Christians are disappearing from Islamic countries

Megamosques are in the news, but ordinary mosques should raise some questions too. In the past few decades, thousands of mosques have been built in post Christian Europe--France, Germany, England--and in Christian America and Australia. But I wonder how often a Christian church is being built in a Moslem country? I think we'd hear about it. I did hear on the radio the last Christian church was closed in Afghanistan (our ally?). With the Arab Spring, with support from our own President who praised it, Christians have been sent into hiding, have lost jobs, or have had to immigrate. At one time when Jesus first commanded his disciples to "GO" there were Christian cultures in Turkey, Syria, Egypt--in fact, that part of the world was Christian a thousand years before Scandinavia.

We have a President who was raised a Muslim, who converted to Christianity in a church (UCC, Rev. Wright, Chicago) where hatred for whites, Western Civilization and the United States was preached. He says he didn't notice--but maybe he just didn't attend that often. In any case, President Obama says we are not a Christian nation. Being a nation that doesn't demand its citizens attend a Baptist or Presbyterian or Catholic church must be what he means--it's what allows Muslims, Bahai, Jews, and Wiccans to pursue their spiritual needs.

In the past, our Presidents have had a "bully pulpit" for human and religious rights. With his "multicultural" past and his attempts to reduce our own religious freedoms guaranteed by the First Amendment, any words of warning to despots and monarchs can be laughed away. "Human rights" and "religious freedom" in Muslim countries are terms defined by Sharia Law, not ours. The July 30 report by Secretary of State Clinton must be viewed with the August 1 HHS Mandate currently being fought by Catholics and many other Christian groups in mind.

We’ve been down this road before—with FDR

Perhaps you believe Rush and Beck are just alarmists about the Muslims in the White House even if maybe backing the Arab Spring wasn’t such a good idea.  Ok, so maybe thousands are being slaughtered by the guys BO supported.   After all, the progressives (Democrats, Socialists, media) all say there is no problem or we shouldn’t expect their version of democracy to look like ours. But remember, that's what Communist sympathizers in the press and government said about Stalin and the USSR too in the 1930s, when FDR reigned and Ukrainians were dying at 25,000 a day from starvation.

As one of the best known correspondents in the world for one of the best known newspapers in the world, Mr. Duranty's denial that there was a famine was accepted as gospel. Thus Mr. Duranty gulled not only the readers of the New York Times but because of the newspaper's prestige, he influenced the thinking of countless thousands of other readers about the character of Josef Stalin and the Soviet regime. And he certainly influenced the newly-elected President Roosevelt to recognize the Soviet Union.

What is so awful about Duranty is that Times top brass suspected that Duranty was writing Stalinist propaganda, but did nothing. In her exposé "Stalin's Apologist: Walter Duranty, the New York Times's man in Moscow," S.J. Taylor makes it clear that Carr Van Anda, the managing editor, Frederick T. Birchall, an assistant managing editor, and Edwin L. James, the later managing editor, were troubled with Duranty's Moscow reporting but did nothing about it. Birchall recommended that Duranty be replaced but, says Taylor, "the recommendation fell by the wayside."

http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/002/791vwuaz.asp

And still there are Democrats who trust him to lead

Contraception as a health issue for women

In 1955 the famed sex researcher Alfred Kinsey said, “. . . we have found the highest frequency of induced abortion in the group, which in general, most frequently used contraceptives.”  Alan Guttmacher, for whom the research wing of Planned Parenthood of America is named said, “. . . there is no scientific evidence that increased availability of contraceptive services will clearly result in a decreased abortion rate.”  Keep in mind, this was before the pill, before legal abortion.  And nothing has changed.  Statistics kept today at PP show that half of the women using abortion services have been using contraception. And we’re having one million abortions a year, and for blacks it’s over 40% of the pregnancies are ending in abortion.  It explains how Planned Parenthood guarantees repeat customers, since even teen girls after their 2nd or 3rd abortion are given contraception after their procedure to destroy the baby.

Citation:  Abortion in the United States (New York: Harper and Row, 1958),  pp 157, 182.

So by requiring that all employers, including religious institutions that are against both contraception and abortion, provide for contraceptives in their insurance plans in the HHS Mandate of Obamacare, our misguided president is not preventing unwanted pregnancies,but encouraging them, and then calling the result “health services for women.”  It’s a 2-fer—hurts women and hurts blacks.

Was he homophobic and hateful in 2008?

In 2008 Barack Obama ran on a “traditional values” and “one man one woman marriage” plank in his leftist platform.  For people who didn’t read his books or weren’t stampeding because of his Marxist friends and views, this was a good ploy.  But he dropped it last year, and came out.  Now, those of us who didn’t flip flop on marriage are being called intolerant by gay activists (Shep Smith on Fox News) and bigots and hateful (have you seen the YouTube of the sweet CFO  who harassed a poor clerk at Chick-fil-A when he drove through for free water?).  So what happened between 2008 and 2012?  Well, Obama’s leftist base was getting cranky and threatening not to support him.  So the marriage views, held by reasonable people for thousands of years, had to go.

Political ads--Ohio is a swamp

Team Obama has spent $131 million on TV ads in the last 3 months to tell us he hasn't done what he has done, didn't say what we all heard him say, and that he has done what he hasn't done. The blacks won't desert him--about 90% will vote for him despite their record high unemployment during his reign. Unions are replenishing his coffers, even though about 1/2 of their members are Republicans. He expands the wars he challenged during the Bush years to keep us in a state of panic. Women are still looking for a sugar daddy, and so his support is strong there. The river of white guilt runs shallow and wide, so a lot of Democrats stubbornly hang in with him. He's fighting cleaning up the voter rolls, so the dead are still in his corner. That leaves only the undecided to watch those expensive ads. People who don't know what they believe or why. That's who is choosing our next president

Friday family photo—exercise class

My husband left his partnership at Feinknopf, Maccioci and Schappa located in downtown Columbus in 1994 and became a sole practitioner with me as his only staff.  We borrowed a small computer from a friend for billing and specs, and purchased a copier and fax (still using them), and everything else was in his head and hands. Eventually, as his business grew, he moved it from his art studio off the master bedroom to our family room which had an outside entrance for clients.  It was an interesting and exciting time for us. He used to tell people, “The kids left home, Norma got tenure, and the cat died.”  So it seemed a safe time to do something he’d always wanted to do—be in charge from the beginning.  Even so, it seemed unrealistic to expect we’d ever have the income he had as an owner of a successful, larger firm.  Having health coverage on my plan was a huge benefit, of course,  and he arranged for a buy out of his stock in the company to run over several years to give us a small cash flow.  I worked out a cash only budget  and being able to cut our spending (and credit cards) wasn’t hard with just the 2 of us. I simply stopped going to retail stores and reading ads.  We already had everything we needed.  What he didn’t have was an exercise group which he enjoyed on his lunch hour down town at the YMCA. He was part of the PULSE (forgotten what it stands for) instructors and really enjoyed it.  I mentioned to him that there was a morning class at our church, UALC, and he could check into that.  A women’s exercise class?  Oh horrors.  But he did join it, and loved it, and the women loved him.  It was a huge group that also had evening classes.  Over the years as the organizers and original members went back to work or into retirement homes or moved away, the group dwindled and he gradually took on first substituting for instructors, then becoming one, then managing the group. Today we (I joined a few years ago) are a group of 10-15 if every comes, and sometimes “alumni” show up if they are on holiday, or are between jobs.  We currently have three instructors, all from the class, and he subs if one of them goes to India (Rita) or Poland (Christine), or has a busy season at work (Molly). By mid-June we close for the summer, and this year got together at Christine’s home for a brunch and to see photos of her recent trip.

