Monday Memories—My own picture book

Thursday evening we attended the opening of the Toulouse Lautrec show at the Columbus Museum of Art.  As well as drawings and posters by Toulouse Lautrec, there were interesting pieces by avant-garde artists in Paris around the turn of the twentieth century. . .  “paintings, watercolors and drawings; rare zinc shadow puppet silhouettes; illustrated programs for the famous Chat Noir cabaret shadow theater; and key ephemera for Parisian theaters, circuses, cabarets and café-concerts which document the activities of artists during this rich period.”

           

This painting of  trees along a canal reminded me of a painting I’d learned about in elementary school. The next day I dug around in my bookshelves and found “My Own Picture Book” book 4 and 5, by Theodora Pottle.

Forreston was a very small town and we didn’t have art instruction, however, looking through these two books—there are eight in the series—if the teacher followed the instructions and plans, children would get a good overview of “interpretations of masterpieces.” 

Each book had 36 pages, and they were published by Johnson-Randolph Company of Champaign, Illinois.  Although I can remember working in the books, I don’t believe we were graded, and the excellent art instruction in the back of each book probably wasn’t used. By fifth grade, we cut the color reproductions with our scissors, but for the earlier grades they were included in an envelope in the back of the book.

The page on the left (black and white) includes some historical background about Holland, then describes what are the most important features of the painting, then a discussion of perspective, and finally a paragraph about the artist, Meindert Hobbema. The other nine masterpieces in book 5 have similar layouts.  Then the page on the right  has a color representation to paste in place, with questions and activities. There is a referral to p. 36 where one point perspective is explained. Looking through the two books I have, I became curious about the person who put together such a delightful set of learning tools—although I didn’t appreciate it in 1949 like I do in 2014.

Her name is Theodora Pottle, and she taught art at Macomb State Teachers College (now Western Illinois University). According to the website, she “received both her B.A. and M.A. from the University of Chicago; however, she also studied at the Art Institute of Chicago, Columbia University, the University of Colorado, the University of Arizona, and even the Ransom Studios in Paris, France. By the time she came to Western Illinois University in 1928, . . . as an instructor and head of the art department, she had already taught music and art in Duluth, Tucson, Ludington, Traverse City in Michigan, and the University High School in Chicago. She had also traveled to forty-eight states, Canada, Mexico, and had made frequent trips to Europe .

                       

During her career, she published a number of children’s art textbooks called “My Own Picture Book Series.” These were designed to be used in elementary schools to generate an enthusiasm for the arts in young children.”

She retired in 1958 and never married or had any children, although certainly she must have influenced thousands of children over the years as well as the many students in her art classes who went on to teach others.

http://iwa.bradley.edu/essays/TheodoraPottle

When Ms. Pottle was a child, her parents had a theater company and she also performed with them. (Find a grave, Adelaide Eunice Goodrich Pottle)

The papers of Diane Blair, best friend of Hillary Clinton

Strong and ruthless.  No surprise there.  You’d have to be strong to put up with Bill’s philandering so he could be your stepping stone to power.

“. . . previously unpublished documents contained in the archive of one of Hillary Clinton’s best friends and advisers, documents that portray the former first lady, secretary of State, and potential 2016 presidential candidate as a strong, ambitious, and ruthless Democratic operative.”

“The full contents of the archive, which before 2010 was closed to the public, have not previously been reported on and shed new light on Clinton’s three decades in public life. The records paint a complex portrait of Hillary Clinton, revealing her to be a loyal friend, devoted mother, and a cutthroat strategist who relished revenge against her adversaries and complained in private that nobody in the White House was “tough and mean enough.””

http://freebeacon.com/the-hillary-papers/

There is a link in this article to 40 pages of Blair’s notes, thoughts and memos.

A prose poem about a coffee shop and snow

I used to belong to an internet writing group called Poetry Thursday. I was really enjoying it but the owners quit so the group fell apart. On Feb. 15, 2007 we were assigned to write a prose poem. I had no idea what that was, but here is mine about sitting in the coffee shop during an early morning snow.

"Come sit by the fire with me. Sit by the gas flames rising from fake logs. Warm us bright blaze in the dark by the pseudo-bricks as we tip Styrofoam cups with plastic lids, sip black brew browned with cream factory made. Animate brain cells, stir up stiff tongues tropical beans, red and bright when picked by dark hands, traveling on tankers guided by pale hands to bring us warmth and happy thoughts, brown after roasting in mills and bursting to dark beans, trucked by many hands along concrete interstates and asphalt by-ways to loading docks at dark coffee shops. Come sit by the fire with me in the dark, tasting warmth, watching the snow fall on icy lines--pity the bird toes--sending power to heat water piped and purified, dripping hot in the pot held by ethnic hands that fill my cup which warms my nose by the fire where we sit."

