Conservatives I follow

Wishing women well

I watched an interview with a young Cleveland woman competing in an invention contest at Wal-Mart. If she wins, thousands of Wal-Marts will be marketing her product.  It's a "table shade," and she has a patent.  She was quite excited about the opportunity.  I wonder how many corporate giants offer prizes for inventions.

Yesterday I was chatting with the woman who cleans the lobby and women’s restroom at the local hotel.  While she cleaned the floors and I used the stall, we discussed the early starting date for schools.  I asked about her children.  “My boy is getting his Master’s degree in Chicago, and my daughter will be a junior in college in Toledo,” she said.  I don’t know why she’s cleaning restrooms with that “pay it forward” genealogy, maybe she just wants some extra spending money for Christmas, or maybe she’s writing a novel about how people are treated in service jobs.

Although I don’t remember her name (many people we meet at Lakeside we see only a week or two in the summer), but we took a number of art classes together within the last decade, I recognized her coming into a lecture yesterday. I remembered our chats after class and how sweet and encouraging she always was.   Her husband was leading her and she had that recognizable shuffle of dementia.  So sad.  But his loving care and attention was even sweeter.  Another friend we’ve known perhaps 20 years and who is still doing things alone also has Alzheimer’s, according to her husband. Very talented and active in community affairs, her bright sparkling personality will be (is) missed.

I got my summer LAS News from the U. of I. today.  Interesting story about Christina Brodbeck, one of the 3 U. of I. students who developed YouTube. They sold it in 2006 to Google for $1.65 billion in stock.  Now in her early 30s she is an “angel investor” and has invested in 22 start ups. She came to the U. of I. to study history (AB ‘0l, History) and also studied Russian.  She picked up a book on HTML and taught herself web design.  Later she got an advanced degree in multimedia design at San Francisco State University.

Do not release balloons for your special event

Even those labeled “bio-degradable” can kill an animal, bird or plant.

This picture is worth a thousand votes

Another Father Dowling mystery solved

Father Dowling was a TV character in the late 80s early 90s.  A great show.

 

Born in Ireland, he’s now in prison ministry.  Whether he was a real angel or a real priest, he certainly saved the day for the injured woman.

Oprah is promoting her new movie with lies

Her comments comparing Emmett Till and Trayvon Martin were just absurd,  But the O has really gone overboard with misinformation. Oprah needs to brush up on history. In an interview with Parade magazine to flog her new movie, she put the figure for lynching in the U.S. at millions. The actual number of persons lynched, 1882-1968, was tallied by the Tuskegee Institute at 4,743, of whom 1,297—that’s 27 percent—were white. Does she know Republicans tried to stop lynching with laws at the federal level and they were voted down by Democrats? So is she that ignorant, or is she deliberately trying to drum up racial hatred among blacks? Why should I buy her products, read her magazine or watch her failing TV station (she's a billionaire) if she is this wrong about something very important?

And the Swiss clerk says Oprah lied about the hand bag incident. Given how she's moved thousands to millions, I'm inclined to believe the clerk. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2389798/Oprahs-liar-Sales-assistant-Swiss-racist-handbag-row-denies-telling-TV-host-view-item-afford-it.html

The intention is to attack Christians, not build support for gays

When Christians are attacked for marriage sermons and beliefs on the sanctity of sex within marriage, it's "hate speech" from the left.  All cultures, societies, nationalities and religions for thousands and thousands of years have supported marriage between male and female. Yes, there are blips and problems along the way--it doesn't work for everyone. Likewise, there have been loving relationships and households under other names that have worked without marriage. As recently as 2008 President Obama and Hillary Clinton were running for the highest office in the land supporting traditional marriage.  Just because they saw a political benefit for caving into the pressure of the gay lobby, doesn’t make what they said in 2008 “hate speech.”  Same sex agreements and ceremonies have a track record of being recognized by the state less than a year.

I've read there are a thousand + laws about marriage (I assume they are counting states and federal together)—taxes, benefits, etc., which apparently brings this down to money. Gay men are the most educated and successful demographic in the country.  They are about 1.7% of the population.  It would be interesting to know how many have shared bank accounts, named beneficiaries on pension and IRA,  joint mortgages with right of survivorship, wills with the partner as beneficiary.  They won’t get those benefits with a marriage license.

Monday Memories—visiting Niagara Falls

Photo from FlyoverCulture.com

After attending my brother’s wedding in 1963 in Kalamazoo, Michigan we continued on east and visited Niagara Falls from the American side, and New York City.

Then about 40 years later we travelled with friends on a tour bus to do a Frank Lloyd Wright tour of Buffalo, New York, and we again saw the Falls, but from the Canadian side.  So many new buildings had been built (hotels and casinos) that they have blocked the winds that cleared the mist.  We couldn’t see much. Apparently Ontario has no zoning authority on lands owned by the Indian tribes that have the hotels and casinos.  And here we thought Indians were all OK with saving the environment.  Even taller buildings (40 stories, maybe) were being proposed. I blogged about this trip in 2009.

Rising cost of health insurance under Obamacare

The average price for the lowest-cost ObamaCare "bronze" plan in eight states [Ohio is one of them] is 122% higher than the cheapest plan currently available in those states, according to an IBD analysis of rate filings and a recent Government Accountability Office report.

Read More At Investor's Business Daily: http://news.investors.com/politics/080213-666235-cheap-obamacare-twice-as-costly-as-existing-plans.htm#ixzz2bgkoK4z1

September 11—a decade apart from Democrats’ point of view

Civilian deaths in Iraq rising—highest since 2008

More than 1,000 Iraqis were killed in July by al-qaeda type groups--Muslims killing Muslims. Car bombs ripped through markets, shopping streets and parks late on Saturday as Iraqis were out celebrating Eid, the end of the Muslim fasting month, killing 57 and wounding more than 150.  Attacks in Baghdad on Tuesday killed 50. The State Department boldly called these killers terrorists. Meanwhile, the Ft. Hood terrorist attack on our military is still called "workplace" violence.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/08/11/us-iraq-violence-idUSBRE97A05H20130811

Meanwhile,  Obama continues to arm the Syrian rebels—we’ve learned nothing since arming al-qaeda and bin Laden back in the 1980s.

http://www.brookings.edu/research/opinions/2013/06/15-arming-syrian-rebels-us-afghanistan-1980s-riedel

5th Dimension wows the Lakeside audience

We enjoyed a fabulous performance at Lakeside’s Hoover Auditorium last night by the 5th Dimension featuring Florence LaRue. They did many of the songs made famous by the group in their early years in the 60s and 70s, but also others well known to the baby boomer generation, and it's a great family show with a lot of audience participation. Ms. LaRue is a strong Christian, has a B.A. in Education and has been an active member of The Church On The Way in Van Nuys, CA, where she sings in the choir, serves with the homeless ministry and missionary work. She also has a solo act. The other female singer in the group, Patrice Morris, is also a pastor and has sung with many gospel groups and is a featured speaker at many events, especially focusing on marriage. She is an active member of the praise team and ministerial staff of Cathedral of Praise International Ministries, Rialto, CA. Her voice is so powerful that must be some fabulous singing in her church! I’m going to look for her CDs.

