Obama’s insurance fix

Who is the bigot?

If you have the progressive view of marriage (it is an emotional attachment approved and defined by many in the 21st century), and I have the traditional view (it is approved by God and all of history and cultures), are you then a bigot if you think the 21st century marriage should be limited to two adults, but not three or four, or one adult and a minor, or a brother and sister, or three sisters, or five cousins, or a grandfather and granddaughter? If it is an emotional attachment and the people are committed and need the tax benefits, who are you to judge, if I can’t judge?  If my belief in traditional marriage doesn’t matter, why does yours?  Is it unfair for those with a different view to call you be a bigot because you deny them their loving relationship with societal approval?

You can Google “polyamory” and find many websites of people looking for your participation and approval.  They are using the same argument about civil and government rights and societal approval you are.  Many African and Muslim cultures approve and encourage child brides, as well as the genital mutilation of young girls as the threshold for marriage. (The men think they’ll be less likely to be infected by disease if they marry a young virgin.

Tightwad tips I don’t use

I don’t know if anyone remembers the book byAmy Dacyczyn (sounds like decision), “The tightwad Gazette” (1993).  I was looking through it this morning while I rode on my exercycle watching TV (I was multi-tasking, but had to stop to write this.) Here are two I won’t do. 

1) Turn the return envelopes you don’t need inside out and use the plain side.  At the cost of a box of envelopes (and the fact that few people even mail things these days), this sounded like a huge waste of time, and time is money too. What I have done is buy a box of Christmas cards at 36 for a dollar, and just use the envelopes (since we make our own, we don’t need commercial cards).

2) Empty the vacuum cleaner bag by opening the bottom and reuse it by carefully stapling the bottom glued fold. Whoa!  I remember emptying the cloth bag on a newspaper of the old Hoover an aunt passed along to us in 1960.  The amount of dust that is reintroduced to the air (or your lungs) just isn’t worth it.  Besides, the cat hair in the bag would make this difficult.  Amy really doesn’t describe how to get the dust out of the used bag.

I never took a photo of the Hoover Aunt Marg gave us, but it sort of looked like this one I found on the Internet.  Until you actually do a search on the images, you have no idea how many models there are. I think we might have given the old Hoover to our son for his first apartment. I’m sure it was over 50 years old by that time.

Human hair is a natural deer repellant—just thought I’d throw that in just in case you’re saving money by giving the family home hair cuts.

Big oops!

An openly homosexual teenager, who was given a position as an “adviser” to Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton and honored by President Barack Obama at a White House “gay pride” dinner, has been indicted on more than a dozen counts of sexual misconduct with a minor under the age of 15.

Caleb Laieski, 18, has been nationally recognized for his advocacy, after overcoming anti-gay bullying that led him to drop out of high school. He was prominently featured in an anti-bullying documentary, earned a gig acting as a youth and diversity advocate for Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton's office, and even met with President Obama and Vice President Biden to talk about LGBT youth issues.
Recently, however, Laieski was indicted by a grand jury on the sex-crime charges, in a case in which Laieski's alleged to also be a victim.

http://www.azcentral.com/community/phoenix/articles/20131118anti-bullying-activist-indicted-sex-abuse.html

November 22, 1963

“Will we ever know the truth about Nov. 22, 1963,”  they ask? Why yes. Lee Harvey Oswald, a Communist American recently of the USSR, shot and killed John F. Kennedy in a motorcade in Dallas. The media jumped on the idea immediately that it was right wing nuts and that much hasn't changed in 50 years of public tragedies. That Sunday when I was watching TV, I saw Jack Ruby kill Oswald, the only person who could explain why. And the conspiracy theories have been hatching regularly since. This gives the perps their 10 minutes of fame and a book deal. It's a cottage industry.

Got insurance?

Friday Family photo—a rerun

http://collectingmythoughts.blogspot.com/2006/07/2673-friday-family-photo-thirty-years.html

The Bruces and the Bruces, 1976, Huntington Beach, California

Naked hypocrisy in the Senate

Today Harry Reid wants to squash Republican's right to filibuster, but he had a different tune in 2005.

"The filibuster is far from a “procedural gimmick.” It is part of the fabric of this institution. It was well known in colonial legislatures, and it is an integral part of our country’s 217 years of history.

The first filibuster in the U.S. Congress happened in 1790. It was used by lawmakers from Virginia and South Carolina who were trying to prevent Philadelphia from hosting the first Congress.

Since 1790, the filibuster has been employed hundreds and hundreds of times.

Senators have used it to stand up to popular presidents. To block legislation. And yes – even to stall executive nominees.

The roots of the filibuster can be found in the Constitution and in the Senate rules. . . “

Obama and Biden too supported the filibuster in 2005 when it benefitted them.  Biden,

“…I say to my friends on the Republican side, you may own the field right now, but you won’t own it forever. And I pray God when the Democrats take back control we don’t make the kind of naked power grab you are doing.”

Senator Obama in 2005:

"Everyone in this chamber knows that if the majority chooses to end the filibuster—if they choose to change the rules and put an end to democratic debate—then the fighting and the bitterness and the gridlock will only get worse."

Put Beth Moore’s new book on your Christmas list

Do you have some Beth Moore fans on your Christmas list? "Whispers of hope; 10 weeks of devotional prayer" (B&H Publishing Group, 2013, $14.99) might be a good choice. I just received my copy, and I really like the plan. You remember how Beth loves assignments and workbooks? With each of the 70 days, there are assigned scripture, Beth's personal and anecdotal musings, and then pages with 4 line...s each for your own thoughts on Praise, Repentance, Acknowledgment, Intercession, Supplication for Self, and Equipping. Whether you write something down isn't as important in my view as the nudge to include these areas in your prayer life.

"I'm certain of two things: prayerless lives are powerless lives, and prayerful lives are powerful lives." Beth Moore

                        

Presidents’ famous words

Breakfast casserole in a crock pot

I’m not sure why this would be any easier than baking it in the oven, but maybe some people want to sleep in.

Ingredients:

• 1 bag 26 oz. frozen hash browns
• 12 eggs
• 1 cup milk
• 1 tablespoon ground mustard
• 1 16 oz. roll sausage maple, sage or regular sausage.
• Salt and pepper
• 16 oz. bag shredded cheddar cheese

Directions:

• 1. Spray crock pot and evenly spread hash browns at the bottom.
• 2. Crack 12 eggs in a large bowl.
• 3. Mix well (and slowly) using a whisk.
• 4. Add the milk.
• 5. Go ahead and sprinkle in the ground mustard.
• 6. Add salt and lots of fresh pepper. Mix well and set aside.
• 7. Cook the sausage on high heat, drain and set aside.
• 8. Add sausage on top of hash browns.
• 9. Add cheese.
• 10. Mix it up well.
• 11. Pour the egg mixture over everything in the crock pot. Using a wood spoon, even everything out so it's spread evenly.
• 12. Turn the crock pot on low for 6-8 hours. Some fun variations of this recipe. Before cooking (during prep) you can add: chunks of sourdough bread, diced chiles, salsa, diced green onions

Is this a great country? Praise for our immigrants

In November 2005 I wrote a blog about trying to find a place to have my morning coffee on Thanksgiving Day, but everything except White Castle was closed, and their employees were all immigrants. Someone commented that it was ironic that immigrants were working so Americans could enjoy the holiday. To which I answered:

"Yes, that would indeed be the liberal view. The conservative view is that this is the land where immigrants are still welcome, where even when their English is barely passable, they can work if they want to, that they were given the choice, and were probably paid double time for a holiday, even though to them it was just another day. And the happiest guy in the store was probably the developmentally disabled employee, because he really wants to make a contribution to society and White Castle is giving him that opportunity.