Dr. Gemechis Buba,, NALC Assistant to the Bishop for Missions

There are more Lutherans in Ethiopia than there are in the largest U.S. synod, ELCA. And we are so fortunate to have one in the North American Lutheran Church, residing and working here in Columbus. This morning he preached at our church, and he left the congregation breathless and excited. Rev. Dr. Gemechis Buba has personally experienced the persecution of the church and that was his topic today, the martyrdom of Stephen (Acts 7). When he was about 3 years old and his baby sister 3 months, his parents were taken from their home by the Communists and imprisoned. Eventually his mother was released, but his father was tortured and brutalized for 6 years. The four threats to Christianity today he told us are, 1) Communism, 2) radical Islam, 3) traditional religions, and 4) liberalism in Europe and the U.S.--some Christians in name only who don't preach the Bible and the traditional beliefs of Christianity. He urged us to be strong and to be a praying church of praying families made up of praying individuals.

Dr. Buba left ELCA where he was the Director of African National Ministries and joined NALC after the ELCA decided to allow active homosexuals in the ordained clergy. ELCA evicted the Immigrant African Churches in the United States (United Oromo Evangelical Churches) from their buildings and expelled them from the synod because of their opposition to that policy.

Dr. Buba preaching in Iowa at a young congregation, Faith Lutheran, 3 years old.

The dignity of every human being—selective reading

“This morning I attended the National Prayer Breakfast, a long-standing Washington tradition and a great bi-partisan event. But I nearly fell out of my chair when Barack Obama quoted from Psalm 139:14, saying, "We believe that each of us is 'wonderfully made' in the image of God. We, therefore, believe in the inherent dignity of every human being -- dignity that no earthly power can take away."

This is coming from the most pro-abortion president in our nation's history, from a man who is trying to force religious institutions and individuals to pay for abortion, who went to Planned Parenthood's national convention and asked God to bless its work.

Of course, that is why Obama couldn't utter verse 13: "For You formed my inward parts; You wove me in my mother's womb." Yes, Mr. President, some of us do believe in the inherent dignity of every human being -- from the moment of conception until natural death.”  Gary Bauer

How universities remain biased and political

No one else can get on the faculty. Conservatives. Christians. Pro-Life. Creationists.  NIMBY. You have a better chance of being hired by a major university if you are a shoe bomber than a conservative pro-lifer. Even if hired to avoid discrimination charges, you’d have to face your political enemies at promotion and tenure review.

“The University of Iowa's law-school faculty, like most law-school faculties, is overwhelmingly liberal. When Ms. Wagner was considered for the job, the law school had only one Republican on its 50-member faculty, according to party registration records obtained from the Iowa Secretary of State, and he had joined the faculty 25 years earlier. . .

Hiring decisions should be based on candidates' merits, including their ability to vigorously present in the classroom and criticize conservative as well as progressive views. If the Eighth Circuit protects Teresa Wagner's constitutional rights, the court will also bolster legal education in America by promoting its depoliticization.”

http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304691904579346401360317462?mg=reno64-wsj&url=http%3A%2F%2Fonline.wsj.com%2Farticle%2FSB10001424052702304691904579346401360317462.html

Pudding from Scratch

I do use boxed and instant pudding, but this is much healthier.  I have some dry milk on hand, it’s too cold to go outside, so maybe I’ll try this today.

Ingredients

• DRY MIX:

• 4 cups nonfat dry milk powder

• 2-2/3 cups sugar

• 1-1/3 cups cornstarch

• 1 to 1-1/3 cups baking cocoa

• 1/2 teaspoon salt

• PUDDING (for each batch):

• 2 cups milk

• 1 tablespoon butter

• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

1. For mix, sift together all ingredients. Store in an airtight container or resealable plastic bag.
2. For pudding, combine 1 cup mix with milk in a saucepan. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Stir in butter and vanilla. Pour into individual serving dishes. Serve warm. Yield: 9 batches (4 servings per batch).

