Happy now?

In Columbus it has warmed up to minus 4.  That’s not the chill factor—it’s somewhere in the mid 20s.

No coffee date this morning

Usually I meet my friend Adrienne for coffee on Tuesday morning.  We’ve called it off for today, and yesterday’s book club meeting has been moved to next Monday.

This is channel 6, about an hour ago.

Happy 69th anniversary to the Bushes

She said she married the first man she kissed.

They set the record in 2000 when they surpassed John and Abigail Adams’ 54-year union—now they’ve extended that.

http://youngcons.com/the-longest-presidential-marriage-in-us-history-celebrates-their-69th-anniversary/

The romance began when the two met during a Christmas dance at Phillips Academy in Andover, Mass., back when the future president was 16 years old. The two were engaged a year and a half later, right before President Bush shipped out overseas to fight in World War II as a naval pilot.

A few years later, in Sept. 1944, Bush was shot down and nearly killed during a mission over the Pacific, which resulted in his being sent back home in time for Christmas. Soon after, Bush and the then Barbara Pierce were married in Rye, N.Y. on Jan. 6, 1945. They would have six children, including future President George W. Bush.

Now that the 2 weeks vacation is over. . .

Calories at fast food restaurants

I love the You Pick 2 at Panera's, and if counting calories, it could be the better choice. The You Pick Two Broccoli Cheddar Soup and Chicken Caesar Salad add up to only 420 calories. A single Sierra Turkey Sandwich has a jaw-dropping 920 calories. (from a quiz on fast food calories at Dr. Oz) On politics I score 94%; on fast food calories, only 33%. I guess I need to eat out more.

Claire Berlinski on Sweden

Hysterical. The author of There is no alternative; Why Margaret Thatcher matters (2008 Basic Books) explains why socialists will bring up Sweden when justifying socialism:

“In his view [Neil Kinnock who disliked Thatcher], and he is perfectly clear about this, the alternative to Thatcher was a planned economy.

And the evidence he offers that such an economy can create anything other than a human hell is Sweden.  Let me finish the sentence he wouldn’t let me finish [in her interview with him, p. 151-53].  Socialists love analogies to Sweden.  But they are always unconvincing because they are based on some fantasy Sweden, rather than on an actual Nordic country bordered by Norway and Finland.  In this Sweden of lore, every single woman is also eighteen years old, blonde, busty, lonely, naked, and waiting for you in the sauna.  Kinnock is simply mistaken about Swedish unemployment statistics.  In the early 1990s, Swedish unemployment rose to 13 %, higher than ever experienced in Britain after Thatcher came to power.  In the period Kinnock is discussing, Sweden in fact experienced a precipitous slide in the prosperity league—from fourth place in 1970 to sixteenth place in 1998.  In fact the policies Kinnock admires nearly ran Sweden into the ground.  Only when they were abandoned did the Swedish economy begin to recover.  You may as well argue that the command economy has been a splendid success in Narnia.”

Berlinski agrees with her critics that she didn’t plan for Britain’s economic transition—precisely because if the government plans the economy, it is no longer free, and if it isn’t free, the transitions are likely to be in the bread lines.

Cats stealing dog beds

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/10/13/jerk-cats-love-stealing-dog-beds_n_4093467.html

and trying to fit in boxes, jars, vases

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/08/22/if-it-fits-i-sits-supercut_n_3790622.html

Claire Berlinski on free markets

The author of Why Margaret Thatcher matters (2008 Basic Books) attempts to first explain free markets, in explaining why Margaret Thatcher was so passionate about them as a key to a moral society:

“The argument for free markets involves a beautiful, fascinating, counterintuitive theory.  It is one of the great achievements in human thought.  It is also, basically, simple.  A free market is one in which the prices of goods and services are determined by individual sellers and buyers, not by the government.  It differs from a planned or command economy in that no centralized authority makes decisions about resource allocation.” p. 118

Then she goes on to explain how selling a product at gun point or deliberately not fulfilling the order on January 1 that you promised is not healthy free markets and government is needed to ensure that won’t happen. (p. 122)  Since she probably wrote this part in 2006 or 2007 she had no way to know she was predicting exactly what has happened during the Obama reign with the ACA.

Employer based health insurance  (60% of workers, 90% of market) which grew up after WWII was originally a choice by employer and employee which then developed to a jumble of government law and regulation.  The biggest plum for manipulation by Washington was exemption from income tax on that benefit.  If the government had bowed out and let the system evolve, perhaps we wouldn’t have had the messy government built system as a foundation for another failed system—Obamacare.  PPACA was signed into law on March 23, 2010 and the President has been violating it ever since.

Grammar fails

http://www.bitrebels.com/lifestyle/grammar-mistakes-on-signs/

Cold snap throughout the mid-west and south

Planned Parenthood fails poor women--again

Abby Johnson, a former PP employee, writes:  Abortion supporters complain that we prolifers have caused poor women to lose their access to healthcare...all because so many Planned Parenthood clinics are closing.

But here's the truth. Planned Parenthood CHOSE to close their doors...no one forced them. In Texas, all they had to do was stop performing abortions and they would have been eligible for all of that state money that was taken away from them. But they didn't. They CHOSE to close their doors and abandon all of those women who went to them for services other than abortion.

And since abortion is "only 3% of their business" it really shouldn't have been THAT big of a deal for them to get rid of the abortion services and stay open, right? (We all know the 3% number is a lie).

Hear this loud and clear. PLANNED PARENTHOOD HAS FAILED WOMEN. THEY EXERCISED THEIR RIGHT TO CHOOSE AND CHOSE TO STOP HELPING WOMEN.

Are you smarter than the average politician?

