is an article about Johnny who loves his lunch...it's point is much in line with this paragraph. Where do you draw the line? ...] “

What I’ve always been

I’ve always been a CREATIONIST and I’ve always been PRO-LIFE. There were many years I didn’t know the HOW, but I’ve always understood the WHAT and WHO even as a very young child observing life around me (probably 3-4 years old).  There were 25 years between my baptism in 1950 and my recommitment/confirmation when I let go of God’s hand, but I never let go of those two beliefs.

I’ve always known CREATION has a purpose and LIFE has meaning, even when I was taught otherwise in school or church.  Whether Creation took 6 days or 6 billion trillion years, makes no difference in my belief; both are equally marvelous.  Whether she is a is a zygote making a journey down a fallopian tube or a frail woman 105 years old in the nursing home bed who hasn’t spoken since she was 87 making a journey home to Jesus, I’ve always believed she is God’s creation and loved by God. 

I’ve always known there was a rich and glorious life beyond what I could see, experience or understand, no matter if it was the vastness I saw in the night sky, or the pictures in the family encyclopedia with transparent drawings showing a baby’s development month by month in the womb.  I’ve always been a wise old woman, even when I was a child. 

I’ve always cared about and loved God’s physical world--and wondered about the events and choices that moved lives and nations.  As a 5 year old I wondered why my grandmother was blind and my uncle was killed in the war.  And I still don’t know, but I know God does.  And until the past two decades or so, I thought caring was enough, because caring made me a “good” person.  Caring made me better than people who didn’t care as much as I do. Caring elevated me above the hoi polloi, the commoners, the great unwashed who didn‘t believe as I do.

In brief moments of extreme self-love, I even imagined I was more merciful and caring than God because I knew better how life should be ordered and what made sense and what didn’t!  At this age I know caring does nothing, so I will speak out when I am able to promote God‘s Creation and Life. You can argue about candidates or fossil fuel with me, both were put here by God, but you won’t budge me on Creation and Life.

Consequently, I won’t change what I believe about Man and Woman who were made in God’s image. Perhaps you are enamored by a current social or political movement and you care deeply and sincerely about this blip in time, but I care about history and the future.  Next year, next decade, maybe you’ll move on to yet another political cause-- legalizing polygamy or incest perhaps renamed to remove the stigma--but I’ll still be where I started, loving and respecting God’s Creation and Life. 

I believe God enjoys and delights in the sanctity of a life He created yesterday or 100 years ago. What I believe is not just who I am, but it is rooted outside myself in who God has revealed himself to be in his created Word spoken in the beginning, his written Word, in his Word Jesus Christ who came to us through the womb of a woman, in his Church on earth, and in all other forms of religions which don’t yet have his full revelation, but do grasp that Creation and Life are precious and holy.

Don’t blame the Media for this

Some Conservatives claim Obama was never vetted--like the lies he told about his father's Kennedy connection [Kennedys had nothing to do with his father coming to U.S. as a student] and the Selma speech on the campaign trail. His claim to be coming back to Selma is a bit odd since he was born 4 years before the Selma event. But it was all out there even in 2008--it is part of the fiction and mythology America elected. But no one cared--they voted for him anyway--lying wasn't a big whoop then or now. He also lied to his leftist supporters, and when gay donors began pressuring him, he got a new Christian revelation that he should support same sex marriage. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/03/29/AR2008032902031.html

“What happened in Selma, Alabama and Birmingham also stirred the conscience of the nation. It worried folks in the White House who said, “You know, we're battling Communism. How are we going to win hearts and minds all across the world? If right here in our own country, John, we're not observing the ideals set fort in our Constitution, we might be accused of being hypocrites.” So the Kennedy’s decided we're going to do an air lift. We're going to go to Africa and start bringing young Africans over to this country and give them scholarships to study so they can learn what a wonderful country America is.

This young man named Barack Obama got one of those tickets and came over to this country. He met this woman whose great great-great-great-grandfather had owned slaves; but she had a good idea there was some craziness going on because they looked at each other and they decided that we know that the world as it has been it might not be possible for us to get together and have a child. There was something stirring across the country because of what happened in Selma, Alabama [4 years after he was born], because some folks are willing to march across a bridge. So they got together and Barack Obama Jr. was born. So don't tell me I don't have a claim on Selma, Alabama. Don't tell me I’m not coming home to Selma, Alabama.”

In the Land of the Blue Burqas

“Kate McCord is not her real name. To protect herself and the men and women she talked with, all of the names in this book have been changed. Though in the midst of a high-powered career, Kate left it all, sold everything, and went to Afghanistan to start a non-governmental organization with the goal of helping Afghan women. She taught herself the local language and served there for more than five years. Now she wants to you to know the Afghan men and women she has come to love.

Riveting and fast paced, In the Land of Blue Burqas depicts sharing the love and truth of Christ with women living in Afghanistan, which has been called "the world's most dangerous county in which to be born a women." These stories are honest and true and the harsh reality of their lives is not sugar-coated. These stories provide insight into how a Jesus-follower brought Jesus' teachings of the Kingdom of God to Afghanistan.”

From promotional material by Moody Publishing at Books and Culture.

I know people who were missionaries in Muslim countries, and they don’t hide their identities.  I wonder what is so different about our “ally” that we’ve spent billions and blood on for the last 10 years?

Some call it evolution, I call it politics

"I believe marriage is the union between a man and a woman. Now, for me as a Christian, it’s also a sacred union." Barack Obama, 2008. [Needed to get the Christian values voters and moderates during the 2008 election.]

"President Obama this hour signed legislation that repeals the "don't ask, don't tell" law that bars openly gay men and women from serving in the U.S. military." Dec. 2010. [Needed to placate the leftists who don't like the military no matter what, wanted to weaken morale and thumb his nose at the conservatives.]

"The President of the United States has made the determination that Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act (“DOMA”), 1 U.S.C. § 7, as applied to same-sex couples who are legally married under state law, violates the equal protection component of the Fifth Amendment." Eric Holder, Feb. 2011. [Needed to rally support of his left wing base.]

"At a certain point, I've just concluded, that for me, personally, it is important for me to go ahead and affirm that I think same-sex couples should be able to get married," May 2012 [Money immediately pours in from wealthy gays and celebs as his campaign coffers are nearing empty.]

True the Vote—you can help

Last night I attended a True the Vote webinar. Very exciting, challenging, but also depressing to see so much fraud and dishonesty taking place, stealing one of our most basic rights--the right to vote. The good news is that 80% of the polling places are fine. The bad news is the other 20% can steal your election and put the wrong people in the state houses, Congress or White House. There will be another training webinar on May 23; go to the website and register. If you are an honest, patriotic Democrat, consider this volunteer opportunity to help your country. This is bipartisan and national, but it has to be by state because that's how we vote. http://truethevote.org/about/

One of the best ways to create voter distrust, anger, confusion and fraud is to bring in outside organizations to register thousands and turn the registrations in the last week or day (in Ohio that will be the end of September) and overwhelm the county offices. This is a common tactic. Another is to have minimal penalties. We saw both methods here in Ohio in 2008—and about 6 months after the election a few “students” who had moved here from the N.E. and Europe to register voters received a hand slap and fine. By then they had left the state, so I don’t know if they ever paid the “penalty.” It only takes 50 votes per polling place to create a national “mandate” of 10 million votes.