Powdered milk and dry milk are actually the same product; dry milk is simply another name for powdered milk. Powdered milk is made from milk that has been dehydrated until it achieves solid form.
Read more: http://www.ehow.com/facts_5814997_powdered-milk-vs-dry-milk.html#ixzz2sjYEAdc2

Quitting smoking unassisted

It’s nice when medical opinion catches up with mine.  For years I have questioned the use of public funding for smoking cessation—for Medicaid and Medicare patients, for prisoners and various minority populations and those  in the bottom quintile. It seemed a sop to the pharmaceutical companies, social workers and various cessation gurus.  With no great research on my part I noticed that although I know many former smokers—perhaps a hundred or so—not one of them quit using a drug or group support or counseling method.  The two closest were my father, who quit at 39 when he began spitting up blood from his coughing and lived to 89, and my father-in-law who quit when he reached for his third pack of the day and lived to be 93. Both quit cold turkey. Two of my father’s brothers, Russell and John, and one of his sisters, Gladys, did not quit, developed cancer and died painful deaths.  My father-in-law’s wife, Rosie, died many years before her husband; she didn’t stop smoking and developed lung cancer. I couldn’t begin to count the people my age that I know who are former smokers, including brothers-in-law and sisters-in-law. I know one man who used God—he says he challenged God, if he were real, to take away his desire to smoke. Poof, it was gone, and he stopped. He became a believer—in God. I know a few who became desperately ill, heart disease, COPD, stroke or cancer, and then stopped—and you can call it fear, but it was sheer will power. Their lives, although extended, were shorted by the years of foolishness and addiction.

A 2013 Gallup Poll of former smokers showed only 8% attributed their success to nicotine replacement therapy—gum, NRT patches—or prescription drugs.  56% credited “cold turkey,” “will power,” or “mind over matter.”  In other words, they decided to kick the filthy, health killing habit.  As a non-smoker, I am thrilled I can go into a restaurant or public event, and not leave smelling like a gambling casino of the 1950s.  However, there was a dramatic drop in smoking among Americans after the 1950  report linking tobacco and cancer, from 7.7 million former smokers in 1955 to  19.2 million in 1964, to 36.2 million in 1979. This was before the anti-smoking campaigns, the laws, and the drugs. Researchers could clearly see and puzzle over the success rate of these people, but chose to go the “assisted” route to find the perfect drug or program.

In my opinion, except for those unfortunate enough to have been mainlined nicotine in the womb, the vast majority of smokers pick up the habit through choice and social influence.  And that’s the way to quit.  Just do it, and don’t hang around with smokers.

http://jama.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleID=1812969

Why are IDs political for Democrats?

Today I went in person to CVS to request my year end list of prescriptions for tax filing. I was asked for name, birthdate, and an ID. We know better than to send a spouse--they won't release that information even to a spouse (which is silly because they will mail it, and who knows who might open the mail?)

True the Vote is one of the organizations being targeted by the Obama administration. The Founder since applying for C-3 status has been investigated by OSHA, ATF, FBI and EPA. Never had had a peep before. http://www.truethevote.org/news/archive/2014/February

Think warm thoughts

The chill factor today in Columbus is below –10, real temp about zero.  Side streets and even some main streets (in Columbus) are a mess. We attended an event at the Columbus Art Museum, and  was holding my breath that we wouldn’t get stuck.  The museum is going through a massive construction, parking is limited, and side streets haven’t been plowed.

Baked French Toast for 12

Or one. Me.

I've tried a recipe in my New Inglenook Cookbook (Brethren Press, 2013) and declare it tasty. It's baked French toast, but the mix is eggs and orange juice with the soaked bread baked in a glaze of butter and cinnamon. It was a camp recipe to serve 12 so I reduced it and left out the sugar, which was rather high.

10 eggs, beaten (I used one)
2 cups orange juice (I used 1/4 cup)
1 cup butter, melted (I used a Tablespoon)
1 1/2 cups of sugar (didn't use it)
1 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon (sprinkle)
24 slices thick-sliced crusty bread (I used 2 heels and one dried out bakery something)

• Preheat oven to 325.
• Combine eggs and orange juice.
• Combine butter, sugar, and cinnamon and divide between two 13 x 9 baking dishes (I used one 8 x 8).
• Spread the butter mixture around to thoroughly coat the bottom of the dishes.
• Dip the bread into the egg mixture, turning to coat thoroughly.
• Lay the bread in the dishes.
• Bake for 25 minutes.
• When ready to serve, flip the bread pieces over so the glaze is on top.

Fancy Nancy’s spin on the coming job loss due to Obamacare

Nancy Pelosi is worth $100 million; so it’s easy for her to tell others to quit their jobs.