                                          

Marriage--what's your excuse?

It used to be that if you said the word "marriage" people knew what the word meant. It was a state and church recognized contract between one man and one woman. For thousands of years and in all sorts of religions and cultures from primitive stone age and idol worshipers to Lutheran mergers in the USA it was understood that in order for there to be a solid family, the bedrock of all society, there had to be a recognized contract between a man and woman and the governing authority, whether the village elder, the king, or the state. Occasionally polygamy was recognized, (still is for some Muslims), but that too is for protection of the family unit and ultimately the state. Even those societies that encouraged or winked at relations among homosexuals, like ancient Greece or decadent Pompeii, never gave them the stamp of state or society approval of marriage.

These days you have to qualify the word marriage with the word, "traditional," if you mean that relational contract between a couple and the state. And if you own a business, it's not enough that you are a fair and just employer and you hire, train and promote people of all genders, faiths, and ethnicities--you must also contribute money only to those organization that support "non-traditional marriage." Like Chick-fil-a, a restaurant whose product I've never used, but will have to check out.

That said, we conservatives, Christians or otherwise, should be ashamed to target proponents of gay marriage as our marriage problem! We messed that up all by ourselves. Homosexuals didn't send the divorce rate soaring; they didn't invent the trophy wife or annulments; they aren't dropping babies to be raised by the state on welfare and Medicaid; if they are shacking up without our blessings, it's because the state and the church haven't an alternative for them.

No Ordinary Time--FDR and Eleanor on the home front

Our September book club selection is No Ordinary Time by Doris Kearns Goodwin. It's about FDR and Eleanor and the WWII White House. I'm slogging through it, but I didn't like FDR much before, and like him even less now. He extended the Depression by a decade, and then after rescinding the failed programs by 1943 since the war created full time employment, he relaunched his socialist dreams in 1944 (at least that's where I am now). And Eleanor's fertile mind an energy seemed behind much of what he did. But the author is a masterful and excellent writer and researcher. She definitely deserved the Pulitzer for the amount of detail she pulled together to recreate what seems like a minute by minute account of those years.

A Cuban freedom lover living in New York

On Facebook there is a page called “Humans of New York” with photos of odd, interesting, and fashionable people.  Sometimes there is a brief explanation, sometimes a whole story.

                                 

A couple weeks ago, I posted this photo with this caption:

"He barely spoke any English. But I did gather that he'd recently moved from Cuba, and had come to America for "La Libertad."

After seeing the post, the man sought the services of a translator in order to fully express his story. Here is the version that showed up my inbox today:

"This is my story and it’s real. I was born in the humble town of Central Guatemala on the Island of Cuba after Castro's revolutionary triumph. I have been living in exile in the USA for the past 3 years. I come from a very beautiful and united family. I miss and love my family immensely. I never stop thinking about them, not even for an instant. Despite living here in America I still worry about their well-being and day-to-day necessities.

My mother, who is the most precious person in my world, is battling cancer. Not being able to see her face-to-face and tell her how much I love her deeply hurts me. Due to Castro's cruel dictatorship, however, living in America means that my entry into Cuba is not permitted. As such, it’s not possible for me to see my mother, to hug her, and to tell her how much I miss her. I am afraid that I may never see my mother again.

Being a professional sportsman gave me the opportunity to represent Cuba in a workshop in Venezuela named ‘Barrio Adentro Deportivo’, which is one of the methods used by the Cuban regime to portray Castro's dictatorship as benevolent. Many of us are ‘selected’ to go abroad using coercion, deceit and threats. If you refuse to go, the regime degrades your economic and social status. Some Cubans opt to follow this charade and use it as a means to improve their social and financial status. Others, like me, decide to use it as a gateway and potential escape to a better life.

Migrating to a new country has been a very difficult experience, as it has been for many other Cubans who, like me, made the decision to leave Cuba to be embraced by this and other nations. These adopting countries have given many of us their support and solidarity because they are aware of the suffering we have experienced in leaving behind our families, friends, culture and, often, our hearts. Many of us have risked our lives fleeing through the borders of several nations in search of liberty. It is shameful and painful, but nevertheless true, that many Cubans have to face such calamities in order to achieve a right that The Creator has given to all humanity: the right to freedom."

Wow.  What a message.  I wish our President and Senate would read this! Thank you, young man for reminding us.

The cost of medical care?

How many times have I heard in my adult years that our health care is the most expensive in the world, but with only mediocre results?  However, have you ever seen the research?  Does that include over the counter?  Supplements? Exercise club memberships? Insurance policies that cover tattoo removal? Does that include everyone in the census (people) or citizens? Does it include the profit insurance companies make or the dividends investors (retirees like me) get in their 401-Ks?  Pelosi thinks welfare payments and unemployment benefits actually provide a return to the economy.  Don’t health care costs?

What is known for sure, is that today the Health and Human Services mandate of Obamacare goes into effect.  This we know is a violation of the First Amendment freedom of religion clause. This, if it takes place, will enormously raise your health costs because it will put the Roman Catholic church out of the health care and social services business—or so they (the U.S. Bishops) have promised.  Obama thinks the Catholics should be like the Amish, who have religious freedom because they take are only of their own.   The Catholic church is the largest provider of social services in the United States.  Even Catholics who are poo-pooing this because they use contraceptives and see no big deal, don’t seem to realize that this camel’s nose is way inside the tent, and soon Catholics will be scooping out the dung that will include insurance coverage for abortions, gay couples, and other things coming down the “choice” pike like incest, polygamy and man boy love.

What is also known is that to the three biggest government health systems we have, the VA, Medicare and Medicaid, are riddled with waste, cost overruns and fraud, and there is no reason to think Obamacare will be different. A recent issue of JAMA includes a story about dual billing of VA for Medicare Advantage—to the tune of about $13 billion.  Now if the feds can’t track its own veterans which is a much smaller population than the entire country, why do they think they can follow the rest of us. Obama is simply shifting costs to the states, which are mandated to balance their budgets, which he isn’t. 

This man is so bad, so evil, and so statist, that our only hope is to vote him out before he completely destroys our country.

John Wesley’s advice for singing our national anthem

Actually, Wesley, one of the most famous hymn writers of all times had never heard the Star Spangled Banner strangled as we’ve heard recently at the Olympics and at various sporting events. . . But, he did give “Directions for Singing” in his 1761 preface to Sacred Melody, and some apply to our difficult national anthem and the screeching and yodeling we sometimes hear as performers attempt to stamp it with their own interpretation.  And here are a few tips:

1.  Learn these tunes before you learn any other; afterwards learn as many as you please.

2.  Sing them exactly as they are printed here, without altering or mending them at all; and if you have learned to sing them otherwise, unlearn it as soon as you can.