Voter fraud in Ohio is just like voter fraud in your state—although it’s probably on a much bigger scale in Illinois because of Chicago. Our "two" reported cases this year (in the Columbus Dispatch) involved counties where there are thousands more registered voters than there are people of voting age. Liberals are fighting the clean up and saying it can be resolved locally. Our last Sec. of State, Brunner (D), did virtually nothing about the voter fraud in 2008, and our current guy, Husted (R) is being overly cautious turning it over to Eric Holder who will do nothing when it’s reported to him (every state is required by national law to have clean records) if the voters aren’t minorities (these are basically white counties).

The best way to clean up registration honest mistakes, careless errors and actual fraud is to make sure the county officials know that citizens are watching them, either as poll workers, poll watchers, or registration researchers. In Texas, when it became known that registrations were being checked for phony addresses and out of district voters by volunteers, they dropped from 1,000 a day to 50 during a campaign by an outside group brought in to register new voters. In Wisconsin’s “Verify the Recall” thousands of false signatures were discovered, but there were still enough to get the recall on the ballot. However, it sent a message to the unions that their days of intimidation were over.

Volunteers cannot remove any potential registration or voter -- that's the county officials' job. They can only report that there are 200 people living in empty lots, or 150 at the golf course, or 52 outside the district, things like that. It's up to the county to see to it that they legally do reside on a golf course, or an empty lot. At least 46 states are investigating voter fraud, but the departments are small, resources limited, and fines minimal. "If the elections are not truly fair. . . we are not truly free."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dMBnTwQvjtc&feature=player_embedded#!

Do you remember the first thing your mom taught you how to cook?

That was a question that Giant Eagle posted on Facebook today.

Interesting to think about because I get to remember what a wonderful cook my mom was. I'm not sure, but I’m guessing it was either beanie weenies (sliced hot dogs, a little butter, covered with canned baked beans,  or a white sauce. I watched how she made pies, although I don’t think I made many while I was still at home.  She was the best at pies, so there really was no point. Mom always overcooked the beef roast, however.  Vegetables when we were growing up was from home canning.  My dad was a bit fussy—he really didn’t want anyone’s cooking but hers.

Liberals have created "volatile, divisive issues"

"Whether it's guns or God or gays, as they used to say, these are volatile, divisive issues," said Strickland [former governor of Ohio, former United Methodist pastor], a co-chairman of Obama's campaign." Link

Twenty years ago was owning a gun a volatile issue? Was marriage between a man and woman divisive and homophobic if preached from the pulpit or voted for at the polls? Was God being turned out of the public square, the school and the White House?

No, no, and no. It is the Democrats, Progressives, liberals and radical left who have made everything in our common heritage, volatile and divisive. They are tearing us apart, creating war not just on women but on the very fabric of our society and common Judeo-Christian heritage.

Start saving now, college grads

When I graduated from college I was 21 and 5 months pregnant. I had other things on my mind than saving for retirement.  .  . like rent, food, graduate school, paying off the hospital and doctor bills (it was a pay as you go baby).  I put it off until I was about 48 and the children were launched.  Then I opened a tax deferred account through TIAA-CREF and started setting aside the maximum allowed.  Since I didn’t go back to work full time until about that same time, I was really behind.  If you’re starting out, don’t do what I did.

Here's how interest compounds over time: If you save $10 a day at age 25, you'll have more than $1 million by age 65, assuming an 8% annual rate of return. If you start at age 35, you'll have $445,000. At age 45, you'll only have $180,000.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304432704577348052844503384.html

Sherrod Brown’s bill to limit loan interest increases

According to the New York Times, it’s the fault of the Republicans that Brown’s bill didn’t pass.  Oh really?  Well, read a bit further down in the article.  “American students took out twice the value of student loans in 2011, about $112 billion, as they did a decade before, after adjusting for inflation. Over all, Americans now owe about $1 trillion in student loans. In 2010, such debt surpassed credit card debt for the first time.”  The Republicans are trying to keep the economy afloat by not raising taxes on the people who create jobs. 

Thirty seven million people currently have outstanding student loan debt.  How did I get through college without loans?  I worked during my high school years and had saved enough for my freshman year; my parents paid for years 2 and 3; my husband and I paid for my senior year.  College costs are going up much faster than inflation primarily because the government floats so many loans.

“Republicans say they want to extend Democratic legislation passed in 2007 that temporarily reduced interest rates for low- and middle-income undergraduates who receive subsidized Stafford loans to 3.4 percent from 6.8 percent. But the Republicans would not accept the Senate Democrats’ proposal to pay for a one-year extension by changing a law that allows some wealthy taxpayers to avoid paying Social Security and Medicare taxes by classifying their pay as dividends, not cash income.

“They want to raise taxes on people who are creating jobs when we are still recovering from the greatest recession since the Great Depression,” said Senator Lamar Alexander, Republican of Tennessee, who instead wanted to pay for the rate decrease by eliminating a fund for preventive health care in Mr. Obama’s health care law. “

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/09/us/politics/senate-republicans-block-bill-on-student-loan-rates.html

Know your ABCS

KNOW your ABCS is part of the CDC program called 1 Million Hearts. The idea is to prevent one million heart attacks and strokes in five years (2011-2016):

◦Appropriate Aspirin Therapy

◦Blood Pressure Control

◦Cholesterol Management

◦Smoking Cessation

Nice idea, but there's no way to determine the success or failure of the program. I take a low dose aspirin every day, my blood pressure is already lower than normal, my cholesterol could be better but it's not bad enough for a statin, and I've never smoked. Will I count if I'm still alive in 2016? I wonder how much money is going into this program? Also, what are doctors for if the mega-gov-dept CDC is telling you what to do?

We’re a special tribe, but we can be conned by liberals, says anthropologist Tanya Luhrmann

Evangelical Christian tribes people. Did you know you're being studied by an anthropologist? Yes, we are reachable by Democrats if they just learn our strange language and ways. http://campaignstops.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/05/06/do-as-i-do-not-as-i-say/

How condescending is this? "But the good news for secular liberals is that evangelicals are smarter and more varied than many liberals realize. I met doctors, scientists and professors at the churches where I studied. They cared about social justice. They cared about the poor."  So says Tanya M. Luhrmann, a professor of anthropology at Stanford

Imagine that! We're educated. We're professionals. And we actually care for the poor and weak instead of asking the government to do it!! And if secular liberals just say the right words evangelicals will fall for their line and stop obeying Jesus and fall in line with Rome.

She did her anthropological study of Christians at Vineyard churches, so possibly those Christians need to be on the watch for wolves dressed as sheep.  “Their members tend  to be white and middle class, although not exclusively. Their congregations are more likely to meet in gyms, not in actual church buildings, and like their surroundings they are informal. They are more likely to have a rock band than a choir, and they use contemporary Christian music rather than traditional hymns (although they may incorporate a hymn into the service). They call themselves “Bible based,” by which they mean that the Bible is taken to be literally or near literally true, and they embrace an experiential spirituality.” http://www.stanford.edu/dept/anthropology/cgi-bin/web/?q=system/files/absorption.pdf

How’s your black history?

After they took control of the Presidency (Grover Cleveland) and Congress in 1892, Democrats had complete control of the government for the first time since the Civil War.  They passed the Repeal Act of 1894 that overturned civil rights legislation passed by the Republicans during the previous 25 years, including the Civil Rights Acts of 1866 and 1875. But even before the Civil War in the 1830s John Quincy Adams (member of several different parties which morphed into Republican) was a strong abolitionist, and he was consistently opposed by Democrats.