Thursday Thirteen plus one

Stop setting goals was the best advice book I’ve  ever read—which I didn’t find until I retired.  “Setting goals” is a creativity and thought killer for about half of us and yet we’re always told to do it or have it or accomplish it.  I was a librarian and we tend to be problem solvers, not goal setters.  The author, Bobb Biehl suggests “targets.”  However, here’s a blog with a similar thought—and I see it’s based the same author, Bobb Biehl, “5 big picture questions and 9 accelerators.” I recognize the 9th accelerator from the "Stop setting goals" book. I made three New Year’s resolutions—measureable, easily accomplished and short time frame (January 31) and met them all.  New ones will be built on that for February. Setting a goal for all of 2014 would have been impossible—at least for me.

1. What three changes will most please God?
2. What can I do to make the most significant impact for God in my lifetime? [I would change this to a specific time—like “in 2014” or the next 5 years]
3  What is the single best measurable indicator that I am making progress toward my dream?
4. What three measureable priorities will I accomplish before I die? [Again, I’d use a specific time frame.  Several years ago I had lunch with a friend whom I hadn’t seen in ages.  We had such a great time we decided to do it again in 2 weeks.  Three days later she died.]
5. What three measurable priorities will I accomplish in the next 10 years? [I would shorten that to one year, or 5 years at the most. No one can know what 10 years will bring. Facebook is 10 years old. Five years ago would you have believed the NSA was collecting your phone information?]

If you’re launching a new project (many TT participants are writers or artists)

1  Name your single greatest strength.

2. Identify three decisions causing the greatest stress.
3. What is overwhelming me?
4. What is my impassable road block?
5. What should I resign from?
6. What can I postpone?
7. What things on my list can others do 80% as well?
8. What elephants are in my schedule?
9. Identify three things in the next 90 days I could do that would make a 50% difference.

I think the important words of this list are the numbers three, changes, indicator, priorities, decisions, schedule, and things. Specific and measureable. The word “impact” is a bit squishy for me, but if it works for you, go for it!

Happy Now?

How to spin a 2.3 million job loss

What a fluke.

It's counter intuitive, but more birth control = more sex = younger age = more contraception failure = more pregnancies = more abortions = higher breast cancer risk + higher suicide risk = the real war on women.  Sandra Fluke is building on her minute of fame to run for Congress as another know nothing, do nothing female using sex.

Actually, this whopper may not be that big

 

The trick word here is "expanded." For instance, under Bush SNAP eligibility was expanded, but Obama increased recruitment to the program. EITC, HEAP, TANF, Medicaid, SCHIP, disability, even Obama phones (phone assistance began under Reagan) etc. were all programs of other presidents. Lack of good jobs and reductions because of Obamacare has pushed more onto government benefits.  What's new is people fleeing the workforce to apply for and get SS disability because he couldn't turn around the job situation.

What has expanded is the wait for veteran’s benefits.  For welfare recipients, there is a 30 day wait to qualify for food stamps, or expedited, 7 days. Over 675,000 claims pending for veterans, 58% for over 125 days. Why are veterans required to wait? Haven't they already paid? Are the low income, unemployed a bigger voting block than disabled veterans?

You can look up your childhood home

http://www.vpike.com/

Use this website, type in the address, and then stroll down the street.  It’s approximate, but you can probably find it.  Caution.  Everything will look a whole lot smaller than when you lived there.

We’re expecting bad weather tonight

But maybe they’ll be wrong—it often happens.

How Republicans shoot themselves in the foot

               

I was a Democrat much longer than I’ve been a Republican, and I suppose it’s that “conservative” mind set of the Republicans, but really, they just don’t know how to get in there and fight like a Democrat.  They also don’t know how to plan or execute. Democrats are setting up country wide plans to accomplish what we all know—all elections are local.  I get their newsletters and e-mails—I read the plans.  Republicans, meanwhile, push away their only hope—conservatives.

Republicans will chase the Hispanic vote by caving on citizenship, border security and amnesty. But they'll flee from confirmed conservatives, Tea Party supporters and Libertarians who actually gave them the House in 2010 and many governorships. Who's a better bet for supporting Republicans in the long run? Certainly not illegal immigrants who always vote Democratic. The 1986 IRCA is a good example of bipartisanship, and look what it got us. Porous borders, more anchor babies, more low wage workers taking American jobs, and more Democrats.

In Ohio SB 193 has been called the “John Kasich Re-election Protection Act.” I found an early January article.  Like many Republicans in Washington, Kasich was elected with the help of Tea Party and Libertarians to get rid of Gov. Strickland, and is now running the other way--away from his right wing supporters and trying to keep anyone who could run against him off the ballot.