The average score for all 2,508 Americans taking the following test was 49%; college educators scored 55%.  Of the 2,508 People surveyed, 164 say they have held an elected government office at least once in their life. Their average score on the civic literacy test is 44%, compared to 49% for those who have not held an elected office.  I scored 93.94%.  Try it.

http://www.isi.org/quiz.aspx?q=FE5C3B47-9675-41E0-9CF3-072BB31E2692

Wasn’t al-Qaeda defeated? Another Obama mistake.

“Over the past several days, the Islamic State of Iraq and the Sham, al Qaeda’s affiliate in Iraq, has taken control of large sections of two western Iraqi cities that were once bastions for the terror group.”

http://counterjihadreport.com/2014/01/03/al-qaeda-seizes-partial-control-of-2-cities-in-western-iraq/

Officials from the Iraqi Interior Ministry acknowledged that parts of Fallujah and Ramadi are under al Qaeda control.

http://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2014/01/al_qaeda_seizes_cont.php

Top Republican senators on Saturday blamed the Obama administration for Al Qaeda-affiliates purportedly over-running parts of Iraq, including the city of Fallujah that the United States secured before President Obama removed all U.S. forces from that country in 2011. . .

“The administration's narrative that Iraq's political leadership objected to U.S. forces remaining in Iraq after 2011 is patently false,” said McCain and Graham, military hawks with an active interest in Middle East affairs. “We know firsthand that Iraq's main political blocs were supportive and that the administration rejected sound military advice and squandered the opportunity to conclude a security agreement with Iraq."

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2014/01/04/mccain-graham-blame-obama-for-al-qaeda-related-takeover-fallujah-call-situation/

Our first movie of 2014 will be

Philomena.  A woman looking for her child; a man looking for his career. 

The weather is supposed to be bitter tomorrow—a good day to go to a movie theater.

SeaTac minimum wage for hospitality and transportation workers upped to $15 January 1.

But there will be more law suits, because some are exempt.  There will also be many jobs lost as employers try to scramble not only to find the money, but to increase those who have been working for years above minimum.  How much does a mechanic deserve if the hospitality worker cleaning the hotel room or the driver of the van gets $15/hour as a beginning salary.  How many workers, if they are good, remain at minimum whether they are burger flippers or hotel maids?

And why does the city council think hospitality workers should earn more than McDonald’s or Burger King workers.  At least they get tips.

http://money.cnn.com/2013/12/31/news/seatac-minimum-wage/

Washington’s in for a rough economic ride.  Unions are pushing Boeing, who may just leave the state for a right to work state.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/02/business/vote-on-boeing-contract-highlights-rift-in-machinists-union.html

The dispute highlights a rift within the union, one that reflects the varying priorities of its leadership. Union officials in Washington State want to preserve gains hard won from a company that has surging profits and record plane orders. But the international leadership sees a different threat — the possibility of losing a large manufacturing center and more than 10,000 union jobs to a right-to-work state where it would be difficult to win representation. And that could mean a big loss in dues — Boeing workers in the Puget Sound area paid $25.5 million in dues to the international union in 2012.

What he does best is campaign; least is lead

While Obama vacationed in expensive luxury in Hawaii, his minions shivered in DC and scrambled to put a happy face on Obamacare, and appeal to disappointed supporters for money to run against the evil Republicans or lose the Senate. We know he'll take his failed economic policies, blame them on the Republicans and campaign against the evil rich--and why not, the stock market soared at the end of 2013, and blacks and minorities are still looking for work. So let's raise the minimum wage and bring in more illegals to further mess up the job market for the less skilled and less educated. I can't wait for the wagging finger and angry face--but will he be able to still fool that many people?

When Obama was an Illinois senator, he had nothing but bad things to say about the Iraq War, but the Afghanistan War was the "good war." As a U.S. senator he gave comfort to the enemy by criticizing Bush and the war. When he ran for president the wars were virtually over removing one of his talking points and both countries were on their way to freedom from extremists, although not to the democracy Bush has envisioned. Bush freed more women than Lincoln did slaves (Atlantic monthly). So he really had little to say about it in 2009 except to follow Bush's plan of orderly withdrawal and support (with a lot of criticism from the leftist supporters). Now Obama is throwing it all away. He doesn't lead; he's returning to his roots.

Soldiers Home Protestant Chapel, Dayton, Ohio

I haven’t seen this lovely church in Dayton, Ohio, but I think I’ll put it on my List of Places to See in Ohio (LOPTSIO).  The above photo is scanned from my grandparents’ Souvenir of Soldiers Home. There is no date on the booklet, but I assume it is late 1800s since they were married in 1901. They had a number of relatives in the Dayton area, so perhaps they took in the tourists sites while visiting.

      

“Contrary to the prevailing notion that the hospital chaplaincy is a program of the past few years. the Dayton institution has had a chaplain since the opening of the home September 9, 1867.

On that date, Chaplain William Earnshaw began his work at the Central Branch of the Asylum for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers of the United States. It is significant that when there were only five employees, one of them should be a chaplain, a religious leader. IN providing the original quarters for officers, a house was built before 1870 for the chaplain. It has housed succeeding chaplains and their families form that day to this, except for two brief periods.

Chaplain Earnshaw was a very energetic man. It was under his direction that the old Civil War soldiers helped quarry the stone from the rugged easter edge of the grounds to build the chapel. The corner stone was laid on November 21, 1868 and the building dedicated October 26, 1870, making it one of the oldest church buildings in this area. At the time of the dedication, Chaplain Earnshaw declared that it was “the first church ever built by the government for the benefit of soldiers”. Certainly, it was the first chapel built for veterans and so is now the oldest in government service.

Captain T. B. Van Horn, a chaplain in the regular army, was commissioned by Secretary of War, Edwin M. Stanton, to lay out the grounds of the new institution. It was no accident that the chapel was built on the highest point of ground of the then reservation. Previous to 1870, Chaplain Earnshaw had used a frame building just to the west as his chapel.