And the Asian lady probably has a daughter in college, and the Hispanic who now rides a bicycle to work in the dark is saving for a car, something he'd never be able to afford in the old country.

Is this a great country or what?"

The OSU Marching Band

Some Incredible Numbers about the OSU Marching Band aka TBDBITL.

Their quality is so high that, according to OSU information, in the weeks following the "Tribute to Michael Jackson" show, stories about OSUMB have been carried by over 1,000 media outlets around the world, and the University's Facebook page saw an 11,000% increase in traffic. Perhaps the most staggering statistic is that the University estimates that the total number of people who heard about OSUMB in the past few weeks exceeds 6 Billion (yes, that's a "B"). That's over 80% of the world's population.

http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20748064,00.html

http://deadspin.com/the-ohio-state-marching-bands-michael-jackson-tribute-1449315662

http://thelantern.com/2013/10/ohio-state-marching-band-attracts-attention-today-michael-jacksons-mom/

“If this show convinces an extra fan to stay and watch their show at halftime, or even an extra child to pick up an instrument in elementary school, it’s worth it,” Kosta Nicolozakes said (plays baritone in the band).

Message from a gay Catholic

“When I first came out in the 1980s, it was common for gay rights apologists to blame the promiscuity among gay men on "internalized homophobia." Gay men, like African Americans, internalized and acted out the lies about themselves learned from mainstream American culture. Furthermore, homosexuals were forced to look for love in dimly lit bars, bathhouses, and public parks for fear of harassment at the hands of a homophobic mainstream. The solution to this problem, we were told, was permitting homosexuals to come out into the open, without fear of retribution. A variant of this argument is still put forward by activists such as Andrew Sullivan, in order to legitimate same-sex marriage. And it seemed reasonable enough twenty years ago. But thirty-five years have passed since the infamous Stonewall riots of 1969 in New York, the Lexington and Concord of the gay liberation movement. During that time, homosexuals have carved out for themselves public spaces in every major American city, and many of the minor ones as well. They have had the chance to create whatever they wanted in those spaces, and what have they created? New spaces for locating sexual partners. . .

“But at this point, how is it possible to blame the promiscuity among homosexual men on homophobia, internalized or otherwise? On the basis of evidence no stronger than wishful thinking, Andrew Sullivan wants us to believe that legalizing same-sex "marriage" will domesticate gay men, that all that energy now devoted to building bars and bathhouses will be dedicated to erecting picket fences and two-car garages. What Sullivan refuses to face is that male homosexuals are not promiscuous because of "internalized homophobia," or laws banning same-sex "marriage." Homosexuals are promiscuous because when given the choice, homosexuals overwhelmingly choose to be promiscuous. And wrecking the fundamental social building block of our civilization, the family, is not going to change that. . .

Over the years, I have attended various gay and gay-friendly church services. All of them shared one characteristic in common: a tacit agreement never to say a word from the pulpit -- or from any other location for that matter -- suggesting that there ought to be any restrictions on human sexual behavior. If anyone reading this is familiar with Dignity or Integrity or the Metropolitan Community churches or, for that matter, mainline Protestantism and most of post-Vatican II Catholicism, let me ask you one question: When was the last time you heard a sermon on sexual ethics? Have you ever heard a sermon on sexual ethics? I take it for granted that the answer is negative. Do our priests and pastors honestly believe that Christians in America are not in need of sermons on sexual ethics?”

Ronald G. Lee (the original article was written in 2006)

Billary and BO

“For now, Clinton is popular, a Democratic icon, and Obama is relying on him for a life raft in the current storm. Clinton knows something about comebacks, and if Obama can recover, Hillary is the beneficiary. Clinton can’t say it, not yet, but he thinks Hillary will be a better president than Obama, heck, maybe better than he was.”  Eleanor Clift, Nov. 20

It was a short week because of the holiday

• Last week, 66 new final regulations were published in the Federal Register. There were 78 new final rules the previous week.
• That’s the equivalent of a new regulation every two hours and 33 minutes.
• All in all, 3,186 final rules have been published in the Federal Register this year.
• If this keeps up, the total tally for 2013 will be 3,604 new final rules.
• Last week, 1,689 new pages were added to the 2013 Federal Register, for a total of 68,313 pages.
• At its current pace, the 2013 Federal Register will run 77,278 pages, which would be good for fifth all time. The current record is 81,405 pages, set in 2010.
• Rules are called “economically significant” if they have costs of $100 million or more in a given year. No such rules were published last week, keeping the total at 35 so far in 2013.
• The total estimated compliance costs of this year’s economically significant regulations ranges from $6.42 billion to $11.82 billion.
• So far, 289 final rules that meet the broader definition of “significant” have been published in 2013.
• So far this year, 629 final rules affect small business; 86 of them are significant rules.

http://www.openmarket.org/2013/11/18/ceis-battered-business-bureau-the-week-in-regulation-90/

http://cei.org/10kc

Total costs for Americans to comply with federal regulations reached $1.806 trillion in 2012. For the first time, this amounts to more than half of total federal spending. It is more than the GDPs of Canada or Mexico.

2013 is on track to be the 5th largest in regulations, with 2010 being the winner.

How abortions after 18 weeks are performed

Written by Abby Johnson, who formerly worked for Planned Parenthood, and also had an abortion. From her FaceBook page, November 20, 2013

The mother goes in for her initial ultrasound to date the pregnancy. Also at this visit, Laminaria (seaweed sticks) are inserted into the cervix. These sticks will begin the dilation process.

The next step begins with the doctor inserting a large (amniocentesis like) needle through the mother's belly into the amniotic sac. The doctor will inject a lethal dose of Digoxin into the fluid. The baby will gulp the fluid which is laced with the Digoxin. (Abortionists will say that the Digoxin is inserted directly into the baby's heart, but this is very rarely the case.) The overdose will begin. It could take up to 48 hours for the baby to die. During this time, the mother may feel her baby thrashing around in her womb.

On day two, the mother will go back to the facility for a follow up ultrasound and for insertion of more Laminaria. The doctor will need the woman's cervix dilated to at least 8cm. During the ultrasound, if the baby is still alive, they will inject additional Digoxin into the amniotic sac.

Day three. Delivery of the stillborn baby begins. They will hook the mother up to medication (Pitocin) to begin labor. After labor begins, the mother will be sedated. Nurses and other staff with physically push on the mother's abdomen in order to deliver the child. After delivery, the child will be weighed, measured, and incinerated.

After no more than 2 hours in recovery, the mother is sent home with two different antibiotics (Cephalexin and Doxycycline), pain killers (Ibuprofen and Hydrocodone), anti nausea medication (Phenergan), and a blood coagulant (Methergen) to help stop the bleeding.

Font Fail

D.E.A.R.

Watched a really excellent program on Alzheimer's on EWTN. The segment I saw was using DEAR as an acronym and the R was for rest and relaxation and the importance of forgiveness in controlling stress, which increases the body's level of cortisol. The other letters were D for diet, E for exercise, A for something like brain aerobics. Dr. Fortanasce and Dr. Landry hosted. I did find some YouTube presentations by Fortanasce, but the entire 13 week program is on EWTN.

