49% drop in gun homicide—but who knew?

There's no consensus on why gun homicide has decreased almost 50% in the last 20 years--aging population, more criminals in jail and off the streets, some kooks think it is all the aborted children who might have grown up to be criminals. But one thing is for sure, the media have been very quiet about the drop as gun ownership and population increase, and you'll never hear about it from the anti-second amendment folks like our president. http://www.pewsocialtrends.org/2013/05/07/gun-homicide-rate-down-49-since-1993-peak-public-unaware/

• In 2010, there were 3.6 gun homicides per 100,000 people, compared with 7.0 in 1993, according to CDC data.
• In 2010, CDC data counted 11,078 gun homicide deaths, compared with 18,253 in 1993.⁵
• Men and boys make up the vast majority (84% in 2010) of gun homicide victims. The firearm homicide rate also is more than five times as high for males of all ages (6.2 deaths per 100,000 people) as it is for females (1.1 deaths per 100,000 people).
• By age group, 69% of gun homicide victims in 2010 were ages 18 to 40, an age range that was 31% of the population that year. Gun homicide rates also are highest for adults ages 18 to 24 and 25 to 40.
• A disproportionate share of gun homicide victims are black (55% in 2010, compared with the 13% black share of the population). Whites were 25% of victims but 65% of the population in 2010. Hispanics were 17% of victims and 16% of the population in 2010.
• The firearm suicide rate (6.3 per 100,000 people) is higher than the firearm homicide rate and has come down less sharply. The number of gun suicide deaths (19,392 in 2010) outnumbered gun homicides, as has been true since at least 1981.

Why is all this happening?

“The Crimea is gone. Ukraine is in danger of Russian domination. Syria and Libya are in turmoil. Egypt is a basket case. We are "negotiating" with the Taliban in Afghanistan. Iraq is being overrun. The EU is in decline even as the the power of China and Russia is growing. Traditional allies of American do not trust us any longer - and for good reason - America can no longer project its power, nor is it willing to do so. America's southern border is being assaulted by illegal immigrants that we can't take care of because we are broke - a debtor nation.

Why?

The world is in chaos today for one reason. It is due to the policies enacted by the progressive Democrat Party and their leader . . .”

Michael Smith at his Facebook page.

The VA scandal hasn’t gone away

“The VA scandal is like cancer: It doesn’t go away, it just gets worse when we aren’t looking… The Obama Administration’s self-made crises with the Bowe Bergdahl prisoner swap and the new wave of underage illegal immigration knocked the VA scandal out of the news. But it was like hitting your head with a hammer to take your mind off your broken leg. And Heaven help you if you need VA treatment for either of those things. While the media were distracted, a new VA audit revealed that delayed care for veterans is even worse than we thought. Over 57,000 veterans have been waiting at least 90 days for their first visit with a VA doctor. Over the past decade, another 64,000 vets enrolled, requested a doctor’s appointment, and never even got one. And out of 731 VA hospitals reviewed, 73 percent showed evidence of fraud to cover up the lack of care. The White House is rushing to provide care for all the illegal border crossers. How about an equal sense of urgency to provide care for our veterans?” Mike Huckabee

Safer sex?

I volunteer at a free clinic, and when my tasks are finished, I read the literature. Here's a brochure on STIs and condoms that I thought was interesting. Condoms don't reduce STIs at all for oral sex, and increase the risk for HIV; condoms during anal sex may decrease your risk for rectal chlamydia and cut your chance of getting HIV by up to half; condoms used every time can cut your chance of HPV by up to 70% (HPV causes cervical cancer and causes about the same number of deaths as HIV/AIDS every year); use of condoms every time can cut your chance of genital herpes by about 30%, but once you're infected you have it for life; using condoms every time can cut your chance of getting chlamydia or gonorrhea by about half; using condoms every time can cut your chance of getting HIV by about 85%--it kills about half a million a year. Only about 2/3 of sexually active teens use condoms, and as males age, they use them even less. All these odds assume correct usage and no breakage.

Now my question is, how many people would fly or drive with these odds of arriving safely?

And I have the references to the research if you need it.

The Medical Institute

Forgive for your own sake, if nothing else

Brat defeats Cantor, but that’s not the shocker

I'm not so shocked that someone who believes in free markets and our constitution could win a place on the ballot with almost no money--I'm stunned that you can find someone like that in academe, the least diverse place in the country for the last 4 decades.

This has never happened in our history—that a House majority leader would be defeated in his party’s primary.

The mess at our border

Have you seen the photos of the "unaccompanied children" (abandoned? kidnapped?) being dropped off in Arizona and other southern states? Most aren't Mexicans--their immigration rules are stricter than the U.S. They are mostly from Central America and not welcome in Mexico. They are dark skinned, some indigenous people, some mixed-race, flooding north because opportunities for education and a comfortable life style are limited in their home countries. In their countries the... power structure in business and government is mostly white European or Mestizo. Rather than provide opportunity for all, Central America and Mexico just push their bi-racial and indigenous people north. It would be like the U.S. rounding up anyone 1/8th or more African heritage, unemployed or underemployed, and sending them to Canada or Mexico with the message that we have no job growth or opportunities because of regressive-socialist government policies, so maybe someone else can handle it.

"If the Obama administration put half the effort into securing our border as it has invested to institute this operation, our state and nation would not be facing this situation," Gov. Jan Brewer (AZ) said.

Republican candidates in search of votes, are doing their usual limp spine tap dance, instead of speaking up for what is right for American citizens, particularly our minority population who will have to compete for jobs and college slots with these newcomers.

“More likely, the migration is a result of ambivalent immigration policy that is sending mixed signals abroad. While the Obama administration has deported a record 2 million people, the administration has also extended a compassionate arm to undocumented children. It’s no surprise, then, that there’s a widespread belief in Central America that if kids can survive the treacherous journey and get across that border somehow, they will be allowed to stay.”

 http://www.sacbee.com/2014/06/08/6464441/editorial-the-international-crisis.html?storylink=lingospot#storylink=cpy

New exercise plan

Obama has created this cruel crisis

They're calling it a "humanitarian crisis." 150,000 unaccompanied children crossing our border into Arizona and Texas? Who created this? How are they getting across the border? And how did they get into Mexico from Central America, since most aren't Mexicans (a country with very strict laws about this)? Obama gave the message 2 years ago that they wouldn't be turned back if they came before 2007, but somehow that year got left out of the message and what anxious parents who want a better life for their kids wouldn't think they'd better act now and enter the U.S. and take advantage of the social welfare benefits and education opportunities. The Democrats want this chaos so they can clobber the GOP on immigration issues. I wonder if they started the rumors and hired the drivers. Children don't leave mom and dad on their own and decide to go to America.

http://riograndeguardian.com/bordernews_story.asp?story_no=23

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2014/06/09/lawmakers-fault-lax-obama-immigration-policies-for-calamity-in-arizona/

http://www.glennbeck.com/2014/06/09/did-the-obama-administration-engineer-a-humanitarian-crisis-on-the-border-to-push-a-progressive-agenda/

http://www.cnn.com/2012/06/15/politics/immigration/

“In recent weeks, a tide of young, unaccompanied minors crossing the Texas border illegally has pushed the US immigration system to its breaking point. Unable to cope with the volume of children crossing the border without their parents, immigration authorities have had to find emergency solutions, such as housing thousands in a San Antonio Air Force base, a California Navy base, and a makeshift detention center in Nogales, AZ.'”

http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/DC-Decoder/2014/0608/Illegal-immigration-how-humanitarian-crisis-on-border-could-hurt-Obama-video

These children have not been vaccinated; have no documents; they are too young to be without their parents; they can be victims of violence.