The chapel is a gothic structure, built of several different kinds of stone with a steep slate roof. The orignial pattern of the roof included 14 stars of David, the Jewish symbol now so generally recognized, surrounding a large cross. A cross surmounted each front entrance and another was cut in stone over the rear entrance. This was in the day when few Protestant churches used crosses. Before the steeple was added, the tower was adorned with a large clock. The bell which struck the hours and was tolled for services was made especially for the chapel by the Troy (N.Y.) Foundrys from melted-down Confederate cannon. Later the pointed steeple was built and crowned with an American eagle perched on its nest and holding the tip of the lightning rod in its beak. The outside walls of the chapel were once covered with Virginia Creeper vines, but most of these had to be pulled down for pointing up the stonework in 1947. In 1933, the front wall started to bulge and was taken down, stone by stone and laid up again the same way. Likewise, the large stained-glass window was taken down, section by section, and again placed in the rebuiltwall. The original name of the institution, National Asylum for Disable Volunteer Soldiers, is still engraved in stone above this window, although the name was changed to Home in 1872, just 2 years after the chapel was completed.

The inside of the chapel was unchanged from the original construction, except for installation of an organ, until 1947. At that time, new flooring, new linoleum and new carpeting changed the base, while redecorating, the new electric lights and the new chancel greatly modfied and beautified the the interior. The front platform has been enlarged, the console of the organ moved across the front to the opposite side of the organ and the original pulpit and high-backed chairs sold. An entire new front has been built in, consisting of altar and reredos against the background of rich red velour drapes, gothic-designed oak pulpit and chancel rail, also lectern and its rail, two communion rails and kneeling bench, one on each side of the broad steps to the altar, and an baptismal font of similar design and material. The Pileher organ, installed in 1900, was the first electric organ in the whole Miami Valley.

All this has made the interior as beautiful and worshipful as any church and matching the extraordinary charm and architectural appeal of the exterior.” . . .

“As the official librarian of the post, he solicited books for what he called the General George H. Thomas Library. This was in honor of his old war chief. The next year, 1868, Chaplain Earnshaw was notified of the gift of several hundred books and a hundred rare paintings by Mrs. Mary Lowell Putnam of Massachusetts, sister of the famous poet James Russell Lowell. This donation became the William Lowell Putnam Memorial Library in honor of her son who was killed in his first battle of the war. The Chaplain arranged and catalogued both libraries and made them available for use in the second and third floors of the old Administration Building, at present housing the Supply, domiciliary and Engineering offices of the Center. In 1880 the present library was built, but the two libraries were not merged until 1921 under the present librarian, Miss Helen Carson. Mrs. Putnam and her daughter continued to contribute to the library until 1913. Today [1950], a well-balanced library of old and modern books, totaling some 40,000, is maintained at the center.”

http://www.daytonhistorybooks.com/chapoldslodiers.html

According to the National Park Service, 28 pre-1930 buildings survive including the Putnam Library (Building 120) and the Home Chapel (Building 118).

“Dedicated in 1870, the Soldiers Home Chapel (Building 118) is the oldest building at the Central Branch and the first National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers stand alone chapel. The Gothic Revival chapel features a bell tower that holds the 1876 “Centennial Bell,” which was made in New York from cannons captured from Confederate forces during the Civil War. Both Catholic and Protestant services were held in the chapel until the construction of the Catholic Chapel (Building 119) in 1898. The Catholic Chapel, also built in the Gothic Revival style, is made of yellow brick with buttresses supporting it. The small bell tower has an octagonal spire rising from a square tower. The altar’s centerpiece is by Heinrich Schroeder, a widely known altar/pulpit builder for Catholic Churches.”

http://www.nps.gov/nr/travel/veterans_affairs/Central_Branch.html

http://www.cr.nps.gov/nr/twhp/wwwlps/lessons/115dayton/115facts2.htm

According to this article in the New York Times in 1885, Rev. Earnshaw had an accident and died.

Start and stop cleaning

While cleaning my office shelves, I came across some requests I’d made to the Upper Arlington Public Library in 2008.  These days I don’t bother.  These are just the requests I saved on a printout; although 4 out of 7 isn’t bad. Because of the age of these books, it’s hard to know if requests for an additional copy was filled, because by now they would have been withdrawn.

Twenty-first century gateways,, immigrant incorporation in suburban America (2008) Brookings Institution Press  Not filled

Immigration Solution (2008) Manhattan Institute.  Filled

People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks had 15 holds and 1 copy. I asked for an additional copy.

Obama nation. 13 holds, 3 copies. I requested an additional purchase.

What’s the matter with California. Filled. UAPL owned 3 copies of What’s the matter with Kansas.

Reinventing Jesus. Filled

The dirty dozen; how 12 supreme court cases radically expanded government and eroded freedom (2008) CATO . Filled

The way of improvement leads home. (2008) U. of Pa press. Not filled

Our man in Mexico; Winston Scott and the hidden history of the CIA (2008) University Press of Kansas.  Not filled

Contrasting the Obama and Bush Christmases

George W. Bush spent 12 Christmases at Camp David, four with his father, and 8 with his family when he was in the White House.  That is one hour and 18 minutes from DC. Obama and family have spent 17 days (so far) in Hawaii this Christmas and New Year’s, and I’m all for that—we haven’t had to listen to his boring speeches as his signature legislation falls apart and the Department of Justice attacks the Little Sisters of the Poor.

http://aboutcampdavid.blogspot.com/2010/12/christmas-at-camp-david.html

Christmas 2008 at Camp David

January 4 update on New Year’s Resolutions

           

My resolutions are several, but one is to learn the books of the Old Testament, and one to clean several shelves a day, another to ride the exercycle 5 minutes a day.  These follow the specific, targeted, achievable, and timed plan I mentioned earlier. My resolutions will run through Jan. 31. I’ll rethink it for February. 31 days is a whole lot easier than 356.

I’ve done 3.5 book shelves (I always stop to read things which really slows me down), and by limiting the exercise to 5 minutes, I always go over the goal target.

Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1-2 Samuel, 1-2 Kings, 1-2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon . . . This is how far I’ve gotten.

Not so set, are some thoughts to see more movies,  use our Museum of Art membership more, and possibly join the Columbus Conservatory—but see how vague those are.  That’s how resolutions get away from you.

Here’s a list of the top ten “spiritually literate movies” of 2013. That doesn’t necessarily mean Christian, but movies that address spiritual values—forgiveness, love, transformation, repentance.  That beats car chases, naked sex, and bad language any day.

So here’s a January resolution.  See one movie (I always feel so culturally illiterate when people talk about movies). I think Philomena will be my first choice, but the price of first run tickets is breath taking!

Update on the update: I have now finished all the shelves in my office. Dusted and rearranged. Books hate to be out of subject order, and when shelves are stationery, some have to lie down.

Something to try for the New Year munchies

Banana oatmeal cookies.

How Miranda came to love Maggie

For January book club (the group has been together for about 30 years, but I joined in 2000 when I retired), we are reading There is no alternative, why Margaret Thatcher matters (2008).  Thatcher was apparently quite a charmer and flirt with the men, but not that popular with women who decided she really didn’t like women.  The wife of John Hoskyns, one of her advisors, was a liberal when she first met Margaret Thatcher—very left wing, a Marxist chimes in her husband in an interview with Claire Berlinski, the author of the book.  Miranda says in an interview:

“She represented everything having to do with my own parents’ generation.  To do with middle-class values, behaving properly, wearing hats—all the kinds of things that I was longing to throw away.  Because the 60s—although I was already married and having children—in the 60s, I was thrilled with everything being overthrown. . . I wasn’t involved in it very much, but seen from the outside I thought it was a very good thing.  And she represented, as she did to everybody on the Left, the absolute antithesis of that.  She had nothing to do with that world of the 60s.  And I was in a very uncomfortable position, because I was beginning to see that John was right about what he was saying (he was conservative), or or at least my brain told me he was right.  My emotions told me he was all wrong, and he didn’t understand.  He kept saying, ‘How do you  think somebody like me, who’s an entrepreneur, can possibly make his way in the world with taxes and everything like that,’ and I kept arguing back, ‘Well, it’s your choice, you do it because you like doing it, you don’t mind about profits, they don’t matter,’ you know, all that sort of stuff.  I mean—I was pretty silly.”

Whether it was her husband’s sound logic, or Maggie’s charm, she comes around to seeing her as courageous, but with faults (not liking women) and correct in her political views.

Me too.

There are thousands of unclassified secret documents here.

Government gangs up on Little Sisters of the Poor

Little Sisters of the Poor vs. Obama/Sebilius: "The Little Sisters of the Poor arrived in America in 1868. Currently, there are thirty homes in the United States where the elderly and dying are treated as if they were Jesus himself and cared for with love and dignity until God calls them home. The Little Sisters serve more than 13,000 elderly poor people in thirty-one countries around the world." And the U.S. government plans to punish and fine them for not providing contraception and abortifacients--because they aren't religious enough to get an exemption.

 http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/367509/central-deception-obama-administrations-case-against-little-sisters-poor-david-french

http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2014/01/03/259378425/nuns-objection-to-health-care-law-is-unwarranted-justice-says

Save this for your next cold and sore throat

Seventeen tips from Reader’s Digest.

http://www.rd.com/slideshows/sore-throat-remedies-home-gargles/?

My mother swore by the salt and warm water gargle. Five shakes of ground cayenne pepper (or a few shakes of hot sauce) to a cup of hot water for sore throat relief is not one I’m familiar with. Tumeric and water I’ve heard of—it is supposed to be a powerful antioxidant, and scientists think it has the power to fight many serious diseases. For a sore throat remedy, mix 1/2 teaspoon of turmeric and 1/2 teaspoon of salt into 1 cup of hot water and gargle.

And 14 others.

The war on women is a war on babies

Harvard Medical School on health goals/resolutions

1. “Set a very specific goal. For example: I will add one fruit serving — that’s half a cup, chopped — to my current daily diet.
2. Find a way to measure progress. For example, I will log my efforts each day on my calendar.
3. Make sure it’s achievable. For example, don’t set a goal of a daily 5 mile run if you’re out of shape. If you can’t safely or reasonably accomplish your goal, set a smaller, achievable one.
4. Make sure it’s realistic. It may seem counterintuitive, but choosing the change you most need to make — let’s say, quitting smoking or losing weight — isn’t as successful as choosing the change you’re most confident you’ll be able to make. Focus on sure bets: if you picture a 10-point scale of confidence in achieving your goal, where 1 equals no confidence and 10 equals 100% certainty, you should land in the 7-to-10 zone. An additional fruit serving a day is a small, manageable step toward better health.
5. Set time commitments. Pick a date and time to start. For example, Wednesday at breakfast, I’ll add frozen blueberries to cereal. Pick regular check-in dates: I’ll check my log every week and decide if I should make any changes in my routines to succeed. Find an outside deadline that will help keep you motivated. For example, signing up for a charity run or sprint triathlon on a certain date prods you to get a training program under way.”

This is exactly what I’ve been saying: making them specific and measurable.  I’ve set my New Year’s resolutions for Jan. 31. They are specific, measurable, achievable, realistic.

For instance, I’ve set a target (I don’t do goals) of 5 min. a day on my Power Spin 210, and 2 shelves a day (cleaning reorganizing) in my office.  I’ve achieved, or over achieved today. Also I’m learning the Old Testament books, and I’m up to Ezra/Nehemiah, Esther.

Think summer

From 89 Life Hacks http://www.viralnova.com/awesome-life-hacks/

7 inches possible for Columbus

However, we rarely get the snow that is predicted.  My husband did the mail run for me this morning (from one UALC campus to the other) and said the side streets are very slick.  I stayed in and drank my own coffee instead of going out.

