Why do wealthy, single women vote for Democrats?

R.R. Reno observes:

“Thus we have the seemingly odd political instincts of a single, 35-year-old McKinsey consultant living in suburban Chicago who thinks of herself as vulnerable and votes for enhanced social programs designed to protect against the dangers and uncertainties of life. Why would a woman whose 401K already exceeds $1,000,000 and who owns a condo worth almost as much be so concerned to expand public support for in-home care of the elderly? It’s because she’s not married and feels as though she’s going to have to take on all the responsibilities of life on her own—a prospect that is indeed daunting."
 
http://www.firstthings.com/blogs/firstthoughts/2014/08/the-dilemma-facing-social-conservatives

She seems to think that if Republicans are in office they will somehow take away programs that help her?  She cares about the poor and thinks the GOP will slash benefits? 

I’d like to see the evidence that Republicans have ever NOT supported massive government spending (Obamacare was the first ever that didn’t have a single Republican vote). It’s a campaign lie that women and minorities are told to keep their vote. If they didn’t, all our debt and deficit would be only on the shoulders of the Democrats. Do you really want that responsibility? The best (and least) they’ve done is to vote against huge increases, but nothing ever decreases. The biggest social services president was GW Bush, until Barack Obama came along. His ARRA added $100 billion in federal aid to education in 2009, and yet when it wasn’t continued or increased, it’s called a cut and blamed on Republicans. Race to the Top is Obama’s program, but No Child Left Behind was Bush’s, both extravagant, wasteful interference in local education systems which now have to teach to the test.

If wealthy, white educated women are worried about their futures as they age, because they aren’t married, they need to be studying investments, markets, tax loop holes, etc., not supporting a president who cavorts with Hollywood celebs, lobbyists for banks, and Union officials and wants to take more of their hard earned money by raising tax rates or contemplating a wealth tax.

The federal government alone currently funds and operates 126 different welfare or anti-poverty programs. If even one is “cut” or “combined” there are screams of mean and stingy GOP, yet obviously they are not moving people up the ladder of prosperity (nor are they even included in studies of income, which they should be).

Medicaid and CHIP are the biggest with about 65,000,000 participants, and SNAP is next with about 46,500,000 (Oct. 2014)—and those don’t include Indian tribes who get cradle to grave medical support and a different type of nutrition support. SNAP has never come down after the big push of ARRA money to increase the rolls with more money for recruiting.  SNAP doesn’t include school lunch programs, or summer lunch programs, or breakfast programs, or WIC, or emergency food assistance, or commodity foods assistance, or special milk program (I think they had that even when I was in school) or farmers’ market programs, or community food projects. But name one that the woman in Reno’s example with a million in her 401-k would ever use, or even know anyone who used them. But she’s still afraid not to vote Democrat!

What happened from 1950 to 1965 was economic growth and big increases in family income. The transfers actually had a small effect on the rate of poverty in the War on Poverty. It just grew the government bureaucracy. The largest gains ever for the bottom quintile was before the War on Poverty. What happened after the War on Poverty was the slide in marriages and children being left in poverty.

By 1965 only 13.9 percent of American families were officially classified as poor, down from 32 percent in 1947 and 18.5 percent in 1959. The recession has been over for 5.5 years, yet the government is supplying about 32% of the income (in transfers) for the poor and the rate is still higher than in 1965. Lack of marriage of the parents is probably the biggest reason for children in poverty. Two adults working full time at minimum wage are well above the poverty line (although they might not get as much as those earning less because they might lose their eligibility for gov’t programs). Norma

http://www.fns.usda.gov/pd/supplemental-nutrition-assistance-program-snap

http://object.cato.org/sites/cato.org/files/serials/files/cato- journal/1985/5/cj5n1-1.pdf

http://www.heritage.org/childpoverty/united-states

http://www.cga.ct.gov/2010/rpt/2010-R-0235.htm

http://www.aarp.org/content/dam/aarp/research/public_policy_institute/econ_sec/2013/income-and-poverty-of-older-americans-AARP-ppi-econ-sec.pdf