“More likely, the migration is a result of ambivalent immigration policy that is sending mixed signals abroad. While the Obama administration has deported a record 2 million people, the administration has also extended a compassionate arm to undocumented children. It’s no surprise, then, that there’s a widespread belief in Central America that if kids can survive the treacherous journey and get across that border somehow, they will be allowed to stay. “

http://www.sacbee.com/2014/06/08/6464441/editorial-the-international-crisis.html#storylink=cpy

Does this bother you?

The new student loan bail out

Today I was watching a program on college student debt, graduates living with their parents, and Obama to step in with yet another government solution. This is so counter productive. 1) Grow the economy and get them employed; 2) stop funneling money for loans so colleges won't continue to raise tuition and fees at the feed trough. Also, I don't know a single recent graduate (who chose a smart degree field) that isn't employed and whittling down his debt without my help.

http://money.cnn.com/2014/06/08/pf/college/obama-student-loans/

I don't expect the government to "create" the jobs that would help the college students pay down their debt, move out of mom's basement, get married, buy a home, etc. But I do expect the federal government to stop making it so difficult for investors to help the entrepreneurs, to stop adding burdens with new EPA regulations and health care taxes that discourage expansion, and stop making it easier for the underemployed to stay that way through transfer payments.

A message from the Master

Remember the Folger’s ads?

Petty conservatives

Ridiculing Obama because of his weights work out or for chewing gum. Come on folks. Stick to the important policy/political stuff.

Our presidents need to stay fit. I didn't remember this incident from Nov. 2004, but it seems President Bush rescued his own Secret Service agent.

http://www.outsidethebeltway.com/president_bush_aids_secret_service_agent_/

Kicking a gift horse in the teeth

Last year Wal-Mart donated $3 million to New York City charities, including $1 million to the New York Women’s Foundation, which offers job training, and $30,000 to Bailey House, which distributes groceries to low-income residents. It’s donated some $22.5 million all across New York state. In 2011, it donated $4 million to a city program that offers summer jobs to young people and since 2004 it has donated $16 million to the city’s charter schools. But corporate good will flies in the face of progressives' agenda so NYC Council has order Wal-Mart to stop. Meanwhile, unemployment and poverty in NYC is way above the national average, and under the leftist regime of De Blasio I suspect will get worse.

http://247wallst.com/retail/2014/06/07/new-york-city-ensures-no-good-deed-wal-mart-does-will-go-unpunished/#ixzz3447pq2rV

Wal-Mart the company and foundation gave more than $1 billion in cash and in-kind contributions during 2012, a record for Wal-Mart or any retailer. If De Blasio doesn't want the money, maybe your organization could use it.

http://foundation.walmart.com/apply-for-grants/local-giving

Jobless rate holds steady at 6.3%

After reading the butterfly kisses account of the “recovering economy” in the Washington Post (all jobs lost during the recession are back, and oh yes, labor participation rate is the lowest since 1978) I scanned through the comments.  Noticed this realistic one—can’t tell if the writer is left, right or middle, but s/he has obviously lost the rose colored glasses the government economists have been passing out for 5 years.

I think most of us are smart enough not to swallow the government data on job growth, rising home prices, or the brainless comment that "“we’re in the clear for the second quarter,” or any other data they throw at us. We're not as gullible as they think we are...we live in the REAL world, not from their fantasy realm in some ivory tower where they look down their noses at the working classes and fudge the numbers to make their assessments look good. How do they sleep at night?

Wonk blog, Washington Post

Here’s what an Obama recovery with added taxes, regulations, bank bail outs and crazy “cash for clunkers” looks like: 2.5years longer than any other recovery since WWII.

Is Obama inept?

Unlike many conservatives who think Obama is a bad leader, dumb, crazy or inept, I tend toward the view he is deliberately trying to destroy the economy.

 http://www.nationalreview.com/article/379654/obama-just-trying-tank-economy-stephen-moore#!

Raise minimum wage above market levels like FDR did (and half a million blacks lost their jobs); go around the Congress that voted the latest EPA regulations down because they realized what it would do to the economy; promote abortion in a country whose birth rate is already below replacement; encourage weak borders and nice perks for illegals so the non-existent citizens that were aborted can be replaced by outsiders; dumb down the education system so we can't compete in the world economy; destroy the best health care system in the world and make it even more expensive; allow a bloated bureaucracy to run the government and claim it's a complete mystery how these scandals got "whipped up."

No, that doesn't sound like a dumb or inept man--only dumb voters.

The Cool Whip President

He's being called the "cool whip President." He referred to the Bergdahl swap as "a whipped up controversy." Really, Mr. President?  It’s just a golf cliché?  "What difference does it make?" retorted Harry Reid, echoing Hillary Clinton on Benghazi. What a low opinion they have of Americans and our military and families who have lost family members. As Jonathan Turley said, "He's the president Richard Nixon always wanted to be."

PRESIDENT OBAMA in press conference in Brussels: I’m never surprised by controversies that are whipped up in Washington, all right?  [Actually he probably was surprised and shocked—he has no understanding of the American people.] That’s — that’s par for the course. But I’ll repeat what I said two days ago. We have a basic principle. We do not leave anybody wearing the American uniform behind [notice how he clarified in uniform so he can exclude an ambassador and his body guards]. We had a prisoner of war [who walked away or deserted and possibly has converted to Islam]  whose health had deteriorated [they threatened to kill him after 5 years?] and we were deeply concerned about. And we saw an opportunity and we seized it. And I make no apologies for that [No apologies for Fast and Furious, NSA snooping, IRS illegal targeting of conservatives, VA wait lists, going a round Congress after it defeated Cap and Trade, releasing information of CIA chief in Afghanistan, Benghazi deaths and gun running to Syria, supporting Arab spring, and so on].

We had discussed with Congress [in 2011] the possibility that something like this might occur. But because of the nature of the folks that we were dealing with [and the Republican House]  and the fragile nature of these negotiations, we felt it was important to go ahead [against the law he signed requiring 30 days notice]  and do what we did. And we’re now explaining [after the fact, because he’s King] to Congress the details of how we moved forward.

