Swoon

Democrats, please respond

One billion in false claims?

After the housing collapse some of the same "community" organizations that pushed unqualified people into unsafe loans and took a cut from the top, then got government grants to help the same people with preforeclosure and refinancing. This article doesn't give enough information, but remember little ACORNs continue to grow under new names.

Washington Post story here.

Some ACORN members were encouraged to stay in their foreclosed homes. http://socialistworker.org/2009/02/05/taking-on-foreclosures

http://www.guidetolenders.com/adjustable_rate_mortgage/articles/foreclosure_help_mortgage_lenders_join_forces_with_non_profit_groups.jsp

http://www.acgov.org/cda/hcd/documents/mls_foreclosure_resources_for_homeowners.pdf

I’ll do what I can to clean up Obama’s mess

because I love you!

Real help for the poor is on the way!

"The American system of limited government and free enterprise has done more to help the poor than any other economic system ever designed. We don't want to replace that. We want to renew and revitalize that." Paul Ryan

A good summary of Democratic voters

On September 5, Namaste an African American blogger I've been following for years decided to look at some liberal blogs after watching the convention. Sounds like the Romney tape that Jimmy Carter's grandson turned up. "As Americans, we're gonna just have to agree to disagree. The victims, the saviors, the martyrs and the entitled citizens on the left are so deeply entrenched in their beliefs about this country, all I can say is God bless. No speech, no editorial, no news story is going to make a smidgen of difference between now and November."

It’s the “saviors” that drive me whacko.  They don’t even see how they are hurting people.  Just as long as they get their jollies—that’s all that matters.

http://myvoiceonthewingsofchange.blogspot.com/2012/09/the-race-is-on.html

Abby Johnson, pro-life advocate talks to a pastor

She’s a former Planned Parenthood worker, now trying to lead other women out of this cesspool. She wonders why more is not said in churches about life issues.  I’ve been a member of our church since 1976 and have never heard a word about abortion.

Abby: I grew up in a pro-life Christian home, but I never once heard my preacher talk about abortion.
Pastor: I preach about abortion every year during Respect Life month and the anniversary of Roe vs. Wade.
Abby: It’s not enough. About 70% of women who have abortions come from the church.
Pastor: But Abby...really...how often do you think I should be preaching about abortion?
Abby: I don’t know, but I will say that when I worked at Planned Parenthood, it was not uncommon for a woman to be holding a rosary or Bible in her hands while she laid on the abortion table. So you tell me, how often should you preach about abortion?

From her FaceBook page.

Does the term "drinking the Kool-aid" come to mind?

I guess we know who Democrats are listening to--the MSM and their echo chamber friends on FaceBook. It worked with youth in 2008.  Pew Report:  "Just 15% of Democrats say recent economic news is mostly bad, down from 31% a month ago and among the lowest percentages over the last four years. Six-in-ten Republicans (60%) say news about the economy is mostly bad, as do 36% of independents."

What happened in just a month?  The lies told in Charlotte is the only thing I can think of.  None of the numbers have changed.

http://www.people-press.org/files/legacy-pdf/9-11-12%20Econ%20News%20release.pdf

Holder needs to go . . . forward his mail, too.

“Internal Department of Justice emails obtained by The Daily Caller show Attorney General Eric Holder’s communications staff has collaborated with the left-wing advocacy group Media Matters for America in an attempt to quell news stories about scandals plaguing Holder and America’s top law enforcement agency.

Dozens of pages of emails between DOJ Office of Public Affairs Director Tracy Schmaler and Media Matters staffers show Schmaler, Holder’s top press defender, working with Media Matters to attack reporters covering DOJ scandals. TheDC obtained the emails through a Freedom of Information Act request.”

Read more: http://dailycaller.com/2012/09/18/emails-reveal-justice-dept-regularly-enlists-media-matters-to-spin-press/#ixzz26x3PyciY

The choice is clear, redistribution of your wealth or free enterprise

George Soros donates millions to Obama’s cause to bring down our nation

Soros, who spent $27 million trying to defeat President Bush in 2004, has ties to more than 30 mainstream news outlets – including The New York Times, Washington Post, the Associated Press, NBC and ABC--that could account for what you Democrats are believing—your  news sources are screwed up.

http://townhall.com/tipsheet/katiepavlich/2012/05/08/george_soros_hes_all_in_for_obama_in_2012

The brown savior with Muslim ties in 2008 is being burned in effigy in 2012

Man of the World

“Flash forward to 2012, and his brown face is being incinerated in effigy on several continents, while mobs of hysterical Muslims shout death to his African name. George W. Bush never saw such an outbreak of fury. If an Iraqi once threw a shoe at President Bush, this is an entire store full of footwear. The man of the world found the world turned against him. What in the world had gone wrong?

What could and did was foretold in his 2008 speech in Berlin, when he told the hysterical crowds in attendance that the Wall had come down when (and because) "the world stood as one." But the world was never as one, then or ever: The world was as two, and the Wall had come down because one world (that led by the United States and the Atlantic Alliance) had, through force, threats of force and several hair-raising near-clashes, forced the communist world to its knees.

It was in the failure of this man of the world to embrace his role as the leader of one part of the world against the more dangerous other that the seeds of his failure were planted. Instead of raising the West, he has tried to merge the two sides and make them seem equal, stressing the flaws of the West and its allies, not taking democracy's side.”

Truth—it’s tough for the media to parse

Romney told the truth about the 47% who would not be reached by a message about increasing taxes, and the media pounced.  How dare he point to an empty chair which so many love and will vote for.

And it was President Carter’s grandson who worked so hard mining search terms on the internet to find it.  Grandpa is so proud.  I don’t think the Fourth has a job, but he can sit in his jammies and dig stuff up.

A war against women led by the king of food stamps

You want fair? This is fair?

A tower of champagne bottles

Wonder how many poor children 800 bottles of $350 champagne could have fed?  Oh well, they were probably just poor black children—the ones who got away from the abortion clinics.

The Middle East is going up in flames, and like Nero Obama grins and laughs while celebs pay the bills.  He pulled in $6 million at Jay-Z’s event.  How many campaign events since 9/11 when the middle east riots started?

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/national/beyonce_jay_host_ny_bam_ba_5wud17kNBMEiV8wim9YYJK

Didn’t he say he’d be accountable? Another lie?

If there are socialists in the teachers’ unions

there are socialists in the classrooms teaching the kids of Chicago.

“. . .socialist factions of the union blasted union president Karen Lewis for failing to disclose the full deal to members. A socialist leaflet distributed on Sunday accusing her of issuing a “package” summary of the deal to sell it to ignorant members.

The socialist statement accused the union leadership of conceding too much to the school system, allowing, for example, evaluations that “victimize teachers.””

http://freebeacon.com/socialists-stall-contract-agreement-in-chicago/

This is recovery?