Brandon Clark and Gin House singing about his roots

http://youtu.be/jqRNzE_fG8w

 

Every day in America, 50 babies . . .

The Alan Guttmacher Institute, which is the best source
for abortion statistics in the United States, reports, “Sixtyfour
percent of [abortion] providers offer at least some
second-trimester abortion services (13 weeks or later), and
23 percent offer abortion after 20 weeks. …11 percent
of all abortion providers offer abortions at 24 weeks.”
The institute also indicates that of the approximately 1.2
million abortions in the United States each year, some
18,150 are performed at 21 weeks or more. Of the 40 states
that reported in 2005 to the Centers for Disease Control,
32 states reported abortions of babies 21 weeks or older.

This means that every day in America, 50 babies the size
of a large banana are dismembered and decapitated – and
these include healthy babies of healthy mothers…and it’s
happening legally.

Priests for Life Newsletter Jan-Feb 2014

We’re expecting a lot of snow by Wednesday

Nice coverage for the mature woman

I’m not going to buy it, but if I were going to get a swim suit, it would be one like this.  I think I gave away my last two and had never worn them.

This is in the L.L. Bean Spring 2014 catalog, or online.

Monday Memories—Inglenook Cookbook

                     

I received  "The New Inglenook Cookbook" (Brethren Press, 2013) for my birthday (arrived Friday for my September birthday). I have my mother's "Granddaughter's Inglenook cookbook" (Brethren Publishing House, 1942), and someone in the family may have the first one that was my grandmother's (1901). I don't do a lot of cooking that needs recipes anymore, but I love to read them. Also, I love looking at the names of the women who contributed the recipes. Still so many old Brethren names. I see "Sweet sour meatloaf" very similar to mine, which I hand out to new brides. Things have changed: Gluten free scones contributed by Elsie Holderread of McPherson, KS (2013) compared to Wieners in Creole Sauce by Mrs. Irva Kendrick Haney, Muscatine, IA (1942).

                   

Also listed for a 1942 school lunch was cottage cheese and chopped pepper sandwiches with raw turnip strips. I don't know about other people my age, but cottage cheese was in everything at our house.

I think the reason women my mother's age (b. 1912) used so much cottage cheese is that their mothers made it from the skim milk left after separating the cream. My grandmother (b. 1876) used several pounds of real butter a week--I have her butter churn--and that's a lot of skim milk left over which needed to be made into something. I watched her working with (I thought it was a smelly mess) it, but by then she must have used purchased milk since they no longer had a cow. If all the liquid is pressed out (whey, which is then fed to the pigs), it is called farmer's cheese. This is from someone who knows nothing about it, so corrections are welcome.

The 2013 edition has a symbol for gluten-free.  This one looks impossibly easy.

“The best peanut butter cookie” contributed by Sharon A. Walker (Brumbaugh) Clayton, Ohio, p. 290

• 1 c. creamy peanut butter
• 1 c. sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1 t. baking soda
• Preheat oven to 350 and grease 2 baking sheets with nonstick cooking spray and set aside.
• Beat together the peanut butter and sugar until combine.  Beat in the egg. Sprinkle baking soda over the mixture and beat until combined.
• Roll heaping teaspoon-size pieces of dough into small balls. Arrange on the prepared baking sheets and with the tines of a fork, flatten the balls.
• Bake the cookies in batches in the middle of the oven until puffed and pale golden, about 10 minutes
• Cook the cookies on the baking sheets for 2 minutes before transferring to cooling racks.  This is important because they are very fragile when hot from the oven.

After checking the internet, I see Ms. Brumbaugh Walker also contributed to a genealogy book (found it on WorldCat) and I'm sure if I dug a little deeper, we'd find some Brethren relatives in common from Montgomery County who came there from Pennsylvania.

http://www.cheesemaking.com/CottageCheese.html

Minimum wage increases

My New Year’s Resolutions

But I'll tell you anyway. I've achieved my New Year's Resolutions. The trick is to set targets, not goals; make them achievable and measurable and for short time periods.

1) Learn the names of the books of the Old Testament; 2) clean my office book shelves; 3) use my Power Spin 210 U at least 5 minutes a day. By January 31, 2014.

I'm trying to think of something for February.

Update: For February, 4 hugs a day (suggested by my husband), 10 minutes a day on the Power Spin 210 U, and read the books of the Old Testament that begin with H. Achievable and measurable.