Seniors can ask for a discount (I’ve only tried a few)

RESTAURANTS:
Applebee's: 15% off with Golden Apple Card (60+)
Arby's: 10% off ( 55 +)
Ben & Jerry's: 10% off (60+)
Bennigan's: discount varies by location (60+)
Bob's Big Boy: discount varies by location (60+)
Boston Market: 10% off (65+)
Burger King: 10% off (60+)
Chick-Fil-A: 10% off or free small drink or coffee ( 55+)
Chili's: 10% off ( 55+)
CiCi's Pizza: 10% off (60+)
Denny's: 10% off, 20% off for AARP members ( 55 +)
Dunkin' Donuts: 10% off or free coffee ( 55+)
Einstein's Bagels: 10% off baker's dozen of bagels (60+)
Fuddrucker's: 10% off any senior platter ( 55+)
Gatti's Pizza: 10% off (60+)
Golden Corral: 10% off (60+)
Hardee's: $0.33 beverages everyday (65+)
IHOP: 10% off ( 55+)
Jack in the Box: up to 20% off ( 55+)
KFC: free small drink with any meal ( 55+)
Krispy Kreme: 10% off ( 50+)
Long John Silver's: various discounts at locations ( 55+)
McDonald's: discounts on coffee everyday ( 55+)
Mrs. Fields: 10% off at participating locations (60+)
Shoney's: 10% off
Sonic: 10% off or free beverage (60+)
Steak 'n Shake: 10% off every Monday & Tuesday ( 50+)
Subway: 10% off (60+)
Sweet Tomatoes: 10% off (62+)
Taco Bell : 5% off; free beverages for seniors (65+)
TCBY: 10% off ( 55+)
Tea Room Cafe: 10% off ( 50+)
Village Inn: 10% off (60+)
Waffle House: 10% off every Monday (60+)
Wendy's: 10% off ( 55 +)
White Castle: 10% off (62+) This is for me ... if I ever see one again.

RETAIL & APPAREL:
Banana Republic: 30% off ( 50 +)
Bealls: 20% off first Tuesday of each month ( 50 +)
Belk's: 15% off first Tuesday of every month ( 55 +)
Big Lots: 30% off
Bon-Ton Department Stores: 15% off on senior discount days ( 55 +)
C.J. Banks: 10% off every Wednesday (50+)
Clarks : 10% off (62+)
Dress Barn: 20% off ( 55+)
Goodwill: 10% off one day a week (date varies by location)
Hallmark: 10% off one day a week (date varies by location)
Kmart: 40% off (Wednesdays only) ( 50+)
Kohl's: 15% off (60+) Modell's Sporting Goods: 30% off
Rite Aid: 10% off on Tuesdays & 10% off prescriptions
Ross Stores: 10% off every Tuesday ( 55+)
The Salvation Army Thrift Stores: up to 50% off ( 55+)
Stein Mart: 20% off red dot/clearance items first Monday of every month ( 55 +)

GROCERY:
Albertson's: 10% off first Wednesday of each month ( 55 +)
American Discount Stores: 10% off every Monday ( 50 +)
Compare Foods Supermarket: 10% off every Wednesday (60+)
DeCicco Family Markets: 5% off every Wednesday (60+)
Food Lion: 60% off every Monday (60+)
Fry's Supermarket: free Fry's VIP Club Membership & 10% off every Monday ( 55 +)
Great Valu Food Store: 5% off every Tuesday (60+)
Gristedes Supermarket: 10% off every Tuesday (60+)
Harris Teeter: 5% off every Tuesday (60+)
Hy-Vee: 5% off one day a week (date varies by location)
Kroger: 10% off (date varies by location)
Morton Williams Supermarket: 5% off every Tuesday (60+)
The Plant Shed: 10% off every Tuesday ( 50 +)
Publix: 15% off every Wednesday ( 55 +)
Rogers Marketplace: 5% off every Thursday (60+)
Uncle Guiseppe's Marketplace: 15% off (62+)

TRAVEL :
Airlines:
Alaska Airlines: 50% off (65+)
American Airlines: various discounts for 50% off non-peak periods (Tuesdays - Thursdays) (62+)and up (call before booking for discount)
Continental Airlines: no initiation fee for Continental Presidents Club & special fares for select destinations
Southwest Airlines: various discounts for ages 65 and up (call before booking for discount)
United Airlines: various discounts for ages 65 and up (call before booking for discount)
U.S. Airways: various discounts for ages 65 and up (call before booking for discount)
Rail:
Amtrak: 15% off (62+)
Bus:
Greyhound: 15% off (62+)
Trailways Transportation System: various discounts for ages 50+

Car Rental:
Alamo Car Rental: up to 25% off for AARP members
Avis: up to 25% off for AARP members
Budget Rental Cars: 40% off; up to 50% off for AARP members ( 50+)
Dollar Rent-A-Car: 10% off ( 50+) Enterprise Rent-A-Car: 5% off for AARP members Hertz: up to 25% off for AARP members
National Rent-A-Car: up to 30% off for AARP members

Overnight Accommodations:
Holiday Inn: 20-40% off depending on location (62+)
Best Western: 40% off (55+)
Cambria Suites: 20%-30% off (60+)
Waldorf Astoria - NYC $5,000 off nightly rate for Presidential Suite (55 +)
Clarion Motels: 20%-30% off (60+)
Comfort Inn: 20%-30% off (60+)
Comfort Suites: 20%-30% off (60+)
Econo Lodge: 40% off (60+)
Hampton Inns & Suites: 40% off when booked 72 hours in advance
Hyatt Hotels: 25%-50% off (62+)
InterContinental Hotels Group: various discounts at all hotels (65+)
Mainstay Suites: 10% off with Mature Traveler's Discount (50+); 20%-30% off (60+)
Marriott Hotels: 25% off (62+)
Motel 6: Stay Free Sunday nights (60+)
Myrtle Beach Resort: 30% off ( 55 +)
Quality Inn: 40%-50% off (60+)
Rodeway Inn: 20%-30% off (60+)
Sleep Inn: 40% off (60+)

ACTIVITIES & ENTERTAINMENT:
AMC Theaters: up to 30% off ( 55 +)
Bally Total Fitness: $100 off memberships (62+)
Busch Gardens Tampa, FL: $13 off one-day tickets ( 50 +)
Carmike Cinemas: 35% off (65+)
Cinemark/Century Theaters: up to 35% off
Massage Envy - NYC 20% off all "Happy Endings" (62 +)
U.S. National Parks: $10 lifetime pass; 50% off additional services including camping (62+)
Regal Cinemas: 50% off Ripley's Believe it or Not: @ off one-day ticket ( 55 +)

CELL PHONE DISCOUNTS:
AT&T: Special Senior Nation 200 Plan $19.99/month (65+)
Jitterbug: $10/month cell phone service ( 50 +)
Verizon Wireless: Verizon Nationwide 65 Plus Plan $29.99/month (65+).

MISCELLANEOUS:
Great Clips: $8 off hair cuts (60+)
Supercuts: $8 off haircuts (60+)

Seen at https://www.onmogul.com

Sweet Hawaiian Crock-pot chicken

2 lb. Chicken tenderloin chunks
1 cup pineapple juice...
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup soy sauce
Combine all together, cook on low in Crock-pot 6-8 hours...that's it! Done! Serve with brown rice and you have a complete, easy meal!!

I haven’t tried this yet, but I think I’ll put it on my “bucket” list.

Comfort and diet in the same title?

I’m relocating this cook book to my Lakeside kitchen.  Not sure where I got it—yard sale, or library sale, or Volunteers of America thrift shop. But it’s fun to read in the car even if I don’t really need recipes for most of my day to day cooking.  I learned today there is a new place to eat down the road from Lakeside, Hidden Beach Bar.  "The perch are great as are the cocktails," reports a friend.