Conservatives need to invest and support positive movies and TV

Bi-racial actress Stacey Dash, star of the movie and TV series Clueless, appeared at the Media Research Center's 2014 Dishonors Gala. Dash ripped Hollywood as being full of "hypocrites." The conservative explained how the city's residents don't practice what they preach: "Want proof? There are no movies made in Hollywood. They make them in places like Georgia, Louisiana, North Carolina. Do you know why? Lower taxes. Hypocrites."

She also implored right-leaning Americans to get involved in the industry, saying, "Now, we as conservatives must put our money where our mouths are and we have to produce films and TV that show and represent the United States of America like we believe it to be. We can't wait for anyone else to do it."

https://grabien.com/story.php?id=15000

Ms. Dash is also a contributor for Fox News.

The Orthodox Church in Russia

In 1917 (year of the Russian revolution) the Orthodox Church had 50,000 parishes, a thousand monasteries and 60 theological schools.  By 1941, (World War II) Russia had 150 – 200 parishes, no monasteries or seminaries.  The Soviet Union collapsed about 25 years ago, and now in 2014 the Orthodox Church in Russia has 30,000 parishes, 800 monasteries, and over 100 seminaries and theological schools.  Christmas and Easter are again federal holidays and churches are overflowing on those days. Churches that had been turned into state or secular buildings like clubs, movie theaters or museums, have been returned to their former glory.   In just two decades since the fall of Communism, the church has become Russia’s largest and most important non-government organization.  Despite very poor regular participation (about 4%), about 80% of Russians claim the baptism of the Orthodox faith.  Kirill, Patriarch of Moscow, is leading the “in-churching” movement of Russian society, taking the good news of Jesus (and the Orthodox faith) to all segments of Russian society—bikers, drug addicts, and political candidates.  He believes the church can re-Christianize a secular society built by the Communists.  Popular testimonies are “how I went from being a good Communist to being a good Christian” and a book about the faithful with scars and warts called “Everyday Saints” is a best seller.

From In-churching Russia by John P. Burgess, May 2014 First Things

Since the church in Russia supports Putin, some think the regrowth of the church is a pact with the devil.  If it is, what can we say about the church in the U.S.  In many ways, the U.S. is becoming more secular, but the churches still chase the government for grants to support their  “good works,” and concede on gender issues in the name of “social justice.”

The church photo is from our trip to Russia in 2006.  This is the interior of The Church of the Spilled Blood which was closed by Stalin to store opera sets, and in 1970 it became a museum. These are not paintings, but mosaics.

Scott Walker—a winner

I'm really liking Scott Walker, not because of his looks or personality the way a lot of women choose political favorites, but because of what he's done for Wisconsin. Could he do the same for the rest of the country? The Democrats went all out to defeat him because they knew the importance of this race. He has faced down the unions and won; he’s promised to return tax money to the people and made good on the promise. President Obama , first lady Michelle Obama (twice), Bill Clinton, Elizabeth Warren and AFL-CIO head Richard Trumka all stumped for his highly qualified and appealing opponent--but she lost. Lets hope Republicans don't shoot themselves in the foot again come 2016.

Salary gap in the sciences—is this fair?

http://www.the-scientist.com/Nov2014/11_14_SalarySurveyforWeb.pdf

Comparing salary information gathered in May 2008 to the most recent BLS data collected in May 2013, Saranna Thornton, an economist at Hampden–Sydney College in Virginia and chair of the committee on the Economic Status of the Profession at the American Association of University Professors (AAUP), found that while positions in chemistry, physics, and computer science received pay increases of 8.3 percent to 10.6 percent over the five-year period, the life sciences saw the smallest increases. Industry biochemists and biophysicists received just a 3.6 percent increase over the same time and those in the academic biological sciences a mere 4.6 percent. The Scientist, Nov. 1, 2014. 

