Does she or doesn’t she?

                  

Do you remember the first time you colored your hair—not to experiment over the bathroom sink, but to have it done professionally?  From the 1950s to the 1970s, the number of American women coloring their hair rose from 7 percent to more than 40 percent, so when I was young hair coloring was just a bit edgy, or for the elderly.

I had my brown hair with a few strands of dull gray “high lighted” with blonde probably in the mid to late 80s, because I recall the children  were grown and gone.  I was being picked up in Rockford at the bus by my parents and I was sort of concerned about what my mother would say.  She said nothing.  So finally I asked her what she thought of my new hair color, and she took a closer look.  She said it looked just like my hair did when I was a child so she hadn’t noticed—that’s sort of the image she had of me.  Dad didn’t notice either.

So I continued.  Depending on whether I had a curly perm or straightened it, sometimes it looked blonde, sometimes highlighted. Then in the late 90s I switched to light brown, over all color, but occasionally had it high lighted, like this photo from 2002—which looks completely blonde but which was actually high lights a bit over done.  A few times I tried to do it myself to save some money, but the mess and the poor results were not worth the savings.  One time a professional got it way too dark and there was nothing I could do.  It was sort of a dark, reddish brown.  I just had to live with it.

                        

When I turned 71, I decided to let it grow out and see what it looked like.  My kids don’t like it at all—makes them feel older, and I noticed immediately that people treated me different, as though I were more frail and less intelligent.  Oh well.  It saves about $500 a year.  See the Easter post (Friday family photo) for the results.

A terrible threat

We must not let the Democrats take back the House.

Pawn Stars slot machine at Hollywood Casino in Columbus

"Love their show. Hate the casino that Ohioans voted down several times. When Penn National moved it out of the Arena district to the depressed Hilltop, it passed. Construction workers got jobs, prostitution increased, but usually these places bring in their own people for the best paying jobs. This is just glamorized organized crime regardless of whom they bring in for entertainment. Columbus will pay in social costs down the road. I think the excuse was we could keep all that money in the state.

                   

When was the last time you checked your shut off valves?

Check your shut off valves. We're remodeling 2 bathrooms; toilets and shut off valves will be replaced. And while we're at it, we'll have our other shut off values also replaced. A neighbor with an identical unit the same age (1977), had one break a few days ago at night, and the damage wasn't found until morning. It will be some extra cost we hadn't planned on, but will be worth it.

Highline Classic

Choose your weapon—cell phone or rifle

Distracted driving, aka talking texting on a cell phone, is estimated to cause 333,000 total injuries, and 2600 fatalities annually. (JAMA, vol. 309, no. 9. p. 877)  In 2010 there were 358 murders involving rifles. (Wikipedia)  Gun violence has been dropping for 20 years (DOJ, Bureau of Statistics), while cell phone deaths have been increasing. The President is proposing new federal restrictions on gun ownership, which won't affect criminals at all, only law abiding citizens. And he is giving away cell phones.

http://www.infoplease.com/spot/guntime1.html

So the government is actually killing people with free cell phones! The federal government gives away "Obama phones," a misnomer since the program was begun under Reagan in 1984 (Lifeline) with land lines so the poor would have a phone, and Bush expanded it to cell phones in 2008. Mean old nasty Republicans who didn't care about the poor.

Who remembers

I remember eating at the Woolworth's in Dixon, Illinois when shopping with my mother. I checked on line and it opened in 1914 and closed in 1988.  Which means she may have eaten there when shopping with her mother.  This photo is not that store—it wasn’t that large, but I think they all looked similar.  The Dixon store had a bad fire (according to Lee Co. history) in 1943, and was rebuilt.  As I recall, there was also a Woolworth’s in Champaign, Illinois.

How long?

This image was used at an advice column to illustrate a reader’s problem with her housemate who doesn’t take out his garbage.  How long before the advice columnist is accused of being anti-Muslim?

http://www.amydickinson.com/post/47101378108/piles-of-garbage-cause-temporary-insanity

Why I don’t contribute to the University of Illinois—Bill Ayers

Terrorist Kathy Boudin who killed 2 policemen and a Brinks guard teaches at Columbia University and terrorist and Obama buddy Bill Ayers has retired from teaching education at the University of Illinois (Ayers raised her son). When the U. of I. sends me an appeal for money, I return it with a note about Ayers and why I'm not giving them money. I hope Columbia graduates do the same.

The same progressives who want Americans who haven't hurt anyone to disarm, welcome these gun toting educators who actually killed people into the classroom to teach young Americans.

How to create a new housing crisis

The Community Reinvestment Act of 1977 (CRA) evolved to the mess that gave us lower standards for mortgages and the meltdown of 2007. Now Obama wants one of his own and is pushing loosened standards for credit and home ownership again. Now all we need is packaging the loans and selling them. What a concept.

http://pubcit.typepad.com/clpblog/2013/04/obama-administration-wants-to-loosen-home-loan-availability-for-people-with-weak-credit.html

http://www.bizjournals.com/albuquerque/blog/morning-edition/2013/04/obama-urges-banks-to-loosen-credit.html

The education of poor and minority children hijacked again

It's no wonder McDonald's is asking for a Bachelor degree for their cashiers if the schools are teaching that we have a racist, sexist, homophobic society instead of teaching kids math, science, reading, grammar, and speaking in complete sentences. This is a travesty for poor and minority children to have their education hijacked by social change agents. http://www.examiner.com/article/teacher-training-program-focusing-on-white-privilege-exposed-wisconsin

Full time cashier job at McDonald’s needs a B.S.?

Customer Service, Cashiers: Friendly people wanted to smile while serving lots of guests daily. Flexible hours, part-time and full-time positions available. Work with your friends or make some new ones! Get a weekly paycheck with a side order of food, folks and fun.
Join our Service Team today! Benefits: Affordable health, vision and dental insurance. Free uniforms, discounts on meals and employee discount program thru Entertainment Book. Structured training and regular performance reviews. Advancement opportunities within!
This independent McDonalds franchise is an equal opportunity employer committed to a diverse work force. Corporate McDonalds | Country Sites | State Sites | Privacy Policy |
Terms & Conditions | ?2004-2006 McDonalds Corporation 

------------------------------------

Maybe they are looking for management material to hire from within?