The D.E.A.R program goal is to prevent Alzheimer's disease is those with no genetic pre-disposition and to delay it 10 to 15 years in those with a genetic pre-disposition. The four month clinic program is based on a 4-step medically-proven plan from The Anti-Alzheimer's Prescription, by Dr. Vincent Fortanasce.

While the primary focus of the D.E.A.R program is Alzheimer's prevention; following these simple lifestyle and dietary modifications can also prevent or lesson the symptoms of cardiovascular disease, cancer, diabetes, high blood pressure, joint and spine disease and many other health issues. Our program is not just about living longer, it is about living better.

http://www.healthybrainmd.com/the-dear-program.html

Bashir and MSNBC and Palin

I'm not going to sign the petition to fire Bashir, the creep on MSNBC who thought Sarah Palin should be tortured because she used the word slavery in talking about our debt. No, let MSNBC go down with him. Just don't watch them. Vote with your remote!  He's entitled to be stupid and MSNBC should pay the price for not setting better journalism guidelines.

And more

PEPFAR and sex workers with U.S. money

In 2003, when signing the legislation passed to create the program "President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief" President Bush called PEPFAR "a medical version of the Marshall Plan." And it was. From 100,000 victims receiving anti-retroviral drugs, about 2 million were receiving them 5 years later, half of whom were babies. 21 billion was spent in over 80 countries from 2004-2011. It was so successful in saving lives, that it had bi-partisan support in 2008 for expansion.

As of September 2012, PEPFAR reports that it has supported antiretroviral treatment for more than 5.1 million, care for 15 million, including 4.5 million orphans and vulnerable children (OVC), and in FY 2012, by providing antiretroviral prophylaxis to 750,000 HIV positive pregnant women, enabled 230,000 babies to be born HIV-free. Numbers sound great, so does success rate, right? Other than the small pox and polio campaigns to vaccinate millions of children back in the 40s and 50s, I can't think of too many health efforts this successful.

Hold on to your hats. The Supreme Court has ruled that the anti-prostitution pledge (required of partners in PEPFAR to get the grant money) violates the First Amendment by requiring recipients to adopt and espouse, as their own, our government's view of moral disapproval of commercial sex work. So grant recipients can promote and condone prostitution. The idea is that sex workers need services, too. Yes, I'm sure they do. But I think this is outrageous, especially considering what is happening to OUR FIRST AMENDMENT RIGHTS, and our tax money is used to assure that African sex workers have free speech. JAMA, Sept. 18, 2013 pp. 1127-28

http://jama.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleID=1733774

http://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2012/jul/24/prostitution-us-aids-funding-sex

http://www.amfar.org/pepfar-receives-glowing-report-but-funding-at-risk/

"Nearly 60% of HIV infections in sub-Saharan Africa occur among women."  How to fog up the issue.  These women are getting HIV from men who have sex with men and men who have sex with prostitutes who get it from men who have sex with men. FGM contributes to the transmission of HIV, but I don’t see any discussion of that. http://www.pepfar.gov/press/strategy_briefs/138405.htm

http://womensenews.org/story/genital-mutilation/070810/health-activists-link-spread-hiv-aids-fgm

http://www.hrw.org/reports/2003/africa1203/6.htm

http://www.ednahospital.org/hospital-mission/female-genital-mutilation/

Typo, but you get the idea

Rhymes with hemorrhoid.

November 19, 1863, Gettysburg, Pennsylvania

President Obama is just not doing well with this Gettysburg Address thing. First he bails on attending the 150th event in Pennsylvania, offending even some of his strongest supporters (he had a meeting with some Wall St. CEOs scheduled for today, although he'd been invited over a year ago), then it comes out when he recorded the speech for Ken Burns to "mash" with other Presidents and celebs (a really odd collection including some of my least favorite TV reporters), he does so without the "under God" phrase, so Jimmy Carter got that part. Really, what is wrong with this man, who literally spoke from Lincoln's grave to get elected in 2008? It's like he carries a stick to poke us in the eye regularly.

Amen to that!

Do you need a reasonably priced small gift for Christmas, a book maybe?  For someone who is a word nerd, and just a little bit religious?  I’m suggesting “Amen to that! The amazing way the Bible influences our everyday language,” by Ferdie Addis, Reader’s Digest, 2014. 165 pp. (5 x 7 inches, hard cover) $14.99.

I just received it today for review, and am having such fun browsing. Each familiar saying (that perhaps you didn't know came from the King James Bible) includes the appropriate verse reference and several paragraphs of explanation, history and how it is used today. There is also a nice bibliography and index, which are the heart's desire for most librarians (Romans 10:1), even those who are 3 score and 10 (Psalm 90:10).

So for that special someone who is “the apple of your eye,” or “the salt of the earth” for whom there’s “nothing new under the sun,” try this one.

Before and after the tornado

Washington, Illinois.  Between 250 and 500 buildings were damaged or destroyed and about 120 people were injured in Washington, where winds reached an estimated 170 to 190 miles per hour on Sunday, November 17.

Ten things I miss about being a kid—Monday Memories

I’m not one of those people who looks back in nostalgia about childhood—I always wanted to be an adult, as long as I can remember.  Obviously, children are naïve about adulthood—believe they’ll have more freedom and control.  And that’s the truth—it’s just not as they imagine.  Here’s a few things I do miss as I age.

1.  I miss being able to run up and down stairs, taking them two at a time. As a child, I don’t think I ever walked when I used stairs, and I’ve always lived in a house that had stairs. I could also put my leg over my head and around my neck—not a particularly useful talent, but no one else could do it.

2.  I miss horses—the smell, touch and feel.  As a child that was my obsession.  I would hang out at the Ranz barn sitting on them and grooming them, I would ride friends’ horses, I would draw pictures of horses, I collected little horse statues, and I pretended my bicycle was a horse named “Red.” The bicycle was blue.

3.  I miss being the best artist in my age group and among my friends. My mother made sure I had plenty of paper, and 65 years later I still have some of the art supplies she gave me (dried up, but I don’t throw them away).

4.  I miss being able to eat all I wanted.  My mother really didn’t keep a lot of extra food in the house, and snacking was so sensible it would make a 21st century child weep—sliced raw potatoes, raw cabbage, or a slice of bread sprinkled with sugar.  But I never worried about putting on weight, which after age 18 was always on my mind. 

5.  I miss the sound of my mother’s voice as she read to my brother and me—Little House series (some published in the 1930s),  My Book House, or other quality books—even the Little Engine that Could, and Chicken Little.  Mother was great with accents and dialog, and always made the stories vivid. I already knew how to read, but it was more fun when she did it.

6.  I miss Christmas excitement—lying on the floor shaking packages to see if I could guess what was in them.  Hoping for new doll clothes made by my mother from left over fabric of my clothes.  Knowing some things would be practical clothing items didn’t dull the thrill. Traveling to relatives for a big dinner and seeing cousins was part of it, and I’ve forgotten all the squabbles about who would sit where and how long we had to wait. Looking forward to Grandma’s check each year (all year) and planning how to spend it came after she stopped buying us individual gifts like art supplies and magazine subscriptions.

7.  I miss winning the races.  Although I was never athletic and didn’t like to sweat, there was a time, around age 8 when I could outrun everyone in my class, even the boys.  Then I learned it’s not a good idea to outrun the boys, but OK to be ahead of the girls.