They surprised the audience, and their band, by asking us to sing along with them—God Bless America. I thought perhaps that was the final number, but it continued.  Each member of the group had a chance to perform solo, and the richness and power of their voices were incredible.

 

Update: Both Florence and Patrice were at the 8:30 worship on the lakefront, and were introduced by Pastor Jennings. We also stopped and talked to them at breakfast at the Patio Restaurant. It was a real thrill.

Cheesy Bread Sticks

1 (10 ounce) can Pillsbury pizza crust dough
1 tablespoon butter, melted
1/2 cup provolone cheese, shredded
1 tablespoon parmesan cheese
1 tablespoon dried basil
1/4 teaspoon garlic salt
Preheat oven to 425. Unroll pizza dough onto a greased cookie sheet and brush with butter. Sprinkle cheeses and spices evenly over the dough.
With a pizza cutter, cut dough lengthwise into 12 long strips. Then cut those in half to make 24 strips. Do not seperate strips. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until light golden brown. Recut along each strip and remove from cooking sheet. Serve sticks warm with marinara sauce.
http://www.food.com/recipe/easy-cheesy-breadsticks-149066

I’ve never heard of Hugh Schwyzer who taught women’s studies at Pasadena City College

but I’ve certainly thought this about women’s studies in general and the men who advocate for them in particular.  I knew male students who thought these classes might be a good way to meet chicks.   It’s not a good career track.  Notes from the professor’s Twitter account in which he fesses up to the scam he’s pulled off for years .

“So the real story you all missed is that I talked my way into teaching women's studies on the basis of 2 undergrad courses only . . . The college knew that at the time, and since I had a history degree and wanted to teach it, they let me. . I then built a career as a well-known online male feminist on fraudulent pretenses. My mania let me talk a good game. . . But there was no there there. . . So with the clarity that comes from a shitload of anti-psychotics, I'm sorry I've been such a breathtakingly cocky fraud.”

He has also  used racism in white-dominated feminist spaces to shut down and silence black women.

http://twitchy.com/2013/08/10/bad-boy-male-feminist-melts-down-i-used-sex-and-charm-and-whiteness-to-scam-you-all/

Hypocrites about education—for me not thee

Rich Democrats want everyone else's kids to go to pubic school, but they send theirs to private schools. And vote against charters and scholarships for poor children when they have the opportunity. Obama never attended a U.S. public school, sends his daughters to private school, and doesn't support charters for poor kids because he's beholden to the teachers' unions.

“When the avowedly liberal actor Matt Damon revealed in an interview last week that he was sending his children to private schools - despite his vocal criticism of education reform efforts and statements about his staunch public school support – it was catnip for conservatives. Damon’s choice also raised the question of whether it is hypocritical for education reform opponents to make choices they would deny to others through public policy.” http://www.hollywoodrepublican.net/2013/08/matt-damon-school-choice/

Hollywood liberals also think it is OK to take guns away from the general public, but to protect their own families and staff with security guards armed to the teeth.

Another day, another scandal?

Ho-Hum. Another scandal, or just the usual misuse of power we've come to ignore? "While the president of the United States can declassify top secret intelligence information on his own say-so, disclosing secret grand jury material is a different matter. Rule 6(e) of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure clearly states: “… no person may disclose the indictment’s existence except as necessary to issue or execute a warrant or summons.’’ Of course, he's not just a "no person," he sees himself above all laws. A bad case of Caesarism. Don't look for his buddies at the DoJ to look into this. http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2013/08/09/in-misstep-obama-discusses-sealed-indictment-on-benghazi/

Noun 1. Caesarism - a form of government in which the ruler is an absolute dictator (not restricted by a constitution or laws or opposition etc.)

dictatorship, monocracy, one-man rule, shogunate, Stalinism, totalitarianism, tyranny, authoritarianism, despotism, absolutism autocracy, autarchy - a political system governed by a single individual

The next time I’m in Europe

and am treated rudely by a retail clerk, I hope I can get on national TV and get my face out there to flog my latest movie like Oprah.  The billionaire has probably gotten someone fired. That’s what fat cats do.  I don’t know what she was wearing on the shopping trip, but the paparazzi have caught her in sweat pants and no make up and published the photos, so possibly she didn’t look the part of  “famous diva?”  I’ve heard the purse was $38,000.  It’s her money, she can spend two years of college tuition for a worthy poor student on a purse if she pleases.

http://www.examiner.com/article/oprah-winfrey-receives-apology-from-swiss-tourism-office-after-racial-incident

The exemptions

Remember—it’s only legal because the Supreme Court said it was a tax. 

The death of pretty

"Young women today do not seem to aspire to pretty, they prefer to be regarded as hot. Hotness is something altogether different. When women want to be hot instead of pretty, they must view themselves in a certain way and consequently men view them differently as well." Men will cherish pretty; they regard hot as a commodity to be used. "The death of pretty" http://www.ncregister.com/blog/pat-archbold/the-death-of-pretty