Since Obama took office: 692,000 more women are  unemployed; 321,000 more young Americans are unemployed;  293,000 more Hispanic Americans are unemployed ;  329,000 more African-Americans are unemployed.

Didn’t he promise a one term presidency if he couldn’t turn things around?  Let’s help him keep at least one promise. Send him back home to Chicago.

Forward his mail after the election.

Only Israel

I have visited Israel.  Have you? Compare the freedom the Israeli Palestinians have there to what Palestinians have in Lebanon, Jordan, Syria or Egypt.  Even if born in those countries—even if their grandparents were—they are not citizens, can’t work, can’t vote, can’t own property.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/05/world/middleeast/05iht-m05-lebanon-camp.html?pagewanted=all

http://english.al-akhbar.com/node/8643

http://www.forcedmigration.org/research-resources/expert-guides/palestinian-refugees-in-egypt/fmo028.pdf

Where are you getting your news?

A friend writes:  “I just returned from the UK last night; turned on the 5:30 news - flipping back & forth between MSNBC and FOX to see how they were covering things. MSNBC spent it's time criticizing Romney nearly exclusively, FOX covered the events unfolding. “

So, I don't have a paper copy of the Washington Post, just on-line. I see 2 stories about how Romney has messed up his message and is floundering, but nothing about Obama's mistakes which are critical to our security. Hey guys, which one is the president? Really, the MSM is beyond lapdog stuff, they have sunk to puppy pads.

Media in full attack mode, but. . .

Jennifer Rubin of Right Turn at the Washington Post:  “Yesterday, virtually the entire liberal media and some on the right as well made the story of the day not about the murder of our diplomats, not about why we did not prepare for a potential assault, not about whether President Obama’s halting policies had come home to roost, but about why Mitt Romney, after a day of silence from the White House following an atrocious apology issued in Cairo (we now know issued without authorization), spoke out when he did.”

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/right-turn/post/whos-to-blame-for-the-original-cairo-apology/2012/09/12/8aecf7ca-fd26-11e1-b153-218509a954e1_blog.html

Blacks are on the move

They are moving to the suburbs and they are moving to the sun belt, to the south where their grandparents lived and left early in the 20th century.  The big cities of the north have failed them, the Democratic power house, big liberal, keep ‘em in the projects, cities run by the Democrat machines. Chicago, Detroit, Cleveland, and New York are losing college educated, middle class, two parent black families to warmer, friendlier, economically freer climes. And those not headed south are moving to the suburbs.  Blacks are about 13% of the voting population, they have about 40% of the abortions, and voted 95% for the first black president, first American president ever supported by Planned Parenthood and NARAL.

http://www.city-journal.org/2012/22_3_great-remigration.html

Joe Pags plays the national anthem

Joe Pags occasionally substitutes for Glenn Beck.  Interesting guy.

Our puppy pad media—all they can soak up

Oh gosh, don’t you feel so sorry for him!

A spin journalist for WaPo reported:

President Obama went through with a campaign appearance in Las Vegas on Wednesday evening and, after laboring to quiet an exuberant crowd, began his speech with a somber tribute to the four Americans killed Tuesday in Libya.

I wonder what sort of day the family members had finding out the ambassador was raped, or that bloody hand prints were found on walls as 4 Americans were dragged to their death.

And our glorious president couldn’t even be respectful enough to stick around Washington to see if anyone else was in danger (they were, as it turned out).  I think he could get more “undecided” votes by being presidential.

The Story, Chapter 4, Deliverance

Our church is using “The Story,” a retelling of the famous stories of the Bible from Creation to Redemption to Resurrection.  There are several opportunities during the week to participate in a small group using this resource. Today we were on Exodus 3 and Moses.   In today’s sermon by Pastor Paul we heard about Moses--and God's plan of deliverance.  Pastor Buff says this is the center piece—the story of how God will save and rescue through the shed blood  (door posts).  Lots of sub-texts, like how a Pharaoh who didn't know about Joseph decided the population of the Hebrew slaves was becoming too great, so he killed their babies to limit their population growth.  Obama isn't the first (or last) ruler to take population control into his own hands. The government wasn't greater than God then either.

                                 

Under Obama our credit rating continues to fall

Ratings agency Egan-Jones on Friday downgraded the U.S. country rating to AA-minus from AA, citing the Federal Reserve's latest stimulus program to boost the sluggish economy.

The Fed on Thursday said it would pump $40 billion into the U.S. economy each month until it saw a sustained upturn in the weak jobs market.

"(The) Fed's QE3 will stoke the stock market and commodity prices but in our opinion (it) will hurt the U.S. economy and, by extension, credit quality," Egan-Jones said in a statement about the latest quantitative easing program.

"The increased cost of commodities will pressure profitability of businesses, and increase the costs of consumers thereby reducing consumer purchasing power."

Moody's Investors Service currently rates the United States Aaa, Fitch rates the country AAA, and Standard & Poor's rates the country AA-plus. All three of those ratings have a negative outlook.

Source

Biden and Ryan—the debate

Some are rubbing palms to see this debate. And two Catholics? Unlike Protestants (I’m a Lutheran in a new synod, but have been a member of two other denominations), who get stuck with boring, endless, everyday sin--fornication, gossip, stealing--they get to have levels and degrees of sin. And there's a difference between tolerating sin and promoting sin, says this author:

"Biden promotes (and does not merely advocate toleration of) things the Church considers to be intrinsic evils, something no Catholic can in any circumstances do. And he tolerates things no government ought ever to tolerate without the loss of legitimacy. Ryan, on the other hand, has never, so far as I know, advanced or promoted something the Church considers an intrinsic evil. There are two such areas that might be pointed out: abortion and homosexual "marriage."

This article contains full quotes from both candidates.

http://www.catholic.org/politics/story.php?id=47443

I thought Hillary was doing a pretty good job

until she came up with this question:

Today, many Americans are asking – indeed, I asked myself – how could this happen? How could this happen in a country we helped liberate, in a city we helped save from destruction? This question reflects just how complicated and, at times, how confounding the world can be.

Really?  Is that what we were asking? Does anyone outside the delegates in Charlotte who screamed to take God out of the party and hand over Jerusalem really think what the world got after Arab Spring (fundamentalist Muslim tyrants) was better than what it had before (secular Muslim tyrants)?

Complicated?  It was the anniversary of 9/11.  You guys had been reviewing gleefully the death of Osama bin Laden as the high point of a flat presidency.

Don’t go all girly on us, Hil.

From Paul Ryan

“We don't need sugar high economics. We don't need synthetic money creation. We need economic growth. We want wealth creation. We don't want to print money. We want opportunity and growth.”

Can’t say for sure, but I assume he’s talking about QE3, the fed’s plan to print more money to goose Obama’s campaign with artificially high profits for investments in the next 2 months, then of course, the plunge. Printing money makes the stock market look good and some crony capitalists might make a profit, but it doesn’t create solid jobs. Today a good friend confided her fears for the economy—she’s a single, professional woman and very scared.