3. Join with the congregation

4. Sing lustily and with good courage.  Beware of singing as if you were half dead, or half asleep; but lift up your voice wit strength. . .

5.  Sing modestly.  Do not bawl . . .

6. Sing in time. . . Do not run before nor stay behind it. . .

7. Above all sing spiritually.  Have an eye to God in every word you sing.  Aim at pleasing him more than yourself, or any other creature. . .

Forward

Obama's mail to Chicago come January, 2013.

Closing out the closer with half price goods

I'm so disappointed in this season's Closer, TNT's award winning program now in its 7th season. Last night's tired old, anti-Catholic scripts that has been done on dozens of shows; predictable group think and talk; Kyra is a caricature of Brenda; and last night's episode wasn't a cliff hanger, it was over the cliff. Maybe they've brought out all the reserve team writers and directors for this season, so we won't miss it when Major Crimes begins immediately after its death. They shouldn't have waited so long to end it. . .

TV writers are not so clever about their anti-Christian bias, if you watch a series for any length of time. All the boogey men and rumors and myths are brought out in the story, then the priest, minister, pastor, etc. are absolved in the end, but the seeds of suspicion and hate have been firmly planted. This also happens on Bones and Law and Order. But Muslims--they are not treated this way. They are usually the victims of prejudice in the story line by unnamed bigoted groups. All the Closer team was going along with the theme--a murdered priest had been a child molester, the church was doing a massive cover up--but he was completely innocent and had been killed by someone whose confession he had heard. Closer also has a strong anti-Mexican theme in many stories and with blatant stereotyping, but allow the one Hispanic character (whose Spanish sounds about as good as mine) on the show always has to interpret the church to the rest of the crew.

Once upon a time, you were an embryo

 

Monday Memories—wringer washer at our 2nd apartment

Or maybe it was our third apartment.  It was on Third Street, in Champaign, Illinois.  I think it was called Harvard Apartments.  I was living in a rented room at Maude Peter’s home in Urbana so I could do my student teaching at Urbana High School (in Spanish), and Bob was finishing a class in Indianapolis living with the Moir family in the Spring of 1961.  We’d been married less than a year and were already “separated” by circumstances.  So we probably moved in shortly before I graduated—I have photos taken at the apartment of me in my cap and gown.  Anyway, there was a wringer washer in the basement (we lived on the third floor) for the tenants.  As I recall, it was 25 cents a load; for that you got wash and wring, and if you were really quick, you could get er done.  Fortunately, I’d helped with the wringer washer my mom had before 1953, so I knew how to use one. After our son Stanley was born, it was really important, because trying to boil diapers on the kitchen stove and wring them out, and dry them on a rack, was a lot more work.

 

                                                      

Mitt Romney in Jerusalem

"Let me turn from Iran to other nations in the Middle East, where we have seen rising tumult and chaos. To the north, Syria is on the brink of a civil war. The dictator in Damascus, no friend to Israel and no friend to America, slaughters his own people as he desperately clings to power.

... Your other neighbor to the north, Lebanon, is under the growing and dangerous influence of Hezbollah.
After a year of upheaval and unrest, Egypt now has an Islamist President, chosen in a democratic election. Hopefully, this new government understands that one true measure of democracy is how those elected by the majority respect the rights of those in the minority. The international community must use its considerable influence to ensure that the new government honors the peace agreement with Israel that was signed by the government of Anwar Sadat.

As you know only too well, since Hamas took control of the Gaza Strip in 2007, thousands of rockets have rained on Israeli homes and cities. I have walked on the streets of Sderot, and honor the resolve of its people. And now, new attacks have been launched from the Sinai Peninsula.

With Hezbollah rockets aimed at Israel from the north, and Hamas rockets aimed from the south, with much of the Middle East in tumult, and with Iran bent on nuclear arms, America’s vocal and demonstrated commitment to the defense of Israel is even more critical. Whenever the security of Israel is most in doubt, America’s commitment to Israel must be most secure.

When the decision was before him in 1948, President Harry Truman decided without hesitation that the United States would be the first country to recognize the State of Israel. From that moment to this, we have been the most natural of allies, but our alliance runs deeper than the designs of strategy or the weighing of interests.

The story of how America – a nation still so new to the world by the standards of this ancient region – rose up to become the dear friend of the people of Israel is among the finest and most hopeful in our nation’s history.
Different as our paths have been, we see the same qualities in one another. Israel and America are in many respects reflections of one another." - Mitt Romney in Jerusalem

Making the legal seem illegal

I receive a weekly digest from the U.S. Treasury Dept. (although it seems not that often) and today it was about FATCA, Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act  --an act passed by the Obama Administration in 2010. A little late for Timmy Geithner, though.

"FATCA was enacted in 2010 by Congress as part of the Hiring Incentives to Restore Employment (HIRE) Act. FATCA requires foreign financial institutions (FFIs) to report to the IRS information about financial accounts held by U.S. taxpayers, or by foreign entities in which U.S. taxpayers hold a substantial ownership interest."

Reading through the complex, obscure language that only bureaucrats can compose, I did determine that it isn't illegal to have foreign investments or work for foreign companies, so why are Obama ads (in Ohio, a swing state) making a big deal about Romney's legal investments regulated by our ever vigilant IRS?  Except of course, to make voters think he's doing something illegal.
 http://www.treasury.gov/press-center/press-releases/Pages/tg1653.aspx

John Tesh opens Week 6 at Lakeside

John Tesh was fabulous last night! One of the best shows ever!! I thought I might have to leave because of the deafening sound level, but after about 3 numbers he began the interaction with the audience and talk part, so that reduced the pain level. The 11 member band was so loud, we couldn't hear Tesh at the piano. In the middle of the show he gave his Christian testimony. Lakeside loved it.

On our way back to the cottage about 10 pm, our 80 something neighbor whizzed by on his bicycle, and said, “That was the best program I’ve heard at Lakeside.”

Tesh was co-host of Entertainment Tonight for 10 years.  This was his “big band” sound and a similar show is airing on PBS.  He is married to Connie Sellecca (20 years) who he say was the inspiration of his current radio show. The night before Lakeside the band was in Dayton, and one of the trumpet players had appendicitis, so they came to Lakeside with a PhD trumpet player from U of Cincinnati who plays with the symphony there.

Pandering to His Base

I just don't get it.  I know many intelligent, capable, patriotic Democrats who just don't care about what Obama is doing and the company he keeps.  What has blinded them?

He is moving sharply to the left on issue after issue: immigration, religious liberty, welfare, gay marriage, the environment, race, the role of government. Why? It's an election year!

And then there are the expanded wars . . . the crony capitalism . . . the deliberate moves to hurt the economy by denegrating small business . . . what is up with this guy and his supporters?

Pandering to His Baseyear! Have Democrats really gone over the cliff as a party?