Pecan Pie Muffins

Pecan Pie Muffins

1 - cup light brown sugar

1/2 - cup all purpose flour

2 - eggs, beaten

2/3 - cup melted butter

1 - cup chopped pecans
1 - teaspoon vanilla extract

additional pecan halves, optional

In a bowl, stir together all ingredients except pecan halves. Line a mini muffin tin with liners and spray the liners with non baking spray. Fill each mini muffin tins 2/3 full with batter. Top each with a pecan half. Bake at 350 degrees for 12 - 15 minutes or until golden brown. Makes 2 1/2 dozen mini muffins.

King Francis

Yesterday  in a Christmas catalog (I'm getting 2-3 a day) I saw a little statue of Pope Francis, solar powered, which will smile and wave through the window.  Keeping up with the culture, I suppose.  A tacky statue would be electric—coal fired, so yesterday. I wonder if the Pope spends much time on the internet and sees what is coming down the road in the sex culture wars.  Progressives in the U.S. don’t fret about the poor—they whine about their sexuality and who is sleeping with whom.  Will the church go from not recognizing marriage if either the man or woman is known to be sterile to recognizing those where everyone is sterile? This blogger for First Things has some serious charges against the Pope—covert operative and seditious authoritarian.  Wow. And that’s a loyal Catholic writing for a Catholic magazine.

"Set aside, if you can, the specific moral teachings that are in the dock. Suppress for a moment whatever conscientious sympathy you might have with Francis’ aims. What bewilders me here is the precipitous end-run being made around collegiality and subsidiarity, with scant regard for the trust of the faithful in the validity of the Church’s essential moral suasion on essential matters. If McGavin’s report is correct—what reason to think it is not?—Francis is more a covert operative than the shepherd we welcomed at the outset.

The law of unintended consequences is inexorable. And fearsome. We already have one seditious authoritarian in the White House. To think there could be another on the Chair of Peter breaks the heart." Maureen Mullarkey First Things   http://chiesa.espresso.repubblica.it/articolo/1350910?eng=y

Internet Fast

Except for e-mail, and since no one telephones or writes letters anymore, that had to be the exception.

But I’ll still be journaling, and hope to have some really great thoughts after clearing out the shimmering screen time.

How to be poor in the 2nd and 3rd quintile

Even from sound conservative sources I see comments like this, "No one who works full time should live in poverty." Well, think about that and the personal choices that people make, even those with good jobs and an education, that impoverish their families and soul. Sure, the "income" may put them in the 2nd or 3rd quintile, out of range of the census figures that describe poverty, but they've maxed out the credit cards, drinking and drugging, too many vacations, too many manicures and fashionable clothes. They've forgotten they could eat that $20 restaurant meal for $3 at home. No savings, no retirement fund, no money for the church. Yes indeed, you can work full time and be poor and miserable, and it's no one else's fault. No government program will force you to marry the mother of your children to protect them; no government program will force you to eat right and exercise (although it will spend millions to nag you).

Lifestyle choices condemn many to poverty.

The next Republican candidate will need to run against the Democrats

These days you have to run against the party.

" Republicans run against their opponents, rather than against the left and the Democratic Party. That’s what Mitt Romney did. And that’s why he lost an election he should have won. Romney never defined his presidential campaign as being opposed to the left or to the Democratic Party. It was solely against Barack Obama, a popular president at the time and the first black ever to serve as president, something that continued to mean... a lot to many Americans who hoped that this fact would reduce black animosity toward white America.

Had Mitt Romney constantly repeated that he was not merely running against Barack Obama, the man, but against Barack Obama, the most left-wing president in American history, and continually explained what that meant, he might well have won."