Rachel Carson’s legacy for the poor and dark skinned

The legacy of Rachel Carson [her book Silent Spring launched the modern environmentalist movement 51years ago] is that tens of millions of human lives – mostly children in poor, tropical countries – have been traded for the possibility of slightly improved fertility in raptors. This remains one of the monumental human tragedies of the last century." What are the trade offs for American's poor and low income with Obama's new oppressive EPA regulations?
http://www.forbes.com/sites/henrymiller/2012/09/05/rachel-carsons-deadly-fantasies/

 

http://cei.org/news-releases/new-study-rachel-carson-was-wrong?

As a direct result of Bergdahl’s actions

MSG Mark Allen

"Meet my husband, injuries directly brought to you by the actions of this traitor. He can't give an account of what went down, because he can no longer speak. Now, which guy is a 'hero' again?!? Sick."

Yup.

“Hip bursitis may involve pain on the side of the hip, often radiating to the thigh. The hip area may be painful to the touch. Although range of motion of the hip may appear normal during the physical exam, the symptoms of trochanteric bursitis may be exacerbated by lying on your side, walking (especially uphill), climbing stairs and standing up from a seated position.”

Physical therapy is making a difference, but slowly. I can now walk downstairs without pain, but walking upstairs is still an effort. I think I’m walking faster, but still limp. The exercises are for strengthening the core so that I don’t reinjure anything, and for making the left leg stronger, because apparently the right was doing more than its share, thus causing the inflammation.

Based on the pain, I realize this had gradually been coming on for years, but because it would go away when I stopped whatever aggravated it, I didn’t give it much thought.  In mid-December, after a vigorous day of up and down stairs in various buildings, the pain just never stopped.

Inspiring, but makes my bursitis hurt just thinking about it

91-year-old Harriette Thompson set a new world record Sunday after she ran a marathon in San Diego in little over seven hours! Her feat, which also made her the second-oldest woman to complete a marathon in US history, is especially remarkable given that Thompson only completed her last radiation treatment for skin cancer one month ago. The grandmother of ten from Charlotte, North Carolina beat... the previous marathon record for women 90 and up by two hours and 45 minutes.

Thompson ran her first marathon at age 76 and tells people that "it's never too late" to start exercising. She has run in 15 out of the past 16 Rock ‘n’ Roll San Diego Marathons and raised over $90,000 for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society in the process. A classically trained pianist, Thompson told WFAE that she replays pieces in her head to keep pace while running: "I usually think of Chopin etudes, the ones that are technically difficult, because usually they're pretty fast, and it stimulates me to go a little faster, and also helps pass the time."

http://ftw.usatoday.com/2014/06/harriette-thompson-marathon

http://www.people.com/article/harriette-thompson-91-finishes-marathon-in-san-diego

http://running.competitor.com/2014/06/news/record-setting-day-harriette-thompson-san-diego_104482

Bergdahl and Obama

When the President loses the support of the New York Times, Washington Post, CNN AND CHRIS MATTHEWS, he's in deep doo-doo. He's traded five of the most powerful guys of the Taliban for one deserter, who will just come back to kill more Muslims and more Americans, and probably our allies who went to war with the U.S. 10 years ago. Bush had a lot of support here at home, from both parties and from numerous allies. Even Senator Obama said Afghanistan was the "good war." Obama has zip nada zilch for breaking the law in what he did--I haven't heard a single person on the left (except Rice) say this was a good idea.

The soldiers who served with this guy are able to break
their gag law now and speak out, and we know at least 6 Americans died looking for Bergdahl after he deserted. They've got his messages and e-mails about his disillusionment and hate for the military and his country.

At first I thought this happy clappy joyful bringing home a POW might just be to cover the VA mess, but although it did wipe that out of the head lines, this is just too bizarre. We don't need any conspiracy theories from the Tea Party--this is open, stupid and right out there for everyone to see. Calls for impeachment are getting loud. This seems to be worse than diddling an intern and then lying about it on the stand.

They had family too.

CNN reports: "On August 18, 2009, Staff Sgt. Clayton Bowen and Pfc. Morris Walker were killed by an IED in the search for Bergdahl. Staff Sgt. Kurt Curtiss was killed on August 26; 2nd Lt. Darryn Andrews and Pfc. Matthew Michael Martinek were killed after being attacked in Yahya Khail District on September 4; Staff Sgt. Michael Murphrey was killed September 5 by an IED at the Forward Operating Base, Sharana.

Moreover, other operations were put on hold while the search for Bergdahl was made a top priority, according to officers who served in Afghanistan in that time. Manpower and assets -- such as scarce surveillance drones and helicopters -- were redirected to the hunt. The lack of assets is one reason the closure of a dangerous combat outpost, COP Keating, was delayed. Eight soldiers were killed at COP Keating before it was ultimately closed."

Outing the CIA station chief

Religion in the public square

"What we believe--or don't believe--about God profoundly shapes what we believe about the nature of the human person and the purpose of human society. It follows that the more we remove God from our public life, the more we remove the moral vocabulary that gives our public institutions meaning. The more secularized we become, the more we undermine the common good and the more we feed the problems that are hurting us as a nation." Charles J. Chaput, archbishop of Philadelphia, “We can’t be silent,” First Things, May 2014

This failed in Congress, with his own party, so he’s going it alone

Cap and Trade failed in Congress--there weren't enough Democrats to support it. Some of them want the economy to recover, and want to hold their seats.  But Obama really owes his leftist supporters, so he's going it alone.  Who needs a Congress when you've got a Czar? In a week in which he gave the worst speech of his career, traded five terrorists for a deserter, was AWOL on the VA scandal, and got two members of his administration to take the fall for him, his ratings couldn't go any lower, so why not just confirm that Congress is an outdated vestige of a past that included a Constitution that outlaws just about everything he does?.

“Personally, I'm pretty skeptical that enough Democrats would have embraced cap and trade, even if the president had put it before health care. Democrats were willing to do a suicide charge on health care because they (incorrectly, so far) assumed that it would be much more popular after it was passed. Only a lunatic could have thought that Cap and Trade would be more popular once it started taking chunks out of peoples' paychecks. Especially in the middle of a brutal economic crisis.” http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/01/17/why-did-cap-and-trade-fail

The truth is there weren’t enough Democrats willing to support a carbon cap, let along Republicans. Michael Shellenberger of the Breakthrough Institute—a think tank that is highly skeptical of cap and trade—told me that his group spoke to environmental lobbyists back in 2008 who were working on a cap-and-trade bill in the Senate then, the Warner-Lieberman bill. Though it never went to a full vote, Shellenberger believes that a carbon cap bill in 2008 would have received no more than 35 votes. Now there are more Democrats in the Senate than there were then, and political realities change with a Democratic president in the White House—but that’s still a huge gap. http://science.time.com/2010/07/22/cap-and-trade-is-dead-really-truly-im-not-kidding-whos-to-blame/

Why blame Reagan?

In 1984, the HIV virus was identified by the U.S. Public Health Service and French scientists. In 1985, a blood test to detect HIV was licensed. Yet gay advocates criticize President Reagan for not speaking out about it until 1987 even though he had instructed his Surgeon General to issue a report in February 1986. (I even saw that on the cover of Entertainment magazine recently.) Gay bars, bathhouses and rampant promiscuity continued, but somehow it's Reagan's fault men were dying from their own sexual behavior?