I watched Wendy’s train a young man in a jobs program about 20 years ago. He started with wiping tables and sweeping floors, and his trainers sat in a booth and checked his work. Then he moved to the kitchen where he prepared orders then eventually got to cashier. I thought he was developmentally disabled when he started, but in a year’s time, they’d brought him up to bachelor degree level.

Maryland Teen testifies about her gun rights

http://gunssavelives.net/blog/fifteen-year-old-young-lady-leaves-maryland-anti-gun-politicians-speechless/

Obama is out campaigning on the graves of the Sandy Hook children again.  He ignored all the dead children killed in Chicago in 2012.  "You owe it to the children who died at Sandy Hook, . . ." President Obama on the campaign trail. What about the 107 black children who died in Chicago in 2012, the city with very strict gun laws, a city with no civilian gun ranges and bans on both assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, Mr. President.

Our handsome president has a slight deformity

Sequestration did not cause a rise in poverty!

Poverty at highest levels since the 60s and the sequestration that Obama agreed to is to blame? That's ridiculous. The standard for poverty has widened, and deepened, so now with a low income, the redistribution scheme called the war on poverty that gave them food stamps, housing, WIC, EITC, Medicaid, college support, TANF, bringing the income of a single mom with 2 children to about $60,000 can hardly be called poverty.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2302997/U-S-sees-highest-poverty-spike-1960s-leaving-50-million-Americans-poor-government-cuts-billions-spending.html

More income inequality under Obama?  That’s a no brainer.  The more wealth you transfer to the lower income from the middle class, the less likely they will be to move themselves up the income and career ladder.  Then more in the middle class slip into the low income group.  It’s almost as if it was done by design!

Better check your math. . .

http://washington.cbslocal.com/2013/04/02/millions-could-get-surprise-tax-bills-under-obamacare-if-they-dont-accurately-project-their-income/

If marriage doesn’t matter. . .

One of the reasons gay marriage has such strong support among the young is they don't believe marriage matters anyway, so why not let it not matter to everyone? When was the last time you attended a wedding where the couple hadn't either been living together, or had 1 or 2 children accompany them? The wedding isn't a commitment; it's just another party. Fewer and fewer weddings are held in churches--check any bride's magazine.

A “hippie chic” ceremony at Ohio Stadium and reception at Dock580

Georgian style mansion

$9900 wedding place near San Diego

Conservative values; yet they vote for politicians who will kill brown babies and bless gay marriage

Interesting to watch and listen to the black Republicans/Conservatives on the Beck show tonight tell about their growing up years on the plantation--they thought George Wallace was a Republican; they thought the KKK was a Republican organization; they thought if you were born black you must be a Democrat. Hosted by Dana Loesch, a conservative talk radio host, CNN contributor, and guest host at TheBlaze TV .

Our falling fertility rate

"Chinese women have a fertility rate of 1.54. Here in America, white, college-educated women—a good proxy for the middle class—have a fertility rate of 1.6. America has its very own one-child policy. And we have chosen it for ourselves." Replacement rate is 2.1.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323375204578270053387770718.html

Take responsibility? Not going to happen.

On racism—Dr. Ben Carson

http://bureaucraticslave.wordpress.com/2013/03/30/white-liberal-democrats-resort-to-their-centuries-old-playbook-by-lynching-dr-ben-carson-a-black-man-i-just-wanted-to-be-clear-a-time-honored-family-tradition-of-the-leftist-jacobin-poli/

http://spectator.org/archives/2013/02/13/the-stoning-of-dr-ben-carson

http://www.mofopolitics.com/2013/04/01/ben-carson-white-liberals-are-the-most-racist-people-there-are/

http://foxnewsinsider.com/2013/02/16/hannity-special-dr-ben-carsons-plan-for-saving-america/

Two step campaigning—he’s a master

Monday Memories—the Senior project

                

When I was in high school we had to write a 25 page report as a senior paper in American history class. I chose to analyze the 1956 presidential election between Dwight D. Eisenhower and Adlai Stevenson, using  the popular news magazines, Time, Newsweek and U.S. News and World Report.  They had run against each other in 1952, so it was a rematch.  I must have talked my mother into subscribing to all of them, because there were no copy machines in 1956, and I think I cut up the magazines for the election articles.  I collected the articles in the summer hoping I'd have that topic approved (it was).

I see that Dr. Deandre Poole got his PhD in 2009 writing on those three magazines' treatment of Obama in the 2008 election (I think we can guess what that was).  Dr. Poole plans to turn his dissertation into a book. Why didn't I think of that? It's not a tough project. Poole is the genius who had his students write the name of Jesus on a piece of paper and then stomp on it. A Mormon student refused and was threatened with suspension. Why the whole class didn't walk out I don't know. Poole, active in the local Democratic Party, has been put on leave from his intercultural communications class at Florida Atlantic University; not for being stupid, but for his safety.  I seriously doubt anyone planned to hurt him, but FAU sure got some heat.

http://www.kjrh.com/dpp/news/national/Florida-Atlantic-University-Jesus-stomping-stirs-outrage-among-Floridians

New Wendy’s flatbread grilled chicken sandwich

If you get it on Asiago bread ($3.99), it will be 530 calories, instead of 370 for Smoky honey mustard ($3.49).  Looks tasty.

Sliced chicken breast (all-white meat) grilled right in their own kitchens
Spring mix of 9 different types of fresh greens
Fresh tomatoes hand-sliced

http://flatbreadgrilledchicken.aboutwendys.com/

Sports injuries and injuring for sport

Kevin Ware's injury yesterday was called gruesome and horrific by hardened sports reporters. Coaches and players openly cried and fell on the floor. The audience screamed at the sight. Yet. Unborn babies who could live outside the womb, are sliced and diced everyday trying to push away the instrument that chops their flesh and bones. For that we are told it's a woman's choice. It's a right. And there are meanies and fanatics trying to stop the pain and agony the babies experience.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/01/sports/ncaabasketball/kevin-wares-gruesome-injury-shakes-and-rallies-louisville.html?_r=0

http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/ncaab/2013/03/31/kevin-ware-joe-theisman-broken-leg-injury/2040749/

At book club today we're discussing "The Girls from Ames" a non-fiction piece following a group of 11 women from their pre-school friendships to their 40s. The first to have an abortion (p. 85) was Kelly, who with her boyfriend decided she wasn't ready to parent in college. When I read that I wondered if she knew that an abortion during a first pregnancy puts a woman at higher risk for breast cancer. By the last chapter we have a description of her breast cancer (p. 282) and worries about deformity and whether she's still attractive to men.

http://www.desmoinesregister.com/article/20120217/LIFE/302170010/-Girls-from-Ames-author-dies-tragically

Rejoice.