Fancy Nancy and the President's trips to Israel

The Kitchen Cabinet says:

"Nancy Pelosi - the gift that just keeps on giving... with Mitt Romney currently visiting Israel, guess she was feeling nervous for Obama when in her interview with Al Hunt she remarked that, he "has been there [Israel] over and over again."

Hmmm, not once as President, and only twice before that while in the Senate, and NEVER as a private citizen.

Pelosi also said that Republican Jews are being "exploited", but did remark, "And they’re smart people." Yeah, smart enough not to vote for Obama this time Nancy... getting anxious yet?"

More here: http://www.weeklystandard.com/​blogs/​pelosi-president-obamas-been-is​rael-over-and-over-again_64907​8.html and interview transcript here: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/​2012-07-27/​pelosi-says-republicans-use-isr​ael-to-distract-transcript-.ht​ml

Current fashions

I noticed recently that frames for glasses are getting larger and rounder again (noticed this in the late 60s and eventually they got huge, then smaller again in the 90s until we were back to "Wanda the witch" tiny frames by 2003). So I asked a woman who works for an optometrist, and she confirmed.

Also, what's up with young (ish) women wearing baggy sweats rolled at the waist with skinny t-shirt tops. Not very flattering. Is that the yoga look?

Ladies: I know they make fun of "mom jeans," but trust me when I say perhaps you should leave that painted on style to your teen daughters.

I must say, though, I do approve of the many pretty dresses available now in the stores. Many lovely floor length, summery, swishy styles. Just a few more sleeves please. This one is from Kohl's, similar to the one I'm wearing to church.

Not so wild about technology

I'm blogging from my living room using my new laptop. We watched Glenn Beck in the family room, although the picture wasn't the greatest. We've had a week of complete equipment failure. Computer, modem, cell phone, regular phone--you name it, I've probably cursed it. I have a few more cords to buy--and my book bag looks like the "snake pit" with so many cords--camera, radio, cell phone, laptop, nook, i-pod. My older printer cord (at the lake) won't work now, and we're going to get an HDMI? cord to connect to the TV.

The Chick-fil-a hypocrisy of Democrats

Interesting that Democrats, the party with a history of organizing and membership in the KKK, serial criminal behavior, treasonous speeches when we're at war, looking the other way when Jews were being slaughtered in Europe, supporting of the return of Jim Crow by disenfranchising legal voters by protecting the illegal and dead ones, and the killing of the pre-born for the last 40 years have a problem with Christians exercising legal rights guaranteed by the Constitution.

Now it’s a failure of connectivity

Computer fixed, can get e-mail, but barely can get blogger and no luck with FaceBook.  Somedays I hate technology.

But Mother Nature isn’t being much kinder.  Last night two bats got in the house, apparently when we opened the front door around twilight, but we really don’t know since we didn’t discover them until around 11 p.m. We thought there was just one, but the cat found the 2nd one, upside down on the dining room blinds.

There’s supposed to be a big storm this afternoon.  After the seriousness of the last two on June 29 and July1 which interrupted services for quite awhile, I bought a new flashlight, bottled water, and cooked this evening’s dinner at noon.

He didn’t say it, or didn’t mean it, but it doesn’t matter, we know his heart

James Taranto writes:  “Still on the defensive over "you didn't build that," President Obama's campaign is out with yet another ad claiming he didn't say that, or at least he didn't mean that. This one features Stephanie Cutter, the deputy campaign manager. . . [we haven’t seen this in Ohio yet].

“If Obama has made any permanent, across-the-board cuts [he claims 18 times] in either individual or corporate tax rates, that's news to us. As far as we know, such tax cuts as have been enacted since 2009 have been temporary and targeted--designed to provide "help" to particular segments of the economy or "stimulus," not to improve the overall business climate.

“Then Obama takes credit for "investing" in (read spending on) "infrastructure"; in Pell Grants, which transfer money from taxpayers, including businessmen, to colleges and universities; and in "expanding broadband access," an area in which the private sector is doing fine.

“Now remember all the governmental goodies Obama credits with building small businesses: roads and bridges, teachers, the Internet. It's all right there on Cutter's list. She's confirming, not refuting, Mitt Romney's account of Obama's collectivist philosophy.”

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10000872396390443477104577548173266014782.html?mod=djemBestOfTheWeb_h

Restoring Love

We have several friends from the Columbus area that are heading to Dallas for Glenn Beck's Restoring Love. God speed, dear friends. You are all an inspiration to us.

Last night we listened to Kalai sing Julia Ward Howe's "Battle Hymn of the Republic" on Glenn Beck's 5 p.m. program. Beautiful, but not like you've ever heard it. Our God is marching on . . . Restoring Love. Glennbeck.com/music.

According to another blog, Revolutionary Artists: "Kalai was born “Kaniela Ka Lei Ali’i ‘O’ Kalani Kala’i” in December, 1979, in Kailua, Hawaii and raised in Alaska. Kalai, despite a permanent injury in his left hand, at the age of 16 learned guitar by watching his father, Danson, a Hawaiian music icon who has performed with Eric Clapton and Van Morrison."

Women for Obama

For free contraceptives and abortion on demand, Obama offers women higher taxes, more regulation of their small businesses, more ballooning college debt, and more dependence on government programs like SNAP and Medicaid pushing them out of the middle class into the lower class. Such a deal! No wonder women have had such a struggle over the years! They fall for a pretty face and a bunch of lies everytime.

Busy, busy Mr. President

So much on his plate he has no time to think about the economy.

The blame game is killing people

"Unless improvements are made, more than half of all young black men who are gay or bisexual will be infected with HIV within the next decade, according to findings presented Monday at the 19th International AIDS Conference." I didn't even read the rest of it, because I know who will be to blame. Me. Society. Particularly anyone of European origin. 1% of the population has 25% of the new infections. Bisexual men are bringing this disease home to girlfriends and wives so it can become a problem in the heterosexual community. The rest of us are to blame, of course. When did infantilizing men never made them stronger?


http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/young-gay-black-men-at-high-risk-of-hiv/2012/07/23/gJQA445T5W_story.html?wpisrc=nl_headlines

Time for a new computer

I'll be shopping this week. This one is about 7 years old; in the past 2 years I've spent more on repairs than the original price.

Week 4 at Lakeside, 2012

Week 4 had two well known acts as book ends--Vicki Lawrence on Saturday and America on Friday. America at the Hoover last night drew a huge crowd as did Ms. Lawrence and her side kick "Mama"--who more or less had to sneak out after the show due to her very unpopular, and shocking, potty mouth. We left about half way through America to protect our hearing. Since we’re old enough to have missed rock concerts, we still have some. During the Lawrence show I was squished in the middle of a row and couldn’t get out, or I would have left. It was so nice Friday to take a sweater along, but the heat plans a return performance. Plein air painters and wooden boat show this week-end and many started painting on Friday. The artists were displaying their work in a special tent gallery last night in front of Hoover. Wednesday night at Hoover Auditorium we enjoyed Verb Ballet. Unbelievable finish with "Bolero" done with capes, twirls and spins. Don't miss this group if you ever have the opportunity. They began with a Benny Goodman medley, went to Elvis from there, so they were a real crowd pleaser.