Valerie Jarrett has better protection . . .

“The consulate in Benghazi was an interim facility, with only a standard door lock for security, and worse, Ambassador Stevens was traveling with only a light security detail, rather than in the heavily armed convoys our diplomats in the region usually employ. The attack on the Benghazi was no mere target of opportunity spurred by reaction to the “Innocence of Muslims” film; the film is just a pretext. The killing of Ambassador  Stevens was a premeditated hit, planned and carried out as retaliation for the recent drone strike that killed the number two Al Qaida operative in Afghanistan recently. The vulnerability of Stevens at the Benghazi compound was scouted out carefully. All the other embassy protest activity is just covering theater.”

http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2012/09/chaos-at-the-state-dept.php

Obama’s supporters, not his detractors, are hurting him

“Before he became president, people were already naming their kids after him. Songs and poems were written about him. Women dreamed about being with him. Black men and children spoke about finally having a role model to look up to. Once he became president, a few public schools even changed their names to include Obama’s name. He was to be not just the Commander in Chief, but the Unifier of the World. Not even a year in his presidency and with no major accomplishment under his belt, he was handed the Nobel Peace Prize. The supernaturally high expectation trap for him was set not by his detractors, but by those who were too gullible to realize that he was just a politician.

With the economy’s continuous slide downward, the Obama fan base has acted more like stage hands for cheap magic show in Vegas. No president is perfect. But because they (the fan base) already set the tone for his term as nothing less than perfection, they have used every excuse in the book to cover up his imperfections. Bad economy? It’s the Tea Party’s fault. High unemployment numbers? Blame business owners for not hiring. Middle East policy utterly fails? Blame Romney for criticizing Obama.

When Obama went to the Middle East not too long ago to apologize and to lecture those world leaders how to basically conduct themselves, his fan base gave him every accolade out there. Later, he was praised for his “leadership” in helping to create what they called “The Arab Spring”.”

From Duane at BlackInformant.com

And the Good News is . . .

This is great. He plans to be breaking out of his tomb. Me too. Don't know when, but for Christians, that's our hope--"We know that the same God who raised our Lord Jesus will also raise us with Jesus and present us to himself along with you. . . so we don't look at the troubles we can see right now; rather, we look forward to what we have not yet seen." Paul writing to the Christians living in Corinth in the 1st century A.D.

Will Obama go after other parts of the first amendment—he’s already taken out religion with the HHS Mandate

The president believes in free speech.  He didn't do anything about Dave Letterman making sexual remarks about Palin's young daughter; he didn't do anything about Bill Maher's film that insults Jews, Christians, AND Muslims; he enjoys sexist, racist hip hop music.  So really, is he going to go after a YouTube film?  Hmmm. That depends if it is politically expedient.

In Sydney, Australia, police used pepper spray against the protesters, who chanted "Obama, Obama, we love Osama" and waved placards saying "Behead all those who insult the Prophet."

And look who just last week was bragging about taking out Osama. And not giving Bush any of the blame.

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/world/protests-anti-islam-film-spread-australia-200-clash-police-u-s-consulate-sydney-article-1.1160356#ixzz26Z2CetMv

Will Obama now give back PAC money from donor who insulted Islam in a film?

Bill Maher made a film that mocked Christianity and Islam. Bill Maher also contributed $1 million to a pro-Obama super PAC. Will Obama now give it back since the administration is blaming a youtube video that's been out for months for violence on 9/11?

Maher's film "Religulous" grossed over $13 million after having a production budget of $2.5 million. As of 2012, it's 15th among the highest grossing documentaries in the US and was the highest grossing documentary of 2008. [Wikipedia] "He takes shots at the three major monotheistic religions, Christianity, Judaism and Islam. Religulous also mocks the more bizarre elements of Scientology and Mormonism. Eastern religions like Buddhism and Hinduism get a free pass." [Purple state of mind]

A Jew ridiculing Islam? That would have provoked a riot, if that's what this mess in the Middle East  is about.  But there’s always free speech for the Democrat. Just not for others.

Let’s blame an obscure film instead of the 9/11 anniversary and a careless President

The "producer" of the offensive internet film about Islam which has spurred violence in Mid-East? Created by a 55-year old man, Nakoula Basseley Nakoula, convicted on bank fraud charges and banned from the INTERNET as part of his sentence.  Oh yes, that should stop it.

But then, the violence would have happened anyway. It was 9/11 and guess who had just finished several days in Charlotte celebrating the death of Osama, killed by Obama?  And who would ever think that even a small group would want to retaliate and pick that date.

Why ARRA didn’t pull us out of high unemployment

Have you wondered why the "stimulus" didn't stimulate? One tiny example. $200 million went to 22 locations to "implement evidence-based strategies to reduce tobacco use." Like much of ARRA, our money went to programs to change behavior, not to improve the business climate. To support the government employees working on those strategies, in 2011 another $100 million in another program was awarded to float anti-tobacco initiatives. And still we have a smoking president.

Although I think cessation programs are payment to Big Pharma, they are always listed as part of the success in reducing smoking (from 43% in 1964 to 19% in 2010). I must know hundreds of former smokers, heard stories of everything from cold turkey, to oxygen tanks, to miracles from God who took away the desire, but I've yet to hear one about a government paid for cessation program.

Smoking in federal buildings and spaces was outlawed under Clinton in 1997.  Someone big didn’t get the memo. In July 2011 HHS expanded this to any tobacco produce use, including in vehicles and any outdoor spaces.

Never forget. . .

And now we have a reminder of his continuing fumbles in the Middle East to add to the “values vote.”

Activist judges again

The unions are not giving up.

Obama volunteers are really, really special—it’s always about him!

“On Wednesday, President Obama compared his campaign volunteers to the embassy staff who were murdered by Islamist gunmen in Libya while speaking in Las Vegas, Nevada, the Washington Examiner reported.

"And obviously [our] hearts are broken for the families but I wanted to encourage those folks at the State Department that they were making a difference,” he said.

“The sacrifices that our troops and our diplomats make are obviously very different from the challenges that we face here domestically but like them, you guys are Americans who sense that we can do better than we’re doing….I’m just really proud of you,” he added.”

http://www.examiner.com/article/report-obama-compares-campaign-volunteers-to-murdered-embassy-staff

Rahmbo’s values in the news

As of August 6, 272 American and NATO troops had been killed in Afghanistan in 2012. In Chicago, 318 people had been murdered by that same date. . . Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel chose to strut in front of the national media about his outrage about Chick-fil-A executives and their opposition to gay marriage, saying, "Chick-fil-A's values are not Chicago values."

And murder is?

http://www.nationalcenter.org/P21NVButlerMarriage90912.html

I don’t tweet

I don't have a Twitter account, wouldn't even know how to check this.  Is it true? "Obama's Twitter account was peddling campaign sweatshirts during the Andrews AFB ceremony to welcome home the four Americans murdered in Benghazi."