Helpful hints—just try a few

1. Take your bananas apart when you get home from the store. If you leave them connected at the stem, they ripen faster!
2. Store your opened chunks of cheese in aluminum foil. It will stay fresh much longer and not mold!
3. Peppers with 3 bumps on the bottom are sweeter and better for eating. Peppers with 4 bumps on the bottom are firmer and better for cooking.
4. Add a teaspoon of water when frying ground beef. It will help pull the grease away from the meat while cooking.
5. To make scrambled eggs or omelets rich add a couple of spoonsful of sour cream, cream cheese, or heavy cream in and then beat them up.
6. Add garlic immediately to a recipe if you want a light taste of garlic, and at the end of the recipe if you want a stronger taste of garlic.
7. Reheat Pizza Heat up leftover pizza in a nonstick skillet on top of the stove, set heat to med-low and heat till warm. This keeps the crust crispy. No soggy micro pizza. I saw this on the cooking channel and it really works.
8. Easy Deviled Eggs: Put cooked egg yolks in a zip lock bag. Seal, mash till they are all broken up. Add remainder of ingredients, reseal, keep mashing it up mixing thoroughly, cut the tip of the baggy, squeeze mixture into egg. Just throw bag away when done easy clean up.
9. Expanding Frosting: When you buy a container of cake frosting from the store, whip it with your mixer for a few minutes. You can double it in size. You get to frost more cake/cupcakes with the same amount. You also eat less sugar and calories per serving.
10. Reheating refrigerated bread: To warm biscuits, pancakes, or muffins that were refrigerated, place them in a microwave with a cup of water. The increased moisture will keep the food moist and help it reheat faster.
11. Newspaper weeds away: Plant your plants in the ground, work the nutrients in your soil. Then wet newspapers, put layers around the plants overlapping as you go, cover with mulch, and forget about weeds. Weeds will get through some gardening plastic they will not get through wet newspapers.
12. To keep squirrels from eating your plants, sprinkle your plants with cayenne pepper. The cayenne pepper doesn't hurt the plant and the squirrels won't come near it.
13. Flexible vacuum: To get something out of a heat register or under the fridge add an empty paper towel roll or empty gift wrap roll to your vacuum. It can be bent or flattened to get in narrow openings.
14. Pin a small safety pin to the seam of your slip to eliminate static cling. It works; you will not have a clingy skirt or dress. Same thing works with slacks that cling when wearing panty hose. Place pin in seam of slacks and ... Ta DA! ... Static is gone.
15. Before you pour sticky substances into a measuring cup, fill with hot water. Dump out the hot water, but don't dry cup. Next, add your ingredient, such as peanut butter, and watch how easily it comes right out.
16. De-fog your windshield: Buy a chalkboard eraser and keep it in the glove box of your car When the windows fog, rub with the eraser! Works better than a cloth!
17. Re-opening envelopes: If you seal an envelope and then realize you forgot to include something inside, just place your sealed envelope in the freezer for an hour or two. Voila! It unseals easily.
18. Use your hair conditioner to shave your legs. It's cheaper than shaving cream and leaves your legs really smooth. It's also a great way to use up the conditioner you bought but didn't like when you tried it in your hair.
19. Goodbye Fruit Flies: To get rid of pesky fruit flies, take a small glass, fill it 1/2' with Apple Cider Vinegar and 2 drops of dish washing liquid; mix well. You will find those flies drawn to the cup an d gone forever!
20. Get Rid of Ants: Put small piles of cornmeal where you see ants. They eat it, take it 'home,' can't digest it so it kills them. It may take a week or so, especially if it rains, but it works and you don't have the worry about pets or small children being harmed!
21. Wash your dryer filter: Did you know that cleaning your lint trap with a dryer sheet can ruin it? Dryer sheets cause a film over that mesh that's what burns out the heating unit. You can't SEE the film, but it's there. It's what is in the dryer sheets to make your clothes soft and static free, and smell good. You know how they can feel waxy when you take them out of the box? Apparently that stuff builds up on your clothes and on your lint screen. This is what causes dryer units to potentially burn your house down with it! You can test it by running the lint trap under water. If the water goes through you are good. If not then you need to clean it. The best way to keep your dryer working for a long time (and to keep your electric bill lower) is to take that filter out and wash it with hot soapy water and an old toothbrush (or other brush) at least every six months.
22. Drop a small object on the carpet and can't find it. Place panty hose over the end of the vacuum hose and start vacuuming. The panty hose will trap anything too large to fit through the tiny hose and keep it from getting sucked into the vacuum.
23. Wearing a skirt or dress on a windy day. Cut open a few sections on the bottom seam. slip in some heavy washers or flat weights (anything small heavy and flat will work) then sew the seam back up.
24. Need to cut some corn off the cob. Use your bundt pan. Place the ear on the opening in the center of the pan, and as you slide the knife down the ear, all the kernels will collect in the main part of the pan..

Just one baby not aborted . . .

How many more have been killed who may have done great things?

Still, he was not too virtuous when he fathered an out of wedlock child himself and denied paternity claiming he was sterile. Jobs did not initiate a relationship with his daughter Lisa until she was 7.  When she was a teenager, she came to live with her father. I think I recall reading that she and her mother were on welfare for awhile.

ObamaCare bailout for Members of Congress and their staffs

How does even the most devoted Democrat justify this?

“Thanks to an amendment from Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley that Democrats enacted in 2010, the Affordable Care Act says that "the only health plans that the Federal Government may make available" to Congress are the ones offered on the ObamaCare insurance exchanges. But Members and many aides have been flipping out because they won't qualify for ObamaCare subsidies and they'll lose employer contributions they now receive under the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program, or FEHBP, which picks up about three-quarters of the average premium.

At President Obama's personal request, the Office of Personnel Management decreed that the Members don't have to get off the gravy train after all. The eat-your-own-cooking provision begins with the phrase "Notwithstanding any other provision of law." The feds now interpret that clause as a loophole to mean that the Affordable Care Act did not change the 1959 law that created the FEHBP.

Since Members and staff still technically meet the definition of federal employees qualified for the FEHBP, the Administration says they're still entitled to enroll in the FEHBP concurrently with the exchanges. The feds then "clarify"—their euphemism—that the regulatory meaning of health benefits in the FEHBP can be ObamaCare plans. Voila, taxpayers will continue to chip in $4,900 for individual and $10,000 for family coverage.”

Wall St. Journal, Review and Outlook, August 7, 2013

Screwed again by the very guys that assured us they also would be covered by Obamacare, so how bad could it be.  As it has turned out, worse than anyone expected.

RFS needs to be repealed

Repeal the Renewable Fuel Standard. It's bad for the environment and even worse morally, when many in developing countries are hungry. Ethanol made from corn is taking agricultural land and using it for fuel. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has approved, without adequate testing, E15 — a blend of up to 15% ethanol in gasoline — for sale to consumers. This decision wasn't based on consumer demand, but simply to meet arbitrary ethanol mandates in the flawed Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS). E15 fuel can cause serious damage and potentially ruin many types of engines, even ones approved by the EPA to use the fuel.

This cannot be blamed on Obama--although he hasn't stopped it. "April 10, 2007--In step with the Bush Administration’s call to increase the supply of alternative and renewable fuels nationwide, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency today established the nation’s first comprehensive Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) program. . . “The Renewable Fuel Standard offers the American people a hat trick – it protects the environment, strengthens our energy security, and supports America’s farmers,” said EPA Administrator Stephen L. Johnson. “Today, we’re taking an important first step toward meeting President Bush’s “20 in 10” goal of jumping off the treadmill of foreign oil dependency.”

That was hogwash in 2007 and is even worse now. The ethanol push is welfare for farmers--it actually harms the environment and causes hunger, not security. If one administration makes a mistake, the next one can correct it.

Tina Fey and Jay Leno

Comedians--should they be influencing the news? Obama made a number of gaffes on Leno the other night, but the MSM covered for him. And they seemed impressed that instead of addressing the nation about the seriousness of the embassy closings, he went on TV with a comedian.   When Tina Fey, impersonating Sarah Palin, said she could see Russia from her house during the 2008 campaign, the MSM played it as Palin's gaffe. You really can see some Russian islands from Alaska, however, as Palin actually said. "They're our next-door neighbors, and you can actually see Russia from land here in Alaska, from an island in Alaska." But in order to make her look like a doofus, they would quote Fey. It's not hard to catch Obama in terrible mistakes on geography, titles, pronunciation or founding documents, but the press don't report it.

TV series about teens have certainly changed

Here on Lake Erie we get Canadian TV and I see shows I’ve never seen—although they may be available, but I don’t watch much TV in Columbus. Really makes me miss the Cosby show of the 1980s and Ozzie and Harriet of the 1950s. Tonight I was watching Degrassi, a Canadian series on CTV about teens who face various challenges, such as poor self-image, peer pressure, child abuse, sexual identity, gang violence, self-injury, teenage pregnancy, drug abuse, death, and a number of other issues.

Frozen track and swimming pools

When Leno asked if such laws [about homosexuality] would impact the upcoming Winter Olympics, Obama said he felt Russian President Vladimir Putin and Russia "have a big stake in making sure the Olympics work, and I think they understand that for most of the countries that participate in the Olympics, we won't tolerate gays and lesbians being treated differently."