On Thursday we enjoyed Helen Welch from Cleveland who did music from the Silver Screen. The day time topics were the Great Lakes and Ethics. I did attend two of the Great Lakes lectures--learned about the Salt Mines under Lake Erie. Also attended a 3 day class led by our summer pastor, Irwin Jennings, Making sense of God’s Will. The Kids Sail on Sunday had to be post-poned due to weather, but almost 90 showed up on Thursday for the make-up date, and my husband loved it. He always has interesting stories to tell about what children say--when they aren’t with their parents.

Thursday night our neighbors had a party--Isobel is 95. The electric golf cart was decorated and the neighbors came in for cake and ice cream and a lot of laughter. I think she told me once that her parents brought her to Lakeside when she was 6 months old.

I spoke too soon

I was commending the main stream media for not jumping to the "right did it" meme like they did with the Arizona shootings. But now ABC is speculating about a Tea Party event where someone with the same name logged in, and also someone is blaming Rush Limbaugh. Really, it's impossible to ever give them them credit for straight thinking.

Friday family photo--learning the guitar

Stormy, windy day at Lakeside. A good time to practice the guitar.

None dare call it treason

Title: None dare call it treason (pb 1964)

John A. Stormer wrote this book in 1964. I picked it up at a sale today--vaguely remembered the title. Here are some of the chapter titles.

• The growth of world Communism
• How has it happened?
• Education
• Subverting our religious heritage
• The press, radio and TV
• The Organized labor movement
• The tax-exempt foundations
• Internationalism

Glancing through this nearly 50 year old book, I see some things haven’t changed much. Particularly, education, the media and tax-exempt foundations.

Revising textbooks to eliminate nationalism, taking history out of the early grades, belittling patriotism, and eliminating the Pledge of Allegiance were noted (quotes suggestions from UNESCO).

http://www.scribd.com/doc/52165577/None-Dare-Call-It-Treason-John-Stormer-1964

The topic is Ethics at Lakeside

The issue topic this week at Lakeside is "ethics." I haven't attended. Some things seem so clear to me, but others think "politics" or "personal choice" instead of ethics.

• Abortion.
• Removing DDT from malaria prone areas killing more Africans than the European slave trade.
• Testing drugs on women in developing countries and claiming the researchers have "informed consent" to exploit their ignorance.
• Crippling families with welfare and making Uncle Sam a no-good, abusive step-daddy-O.
• Destroying the hearing of teen children with rock concerts and ear buds so performers can live in luxury.
• Eminent domain for profit and cronyism and the building trades.
• Non-profits that are hugely profitable by any thinker person's definition of profit.
• College programs and faculty taking tuition from students to study for non-existent jobs.
• Keeping adult children dependent because you need to be needed.
• Not taking care of an animal you've agreed to own.
• Making a living legally from the addictions and pain of others--gambling, alcohol, pornography, etc.

So no, I don't want to discuss theory or the lastest author.  I would probably ask questions, or give an opinion.

The anti-life president and stem cell research

President Bush was pro-life from start to finish; but Obama is the most anti-life president ever, the only one endorsed by Planned Parenthood. He undid Bush's executive order to not expand gov't funding of embryonic stem cell research, and thus Obama came down on the wrong side of medical history. Even in Jan. 2009 it was known that the future was in adult stem cell research, at a fraction of the cost, and no loss of life and no ethical battles. Adult stem cell therapies have marched ahead and left him in the land of broken dreams of the anti-life, anti-Christian crowd.

"An analysis of scientific funding over several years suggests that morally acceptable types of stem cell research [using adult cells] offer the greatest promise for a wide variety of effective therapies and treatments.

Research on adult stem cells does not require the destruction of a human embryo and therefore does not pose the ethical difficulties associated with embryonic stem cell research. In addition, adult stem cell research has already contributed to advancing therapies for various diseases." EWTN News

Some Americans fret over where Obama was born. I wonder where his heart came from.  We may never know the real truth, but his mother was a 17 year old, unmarried American, impregnated by a foreigner.  His policies seem to speak out against his own mother who later turned him over to her parents to raise.

A memo to the president

Mr. President--no one makes it even several days without the help of others. In Columbus last week some were without power supplied by coal miners and the internet for over a week. They became painfully aware they didn't have food, water, communication or transportation in some areas where trees fell on power lines or over access roads. On the other hand, most of us could take billions from the federal government and never be able to create a useful business, compose a hit song, repair an appliance or automobile, or develop a retail store. And no one pops out of the womb as viable and independent, because someone has to help that little one grow up--for Democarats to age 26. So don't be downgrading other people's success just because you're smarting from your own failures.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nM9sbQf9MQ4&feature=share

Seen at the coffee shop in Lakeside

This morning at Coffee 'n Cream as I browsed my "Real Simple" magazine that Bev was kind enough to leave for me, I saw two men about the same age and height order breakfast.  The slender, athletic one got the fruit/yogurt/granola cup (large) that is made on site.  The other one, pudgy, got a chocolate cream filled yeast donut and a chocolate freeze type drink.  True, they are on vacation and a few indiscretions are allowed, but the donut eater looked like he hadn't seen a nutritious breakfast in years.

In "Real Simple" I was reading an article on aging and beauty, and of course, the photos were of women 40-something.  That's what consumer magazines call "aging."  For aging, they should come to Lakeside where 80-somethings are still wearing shorts and riding bikes and sailing. For us, here are my tips, but I think most magazines will tell you the same thing.

• Good nutrition
• Stay out of the sun
• If you must, use baby sun screen
• Drink a lot of water
• Move as much as you can
• Don't smoke
• Avoid alcohol
• Go really light on the make-up because it collects in wrinkles and eyebrow hair, emphasizing them
• If you must wear make-up, get the right color
• Smile
• Take care of your teeth
• If you've been coloring your hair, go lighter--that's how God does it. 

Bicycling at Lakeside

At Lakeside I worry about the old geezers riding bikes--like me, but some in their 80s. While sitting on the porch this evening I saw an older man and teen going fishing, loaded up on their bicycles. Mama (or grandma, couldn't tell) was giving advice from the sidelines as the man wobbled past. Then the teen went kersplat in the street, really hard. People stopped, but he seemed OK. Mama helped him get back on, but the bike was toast. Last I saw him, he was walking it, carrying the fishing poles, tackle, back pack with food, etc. It's a rented bike. It's going to be an expensive fish dinner. Dad (or grandpa) was probably down at the lake by then wondering what happened because he didn't see him fall.

 

 

Putting all non-government social service agencies out of business--the HHS Mandate

$100/day, every day, per employee for each Catholic, Lutheran, 7th Day Adventist, etc. institution in taxes if they refuse to violate their religious beliefs. How long will we have religious schools, hospitals, food pantries, clinics, job programs, nursing homes, etc. under Obama's idea of "fairness." This, my Democrat friends, is "statism" where the state doesn't create or own the businesses, it just totally controls them through over regulation, taxes, and lies. It's the "total transformation" Obama told us about in 2008. In the Soviet Union (Communism), the government owned everything.  In Nazi (National Socialist) Germany the state ran everything.