Jim Crow and the KKK were created by the Democrat Party, both north and south.  It took Republicans nearly six decades to finally  achieve passage of civil rights legislation in the 1950’s and 1960’s. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 and voting rights act of 1965 were Republican sponsored bills and only got passed with the help of Republicans because so many Democrats voted against them. Democrats also opposed the 1972 Equal Opportunity Act. These were necessary to enforce the amendments passed by Republicans after the Civil War. And it was President Nixon who pushed for affirmative action laws and time table.

You didn't get the truth in your American history classes about black history. Now Democrats are using entitlements, scare tactics and empty slogans to keep blacks in their places.

http://www.suwanneegop.com/NBRA%20Civil%20Rights%20Newsletter-2.pdf

http://dare2sayit.com/racist_history_of_the_democratic.htm

http://www.policyalmanac.org/culture/archive/affirmative_action_history.shtml

http://blackhistory.com/content/60916/13th-14th-and-15th-amendments

Book club selections 2012-2013

I think this group has been together for 34 years—I joined in the fall of 2000 when I retired. I read more on this year’s list than probably any other year.  Didn’t care much for today’s selection, “Hold Up the Sky” by Patricia Sprinkle, but don’t let that stop you, most of the rest of the group loved it.  For next year (begins in September just like school) at 1:30 p.m., except Panera meetings are at 2 p.m., our choices are:

1.  September 10—No ordinary time by Goodwin, led by Patty, at Norma’s

2.  October 1—How the Scots invented the modern world by Herman, led by Mary, at Mary Lou’s.

3.  November 5—Hotel on the corner of Bitter and Sweet by Ford, led by Peggy N. at Marcy’s.

4.  December 3—Death comes to Pemberley by James, led by and hosted by Carolyn A.

5.  January 7—Kim by Kipling, led by Jean at Panera’s

6.  February 4--Sweetness at the bottom of the pie by Bradley, led by Justine at Panera’s

7.  March 4—A secret gift by Gup, led by (not sure) at Panera’s

8.  April   --Girls from Ames by Zaslow, led by Adrienne, at Panera’s

9.  May 6—Still Alice by Genova, led by Norma at Carolyn C.

Books that were recommended, but which did not make the cut were Bonhoeffer by Metaxas, There is no alternative by Berlinsky, Pigs have wings by Woodhouse, and God Vincent and the Poet.

The cost of childcare

In the 1960s, childcare was about 2% of the family budget. (Not ours--we had one income.) Today it is 17%, 2nd only the mortgage or rent. (USDA statistics reported in Parent Link, Group Publishing). 2 things come to mind. First, many well-educated, married mothers are employed, so a big chunk of their income goes to pay someone less qualified than themselves to raise their children and model values. Second, single moms are paying an even bigger percentage in childcare and have no choice.

5,000 empty seats greet the President

Barack Obama "launched" his election compaign Saturday at Ohio State. That's amusing considering he hasn't stopped campaigning. But there were many empty seats. One commment at FB:

I was on campus last week for a meeting, and as I was walking along the Oval, I saw a student with a clipboard. She was asking people a question, each person said "No" and kept walking. When she came to me, she said, "Do you want to see the president when he comes to OSU?" I said "No, thank you," and kept walking-- just like all the others!

George Will on his son Jon

An excellent article with photos for Jon’s 40th birthday, a life enhanced by modern medicine, a society diminished by moral shrinkage.

The full garish flowering of the baby boomers' vast sense of entitlement encompasses an entitlement to exemption from nature's mishaps, and to a perfect baby. So today science enables what the ethos ratifies, the choice of killing children with Down syndrome before birth. This is what happens to 90 percent of those whose parents have prenatal testing.

Which is unfortunate, and not just for them. Judging by Jon, the world would be improved by more people with Down syndrome, who are quite nice, as far as humans go.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/jon-will-40-years-and-going-with-down-syndrome/2012/05/02/gIQAdGiNxT_story.html

Happy Birthday American Bible Society

May 5, 1816 - The American Bible Society was founded in New York City "to encourage the wider circulation of the Holy Scriptures throughout the world." An early goal was to place a Bible in every home, especially those on the American frontier.

According to Wikipedia, The American Bible Society provided the first Bibles in hotels and the first pocket Bibles for soldiers (during the American Civil War). The first translation by the Bible Society was in 1818 into a Native American language. By 1912, the Society issued Bibles for use in the United States in 83 languages besides English. Foreign circulation was rising steadily, increasing from 250,000 copies in 1876 to over 2,000,000 copies in 1915. In the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, the ABS distributed more than one million Scriptures and offered downloadable portions free of charge to those affected by the tragedy.

It has also maintained its commitment to military, including producing a pocket-sized military Bible, developed jointly with the aid of Catholic and Protestant chaplains from all branches of the armed forces.

It has also provided Scriptures to victims of natural disasters. Following the tsunami in 2004, ABS worked in cooperation with the United Bible Societies and partner Bible Societies in Thailand, Indonesia, India and Sri Lanka to provide a host of Bible resources to people in the affected regions. In 2005, it sent nearly a million Bibles and Scripture portions to those who survived the devastation of Hurricane Katrina.

ABS has formed a partnership with Habitat for Humanity to give a free Bible to each of its new homeowners in the United States.

What goes into “best school” in . . . ?

It doesn’t say anywhere in the Wall Street Journal listing of Best Schools by major that the graduates have jobs, but in business and economics Ohio State and Rutgers outrank Harvard.  So looking through the comments about these rankings, I see:

Rod Schultz asks:  “Would anyone in the right state of mind really pick Ohio State or Rutgers over Harvard to study business and economics?”

Rick Joseph responds:  “Certainly! Subsequent to a comprehensive evaluation of the tuition costs at each institution, the debt incurred after graduation, the relative ranking of the universities under consideration, etc. Ohio State and Rutgers, as well as Florida, Texas, Virginia would be preferable over Harvard.

Not surprisingly there have been several recent studies (like "Estimating the Return to College Selectivity Over the Career Using Administrative Earnings Data," Stacy Dale and Alan B. Krueger, NBER Working Paper (June 2011), and those that show employers prefer State University Grads over Ivy League, http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704358904575477643369663352.html?mod=WSJ_PathToProfessions_TopLEADNewsCollection) that have doused cold water on the traditional Ivy League fetish when considering an undergraduate degree. Since the 1950s these institutions are not what they once were, they are considerably overpriced, and most flagship public universities have become exceptional institutions on par or better. Ask most high school students in states like Ohio, Texas, Virginia, and Florida where they would prefer to attend and very few would pick the Ivy League institutions over their flagship state universities.

 
Today, the fetish for the "Ivies" is limited mainly to the Northeast.”

Well said.

The economy continues to struggle—Obama just shrugs it off

I talked to a friend today heading for his son’s graduation—majors are math and piano performance. “Does he have a job?” I asked. “No, he’ll go to grad school.” Meanwhile his parents are paying for him to go to China for a month to travel. I don’t know how students are counted in labor force stats, and labor force participation is the lowest it has been since 1981—63.6% civilian labor force participation.  It probably helps the statistics to keep them in school as long as possible.