8.  To this day, I’m not competitive and don’t care much for games, because someone always loses, but I miss playing cards, jacks, racing around outside at night with the neighborhood kids playing King of the Hill, Mother may I, and Hide and Seek. We had a big yard, and other the kids came to our house—I don’t think I ever went elsewhere at night.

9.  I miss riding my bicycle to the next town in the summer for a five cent ice cream cone because they were ten cents in our town, and riding into the country to collect tadpoles in the creek with my brother.  Not sure what we did with them or how long they lived.

10.  I miss bringing dogs home or finding puppies and bringing them home, “Can I keep him, Mom?” There was Lassie 1 and 2, Jerry, Pretty, Curly, and Lady.

Colorado Obamacare ads

Advertisements for the ACA commissioned by Colorado Consumer Health Initiative and ProgressNow Colorado Education target the younger generation to join the Affordable Care Act's healthcare exchanges by depicting women as sex hungry floozies and men as beer drinking, partying idiots.  But it was the President and all the Democrats who didn’t read the bill who misinformed and lied; perhaps the ads were closer to the truth?

Amy Runyon-Harms, executive director of ProgressNow Colorado, defended the advertisements.

“The whole intention of these ads is to raise awareness, and that’s what we’re doing. It’s great that more and more people are talking about it,” said Runyon-Harms, who notes the ads only appear on social media and will not, for example, be displayed on billboards or buses. http://www.news-herald.com/general-news/20131113/aca-ad-lets-hope-hes-as-easy-to-get-as-this-birth-control

Bashir on Palin

Paula Priesse comments on the ugly outburst allowed on MSNBC by a liberal that would get a conservative fired if the tables were turned.

“. . . imagine if Sean Hannity said someone should defecate or urinate in Nancy Pelosi’s mouth? Martin Bashir suggested on MSNBC Friday that this be done to Sarah Palin. And yet again total silence from NOW. This is our world today, Paula Deen gets crucified and loses her cooking show for saying the N word years ago, but filth like Bashir still has a job. Palin’s crime? Depicting the massive federal debt as a form of slavery. Bashir also called Sarah “America’s resident dunce” and a “world-class idiot,” as compared to Mensa members Pelosi, Boxer, Jackson Lee & Wasserman Schultz. What drives lib bottom feeders like Bashir berserk is that far more often than not “America’s resident dunce” has been proven correct. Obamacare anyone? So let little Marty throw his tantrums, conservatives like Palin & Cruz will continue living rent-free in his head by being right on the issues. P”

I just can’t imagine why some liberals are so ignorant that the word “slavery” to them means what happened to Africans in the United States, instead of what happened to Indians in Brazil, or English sailors in North Africa, or Europeans that the Romans conquered, or people who are in debt to China, or to their credit cards, or their emotions,  or even the millions of sex slaves and labor slaves included in the trafficking in persons laws in the United States, a figure that outnumbers anything that happened in the 18th century.

If it weren’t for inflammatory, evil, ugly and uninformed statements, Bashir wouldn’t have any reputation at all—I’d never heard of him until he proposed someone defecate in Palin’s mouth so she would understand the world slavery.  Has he ever heard of a dictionary?  It doesn’t have to be about what just happened in this country. I had to Google him to even find out who he was.  Rush Limbaugh called a loose woman a slut, and the left tried to get him fired.  But they love Bashir who has made disgusting remarks about many Conservative women.

Our State Department defines bondage  due to debt as a form of slavery.  This is from the 2013 report published under John Kerry’s signature .  Perhaps Bashir has a treat for him, too?

“One form of coercion is the use of a bond or debt. U.S. law prohibits the use of a debt or other threats of financial harm as a form of coercion and the Palermo Protocol requires its criminalization as a form of trafficking in persons. Some workers inherit debt; for example, in South Asia it is estimated that there are millions of trafficking victims working to pay off their ancestors’ debts. Others fall victim to traffickers or recruiters who unlawfully exploit an initial debt assumed as a term of employment.

Debt bondage of migrant laborers in their countries of origin, often with the support of labor agencies and employers in the destination country, can also contribute to a situation of debt bondage. Such circumstances may occur in the context of employment-based temporary work programs when a worker’s legal status in the country is tied to the employer and workers fear seeking redress.”

Bad weather November 17

Also the 49th anniversary of the birth and death of Patrick Howard Bruce, Urbana, Illinois, November 17, 1964.

Comparing lies and their results

If abortion doctors understand and admit it, why don’t you?

“Abortionists admit they’re killing babies, that older babies are still alive when drawn-and-quartered, and that late-term abortions are dangerous to mothers, etc., etc., etc. Why do pro-choicers ignore, deny, or minimize what their very own medical professionals say about abortion?”

Link, but look out, it’s gruesome.

The T word vs. the B word

"On Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2013, the United States Department of State announced the designation of Boko Haram and Ansaru as Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTOs). Boko Haram first carried out terrorist attacks in 2009, and Ansaru splintered from Boko Haram in 2012. The Department of State’s announcement of the official designation notes several highly lethal recent attacks carried out by Boko Haram and Ansaru against both domestic and international targets in Nigeria."  (START)

So it's OK to use the T word again. As far as I know, the Ft. Hood shootings by Major Nidal Hasan are still workplace violence, denying the victims important benefits. Because we all, rightly so, assumed the government would be taking care of them and their families, there wasn't even special fund raising on their behalf. It's the B word. Betrayal.

Muslims doing good

In Your Fatwa Does Not Belong Here (2013), the Algerian law professor Karima Bennoune of UC Davis collects the untold stories of Muslims who are speaking out against the violence and terror propagated in the name of Islam.

People often ask, "Why don't Muslims speak out against the violence perpetrated by their religion?" After all, the overwhelming majority of victims of Muslim violence are Muslims. Bennoune's oral history collects the stories of Muslims who are repudiating violence, almost always at great risk to their personal safety. Her book is based upon interviews with 286 Muslims from 26 countries.

"Finding a principled position in this political universe," Bennoune admits, "is not easy." Some people work within Islam to reinvigorate its history as a life-affirming religion. Others appeal to universal human rights that transcend all religions. They often find themselves stuck between two bad alternatives — secular autocracy with dictator-thugs like Mubarak, and political theocracy with violent extremists like the Taliban.

These brave Muslims have resisted the temptation to give up. They have not stopped doing and speaking good.

From the blog Journey with Jesus

Available at Amazon

Who’s the wacko bird now, John?*

“(Reuters) - UnitedHealth Group (UNH.N) dropped thousands of doctors from its networks in recent weeks, leaving many elderly patients unsure whether they need to switch plans to continue seeing their doctors, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday.

The insurer said in October that underfunding of Medicare Advantage plans for the elderly could not be fully offset by the company's other healthcare business. The company also reported spending more healthcare premiums on medical claims in the third quarter, due mainly to government cuts to payments for Medicare Advantage services.

The Journal report said that doctors in at least 10 states were notified of being laid off the plans, some citing "significant changes and pressures in the healthcare environment." According to the notices, the terminations can be appealed within 30 days.”

* John McCain referred to Senator Rand Paul, Senator Ted Cruz and Rep. Justin Amash (all Republicans) as “wacko birds” back in March 2013.