Friday Family Photo-Old Friends

Tina moved to Florida in 1956, but has returned to Mt. Morris for class reunions where we saw each other for our 55th. She met her husband in high school in Miami, and they've been married I think, 54 years. We met for lunch in Mt. Morris.

Week 3 at Lakeside, 2012

The week (always on Saturday) started out in the breathless heat. I wondered how I would enjoy the wonderful program planned for the Hoover, but around 7 p.m. the wind picked up and the temperature dropped at least into the 80s. I managed a trip to the laundromat on Saturday afternoon (our washer started smoking on the 28th and is no longer usable).

The Osmond Brothers, Merrill, Jay and Jimmy, performed Saturday night. Wow. What amazing, accomplished musicians, but then they’ve been performing together over 50 years, having had their 50th anniversary as a family group in 2008. Seven of the nine Osmonds are musicians and/or actors--one brother who used to perform with these three in recent years in Bransom, MO and on tour has had a stroke and another has M.S. Donny and Marie still perform together occasionally. All the Osmonds use their many talents in other areas of show business. They did a lot of interacting with the audience, and one more row and I would have been able to shake Merrill’s hand. The audience at the end (about 2-3 encores) rushed up to take photos, and they obliged. Some performers are very stingy with their time, but not this group. They also called Shirley Starey (who is program director) to the stage because it was her birthday.

The Archives and Heritage Hall has a new director of operations, Gretchen Curtis, who did our educational programming for years. Keith Addy gave some “behind the scenes” stories about the days he was in charge of the Hoover entertainment, 1988-2004. My neighbor provided a few additional ones. He said his wife was the driver from the airport when the Osmonds (5 of them) appeared here in 1985. Also he said when the Lennon sisters appeared here (1960s?), they took a break after about 30 minutes. The audience waited and waited, but they never came back on state. They’d left during intermission!

On Monday and Tuesday Frank Deaner, retired Ohio Newspaper Association, talked about future of newspapers and the sunshine law. He was hopeful about the future of newspapers, although the dailies are down (1902, 2600; 2009, 1392), many people report using a newspaper daily (59%) or on Sunday (53%). News websites get 113 million adult visitors. E-content (tablet, etc.) readers are increasing readership. Many websites are going “hyper-local.” I learned that the Cincinnati Inquirer is getting out of the printing business, and will be printed by the Columbus Dispatch. Also new is a less than 7 day schedule, like publishing 4 days, and the current stories appear only on blogs or the website. Lots of multi-media cross digitization--Scripps Howard now owns Food Network (cable), for instance.

On Wednesday and Thursday Meghan Harper, Assoc. Prof., Kent State talked on the future of libraries. She was very upbeat and positive. Two of my library friends, Andrea and Marian, and I compared notes at the Wednesday picnic. Our view from the trenches was not quite so positive. Of course, none of us were as enamored of technology as Ms. Harper.

A great genealogy workshop this week, 5 days at 3:30, by Derek Davey, who is an instructor in genealogy, and a private, for-hire, genealogist. Many of the points I knew (although I don’t always follow). Met a woman who also has a Church of the Brethren background and I told her about the Brethren genealogy listserv that has been so helpful for me in finding Wengers, Danners, Geigers, and Fetters. Because maiden names were often not included in older records, it is nice to have such a helpful group.

Thursday night was The Glenn Miller Orchestra. Powerful performance. The leader said they tour 48 weeks a year, 4-5 performances a week! This also included a seminar in the afternoon, although I didn’t attend. After all, one has to preserve some nap time!

Friday night Judy Collins is scheduled. She is my age and still does about 100 performances a year. So I guess I can walk 3 blocks to hear her. She is multi-talented, and is also an author.

It's only the largest tax increase in our history. . .

"There is no mandate, here, folks. There is only a tax. So don’t worry your little heads about our Constitutional structure, limited government, or individual liberty. As Roberts breezily puts it, “if one chooses to pay [the “tax”] rather than obtain health insurance, they have fully complied with the law.” We all pay taxes, after all, so we all should understand that the federal government gets to tax whatever it wants to tax, and in whatever manner it sees fit. Another tax, while we might not like it, raises no constitutional concern for any but crazy people."



Imaginative Conservative

Transfer of health

President Bush is in Zambia this week.  The photos of him and Laura with adorable babies are very touching.  Not sure, but I think they are there to support a cervical cancer clinic.  PEPFAR, a Bush program to save people with AIDS, was probably the single most successful program for Africa since the days of DDT.  When Obama came to office he decided to tweak it by expanding it to TB and malaria, which are bigger killers than AIDS, but with not enough funding to do all 3 major killers.  And now even the modest increase it got from the U.S. in the early Obama regime has been frozen for 2013. Even JAMA, or at least its writer on global issues, is calling it a crisis.  Diseases, researchers, doctors, nurses, clinics, medications, etc. are not mix and match.  Each is very special.  By spreading the wealth, he didn't spread the health.

Diet and exercise myths and studies

Diet and exercise. Everyone seems to be over weight these days, including me. If you pick up a consumer magazine or health journal, obesity (or obesity links to poverty and crime) seems to be the meal ticket (pardon the pun) for social workers, nutritionists and medical writers.

Losing weight is no problem. Maintenance is. Most medical reports only go to 18 months for “success” stories. I lost 20 lbs. In October 2006-March 2007. Travel is broadening, and in 2006 we went to Finland, Russia, California, an architectural tour, and to Michigan. We ate a lot of good food. I gained a few pounds back in Ireland that fall, a few pounds in Italy the next year, and a few in our Holy Land tour in 2009. Since 2010 it’s been a hopeless climb back to my 2006 weight. In fact, I’d be happy to weigh what I did in 2009.

The June 27 issue of JAMA has another comparison of plans, and STEP, or a stepped care weight loss program does better than the standard behavior mod plan. However,  “The findings do not answer the question of how to achieve weight loss in a manner that will be appealing enough to the participants in long term sustained weight loss." (p. 2641). Really? Who knew?

Eat less, move more. It always works.



.

Diet and exercise myths and studies

Diet and exercise. Everyone seems to be over weight these days, including me. If you pick up a consumer magazine or health journal, obesity (or obesity links to poverty and crime) seems to be the meal ticket (pardon the pun) for social workers, nutritionists and medical writers.

Losing weight is no problem. Maintenance is. Most medical reports only go to 18 months for “success” stories. I lost 20 lbs. In October 2006-March 2007. Travel is broadening, and in 2006 we went to Finland, Russia, California, an architectural tour, and to Michigan. We ate a lot of good food. I gained a few pounds back in Ireland that fall, a few pounds in Italy the next year, and a few in our Holy Land tour in 2009. Since 2010 it’s been a hopeless climb back to my 2006 weight. In fact, I’d be happy to weigh what I did in 2009.

The June 27 issue of JAMA has another comparison of plans, and STEP, or a stepped care weight loss program does better than the standard behavior mod plan. However,  “The findings do not answer the question of how to achieve weight loss in a manner that will be appealing enough to the participants in long term sustained weight loss." (p. 2641). Really? Who knew?