"They’re athletes, they’re there to compete," Obama said. "And if Russia wants to uphold the Olympic spirit, then every judgment should be made on the track, or in the swimming pool, or on the balance beam, and people’s sexual orientation shouldn’t have anything to do with it."

The Winter Olympics, it goes without saying, will not have events on the track, in the swimming pool, or on the balance beam.

 http://www.breitbart.com/Breitbart-Sports/2013/08/06/Obama-Confuses-Sochi-Olympics-for-Summer-Olympics

Obama’s “legitimate rape” phrase—James Taranto

"The odds of people dying in a terrorist attack obviously are still a lot lower than in a car accident, unfortunately," President Obama told NBC's Jay Leno last night.

Wait, "unfortunately"? Does the president really wish more Americans were killed in terrorist attacks? Indeed, orders of magnitude more, since nationwide traffic fatalities typically run between 30,000 and 50,000 a year?

Of course not. Obviously when he deployed that adverb he was thinking of the unfortunate souls killed in car accidents, not the victims of terrorism. He simply misspoke--just as Todd Akin did last year when he used the unfortunate phrase "legitimate rape." But for some reason, the World's Greatest Orator and the most powerful man in the world is held to lower standards of verbal exactitude than a lowly congressman from Missouri.

James Taranto, Wall St. Journal, August 7

Yes, and Ohio and all the Appalachian states agree

Oprah and Till

It’s very unfortunate that Oprah Winfrey, the richest and most successful woman in the United States, has passed along the misinformation that the Emmett Till case of 60 years ago is like the Trayvon Martin case.  Essentially, she’s said the last 50 years of the civil rights movement, her rise to prominence, the election of thousands of black officials to city and state and federal governments, the election of a black president, a growing middle class and rich CEOs like her have been for nothing.  Both the Defense and the Prosecution said the Martin/Zimmerman case was not about race. Martin attacked Zimmerman, and was bigger than Zimmerman.  His friend Rachel said on the Piers Morgan show that Zimmerman didn’t understand “whoop ass” and that he was a creepy ass cracker maybe a gay man intent on raping Martin. Emmett Till was 14, was from Chicago visiting in Mississippi, and flirted with the wife of a convenience store owner.  Does that sound like the Trayvon Martin case? Till was kidnapped, tortured and murdered and dumped in a river.  Zimmerman called the police and clearly thought he was in danger of his life when attacked.  Maybe it’s true what Obama says about rich fat cats—they lose their perspective. Oprah certainly did.  If she said this to get publicity for her new movie, her respect meter really sinks.

Afghanistan U.S. military deaths under Obama and Bush

This was dated February 2013, so Obama’s would now be higher.

http://icasualties.org/oef/

This is for all my Democrat friends and relatives, and those Republicans who gave up on Bush and decided to vote for “hope and change.” Remember, Bush had the Congress behind him to go to war.  Obama has just done what he pleased, and not what he promised.

Work place violence? Don’t tell that to the victims

How did the early Christians worship?

For as long as I’ve been a member of a 20th or 21st century church, I’ve heard that we need to go back and do things the way the early church did.  Yet I experience churches that have liturgy, creeds and hymns with preachers in robes, and churches that have the look and feel of a rock concert with preachers in torn jeans holding guitars. Christian leftists in the mainline churches think “social justice” when they read certain passages in the Gospels; others to the right somehow find free markets and capitalism. Why not take a look at how the first and second century Christians did “church?”

St. Justin Martyr, A.D. 150
“On the day we call the day of the sun, all who dwell in the city or country gather in the same place. The memoirs of the apostles and the writings of the prophets are read, as much as time permits. When the reader has finished, he who presides over those gathered admonishes and challenges them to imitate these beautiful things. Then we all rise together and offer prayers for ourselves . . . and for all others, wherever they may be, so that we may be found righteous by our life and actions, and faithful to the commandments, so as to obtain eternal salvation. When the prayers are concluded we exchange the kiss. Then someone brings bread and a cup of water and wine mixed together to him who presides over the brethren. He takes them and offers praise and glory to the Father of the universe, through the name of the Son and of the Holy Spirit and for a considerable time he gives thanks [eucharistian] that we have been judged worthy of these gifts. When he has concluded the prayers and thanksgivings, all present give voice to an acclamation by saying: ‘Amen.’ When he who presides has given thanks and the people have responded, those whom we call deacons give to those present the ‘eucharisted’ bread, wine and water and take them to those who are absent.”

Luke 24:30-31, 35; Acts 2:42, Corinthians 11:23-26

“He took the bread and blessed, and broke it, and gave it to them. And their eyes were opened. . . He was known to them in the breaking of the bread.”  “They devoted themselves to the Apostles’ teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.”  In Chapter 11, after telling the Christians of Corinth everything they were doing wrong, Paul explains: “ ²³ For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, ²⁴ and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, “This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me.” ²⁵ In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.” ²⁶ For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.

With the exception of the kiss, and not communing at each gathering Justin’s letter sounds like our traditional service at Upper Arlington Lutheran Church, and with the exception that the believers don’t get wine (only the priest does), it sounds like a Roman Catholic service.  Todays Protestants follow the Reformers who gave up a lot to break with Rome.  They would probably do better to follow the early church patterns, in service and sermons.  I don’t know where sermons on right relationships, parenting, attitude, volunteerism, war, government, patriotism, etc. come to play in “challenges them to imitate these beautiful things.” Maybe I’m splitting hairs, but I think everyone in the pew, saved or not, needs to hear the Good News that Jesus died for them—that no one killed him—he gave his life willingly and asked us to remember his sacrifice and to give thanks by eating his body and drinking his blood in the bread and wine.

97% of news jobs are part-time

The July jobs report was blah. . . Over the past six months, the Household Survey of the Bureau of  Labor Statistics shows 963,000 more people reporting that they were employed, and 936,000 of them reported they’re in part-time jobs. This hasn’t happened in the history of this survey.  And it happened under Obama, and the finger of blame should be at his “signature” program, Obamacare.

Arguments both pro and con at Forbes.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/theapothecary/2013/07/31/who-can-deny-it-obamacare-is-accelerating-u-s-towards-a-part-time-nation/

Having a crowd for Breakfast? Lazy eggs might work.

1) Spray each muffin well with nonstick spray.
2) Place a slice of ham in the bottom of each muffin well.
3) Place about a teaspoon or so of diced tomatoes on top of the ham.
4) Sprinkle some shredded cheddar cheese over the tomatoes.
5) Break one egg into each spot.
6) Sprinkle a little bit of salt and pepper on each.
7) Bake at 180/350 degrees for 18-20 minutes or until the yolks are as firm as you desire and the whites are cooked through.

What can’t the government fix? The government.

Monday Memories—pre-school?