It may sound lofty and moral to say you vote for the candidate and not the party, but unfortunately the parties not the individuals control the government.

 http://www.dennisprager.com/dont-vote-candidate/

Defining conservatism

Here's a good definition of conservatism: "Our common cause as conservatives is based on shared principles and convictions about the primacy of freedom and liberty, the dignity and sacred value of human life and the essential role of private property and the rule of law in the construct of a civil society."

See? Not hard to memorize, but tough to get on a bumper sticker or campaign ad. Know what you believe and why--don't limit it to Obama's mistakes, or sound bites. There are 50 sound, conservative principles to dismantle ACA and start over, but they need to be articulated.

http://newsbusters.org/blogs/seymour-fein/2014/10/29/progressive-fallacy

http://americanconservativeparty.com/blog/2014/03/aca-as-an-abuse-to-constitutional-process/

http://www.conservativefactcheck.com/content/articles/QA_Why_Conservatives_Dont_Support_the_ACA

There is something positive about the Ebola scare

One good thing about the Ebola scare is the audit of our readiness for a pandemic. Hospitals, CDC, and Homeland Security failed despite billions poured into preparation in the last decade. $9 billion given to local health authorities since 2002. The bad thing is that Republicans have taken their eye off the ball of all the other scandals--IRS, NSA, VA, growing poverty rolls, race baiting by the president his AG, Fast and Furious, Benghazi, etc. Democrats are so excited that they've pulled this off (see articles in Huffington Post where operatives use Ebola to lie about "cuts.")

 http://www.cbsnews.com/news/department-of-homeland-security-gets-a-bad-grade-for-pandemic-readiness/

---------------------

We've let Ebola push all the Obama scandals to the back burner, much to the delight and encouragement of his team, so let's review what really happened in Fast and Furious.

 http://sharylattkisson.com/20-examples-of-the-violent-legacy-of-fast-and-furious

Record cold in South Carolina

Global warming is natural and has been taking place the last 8,000 years or so; that said, there are so many things individuals, organizations, non-profits and the local, state, and federal government can do to preserve the best and enhance the rest without damaging cultures and nature. Unfortunately, it has become a political battle and a war for profits as investors and utilities chase the latest windmill and solar panel. The gulf between gain and truth seems to be getting wider.

http://www.drroyspencer.com/2014/11/earliest-snow-in-columbia-sc/

Why Democrats talk about gaps instead of consumption

This is why the Democrats have to talk about a gap rather than quality of life and consumption.

1. The typical poor household, AS DEFINED BY THE GOVERNMENT, has a car and air conditioning, two color televisions, cable or satellite TV, a DVD player, and a VCR. If there are children, especially boys, the family has a game system, such as an Xbox or PlayStation.

2.  In the kitchen, the household has a refrigerator, an oven and stove, and a microwave. Other household conveniences include a clothes washer, clothes dryer, ceiling fans, a cordless phone, and a coffee maker.

3.  The home of the typical poor family is in good repair and is not overcrowded. In fact, the typical average poor American has more living space in his home than the average (non-poor) European has.

4.  By its own report, the typical poor family was not hungry, was able to obtain medical care when needed, and had sufficient funds during the past year to meet all essential needs.

http://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2011/07/what-is-poverty

The Christmas drawing

Our niece Joan who is a year older than our daughter has 8 grandchildren, and one of the moms has already posted who buys for whom at Christmas.  She’s going shopping. It’s arranged so siblings don’t get each others’ name.

Arielle BUYS FOR Jaxon.
Bella BUYS FOR Hallie.
Brody BUYS FOR Taylor.
Taylor BUYS FOR Brody.
Anthony BUYS FOR Arielle.
Hallie BUYS FOR Bella.
Kali BUYS FOR Anthony.
Jaxon BUYS FOR Kali.

I’ve got to say, I’m impressed with her organization.