Being a Christian photo.

I love the Grammarly.com advice

Government take over of health care is increasing costs for all

Health and Human Services head Kathleen Sebelius (I'm embarrassed she an Ohioan—our former governor’s daughter) now admits the government take over of health care will raise costs for everyone. She underestimates, in my opinion; apparently she doesn't see those "subsidies" as costs to us, only as “rich benefits” to the formerly uninsured. Regulation is affecting every facet of the economy and raising costs even more. Insurance costs are soaring, and the big kick in hasn't even started yet. California increase 60%. Washington 51.9%. The young voters who supported Obama will really be kicked in the teeth. What a mess. http://www.humanevents.com/2013/03/27/hhs-secretary-finally-admits-obamacare-is-raising-insurance-costs/

Things could have been different—lives could have been saved.

"The only thing that would have changed the outcome, potentially change the outcome, is something that so many people don't want to hear and that's self defense. That if someone there had a concealed carry, if someone had been armed, they might have had a fighting chance."
-Sen. Rand Paul, on gun control legislation.

Friday family photo—my horse

Not mine—but cute.

              

Just me and my horse, 1952, on a trail ride.

Martin Luther on John 3:16

"This is our Christian Creed, and in conformity with it we confess: “I believe in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord, who was born of the Virgin Mary, suffered and died.” Let heathen and heretics be ever so smart; hold firmly to this faith, and you will be saved. It follows, then, that whoever believes in the Son of man, who was born of Mary, who suffered and was buried, will not be lost but is a son of God in possession of eternal life. Devil, sin, and death will not be able to harm him; for he has eternal life."

          

Leading from behind—the politicians on gay marriage, polygamy and legalizing pedophilia

Obama consistently supported traditional marriage and DOMA in public statements up to shortly before the 2012 election. So did Rob Portman and Hillary Clinton until the last few weeks. Used all the same words conservatives use. No one on the left called Obama or Hillary a bigot, hater or homophobe. Portman, of course, was different, he is a Republican and always was a target for hate. Politicians have led from behind, cowering, on marriage. TV and movies led the way.

Some states have no age limit for marriage if the child has parental consent. Sharia Law says girls as young as 12 can give informed consent. NAMBLA wants laws on age of consent thrown out so they can molest young boys without getting into trouble with child authorities. This can of worms will only get bigger and squishier.  Let’s see how long politicians will resist polygamy.  It’s big on reality shows like Big Love and Wife Swap. 

Legalizing  molestation of children has already begun—today’s school sex education materials is what the FBI warns about in hunting down perverts. Planned Parenthood gets money to indoctrinate children into become their life time customers in the PREP program. "PP follows the same business model as a drug dealer: Young children are encouraged to masturbate and explore their bodies with mirrors to introduce them to sexuality. Hichborn says of the graphic pictures used to “educate” pre-pubescent children, “If a dirty old man showed these things to a ten year old in a park, he would be arrested. But when Planned Parenthood shows them to kids in a classroom, it gets government money.” http://www.lifenews.com/2013/03/27/obamacare-funnels-75-million-to-planned-parenthood-to-push-sex-on-kids/

The haters and bigots swing into action

Dr. Ben Carson, a renowned pediatric neurosurgeon, has been "uninvited" as a speaker to graduating medical students at his own university. Too conservative. Also, he is black and with his own money funds a scholarship program for poor black children. Reminds me of when the open minded librarians protested that Laura Bush, a former librarian and then First Lady, would be a speaker at ALA (2006). Each year the ALA sponsors the completely phony, trumped up Banned Books Week. Then they try to ban a speaker, the most famous librarian in the country.

Is "bullying" wrong no matter who the victim is? Or is it only wrong if the victim is gay, obese, skinny, unfashionable, nerdy, or a minority? What if the victim is bullied, shunned and called names because she is Catholic, or he is Baptist, or she is old, or he is white, or they believe in traditional marriage, or they don't want to pay for behavior which they consider sinful, like an abortion?  Is it bullying when powerful, wealthy people threaten to take away various amendments of the Bill of Rights from the masses yet retain them for their private use? Is publishing names and addresses of people who have broken no laws, indeed, followed them to the letter, bullying? Intimidation, bigotry, terrorizing, telling lies, and fomenting fear and suspicion is a behavior dependent on the intent of the perpetrator, not the morals or beliefs or race of the victim.

Laura Ingraham debates a Know Nothing from Boston University

A student who apparently was involved in a condom distribution demonstration at Boston University was up against the much more experienced and knowledgeable (and Catholic) Laura Ingraham last night on Fox. I’m a Lutheran and even I could spot this activist’s fallacies for why the BU rules should be flaunted even though she could go to any college/university she chose. It’s the same as Sandra Fluke and Georgetown.

1.  She tried to base her cause on statistics about how many Catholics use contraception (the figure she gave was much higher than any I’ve heard) and therefore the church was out of step.  Try telling that to a policeman the next time you’re going 75 in a 35 mph zone and because everyone else was doing it the law must be wrong. Or when you get caught cheating on a test and your excuse is everyone cheats.

2.  She tried to argue that the Catholic church ruling on contraception was recent and therefore to her that seemed a good argument that it didn’t need to be followed by the university. Usually, young people say a rule is too old—she’s saying it was a recent ruling.  Wrong again. Humanae Vitae ( Of Human Life)  written by by Pope Paul VI and issued in 1968 (long before this young lady was given life by her parents) reaffirmed the teaching of the church.

http://www.lauraingraham.com/

A Decalogue of Canons for observation in practical life

A Decalogue of Canons for observation in practical life.
by Thomas Jefferson written to Thomas Jefferson Smith, Feb. 21, 1825

1.  Never put off till to-morrow what you can do to-day.
2.  Never trouble another for what you can do yourself.
3.  Never spend your money before you have it.
4.  Never buy what you do not want, because it is cheap; it will be dear to you.
5.  Pride costs us more than hunger, thirst and cold.
6.  We never repent of having eaten too little.
7. Nothing is troublesome that we do willingly.
8.  How much pain have cost us the evils which have never happened.
9.  Take things always by their smooth handle.
10. When angry, count ten, before you speak; if very angry, an hundred.

I expect to read more now

Second cataract surgery yesterday.