Some colleges also dropping student health coverage

Obamacare's new regulations would force the cost of the insurance at Bowie State in Maryland to rise from $50 to $900 a semester. Officials at one one of the nation's oldest and most elite historically black colleges are citing the Affordable Care Act (ACA) as the reason they have cancelled a school-wide affordable health care plan they had offered students. International students will also lose their insurance, and they are not eligible for the exchanges.

http://www.bowiestate.edu/campus-life/henry-wise-wellness-center/student-health-insurance-plan-/

The faux fix

Allowing people to "keep" plans that no longer exist in a state where the insurance company no longer offers the product whether for a year or 10 years sounds pretty foolish to me whether Obama is offering the fix or the House Republicans are. The way our politicians flip flop, who would trust them when they say it is OK on Thursday to buy something already illegal on Wednesday?

Who’s smarter now?

"So, if I follow correctly, the smartest president ever is not smart enough to ensure that his website works; he’s not smart enough to inquire of others as to whether his website works; he’s not smart enough to check that his website works before he goes out and tells people what a great website experience they’re in for. But he is smart enough to know that he’s not stupid enough to go around bragging about how well it works if he’d already been informed that it doesn’t work. So he’s smart enough to know that if he’d known what he didn’t know he’d know enough not to let it be known that he knew nothing. The country’s in the very best of hands." Mark Steyn http://www.nationalreview.com/article/364093/thus-spake-obama-mark-steyn

Where does that uninsured figure come from?

In the last 5 years I've seen the "uninsured" figure ranging from 35 to 45 million.  First, for my foreign FaceBook and blogger friends (and my Democrat trolls), all Americans have access to health care, and a small percentage to not have insurance or private funds to pay for that care.  Second, the high figure of uninsured is based on our U.S. Census, which counts people, not citizens, so about 10 million of whatever figure you chose, are not Americans. Third, that figure is a snapshot of a point in time and includes people between jobs, students leaving college coverage, or workers moving into their own business who haven't yet purchased what is appropriate for their needs. Fourth, it includes people (about 14 million) who are eligible for one of our many government plans for special groups, but they just haven't signed on. They find it easier to just go to the ER or a free clinic. And then there are those with higher incomes who pay out of pocket, and like it that way (about 17 million). Fifth, about 18 million are under 34, the healthiest age group who are willing to gamble (because that's how youth are) nothing can happen to them and they'd rather spend the money at the mall or the bar. Some of these groups overlap and are counted twice--young, leaving college, changing jobs, and/or well off due to family circumstances.

The two worst features of our BO (before Obamacare) health insurance system (not health care, which is very good) is that it is tied to employment (big tax breaks for employers and workers—which our current administration sees as a loop hole) and not portable, and that it is so highly regulated by state governments that only the really big players have a say in it.  For instance, the problem of not being able to sell across state lines so the citizen can freely select the best policy.

It shouldn't have been difficult to correct those faults and insure the people who were showing up at the ER, skipping vaccinations, and too ill or deranged to work, but that would not have given the federal government any additional power, nor have satisfied the desire of many Americans to be relieved of all guilt and demand to look out for the little guy by letting the government do it all.

http://spectator.org/articles/41931/myth-46-million

The underpinning lie—the 40 million

"On Tuesday, about 40 million more Americans will be able to finally buy quality, affordable health care, just like anybody else. Those marketplaces will be open for business on Tuesday no matter what -- even if there’s a government shutdown. That’s a done deal." Barack Obama, Sept. 27, 2013

The lie here isn't what we all know followed, a massive meltdown and confusion of unbelievable proportions, but the "40 million will finally be able to buy affordable health care."  Many of those 40 million (that figure is rather squishy, since it seemed to get larger each time I saw a reference) were already able to buy insurance--certainly not the plan the government has decided we all need--but it was out there. Many were illegal aliens since the Census on which this figure is based includes people, not citizens.   Many chose not to participate in an employer's plan, or to not sign on for Medicaid, or to not work.  Some wanted just catastrophic and chose to pay out of pocket for their day to day care. Now with subsidies provided by the responsible ones who did buy insurance, their insurance is "affordable?"  Is $99 a month affordable if the man pays no taxes, has no skills, is homeless or mentally ill? What is he supposed to do?  Sell his EBT card?  Is if affordable if he's passed on to Medicaid in states that aren't allowed to run a deficit, and Obama's word can't be trusted not to change at the next press conference?
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2013/09/27/obama_to_congress_do_not_shut_down_the_government.html

In his press conference on Thursday when he announced the same delay for which Tea Party were demonized just a month earlier, he also lied.  And pretended to have been unaware of the problems of 5 million losing their insurance and doctors.  Some media sources, all friendly, called this a mea culpa and an apology, but I never heard one word where he accepted the blame.  As on everything else in these last 5 years, he just says he didn’t know, or found out late, or heard it on the grapevine.

One of the few people who actually got to see and talk to the president during the run up to the Oct. 1 rollout was Valerie Jarrett, his right hand, who wrote on the WH blog July 2. "We are on target to open the health insurance marketplace on Oct. 1 where small businesses and ordinary Americans will be able to go to one place to learn about their coverage options and make side-by-side comparisons of each plan’s price and benefits before they make their decision.” Also, in July it was decided to delay the employer mandate until after the mid-terms so Democrats wouldn't be hurt. Now he's decided (and it's probably not any more lawful than his other decrees to change the law) to postpone the individual mandate until after the elections, again because Democrats have to run for reelection among some very unhappy people who have lost their insurance.

Will insurance companies comply with disobeying the law?

The "original" Obamacare (even with 36,000 pages of regulations) had something for the insurance companies--profit from millions of new customers (young, healthy, etc.). Obama meets with them today to offer all they can eat at a crap sandwich buffet.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/theoval/2013/11/15/obama-insurance-ceos-obamacare/3574161/

Stomach flu—Norovirus

Use soap and water, not hand sanitizer to protect from the flu virus.

Alcohol-based hand sanitizers may stop bacterial infections and even cold and some flu strains in their tracks. But when it comes to norovirus, they don’t do much good. That’s because alcohol in the sanitizer can rupture the "envelopes" around viruses like the flu, according to the New York Times. Norovirus doesn’t have such an envelope, so the alcohol doesn't destroy it.

A CDC study of long-term care facilities published in 2011 found that those where the staff primarily used hand sanitizer to disinfect were six times more likely to have a norovirus outbreak than those where staffers lathered up with soap and water.

http://www.rd.com/slideshows/stomach-flu-prevention/#ixzz2keSzMDzF

50 shades of grey porn--yuk

Two Belgian university professors recently decided to submit the 10 most borrowed books at the Antwerp library to bacteriology and toxicology tests.

Traces of cocaine were found on all 10 books. The traces were small enough that readers would not feel the effects, but significant enough that they could test positive for cocaine.

But the real case of life imitating art was revealed when the scientists discovered traces of the herpes virus in the pages of the erotic tale Fifty Shades of Grey.

Brietbart.com

How we got Common Core, spoken by a high school student

Good information.  Did you know the Common Core background?  Untested.  Not even from the Department of Education. Few educators.  Why should Bill and Melinda Gates have more to say about the education of your children than your teachers, your local school board, your state board of education and the Department of Education? It’s right here: “develop next-generation instructional tools and assessments.” 