Pathetic Democrat campaign tactics

It's just stunning that in the 2014 election all the Democrats have in their tool box of lies is equal pay for equal work for women (1963 law) and the myth that Republicans will return blacks to slavery and Jim Crow, when Democrats control all the major cities with the highest black unemployment, and we've had a black president for 6 years and a higher black voting rate than whites.

Democrats, instead of just saying, I’m not happy with Obama’s record, will lie that voting with him 97% doesn’t mean they approve, or they pretend ignorance, or they make outrageous statements like the female Senator from Louisiana a state that had a female governor during the Katrina disaster, that southerners don’t like women and blacks therefore she’s in a tough race.  Louisiana also has a minority governor at this time. She’s desperate to separate herself from Obama, so she just makes things up.

The Walker vs. Burke race in Wisconsin—most important in nation

I hope he wins. If he can turn Wisconsin from the steep left going over a cliff, any governor should be able to learn from him. It may be the most important election in the nation on Tuesday. Unions are going all out to defeat him. And that's BIG money. The academics are going crazy with fear that their reign of terror over students could be challenged. Walker has something very few Republicans have--a backbone (you thought I would use a different word, admit it).

http://news.investors.com/ibd-editorials/102914-724074-unions-seek-to-oust-wisconsins-walker-for-daring-to-stand-up-to-them.htm

The reality is that Wisconsin has made a remarkable comeback in four years. The $3.6 billion budget deficit Walker inherited is now a surplus. Property and income taxes have been cut by $2 billion — for everyone. Jobs have come back, and the unemployment rate is down to 5.6% from 7.7% when he entered office.

How liberals respond to a discussion on “mercy” killings.

The Righteous Mind; why liberals and conservatives can’t get along

Wharton professor Philip Tetlock recently spoke with Jonathan Haidt, author of The Righteous Mind.

Close ties, state universities and federal government

How dependent are state universities on the federal government?  In September 2014, Ohio State University received 185 grants totaling over $39 million.

Friday family photo—All Hallows’ Eve

Tomorrow is All Saints' Day, the day we remember in the Christian faith all the saints beside us, around us, and those who have gone ahead of us to wait and welcome us home. Today is All Hallows' Eve, the day before (eve) All Hallows' feast day, celebrated since the 3rd century. In the secular world it is contracted to Halloween and people like to dress up; some as though they are already decayed and dead. Sort of to scare away what they know is coming. God declares us holy... in our baptism, so we are all saints (sanctus in Latin). Celebrate--it really is a Christian festival, but be holy and God centered--it's not a time for sexy costumes or the living dead! The first Sunday in November in the Lutheran church we honor the saints who have gone ahead--we read their names in our services, and we'll be serving communion. I remember last year as I was saying, "the body of Christ given for you," the names of my parents and in-laws were being read from the pulpit.

One slur that can be overlooked, another that can’t

So a member of Obama's administration bad mouthed the leader of Israel, our only ally in the middle east. Called him chicken shit or something like that. The media just skips over that word or uses symbols, so I’m actually not sure what he said. Anyway, he said Benjamin Netanyahu was a piece of poo and a coward. Obama has ignored the slur. It's a good thing that staffer didn't say, "Washington Redskins" or he might have been fired immediately for being so hateful.

http://omnifeed.com/article/dailysignal.com/2014/10/29/chickens-slur-doesnt-faze-israels-netanyahu

“Certainly, that’s not the administration’s view, and we think such comments are inappropriate and counterproductive,” said National Security Council spokesman Alistair Baskey, according to The Hill. “Prime Minister Netanyahu and the president have a forged an effective partnership, and consult closely and frequently, including earlier this month when the president hosted the prime minister in the Oval Office.”

http://www.timesofisrael.com/white-house-calls-chickenshit-netanyahu-slur-inappropriate/