What other president is blamed for deaths from disease before treatment/cure was found? There were at least 9 deadly diseases known to kill citizens in Washington's 2 terms. Inoculation for small pox was being tried in the mid 18th century and Jefferson didn't advocate for it until 1806. Even Lincoln got small pox after Gettysburg. FDR didn't start the March of Dimes until almost 20 years after he'd had polio. The Fords and Carters advocated for childhood vaccines 30+ years after I'd been vaccinated in 1945 and 1953. 45 years after the Surgeon General's report on smoking, President Obama was still smoking.

In the U.S. 443,000 people die prematurely from tobacco related illnesses each year according to the CDC--more people than alcohol, AIDS, car accidents, illegal drugs, murders and suicides combined and WWII deaths!. Not a peep from the White House (except to raise the cigarette tax which disproportionately hurts the poor).

So why the anger at Reagan for not jumping on the HIV band wagon?

Boko Haram killed 9 in Nigerian village

I grew up in and was baptized in the Church of the Brethren, as were my parents, grandparents, great grandparents and siblings.  Even as a little girl I enjoyed hearing the stories of taking Christ to the Nigerians, and eventually there was a strong Brethren church there, EYN, Ekklesiyar Yan’uwa a Nigeria. The Brethren Newsline of May 20, 2014, reported that five EYN members were killed by Boko Haram who are seeking a pure Islamic state for Nigeria. Nine were killed in the village of Shawa.

The wife of EYN president, Rebecca Dali writes: “We need your prayers.  Now there is virtually no security in Borno State, especially outside Maiduguri.  Many have fled to Cameroon.  In refugee camps in Cameroon and for some who are displaced there was no food, medical, or other kinds of help.  The government, even when warned, does not stop the violence.  People are suffering.”

The school from which the girl were kidnapped was established by a Brethren missionary couple now living in Kansas.

http://www.hutchnews.com/news/local_state_news/mcpherson-couple-watching-events-unfold-at-nigerian-school-where-they/article_ca81e3ca-e875-5ab1-a28a-bc6ad654e512.html

Sue after the sale

“Donald Sterling, who has co-owned the Los Angeles Clippers with his wife since 1981, sued the National Basketball Association a day after she agreed to sell the team for $2 billion following the uproar over Sterling’s racist comments.

Sterling, 80, seeks more than $1 billion in damages, claiming the NBA violated his constitutional rights by banning him from the sport for life, fining him $2.5 million and taking steps to strip him of ownership of the team solely on basis of a conversation with his lover he said was illegally recorded.”

http://www.newsmax.com/Newsfront/Donald-Sterling-NBA-Clippers-lawsuit/2014/05/30/id/574363#ixzz33ISJknkC

I know nothing about the law, but unless racist comments with his mistress in a private conversation was included in a contract of 33 years ago, I think he has a case. He has been defamed, humiliated in public and stripped of his property.  And they have what?  Illegally recorded and sold to the media conversation.

Shinseki and Carney go bye-bye

Two useful solutions for VA scandal

Paul Krugman, eat crow. Romney suggested private vouchers for veterans and was roundly ridiculed on the left. However, Obama said there were problems in 2008 and did nothing but ask for more money. It's control, not money. VA health system is socialized medicine, the direction all leftists want us to go. The pro-choice crowd wants no choice for education, veterans' health, light bulbs, etc. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/14/opinion/krugman-vouchers-for-veterans-and-other-bad-ideas.html?_r=0

It wouldn't take a genius: give the veterans vouchers to introduce some competition and reduce the wait time, and get rid of the unions. Why, when we already have civil service and professional organizations for every medical specialty, does there need to be union bosses calling the shots for veterans' health?

http://nypost.com/2014/05/28/how-unions-share-blame-for-va-deaths/

http://www.nationalreview.com/article/379051/while-vets-wait-va-employees-do-union-work-jillian-kay-melchior

Respect the bee

Shinseki takes the fall for the president

I'll only defend the president to this point. The VA has systemic problems that existed before January 2009. We know this because he claimed it so during his first campaign, and we know how he can be trusted on campaign promises to clean up problems with complete transparency.  However, the VA medical system is our completely socialized medical component of government health care (we have four—Medicare, Medicaid and CHIP are private/public partnerships with government being heavy handed), and the failures are consistent with the philosophy of having the government own and run health care.

"Eric K. Shinseki resigned Friday as secretary of veterans affairs, taking responsibility for a scandal in the VA health-care system over excessive waiting times and cover ups of what he called “systemic” problems."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/shinseki-apologizes-for-va-health-care-scandal/2014/05/30/e605885a-e7f0-11e3-8f90-73e071f3d637_story.html

http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/transcript-obamas-remarks-on-resignation-of-va-secretary-eric-shinseki/2014/05/30/92cd831a-e80c-11e3-afc6-a1dd9407abcf_story.html

Head injuries in sports

Glad to see the president is getting up to speed on head injuries (especially in children). I blogged about this 7 years ago. Welcome aboard, Mr. President. I didn't even have a scandal or two to cover up. http://collectingmythoughts.blogspot.com/2007/11/head-injuries-in-sports-columbus.html

Dr. [Daniel] Amen, who has seen over 30,000 brain scans, says: "I would not let my children hit a soccer ball with their heads, play tackle football, or snowboard without a helmet. I encourage my own kids to play tennis, golf, table tennis, and track. Your brain matters. Respect and protect it."

If an NFL players has also played little league, high school and college football, imagine the trauma to his brain.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/obama-to-host-a-white-house-summit-on-growing-conerns-over-sports-head-injuries/2014/05/28/d49e48ae-e5ac-11e3-afc6-a1dd9407abcf_story.html

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2014/05/29/recalling-own-injuries-obama-calls-for-end-to-suck-it-up-culture-in-youth-sports/

Glenn Beck’s monologue about rape statistics

The anti-Beck forces were out saying his producer and side-kick Stu was ridiculing the seriousness of rape, when in fact  he was questioning the phony rape statistics recently published for political reasons (need to hang on the female vote?). Most rapes happen to men, and on today’s radio show Glenn talks about how his father was raped as a young man. He’s irate that truth has been cheapened in this latest study about rape where feeling pressured or feeling sorry is equated with rape.

“I will not comply. You do not own my thoughts. A few things are very clear to me, and no amount of speech giving or bumper stickers or EPA, NSA, IRS threats will ever change the facts that are true.

These are just a few of them: My child’s fingers are not, nor will they ever be a gun. Those who survived the Holocaust did not do so because of white privilege. A Hollywood blacklist is exactly the same horror show, whether the names on that list are communists or conservatives. 2 plus 2 equals 4. Always has, always will. I don’t give a flying crap how you got there, as long as you got there, to 4. Global warming is not the same as global cooling or global climate change, which is different than global climate crisis and none of them have to do with the shootings in Chicago or the idea of regulating the very vapor that we as humans breathe out, that we all learn trees breathe in to grow. That is just as ridiculous as your straight face plan to now regulate cow farts.