Noticed this advertisement for the OSU run pre-school--"a high-quality early education and care program that prepares 3 and 4 year olds to be ready for kindergarten." Although I did attend kindergarten in Alameda, CA, when I was 5 I'm not sure there were pre-schools.  My early education program prepared me for life—not kindergarten.  It was playing with neighborhood friends Mike, Tommy and Dick, riding tricycles and pulling a wagon around the block, attending church and Sunday School at the Mt. Morris Church of the Brethren on Seminary Avenue, watching how my mom did household tasks, making tents out of blankets and the dining room table, lining up my dolls for “school,” and lunch, visiting my neighbors Ruth and Earl who had no children so I used the box of toys in their living room, shopping with my mom at the A & P,  watching the traffic on Rt. 64 which was in front of our house and pretending to be a truck driver making all the transmission noises and gear shifts, standing on a stool at the kitchen sink to “pretend” to do the dishes, listening to Mom read to my brother and me from “My book house,” a collection of children’s stories from around the world, coloring and trying to stay inside the lines like my big sisters, walking down the street to visit my great-grandmother, watching the older kids—9 or 10—play softball in the street one block over, inspecting the toes and fingers of baby cousins Joyce and Janet,  listening to my Mom tell stories while she French braided my hair, and of course, the best pre-school adventure in the world—travelling to California and back from northern Illinois in a 1939 Ford with my family seeing the prairies, mountains, desert, and interesting people.

 

The North Dakota jobs boom

When I see posters like this, I wonder how many young, unemployed or under employed, government dependent adults would even be able to figure out how to get there, apply, and then show up. Do they have any skills? Can they read instructions; follow instructions?  Would they even know ND is in the United States? What do you bet immigrants will find the jobs? 

Well, they still need fast food workers to feed all those with the necessary skills. “North Dakota has turned into an energy mecca that has delivered state budget surpluses, the nation’s lowest unemployment rate and thousands of workers who get $15-an-hour-plus jobs in restaurants and convenience stores that serve $30-an-hour oil field and construction laborers who hail from across the United States.”

WELCOME TO THE 21ST CENTURY!

*Our Phones ~ Wireless
*Cooking ~ Fireless
*Cars ~ Keyless
*Food ~ Fatless
*Tires ~ Tubeless
*Dress ~ Sleeveless
*Youth ~ Jobless
*Leaders ~ Shameless
*Relationships ~ Meaningless
*Attitude ~ Careless
*Wives ~ Fearless
*Babies ~ Fatherless
*Feelings ~ Heartless
*Education ~ Valueless
*Children ~ Mannerless

Everything is becoming LESS,
but still our hopes are Endless.
In fact we are ~ Speechless
And our PRESIDENT is . . ... CLUELESS
and our Congress, USELESS!

Passed along by my sweet sister-in-law, Debbie.

Paula Priesse—How can this be?

August 4th – NBC: “Al Qaeda threat is ‘real and serious’ intelligence chief says.” ABC: “Senior U.S. Official: Intercepted Al Qaeda Communications Indicate Planned Attack ‘Big,’ Strategically Significant,” CBS: “Source: Terrorists behind embassy threat in place.”

How can this be? Last fall President Obama assured voters 32 TIMES that he had al Qaeda on the ropes. Examples: 9/13 – “Al Qaeda is on the path to defeat, and Osama bin Laden is dead.” O used this same line seven other times. 9/25 – “Al Qaeda has been weakened” 9/28 & 10/5 - “They (al Qaeda) are on the run.” 10/9 - “al Qaeda is on its heels.” & 10/23 - “That’s why, working with Joe Biden and our national security team, we’ve been able to decimate al Qaeda.”

Either O last year was full of it or (heaven forbid) this is a cynical ploy to justify the NSA actions while keeping Benghazi & the IRS off the front pages. So which is it O-loving media? Regardless, 22 U.S. embassies are closed ‘til August 10th so it doesn’t appear it’s al Qaeda who is “on the run.” For once Mr. President, tell Americans the truth! P  (from her Facebook page)

Recent book chronicles women’s role in Iraq, long before the “combat” approval

Recently I was asked to review a new title, "All I could be; my story as a woman warrior in Iraq," by Miyoko Hikiji, Chronology Books, 2013. $18.95, ISBN: 978-1-933909-58-5. If you have a daughter or granddaughter considering a military career, she will most definitely benefit from Miyoko's story. If you've never read an account of our soldiers in Iraq, make this the first or only one. If you've ever questioned the dedication or challenges of today's military, read this book. If you've suspected sex on the battlefield now that women are in combat with men, you're right. If you’ve ever wondered what they do with human waste in the desert, you’ll find out.  She's a good writer with an ear for dialogue, and she took good notes when she was there (has  B.S degrees in journalism and psychology). And yes, she is a Japanese American, 5th generation, but grew up in rural Iowa and is a Christian, so she also brings that to her story. Recommend this to your local public library.

http://www.kcci.com/news/central-iowa/Iowa-Army-veteran-writes-book-on-woman-in-combat/-/9357080/18422922/-/gs3wrz/-/index.html  Interview with Miyoko at KCCI in Iowa.

She was U.S. Army, then joined the Iowa National Guard when she'd completed her time; her unit was called up after 9/11, and I think she had days to go before completing that obligation, but didn't ask to be released early (which some did). She was in transportation and supplies, technically non-combatant, but it sure was nerve wracking in my opinion.

http://www.allicouldbe.com/ is the website of Miyoko’s blog.

Kingston Trio at Lakeside, Week 6

We walked to Hoover Auditorium in a downpour last night, but the Kingston Trio was fabulous and worth damp clothes. They've kept their program fresh, with a few old favorites for the sing a long audience (which seemed at bit older than usual). The group began 56 years ago, and none of the originals perform, but one has been with the trio 37 years, so that's not too shabby. When the audience joined in on the MTA song, I thought of Snowden (did he ever return, no he never returned) and the riots in Brazil over the fare increase. Charlie is handed a Starbucks instead of a sandwich. Being an Ohio audience, we loved the song about trying to get to Morrow, Ohio.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Qp88oumRQvs#at=14  The original Kingston Trio sings To Morrow.

1959 hit for the Trio, the MTA . http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aP1bvY7IqZY

A lament for the vanishing bookstore

For this topic I’m going to refer you to an article by Mark Lisheron,  but note Chautauqua is misspelled throughout the article. Also, industrialization didn’t kill the traveling Chautauqua, radio, movies and the Great Depression did. The local business community put up the funds to bring the performers (like Redpath) to the rural communities.  When there are no profits, there is no charity.  My parents grew up in adjoining counties in Illinois (didn’t know each other) and Lee County had two Chautauquas  (one in Dixon, IL and one in Franklin Grove, IL).  His point is simple.  Even with Amazon, the independent bookstores are hanging in there and publishers and authors are making money.  At Thursday’s lecture on East Asia Gene Swanger recommended the book China goes global by David Shambaugh at least 3 times, and strongly recommended that we purchase it at our local bookstore, Fine Print, which just opened 2 years ago. (Before that Cokesbury had a branch here in the summer.) Even if it costs a little more, Gene said, the whole community benefits from having a book store, and he noted with pleasure that it usually has many children in it.

“Ann Patchett, prize-winning novelist and co-owner of one of those dwindling number of local bookstores, was giving [in the WSJ] another of those waspish scoldings schoolmarms used to regularly dispense in the old Chatauqua days.