QE3

So what exactly is quantitative easing 3? (QE3) In layman's terms it is printing and distributing money right before the election to fool the American people.

“Historically, stocks have initially risen when the Fed has announced these programs only for the rally to run out of steam down the track.

Some economists believe the benefit to the economy will be modest this time, but fund managers are hopeful there will be a recovery in the housing market.

“QE3 is certainly a positive for markets in the short term [about the first week in November, I’m guessing ]” Financial Review (Australia)

Do you really want a president who will mortgage your grandchildren’s future for his election?

Have the Democrats or the President spoken out about this war on women?

Is this the best way to use this crisis?

Embassies attacked. Americans killed. Quantitative easing again to devalue our dollar and investments. And our brave, bold President is hiding behind Mitt Romney's tax returns for cover. Oh yes, and a YouTube video is to blame. Not bragging about killing bin Laden or how he directs drones into other countries. Not saying Egypt isn’t our ally (who knew?).

One source I read says it took the Administration 9 hours to retract the apology that appeared on Twitter from the Embassy staff about the YouTube film. I wonder if it would have ever appeared if Romney hadn't shown some leadership in this vacuum. There are conflicting news reports about whether the Marines had ammunition. As usual, the President and his media are focusing on Romney rather than Obama’s own gaffes and stumbles.

I’m really torn.  On the one hand, I think Obama’s place is in Washington right now conferring with advisors and experts and not out campaigning in Vegas and Columbus, but on the other, I’m sort of glad he’s leaving it to people wearing big boy pants who don’t whine, moan and blame, and will just do what has to be done to protect us and Americans over seas.

http://gerarddirect.com/2012/09/13/arab-spring-shows-its-true-face-two-embassies-attacked-us-ambassador-killed/

Friday Family photo—Remembering 9/11/2001

You're never too old to want to hear a reassuring word from your parents. Can you stand just one more 9/11 memory? In 2001 my father was still alive (my mother died in 2000). His 3 surviving children (my sister Carol died in 1996) were all over 60. We all called him, "just to talk." When someone has lived through the Great Depression, Pearl Harbor, been a Marine in WWII, created a business, sent you all to college debt free, visited his own parents daily, and rarely complained about his own pain or discomfort, well, you just hope he might have some answers. He didn't. But it sure was reassuring to hear Daddy's voice.

Dad looks like he’s sporting a halo, but it was a dish on the book shelf. In April 2000 he bought the Lustron built by his parents in 1949 and left his lovely apartment at Pinecrest where he had been living with my mom and where his adult children naively believed he was safe and secure.  I think this photo was taken at Easter when we drove to Illinois to help him settle in the house.  We returned there for our 40th anniversary celebration with Illinois family in September, he flew to Columbus, Virginia and Florida (the grand tour to visit children and grandchildren) in December 2000, and we returned to Illinois in April  2002 to help him move to assisted care.  He really couldn’t handle the cooking part of living alone.  He died May 18, 2002. 

He was always independent and feisty to the end.  No halo would have fit.

Why are you surprised?

Campaign 2012 snippets

Alan Dershowitz predicted on 9/11 that President Obama’s apparent snub of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will put the critical swing state of Florida [large Jewish vote] at “substantial risk” in the November election.

************

What voter fraud? Wendy W. Rosen, the Democrats' hand-picked candidate in Maryland’s 1st Congressional District, was forced to drop out of her race on September 10 after she admitted to illegally voting in both Maryland and Florida in 2006 and 2008. Tampa Bay Times

************

"For those of us who were counting, in his coronation speech, Obama, the consummate narcissist, said "I" (not in reference but in credit to himself) 55 times and "we" (that's the socialist collective "we" not as in "We, the people...") 75 times. Moreover, in the 40-page Demo platform, Obama is cited on 38 pages more than 200 times. By way of comparison, the 2012 GOP platform makes reference to Mitt Romney once." Mark Alexander, Patriot Post.

************

More middle east cities in flames, our "free press" journalists caught off mic spinning the news to make Romney look bad, Hillary and some obscure Florida preacher being blamed, and Obama is off campaigning. Did I get that right? Oh, and apparently our ambassador was raped/sodomized by his captors before he was killed. Shouldn't the president stick a little closer to the White House and just float on his own stupendous record rather than campaign? None of his followers will leave him.  This is making him look really, really bad. Unprepared. Unrepentant. Unpresidential.

***********

The other night, before the middle east went up in flames on phony film charges, Glenn Beck had 3 people on his internet TV show talking about security of the American people. I think it was a 9/11 special. He asked, "What is the greatest threat to our security today?" One said, warrantless wire taps, one said the Patriot Act, and the third said, infiltration of our government by the Muslim Brotherhood. Given recent events, I'd choose door #3. I think his name was Patrick Poole, but I'm not sure.

***********

Last night we attended the Upper Arlington GOP gathering at the Greek St. restaurant in Kingsdale--learned 2 things--local candidates are awesome and this is a great place to eat. Mostly women candidates--one an immigrant, one had enlisted in the military when she was 17 later became a lawyer and is running for judge. Another, Stephanie Kunze, is the daughter-in-law of our good friends Wes and Sue. Even if you're sick of the national scene and aren't happy with your party's choice, look around for where you can help a local candidate.

Finally, proof. . . an empty chair

Sebelius violates Hatch Act

The U.S. Office of Special Counsel informed President Obama yesterday that it found his controversial Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius violated the federal Hatch Act back in February.

It’s been referred to Obama—and I’m sure will go nowhere. Based on Geithner and the attorney general and Barney Frank, and just too many to recall.

Read more: http://newsbusters.org/blogs/ken-shepherd/2012/09/13/his-blog-abcs-tapper-notes-obamas-hhs-secretary-violated-hatch-act-bro#ixzz26OBQ6mu1

http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/316772/secretary-sebelius-violates-hatch-act-scott-coffina#

Where’s the racial outcry over these murderers?

Life is awfully cheap and there’s not much of an outcry or nationwide coverage if a white or Hispanic person doesn’t do the crime. No Trayvon Martin here.  No Dr. Phil show for the parents of these victims.  Move along.

Two and a half years older now than when they (men in the Washington Post photo) murdered five and wounded nine,  these young black men were sentenced on September 11 for multiple murders committed in March 2010. Lamar Williams (24)--30 years;  Jeffrey Best (23) and Robert Bost (23)--life no parole; Orlando Carter (22)--life no parole, and his brother Sanquan Carter (21)--54 years. Killed in the violence were Jordan Howe, 20, Brishell Jones, 16, 17-year-old Tavon Nelson, 18-year-old Davaugn Boyd and 19-year-old William Jones. 