Fresh take on an old Chinese proverb

State of the Union feel good throw aways

The president’s SOTU list—pre-K education; “equal pay”, raising the minimum wage or extending unemployment benefits--is not going to address the real drivers of upwardly mobility--marriage before parenthood and a high school education. Head Start after 50 years shows no discernible advantage in learning, behavior, parenting practices, or health outcomes (at $8,000 per child it does supply a lot of jobs) so why add compulsory pre-k education?  Marriage of her parents is a child's best hope to stay out of poverty, but welfare programs discourage mothers from marrying. Raising the minimum wage won't help people who haven't finished high school--it just decreases their employment opportunities. 92% of black teenagers in Chicago can’t find employment; how will raising the minimum wage help them? And the $10.10 minimum for government workers was a throw away since it is a tiny minority with few at that level.

http://townhall.com/columnists/walterewilliams/2013/04/10/black-unemployment-n1561096/page/full

And that new retirement vehicle? That’s puzzled everyone.  Don't look at MYRA if you have a 401-K or IRA. It's government backed securities. The rate of return this past year would have been about 1.4%. If you need more to open an IRA, just save it in your piggy bank and then invest. On your worst day, you'll get more than 1.4%.  The stock market has been going like gang busters since 2010. If there had been a MYRA, the return would have been dismal. http://www.forbes.com/sites/johnwasik/2014/01/30/myra-not-needed-you-can-set-up-your-own-retirement-plans/

They were wrong about the horse

At one time the horse was a machine essential to truckers and transportation, farmers and taxis. 100 years ago it was predicted that the auto would replace the horse, and it did as a draft animal, but there are over 9 million horses in the U.S. now, up from the approximately 3 million in 1960, but down from the 25 million 100 years ago. At the turn of the last century it was predicted that the auto in 100 years would be cheaper than a horse--now that didn't happen.

http://www.americanequestrian.com/pdf/US-Equine-Demographics.pdf

http://www.theequestrianchannel.com/id3.html

A short list of acceptable words

          

“When discussing issues with liberals, it’s practically impossible to know what’s considered racist [or homophobic or sexist] and what isn’t. After all, these are people who see racism in dry asparagus and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.

Even the words Chicago, golf, crime, chair, Constitution and Founding Fathers are considered racist. Calling Juan Williams by his first name is also racist, as Newt Gingrich found out last year. For some, even God is a gun-toting white racist.” . . .

Who can forget a “chink in the armor,” or “niggardly,” or “handicapped,” or “woman,” or “traditional marriage,”  --all of which are objected to by some victim group. In hip-hop or pop music, however, everything goes—bitch, nigger, slut, nappy headed ho, fag, etc. If Bush is shown in a cartoon with giant ears, it isn’t racist, just political, but for Obama it is racism.  It’s OK to abort a child with an extra chromosome, but not OK to call him mentally retarded—use intellectually challenged.  It’s OK for the government to bully citizens with threats of IRS audits of donor lists, but not OK for school children to tease each other. That only leaves the obese, unborn (it, product of conception, parasite) and the elderly as unprotected classes of words.  A short list, isn’t it?

Swearing, cussing and four letter words describing genitals and bodily functions are OK with the left and right both.

http://www.conservativefiringline.com/a-short-list-of-words-not-c/

Can you believe what day it is?

Could teachers afford a Big Mac?

How much should a fast food worker who hasn't finished high school earn? Perhaps half of what a school teacher, who has a B.S. and M.S. earns? A public school teacher averages $39.27/hour or $55.52/hour with benefits. A teacher's average salary is higher than nurses and construction workers, and higher than college teachers per hour with benefits. But would they buy a big mac if those employees made $20/hour? Don't believe me? Scroll down to page 7 of the Bureau of Labor report for the details of your industry. http://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/ecec.pdf

The push for higher minimum wage is actually a push to, 1) close industries to punish their owners, 2) move more people to government programs to create more Democratic voters. At $15/hour, many low income workers would lose their government benefits (SNAP, EITC or Medicaid), and they make the same economic choices we all do based on the axiom, "Money talks, it says good-by," and they would probably chose not to work.