“. . . the Gates Foundation underwrote the organizations writing the Common Core standards: the National Governors Association, Student Achievement Partners (David Coleman), the Council of Chief State School Officers, and Achieve. She sums up what she found: "In total, the four organizations primarily responsible for CCSS -- NGA, CCSSO, Achieve, and Student Achievement Partners -- have taken $147.9 million from Bill Gates." Huffington Post, 10/10/13

“The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation intends to continue investing in the assessments and tools that will make the standards real and productive—primarily those targeted for classroom use. This commitment is crucial to our goal of substantially increasing student achievement. One way we hope to further this important work is by investing $250 million over eight years to develop next-generation instructional tools and assessments that will help states and school districts implement the standards. We will also fund research that uses hard evidence to identify ways that states can adjust standards and assessments to better help students succeed.”

http://www.cardinalnewmansociety.org/CatholicEducationDaily/DetailsPage/tabid/102/ArticleID/2678/BREAKING-National-Catholic-Educational-Association-Responds-to-Common-Core-Concerns-and-Gates-Foundation-Grant.aspx

Are you listening, Syrians?

I hope that if President Assad, the Syrian Kurds and the Syrian rebels were monitoring yesterday's press conference with President Obama, they realize he can't be trusted, will promise anything about things he knows nothing about and was out of the room when it came up, and will do anything he can to politically advance his cause, but not theirs.

"He knows everything. And yet he seems to know nothing. He’s passionate about the details of domestic policy but wasn’t privy to the details of his own legacy law. He’s an academic with a command of every issue at once but seemingly only finds out what his administration is doing in news reports. He’s so brilliant every normal endeavor he’s tried has bored him, but he couldn’t bother to entertain himself with more than one monthly meeting on the make-or-break program of his presidency. He’s the captain of the Culture of Competency who has overseen the most incompetent rollout of an entitlement program in history." Mary Katherine Ham, at Hot Air, Nov. 14.

Ohio adoption laws discriminate

No one has to tell me about the discrimination and injustice of adoption laws in Ohio. But maybe you didn't know--there are adopted citizens born in Ohio who are discriminated against and then there are regular type citizens, who have all the usual rights. And the adopted citizens are in 3 classes, 2 free, and one in bondage:

The Ohio Department of Health, Office of Vital Statistics, houses birth and adoption records of persons born in Ohio and adopted anywhere in the United States. Below is the list of Adoption laws and procedures that are used in Ohio:

•Adoptions Prior to January 1, 1964 - Adoption records open to people who were born and adopted in Ohio, with proper identification.
•Adoptions Between January 1, 1964 and September 18, 1996 - Adoption records are sealed and only opened by a probate court order (H.B. 84)
•Adoptions After September 18, 1996 - Adoption records are open to adoptive parents when the adopted person is between 18-21 years of age. If the adopted person is 21 years or older, the records are open to the adoptee. Records will only be opened if the required documentation and releases are on file.

Why should someone born in 1996 or 1957 have more rights than someone born in 1964 or 1995? Supposedly, it's about privacy, about promises made to some nameless person 30-50 years ago. I don't believe that. I say, follow the money. Someone in the legislature in 1963, or someone with money and influence, didn't want to be found, was afraid for his reputation or feared his "legal" children would face an inheritance challenge at some point in the future. If you have a better answer, I'd like to hear it justify such an unfair, discriminatory law that crosses all races (except American Indians who have special rights of their own), genders, life-styles, religions and economic classes.

http://www.odh.ohio.gov/vitalstatistics/legalinfo/adoption.aspx

Who’s the maverick now?

At Huffington Post, a left wing source, just 2 months ago: "Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) ripped Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) after he gave an anti-Obamacare speech that lasted over 21 hours on Tuesday and Wednesday. The speech, which was not techinally a filibuster because it did not delay any votes, was labeled an "extended oratory" by McCain, who spoke on the Senate floor Wednesday. McCain said he took issue with some of the content of Cruz's speech, including a Nazi comparison." At the very least, McCain needs to apologize and hand over his "maverick" mantle to Cruz.

Obama tells insurance companies to sell illegal products

“This is a staggering display of a reckless president cavalierly instructing states to ignore federal law. President Obama is shifting the blame by saying it's up to states and state insurance commissioners to fix the massive problem his signature law has created for millions of Americans who are losing their health insurance. President Obama did succeed at one thing today: making a bad situation worse with a ‘fix’ that will create more confusion for consumers and threatens to destabilize the health insurance industry. Obamacare is an abject failure; it's time to overturn this ill-conceived, job-killing nightmare that ultimately will bankrupt this country.” - Governor Rick Perry http://bit.ly/gl50dhc3

Imagine you’re the buyer.  Obama has told the insurance companies to sell an illegal product. Would you buy it, and then later if you had a problem, who would you go to?   He didn’t change the law; didn’t ask Congress.  Just told them to ignore the law because he said so.  Well, he’s said a lot of things the last 5 years that were lies, so who is going to fall for this one. 

Obama is a bully about insurance

If I own a sensible van and avoid driving like a jack rabbit, I save money on gasoline. If I do my own food preparation and don't eat every meal in a restaurant, I save money on food. If I shop at Kohl's or Macy's instead of Crucinelli or Savannah, I save money on clothes. If I don't color my hair, I save money at the hair dresser. If I'm careful about water and electricity usage my utility bills are low. But if I don't smoke or drink, keep my BMI and exercise at a healthy level, am monogamous, prefer reading a book to deep sea diving, have a college education and attend church regularly, Obama believes I should not be allowed to pay less for my health insurance than someone who has a life style and behaviors very different from mine. And if I choose to pay for my own health care, select my own doctor, and insure only for crisis or emergency situations, Obama demeans my choice and calls that insurer substandard and bad.

The President’s faux fix

I listened to the news conference (which sounded like a commercial for the Affordable Care Act) and almost gagged. At last, some of that transparency we were promised.

Remember when Obama lied about his mother losing her health insurance? He told some more whoppers today. If insurance was as bad as he says, the media would be interviewing these people daily to shore up his argument. I doubt that he's been persuaded by citizens losing their insurance, or even Democratic politicians who have to run in 2014. He promised in the short run the insurance companies would have all these new customers because people would be forced to buy it thereby making huge profits, and I'm guessing that's where the pressure is coming from.

http://blog.heritage.org/2013/11/14/obamas-cancellation-fix-violating-law-short-term-public-relations-move/

President Obama has told Obamacare’s critics that the law is “settled” and “here to stay.” But today he is saying he’ll violate the law to put a Band-Aid on it for another year. That’s in addition to the one-year delay in the employer mandate and numerous other “fixes” and delays.

Winter came early

this year.  We just aren’t ready.  It seems we just got back from Lakeside.  Tuesday morning we awoke to white puffs on trees and bushes still bursting with fall color, or at least they were on Monday.  Then the sun came out, but the temperature didn’t rise much.   My childhood friend, Lynne, sent this poem.  Expresses very much how I feel.

The tree has blossomed overnight,
For every twig is frozen white
And garlanded with crystal sprays
That sparkle in the sun's bright rays
And on the window I can trace,
Where silver branches interlace,
A picture on the pane embossed:
A fairy orchard white with frost.

Lynne Fleming Wilburn

Peeping while you are sleeping . . .

Dan McCall, a young graphic artist, was interviewed on the Glenn Beck show last night.  He’s in trouble with the government for this t-shirt which says the NSA is the only part of government that actually listens.

With the help of consumer advocacy group Public Citizen, he is suing the NSA for violating his First Amendment rights.