I struggled to figure out the ridiculous, complex crime, but about all I could find out was that Sanquan Carter was having sex with a 15 year old girl and lost his bracelet -- which he’d stolen from someone. He accused various people, called for back up, and a bunch of people were shot, including 3 at a funeral of one of the other victims all because Sanquan was feeling “disrespected.”

And I never did find out what happened to the 15 year old girl.  She seemed to be collateral damage. And the sentencing ended up in the “local” section of the Washington Post.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/crime/march-2010-shootings-five-men-face-sentencing-tuesday/2012/09/11/d25ec562-fb6d-11e1-b2af-1f7d12fe907a_story.html

http://www.wjla.com/articles/2012/05/south-capitol-street-murder-trial-verdict-reached-75692.html

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2010/04/06/the_invisible_ward_8_105054.html

Obama’s failures in the Middle East

which he can’t blame on Bush.

“Across the Arab Spring, the U.S. has done little to shape events and is increasingly irrelevant. The U.S. angered Saudi Arabia by calling for the ouster of Egypt's Hosni Mubarak and now has little sway in Bahrain. Mr. Obama has washed his hands of Syria, allowing Russia and Iran to keep their proxy in power and stir up trouble for Turkey and Lebanon. The Chinese have brazenly occupied disputed territories in the South China Sea, hinting at war if the U.S. intercedes on behalf of its Asian allies.

The U.S. withdrew in toto from Iraq, and now its Prime Minister ignores Vice President Joe Biden's request to stop Iranian arms flights to Damascus. Even America's dependent in Kabul, Hamid Karzai, is refusing to honor his commitments on holding Taliban detainees. Perhaps he has heard Mr. Obama describe Afghanistan in his re-election campaign as if the U.S. is already halfway out the door.

Most of all, Iran continues its march toward a nuclear weapon despite the President's vow that it is "unacceptable." The U.S. says it has isolated Iran, but only last month the U.N. Secretary-General defied a U.S. plea and attended a non-aligned summit in Tehran. The Administration has issued wholesale exemptions to Congressional sanctions, and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton declared on the weekend that the U.S. is "not setting deadlines" for Iran as it sprints to a bomb.”

WSJ Editorial: "The New World Disorder"

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10000872396390443884104577647282429229736.html

We’re number seven

I’ve seen better looking outfits at the Volunteers of America resale shop

http://eco-chick.com/

This is worse than corpse men

Russian ships were displayed at the DNC tribute to American  veterans.  How do things like this happen?

“On the last night of the Democratic National Convention, a retired Navy four-star took the stage to pay tribute to veterans. Behind him, on a giant screen, the image of four hulking warships reinforced his patriotic message.

But there was a big mistake in the stirring backdrop: those are Russian warships.

While retired Adm. John Nathman, a former commander of Fleet Forces Command, honored vets as America’s best, the ships from the Russian Federation Navy were arrayed like sentinels on the big screen above.

These were the very Soviet-era combatants that Nathman and Cold Warriors like him had once squared off against.”

Then when the DNC apologized on Sept. 12, they used the opportunity to take a swipe at Romney for not mentioning veterans in his speech at the RNC.  Somehow if you lamely call attention to someone else in your apology, it just sounds so, so, Obamash.

http://www.navytimes.com/news/2012/09/navy-russian-warships-displayed-dnc-veterans-tribute-091112/

"An open letter to Melinda Gates from Obianuju Ekeocha"

Why do rich liberals think they know better than Africans about their families or babies -- or everything? What?--we don't have enough unsolved problems in the USA or Europe? In the US babies increasingly (particularly in Democrat households) are seen as burdens. In Nigeria they are welcomed with joy and hope. After killing millions of Africans by yanking DDT off the market, now it's "family planning," and instead of pre-natal clinics, clean water, good roads, and schools for girls, liberals in their vast wisdom and deep pockets will distribute contraceptives and perform abortions. One Nigerian woman became so frustrated she wrote a letter to a TV program, and it's gone viral.  She writes (as recorded in Catholic Free Press) but it originally was read on Teresa Tomeo’s radio show www.teresatomeo.com

*                           *                             *                        *          

Growing up in a remote town in Africa, I have always known that a new life is welcomed with much mirth and joy. In fact we have a special “clarion” call (or song) in our village reserved for births and another special one for marriages.

The first day of every baby’s life is celebrated by the entire village with dancing (real dancing!) and clapping and singing - a sort of “Gloria in excelsis Deo.”

All I can say with certainty is that we, as a society, LOVE and welcome babies.

With all the challenges and difficulties of Africa, people complain and lament their problems openly. I have grown up in this environment and I have heard women (just as much as men) complain about all sorts of things. But I have NEVER heard a woman complain about her baby (born or unborn).

Even with substandard medical care in most places, women are valiant in pregnancy. And once the baby arrives, they gracefully and heroically rise into the maternal mode.

I trained and worked for almost five years in a medical setting in Africa, yet I never heard of the clinical term “postpartum depression” until I came to live in Europe. I never heard it because I never experienced or witnessed it, even with the relatively high birth rate around me. (I would estimate that I had at least one family member or close friend give birth every single month. So I saw at least 12 babies born in my life every year.)

Amidst all our African afflictions and difficulties, amidst all the socioeconomic and political instabilities, our babies are always a firm symbol of hope, a promise of life, a reason to strive for the legacy of a bright future.

So a few weeks ago I stumbled upon the plan and promise of Melinda Gates to implant the seeds of her “legacy” in 69 of the poorest countries in the world (most of which are in Sub-Saharan Africa).

Her pledge is to collect pledges for almost $5 billion in order to ensure that the African woman is less fertile, less encumbered and, yes, she says, more “liberated.” With her incredible wealth she wants to replace the legacy of an African woman (which is her child with the legacy of “child-free sex.”

Many of the 69 targeted countries are Catholic countries with millions of Catholic women of child-bearing age. These Catholic women have been rightly taught by the Church that the contraceptive drug and device is inherently divisive.

Unlike what we see in the developed Western world, there is actually very high compliance with Pope Paul VI’s “Humanae vitae.” For these African women, in all humility, have heard, understood and accepted the precious words of the prophetic pope. Funny how people with a much lower literacy level could clearly understand that which the average Vogue- and Cosmo-reading-high-class woman has refused to understand. I guess humility makes all the difference.

With most African women faithfully practicing and adhering to a faith (mainly Christian or in some cases Muslim), there is a high regard for sex in society, especially among the women. Sex is sacred and private.

The moment these huge amounts of contraceptive drugs and devices are injected into the roots of our society, they will undoubtedly start to erode and poison the moral sexual ethics that have been woven into our societal DNA by our faith, not unlike the erosion that befell the Western world after the 1930 Lambeth conference! In one fell swoop and one “clean” slice, the faithful could be severed from their professed faith.

Both the frontline healthcare worker dispensing Melinda’s legacy gift and the women fettered and shackled by this gift, would be separated from their religious beliefs. They would be put in a precarious position to defy their faith – all for “safe sex.”