The 1942 Stuart Chase playbook for a strong, centralized government

Stuart Chase worked for President Roosevelt. According to Wikipedia, Chase, born in 1888, was an American economist and engineer trained at MIT. His writings covered topics as diverse as general semantics and physical economy. Chase's thought was shaped by Henry George, Thorstein Veblen and Fabian socialism.  In 1942 he wrote a little book called "The Road we are Traveling."  He summarized the causes and outcomes of WWI and the Great Depression.  He wanted a new system of government that was socialism, but not called that (we were at war with 2 socialist countries), and which wasn’t capitalism because he believed that created the Depression.  So he named it System X.  If you look through the list (download from internet), you see we have it.

1. Strong, centralized government.
2. Powerful Executive at the expense of Congress and the Judicial.
3. Government controlled banking, credit and securities exchange.
4. Government control over employment.
5. Unemployment insurance, old age pensions.
6. Universal medical care, food and housing programs.
7. Access to unlimited government borrowing.
8. A government managed monetary system.
9. Government control over all foreign trade.
10. Government control over natural energy sources, transportation and agricultural production.
11. Government regulation of labor.
12. Youth camps devoted to health discipline, community service and ideological teaching consistent with those of the authorities.
13. Heavy progressive taxation and hidden taxes on nations wealth.

page 95

                        

Will rich gay men marry and share their assets in a divorce?

I don't believe a lot of gay men are going to rush out to marry their lovers--they are the wealthiest demographic in the US and also big in the art, music, interior design, literature, film and political fields. How many have added the boyfriend to the will or mansion deed?  Some have, and nothing has prohibited that.  But just look around at the trophy wives or the girl friends (a certain golfer comes to mind) of men.  Do you really think gay men want the expense of lawyers and alimony?  Why hand over their assets to someone who is the equivalent of a rich man's mistress?

What gay marriage has done in states that have recognized it (like Massachusetts) is create over night a new lower class--kind, loving, respectable people can now be bullied and ridiculed as bigots and homophobes with a simple redefinition of a word. In those states, churches are losing freedom of speech and religion; parents are losing control of their right to transmit their values to their children. Adoption will not be about what is best for children, but about pleasing adults.

http://www.americanthinker.com/2013/03/real_bullies_the_homosexuality_is_normal_movement.html

http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2011/julyweb-only/gay-marriage-religious-freedom.html

It’s not like the courts have never been wrong

7 million Californians voted to support traditional, historical and life giving marriage.  The California court then denied them their vote. Over 30 other states have also voted to uphold the purpose and meaning of marriage.   If the Supreme Court upholds the California decision, it doesn't change the truth of history or of all major religions and all governments of all civilizations. Abortion may be legal, but it is still wrong for children and families and someone always dies.  Slavery at one time was legal in the U.S., but it was morally wrong even when upheld by the courts. Marriage is not just about love, it is not about government benefits and it is not just about a specific couple you know or who are related to you. If it were, you could marry anyone, of any age, and in any number, and expect recognition by the government.

What comes next?

After gay marriage legalization, the fight will be to legalize what used to be called pedophilia, but will be redefined, and then polygamy and polyandry. The law already allows (in some states) someone younger than 16 to marry with parental permission. Once same sex marriages are OK, so will young teen boys and older men; if it's OK for young girls and older men, why not? The man-boy love advocacy group is pushing for this. And our society has been softened up for several years with a reality TV show called Big Love to accept polyamory, or multiple partner families in a formal relationship (with benefits).  Our president’s father was a polygamist and his mother was only 17; is it such a huge step to see groups demanding that it is just about love for a 30 year old man with 3 “husbands” to want to take on a teen boy?

If this is about love and government benefits, what difference is the number? And although it may be awhile, there will be no compelling reason to forbid incestuous marriages--in fact, you'll be called a bigot and a sibophobe if you call it that.

The three branches of government

It's not true that homosexuals can't marry.

             

They can marry someone of the opposite sex, and many do.  On the other hand, there is a long list of restrictions for anyone who wants to marry--your state will be different than Ohio, but Ohioans can't marry a sibling, a step-parent, or a cousin, or a first cousin once removed (the daughter or son of your cousin), or someone under age. Ohio has an odd law--Ohio law does not recognize same-sex marriage, but its adoption law permits a “step-parent” in a same-sex union to adopt a “stepchild.”

Many states allow first cousins to marry if they are of an elderly age and no longer able to conceive. In some states, you can't marry an in-law. You can't get married if you are already married, no matter how long you've been separated.  And if you want to marry a sex offender and you have young children, there's going to be a residency problem if you plan to live together (plus you should have counseling, imo).

Some state laws won't allow a marriage if either party has a venereal disease--or rubella, sickle-cell anemia, and tuberculosis.  If you are a felon, you probably can't marry another felon because of that messy "association" rule.  You can't marry a person who legally can't give consent due to mental retardation, illness, drunkenness, etc.  If you are an alien, getting married doesn't give you residency or citizenship. You'll also need paper work--sometimes a birth certificate, sometimes your divorce papers, and yes, you'll need ID to show your residency and citizenship. Most states have waiting periods after you obtain the license and before you can marry--5 days in Ohio. Second thoughts, I guess.   And you'll need to find a proper, licensed person to marry you who knows how to file the paper work or you won’t be legally married.

Marriage through out history has not been about love, or even society’s approval.  For thousands of years marriages were arranged for the good of the family and community.  Most restrictions on marriage in modern society are for the safety and well-being of children. A homosexual union does not produce children, which after all, is the purpose of marriage and why all civilizations from earliest history have recognized marriage as important for the well-being and continuation of society.  It's for the next generation.

What Can I Do to Help Stop Common Core in Ohio?

From the Ohio Common Core Facebook Page

“As we can tell so far, Ohio is way behind the 8 ball on this one. We need to get moving fast.
1. Find friends in your district that feel the same way you do. Start researching; pick different areas of CC so you are not trying to do it all.
2. Stay tuned to this page [Facebook], we try to post the best articles and documents we can find. As more starts happening in the state, we will update here. (Website soon to come!)
3. Gather talking points and talk to your principal and teachers. Speak respectfully and ask them to question. Don’t be upset with them, they have been snookered just as we have.  Leave them with the feeling we are all in this together, for the sake of our children. Yes, some merits to CC, but not at the great costs, loss of privacy, loss of teacher/district/state control.
4. Attend school board meetings and ask questions. Encourage your school board to invest as little as possible on CC .  Five states rejected it and 13 have pending legislation to stop it. Educate them on problems with CC and NO, we don’t have to accept it. As a state we can stop it!
5. Write letter to editor of local papers.
6. Write letters to your state reps and senators - requesting this be stopped. We can stop it and cut our losses now, because the financial costs in the long run will be much greater.
7. Write an Opt-Out letter for your child. 