Megyn Kelly interviews Dr. Emanuel twice on Fox

If you wanted to throw something at the TV watching Megyn Kelly's interviews with Zeke Emanuel, you'll love what he said in 2008--his audacious views and rationing beliefs were all out there, and he was Obama's main advisor on this death trap called PPACA. Oh yes, and he claims it's Fox News and Republicans' fault. Sorry, Zeke, but as you blame, your own words point 3 fingers back to you and the advice he got from you.

http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052970203706604574374463280098676

http://therightscoop.com/round-2-megyn-kelly-interviews-ezekiel-emanuel-again-and-hes-blames-fox-news-for-failure-of-obamacare-rollout/

It’s not a failed “roll out;” it’s a terrible law.

Feinstein has to leave the plantation—briefly

If she believed that “the majority of Americans with coverage continually say they are happy with the coverage they have” then why did she vote to change it? For the small percentage that didn’t have insurance, wouldn’t buy it, or didn’t need it?  So everyone would have equally poor insurance?

http://www.humanevents.com/2013/11/13/obamacare-kills-a-million-insurance-plans-in-california-feinstein-bails/

http://www.businessinsider.com/obama-obamacare-2014-elections-democrats-senate-2013-11

Stage four cancer

And she’s lost her insurance that was working very well for her.  Thank you, President Obama.

Next on the chopping block—employee health insurance

“Right now, most people getting cancellations bought plans in the individual market. Wait until the other shoe drops in 2014 and millions more people who had coverage through their job lose it. The truth about Obamacare will become so painfully obvious that even the White House lie machine won’t be able to cover it up.” Betsy McCaughey is a former Lt. governor of New York

The Jimmy Kimmel dust-up

Just a follow up on Jimmy Kimmel's China comment. Last night Glenn Beck interviewed Pastor Bob Fu, a former Communist and atheist from China, and now a Christian. He and his wife left China to save the life of their unborn child. We've all heard of the one child policy, but he said Chinese women have to carry a "birth permit" which records their periods, insertion of birth control device, etc., because they need government permission to conceive, even for the first child. The document he showed to the camera sort of looked like a passport with the woman’s photo, and stamps, and notes. Pastor Fu and his wife hadn't obtained the proper permit and could not get medical assistance. So even 8 and 9 month old babies can be aborted against their parents' wishes. So if ABC or Jimmy Kimmel want a come back to the racism charges, let them do some investigative reporting and tell the truth about the Chinese government continuing to kill its own citizens.

The Omnibus Final Rule

It’s just not good to read “conundrum,” “new regulations,” “administrative and technical challenges,” “impede innovation,” and “contentious issue” all in the same article about HIPAA, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act.  Not after the sloppy, struggling, and insecure roll out of Obamacare.  The Omnibus Final Rule.

There are a few hot button words for me in the JAMA September 18, 2013 article, “The HIPAA Conundrum in the Era of Mobile Health and Communications.”

• mandates
• redefined
• expanded
• now considered
• now required
• can be held criminally liable
• pose technical challenges
• estimated cost $114-225 million for start up
• underestimates compliance costs
• may impose unfunded mandates
• may impede innovation
• in theory. . .
• in practice. . .
• actual security will rely on user’s behavior
• important hurdles
• employing consultants has become the norm
• can be costly
• down stream contractors
• poor guidance
• impose
• shift
• refuse
• trapped
• impassable requirements
• penalized
• landscape is rapidly evolving

Evolution explained cold

1984 all over again

"Heavy physical work, the care of home and children, petty quarrels with neighbors, films, football, beer, and above all, gambling filled up the horizon of their minds. To keep them in control was not difficult…. All that was required of them was a primitive patriotism which could be appealed to whenever it was necessary to make them accept longer working hours or shorter rations. And when they become discontented, as they sometimes did, their discontentment led nowhere, because being without general ideas, they could only focus it on petty specific grievances.”

“Substandard” insurance

Obama loves to call your current health insurance "substandard." But insurance, like banks, is very highly regulated--by the government, and especially the state governments. And those regulations benefit the big guys who spend millions on lobbying the most. That's the same for all industries whether insurance, banking, agriculture, entertainment, toys, snack food or academia. The regulations are specifically written (many drafted by the industry itself) to keep the little guy from being competition. So the next time he tells you that, throw something at the TV and don't forget to vote in the next election.

Insurance agents are required to have extensive training, and continuing education. They have to have back ground checks and finger printing. Obama's navigators? Nothing.

Undercover video of navigator guiding a citizen to sign up with Obamacare. Not only have so-called “Obamacare navigators” not been properly vetted by Enroll America, but they are actively encouraging consumers to lie to the IRS in order to get more money in Obamacare subsidies and in fact themselves are admitting to defrauding the government. And what makes this even worse is that Enroll America, ostensibly a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization, seems to be sharing information with Battleground Texas, which is described by its regional field director as “a grassroots organization dedicated to turning Texas blue.”

Jimmy Kimmel and the kids

I was sitting in the doctor's office and CNN was on, so I watched the story of comedian Jimmy Kimmel allowing a kid to say that the solution to the debt problem with China was to kill the Chinese. So then came the "I'm sorry if anyone was offended" apology from Kimmel and ABC, but that's not enough. There are calls for his firing. Really? "Comedians" call for the death of Tea Party members and Republicans, and no one is fired and they label anyone who doesn't like Obama's policies a racist, a homophobe and a misogynist.

Then the news show brought on a Chinese American who felt compelled to review America's record with minorities, like how Asians were treated in the 19th and 20th century. From her accent, I guessed she was born in China, but was probably forced to give up her native language of Cantonese or one of the Wu language groups and flee for her life when Mao was killing 70 million or so of his own citizens. If China is upset, tough.

With Obama’s help, abortion will be legal in Kenya

We know our President routinely ignores our laws, or works around them, parses his words carefully, or just blatantly lies, like he did about "you can keep your doctor, period."  However, it was also illegal for the U.S. to interfere in Kenya's constitution to promote abortion.  An investigation by the Government Accountability Office (GAO), into the Obama Administration’s use of $18 million in taxpayer funds to provide funding for a group pushing legalized abortion in Kenya finds the administration broke the law. Guttmacher Institute (Planned Parenthood) did a happy dance and reports the same kind of “unsafe, illegal” abortion statistics that they did in the United States to get our 1973 law passed.  (That was later proved to be a complete fabrication.)  The administration stonewalled the investigation. This was in 2010, but worthy of remembering when making your list. Democrats like to say about Obamacare, "It's the law," well, so was DOMA, and he ignored it. So is sending guns to Mexico. So is spying on American citizens without a warrant.  So is interfering with our “free” press.  So is killing American citizens suspected of terrorism without a trial. So is lobbying for abortion in other countries.

http://www.lifenews.com/2011/12/16/obamas-push-to-legalize-abortion-in-kenya-broke-u-s-law/

http://www.guttmacher.org/pubs/FB_Abortion-in-Kenya.pdf

http://en.radiovaticana.va/news/2013/09/11/kenyan_catholic_bishops:_legalizing_abortion_is_legalizing_murder!_/en3-727577

On being green

I’ve seen this a few times on the internet and thought it was worth another look. I have no attribution.

Checking out at the store, the young cashier suggested to the much older woman, that she should bring her own grocery bags because plastic bags weren't good for the environment.

The woman apologized and explained, "We didn't have this 'green thing' back in my earlier days."

The young clerk responded, "That's our problem today. Your generation did not care enough to save our environment for future generations."