Paul Ryan’s assessment of the economy

Hidden, and not so hidden taxes.

“Now that they can’t pass all the laws they want, because of the House, they are hyper-regulating everything. Regulation of financial services, energy, health care, on down the line — is stifling job creation, placing a huge hidden tax on the economy. They’re promising massive tax increases in January, and they’re not doing a thing to get the debt under control, so that just means tax increases and higher interest rates, with the threat of inflation. That produces a great deal of uncertainty. People just have a gut feeling that the country is in decline,” said Ryan.

http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/299099/ryan-obama-s-julia-creepy-christian-schneider

Forward Julia!

Who is writing Obama’s reelection material?  The slogan is “Forward,” the classic Marxist/socialist agit-prop poster, and a fictional Julia (not to be confused with the fictional girlfriend in his book who didn’t understand why blacks were angry after seeing a fictional play) is appearing in ads?

Will Julia survive the ridicule? See the collection of really funny (some sad) take-offs on Julia at Alexa Shrugged.

Energy issues

The Dublin Republican Club's Tri-County Forums
Constitution in Crisis Series
The topic for the June forum is:
Ohio's Energy Resources, Fueling America's Future

Wednesday, June 20, 2012, 7:00 PM

Dublin Community Rec Center
5600 Post Rd
Dublin, OH 43017

If I wanted America to fail . . .

begin with energy . . .

The first time I watched this in April it had about 10,000 hits—now almost 2 million.

Let’s celebrate these young adults

My friend Kay, whom I’ve never met except on-line, writes about her niece and nephew:

“We're heading off to Iowa for two college graduation celebrations!  Both graduations are examples of choices and responsibilities exhibited by the graduates . . . both walking away debt free, one heading off to a job after finishing her master's degree, the other going on to a 4-year program of his choice, both free of government mandates. Our daughter had that same experience. I guess that makes all of them (and us) not part of the 99%, even though they are not the 1%...where does that put them? Where is the news about individuals like these young adults?”

Where indeed, except in special stories and remembrances of families and friends who know what our young people are made of.

Although Obama is a tool

of our homegrown socialists like Bill Ayers and Friends and a self-centered narcissist without any evidence that he cares about the United States’ destiny, don’t confuse him with Hitler if you dislike his leadership. Even though his ridiculous “Forward” slogan for the 2012 campaign is so reminiscent of everything hokey  in Soviet  propaganda  archives.  I’m reading “Bonhoeffer” by Eric Metaxas, and although there are many parallels with our situation in America in 2012,  Hitler isn’t one of them.  At least not Hitler the man.

The parallels are the early 1930s when almost immediately after taking office Hitler begins changing the constitution and taking away the basic freedoms of German Jews, then ordinary Germans, then the disabled, the mentally handicapped and other marginalized, non-perfect people who up to that time had been loved and well cared for.  The churches become infected by “brown shirts” and split into three divisions.  Perhaps I’ve misread the intent of the author’s text, but the good, decent, noble family, honorable and aristocratic Germans (Metaxas’ words not mine), particularly in the military and close to Hitler, did not really become outraged and begin plotting for assassination until after their shock and horror as Hitler’s plans to take over neighboring countries became evident.

We in America have become immune to the millions being killed in the name of “women’s rights” and “reproductive health.”  Ninety-three percent of Down Syndrome babies are being aborted, and 40% of black babies.  We are saluting the only president who ever received an endorsement from Planned Parenthood, the largest abortion provider in the United States.  What will be the horrible events that wake us up?

What you can do in Logan, Ohio--and it's free

Paul A. Johnson Pencil Sharpener Museum - Mon to Sat, 9am to 5pm; Sun 11am to 5pm; Rev. Paul Johnson began his collection over 20 years ago. His Pencil Sharpener Museum, previously located at his home, has been moved to the Welcome Center and is open daily. This amazing collection of over 3400 pencil sharpeners has been featured in national magazines and is reputed to be the largest collection in the United States. Hocking Hills Regional Welcome Center, 13178 St. Rt. 664 S, Logan; 740-385-9706; FREE

Bishop John Bradosky speaks at the prayer breakfast

Today all across the nation people met to pray. Our church, Upper Arlington Lutheran Church, hosted 2 events, a breakfast at the Mill Run campus and a noon worship at Lytham Road, our original church building where we attend the 8:15 traditional service. I attended the breakfast and Bishop Bradosky of the North American Lutheran Church hit it out of the ball park. He gave a fantastic review of religion in America--the role of the Great Awakening, the beliefs of the founders, how the United States form of government is different than all others, that 94% of the founding documents were based on the Bible, that clergy and pastors had a huge role throughout the 18th and 19th centuries, including the founding of such important universities as Harvard and Columbia, that "separation of church and state" was intended to protect the church from being harrassed by the state, not the other way around by keeping the church out of the public square, and that the change needs to begin not in the White House, or the state house, or the court house, but in the house of God! Wow. We were speechless. He even suggested that we all take a course on the Constitution!! We met in the fellowship hall where on Sundays there are 2 services, so I guess you could say this is the first time in my life I've ever heard a sermon about religion in America from the pulpit of a church where I was a member.

Ohio Liberty Council calls for investigation of Occupiers in Ohio

Press Release Columbus, Ohio - The Ohio Liberty Council (OLC), reacted to the failed terrorist attack in Cleveland, by calling for a full investigation by the media and law enforcement officials throughout the state, of the Occupy Wall Street movement. Ohio Liberty Council President, Tom Zawistowski, said, "The evidence is clear that the Cleveland terrorists were active members of the Occupy Movement in Cleveland. A movement that, in April, held "training camps" for activists in Ohio at which media reports indicate attendees were trained to "create havoc and disruptions" and to "create gridlock". Our organization provided documentation to Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine in April indicating that it was likely that the Occupy Movement would be orchestrating violence in Ohio before this year's elections, including plans to attack TEA Party groups throughout Ohio."

Zawistowski went on to say, "We believe that the Occupy Movement is being funded by the UAW and the SEIU and is being managed by groups like Progress Ohio. These groups may be encouraging this type of criminal activity by the type of people they are recruiting and the training they are providing. Reports indicate that their goal is to create civil unrest and to intimidate citizens and groups who oppose their big government agenda. The media and our law enforcement agencies have been way behind the curve on this activity and they need to start taking this threat seriously before someone gets killed."

Sample of solicitation for “spring training” by MoveOn.org and other progressive and leftist organizations to encourage the type of violence we saw yesterday.  And yesterday was just a training exercise for disrupting the election in the fall.

“Inspired by Occupy Wall Street and the fight for workers in Madison, Wisconsin, the 99% will rise up this spring. In the span of just one week, from April 9-15, 100,000 people will be trained to tell the story of what happened to our economy, learn the history of non-violent direct action, and use that knowledge to take action on our own campaigns to win change.”

http://moveon.org/event/events/index.html?action_id=268

Americans blind to our moral problems

Now Planned Parenthood is in court demanding tax money to kill even more minority and poor children. http://www.startribune.com/nation/149525735.html  If you’re contributing to PP, here’s the results: black children are aborted at 5 times the rate as white children and Hispanic children don't fare much better.  You can talk all you want about women’s right to choose, but the fact remains, the abortion industry disproportionately selects black babies for death.

The only president ever endorsed by Planned Parenthood is Barack Obama, our first black president, whose mother was an unmarried teen-ager (father was a polygamist and already married back in Kenya). 