I’m sorry, but I respectfully, lovingly, yet full-throated declare that is nonsense. I also declare the self-evident truth that racism is not about having high expectations. Racism is not about standards. And rape certainly is not about someone asking for sex too many times and then being sad when you turn them down.

If you had the facts on how brutal rape is, it shows how awful your peer-reviewed study questions really are. Let’s contrast and compare, shall we, America? Who is hurting women? Who is standing up for women? Who is defending them and who is using them, merely for political power?”

http://www.glennbeck.com/2014/05/29/glenn-shares-painful-family-history-of-abuse-in-response-to-critics/

Emma Watson gets a pass on Brown’s gun ban

The older “student” is actually an armed guard protecting a movie star.  Others?  I guess they are either not safe, or extremely safe.  Either way, it’s hypocrisy.

Story at Time.

Helping the uninsured children of America

Of the 6.6 million uninsured American children in 2009 (7.2% of all children), about 2/3 were actually already eligible for health coverage through Medicaid or CHIP. About 40% of that 7.2% were children of illegal immigrants, but are American citizens by birth. Now with Obamacare, things will really be screwed up, and it's possible if CHIP funding lapses (which logically shouldn't be needed if we've got this other wonderful plan), there could be more uninsured children than before the ACA.

Now, I'm no math genius, but if 92.8% of all American children were insured either by private insurance or their parents' employer, and 40% of the uninsured were children of illegal immigrants, and 2/3 were eligible for a government plan already in place, were there no geniuses in this administration would could figure out a way to help these children without messing up every other child's plan?

Statistics from JAMA, May 7, 2014.

God created male and female for a reason

". . . and God saw that it was good" is a familiar phrase in the first Chapter of Genesis--light, water, vegetation, stars, swarms of living creatures in the water and the heavens, beasts and cattle and creeping things. All are pronounced “good” working up to his best creation. And finally "God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. God blessed them; and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it. . ." Then in the second chapter of Genesis we get more detail on what is good--instead of recording, "it was good" after God created Adam, he said, “It is NOT GOOD for the man to be alone; I will make him a helper suitable for him.”

There are virtually no differences between an Asian man and an African man--some skin cells and maybe hair texture. Nothing of importance. But between an Asian man and an Asian woman there are thousands of differences in brains, blood cells, skeletal systems, endocrine system and hormones, cardiovascular system, sexual organs, muscles and cells. Every cell has a sex. The blood of women has more water. Even our fingers are shaped differently. Women's hearts beat more rapidly. We respond differently to stress, as seen in MRIs. Women are better suited for life from their beginning--more than 140 male babies are conceived for every 100 females; by the time birth occurs, the ratio is 105 to 100, with the rest of the males dying in spontaneous abortions. That's because God wanted the human race to continue, and a new life needs both a mother and father--each new life getting something from each parent. You can redefine marriage if you wish, but not the plan.

Embracing change?

Pope Francis embraces his Jewish Rabbi (Abraham Skorka) and Muslim Iman (Omar Abboud) friends at the Western 'wailing' wall of Jerusalem. . . .”Father Rocky” Rev. Francis J. Hoffman - Priest, Author, Speaker, Ex. Dir. of Relevant Radio.

HIV/AIDS increasing among black gay men

"Published research does not provide definitive answers about why new HIV infections among young, black/African American gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men (MSM) have increased. However, black/African American MSM of all ages experience racial disparities in health and are more likely than other gay and bisexual men of other races/ethnicities to encounter broader social and economic barriers. These and other factors place black/African American MSM at higher risk for HIV."  “In fiscal year (FY) 2011, approximately 41percent of the CDC’s budget was targeted to HIV prevention activities for MSM.” CDC fact sheet.

I am stunned that “research” is blaming racial disparities and homophobia for the increase in HIV at a time when gay sex is practically being pushed into the forefront of every news story, and everyone should be covered with Obamacare.

Here’s the score.  Anal sex is transmitting HIV, not poverty, not stigma, not society. And the more that is encouraged and normalized (by “safer” sex methods), the higher the transmission rate. Also, young people know there is treatment available if they develop HIV, so there is little reason to be cautious as men were becoming in the 80s.

New statistics from the New York Department of Health and Hygiene and the Centers for Disease Control show that, in New York City, the majority of 647 women who tested HIV-positive in 2012 acquired the virus through unprotected sex with bisexual men.

There is so much money being funneled into community based prevention and behavioral programs that recipients would be crazy to ever find a way to stop young men from having sex with each other an end the government gravy train. For example:

$111 million Expanded Testing Initiative (ETI)

$55 million to 34 states and cities  to support HIV testing services  for  minority at-risk populations.

$240,000 over two years to two organizations—AIDS Unitedand theCenter for Black Equity (formerly the International Federation of Black Prides) to increase awareness

NYC article

RCA congregation votes to leave and reaffiliate

On April 27, 2014, University Reformed Church (URC) voted 282-9 in favor of leaving the Reformed Church in America (RCA) and affiliating with the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA).

This church is located at 841 Timberlane, East Lansing, MI 48823.

 http://thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/kevindeyoung/2014/05/27/university-reformed-church-votes-to-leave-the-rca/

Death and the Civil War—PBS

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/films/death/

The greatest loss of life of any U.S. war was the Civil War, where 1 in 5 Americans experienced the loss of someone they knew.  There was no system for burying the dead at that time as a responsibility of the government.  This film is fascinating history.  It is also on-line.

Napoleon Bonaparte Corbett

2nd great grand uncle, buried at Stones River National Battleground, died 1863 according to Find a Grave. Thanks to “cousin” Berta whose husband took the photo for sharing this. "Bonaparte was a Corporal in Company D 3rd Tennessee Volunteer Cavalry. His regiment was organized at Murfreesboro and Nashville, Tennessee and was mustered in for a three year enlistment on January 27, 1863 under the command of Colonel William C. Pickens."

Rhubarb dump cake

 

1 pound rhubarb, cut into 1/4 inch pieces (between 3 and 4 cups)
1 cup white sugar
1 (3 ounce package) strawberry jell-o
1 package yellow cake mix
1 cup water
1/4 cup butter, melted
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9x13 inch baking dish. Spread the rhubarb evenly in the bottom of the baking dish. Sprinkle the sugar over the rhubarb, followed by the jell-o, and finally the cake mix. Pour the water and melted butter over the top. Do not stir. Bake for 45 minutes or until the rhubarb is tender.

Looks yummy.  I have everything except the rhubarb on hand.