This time the recalcitrant pupil was President Obama, who snubbed Patchett’s Parnassus Books in Nashville to deliver a speech on job creation Tuesday at an Amazon warehouse two hours away in Chattanooga.

Amazon, for the last 41 people in America who haven’t heard the familiar Walmart refrain, is a destroyer of small business, a killer of jobs, a giant bent on monopoly. . .

Book sales grew by 7.4 percent last year alone, $451 million more than the year before, according to Association of American Publishers figures. Amazon gets singled out, but I’ve purchased books from Alibris and at least half a dozen online sellers whose job-producing businesses weren’t even imagined in the heyday of little corner bookshop.

I’d like to believe that with $6.5 billion spent on books in 2012 somebody is making money. I hope one of those somebodies is Ann Patchett. Many of my books came from stores like hers. I loved some of those stores.  . . ”

The latest Terrorist threat

Good thing Obama's got that terrorist threat going--what with the heating up of the new Benghazi information on gun running, more about IRS targeting going right to the top, and the crappy jobs report, he needed that.

‘On August 2, the State Department announced that as a result of unspecified, but credible threats about potentially imminent al Qaeda attacks, diplomatic missions in 21 countries will be closed beginning Sunday, August 4 and will remain closed at least until the end of August. So non-specific were the apparent threats that the US response was equally non-specific, affecting US missions from the Sudan to Asia, without any indication as to whether any specific sites were identified as targets. The move was apparently prompted by credible intelligence pointing to an al-Qaida plot “against American diplomatic posts in the Middle East and other Muslim countries.”

The State Department warned American travelers to “take every precaution to be aware of their surroundings and to adopt appropriate safety measures to protect themselves when traveling.” It also warned travelers in the affected countries that consular services might not be available to them in an emergency and that they should take that into account when making their travel plans.’ Gerard Direct, Aug. 2

Teaching math over the years

1. Teaching Math when I was in school
A logger sells a truckload of lumber for $100. His cost of production is 4/5 of the price. What is his profit ?
2. Teaching Math In 1970s
A logger sells a truckload of lumber for $100. His cost of production is 4/5 of the price, or $80. What is his profit?
3. Teaching Math In 1980s
A logger sells a truckload of lumber for $100. His cost of production is $80. Did he make a profit ? Yes or No
4. Teaching Math In 1990s
A logger sells a truckload of lumber for $100. His cost of production is $80 and his profit is $20. Your assignment: Underline the number 20.
5. Teaching Math In 2000s
A logger cuts down a beautiful forest because he is selfish and inconsiderate and cares nothing for the habitat of animals or the preservation of our woodlands. He does this so he can make a profit of $20. What do you think of this way of making a living? Topic for class participation after answering the question: How did the birds and squirrels feel as the logger cut down their homes? (There are no wrong answers, and if you feel like crying, it's ok).
6. Teaching Math In 2010
Un hachero vende una carretada de maderapara $100. El costo de la producciones es $80. Cuanto dinero ha hecho?
ANSWER: His profit was $375,000 because his logging business is just a front for his pot farm.

Seen as a comment at VA Viper blog.

Looking back with regrets, but forgiven and set free by Jesus

Ayesha writes:  “I had my first abortion at 14. I was in my 2nd trimester and had to go to Saratoga, New York, for them to perform the killing, as I was too far along for local doctors to do it. In my early 20's I had (at the time) a much welcomed and relieved miscarriage; at 24 I was pregnant again and this time scared, but happy about it. Before this pregnancy I had never known a sober day in my life. Getting pregnant saved my life. I only wish I had accepted the life God gave me the first two times. I cannot take back killing my first child Navar, nor can I take back not wanting the second one, but I have repented and I am forgiven and set free. I can also say without question that if I had kept that first child my life would have been forever changed and for the better. There is nothing happy, joyful or safe about killing your child. There is always hope and always a better way. All life is precious.”  From Ayesha Kreutz’ Facebook page.

The very rich and the poor love Obama

He’s their sugar daddy. You've got to love it when the "experts" complain that growth is slow because of greedy corporations only investing for the short term, and CEOs making buckets of money by laying off workers. Who do they blame?  Republicans, not Obama who has kept the economy at its miserable growth level by his policies and burdensome regulations. Are the rich getting richer? Oh yes, they love Obama.

http://www.dailyfinance.com/2013/07/31/reasons-americas-slow-economic-growth/

“The real reason American corporations aren't investing is that the folks who control and run them have become so selfish and greedy that they are focused on only one thing: Maximizing short-term profitability.
When the folks who control and run American corporations get together to set future goals, for example, they don't agree to, say, hire and invest heavily for the next several years in order to produce higher earnings and stock prices 5-10 years from now. In a business and investment culture ruled by annual bonuses and quarterly earnings reports, 5-10 years from now is so far into the future that it's barely worth considering. Instead, the folks who control and run American corporations set annual bonus and quarterly earnings targets designed to maximize profits and stock prices today.
In a period in which economic growth is weak (because corporations aren't investing), the way to hit annual profit targets and get those bonuses is to "increase efficiency." And "increasing efficiency," everyone knows, is usually just a synonym for cutting costs, firing employees, and scrimping on investment.
So big American corporations are maximizing their profits and letting mountains of cash build up on their balance sheets while, in the process, starving the economy and their employees of cash that would otherwise turbo-charge consumer spending and economic growth.”

If Obama won’t do what is right for the economy, why should American corporations help him drag us down?  I’d invest short term too, if I had a corporation.

The brown bag lunch is now off limits

I see that a major city, Seattle maybe, has expanded the politically correct no-no’s used in official announcements to “brown bag.”  That’s because back in the 40’s and 50’s there were clubs and establishments that had a skin tone rule—no darker than a brown bag—for African Americans.  Never mind that this was in the black community. 

I do remember this brown bag rule. In the 1970s my husband and I were part of a racially mixed couples club.  Five black couples, five white couples and membership was rather fluid.  The blacks in the group were socially and economically above most of the whites, as I recall—a judge, a dentist, a pharmacist, a businessman, civil service, teachers.  Yes, we were going to change the world through friendship and fair housing laws.  I remember one black couple complaining there were no other black families in their neighborhood.  “I thought you white folks all moved out when we moved in,” he joked.  As it turned out, and remains so today, most black churches, social clubs and businesses were all on the east side of Columbus, and most of the white couples lived either in Worthington (north) or Upper Arlington (northwest) and really didn’t have much appeal for black families with children.

One year we decided to have a holiday season dance and each couple would invite a few friends, we’d bring food, and hire a combo.  Even with friends, that’s a small group, but one of the black couples was a member of a private social club, and able to get that facility—I think it was perhaps a former bar or restaurant.  Not very fancy, but better than what the rest of us had to offer. Ed, the member who was very dark, told me that in the 1950s he wouldn’t have been accepted for membership because of the “brown bag” rule.  I thought perhaps that was local to our area, but if Seattle had it, and still remembers it in 2013, I guess not.

http://blog.seattlepi.com/seattlepolitics/2013/07/31/political-correctness-brown-bag-citizens-are-out/

“Citizen” is also on the chopping block—might offend illegals.  Before you know it, “worker” will make the list.