Abortion is our era's "Jews of Germany" moral dilemma of the 1930s and 1940s, and the 19th century outlawing US slavery problem. The difference being only in the number killed.

Why May 1 isn’t about the working man, and is only a Communist holiday

Ilya Somin, a libertarian who writes at FaceBook and at Volokh Conspiracy, a law/libertarian blog comments on  May 1, which although originally about “labor” is now an international celebration lauding communism, which killed 70-100 million people in the 20th century.

“1) all of the labor wrongs in the entire history of the US don't compare in scale to the evils of communism, and 2) many of the alleged wrongs (including bad working conditions) were primarily the result of the fact that the US at the time was a poor country by modern standards. Almost everyone in 1900 had bad working conditions compared to today. The solution to those problems was and is economic growth.”

EVERYTHING I REALLY NEED TO KNOW I LEARNED FROM NOAH'S ARK [Author Anonymous]

All seems to be advice conservatives planning for November 2012 need to learn. . . particularly #11.  (The site I checked said the Author is Anonymous, but usually he’s out there somewhere waiting to sue someone for copyright infringement.)

1. Plan ahead. It wasn't raining when Noah built the ark.
2. Stay fit. When you're 600 years old, someone might ask you to do something REALLY big.
3. Don't listen to critics -- do what has to be done.
4. Build on the high ground.
5. For safety's sake, travel in pairs.
6. Two heads are better than one.
7. Speed isn't always an advantage. The cheetahs were on board, but so were the snails.
8. If you can't fight or flee -- float!
9. Take care of your animals as if they were the last ones on earth.
10. Don't forget that we're all in the same boat.
11. When the doo-doo gets really deep, don't sit there and complain-- shovel!
12. Stay below deck during the storm.
13. Remember that the ark was built by amateurs and the Titanic was built by professionals.
14. If you have to start over, have a friend by your side.
15. Remember that the woodpeckers INSIDE are often a bigger threat than the storm outside.
16. Don't miss the boat.
17. No matter how bleak it looks, there's always a rainbow on the other side.

Obamanopoly

“CIA drone missiles hit militant targets in Pakistan on Sunday for the first time in a month, as the United States ignored the Pakistani government’s insistence that such attacks end as a condition for normalized relations between the two perpetually uneasy allies.” Washington Post .

And right in the middle of negotiations. Sure wish we could find all those war protestors who used to hang out on the intersections of Columbus. They’re probably too busy campaigning for Obama. At least Bush got approval from Congress. Obama doesn’t even ask.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/us-drone-strikes-resume-in-pakistan-action-may-complicate-vital-negotiations/2012/04/29/gIQAIprqpT_story.html

And speaking of campaigning for Obama, which actually began January 2009 for November 2012. Did you see the photos of the White House Correspondents dinner—you know the one—for the post racial President? He’s so post racial that it seems black folks were hard to find for this event. I looked carefully at a photo that seemed to show several hundred people at table, and could only spot one person of color. Maybe the wait staff were black? Or, maybe he sat all the black people together, or up front?

Will the Left let Mitt feed them waffles and syrup?

Rolling Stone interviews Barack Obama who has been campaigning since January 2009 for the November 2012 election. How many ways to count the waffles: 1) it’s complicated; 2) I’ve made it clear; 3) it’s very important to me; 4) It’s important to understand yada yada.  Dribble on the syrup: 1) It’s a matter of heart; 2) fairness and justice; 3) “scared and concerned.”

Obama on race: “My view on race has always been that it’s complicated. It’s not just a matter of head—it’s a matter of heart. It’s about interactions. What happens in the workplace, in schools, on sports fields, and through music and culture shapes racial attitudes as much as any legislation that’s passed.”

On gay marriage: “I’m not going to make news in this publication. I’ve made clear that the issue of fairness and justice and equality for the LGBT community is very important to me.  . . “

On Keystone Pipeline:  “(I)t’s important to understand that Canada is going to be moving forward with tar sands, regardless of what we do. That’s their national policy, they’re pursuing it…The reason that Keystone got so much attention is not because that particular pipeline is a make-or-break issue for climate change, but because those who have looked at the science of climate change are scared and concerned about a general lack of sufficient movement to deal with the problem… “  Interview with Rolling Stone.

5th Global University Summit

I looked through the program web page and could find nothing substantive, certainly nothing about escalating student tuition in conjunction with increased government loans, which I think should be on the agenda. But at least it is honest about how heavily higher education depends on government support.

University presidents from around the world will gather in Chicago, Illinois, from April 29 to May 1, 2012, for the 5th Global University Summit.This Summit brings together leadership of major research universities and industry from across the world to deliberate upon critical issues facing higher education globally in the 21^st Century. The theme for 2012 is “Developing Talent to Drive Innovation in a Global Society.”  OSU Today

“Higher education depends heavily on government support in every country. Therefore, Global University Summits are always held in conjunction with the G8 Summit to draw the attention of world leaders to the needs of higher education and its vital role in helping us deal with the challenges of the present and the future. The 2012 G8 Summit will take place at Camp David from May 20 to May 21, 2012.”  “About” Summit web site

Why college costs keep going up

I didn’t have any college loans to pay off (except to my parents) when I graduated from college in 1961.  And I had that paid off within a year since I was only expected to pay back what I borrowed after I was a “grown up,” married woman, or one semester. For graduate school I had an assistantship.

Federal financial aid is a major source of revenue for colleges and universities, and aid packages are generally based on the gap between what a family can afford to pay to send a student to a given college, and the tuition and fees charged by that college. That gives schools every incentive to keep their tuition unaffordable. Why would they reduce their sticker price to a level more families could afford, when doing so would mean kissing millions of government dollars goodbye?

http://www.jeffjacoby.com/11618/the-government-college-money-pit

 

And yes, I went to college 50 years ago, but look at the cost increases in the last 20 years. Or go to any campus and look at the plush, lush buildings.

RPAC at Ohio State, Recreation and Physical Activity Center. When I was in college it was called "walk to classes."

Dolly was on fire for Jesus!

They announced in church today that Dolly Denman had died. Oh my! Heaven is in for some fun, bright colors and singing. Until a few months ago when she was diagnosed with cancer she was singing in the UALC choir and another community choir. She was no longer driving, but Curt and Barbara, her neighbors, brought her to church faithfully. It doesn't seem all that long ago I remember her riding her bike to church--which probably wasn't safe even for a teen-ager let alone a senior citizen considering the distance and busy route. I figure her death has freed up the angels that must have stopped traffic or sat on the fender guiding her. Dolly and her husband Chuck who died a few years ago were so enthusiastic about Marriage Encounter they must have brought hundreds into the movement back in the 1980s. Their Christmas letters were worthy of the archives. We'll see you later, old friend.

DENMAN Dolly Denman has completed her journey through this mortal life and stepped into eternity with Jesus. Remaining are daughter, Diana; sister, Sandy; nephews, nieces, and friends. Memorial service May 14, 10 a.m., Upper Arlington Lutheran Church, 2300 Lytham Road.

Jimmy Obama? No way!