Plains, Georgia is the site of the newest Chautauqua

Today in church at Lakeside I learned that Plains, Georgia is one of our newest Chautauqua locations with the help and support of President Carter. Representatives of Lakeside Chautauqua were on hand for the opening. Almost a century ago, many towns hosted traveling Chautauqua which brought music and the arts to rural communities. My father as a child attended a Chautauqua in Dixon, IL which had permanent buildings, and my mother attended the Chautauqua in Franklin Grove, IL which had sites for tents. The one in Plains seems to be a revitalization of one like that, and not a whole season like we have in Lakeside, Ohio and Chautauqua, NY. http://www.plainschautauqua.com/

 

Eastern Illinois University has Chautauqua information in its archive.  "Chautauquas were retreat camps, primarily for adults. The Chautauqua movement can be traced to 1874 at Lake Chautauqua, New York when a group of Protestant ministers began a training camp for Sunday school teachers. Chautauquas grew in popularity and spread throughout the country. The actual format of chautauqua programming varied within each camp. Some were more religious based, while others focused more on entertainment. The chautauqua movement peaked in the 1920's but declined as radio and other new technologies created new forms of entertainment and recreation for Americans." http://booth.library.eiu.edu/archon/index.php...

http://ciweb.org/literary-arts?gclid=CIKokrbGx74CFahAMgodoWUANw

A message from our niece, Joanie

http://www.indianasnewscenter.com/news/local/1413th-Engineer-Company-Deploys-To-Afghanistan-256922571.html

Déjà vu, but now it’s Syria

"But without U.S. involvement, the worst-case predictions are coming true: More than 160,000 people have been killed, more than 9 million have been displaced from their homes, and terrorists allied with al-Qaeda are establishing safe zones from which they can attack Europe and the United States."

Sorry, Washington Post, isn't this what we were told in 2003 about Hussein? Washington Post editorializes on how Obama has failed miserably in Syria. If Bush was so wrong about Iraq (had bi-partisan support and Clinton era intelligence) according to WaPo and other MSM, what makes them so sure about Syria?

Editorial

How do Democrats get away with these lies

Watchdog.org is reporting that 308,000 Virginia voters are also registered elsewhere, according to an analysis of 22 states’ election records. How many of the 308,000 voters cast multiple ballots in a single election is not known, but the group Election Integrity Maryland found 164 individuals who voted in both states in 2012.

I volunteer at a free clinic in Columbus. I've yet to meet a client who didn't have ID--most are not driver's licenses but are provided by the state. They need it for government benefits. Why do Democrats lie about the importance of having an ID?

I know a dog that talks like this

The church is a hospital for sinners, and also cares for the sick

We know why the church takes care of the sick--Jesus commanded it and also miraculously healed them himself setting the example and commanded his immediate disciples (of whom we are heirs) to do the same. Over the centuries the Christian church, particularly the Roman Catholic church, has been the largest social service agency. But why does the government do it when it picks and chooses (over the centuries) the sinners and the winners? Governments have killed far more people than religious leaders could even consider, plus they use religious sects (of any faith) to do the dirty work. In the U.S. we have the push for government health insurance when 85% of the citizens already were satisfied with what they had and a large portion of those who didn't have insurance were eligible for a minimal care level already provided. That's an inordinate amount of power to hand to any entity. At the same time, 55 million have been put to death with the government's blessing and regulated abortion industry.

Summer reading for teens

Last night my neighbor asked me about summer selections for reading for her 15 year old grandson. He has a school suggested list with 2 books required. I have no experience in what teens read, but I was surprised by the list. Seemed awfully mature (and depressing). One was Killer Angels, an historical novel about the Civil War and is used in military schools; another was The Help, about black women who worked as household help in the South of the early 60s, but the narrator is white. The last runaway--an English woman and the underground railroad—which my book club read this year. I read a lot as a teen--mostly historical fiction, but probably not what adults suggested.

So I checked the Internet for summer reading lists. Although there were a few classics, many I found disturbing. Like the one about a boy who lives in a homeless shelter with his spaced out mother because dad is in prison; a 5 year old growing up in 1 room because his mother has been held prisoner for 7 years (like the Cleveland story); Devil in the White City (scariest book I've ever read). But then, Les Miserables and Uncle Tom's Cabin (also on the list) aren't a walk in the park

What are your children/grandchildren reading this summer?

Last federal land acquisition—Organ Mountains in New Mexico

Illegals use the Organ Mountains In New Mexico to smuggle drugs. It's a pathway for illegals to enter the country. Now the President has made this area a national monument. Good-bye local law enforcement. The push to nationalize this area began before the present administration.

 http://www.publicnewsservice.org/2014-05-20/public-lands-wilderness/obama-to-designate-organ-mountains-a-national-monument/a39495-1

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-politics/wp/2014/05/21/obama-declares-the-organ-mountains-desert-peaks-region-of-n-m-a-national-monument/

http://www.lcsun-news.com/las_cruces-news/ci_25381121/town-hall-pans-proposed-u-s-senate-legislation

The Veterans Affairs medical scandal—or cover up--whichever

Just for the record--2 Columbus veterans (WWII and Korean War era) we know say our local VA facility is fabulous and they've never waited for care and have been treated very well. The current VA scandal--wait times particularly--has been known for years, or why else would Senator Obama have campaigned on it in 2008 as a way to blame Bush? But the truth is, and what will be pushed under the rug, a national health care system (we have 4--Medicare, Medicaid, VA and S-CHIP) run from Washington is just too big and bureaucratic--and he knew that going into his own push to nationalize health insurance for the rest of us. 

http://www.columbus.va.gov/

http://www.yellowpages.com/columbus-oh/va-hospital

I need one of these

Our vigilant free press is on duty. . . NOT

Can he save even one American?

Mr. President, you and your campaign staff blew the 9/11/12 attacks in Libya. Don't blow this one. If you can take in millions of illegals, you can free one American. Or can you?

This active Marine reservist is imprisoned in Mexico for taking a wrong turn.

The duping of Americans

If you look at the rationale for Electronic Medical Records, it was always about the data (which can be massaged, sold to the highest bidder and used for policy), because its value for health had never been decided. This should come as no surprise. It's the invention of Zeke Emanuel who said, "Vague promises of savings from cutting waste, enhancing prevention and wellness, installing electronic medical records and improving quality of care are merely 'lipstick' cost control, more for show and public relations than for true change." JAMA, Feb. 27, 2008.

And now this. . . and it won’t be the only invasion of your private records.

The federal government is piecing together a sweeping national “biosurveillance” system that will give bureaucrats near real-time access to Americans’ private medical information in the name of national security, according to Twila Brase, a public health nurse and co-founder of the Citizens Council for Health Freedom.

The Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response is currently seeking public comment on a 52-page draft of the proposed “National Health Security Strategy 2015-2018” (NHSS).

Read more here.

Eric Holder, racist in chief

Americans love special anniversaries. 60 years--1954 Brown v. Board of Education and 50 years--1964 Civil Rights Act and LBJ's Great Society. And of course, 2014 when Eric Holder and the Obama Administration prattle that America's made no progress and we're still just a bunch of racists (forgetting that the KKK, Jim Crow, and segregated education system belonged to Democrat policies).

So an 80 year old billionaire in a private conversation with his black mistress can undo trillions of dollars of government programs and transfers? Really an insult to our history and progress. But for the left, it's never enough, there's never progress for the progressives. Keep it churning or lose your jobs.

According to Eric Holder (who was allowed to speak at graduation) zero tolerance for violence in schools is racist and signifies resegregation. So, let's look at this. Little white boys in 3rd grade who are suspended for pointing a finger like a gun violate this policy and will be punished by a suspension, but a black child will get a pass for beating up a classmate on the bus? What is it called when Condi Rice is disinvited to speak at graduation? She probably would have given some inspiring advice to graduates; all Holder did was give a whiny political screed.