“http://truthinamericaneducation.com/uncategorized/ccss-parent-opt-out-form/

China’s one child policy has aborted 336 million babies

To put the numbers in perspective, the 336 million deaths in China are:

• More than the entire population of the world at the time of the Crusades (c. 1100 AD).

• Equal to the entire combined populations of the United States and Australia.

• More deaths than were caused by (in millions): the Bubonic Plague in Europe (100), the Great Chinese Famine (45), the 1918 Influenza Pandemic (40), the HIV/AIDS pandemic (25), the Holocaust (13), the Soviet famine of 1932-1933 (8), the Russian famine of 1921 (3), and the American Civil War (.8).

• More than all the people killed in the 10 ten deadliest wars in human history (Based on highest estimates (in millions): World War II (72), World War I (65), Mongol Conquest (60), An Lushan Rebellion (36), Taiping Rebellion (30), Qing Dynasty conquest of the Ming Dynasty (25), Conquests of Timur (20), Dungan Revolt (12), Russian Civil War (9), Second Congo War (5.4))

• More than all the children that will be born in the world over the next ten years.

http://thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/tgc/2013/03/22/china-admits-to-the-greatest-slaughter-in-human-history/

Ohio State will host journalists who served in Afghanistan

I see there will be female journalists speaking at Ohio State on Afghan women in April. They spent the last three years in Afghanistan. Their presentation is co-sponsored by the Mershon Center for International Security Studies; the School of Communication; the Department of Women's, Gender and Sexuality Studies; the Women's Place and the Middle East Studies Center. I wonder if they'll mention that G.W. Bush freed more women in a few months in Afghanistan than Lincoln did slaves in our bloody civil war? Probably not. Or that more American military were lost in Afghanistan under Obama in 4 years, than under Bush in 8 years. Probably not. It is, after all, the liberal media speaking at liberal academe. If you tell people the truth, it could shut down your speaking tour.

CBS apology to our military and Vietnam Vets

CBS' apology was pretty poor in my opinion--"to those who were offended" for denigrating Vietnam veterans in Amazing Race. They never apologized for what they did or the thought, planning and evil behind it. The competitors had to sit through a musical number celebrating Communism in order to get a clue they needed to continue, and CBS planners put a checkpoint at a Communist memorial park built around the wreckage of a downed B-52. I think the MSM is beyond repair.

Here's how an apology works. I'm sorry I did xyz, I was wrong. Forgive me. NOT: I'm sorry your feelings are hurt.  And forgiveness does not mean reconciliation.  The one to whom you apologized is under no obligation to be your friend, especially not if it’s as limp as “I’m sorry you were offended.”

Starbucks doesn’t want our business

“At the Starbucks annual shareholders meeting on Wednesday, CEO Howard Schultz sent a clear message to anyone who supports traditional marriage over gay marriage: we don’t want your business. After saying Starbucks wants to “embrace diversity of all kinds,” he told a shareholder who supports traditional marriage that he should sell his shares and invest in some other company.”
http://joemiller.us/2013/03/starbucks-ceo-no-tolerance-for-traditional-marriage-supporters/#ixzz2OV038xIq

I think that’s good advice from Starbucks.  You should always know how and where your money is invested.  It should reflect your values.  I don’t invest in tobacco, alcohol or viaticals (investing in life insurance policies of dying people). I don’t support any investing which is anti-life, or anti-creation. And since Starbucks doesn’t want me, I’ll respect their wishes.

Have a blessed Palm Sunday

Appendicitis during a pregnancy

Although I don’t think an abortion was suggested, my husband’s mother had an appendectomy during her pregnancy with him.  He was very tiny when born.  I think I weighed more than twice his birth weight, and with his head in the palm of her hand, his toes touched the crook of her elbow.

Shades of the 60s!

I remember seeing these tight, patterned pants on campus when I was in college.  Although I think they wore socks.

I guess it’s in again.  Ah, the bold, strong American male.

http://www.zegna.com/us/home.html

Ermengildo Zegna.

You got those tax hikes, now what?

Democrats got their massive tax hikes, and are indiscriminately cutting rather than carving with the sequestration they wanted. Creating new job losses so they can blame Republicans (ran out of the Bush excuses after 4.5 years) No reduction in the deficit, however.

The problem is Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security. And no one has a solution; putting younger workers on a self-directed plan while raising the retirement age will be stomped to death by Democrats (not because it is bad, but because it will work), and Republicans will scream at reduction in benefits for current recipients.  No one said Republicans were conservative about spending on themselves.

Get ready for a third world experience—or medical care

Obamacare is three years old, but what terrible tantrums this oversize, clumsy youngster is having. Premiums going up, employers shrinking their work force, doctors retiring early, and young people who might have become doctors are selecting a different career route. The insurance exchange official (Chao) in charge is hoping it won't be a third world bureaucratic experience. And we're hoping we haven't been downgraded to 3rd world medical care, but wouldn't that be "fair" in the president's eyes?

http://www.forbes.com/sites/aroy/2013/03/22/cms-on-obamacares-health-insurance-exchanges-lets-just-make-sure-its-not-a-third-world-experience/

Domestic violence and Sharia Law

In April 2009, the Islamic Fiqh Academy (IFA)  made a ruling entitled ‘Domestic Violence’. It’s available on-line.  It has been around for three years, and I can’t recall any American politician or feminist speaking out for the rights of women trapped in Sharia Law. It is a consensus of leading Muslim scholars in the world today on the rights of women.

This fatwa represents the absolute authority of the sharia over all understandings of human rights as they apply to women and the family, specifically including international human rights conventions and covenants.

The fatwa upholds the right of a husband to beat his wife.

This fatwa also upholds the right of a husband to rape his wife, for it is not 'domestic violence' for a man to insist upon his conjugal rights.

The fatwa also upholds the right of a male guardian to contract the marriage of a virgin female .

The right of women to move around freely in public without a supervising male is rejected as contrary to sharia law.