Perhaps you've seen the YouTube of Carter and Obama morphing. It's called Jimmy Obama. I voted for Carter twice and Clinton once. When the abortion issue for me pushed everything else aside (both of those men claimed to be personally against abortion, but did nothing to move their party’s support for killing the unborn) I changed party registration in 2000 so I could vote in the primary—about the only place it matters. By then I could also see that there was never “enough” in a Democrat plan, that growing a bloated government was their solution to every moral and economic ill. I could see the failures of the “War on Poverty”—that it had built an empire of well paid government workers and dependent citizens.

That said, I consider both Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton giants of patriotism and Christian values compared to the moral midget and teleprompter flubster now in office. It’s breath taking how far we’ve come, how low our country has sunk, in less than 4 years. The middle east wars have expanded into Libya, Yemen, Pakistan and Syria, the lobbyists are constant guests at the White House, ARRA went AWOL at our expense, banks and corporations that should have been allowed to fail have been bailed out, "tax the rich for fairness" plan is named after a billionaire who owes over a billion in back taxes, the unions make the labor regulations, the next bubble (student loans) continues to expand ready to explode, FLOTUS uses the taxpayers as her personal credit line for lavish vacations, scandals like pustules on a horny adolescent’s face are popping in the Secret Service, a national health insurance plan that over 70% of the people don’t want is being implemented weekly even as 26 states have taken it to the Supreme Court.

If Mitt Romney is elected, and he wasn’t my first choice because he is not a Conservative, I expect at least a short term boom in the economy just from business owners being able to breath easier, and fewer people looking over their shoulder for the government busy bodies. It is a thriving economy that helps the low income, that best educates the children, that pays off the student loan, that puts people into their own homes, that assures the immigrant he can start a company like Google and become a billionaire.

I heard it on the radio

Heard on Catholic radio (820 am Columbus, Ohio)  this morning (no source given): "The third largest religious group in America is "fallen away" Catholics." In fourth spot must be "fallen away" Protestants (Methodists, Presbyterians, Lutheran, Brethren). Maybe they're all just trading places?

Also I heard an interview with Theresa Flores, 46, of Powell, Ohio, who “serves on a state human trafficking commission, has testified before the General Assembly, and been heavily involved in educating the public about the seamy sex-trafficking business that often preys on vulnerable young women and immigrants. She is one of the founders of Gracehaven, an organization set to open one of the state's first shelters for female human-trafficking victims.” (from Columbus Dispatch).

I heard her speak  about how this form of slavery is tracked, about the national political conventions coming up, and Groupon which sells coupons for sex slavery.

Happy Birthday President Grant

Happy Birthday President U.S. Grant. Ulysses S. Grant, who led the Union Army during the final year of the Civil War and was our 18th President, was born in Point Pleasant, Ohio, on this day. As President, Grant stated: "It seems fitting that on the occurrence of the hundredth anniversary of our existence as a nation, a grateful acknowledgement should be made to Almighty God for the protection and the bounties which He has vouchsafed to our beloved country."

You can visit his home in Galena, Illinois, and also enjoy a tour of a lovely river town. There is a contemporary play "American Wake" by Bruce J. Robinson about the death of Grant who had been writing his memoirs to be published by Mark Twain.

The story follows the impact that Grant's loss had on the lives of Mark Twain (the editor of Grant's autobiography and his biggest fan), General William Tecumseh Sherman (Grant's best friend) and Arthur Dubois (an African-American Civil War veteran).

The play takes place in New York City on August 6, 1885, the night before Grant is to be buried. It opens on a private alcove in the plush Lotos Club.

Dining are the sardonic, brilliant Twain and the imperious, volcanic and equally clever Sherman. All evening, the old and close friends battle to define and claim Grant's legacy.

Waiting on the two is Arthur, the only fully-invented character and a conduit to one of the play's main concerns - and, in the eyes of the playwright, America's central tragedy - racism.

Cafeteria Catholics are everywhere

         

“The University of Notre Dame has invited Dr. Thomas Quinn–who facilitates family planning and condom distribution projects at the Johns Hopkins Center for Global Health–to deliver a commencement address next month,” Patrick Reilly, the president of the Cardinal Newman Society, a Catholic educational watchdog  group  explained. “Moreover, Quinn will be honored as Notre Dame’s Distinguished Alumnus for 2012, apparently in violation of the U.S. bishops’ ban on such honors — and just when our bishops are fighting the Obama administration to preserve Catholic universities’ right to uphold Catholic teaching on contraceptives.”

http://www.lifenews.com/2012/04/27/catholic-colleges-notre-dame-honoring-abortion-advocates/ 

http://blog.cardinalnewmansociety.org/2012/04/25/notre-dame-commencement-speaker-aids-partnership-at-odds-with-vatican-bishops/

Friday Family Photo--Haiti Mission

Boarding the plane after a long delay in Ft. Lauderdale, Fl. Better to have problems on the ground than in the air!

The classes he's teaching this week are perspective drawing and they get to make a model. This is the model he constructed there which is one of the classroom buildings not yet built (no money) which he designed a few years ago. Each tiny piece was cut out here at home and carefully packed into the suitcase.

The accomodations for the volunteers are nice--much better than what the people of Haiti or even the mission staff have. It's sort of like a camp--they have a dorm and working toilets and showers plus very good food. This mission group's purpose was to build up the tech support so it involved a computer team. Equipment was sent down ahead. My husband doesn't even do e-mail, but he went along and did after school classes in art. These photos came via Facebook from the team leader, Gary.

Here he is at work in Haiti during his last architecture class of the week, Friday. From their hands, I'm guessing they are working on perspective. On Friday the kids get to wear school t-shirts, but M-Th they are dressed up and the teachers too.

Update April 29: Home safe, and on time. He says it was the best mission ever! But I think he says that every year. Monday's teaching day was lost because of the delayed flight into Cap Hatian, but the rest went well. He was teaching 4 classes a day, plus one day filled in for a teacher who didn't show up (very common in the public schools but very rare in the Christian schools).

Count your blessings, name them one by one

Count your blessings, see what God has done!
Count your blessings, name them one by one
And it will surprise you what the Lord has done.
Hymn by Johnson Oatman, Jr., 1897

It’s Friday.  Count your blessings!

Oatman wrote over 5,000 gospel hymns, but supported himself in insurance and retail while being a Methodist pastor.

Where does the money go?

In 2010, the federal government spent 61% of its finances on housing and community services, welfare and social services, recreation and culture, health, education, retirement benefits, disability benefits and unemployment benefits. This amounts to 2,124 billion dollars or $19,316/household. "Government Current Expenditures by Function, Table 3.16." U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of Economic Analysis. Sept. 14, 2011.

http://www.justfacts.com/socialspending.basics.asp

Some call it racist to call attention to this

Crucify them

It’s inappropriate language, but at least he’s telling the truth. He’ll probably be sent to reeducation camp so that he can learn to be more obfuscating in explaining EPA’s methods.

“A video surfaced on Wednesday showing a regional administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency comparing his agency’s philosophy with respect to regulation of oil and gas companies to brutal tactics employed by the ancient Roman army to intimidate its foes into submission.

EPA’s “philosophy of enforcement,” said EPA’s Region VI Administrator Al Armendariz, is “kind of like how the Romans used to conquer little villages in the Mediterranean: they’d go into little Turkish towns somewhere, they’d find the first five guys they’d run into, and they’d crucify them.”

“That town was really easy to manage for the next few years,” Armendariz added.