Active duty reservist jailed in Mexico

Andrew Tahmooressi, an active reservist Marine, 2 tours of duty in Afghanistan, is in jail in Mexico for accidentally entering the country with weapons in his car. Where is his commander in chief?

http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/news/2014/05/16/11-tapes-released-us-marine-jailed-in-mexico-bolster-case-accidentally-crossed/

The Left’s War on Women

Michele Bachmann fostered 23 children before she got into politics. The Left never denied it, but criticized her for talking about it! After all, it was in her past and shouldn't be brought up. It’s not like she did something useful like being a community organizer. She didn't actually "raise them" was the criticism--some were short term. They also criticized her for not winning by larger margins, for raising support for her campaigns, for being a Democrat before she was a Republican, for how many chiefs of staff she had, etc., etc. She got more scrutiny than the President, whose time in office has been riddled with scandals. Just a part of the Democrat war on women who don't slide in to power on their husband's coattails (Clinton) or lie about their heritage by calling themselves Native Americans (Warren).

Graduation speakers play the race card

Michelle Obama and Eric Holder performed as the President's surrogates as graduation speakers complaining about race in America. What a terrible message for graduates. But what they didn't say was that under Obama, almost all measures for poverty, unemployment, income gap and social gains have worsened for blacks who supported him (13% of the electorate, 96% voted for him) . This administration defaults to race baiting when it flounders. I'm guessing that even college seniors have this figured out.

http://www.newsmax.com/Newsfront/obama-blacks-poverty-education/2014/01/08/id/545866/

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2014/05/19/michelle-obama-would-like-students-to-monitor-family-members-for-racial-insensitivity/

What the Rutgers graduates missed when they protested Condolezza Rice,

“a person who grew up poor in Jim Crow Alabama. Who lost a friend and playmate in 1963 when white supremacists bombed Birmingham’s Sixteenth Street Baptist Church. Who became an accomplished concert pianist before she tuned her ear to the more dissonant chords of international relations.

Secretary Rice was Phi Beta Kappa at the University of Denver and received a B.A. cum laude in political science—back before the worst grade a student had ever heard of was a B-.

The professor who influenced her most was Josef Korbel, Secretary of State Madeleine Albright’s father.

Secretary Albright and Secretary Rice don’t agree on much about international relations. But they don’t sit-in or teach-in at each other’s public appearances.

Secretary Rice got a master’s in political science from Notre Dame, a Ph.D. in political science from Denver and, in the meantime, was an intern at the Carter administration State Department and the Rand Corporation and studied Russian at Moscow State University.

She rose from assistant professor to provost at Stanford. (Ranked fifth-best university in America by U.S. News & World Report. You’re ranked 69^th.) While she was doing that, she also served, from 1989 to 1991, as the Soviet expert on the White House National Security Council under President George H. W. Bush. . .

Condoleezza Rice was named National Security Adviser in December 2000, less than a year before some horrific events that you may know of. She became Secretary of State in 2005 during an intensely difficult period in American history . . . And she saw the job through to the end of the fraught and divisive George W. Bush presidency, making moral and ethical decisions of such a complex and contradictory nature that they would have baffled Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle . . .

Here you are graduating from Rutgers, which is, as I mentioned, the 69^th-best university in America. Maybe Rutgers should add more vegan selections to its cafeteria fare. U.S. News & World Report scorekeepers go for that kind of thing. Actually, you’re tied for 69^th with Texas A&M, an NFL first-round draft with a small college attached.”

PJ O’Rourke, My Commencement Speech to Rutgers’ Geniuses

Sensory overload

Last night I came across a website called Verge Network, created a few years back to feature the "missional movement" among churches (most seem to be mega churches--haven't yet found the source.) I looked through some very good preaching and high tech videos, but after an hour of browsing I felt I'd had enough of seeing preachers in jeans and t-shirts, dark, massive assembly halls, waving arms, spot lights, cluttered stages with guitars and Peaveys and floors littered with cords. But that's how "successful" churches do it these days. Join the culture in order to reach the culture.

A few centuries ago, soaring arches, stained glass windows, marble statues, and amazing organs and choirs were all meant to appeal to the senses, particularly for those who couldn't read. Nothing has changed, I guess—except then the churches seemed to be leading the culture.

Who needs voter ID—The United States

Research commissioned by the Pew Center on the States

•Approximately 24 million—one of every eight—voter registrations in the United States are no longer valid or are significantly inaccurate.
•More than 1.8 million deceased individuals are listed as voters.
•Approximately 2.75 million people have registrations in more than one state.
Voter ID can't cure all these problems, but sure couldn't hurt.

http://www.pewtrusts.org/our_work_report_detail.aspx?id=85899370677

A message for the White Privilege Conference 2014

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7LT11g8W524#t=111

Insults whites, demeans minorities.

“I refuse to be cheapened by your poorly formed malicious ideology. The Age of Enlightenment was about just that; the idea that as an individual, I can reach for the stars and control my own destiny. Racism has no impact on that, because excellence goes before an individual paving the way to their goals.”  Stacey Washington, Conservative radio host and blogger.

Tolerance is not a value of the left

If you ever asked where's the fairness or tolerance and where's the love, forget it. It's not your mother's 1960s. Leftists/feminists/socialists/communists were never about fairness or tolerance--only power.

Two campus movements--the stamp out white privilege and the ginned up rape crisis--are actually about destroying men. If the college your son or daughter has chosen requires these, then don't pay that ridiculous tuition--go elsewhere. Maybe a trade school where they will learn something useful.

I really doubt that a gay student will be brought up on rape charges for an unwanted kiss, but a straight kid will be; and I'm pretty sure that no matter how aggressive she is, there will be very few daughters being charged with holding the reins of power.

This year's White Privilege conference included sessions on the Tea Party and Climate Change.

http://downtrend.com/robertgehl/incoming-students-at-harvard-will-be-required-to-take-white-privilege-class/ See More

Miss Beazley has passed. RIP

“Miss Beazley’s arrival at the White House caused quite a stir, gaining international media coverage and her own appearance on CSPAN.

She, and a chagrined-looking Barney were the subjects of a 2005 White House video titled “A Very Beazley Christmas,” in which various politicians are smitten with the new pooch as Barney is pawed out of the limelight.”

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/beazley-dog-george-w-bush-died-president-announced-saturday-article-

Celebrating Brown v. Board of Education

Although true, presenting this as a black and white discussion is unfortunate. The Democrats have simply absconded with history. And this is important in remembering Brown v. Board of Education and other legislation fought for in the 1950s this year.

 

Transgendered military

The New York Times this week claimed 15,000 members of the military are transgendered (mostly male to female according to other sources). That would mean over 1% of the military are transgendered. The Center of Excellence for Transgender Health at University of California at San Francisco estimates 1 in 30,000 people is a transwoman (biologically male) and 1 in 100,000 people is transman (biologically female). Even if every transgendered person in America were now active duty military, that’s a long way from 15,000. Or, correct my math.

http://transhealth.ucsf.edu/tcoe?page=lib-trans-count

And the waltz goes on

He started composing when he was about 9. Anthony Hopkins wrote this waltz in 1964 in Liverpool Playhouse. Finally sent it to Andre Rieu.