The fatwa upholds sharia law's non-reciprocal approach to divorce, which make it easy for man to divorce his wife, but hard for a women to obtain a divorce, except through a difficult legal process.

http://markdurie.blogspot.com.au/search/label/Domestic%20Violence

Change in Hourly Wages for men and women

“The economic struggles of male workers are both a cause and an effect of the breakdown of traditional households. Men who are less successful are less attractive as partners, so some women are choosing to raise children by themselves, in turn often producing sons who are less successful and attractive as partners.”

Source: "Wayward Sons: The Emerging Gender Gap in Labor Markets and Education," David Autor and Melanie Wasserman

Friday Family Photo—sort of

Today I turned on 610 a.m. and got dead air.  It was Glenn Beck so overcome with grief about his dog Victor that he couldn’t speak.  Glenn gets a lot of hassle from the lefties for his tears (progressives don’t cry), but you’d  have to be awfully hard hearted not to tear up a little on this one. He prepared his children by watching Roma Downey’s “The Bible.”  They talked about faith and love.  He wanted to bury Victor but was afraid what would happen to him if the family moved, so he will be cremated.

At first I thought I would never be able to remember all the dogs I wept over—because dogs that live outside just don’t live long. And their awful deaths! 

Lassie, 1944 (killed on my grandmother’s farm near Franklin Grove while we were in California during WWII)

Large stray we had for a few weeks in Alameda—he was sick; if we  named him, I don’t remember it. I’m guessing he’d been abandoned by another military family and my mom took pity on him. 1945

Laddie, 1946 (hit by a Greyhound bus when he followed us children to town, Forreston)

Jerry, 1948 (hit by a car in front of our brick house on the high-way in Forreston)

Pretty, 1948  (black and white small collie mix who had puppies under our neighbor’s porch; I think she was given to a farmer just in case she had more pups)

Curly, 1949  (one of Pretty’s pups we got to keep who disappeared when my brother and I were on a trip with Mom and grandparents)

Zero, 1949 winter (large ugly hound who “followed” me home from school one day which was against the rules; disappeared)

Lady, 1950-52 (a beautiful Dalmatian that didn’t like my mom until she learned that is who fed her regularly—died of skin cancer, buried behind the garage at 4 South Hannah)

Polka-dot, 1952-1963 (Dalmatian mix, our only indoor pet—after 1958; died of old age, I think)

        

Gay marriage fantasies—I don’t think it is the benefits

It's interesting that more young people, liberal and conservative, Christian and non-, have become more favorable about gay marriage--but not so much for traditional marriage, the one promoted in the Bible from Genesis to Revelation and all civilizations from the beginning.  They’ve fallen for that “rights” argument—the carrot of government benefits.  Ha!  Marriage in the last 20 years for young adults is becoming more and more optional, with the children walking down the aisle with mom and dad, if they marry at all.  All the government studies in the world that show their own children are less likely to thrive haven’t budged their opinion that shacking up is more fun and economical.

I know a lot of older couples (male and female) living together, who I assume know about all those wonderful government perks gay marriage proponents  seem to seek.  Yes.  She ran into her 1950s boyfriend at the reunion, but they don't want to give up her alimony, so they have a commitment ceremony spoken by a preacher who got her license on the internet and see a good lawyer to protect their assets which will go to the children.  Or her husband died 30 years ago, she's got a good pension, they keep their homes separate, but are always together, on trips, outings and social events. Or they don't marry because of consanguinity or they were formerly in-laws. And of course, there's always his kids can't stand her kids, so for peace and inheritances, they avoid the marriage thing. Or, the worst.  He divorced her after her stroke which left her brain injured so she could get Medicaid and he comes to visit her in the nursing home with his girlfriend with home he shares his wife’s home.

Social security?  Oh really?  Ask any widow in her 50s who hasn't worked in 25 years. Or ask someone with a teacher's pension like me. There is nothing for us.  Also, they might want to talk to a woman, not divorced, whose husband left her for a younger more buff version of herself, and she found out the hard way there is no legal requirement for support while married and he doesn’t care if the house goes into foreclosure or the utilities aren’t paid.

It’s not all Obama’s fault

Other administrations have also contributed to the deficit.

Thanks you, Mr. President

Understanding Mary

The last few mornings I’ve been watching “Catholic Canvas” on EWTN which is an explanation of the art of the Sistine Chapel and the Vatican museums. I had known about the restoration of the frescoes, but the restoration of the tapestries is less known (at least to me).   The cape that appears to surround God in the most famous panel of Michelangelo (God reaching to touch Adam’s finger with his other arm around the baby Jesus), says a doctor, is a model of the human brain.  My minimal understanding of perspective puts me in awe of the “foreshortening” of his style, where the viewer looks up and the figures move into our space, with arms and legs and clothing hanging down.  Michelangelo knew his Bible and Christian theology. But you can’t watch much EWTN without a lot of “Mary,” adoration and stories completely unfamiliar to Protestants—at least this Lutheran.  We Lutherans give Mary a lot of attention at Christmas as an obedient, chaste young woman, and some at Easter as a grieving follower of Christ, but otherwise, not so much.  I was looking up a quote of St. Leo today, one of the few Popes ever elected who was not a Bishop, who had to deal not only with barbarian invaders of the Roman empire, but terrible fights within the church.  I came across this interesting item about Mary as the Mother of God.

Pope Leo wrote many letters and instructions in his lifetime. 140 of these letters and numerous sermons he preached exist to this day. He is known as one of the prime witnesses for the Primacy of the Pope and his authority to lead the Catholic Church. This was a controversial fact and in great dispute in his day. One of his greatest writings is known as the "Tome of St. Leo" and was a defense of the belief that Jesus was both fully human and fully divine. This defense of the Incarnation of Jesus also had implications on the Church's understanding of Mary. The Church Council of Ephesus had debated the identity of Jesus and it's discussion was based on the role of Mary, was she "Christokos", i.e., the mother of Jesus the man, or was she "Theotokos", i.e., the mother of God. The sway in the Council was about to declare that she could only be the mother of the human part of Jesus, but this would imply a split in the reality of Jesus. For this to be a fact, Jesus would have only been human until his birth when at that moment the divine took form in the newborn human. Thankfully, the people of Ephesus intervened and refused to allow the Bishops to conclude their vote. They had a powerful attachment to Mary as she had spent her last years of life on this world in their city. The Council was deadlocked until delegates from Leo arrived and announced by his letter that Jesus was both fully human and fully divine. This belief, would later become a formal part of our Nicene Creed. When the letter was read the delegates declared that truly "St. Peter speaks though Leo."

http://www.stleo.com/Patron.htm

Today all Christians  agree on the Nicene Creed; those on the fringes who do not may still argue about the divinity and humanity of Jesus. That he was born human and became divine is just one of the many heresies still floating today. Thank you, Pope Leo, for battling both the outside evil and the inside fighting.