“The impending storm promises to be the biggest blizzard since a storm called Nemo paralyzed the northeast last February, and may work to bring the northeast corridor to a standstill. Late Wednesday, Boston mayor Tom Menino announced a full closure of city schools on Friday, a full 36 hours in advance. That city appears likely to take the brunt of the storm.” Daily Beast

Happy New Calendar

 

Thursday Thirteen—a list of wonderful, thoughtful gifts

1.  A terrific dinner for the family at our daughter’s home and many seasonal parties and concerts (see last week’s blog).

2.  Several gift cards to my favorite coffee spot.

3.  A “deco red” outfit of a paisley shirt and vest from Coldwater Creek.

4.  Box of fresh, luscious pears from Harry and David.

5.  A little cat pin with rhinestones and green eyes.

6.  A new watch with real numbers, and a face that lights up. Expansion band, silver and gold color.

7.  A pale turquoise sweater with a giant floral print scarf, and a booklet explaining how to drape and tie it.

8.  Gift card to our Friday night date favorite restaurant.

9.  Subscription to Salvo. (magazine)

10. Subscription to First Things (magazine)

11. Cable knit zip front cardigan from LL Bean (wrong color and size, new choice to be decided since the catalog was tossed out)

12. Cat coffee mugs, pottery, Asian look, one black, one white.

13. Beautiful Finnish glass candle holders.

Would you like to join the Thursday Thirteen meme?

It began with ARRA, which we were told was a “stimulus.”

Although today Jan. 1, 2014, is the starting date for the insurance, Obamacare actually started in 2009 with $19 billion in the ARRA stimulus. It didn't stimulate anything except the bottom line of electronic medical records companies. There is no research showing EMR will save money or improve health. We have it as a result of a huge lobbying effort. You've seen how even private companies (like Target) struggle with stolen records, even my research information at OSU was compromised--just wait until your medical information is stolen from a national database. In my recent stay in a local hospital, the EMR couldn't even make it 2 miles down the road to my doctor's office. http://www.anh-usa.org/your-medical-records-are-part-of-a-19-billion-experiment/

And despite these billions of dollars and the perceived benefits of EHRs, physicians continue to hesitate in implementing fully functional electronic health record (EHR) systems. Even with incentives, systems are expensive and productivity hits are a major concern, but the major cause? Unlike other highly specialized, specifically tailored health information technology solutions, EHRs are awkwardly, poorly designed to be one-size-fits-all—and studies show they never do. The incentive program is slowly drawing eligible healthcare practitioners into the EHR fold, but the lack of specifically tailored EHR systems means that the U.S. will continue to lag the rest of the world when it comes to establishing a fully integrated, cost-effective health care system.

http://www.talkchart.com/blog/index.php/why-is-ehr-adoption-lagging-behind/

Information such as social security numbers, addresses, medical insurance numbers, past illnesses, and sometimes credit card numbers, can help criminals commit several types of fraud. These may include: making payments from stolen credit card numbers and ordering and reselling medical equipment by using stolen medical insurance numbers.

A key finding from the report is that fraud resulting from exposure of health data has risen from 3% in 2008 to 7% in 2009, a 112% increase.

http://www.informationweek.com/security/risk-management/emr-data-theft-booming/d/d-id/1087881?

http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMsr1110507

Oops. It’s much worse than insurance experts thought

It  has become much, much worse than I [Greg Scandlen] ever imagined. Obamacare is not even fully in effect yet and already we are seeing the President playing with the carriers like a toddler plays with toy trucks –

• Employers will be mandated to buy your policies for 2014

• (Oops, employers are angry)

• Employers won’t be mandated until 2015 – if then

• Small employers will give workers a choice of health plans through the SHOP program in 2014

• (Oops, we can’t get the web site ready in time)

• Small employers won’t have to offer a choice of plan until – sometime later

• You must cancel these individual policies

• (Oops, public backlash)

• You must reinstate these policies

• (Oops, many insurance commissioners won’t allow it)

• You must continue to cover providers and drugs even for cancelled policies

• The deadline for enrollment will be December 15, 2013

• (Oops, web site problems)

• The deadline for enrollment will be December 23, 2013

• (Oops, too much traffic)

• The deadline for enrollment will be December 24, 2013

• Never mind, there is no deadline

• First month’s premium must be received by December 31, 2013

• (Oops, back-end problems with the web site)

• First month’s premium must be received by January 8, 2014

• Make that January 10, 2014

How can anyone run a business this way? This is worse than being a federal agency. No federal agency would be expected to stop and start on a personal whim like this. These aren’t rules, they aren’t regulations, they are dictates based on nothing more than Kathleen Sebelius’ momentary feelings.

http://thefederalist.com/2013/12/27/insurers-enough-obamacare-aca/

ARRA and Homelessness

“Under Title XII of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is allocating $1.5 billion for communities to provide financial assistance and services to either prevent individuals and families from becoming homeless or help those who are experiencing homelessness to be quickly re-housed and stabilized.” copied from the Franklin Co. Ohio web site.

I checked Hamilton Co. (Cincinnati) and Montgomery County (Dayton area) and found something similar.  In order to get these funds, substantial changes needed to be made to programs already in place.

I wonder what became of the $1.5 billion? I was able to locate the third year report for Springfield, Ohio, which received about $816,000, but there were so many lines of requested information with “no information,” I really couldn’t read it. In the reporting year ending 2012, 42 people were served, 21 households.  Near the end, the compiler said Springfield already had a good program that was working when it received the money.

Like many grants in ARRA it was late getting out of the gate (the recession was technically over) or didn’t do anything about the economy.  A huge chunk of ARRA  ($19 billion) went for Electronic Medical Records assistance to force doctors into a system that was untried and had never been proven to save money.