Even at a glance, anyone could see that the unlimited and easy availability of contraceptives in Africa would surely increase infidelity and sexual promiscuity as sex is presented by this multi-billion dollar project as a casual pleasure sport that can indeed come with no strings – or babies – attached. Think of the exponential spread of HIV and other STDs as men and women with abundant access to contraceptives take up multiple, concurrent sex partners.

And of course there are bound to be inconsistencies and failures in the use of these drugs and devices, so health complications could result; one of which is unintended abortion. Add also other health risks such as cancer, blood clots, etc. Where Europe and America have their well-oiled health care system, a woman in Africa with a contraception-induced blood clot does not have access to 911 or an ambulance or a paramedic. No, she dies.

And what about disposal of the medical waste? Despite advanced sewage disposal in the First-world countries, we hear that aquatic life there is still adversely affected by drugs in the system. In Africa, be rest assured that both in the biggest cities and smaller rural villages, sewage constitutes a real problem. So as $4.6 billion worth of drugs, IUDs and condoms get used, they will need safe disposal. Can someone please show us how and where will that be? On our farm lands where we get all our food? In our streams and rivers from whence comes our drinking water?

I see this $4.6 billion buying us misery. I see it buying us unfaithful husbands. I see it buying us streets devoid of the innocent chatter of children. I see it buying us disease and untimely death. I see it buying us a retirement without the tender loving care of our children.

Please Melinda, listen to the heart-felt cry of an African woman and mercifully channel your funds to pay for what we REALLY need.

We need:

• Good healthcare systems (especially prenatal, neonatal and pediatric care).

Needless to say that postpartum and neonatal deaths are alarmingly high in many Sub-Saharan African countries. This is due to the paucity of specialized medical personnel, equipment and systems. Women are not dying because they are having “too many” babies but because they are not getting even the most basic postpartum care. A childbirth or labor complication can very easily be fatal, for both mother and baby. To alleviate this problem new, well-equipped and well-staffed birthing centers with neonatal units need to be built in easily accessible parts of the poorest communities. And if Melinda Gates really insists on reducing population, she can have highly trained Natural Family Planning (NFP) instructors strategically placed in these women’s healthcare facilities. At least then there would be a natural and wholistic approach.

• Food programs for young children.

This would serve a two-fold purpose if it is incorporated into free or highly subsidized nursery school programs. It would nourish and strengthen the growth of these children, who are so, so vulnerable to malnutrition, and it would also serve to encourage parents to bring their youngsters, ages 3 or 4, to nursery school. In so many parts of Africa, children miss out on nursery school education because it is expensive and considered a luxury reserved for the rich and middle class. As a result, the children miss the first few crucial years when basic math and reading are easily learned. By the time they are considered “ready” for school, at age 7 or 8, they struggle academically. Many of them never quite catch up and so drop out after six or seven years. This is when a lot of young girls are married off as mid- to late-teenage wives who unfortunately would become the perfect recipient of the Melinda Gates comprehensive contraceptive care!

• Good higher education opportunities

Not just new school buildings or books, but carefully laid out educational programs that work – scholarships, internships at higher levels, etc. – are needed. Despite the problems and obstacles to primary and secondary education, a significant number of young girls make it into universities, polytechnics or colleges. The problem however is that, most of the schools and resources are substandard and outdated. As such, the quality of higher education is low and cannot compare to that of more privileged countries. Even though the teachers put in their very best and the students work hard, the system is inadequate and will always produce disadvantaged graduates who are not confident enough to stand with their counterparts who have studied in other parts of the world.

• Chastity programs

Such programs in secondary schools, universities and churches would create a solid support system to form, inform and reassure our young girls and women that real love is that which is healthy and holy. Many African girls are no longer sure about moral sexual ethics thanks to the widespread influence of Western media, movies and magazines. More support should be given to programs that encourage abstinence before marriage and fidelity in marriage. This approach would go a long way to combating the spread of HIV and other STDs through the continent. And it would certainly lead to happier marriages!

• Support for micro-business opportunities for women

The average African women is incredibly happy, hard-working and resilient. Any support both economic and through training would most probably be used well and wisely.

• Fortify already established NGOs that are aimed at protecting women from sex-trafficking, prostitution, forced marriage, child labor, domestic violence, sex crimes, etc.

Many of these NGOs do not have much success because they are not well-funded. Though most of them have good intentions, they lack professional input from those such as psychologists, logisticians or medical personnel needed to tackle various problems.

$4.6 billion dollars can indeed be your legacy to Africa and other poor parts of the world. But let it be a legacy that leads life, love and laughter into the world in need.

Palin on Obama’s performance

On 9/11 yesterday radical Muslims attacked—again in Egypt and Libya. Sarah Palin responds, since the president didn’t:

It’s about time our president stood up for America and condemned these Islamic extremists. I realize there must be a lot on his mind these days – what with our economy’s abysmal jobless numbers and Moody’s new warning about yet another downgrade to our nation’s credit rating due to the current administration’s failure to come up with a credible deficit reduction plan. And, of course, he has a busy schedule – with all those rounds of golf, softball interviews with the “Pimp with the Limp,” and fundraising dinners with his corporate cronies. But our nation’s security should be of utmost importance to our Commander-in-chief. America can’t afford any more “leading from behind” in such a dangerous world. We already know that President Obama likes to “speak softly” to our enemies. If he doesn’t have a “big stick” to carry, maybe it’s time for him to grow one.

The Planned Parenthood vs. Komen story

Karen Handel, former Susan G. Komen’s For the Cure Senior Vice President of Public Policy writes about how Komen was bullied back into supporting Planned Parenthood.  It was supposed to be on book shelves today.  We’ll see if it makes it to my public library.

HIV Infections and ART

Gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men (MSM) represent approximately 2% of the US population, yet are the population most severely affected by HIV.

• In 2009, (men who have sex with men) MSM accounted for 61% of new HIV infections in the US and 79% of infections among all newly infected men. Compared with other groups, MSM accounted for the largest numbers of new HIV infections in 2009.
• Among all MSM, white MSM accounted for 11,400 (39%) new HIV infections in 2009. The largest number of new infections (3,400) occurred in those aged 40–49.
• Among all MSM, black/African American MSM accounted for 10,800 (37%) new HIV infections in 2009. Whereas new HIV infections were relatively stable among MSM overall from 2006–2009, they increased 34% among young MSM—an increase largely due to a 48% increase among young black/African American MSM aged 13–29.
• Among all MSM, Hispanic/Latino MSM accounted for 6,000 (20%) new HIV infections in 2009. The largest percentage of new infections (45%) occurred in those aged 13–29.