How to make/take money from white fans

Rachel Jeantel, Trayvon Martin’s friend from Miami, has clarified the used of "nigga" on national TV, so it must be OK for Obama's BFF to use the word to make millions from white fans who are clueless. She also explained to gullible Piers that when Trayvon attacked Zimmerman, it was just “whoop ass” and he wasn’t going to kill him. 

Summer is going quickly

The homosexual agenda in Presbyterian denominations—guest blog

What Norma says about church numbers declining is largely true - with the exception of some non-mainline churches that are conservative and are not subject to a large bureaucracy at their denominational headquarters. Southern Baptists lost members for the first time this past year! The Assemblies of God (if I'm not mistaken) are not losing members. My denomination, the PCA, has had one year when it lost members - two years ago. There has been a mass exodus from many of the 'mainline' denominations - largely for the same reasons people and churches are bailing out of the ELCA. [Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, created in 1988 with the merger of 3 synods, the former synod with which UALC was affiliated.]  A homosexual agenda - both in regard to ordination issues and marriage. Though I am not in a mainline denomination - not affiliated with the National Council of Churches or World Council of Churches--I am somewhat familiar with the mainline Presbyterians.

The past five years they have seen a significant number of churches leave for smaller, more conservative Presbyterian bodies - not the one I belong to as it is too conservative for them (on women's issues mostly). A new denomination in Presbyterianism was formed just last year called "ECO" (Evangelical Covenant Order). These were mainly large metropolitan churches across the nation who were tired of fighting the bureaucracy on homosexuality. In 1981, the EPC (Evangelical Presbyterian Church) began out of dissatisfaction with the then Northern Presbyterian Church (it no longer exists as in 1983, they merged with the Southern Presbyterian Church). A few years ago it was about 40,000 members. It has more than doubled in size from the last couple of years - and the reason?  PCUSA churches unhappy about the developments with regard to homosexual marriage and ordination. The EPC is now the third largest Presbyterian body in North America - still just a fraction (as is the PCA) of the mainline Presbyterians - but those folks are hemorrhaging members and will continue to do so as they put forward that radical homosexual agenda.

[guest blogger is a pastor in PCA]

About those fast food wage protests . . ..

Why do you think they are pushing for $10/hour minimum for fast food workers, rather than say $15? Well, they need to keep it low enough to continue to qualify for Medicaid, EITC, SNAP, WIC, housing, school lunches and snacks and summer meals for the children, etc., which could bring their disposable income to levels higher than their managers. There are people who turn down higher paid jobs rather than lose important benefits, especially those with chronic health problems. I know a manager who recently lost a $10/hour employee to a $9/hour job at another firm.  He couldn’t afford a pay raise to $12.50.

 

Overnight Oatmeal

I doubt that my husband will ever give up his cooked oatmeal with raisins, but this looked interesting. Obviously more expensive than regular oatmeal.

OVERNIGHT OATMEAL

INGREDIENTS
1 container (6 oz) Greek yogurt, any flavor
1/4 cup uncooked old-fashioned or quick-cooking oats
1/4 cup fruit

Instructions:
In container with tight-fitting cover, mix yogurt and uncooked oats. Stir in desired fruit.

Cover; refrigerate at least 8 hours but no longer than 3 days before eating.

The Green Room makeover

You won’t appreciate this since I don’t have a photo of what it looked like before.  This is where I attend lectures in Lakeside.  Sometimes they are in Orchestra Hall (the movie theater), but usually in this room. It is now called The Chautauqua Room.  It is in the Fountain Inn. Today’s lecture in the morning was on research and advancements in types of dementia (Alzheimer’s, Lewy Body) and this afternoon was on hospice.

Obama the bystander President

Black on black. . . politics

Carlos Danger

Week 6 at Lakeside

Today we’ve had a record low for this date—both the low and the high temperatures were record lows!  Lake Erie is warmer than the air temperature.

Last night’s program was David Cassidy, 1970s teen idol, and lots of his formerly teen fans showed up to fill Hoover Auditorium in Lakeside. In fact, at breakfast this morning I was sitting next to a table of them, analyzing every move plus that of his band and stage helpers. Cassidy rose to fame in the TV show “The Partridge Family,” and is the son of two actors, Evelyn Ward and Jack Cassidy.  Shirley Jones, who played his TV mother, was his step-mother. During these shows, like last week’s Peter Noone, the rocking grandmas provide a lot of entertainment.  He was recovering from a burn and possibly coming down with the flu so was having some voice problems.  I suspect his shows are usually longer, but he made a good effort, and had an adoring audience.

This week’s programming looks good.  On Monday and Tuesday the theme is health and medicine. Alzheimers, hospice, updates on vaccines, nutrition, and 60 tips for the caregiver. (Bev: should I take notes?)  Wednesday is something on ombuds, and I don’t think I’ll attend those, but the morning bird walk at 8 a.m. looks good.  Then Thursday is a Lakeside favorite, Gene Swanger talking about East Asian Culture.  The Lakesiders love him.  The Symphony starts its 50th season this week, and the conductor gave a talk today that I attended. My husband is teaching perspective drawing and painting at the Rhein Center and registered a full class today.

The boring Knox speech

Obama says he wants to assure that the middle class has access to good jobs, education, retirement, healthcare, etc.  Except.  There's no evidence that the middle class is shrinking, and isn't he the president of all the people? All 5 quintiles?  There is still great mobility, despite a recession that was over in 2009, despite the millions added to SNAP rolls during the Obama reign. What about the poor, for instance? They need jobs so they can make it into the middle class; government assistance and transfers won't get them where they need to go. There are so many areas where the economy could boom in just energy, spreading out to more jobs, but Obama and Democrats block them. Then Obama blames "Washington" and "phony scandals."

Don't buy Obama's lies about the middle class. "A Treasury Department analysis of income-tax returns for two 10-year periods, 1987-1996 and 1996-2005 by Treasury economists Gerald Auten and Geoffrey Gee, representing 84 million returns for 120 million taxpayers, found that economic mobility has not changed. From the 1980s to 2005, many Americans progressed both in terms of absolute mobility — they became better-off in absolute terms — and in terms of relative mobility — they rose to another part of the income distribution." Diana Furchtgott-Roth, Market Watch

http://www.forbes.com/sites/jamespoulos/2013/07/26/at-knox-college-a-new-speech-for-obama-but-the-same-unimaginative-economics/

First things first

Ho Chi Minh, the Communist

Ho Chi Minh slaughtered millions. Mostly Vietnamese. And it continued after the Americans left. Instead of trying to rewrite history, maybe Obama should have told President Truong Tan Sang the truth? I'm not even going to give him credit for a gaffe. I think he believes his own nonsense. http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/07/26/uh-ho-obama-says-vietnamese-dictator-inspired-by-founding-fathers/

Sneaking out of the White House

Imagine if the president and his daughters decided to sneak out of the White House at night to get a Dairy Queen without security (and without Michelle knowing about it). They see six figures coming toward them--can't see the race, but get close enough to identify the clothing and gender.  Which group would make them feel safer—six teen-men in hoodies and low slung pants, or three middle aged men in khaki shorts walking with their wives/girlfriends? Obama grew up white—he’d be the first to be profiling for the safety of his girls and relieved he didn’t have to confront the hoodies in his hood.