More New Year’s Resolutions possibilities

           

I was thinking maybe a good New Year’s resolution could be to clean one shelf a day, but I counted just my office and there were 32.  Some are behind cabinet doors, some on top of my desk, some are removable shelves on top of immovable shelves. Need to rethink this.  Perhaps my target was set too low. Three a day, perhaps. The last time there was a complete cleaning was when the office was repainted—maybe five years ago.  It had green and cream stripe wallpaper.  There was a partial cleaning in autumn 2012 when the carpeting was replaced and the desk and photo albums bookshelf had to be moved.

I think my 5 minutes a day on my Power Spin 210 will be about right. I’ve already completed and exceeded that resolution, at least for January 1.

                   

Joshua, Judges, Ruth

Honest. I didn't know this was the name of an album or a musical group. One of my New Year's Resolutions (which I've decided will only be good until Jan. 31) is to memorize the order of the books of the Old Testament. I probably didn't pay attention in Sunday School or Bible School when we were supposed to do this (I was too social). So all I knew were the first five. Today I added Joshua, Judges and Ruth, ". . . theological messages about the dynamic relationship between God's people and the powerful God who gives land and provides deliverers for the people."

Best wishes for the New Year

Arctic cyclones

“From 2000 to 2010, about 1,900 cyclones churned across the top of the world each year, leaving warm water and air in their wakes—and melting sea ice in the Arctic Ocean. That’s about 40 percent more than previously thought, according to a new analysis of these Arctic storms.”

Now this isn’t 40% more, although that’s how it will probably be reported, is my guess.  Researchers from Ohio State don’t know if that’s more or fewer cyclones than before, because they’ve only been measuring for 10 years.  Some they have discovered are very small, some in unpopulated areas and previously went undetected.

“We can’t yet tell if the number of cyclones is increasing or decreasing, because that would take a multidecade view. We do know that, since 2000, there have been a lot of rapid changes in the Arctic—Greenland ice melting, tundra thawing—so we can say that we’re capturing a good view of what’s happening in the Arctic during the current time of rapid changes,”

http://researchnews.osu.edu/archive/arcticcyclones.htm

The sands of time

Short and sweet

Funnily.  Funny, it's been around since 1814, but I've only noticed it in 2013. http://www.grammarphobia.com/blog/2010/07/is-funnily-enough-cringeworthy.html

No one seems upset about Robertson when he addresses the sexual sins of 98% of the rest of the population, only gays. I wonder why?

Jesus said there are no goats in heaven, only sheep. (Matt. 25)

83% of abortions in Ohio are for unmarried women, so there are a lot of irresponsible men out there--it takes two.

Past data has found that when it comes to weight loss, race and genetics are real obstacles that doctors just cannot ignore.

The uninsured in the United States get more preventive care than the insured in Canada. John Goodman, MD

When making a resolution, cross out the word "try." It's a wimpy verb.

I was trying to look up some biographical information on W. E. Farbstein, and found this instead. "The dog is mentioned in the Bible eighteen times—the cat not even once." W.E. Farbstein. Quoted in "Hundkeit," Mondo Canine, ed. Jon Winokur, Dutton (1991).

                         

From my mother’s Commonplace book, 1942 Good Housekeeping

A prayer for 2014: "Two things I ask of you: deny them not to me before I die: Remove far from me falsehood and lying: give me neither poverty nor riches: feed me with the food that is needful for me, lest I be full and deny you and say, “Who is the LORD?” or lest I be poor and steal and profane the name of my God (Proverbs 30:7-9, ESV).

The glaze I made for the ham Christmas Eve was so delicious, I made a small amount to put on cooked carrots for a glaze for a buffet at the Zimmers. I can hardly keep from tasting. Maple syrup (real), red wine vinegar and mustard.

"Femininity has become a legal disability, and the irresponsible male has become a legal ideal." Patrick Lee, Institute of Bioethics at Franciscan University of Steubenville (Ohio)

Best slogan I've seen this week. "Hope and chains."

Who knew? Don't put fresh pears in a fruit salad. Bleh. I should have taken home ec instead of college prep. They turn brown and mushy.

                

My son’s living room on Christmas Eve.

Irony. The opposite of wrinkly.

                           

Crock pot salsa chicken

 Ingredients

• 2 lbs. (32 oz.) chicken breasts, boneless and skinless
• 1 cup salsa
• 1 cup petite diced canned tomatoes
• 2 tbsp. taco seasoning
• 1 cup onions, diced fine
• 1/2 cup celery diced fine
• 1/2 cup carrots, shredded
• 3 tbsp. sour cream

Directions

Place the chicken in a slow cooker. Sprinkle the taco seasoning over the meat then layer the vegetables and salsa on top. Pour a half cup water over the mixture, set on low and cook for 6-8 hours. The meat is cooked when it shreds or reaches an internal temperature of 165°F. When ready to serve, break up the chicken with two forks then stir in the sour cream. Makes eight 1 cup servings.

Nutrition Info: Calories: 164.9; Fat: 2.5g; Carbohydrates: 7.3g; Protein: 27.6g

Who is homophobic?

Not sure why the other 97% are called homophobic when so many celebrities, athletes and stars hide who they are--Elton John didn't and he came out of the closet about 40 years ago--didn't hurt his career or income. Ellen came out in 1997, both on her show and in real life.

http://chicagodefender.com/2013/12/30/robin-roberts-comes-out-thanks-long-time-girlfriend/#.UsGj4UbFEXx.facebook

 

Write a check, save a life

Planned Parenthood is the largest abortion provider in the United States and gets approximately $1.5 million a day from your tax dollars. You can donate to your local pregnancy help center that saves babies and women. In Columbus that is Pregnancy Decision Health Center, 665 E. Dublin-Granville Rd., Suite 120, Columbus, OH, 43229. One more day for a tax deduction, one more day to save lives in 2013.