Truthland, a film by Shelley, a dairy farmer

The answer to Gasland, a film shown on HBO, which was a lot of lies.  Watch the scene where Shelley interviews the EPA official sitting at a shiny surface desk—they look very odd. Sort of doubles.

Fracking. Minimal risk.  Tight regulations. Very low surface damage.   A million to 2 million wells have been created by fracturing.  No problems yet. It’s been done for decades in Louisiana.  A man, Josh Fox, who didn’t understand the science of it, made a movie called Gasland that is a story—fiction.  If there are problems it is from poor equipment, but not from fracking. Uses LESS water than other forms of energy. It’s clean, abundant, economic and it is HERE.  Flaming faucets?  Water catching on fire began a long time ago—it is not caused by fracking.  “Gas saved our Ass” was one bumper sticker that a Dimick area farmer had. It was a depressed area, and the gas wells save their family farms.

STDs infect one in four teen girls

A CDC study released in March 2008 estimates that one in four (26 percent) young women between the ages of 14 and 19 in the United States – or 3.2 million teenage girls – is infected with at least one of the most common sexually transmitted diseases (human papillomavirus (HPV), chlamydia, herpes simplex virus, and trichomoniasis).

Even though most of the young women had either received information/services on STDs or contraception, the recommendation was for more counseling, testing and treatment.  No mention of the obvious—chastity and celibacy to save their lives or fertility.

So I moved ahead to the 2012 study presented at the same conference. For some odd reason, the researchers were encouraged that there was more testing among African American women, those who had multiple sex partners, and those who received public insurance or were uninsured.  But all that showed them was there is a problem. I’m not sure why annual screenings are recommended as a solution when the retesting rates remain low.

http://www.cdc.gov/nchhstp/Newsroom/stdconference2012pressrelease.html

Bi-polar disorder in children

For the general population, a conservative estimate of an individual’s risk of having full-blown bipolar disorder is one percent. Disorders in the bipolar spectrum may affect 4 to 6 percent. When one parent has bipolar disorder, the risk to each child is 15 to 30 percent. When both parents have bipolar disorder, the risk increases to 50 to 75 percent. The risk in siblings and fraternal twins is 15 to 25 percent. The risk in identical twins is approximately 70 percent.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2695748/

Who is homophobic? Society or the gay men.

Men who have sex with men is the primary way HIV/AIDS is spread.  Although less than 14% of the population, blacks (men and women) have 44% of the new infections.  New HIV infections among 13-24 year olds increased 22% from 2008 to 2010, and half of those were African American.  If the gay black or bi-sexual man is afraid to go to the doctor/clinic and continues to risk his life and the lives of the men and women he is having sex with, then who is being homophobic?  The black man with the disease, that’s who.  That excuse might have been good 20-30 years ago, but not in 2013.   Stop blaming others in society for their unwillingness to be healthy, chaste and faithful to their partners.  If they don’t think enough of themselves and their boyfriends or casual sex partners, why is the CDC (the government) expecting others to? The increase from 2008 to 2010 shows young men are being careless with the hard earned truths of the 70s and 80s.

http://www.cdc.gov/nchhstp/newsroom/docs/HIVFactSheets/TodaysEpidemic-508.pdf

Remodeling the upstairs bathrooms

One thing we've learned while remodeling two bathrooms (other than it costs much more to remodel than to build new) is that the building trades are doing just fine--they are very busy here in Columbus. If they were sloppy or careless, the recession did them in (as it should--survival of the fittest). However, to avoid what Obama is doing to small businesses, they are running on very small crews and expecting a lot from their employees. I'm hoping deadlines can be met. We're expecting company in June, and I don't want to send them to the neighbors.

My husband was not fond of the wallpaper in the guest bath, but I sort of enjoyed it.  High end decorators with big price tags, two men, lived in here about 23 years ago—I think this reflects their taste.   The cabinets and doors are black.  The guest bedroom had black carpet, yellow walls (lightened by the next owner from a dark green), and black and forest green checkered fabric on the walls and ceiling, plus pink roses drapery fabric with forest green completely covering the window. My husband said it looked like a funeral home.

Tax cheats in the White House and Congress

Congress gets an annual report on serious delinquents working in each government agency who are tax cheats each January. This year 98,291 current civilian employees have a severe tax lien against them. When retirees and military personnel are included, the debt figure goes up to an astounding $3.4 billion. In the Senate, there are 217 who owe the IRS a total of $2,134,501, and there are 36 tax cheats in the Executive Office of the President, owing a total of $833,970. Let's insist they clean up their act before spending one more dime of our money. The president should be ashamed to even mutter the words "fair share" if he can't get his own staff to pay theirs (and they all make excellent salaries).

Source:  Washington Times

The War Against Women—more breast cancer

Kill the babies; then make the women vulnerable to breast cancer and suicide.  Good plan, Democrats.

I was reading an article in JAMA (Feb. 27, 2013) about the increase in aggressive breast cancer among young women (15-29). Why the increase? Well, about the only suggestion offered was better imaging technology. No mention of oral contraceptives and abortions, which many studies have shown to create a problem for young women. Oral contraceptives are a class-1 carcinogen. Pregnancy and nursing protects breast tissue. Abortion increases breast cancer risk as reported in numerous studies. But then that would be both political and religious, wouldn't it, if the premier medical journal of an organization that has backed Obama 100% actually reported this?

Didn't AMA cover up tobacco risks and the Tuskegee syphilis study scandal? Isn't the journal packed with ads from pharmaceutical companies? The abortion that hurts the health of women the most is a first pregnancy abortion. I wonder if they are told that at abortion clinics? Clinics that are supported by the same government handing out oral contraceptives like they were lemon drops.

Republicans and immigration reform

Everyone seems to be talking about immigration reform. The 1986 IRCA didn't win friends for Republicans even though it was an example of bipartisan legislation many years in the making and included employer accountability, border enforcement, and amnesty for millions. 27 years later the illegals have tripled, the border isn't enforced, and employers are damned if they do and damned if they don't. The government bureaucracy did expand, however.