Eat less, move more. It always works.



.

Week 2 at Lakeside--hot in so many ways

The storm that blew through the mid-west to the Atlantic coast leaving millions without power on June 29, missed Lakeside.  Our daughter called us from our Columbus home describing the downed trees and wind where she took refuge in our basement.  Saturday evening Lakeside hosted the Coasters, Drifters and the Platters, but the lead singer for the Platters didn't get to the airport until 5;15 because all flights out of DC had been grounded.  Fortunately, he had time to change clothes and make it to Hoover Auditorium for a great Show.  Many years ago my nephew David was in the band that travelled with the Platters.  Of course, the performers in these groups change and evolve depending on age and abilities.

We left early Sunday morning for Illinois, arriving in time for our family reunion, so I can't speak to the programing on Monday and Tuesday except it was on art and literature.  I know on Monday night there was a lovely theater production at the hotel because Bev, who was attending our cat, said it was great.  Thursday night's Hoover program was "The Magic of John Denver" performed by Rick Schuler. In the middle, he told us about archealogy digs in Israel he's participated in, and sang the Lord's Prayer in Hebrew.

Tuesday and Friday are farmer's market, so I'd better hurry.  Saturday (week 3) is the Osmond Brothers--the real thing.

Update:  Friday's program, Rhythmic Circus, a group of tap dancers and ensemble musical group, was outstanding.  I've never seen anything like it--although they were here last year (I must have not attended, because you'd remember these folks). My feet, knees and calves were aching in sympathy after the first number, yet they continued until 10:30!  Hoover was packed--unusual for a non-name group, so they must have a following. The new "cooling" system, huge ceiling fans, couldn't make a dent in the heat, and at intermission many left to go get ice cream.  But, oh my, they were fabulous.

Small business waits . . .and so do we

Fox News is running a series on how small businesses (both under 50 and over 50 employees) are responding to the SCOTUS decision that Obamacare is a legal tax.  Doubt. Uncertainty. Fear.  Not a good attitude for recovery.  No one wants  to expand; some are considering dropping their excellent health care plan and opting for the $2,000 penalty which is cheaper.  However, no matter who is in charge, the federal government can always change the rules.

Meanwhile in Ohio, a swing, critical state, we are inundated with 2 Obama ads; 1) Romney outsourced jobs, 2) Bain Capital (when he was no longer an owner) which created thousands of jobs and businesses (Staples, 92,000 alone) caused a woman to lose her job.  How about the government EPA requiring us to buy energy efficient light bulbs made in China. How about those wind towers that dot the Illinois prairies which are made in China?  What about Obama off-shoring our oil wells to the waters outside Brazil?  These ads are so easy to refute, where are the Romney writers?  They are certainly collecting enough money--it's time to call out Obama on his lies.

John Stossel's new book points out he made $11/hr, tax free, begging on the streets, and found 40 jobs in 2 hours in an area where the unemployed, collecting benefits, said there were no jobs.

Driving back to Ohio on July 4 we made record time getting around Chicago--it was a breeze.  But. Oh. My.  The radio talk shows.  Really in the tank for Obama, plus we had to listen to an interview with Elizabeth Warren pleading for money (wampum?).  Remember she's the one who has been sliding buy as a Native American, based on a family story that great great great granny or someone was an Indian.  Well, who doesn't have that in their family genealogy/tree, especially if you are from an area where Indians were forceably remove.  A nice gig, but isn't she smart enough and female enough to make it on some thing else.?

Allen West: "When you go back and you read the documents, the Declaration of Independence, the full declaration, the full Constitution, you’ll understand limited government, you’ll understand fiscal responsibility, you’ll understand individual sovereignty, free markets … strong national defense.


But there are people on the other side, and you can call them whatever you wish, you can call it Communism, Progressivism, Socialism, Marxism, or Statism …They believe in creating and expanding an entitlement or welfare state."

Friday Family Photo--July 1 Reunion

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Monday Memories--Very fresh, Blogging from Illinois

We're in Illinois for two reunions, high school and family.  My sister prepared a wonderful buffet meal for a variety of relatives--my siblings, aunt and uncle (father's younger siblings), cousins from both sides of the family, niece, nephew, great nephew, and assorted favorite in-laws.  I think there were over 20 of us.  The recipes were all from the Corbett Family Reunion Cookbook 1993, which I had prepared.  The occasion was my mother's 100th birthday (in May).  She died in 2000.  For "entertainment" we all took turns telling favorite "Olive" stories, and the general opinion was she was a remarkable woman. Another source of fun was a large bag of photos and mementoes from my mother's sister (died in 2011) who had saved birthday, Christmas, and get well cards, wedding announcements, graduation announcements (including my mother's 1926 8th grade commencement), newspaper stories, post cards, etc. for many years.  Each family member took items precious to their own family, and I'll mail some to the Florida niece and nephew.

The ladies of the class meet this evening and then the class reunion is at the Pines State Park tomorrow evening.  However, classmate Phil Egan died Saturday, and the funeral will be tomorrow, so I expect to see some classmates at the services or visitation.

Very hot here.  Instead of a cool walk along the lakefront, it was 77 degrees on a country road.

Blogging from the porch

No connection at the cottage today, so I'm on the hotel porch.

Friday family photo

I found a cute pillow sham with 2 cats at Volunteers of America for 26 cents.  She looked so cute on it I went back and got the other one.

Thomas Sowell on how much this will cost you

Obama insisted it wasn't a tax. Court says it is.

The Supreme Court's Decision

The Supreme Court gets it wrong, sometimes. And then it's really big. And hurtful. Like in 1857 when it declared blacks weren't citizens (Dredd Scott) and therefore didn't have a right to sue in the courts and in 1973 when it decided the unborn baby wasn't either a human or a citizen and didn't have a right to life.. Justice Roberts (paraphrased) said it's not the court's responsibility to protect the American people from bad laws--we need to do that at the ballot box.


I doubt that the USSR could have fallen without Pope John Paul II and his inspiration for the Polish people to fight for their freedom. Looks like the limp, spineless evangelicals need to get behind the Catholics in their battle against the HHS Mandate. It's the only power we've got who can stand up to Big Brother Barack.


"It is amazing that people who think we cannot afford to pay for doctors, hospitals, and medication somehow think that we can afford to pay doctors, hospitals, medication and a government bureaucracy to administer it." --Thomas Sowell

NORMA BRUCE

Week One at Lakeside 2012

Week 1 at Lakeside, Dr. Paul Beck of OSU was a featured speaker talking about the 2012 elections. Excellent speaker, and very informative. I had 2 take-aways after 4 sessions. This year will be a record for money spent on campaigning--$4-5 billion. But McDonald's will spend $20 billion advertising its products. Most of that goes to convince the "undecided, non-party" voter, and only a low percentage of them vote. The rest of us know who we are voting for so the ads don't affect us. Also, Columbus, OH will have more money spent on it than any other market because Ohio is a swing state. And I think Cleveland is #2. Most of you won't see what we see.