Not enough shelves

12 important things about demons and angels by Kuyper and Kreeft

Abraham Kuyper was a Dutch Calvinist statesman and theologian; Peter Kreeft is a Roman Catholic, a convert from Reformed Church in America.

Demons--

1. There exists a spiritual world outside of and apart from our human race.

2. There are two hosts or groups of these spirits, namely angels and demons.

3. The host of demons is subject to the rule of Satan.

4. Both angels and demons have powers, gifts and talents that they received from their Creator.

5. These spiritual beings have been called to use their powers and gifts in the service of God, not only to praise Him, but also as instruments for the development of His Kingdom.

6. These spirits exert all kinds of influence on this earth, not only in the spiritual realm, but just as much in the physical, visible and material realm.

7. After their fall, the demons have misused their powers in order to destroy both this earth and our human race.

8. Until the coming of Jesus and with the exception of Israel, these demons had established the kingdom of Satan over the peoples and nations that made Satan in effect the ruler of the world.

9. Christ has come in order to destroy the works of the devil and to establish Himself as Head and King over this world.

10. The temptations of Christ in the wilderness and the gradual casting out of demons must be understood in the context of that struggle.

11. The power of Satan was broken down in principle during this struggle, so that Jesus could exclaim, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven” (Luke 10:18).

12. The outpouring of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost introduced into this world a holy spiritual force that was designed to ceaselessly push back that demonic atmosphere that had for so long oppressed the life of the nations.

You can do greater things than Christ, by Abraham Kuyper

Angels--

1. They really exist. Not just in our minds, or our myths, or our symbols, or our culture. They are as real as your dog, or your sister, or electricity.
2. They’re present, right here, right now, right next to you, reading these words with you.
3. They’re not cute, cuddly, comfortable, chummy, or “cool”. They are fearsome and formidable. They are huge. They are warriors.
4. They are the real “extra-terrestrials”, the real “Super-men”, the ultimate aliens. Their powers are far beyond those of all fictional creatures.
5. They are more brilliant minds than Einstein.
6. They can literally move the heavens and the earth if God permits them.
7. There are also evil angels, fallen angels, demons, or devils. These too are not myths. Demon possessions, and exorcisms, are real.
8. Angels are aware of you, even though you can’t usually see or hear them. But you can communicate with them. You can talk to them without even speaking.
9. You really do have your very own “guardian angel”. Everybody does.
10. Angels often come disguised. “Do not neglect hospitality, for some have entertained angels unawares”—that’s a warning from life’s oldest and best instruction manual.
11. We are on a protected part of a great battlefield between angels and devils, extending to eternity.
12. Angels are sentinels standing at the crossroads where life meets death. They work especially at moments of crisis, at the brink of disaster—for bodies, for souls, and for nations.

Angels, the 12 most important things by Peter Kreeft

This will protect a woman more than a condom

CDC has an educational unit on "safer sex" condom use (safe sex actually isn't the term, because it's virtually impossible), aimed at female teens. After reviewing the results after 12 mo. no statistically significant intervention effects on sex risk behaviors or STD recurrence were observed, so the "intervention package is not available at this time."

Only ten broken promises? Oh, it’s just Obamacare—from Newsmax

1. The website is simple and user-friendly

Just days into its disastrous rollout, the Obamacare website was out of order until mid-morning Oct. 8, a public relations headache . . . on Dec. 20, a mere three days before the deadline to sign up for coverage starting Jan. 1, yet another outage lasted for several hours.

2. "If you like your plan, you can keep your plan."

Obama's June 6, 2009 assertion was wrong. . . . Charles Krauthammer railed Obamacare itself was a fraud from the beginning.

3. "If you like your doctor, you can keep your doctor."

Obama's 2009 promise was wrong again, we learned in 2013. . .  conservative blogger Cam Harris writes. 

4. Premiums will fall by as much as $2,500 per family
That won't happen. Forbes magazine, comparing Affordable Care Act premiums versus pre-Obamacare premiums, finds this presidential assertion a dud.

5. Obamacare won't add 'one dime to our deficits'

But it does. Even the Government Accountability Office's report of Feb. 26, 2013, projected Obamacare will increase the long-term federal deficit by $6.2 trillion.

6. The ACA will cost around $900 billion over 10 years

Not even close. A Congressional Budget Office’s report from May 2013 puts the real price tag more around the area of $1.8 trillion.

7. Families making less than $250,000 won't see 'any form' of tax increase

Far from it. Obamacare contains 18 separate tax hikes, fees, and penalties, many of which heavily impact the middle class, the Heritage Foundation maintains. . . .

8. The ACA will keep healthcare costs down.
So says the president's Council of Economic Advisers.
But it's just not so, according to senior fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center and American Enterprise Institute visiting fellow James Captretta writes in the Weekly Standard.

9. You have a deadline and a mandate.

Maybe. Squishy deadlines, and "fixes" have been a hallmark of Obamacare almost from the start. . . Another "fix" came Nov. 14, a week after the president apologized for the cancellations . . . As for sign-up deadlines, it's been confusing at best. . .  HHS also pushed back the deadline when the first month's premium would be due, and insurers obliged, extending the payment deadline nine days, to Jan. 10.

10. Sure, the national exchange is glitchy, but the state sites are working great.

Obamacare’s state-run enrollment operations have had technological delays and low sign-up levels. Several states even replaced top executives.

http://www.newsmax.com/Newsfront/obamacare-broken-promises/2013/12/29/id/544262#ixzz2oyC0XUSr

The Holy Innocents Matthew 2:16-18

16 Then when Herod saw that he had been tricked by the magi, he became very enraged, and sent and slew all the male children who were in Bethlehem and all its vicinity, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had determined from the magi. 17 Then what had been spoken through Jeremiah the prophet was fulfilled:
18 “A VOICE WAS HEARD IN RAMAH,  WEEPING AND GREAT MOURNING,  RACHEL WEEPING FOR HER CHILDREN;  AND SHE REFUSED TO BE COMFORTED,  BECAUSE THEY WERE NO MORE.”