His comments are indicative of the “EPA’s war on fossil fuels,” claimed Sen. James Inhofe (R-OK) in a news release on Wednesday.”

http://blog.heritage.org/2012/04/25/video-epa-official-compares-agency-enforcement-to-roman-crucifictions/

Modest changes won’t solve Social Security

“In 2011, the Old-Age and Survivors Trust Fund, which pays for retirement and survivors’ benefits, took in $698.8 billion, which includes $106.5 billion that came from a paper transaction that credited interest to the trust fund. Excluding the interest, the retirement and survivors program had income of $592.3 billion but paid out $603.8 billion in benefits, leaving a deficit for 2011 of $11.5 billion. Additional deficits were suffered by Social Security’s disability program.

Counting both programs together, in 2011, Social Security spent $45 billion more in benefits than it took in from its payroll tax. This deficit is in addition to a $49 billion gap in 2010 and an expected average annual gap of about $66 billion between 2012 and 2018. These deficits will quickly balloon to alarming proportions. After adjusting for inflation, annual deficits will reach $95 billion in 2020 and $318.7 billion in 2030 before the trust fund runs out in 2033. Now is the time to focus on solutions.”

http://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2012/04/social-security-finances-significantly-worse-says-2012-trustees-report

Gives me chills

             

It’s the Medical Center’s new Chiller Plant, an environmental air conditioner that will cool the new James Cancer Hospital and Solove Research Institute and Critical Care Center and several other Medical Center buildings at the Ohio State University. This 95,737-square-foot building will provide 30,000 tons of chilled water. This water can also be used for critical operations during power outages.

http://projectoneblog.osumc.edu/2012/04/02/spotlight-on-the-south-campus-chiller-plant/

http://www.aiacolumbus.org/categoryblog/237-chiller-plant

Ethnic cleansing—our training manuals

Are words referring to Islam and Muslim being removed from training manuals and documents for Homeland Security, Pentagon and CIA under pressure from the Muslim Brotherhood and other groups?

Yes.

It was reported in October 2011 by Deputy U.S. Attorney General James Cole.  http://www.justice.gov/dag/training-guiding-principles.pdf

“I recently directed all components of the Department of Justice to re-evaluate their training efforts in a range of areas, from community outreach to national security,” Cole told a panel at the George Washington University law school.

The move comes after complaints from advocacy organizations including the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) and others identified as Muslim Brotherhood front groups in the 2004 Holy Land Foundation terror fundraising trial.

In a Wednesday Los Angeles Times op-ed, Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC) president Salam al-Marayati threatened the FBI with a total cutoff of cooperation between American Muslims and law enforcement if the agency failed to revise its law enforcement training materials.

Maintaining the training materials in their current state “will undermine the relationship between law enforcement and the Muslim American community,” al-Marayati wrote.

Multiple online sources detail MPAC’s close alignment with CAIR.

Read more: http://dailycaller.com/2011/10/21/obama-administration-pulls-references-to-islam-from-terror-training-materials-official-says/#ixzz1tA119vR7

There are Muslims with close ties to terrorist groups within the Obama administration.  They sit on advisory boards and meet with high officials, including the president.

“Texas Rep. Louie Gohmert is one of a handful of representatives on Capitol Hill who grasps the severity and nature of the Islamic jihadist threat -- including the Muslim Brotherhood's infiltration into sensitive U.S. government positions -- and is not afraid to speak out about it.”

http://blogs.cbn.com/stakelbeckonterror/archive/2012/03/12/rep.-louie-gohmert-tells-cbn-news-obama-administration-

http://www.theamericanconservative.com/dreher/2011/12/08/mohamed-elibiary-homeland-security/

I guess the only question now is "who's zoomin', who's foolin', who's zoomin', who's foolin' who?"

How many different retirement plans does Dr. Sega have?

I have no idea, but he must be part of state teacher’s plans in several states, federal employees’ plan, and military.

“Dr. Ron Sega is Vice President and Enterprise Executive for Energy and Environment at The Ohio State University and Vice President for Energy and the Environment and Woodward Professor of Systems Engineering at Colorado State University. Sega is a retired astronaut and Major General of the US Air Force. Sega was the Under Secretary of Defense for energy projects and was recognized for his committee's achievements and previously led DARPA. ‘  Energy Challenges, the next 50 years

Vice President at Ohio State University
Vice President at Colorado State, also tenured professor
Adjunct professor University of Houston
Former faculty US Air Force Academy
Retired U.S. Air Force
NASA astronaut, 1994, 1996
Air Force Reserves
Former Director of Research and Engineer under GW Bush, 2001-2005
Former Under Secretary of Defense under GW Bush, 2005-2007

Dershowitz discusses Trayvon Martin case

Link
On the Prosecutor: It's not incompetence, what she is doing it's criminal. If she didn't provide evidence of assault in the affidavit on Zimmerman it is perjury. It's not her job to get justice for Trayvon Martin, but for justice. Period. She has prejudiced the case already. No evidence of 2nd degree murder according to Dershowitz.

And I still want to ask blacks, why is it more important when a black person is killed by a white than a black (80%+ of the incidences). Many victims of black violence against blacks are relatives.

Jon Swift

We lived in Forreston, Illinois, when I was in 1-6 grades, and I remember the Swift family well, but didn’t know what had become of them.  Jon’s sister Sue was a childhood friend and in my class, and I remember their parents.  I still remember calling their mom (she was a nurse) about a babysitting problem.  Many tributes to Jon’s accomplishments for athletics and his college. When we were children, Carthage College was in Carthage, Illinois, but it relocated to Wisconsin.

“Torchie” is the official mascot of Carthage College, but Jon D. Swift could just as well have been. To hear his former colleagues and players tell it, there is perhaps no one who has ever loved the NCAA Division III institution more.

Swift, who died April 15 at age 74 after a seven-year battle with scleroderma and lung cancer, just about did it all at Carthage. He received a bachelor’s degree from the liberal arts school in 1960 and that same year began a 36-year career at Carthage.

A native of Forreston, Ill., Swift coached men’s basketball (1973-83), men’s golf (1983-96), men’s tennis (1965-78), men’s cross country (1964-71, 83) and women’s cross country (1983), along with serving as a professor and founding the school’s athletic training program.

http://www.kenoshanews.com/sports/swift_filled_many_voids_at_carthage_365842675.html

http://www.oglecountynews.com/2012/04/19/jon-d-swift/aqtaetn/

http://www.carthage.edu/athletic-training/facilities/

http://www.tausigmachi.org/files/Download/Swift,%20Jon%20D.pdf

R136a1

Google this set of letters and numbers--R136a1. It's a star 265 times larger than our sun, and 10 million times brighter.  And it used to be even bigger and brighter—but is now middle aged.  I'm a Christian—I believe God spoke the world into existence (His word) in 6 days, sent his Son (the Word) and gave us Scripture to tell and remind us of the creation/salvation story (the word).  Jesus created and is in charge of the physical universe and reveals himself that way from turning water into wine as a miracle at a marriage of a man and woman, feeding 5,000+ people with a tiny amount of bread,  to offering his body and blood in the bread and wine of the Eucharist. It’s simply the physical elements he created, whether bread or star, and he’s in charge.  If you think this is crazy talk, how come the brilliant minds of today didn't know about this enormous star until it was discovered in 2010? What other simply obvious and enormous things, right out there in plain sight, don’t you know about?

http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn19201-biggest-star-ever-found-may-be-ticking-antimatter-bomb.html

Quiet Jihad--ethnic cleansing bigger than Hitler's

"If quiet jihad’s only victims were the Bangladeshi Hindus, it still would be human rights atrocity with victims numbering more than the Nazi Holocaust, Rwanda, Bosnia, and Darfur combined. Unfortunately, the problem is worse than that. Non-Muslim communities are disappearing wherever Islam has gained hegemony. Christian communities dating back to Jesus’ time are being systematically eliminated in a new Middle East that not only refuses to let them live, but is trying to erase their history so as not to allow even the thought that Islam’s roots go back to a time of conquest and are not ordained by God. The same is true for Middle Eastern Jewish communities with even earlier origins dating to the sixth century B.C.E. Ten of the 14 countries identified as the worst abusers of religious minorities by the US Commission on International Religious Freedom are Muslim-ruled. They all impose a form of Sharia on their people; and three are officially “Islamic States,” as well. Coincidence?