Don’t fund Obamacare

JFK at the U. of I., October 24, 1960

Photos of Democratic presidential candidate Sen. John F. Kennedy making a campaign stop at the University of Illinois. (U. of I. Archives photo.)  Can't be positive but that looks like McKinley Hall over on the far left in the motorcade photo where I lived in 1960. 801 S. Wright. However, I got married in September and was living and working in Indianapolis.

The American Elms that formed a cathedral arch over the campus walks were gone by then, in fact, I believe they had all been cut even before I got there in 1958.

Update:  looking closer, I think the motorcade is further south, nearer the library.  That’s not McKinley.

Friday Family Photo—The Lustron

I love the Lustron, I really do. There are many in Mt. Morris, IL where I graduated from high school, and my grandparents owned one. They are beautifully designed and very functional. But they were the Solyndra of the 1940s--a federal government boondoggle that ran into problems with the local housing codes, unions, and an over priced product that eventually failed. They live on today.

[Carl] Strandlund knew a major investment would be required to achieve the efficiencies necessary for financial success, so he heavily lobbied the federal government for support. The Truman administration saw the potential of his concept and, in 1947, helped him secure a $15.5 million dollar loan from the Reconstruction Finance Corporation, a government agency formed to assist industry during the Depression. In addition, Strandlund got the keys to a million-square-foot former Curtiss-Wright plant next to the Columbus airport. It was an unprecedented government venture into the housing industry, but, according to Knerr, that fact actually gave the project greater credibility and notoriety.

 http://www.ohiohistory.org/publications/ohio-histore-news/2013/july-25-2013/the-lustron-home

Unlike this story reports, there was no post-WWII housing shortage. Housing was taken off the market with government regulations, and that created the shortage which created a housing and mortgage boom.

My grandparents enjoying the porch on the Lustron.

My cousins Pam, Ron, Fred, Jenny Sue, and Lorrie in front of the Lustron owned by their grandparents.

Christian non-profits

“CARM is a 501(c)3, non-profit, Christian ministry dedicated to the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ and the promotion and defense of the Christian Gospel, doctrine, and theology.”

If the government gives, it can take away.  This is a bad idea from several angles.  Eventually, Christian non-profits will have to do something contrary to their beliefs if they want this tax status—maybe recognize same sex marriage, or provide insurance for abortion, or accept non-Christians on their board.  It’s also wrong, I believe, to ask non-Christians to support our religion—because that’s what we’re asking for in not paying  taxes on the income that pays the staff or the office supplies or the real estate costs.  Also, now that we know the government is using the IRS to punish and control, why should be put our people in harm’s way.  Why should board members and staff have their private accounts audited because the organization is under scrutiny.  Let’s get the churches and para-church organizations out from under the government’s thumb so we can be free to speak truth to evil, and the good news to the masses.

Don’t blame Obama for Detroit . . .

Blame Democrat control since the 1960s.

“Detroit is an apropos metaphor for Obama's America. It is the prototypical terminal manifestation of the Democratic Party's socialist economic policies that have created ever-expanding urban poverty plantations in once-great cities across the nation. That in turn drives the departure of middle-class families for greener pastures in outlying suburban counties with better schools and lower crime.

Over just the last decade, some 240,000 of Detroit's residents (25 percent of its population), and thousands of businesses, fled the city's oppressive taxes and corrupt one-party government. Indeed, Detroit was a bustling city of nearly 2,000,000 residents as far back as 1950; today, that number is just over 700,000. (Not coincidentally, Detroit's last Republican mayor, Louis Miriani, served more than a half-century ago, from 1957 to 1962.)”  Mark Alexander, Patriot Post

Stand your ground, Texas.

True the Vote (TTV), the nation's leading voters' rights organization, responded today to U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder's plans to launch a wholesale attack against the State of Texas by filing federal lawsuits against Texas' voter ID law and election procedures.

"We will not sit idly by and allow the most politically charged Department of Justice in US history to set aside the US constitution and attempt to bully the people of Texas", True the Vote President Catherine Engelbrecht said. "We will meet Attorney General Holder in court and we will do whatever we need to do to advance the cause of voters' rights for all Americans."

"General Holder's announcement today demonstrates just how radical the DOJ has become. The same department that criminalizes journalism and fails to prosecute IRS agents who violate the rights of American taxpayers is promising to sue states with taxpayer dollars to block laws passed by elected legislators such as voter ID and citizenship verification.

"Every American voter deserves to have his or her vote counted - and not diluted by fraud or error. The DOJ just put itself between the voters of Texas and their guaranteed constitutional and civil rights.

"True the Vote has watched as Attorney General Eric Holder has repeatedly disregarded the rule of law," Engelbrecht continued. "We understand that this Department of Justice does not believe that protection of voters' rights should be colorblind.

"Texas will stand its ground in San Antonio - that's a promise."

Beating the middle class to death in boring speeches

Obama's speeches on the campaign trail show he says he's not the president of poor Americans, or rich Americans, only the middle class, and he's killing that class with his policies. Under Obama the 1 percenters have really grown, and so have the very poor--he's really growing the SNAPper class, making them dependent on the government so they'll vote Democrat.

"For four and a half years, Mr. Obama has focused his policies on reducing inequality rather than increasing growth. The predictable result has been more inequality and less growth. . . median real household income [$51,500] is $2,718, or 5%, lower than the $54,218 median in June 2009 when the recession officially ended." WSJ, July 24. Doubling the number on food stamps is not a plan, Mr. President. Forcing Obamacare on businesses which then reduce hours and employees is not a plan. Expanding the wars in the middle east is not a plan. Fomenting race riots is not helpful to cities with high minority unemployment. Blaming and not accepting responsibility is not a plan.

A lot of support for this little guy

Former President George H.W. Bush and members of his Secret Service detail shaved their heads to show solidarity for a 2-year-old boy undergoing treatment for leukemia. http://on.wsj.com/17G8IpO

George and Barbara Bush lost their second child, 4-year-old Robin Bush, to leukemia almost 60 years ago.

Sister Simone Campbell, dupe of the CPUSA

CPUSA,  (The Communist Party of the USA) the Democratic Socialists of America, Freedom Road Socialists, and the so-called Committees of Correspondence for Democracy and Socialism came together to discuss “how to better unite the left” on June 5 hosted in the New York City union hall of SEIU 1199 United Healthcare Workers East. Their topic was how to expand—“new allies must be carefully sought out, identified, upheld, tapped—in a word, used.”  What better group than a renegade group of Catholic nuns that have beat the drum for Obamacare? The communists and catholic nuns practically fell into each others arms.

http://spectator.org/archives/2013/07/19/the-communist-party-usas-netwo

http://www.catholicworldreport.com/Item/578/the_59000_nuns_for_obamacare.aspx

http://www.womenofgrace.com/blog/?p=16323