"Just a few days ago, billions of Christians around the world celebrated the birth of an infant who was born to a young, impoverished, and unmarried woman. This weekend, many Christian churches also recognized the feast day of the Holy Innocents - the day when King Herod, fearing he may lose his political power, ordered the death of all the male infants in Bethlehem and its surrounds. Historians and historical representations of the numbers of children lost vary - from 15-20... infants . . .to 64,000, and medieval writers liked to use the number 144,000. The exact number is immaterial. The reality is that our modern sensibilities cannot fathom a world in which political leaders order the death of countless innocent infants in order to secure their own political power." (Columbus Right to Life)

But they do, don't they? Or at least they are complicit in the killing through laws, insurance and cultural pressure. It is estimated that 85% of women who abort have been pressured by parents, boyfriend, husband, or "friends" who convince her carrying to term would ruin her life, his life, her education, their economics, etc., and allowing the baby to live and be adopted by another family--well, that would just be too difficult. In Texas, home of the popular blonde politician in pink tennies, 63% of abortions were for black or Hispanic babies.

There’s a clawback feature in Obamacare

“The government has long been permitted to seek reimbursement for healthcare services by attaching the assets of deceased Medicaid enrollees. But before ObamaCare, an asset test was mandatory for Medicaid applicants and only those with few or no assets could qualify for government provided care. As a result, there was little of value which the state could attach after death.

ObamaCare, however, has done away with the asset test. Eligibility for Medicaid is now dependent only upon income. And at 138% of the federal poverty mark, that eligibility level is much higher than in previous years. Therefore, countless Americans who have accumulated valuable assets yet show little income will now qualify as Medicaid recipients.

So if parents have been placed on a state Medicaid roll, the house, car or other assets they had intended leaving to their children will be attached by that state upon their death. A lien will be filed and full payment for those “free” healthcare services provided from the date of enrollment until the time of death will be confiscated from any available estate holdings.”

http://www.westernjournalism.com/obamacare-shock-strip-assets-dead-seniors/#!

http://www.cjr.org/the_second_opinion/covering_an_obamacare_clawback.php?page=all

http://hoofin.wordpress.com/2013/01/06/the-obamacare-clawback-provision-a-trap-door/

http://www.thelundreport.org/resource/poorest_oregonians_could_be_hurt_by_obamacare

Racists are upping the ante

This is what GLAAD and NAACP are trying to call racist. Phil Robertson, unlike some ivory tower academics, poverty pimps, and civil rights careerists, worked along side blacks in the fields. In the GQ interview he said,

"I never, with my eyes, saw the mistreatment of any black person. Not once. Where we lived was all farmers. The blacks worked for the farmers. I hoed cotton with them. I’m with the blacks, because we’re white trash. We’re going across the field.  They’re singing and happy. I never heard one of them, one black person, say, ‘I tell you what: These doggone white people’—not a word! Pre-entitlement, pre-welfare, you say: Were they happy? They were godly; they were happy; no one was singing the blues.”

He didn't say no black was ever mistreated; he was talking about his fellow workers. He said they were godly people. Now Democrats think it's just great to keep poor people on welfare instead of working (but it's OK for "undocumented workers" to be in the fields). Who is the phony looking for trouble? And "Jim Crow?" Those were regulations and laws put in place by Democrats.

 http://www.newsninja2012.com/racist-naacp-agenda-to-paint-phil-robertson-as-racist-starts-to-become-weak-argument-to-many/

Crockpot-Tamale-bake

http://crockpotladies.com/recipe-categories/entrees/crockpot-tamale-bake/

Ingredients

1 Lb. lean ground beef or ground turkey

1/2 cup finely diced onion

1 teaspoon minced garlic

3/4 cups yellow cornmeal

1 egg

1 1/2 cups milk

1 (15.25 oz.) can corn, drained

1 (14.5 oz.) can diced tomatoes, undrained

1 (1.25 oz.) envelope taco seasoning mix

1 (2.25 oz.) can sliced black olives, drained

1 Cup shredded cheddar cheese

Minced green onion, for garnish (optional)

Instructions

1. In a large skillet brown and crumble your ground beef with the onion and garlic until the meat is no longer pink.
2. Drain ground beef to remove excess fat.
3. In a large bowl combine cornmeal, egg and milk and mix until smooth
4. Add to the cornmeal mixture the corn, tomatoes, taco seasoning, olives and ground beef mixture and mix well.
5. Dump mixture into the bottom of a 4 quart crock-pot.
6. Cover and cook on LOW for 6 hours or HIGH for 3 hours.
7. Sprinkle with cheese and cover again and cook for an additional 15 minutes until cheese is melted.
8. To serve, spoon into bowls or onto plate and garnish with chopped green onion.

Legalized gambling and recreational pot

The push to legalize pot and various state government’s agreeing to that and other dissipating activities like casino gambling (now legal in Ohio) bring to mind what Frederick Douglass said in his autobiography about why slave owners gave slaves a week holiday between Christmas and New Year’s and encouraged drinking and all manner of evil activity—for them it was a taste of “freedom,” enough to convince them they were better off as slaves. He wrote that by making this concession the owners were assured of obedience and the slaves were less likely to revolt.

“They do not give the slaves this time because they would not like to have their work during its continuance, but because they know it would be unsafe to deprive them of it. This will be seen by the fact, that the slaveholders like to have their slaves spend those days just in such a manner as to make them as glad of their ending as of their beginning. Their object seems to be, to disgust their slaves with freedom, by plunging them into the lowest depths of dissipation. For instance, the slaveholders not only like to see the slave drink of his own accord, but will adopt various plans to make him drunk.”  Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/sns-rt-us-usa-marijuana-colorado-20131228,0,6459410.story

http://www.governing.com/gov-data/state-marijuana-laws-map-medical-recreational.html