Signed in November 1986, IRCA required all persons to show authorization to work in the U.S., increased border enforcement, and created a legalization program for undocumented immigrants who met eligibility requirements. While critics complain that IRCA failed to prevent future waves of unauthorized immigration, they often forget the important things IRCA accomplished.

IRCA legalized approximately 3 million immigrants who met strict eligibility requirements, 1.3 million of whom legalized under the special agricultural legalization program. Obtaining legal status allowed unauthorized immigrants to improve their lives and contribute even more to the U.S. economy.

http://immigrationimpact.com/2011/11/07/remembering-the-benefits-of-irca-25-years-later/

Safety in flying

An air traffic controller who lives in Columbus and attends our church writes:  “Thank you Mr. Obama and your inept Senate and administration whose gallant efforts today, to block Senator Moran's Contract Tower Amendment, succeeded; thus in turn costing me and a thousand other Air Traffic Controllers their jobs. Your political brinkmanship in using the safety of the national airspace system as a pawn in some elaborate narcissistic game continues to prove your inadequate ability to govern this country. Shutting down 238 Air traffic Control Towers (nearly 50%) which control nearly 1/3 (28%) of our nation’s air traffic is utterly absurd as well as dangerous. I now have grave concern for the flying public as well as the ripple effect that will be felt among all who use these airports across the country for their livelihood. You have done a great disservice to this country and I pray that the cost in not in human lives.”

Spelling was a victim of the sequester

These workshop providers are racists

I was watching/listening to some parts of a diversity/multiculturalism/hate all euro-Americans training session for teachers of Wisconsin that was narrated by Dana where participants were told it was impossible for blacks to be racists because they have no power.  Really?  A black president, black attorney general, blacks on the Supreme Court, black senators and representatives, black Secretary of State, black governors, black mayors, black CEOs, black college presidents, black doctors and lawyers, black millionaires,  our top military leaders are black, all the major franchises have black owners, and so forth.  I think what these trouble makers mean is that if a black is really successful in a capitalist country, they aren't down with the struggle as Al Sharpton said.

How racist is it to ignore the accomplishments, and power of 13.6% of the population?

Who was Charles Darwin?

Church of England, but no real belief system. Worshiped at a Unitarian Church. Grandfather was a doctor and poet—very liberal and “evolutionary” in his thinking. Father was a physician and a good communicator. Shrewd investor. The culture was of “free thinkers” when Darwin was growing up. Great winds of change.  Man is supreme; no need for God. Darwin didn’t like medical school, preferred natural sciences.  His father thought he was an idle, sporting man so pushed young Charles toward the clergy (positions could be bought) so he would have an income.  He couldn’t assent to the orders of the church. So he took an ocean voyage . . .

Columbus on the move

In the last 6 days I've done more traveling around metropolitan Columbus than probably the previous decade. I am so impressed with our city even on gray rainy days! Congratulations to our Republican governor and Democratic mayor. I saw lots of growth and ingenuity, great small businesses, and yet big developments, too. Our immigrant community is starting many new businesses; I saw expansion everywhere. (unemployment 5.8%)

It was three trips to the east side for my eyes (I was wowed by Mt. Carmel), and then lots of driving around picking out bathroom cabinets, fixtures, tops, lights, etc. Yesterday we spent an hour with a salesman who will be singing in Vaude Villities (a local talent show 71 years old). At all the businesses, the sales force was knowledgeable, polite and helpful. Today the contractor came and ripped out the old shower. Finally, we have a dumpster and big trucks in our drive-way just like our neighbors.

Remember when the feminists told women they didn’t need men?

Also told them that marriage was a trap.  Oppression.  What’s a piece of paper?  They needed to be liberated.  More liberated than men.  So why if it was a trap when a woman was married to a man, is it not a trap when it’s two women or two men?

Monday memories—bathrooms

We are stripping the walls, moving furniture, and emptying bathroom cabinets that will soon be removed.  The contractor is to start on Tuesday.  Two 1970s era bathrooms are being upgraded (I’ve got a bad case of sticker shock). Who knew we had 6 different boxes of band-aids, and never could find one when needed? And to think my father was a senior in high school before he knew people had bathrooms inside their homes.             

                                

The story he told me, which may be embellished a little because he was a great story teller, was he knew there were bathrooms in public buildings like schools.  He attended Polo High School and was in the senior play.  Because his parents lived on a farm and there was a night rehearsal and then the performance, he stayed overnight with a fellow cast member and realized that people living in town had toilets inside the house, just like at school!  He was a year ahead of his age group, since in rural schools they weren’t real picky about that, so I’m guessing he was about 16 or 17 when this was taken.

When I was in first grade and my father returned from service in the Marines after the end of WWII, his old route with Standard Oil had been taken over by someone else, so he was doing a long drive to a different area.  So he bought a home in Forreston, about 15 miles from our home in Mt. Morris.  It was an old farm house on the last street at the south end, and it had no indoor toilet.  And there was a pump on the counter of the kitchen.  Really, I don’t know what my mother must have thought, but she learned carpentry and plumbing and we soon had a bathroom.  Nothing fazed that woman. Of course, being six years old, I thought it was a great adventure.  Now, not so much!

Noah’s Ark—Lessons from

An orange a day . . .

                   

Usually I have such terrible, miserable colds that last so long--usually three weeks--I really should give them names--like hurricanes or tsunamis. I was coming down with a cold when my husband returned, sick, from Haiti 2 weeks ago. But not much happened. This winter I've been eating oranges. I've always liked them, but rarely have more than one or two a year. They just tasted awfully good this year, and I've been buying 8 lb bags for about $6 and have added one orange to my daily one apple. So I think I've eaten 5 bags since the fall, or 40 lbs of oranges. http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=37

Also, I candied quite a few of the orange peels until eating them was making my mouth a little raw—and making me hungry for other sweets. Maybe it was all those peels.  Lots of good stuff in those too.

Waiting for Pope Francis’ first Angelus prayer at St Peter’s square on March 17, 2013

I was watching this on EWTN.  He drives his translators and security detail crazy by going off script and off in any direction.

Celebrate!

           

In just a few days. . .

They missed the apostrophe, but it’s still cute.

CPAC 2013

There’s nothing a Democrat fears more than a black conservative . . . Allen West

http://gretawire.foxnewsinsider.com/video/former-congressman-allen-west-on-the-record-6/

Rick Santorum and Allen West