She was right -- our generation didn't have the 'green thing' in its day.

Back then, we returned milk bottles, soda bottles and beer bottles to the store. The store sent them back to the plant to be washed and sterilized and refilled, so it could use the same bottles over and over.

So they really were recycled.

But we didn't have the "green thing" back in our day.

Grocery stores bagged our groceries in brown paper bags, that we reused for numerous things, most memorable besides household garbage bags, was the use of brown paper bags as book covers for our schoolbooks. This was to ensure that public property, (the books provided for our use by the school) was not defaced by our scribblings.

Then we were able to personalize our books on the brown paper bags.

But too bad we didn't do the "green thing" back then.

We walked up stairs, because we didn't have an escalator in every store and office building. We walked to the grocery store and didn't climb into a 300-horsepower machine every time we had to go two blocks.

But she was right. We didn't have the "green thing" in our day.

Back then, we washed the baby's diapers because we didn't have the throwaway kind. We dried clothes on a line, not in an energy-gobbling machine burning up 220 volts -- wind and solar power really did dry our clothes back in our early days. Kids got hand-me-down clothes from their brothers or sisters, not always brand-new clothing.

But that young lady is right; we didn't have the "green thing" back in our day.

Back then, we had one TV, or radio, in the house -- not a TV in every room. And the TV had a small screen the size of a handkerchief (remember them?), not a screen the size of the state of Montana . In the kitchen, we blended and stirred by hand because we didn't have electric machines to do everything for us. When we packaged a fragile item to send in the mail, we used wadded up old newspapers to cushion it, not Styrofoam or plastic bubble wrap. Back then, we didn't fire up an engine and burn gasoline just to cut the lawn. We used a push mower that ran on human power. We exercised by working so we didn't need to go to a health club to run on treadmills that operate on electricity.

But she's right; we didn't have the "green thing" back then.

We drank from a fountain when we were thirsty instead of using a cup or a plastic bottle every time we had a drink of water. We refilled writing pens with ink instead of buying a new pen, and we replaced the razor blades in a razor instead of throwing away the whole razor just because the blade got dull.

But we didn't have the "green thing" back then.

Back then, people took the streetcar or a bus and kids rode their bikes to school or walked instead of turning their moms into a 24-hour taxi service in the family's $45,000 SUV or van, which cost what a whole house did before the "green thing." We had one electrical outlet in a room, not an entire bank of sockets to power a dozen appliances. And we didn't need a computerized gadget to receive a signal beamed from satellites 23,000 miles out in space in order to find the nearest burger joint.

But isn't it sad the current generation laments how wasteful we old folks were just because we didn't have the "green thing" back then?

Please forward this on to another old person who needs a lesson in conservation from a smartass young person...

We don't like being old in the first place, so it doesn't take much to piss us off...especially from a tattooed, multiple pierced smartass who can't make change without the cash register telling them how much.

Aren’t you glad Obamacare is saving health care dollars

According to data released by Senators Orrin Hatch (R-UT) and Chuck Grassley (R-IA), the three major carriers in the D.C. exchange only signed up a few each; a fourth signed up no one.

Care First, Blue Cross Blue Shield: two enrollees from Oct. 1, 2013, through Oct. 30, 2013.

Kaiser Permanente: three enrollees from Oct. 1, 2013, through Oct. 31, 2013.

United Healthcare: no enrollment data from the exchange as of Nov. 4, 2013.

Aetna: No enrollment data as of Oct. 24, 2013.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services have posted the amount of grant money given to the D.C. exchange. The total from these publicly-released figures are $133,573,928: $72,985,333 for an "Establishment Grant Level Two Application Summary," with an "Administrative Supplement Award Amount" of $16,969,089; $8,200,716 and $34,418,790 awarded separately for an "Establishment Grant Level One Application Summary;" and $1 million for s "State Planning Grant."

This means that the cost to the American taxpayers per enrollee in D.C. has been $26,714,785.60 each.

Information link here.

There is nothing government can do cheaper than private industry, but there are a few things it must do according to the Constitution.  Health care isn’t one of them.

Monday Memories—the Founding and Growth of Upper Arlington Lutheran Church

http://www.advent2.com/Projects/Touchstones

Entire video takes 21.5 minutes

The November jobs report

Sept. 15, 2009: "But I want you all to know, I will not rest until anybody who's looking for a job can find one -- and I'm not talking about just any job, but good jobs that give every American decent wages and decent benefits and a fair shot at the American Dream. (Applause.) That's what I'm fighting for every single day. (Applause.)" President Obama, talking to auto workers in Lordstown, OH, campaigning on all his "successes" in just a few months (ARRA, cash for clunkers, green energy, health insurance pending legislation), none of which have panned out.

November 9,  2013: The President plays his 150th round of golf and the U.S. labor force participation rate fell from 63.2 percent to 62.8 percent, the lowest that it has been since 1978, 11 million more than when he took office. Almost 5 years after the recession officially ended, nearly 50 million Americans are living in poverty, based on a line set by the government. Huge numbers have been added to the SNAP program which is riddled with fraud. The WH is swirling in scandal as more rights are stolen from the American people, and the President has been proven to be a pathological liar in his promotion of his signature legislation for which not one Republican voted and only squeaked through the Senate by one vote.

http://abcnews.go.com/Business/october-jobs-report-shows-unemployment-rate-increased-73/story?id=20822924

http://money.cnn.com/2013/09/06/news/economy/labor-force-participation/index.html

http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/remarks-president-gm-lordstown-assembly-plant-employees-ohio-9152009

Dear liberal, mainline, Democrat Christian,

Your heart may be in the right place, but your hand is in my purse.  Studies show that marriage of the parents is the #1 way to reduce childhood poverty in the U.S.A. With married parents, a child has only about 8% chance of being raised in poverty. A better house, or a better education doesn't do it. Lunch programs from USDA distributed by church volunteers doesn't make a dent. Social justice workshops and summits don't either, except maybe to tamp down a little liberal guilt if the Bible falls open to Matthew 25.  You address guns, cuts in food stamps for illegals, hunger, obesity, education.  Where is your concern about marriage, the number one solution?

Nobody tells a dying guy to shut up by Dave Chilcoat

"Nobody tells a dying guy to shut up" is the personal testimony of Dave Chilcoat, who battled ALS the last 3 years of his life but continued to witness the love of Jesus to the end. When he learned he had this terrible disease, he started an on line journal recording both his physical struggles and his spiritual victories, writing the final entry in Aug. 2006. His wife, Beth, edited the journal and published it in 2009.  It is in the church library at Upper Arlington Lutheran Church (Columbus, OH), and I read it in one sitting Friday--his description of the disease, his pain, and his tears is crushing, but his joy in the Lord is inspiring and faith building. His selection of appropriate scripture is outstanding. Dave and Beth came to Columbus, OH, to establish Young Life when they were a young married couple with a baby in 1970. After 10 years he went to law school and was a lawyer for 23 years. See  her web site for ordering information. http://bethchilcoat.com/

Until I read this book about Dave's three years battling ALS, I had forgotten I had three "A taste of Columbus" recipe books by Dave and Beth. I have III (1987),IV, (1991) and V (2000), received after Marylyn Doncevic, the original owner and wife of Paul Doncevic, died. These are wonderful recipes from Columbus area restaurants, and the books are illustrated by David's mother, whom you also get to know in his book.