I’ve looked through the guidelines given to doctors to combat HIV/AIDs in gay men.  They include counseling for condoms, screening and treatment for other sexually transmitted diseases, hepatitis vaccine, and PrEP, short for Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis, the combination medication tenofovir disoproxil fumarate plus emtricitabine (TDF/FTC).   PrEP was approved in July, 2012 and treatment costs about $14,000 a year, requires constant monitoring, and absolute adherence to the drug regimen. Giving it to uninfected people who don’t have HIV might prevent those already infected from receiving it. 

In the guidelines I saw nothing about chastity or celibacy, the only two methods which are 100% effective in combating HIV and have no toxic side effects.

Obama’s love affair with Wall Street

Source of graphic: http://gerarddirect.com/2012/05/25/3090/

“Candidate Obama had been their [finance titans] guy, accepting vast amounts of Wall Street campaign money for his victories over Hillary Clinton and John McCain (Goldman Sachs executives ponied up $1 million, more than any other private source of funding in 2008). Obama far outraised his Republican rival, John McCain, on Wall Street—around $16 million to $9 million. As it turned out, Obama apparently actually meant what he said at that White House meeting—his administration effectively would stand between Big Finance and anything like a severe accounting. To the dismay of many of Obama’s supporters, nearly four years after the disaster, there has not been a single criminal charge filed by the federal government against any top executive of the elite financial institutions.”

The four takeaways from Charlotte

Four lasting impressions remain from the Democratic Convention in Charlotte:

(1) Delegates raucously booing the chairman's phony ruling accepting the amendment which put God and Jerusalem as the capital of Israel back into the official Democrat platform,

(2) an obsessive focus on "reproductive freedom" -- contraception and abortion,

(3) a disproportionate emphasis on "women's equality" in the face of a U.S. economy that is in crisis, and

(4) rhetoric permeated with desperation, distortions, and demagoguery.

Read more: http://www.americanthinker.com/2012/09/the_democratic_partys_polarizing_convention.html#ixzz265BQckM8

The Bail Out/Take Over Party

Editorial at National Review On-Line

"The Democrats have decided to run in 2012 as the bailout party. It is an odd choice — the 2008–09 bailouts were deeply unpopular among the general public, and even their backers were notably conflicted about the precedent being set and the ensuing moral hazard. But Democrats have nonetheless made one of the most abusive episodes in the entire bailout era their economic cornerstone: the government takeover of General Motors.
{...}
At their convention, Democrats swore that GM is “thriving,” but the market doesn’t think so: GM shares have lost half their value since January 2011. And while the passing of the Great Recession has meant growing sales for all automakers, GM is seriously lagging behind its competitors: Its sales are up 10 percent, a fraction of the increases at Kia, Toyota, Volkswagen, and Porsche. With its sales weak, its share price crashing, and its business model still a mess, some analysts already are predicting that GM will return to bankruptcy — but not until after the election."

Worth reading all of it: http://www.nationalreview.com/articles/316379/democrats-gm-fiction-editors

Our freedom to speak out

It was Democrat Lyndon B. Johnson in 1954 that pushed using the IRS code to silence churches.  Let’s put a stop to that.  Our current President is using the IRS to help take over the healthcare system.  Let’s put a stop to that. 

Monday Memories—Graduation May 1955

Carol and Stanley graduated from elementary and high school in 1955.  At first I was going to crop this to get a better close up, but then I realized I didn’t have many photos of the back yard of our house on Hannah Avenue where we lived from March 1951 to August 1958 when my parents moved to Lincoln Street where they lived until 1996. I was in college when they moved and felt like I didn’t have a home.

I can’t remember if the little arbor behind Carol was for roses or grapes.  I know there was a row of tall pines probably about 40 years old along the property; some had died, but you can see one on the right.  They were used for wind breaks.  You can see the back porch steps, which we didn’t use because that porch had been enclosed many years before for a half bath, and mother also had her washer and dryer there.  The concrete steps are right behind the lilac in the back left.  I visited this house, a 4-square with 4 rooms up, 4 rooms down,  about 2 years ago.  It was huge in the 1950s, but is much smaller now.

The building on the far right is a garage/barn, and it had a second floor with 2 levels, and a shop in the back.  Mother had a garden behind the barn, and our Dalmatian “Lady” is buried there.  For awhile further beyond the pine trees I used to stake my horse, and Mother briefly raised chickens.  I think the eggs were costing about $1.00 a piece, so she gave up on that.   The house was on the edge of town, so it’s possible that at one time it had been part of a farm.  Obviously, zoning was rather casual in 1955.

Let’s give it up for Ted and Bill

The cupbearer and the baker

In Sunday school this morning we were looking at the Joseph story (the church is doing "The story.") I asked if the cupbearer and baker who were in prison with Joseph were a foreshadowing of the wine and bread, but no one knew.  When I got home I Googled it, and found this.

"The story of Joseph in Genesis is filled with Eucharistic imagery. The entire deliverance segment of his life is shrouded in the typology of the sacrament. While in an Egyptian prison, Joseph was joined by Pharaoh’s baker - of bread and the cupbearer - of wine. The baker was sentenced to die but the cupbearer was to live. Because of this, we see both death and resurrection linked to the Eucharist typology. Finally, it was through Joseph’s relationship with these two that he is delivered from the dungeon. The cupbearer, who lived, pleaded Joseph’s cause to Pharaoh. As a result, Pharaoh released Joseph, giving him his life back. The typology provides bread and wine, death and resurrection, and a new life for Joseph, all elements of the Eucharist. Minus the “Eucharistic events” in this story, Joseph was destined to rot in prison."
http://www.holytrinityparish.net/Links/EucharistNscriptureI.pdf

Are we better off than four years ago?

IRS agents in your doctor’s office

The Democrats were too busy lauding free birth control and pushing God aside to examine the damage Obama has done. The media was quiet about Obama giving us the largest tax increase in history (according to the Supreme Court which says he has a right to tax us for health care) in addition to taking away religious freedom. So therefore, he needs a lot, a humongous, a gigantic increase in the enforcing agency, IRS. Feminists worry about religious nuts getting between them and their doctor? It's getting crowded in the examining room. How about the Internal (no pun) Revenue Service? "The IRS is expected to spend $881 million on the law from 2010 through 2013, hiring more than 2,700 new workers and upgrading its computer systems. But the IRS has not made public information about its spending plans in the following years, when the bulk of the health care law takes effect." And that's the low hiring figure.

 http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2012/07/07/ObamaCare-Irs-Agents

Do you remember Velma Hart?

I blogged about her back in September 25, 2010.  She was at a Town hall meeting with President Obama and calmly confronted him with her concerns about the economy.  She made a big media splash, and frankly, I didn’t buy it.  I thought she was a plant so he could look caring and reasonable.  But. . . I followed up on my own story, and it seems I was wrong.  She lost her job with a non-profit (I was wrong in my blog about her job—I thought she worked for the government but it was AmVets)  in November 2010, just 2 months later.  However, I kept poking around, and found that in 2011 she did indeed have another job with a different non-profit, and I thought her resume looked extremely good and the title of the position was impressive, although I don’t know if the salary matched what she had before.