Try again. It seems almost unbelievable that on the eve of World War I, the Turkish capital of Istanbul (then called Constantinople) had a population that was about 50 percent non-Muslim. Today, with a population well over 90 percent Muslim, it has the aspect of any Muslim capital that is increasingly hostile to an intimidated non-Muslim population; and that is after seven decades of being hailed as a model of secularism."

Read the whole article. New English Review

Pelosi wants to repeal the first amendment

“Nancy Pelosi and congressional Democrats, frustrated by the fact that the Bill of Rights interferes with their desire to muzzle their political opponents, have proposed to repeal the First Amendment.”

She wants to make it this big.

                   

http://news.bostonherald.com/news/opinion/op_ed/view/20120424pelosis_war_on_constitution/srvc=home&position=recent

Fancy eating at the trough

Our nation's capital boldly depicted on porcelain! These plates measure 12" across, with DC's downtown core printed on a black background. Key buildings and monuments are represented with red icons, while rivers and public spaces are shown in blue and green. Each plate is boxed and includes a key to the buildings and spaces included on the plate.

                  

This is an item for sale at the AIA Convention website. National convention in DC in May. Architects struggle without government money.

Apostle Claver T. Kamau-Imani

accuses the Black Caucus, African American pastors and President Obama of killing of black children and urges blacks to join with Republicans in saving black babies.



Abortions in Ohio: 37.1% African American. Population of Ohio: 12.2% African American. Americans are as blind to this race problem as the Germans in the 1930s were to their problem with the Jews. The press inflates the Florida Martin/Zimmerman case and ignores what's right in their own back yard. President Obama is the only president ever endorsed by Planned Parenthood. In 2007 speaking to Planned Parenthood, Obama said he would “not yield” on abortion and attacked the Supreme Court decision saying the national ban on partial-birth abortions is constitutional.
Report

Think on this

"68%. The percentage of Americans who know someone who was laid off or lost their [sic] job within the past six months, the highest percentage in history, according to a new Gallup poll. Still, many don't think their own jobs are in jeopardy." Politico

Within the past six months. The past six months. The past six months. The past six months. And still people are willing to vote for him in November after all he's not done. How many small businesses decided not to expand or hire just because of the uncertainty of Obamacare?  How many regulations have been added that have stifled job growth?  How in the world will we ever pay for the increased debt he's added? Why is he demonizing success and calling it unfair? When will he ever accept responsibility for his own presidency and stop blaming others?  Why is he the only President ever endorsed by Planned Parenthood?

Need any talking points about women?

According to The Kitchen Cabinet, a conservative women's group focusing on economic and leadership issues, Obama is desperate to bring women back to the Democrat womb for rebirthing, and provides some talking points about what's up with all this contraception business.

Historically, the Democratic Party always attracts more women voters than Republicans. This year however, women voters are disenchanted with Barack Obama’s leadership, and that is why we see the unexpected windfall of FREE contraceptives for women! It’s quite a generous offer, especially considering that there hasn’t been a peep out of women from either party, complaining about a shortage!

More than six percent of democratic-voting women already confirm that they will not repeat their votes for the President. It is no surprise then that Obama strategists are desperate to find a way to distract women who feel the pinch of a bad economy.

Continue reading here for the talking points.

What is Occupy planning for your city on May 1?

Is your city ready for the disruption of services on May 1 (Marxist high holy day) planned by the Occupiers? The idea of the training this past week is to become so disruptive, that they will be able to interfer with the elections and the government will be "forced" to do something drastic. It's all funded by Soros and Democrats and Progressives with help from unions and MoveOn.org. They will be disrupting banks, supermarkets, city councils, meetings of conservatives and Republicans, and sponsoring school walkouts, etc. To make this work for them, they need self-flagellation with anger, hate, and victim stories while they attempt to steal the November election. I'm sure they'll have lots of tech toys, bottled water, and organic munchies.

Vermont
Michigan

Radical Islamism, terrorism links for research

The War on Terror and International Affairs

American Enterprise Institute
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
Council on Foreign Relations
The Counterterrorism Blog
Defend America
Foundation for the Defense of Democracies
The Jamestown Foundation
Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs (JINSA)
Long War Journal
Michael Yon
The National Interest
9/11 Families for a Safe & Strong America
Small Wars Journal
StrategyPage
Threats Watch
Victor Davis Hanson's Private Papers
Winds of Change

Radical Islamism, The Middle East and Reforming Islam

Apostasy and Islam
Arab Media & Society
Asharq Alawsat
Center for Liberty in the Middle East
Center on Islam, Democracy, and the Future of the Muslim World
Daily Star (Lebanon)
Daniel Pipes
Free Muslim Coalition Against Terrorism
Hammorabi
Healing Iraq
Initiative for an Open Arab Internet
Interfaith Strength
Iraq the Model
Iraq Updates
Irshad Manji
Islamist Watch
Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs
Jihad Watch
Laura Mansfield
Martin Kramer on the Middle East
Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI)
Middle East Transparent
Secular Islam
Washington Institute for Near East Policy
Watch

Khairat al-Shater on "The Nahda Project" [renaissance] (Complete Translation). . .

Deputy Guide of the Muslim Brotherhood (MB) Khairat Al-Shater outlines the strategy after his release from prison in March 2011.

“Everywhere, the Ikhwan [militant Islamic brothers] are working to restore Islam in its all-encompassing conception to the lives of people, and they believe that this will only come about through the strong society. Thus the mission is clear: restoring Islam in its all-encompassing conception; Subjugating people to God; instituting the religion of God; the Islamization of life, empowering of God’s religion; establishing the Nahda of the Ummah on the basis of Islam. All of these synonymous phrases give the same meaning, intention or definition, and that is the overall mission which we are seeking to accomplish as Ikhwan.

We were also taught in method of the Muslim Brotherhood that with regard to this overall mission: Imam Al-Banna, may he rest in peace, through his understanding of the Prophet’s method (PBUH) and his way of instituting religion, outlined for us a number of stages or secondary objectives which, after their completion, eventually lead to the achievement of this overall mission. Thus we’ve learned [to start with] building the Muslim individual, the Muslim family, the Muslim society, the Islamic government, the global Islamic State and reaching the status of Ustathiya[12] with that State. If all of these secondary objectives are completed, the overall mission is achieved, that is the Empowerment of God's Religion.”

Further details.  It’s very detailed, with some history, words defined at the end,  but not difficult to understand.  First the individual, then the family, the society and the globe.  “A fundamental transformation”