Sunday evening we went down to the park to hear a fiddle player, Krista Solars. But the weather report looked like rain, so it was moved to Hoover Auditorium  She was excellent, but lost some of her audience in the shift--the people carrying lawn chairs, food and leading dogs. On Tuesday evening at Hoover a group called Blue Lunch from Cleveland played.  Very interesting mix of R & B, soul, jazz, gospel and good old rock n roll.  Saturday night was Mike Albert and his Big E Band (Elvis impersonator), in his 14th appearance.  I think we've probably seen at least 10 of those.  He always puts on a great show.  Elvis and a classic car show go well together--lots of visitors of a certain age in town!

On Tuesday I also made a quick trip to Sandusky for a new pair of athletic shoes.  My legs were starting to hurt, and I know that's a sign I've gone too long. I don't want to miss out on the morning walks along the lake.  I noticed this morning the sun popped up at 6:01 which means the days are getting shorter!

Monday Memories--June 23 at Lakeside

Is there anything prettier than the Fords of 1954-1956?  Or maybe it's just the memories.  First program of the season was vintage and classic cars on Saturday, June 23.

Yes, we're here at Lakeside with extremely slow connections. 1 mbps. Not much blogging and the template won't create a title.

ACORN’S Joe McGaven gets $445 million in Illinois

“ACORN, the supposedly defunct organization defunded by Congress in the aftermath of James O’Keefe’s video exposing ACORN employees’ willingness to help out pimps and prostitutes attain government benefits, is back. As Judicial Watch has uncovered, the Obama administration offered $445 million to a former ACORN official as part of a $7.6 billion government program designed to help “unemployed or substantially underemployed” Americans make their mortgage payments.

The ACORN official, Joe McGavin, is director of Hardest Hit, an Illinois program that received that massive Treasury infusion. Prior to his time at Hardest Hit, McGaven was director of counseling for ACORN Housing in Chicago, and the operations manager for Affordable Housing Centers of America (AHCOA), an ACORN affiliate.”

http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2012/06/08/ACORN-official-gets-payoff

“Until two years ago AHCOA was called ACORN Housing. The nonprofit corporation renamed itself Affordable Housing Centers for America after undercover activists caught ACORN employees offering helpful advice about starting a brothel for pedophiles and committing other crimes on video in 2009. Soon after, popular revulsion prompted Congress to ban funding of ACORN and groups related to it.

ACORN Housing, which had been the largest affiliate in ACORN’s corrupt, taxpayer-subsidized empire of activism, grew out of crime: squatting. It emerged from a 1982 action in which ACORN built a squatters’ tent city behind the White House.”

http://frontpagemag.com/2012/06/12/obama-gives-446-million-to-acorn-veteran/

Give a wedding gift that will last

I'm still using some of our wedding gifts. We were married in 1960. President Obama wants couples to give that up so he can raise more money for his campaign. No president in history has ever run up a debt like he has or spent more time on the golf course. I don't think I'd trust him with my wedding gift money or my tax money. http://townhall.com/tipsheet/guybenson/2012/06/22/obama_to_couples_why_dont_you_forgo_wedding_gifts_and_ask_your_guests_to_donate_to_me_instead

                         

Still using my silverplate received as a gift from my husband’s aunts and uncles. 

Conservatives complain too much about welfare—except where it counts

Welfare comes to many, not just the poor. Princeton University is highly invested in the success of capitalism with an endowment of $17 billion, or about $2 million per student. Even so, it received approximately $54,000 per student in 2011 from the federal government--you and me. Richard Vedder, Bloomberg.com, Mar. 18, 2012.

‎"In 2002, Meg Whitman, now the chief executive officer of Hewlett-Packard Co. and a former CEO of EBay Inc., made a $30 million gift for what is essentially a luxury dorm (Whitman College) at Princeton that probably netted her a tax break of $10 million or so. Less opulent residences at the College of New Jersey lack such rich private funding. One could argue that this is the equivalent of building public housing for the rich. "

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-03-18/princeton-reaps-tax-breaks-as-state-colleges-beg.html

“It's unlikely that more money has ever been lavished on the education of so few. Even as Ivy Plus budgets have spiraled upward, the schools' enrollments have barely budged. From the 1997-98 academic year through 2006-07, graduate enrollment at the 10 institutions inched up by 10%, to 55,708, while the number of undergraduates actually fell by 1.4%, to 68,492.

Meanwhile [2007], the wealth gap between the Ivies and everyone else has never been wider. The $5.7 billion in investment gains generated by Harvard's endowment for the year that ended June 30 exceeded the total endowment assets of all but six U.S. universities, five of which were Ivy Plus: Yale, Stanford, Princeton, MIT, and Columbia. Ivy dominance extends to fund-raising. A mere 10 schools accounted for half the growth in donations to all U.S. colleges and universities last year. All of the top five on the list were Ivies, led by Stanford, which set a record for higher education in 2006, collecting $911 million in gifts.”

http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/07_50/b4062038784589.htm

Why the general public doesn’t trust architects

A glass box addition to a 19th century farm house.

Story here

Even fewer jobs for Mexico in the future

“On April 19, 2012, Mexico’s Senate unanimously passed the Ley General de Cambio Climático, or the General Law on Climate Change. The bill, which previously passed The Chamber of Deputies, the lower house of Congress, by a vote of 128-10, includes a requirement that Mexico reduce its carbon dioxide emissions by 30 percent below business-as-usual levels by 2020 and by 50 percent below 2000 levels by 2050.

In addition, the bill mandates that 35 percent of the country’s electricity come from renewable sources by 2024; requires mandatory emissions reporting by the country’s largest polluters; establishes a top-level commission to oversee implementation of the law, lead environmental research, and report on emissions levels; provides for the development of a carbon emissions trading scheme; and establishes a fund to collect resources for climate change mitigation and adaptation measures.”

I guess there will be more Mexicans heading north to support their families. But at least the wealthy, white Mexicans who run their government can breath clean air.

http://blogs.law.columbia.edu/climatechange/

This is one serious climate change blog.  They are “true believers.”

Pelosi unhinged

It’s not only her boss who grabs power not assigned to his office.

“I could have arrested Karl Rove on any given day,” she [Nancy Pelosi] said. “I’m not kidding. There’s a prison here in the Capitol. If we had spotted him in the Capitol, we could have arrested him.”

However, Rove noted that while a House committee cited him for contempt in the investigation of the firing of U.S. attorneys in 2007, the House never took up the resolution.

“So it's nice to know that Speaker Pelosi wanted to have me arrested,” he said in an appearance on Fox News. “It's nice to know that she thinks she had the power to. But we're still a nation of laws, and she had no authority to do so, and had she attempted to arrest me on any of the number of times that I was in and out of the Capitol, without a resolution passed by the entire House of Representatives, she would have been up the proverbial creek without the proverbial paddle.

“You know, she sounds a little bit like Inspector Clouseau and a little bit about the mad red queen. But you know, Speaker Pelosi was dead wrong in her assertion today. I'm sure she had a good laugh, and it's nice to know that she dreams of slapping me in her own personal jail, but didn't have any authority to do it.”

Read more  Rove: Nancy Pelosi the Inspector Clouseau of House Speakers