Then I kept looking, wondering if she still supported Obama in 2012 and for the next four years and found out someone else wondered too.

“I still don’t feel like I have enough. I still don’t know that any of us have enough,” Hart said in an interview Monday with Gut Check. “I just wish there were some banner, some lighting rod that we could point to that has happened in the last 3½ years that showed how he changed things for the good.”

“I am just a regular person trying to make ends meet,” Hart continued. “I still very much appreciate the president but I really am worried though that I don’t see enough traction for the average person. I worry about the people. I worry about the ineffectiveness on the Democratic side and the meanness on the Republican side.”

There she does it again. Hart has a way of putting her finger on the weakness of the current political debate: connecting with the middle class, especially a middle class weathering a tough economy.

When asked how she is doing now, Velma Hart answered quickly, “Struggling to figure out what is going on. ... Everything is so uncertain.”

When asked whom she believes she speaks for, she said: “I am talking for everyone who cares like me; everyone who has kids like me; everyone who like me is thinking about retirement or wondering if we have to work until we die.”

But there is hope. Hart has no regrets about leaving the cloak of anonymous citizenry to brave the open microphone and klieg lights of the political spectrum, “I always tell my daughter if we really don’t stand for something, we’ll fall for anything.”

It’s my guess she’ll still vote for him.  Sigh. Come on, Velma.  Mitt can’t do worse and he just might do better.  What have you got to lose? Except a broken heart, failed promises, and a guy totally stuck on himself.

She’s not a slut, thank you, just a ninny and a fool

About Sandra Fluke, Peggy Noonan wrote:  “What a fabulously confident and ingenuous-seeming political narcissist Ms. Fluke is. She really does think—and her party apparently thinks—that in a spending crisis with trillions in debt and many in need, in a nation in existential doubt as to its standing and purpose, in a time when parents struggle to buy the good sneakers for the kids so they're not embarrassed at school . . . that in that nation the great issue of the day, and the appropriate focus of our concern, is making other people pay for her birth-control pills. That's not a stand, it's a non sequitur. She is not, as Rush Limbaugh oafishly, bullyingly said, a slut. She is a ninny, a narcissist and a fool.”

Wall St. Journal,  September 8, 2012, on page A15 in the U.S. edition of The Wall Street Journal, with the headline: The Democrats' Soft Extremism.

Bush-Obama, Hoover-FDR

President Clinton likes to bask in the glory of the brisk economy of his years (like he did in the convention), when with a Republican Congress government spending was cut more than any other president's term in modern history.  There was a slight recession at the end of his term and beginning of Bush’s but not many remember since it was 9/11 that really sent the economy spinning.  In the final 2 years of Bush's term he was weakened by a Democratic Congress and tried bailouts and redistribution to turn around the economy (it's odd that Obama bad-mouths him so since he loves that too, but FDR did the same to Hoover). Hoover didn't cause the Great Depression--the Fed did that by inflating the value of money--and it isn't even part of the government. To goose the economy in 1932 Hoover not only increased government spending, but increased taxes by raising the marginal tax rate from 24% to 63%, and then FDR took it to 79% and then 83%, extending the Great Depression by many years. Bush and Obama had plenty of history to go on for their failed policies since 2007-2009 wasn’t our first rodeo, but they blew it.

I could give you pages, if not books, of citations, but you wouldn’t read them, so here are just two cites.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303753904577450910257188398.html

http://www.mtpioneer.com/March-deal-Hoover.html

These are the liberals . . .

Sorry, I can’t even quote them . . .

http://twitchy.com/2012/09/07/liberals-cuss-out-archbishop-timothy-cardinal-dolan/

And they probably vote.

What I did on my summer vacation

at Lakeside, Ohio, 2012

Ice cream social on Hotel Lakeside lawn

Week 1: June 25-29

2012 Elections Seminars on the 2012 elections, with a focus on the nomination process, presidential election, congressional/state elections and campaign finance
War of 1812 Presentations on the causes, major campaigns and outcomes of the War and a look at the War specifically in North Central Ohio

Download Week 1 brochure.

Week 2: July 2-6 (We missed some of this week, but were back on the 4th)

All Things Americana Seminars on topics related to American history and culture

Download Week 2 brochure.

Week 3: July 9-13

The Printed Word Seminars about the future of newspapers and libraries
The Sounds of Music Music-related seminars presented by several Hoover evening performers, including traditional, jazz and big band music

Download Week 3 brochure.

Week 4: July 16-20

The Great Lakes Seminars related to all five Great Lakes
Ethics in Society Seminars on state, national, international, and business ethics

Download Week 4 brochure.

Week 5: July 23-27 (we missed this one)

The Chautauqua Movement In conjunction with the National Chautauqua Network Meeting, gain further insight into the history of the Chautauqua Movement and the new Chautauqua Trail
The Olympic Spirit Presentations about the history of the Olympics, current happenings in London, and famous Olympians
9th Annual Vearl Smith Memorial Historic Preservation Workshop Historic preservation seminars presented by experts in the field (July 27)

Download Week 5 brochure.

Week 6: July 30-August 3

The World Today Issues of national/international importance selected in the spring based on current world events
Environmental Stewardship Seminars related to environmental issues and responsible use of natural resources

Download Week 6 brochure.

Week 7: August 6-10 (I skipped these)

Seeking Peace in a Multi-Faith World Speakers from Christian, Jewish & Muslim faiths present interfaith dialogue and “Peace with Justice” themes

Download Week 7 brochure.

Week 8: August 13-17

East Asia Experts on this geographic area address current political, business and cultural topics
Trends in Medicine Presentations about current happenings in the medical field

Download Week 8 brochure.

Week 9: August 20-24

9th Annual Civil War Week Seminars on numerous topics related to the Civil War

Download Week 9 brochure.

Week 10: August 27-31

26th Annual Senior Venture Week: Ohio Museums Representatives from Ohio museums explore museum concepts within the context of their unique collections

Download Week 10 brochure.

The Boyfriend

Ladies—you deserve better!

Women exposed to partner violence

There was an interesting study done in Cook County, IL about abused women (these days it's not even called "domestic violence," it's been down/up graded to "partner violence). I think the idea was that if identified as abused through screening by their doctors (aka primary health care setting), and then given the proper tools and resources, the women would do something to stop the abuse and improve their quality of life. Didn't happen. It's the second study that shows universal screening for partner violence does not prevent abuse. Sort of made me think of all the women who voted for Obama in 2008, have all the knowledge and resources to recover their dignity and pride in 2012, but will vote for him anyway. (JAMA, Aug. 15, 2012) The the answer is, more studies, more rigorous methods. I know a sample pool of several million women . . .

Not that I care much for Newt, but truth is truth

no matter where you find it.

Two womanizers, two excellent politicians, in the worst sense of the word. And both are Christians!