Where slavery is still the strongest—30 million

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worldviews/files/2013/10/slavery-per-capita-map-wo-arrows.jpg

This is not some soft, liberal, by-modern-standards definition of slavery. This is slavery. There are 30 million people living today as forced laborers, forced prostitutes, child soldiers, child brides in forced marriages or other forms of property. There are 60,000 right here in the United States – yes, really. This map shows the proportion of each country that is enslaved. It's highest in Mauritania, a shocking four percent, due in part to social norms tolerating the practice. A little more than one percent of people in India are enslaved, which translates to 14 million Indians living as slaves today. You can see the breakdown by numbers of slaves here.

http://www.state.gov/j/tip/

http://www.catwinternational.org/

http://www.notsosuper.org/

Peter Schiff on the Daily Show—a trap

“Of the more than four hours of taped discussion I conducted [on the topic of minimum wage increase], the producers chose to only use about 75 seconds of my comments. Of those, my use of the words “mentally retarded” (when Samantha Bee asked who might be willing to work for $2 per hour – a figure she suggested) has come to define the entire interview. I'm now receiving hundreds of angry e-mails and am being described in the media as a hateful bigot." Peter Schiff

But they also edited out the other group he noted willingly works below minimum--interns--and some work for nothing, or pay to work.

“The Daily Show” was never interested in an honest debate about the minimum wage. Nor is it concerned with the intellectually disabled, whom they have no qualms about offending if they can get a laugh. In fact, it's “The Daily Show” that wants to tell the intellectually disabled they are worthless, as they want to make it illegal for them to have jobs. I did not notice any intellectually disabled people working at “The Daily Show.” I’m sure many would jump at the chance, particularly if they were offered minimum wage or higher. But since they choose to pay their intellectually capable interns zero, why should they be expected to pay the intellectually disabled more?

This is how Huffington Post spun it on their headline. "Rich CEO Tells 'Daily Show' The 'Mentally Retarded' Are Maaaybe Worth $2 An Hour."

http://www.schiffradio.com/b/The-Daily-Show:-The-Daily-Show:-Intellectually-Dishonest-about-the-Intellectually-Disabled/-525361918630098994.html

What Schiff is being charged with isn’t a $2/hour minimum, but not knowing the correct term is no long “mentally retarded,” rather “mentally challenged,” or “intellectually disabled.”  It’s OK for the left to promote aborting 90% of babies with Down Syndrome, but don’t you dare call the survivors of the massacre “retarded.”

Immigration reform? Let’s try 1986 version

We could save a lot of money and hot air by just enforcing our old immigration law. By ignoring it, we now have many millions more illegal aliens within our borders, giving Mexico a good reason not to value its citizens, mostly brown skinned, who they send north for opportunity even though Mexico is rich in natural resources.

"The act I am signing today (Nov. 6, 1986) is the product of one of the longest and most difficult legislative undertakings of recent memory. It has truly been a bipartisan effort, with this administration and the allies of immigration reform in the Congress, of both parties, working together to accomplish these critically important reforms. Future generations of Americans will be thankful for our efforts to humanely regain control of our borders and thereby preserve the value of one of the most sacred possessions of our people: American citizenship.” President Ronald Reagan

See how well bi-partisanship works?

Seasons of Gray; a modern day Joseph story

I'm watching a movie at home. Don't do that very often. "Seasons of Gray: A modern day Joseph story." It’s excellent, and I think would be appropriate for your small group or Sunday school class, or to introduce your non-church friends to the Biblical story of faith, reconciliation and forgiveness. As the producer and editor says, “We want to show how God uses for good the things man intends for evil. We’re excited about the film getting a chance to bring this message to a broader audience.”

Brady Gray is the favored son of a two-time widower on a Texas ranch, and dad makes things tough for him by showing favoritism. He has dreams. He's forced off the ranch by his jealous brothers, after a violent beating and branding. He hangs on to his faith. Brady makes a new life for himself, then is accused of sexual assault and thrown in jail.  Very touching jail scenes as he becomes accepted by the other inmates.  In his darkest moments Brady still trusts God. 

Small budget, good acting (good looking, too). Don't confuse it with the 50 shades of gray, this is a faith based film. It was produced with support from Watermark Community Church in Dallas. “Seasons of Gray” is “the culmination of a nearly decade-old dream by former Watermark staff member Paul Stehlik, now a missionary in Africa, to share biblical stories through the medium of film, updated in a modern cultural context for contemporary audiences.” This film is a great start. I loved the fresh telling of an old, old story.

The DVD is now available.  If I can talk the librarian into it, there will be a copy in the UALC church library.

 http://www.seasonsofgray.com/

Echo Light Studios

Review: Dallas Star

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Windows Live Writer

I've been blogging for 10 years, but even so, nothing has made it easier than Windows Live Writer. I write my draft, it checks my spelling and grammar, let's me download the photos, and check the labels. If I copy something from another online source which has links, it picks up the links for me.  Then I hit publish.  It retains the drafts in case I find a mistake after I've posted it. I've become dependent and hardly know how to code or revise my template anymore.

http://www.hanselman.com/.../DownloadWindowsLiveWriter201...

The President is just wrong about the poor

Americans are not poor due to an income gap or rising  income inequality—that rate has been fairly stable over the years (also the poverty stats don’t count all the 79 means tested programs).

Here's the research, Mr. President. It's behavior and choice. People aren't poor because others are rich.

"If you do these [four] things, it’s almost impossible to remain poor:
1. Finish high school,
2. Get a job,
3. Don’t have children until you get married.

Those who do these things have only a 2 percent probability of remaining in poverty and a 75 percent probability of joining the middle class." John Goodman

The only new idea the left seems to have is universal preschool. (They don’t know how to reform any existing programs, so why not throw money after one more?) But the more common tactic (e.g., Paul Krugman) is to use inequality as an excuse for enacting the traditional liberal agenda — deficit spending, minimum wage increase, more unemployment compensation. If you think any of that is going to solve the fundamental problem, I know a bridge in Brooklyn that is for sale.

Remember welfare reform of the mid-90s? Even a job, any job, reduces the poverty rate. Wealth transfer doesn’t solve poverty.

"The poverty rate among full time workers is 2.9 percent as compared with a poverty rate of 16.6 percent among those working less than full time and about 24 percent for those who don’t work. Unfortunately, the percentage of adult males working has been declining for decades. The work rate among young black males is below 50 percent. By contrast, when single mothers substantially increased their work rates in the mid-1990s, the poverty rate among mother-headed families reached its lowest level ever.. .

We already spend more than enough money on means-tested programs for poor and low-income people to bring them all out of poverty. There were about 46.5 million people in poverty in 2012, a year in which spending on means-tested programs was around $1 trillion. If that money were divided up among the poor, we could spend about $22,000 per person. For a single mother and two children, that would be over $65,000. The poverty level in 2013 for a mother and two children is less than $20,000. So this strategy would work, but giving so much money to young, able-bodied adults would not be tolerated by the public. Besides, if government gave this much cash to non-workers, many low-wage workers would quit work so they too could collect welfare.”

Ron Haskins, http://www.brookings.edu/.../19-war-on-poverty-what-went...

Why is it called a farm bill?

This isn’t what the Founders meant

Black Chicagoans give their State of the Union response

Watch this SOTU response. One of the best you'll see.

 http://allenbwest.com/2014/01/incredible-video-black-chicago-sotu-response/

Thursday Thirteen--13 cities in the U.S. named for saints

How many of these have you visited?

The big ones everyone knows. . .

1. St. Louis
2. St. Augustine
3. San Francisco
4. San Antonio
5. San Diego
6. Santa Barbara
7. Santa Clara
8. Santa Ana
9. Santa Maria
10.Santa Monica
11. St. Paul

And then the not so well known

12. St. Joseph, Illinois
13. St. Mary’s City, Maryland

I have visited 1,3,4,5,6,9,10,11 and 12. That I can remember. We were in Maryland a few years ago and so St. Mary's City is a possibility. This shows the Catholic Spanish and French influences.

And there are many more cities, states, rivers, parishes and counties named for saints. But. . .I only needed 13.

Los Angeles isn't named for angels, but for Mary. "El Pueblo de Nuestra Senora la Reyna de los Angeles" (although it's a little murky).
Sacramento is named for the sacraments (after the river), but that's not its original name.
Santa Cruz is Holy Cross.

If you’d like to participate in Thursday Thirteen, check here.

Income inequality?

Inequality? Income gap? Actually white collar workers and particularly CEOs or business owners may work 60-70 hours a week, some with no vacation for years if they are owners of small businesses. Why are they demonized by this President? Years ago when a $60,000/year salary was pretty good money for a new college graduate, I knew a young woman in the investment field and thought she had it pretty good--and she did (and still does and now makes 6 figures with a stay at home husband to watch the kids and manage the household help and investments), however, she was working 70-80 hours a week at 21 for that salary and sharing a tiny apartment in New York with 2 other  women. The Wall St. company brought in catered meals--entry level workers didn't even get a break for lunch or dinner. Her annual income today should not be compared with other women who have made different choices, like working part time, or a 37.5 hour week, or 10 months a year so they can be home in the summer with the kids, or going into the arts or becoming a pastor. Oh yes, the first job for this honor student was below minimum wage as a summer resort waitress working for tips.