What do teachers think of Common Core? The Gallup Poll

This is a deceptive Gallup poll--teachers are split positive and negative on Common Core (more Democrat teachers are positive than Republican, duh!). 56% say it is positive that there are unified standards in the U.S. BUT. Only 1% say it focuses on individual needs! Is this sacrificing the individual for the whole? Only 2% say it improves learning, improves communication, improves teaching, covers the basics, or holds teachers, districts and schools accountable. Only 3% ...say it improves reading and writing, in depth learning and positive change. Common Core has been bankrolled by financiers like Bill Gates ($150 million from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation) in collaboration with UNESCO to develop a "master curriculum." It's not nationalism run amuck, it's globalism on steroids, with the end goal some sort of squishy morality on "fairness," "sustainability," and "peace."

http://www.gallup.com/poll/178892/teachers-offer-split-decision-common-core.aspx

The U.S. dropped its membership in UNESCO under Reagan, but GW Bush reinstated it in 2002. UNESCO had a plan called International Baccalaureate (IB) long before Obama had his eye on the WH, although many on the right want to blame Obama. When Common Core was imposed, many U.S. schools were already IB schools and didn't have to change much because they are so similar. IB emphasized socialist morals and goals. Academic rigor was replaced with fuzzy societal goals like redistribution of wealth, downplaying patriotism and nationalism, and stronger direction by the federal government.

http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2012/12/21/15ib.h32.html?

Hillary Clinton being absolutely clear about her socialist plans

1) Hillary, what she believes: “Don’t let anybody tell you that, uh, you know, it’s corporations and businesses that create jobs. You know that old theory, trickle-down economics. That has been tried, that has failed. It has failed rather spectacularly.”

2) Hillary, a few days later after her handlers realized it was toxic:  “Let me be absolutely clear about what I’ve been saying for a couple of decades: Our economy grows when businesses and entrepreneurs create good-paying jobs here in an America where workers and families are empowered to build from the bottom up and the middle out—not when we hand out tax breaks for corporations that outsource jobs or stash their profits overseas.”

U.S. corporations have the highest tax rate in the world.  Even if #1 translated to #2, it would be a lie. When politicians say, "let me be absolutely clear" be ready for more lies.

in #2 she sounds a lot like Van Jones six years ago before he was outed and fired who sounds a lot like the old 19th century Marxism.

#1 will be a good campaign sound bite for the Republican candidate (Walker, Jindal, etc.), and I hope they aren’t too timid to use it.  Such pansies.

The Democrats are abusing blacks

http://RebelPundit.com Chicago activists Paul McKinley, Mark Carter, Joseph Watkins and Harold “Noonie” Ward recently went on the record with RebelPundit to deliver a message to black communities across the country.

Democrat leadership gobbles up the dollars and starves the people out.

This Democrat says she’s not wealthy

Huffington Post on Elizabeth Warren in 2012: $700,000 from Harvard, book royalties, consulting fees, $5 million house, and mutual funds and stocks worth $8 million. But she actually told Congress that she wasn't wealthy. Of course, she also told everyone she was an American Indian.

Quarantines are for less important people

Kaci Hickox, the nurse and epidemiologist who was quarantined in New Jersey after recently returning to the U.S. with a fever after treating Ebola patients in Africa, actually works for the CDC, whose standards are lower than New York, New Jersey, Illinois, and the Pentagon, and probably your state. She thinks her rights have been violated because she had to live in a tent for 3 days (ask some American soldiers about that). Anyone want to bet which party she belongs to? Right.  She’s a Democrat.  I don't know who or what HLN is, but its poll said 91% want health care workers quarantined upon reentry.

But quarantines are OK for other people. "Hickox’s travels as a nurse took her to Myanmar, Cambodia, and Nigeria and convinced her of the importance of quarantines and “health surveillance,” according to the University of Texas-Arlington newsmagazine. “I realize that we need to find better ways to improve health surveillance and outbreak response in settings with poor resources,” Hickox said. “My training in the EIS with the CDC will allow me to learn the gold standard of this kind of work.”

Doctors without Borders with whom she worked for a year has had 9 deaths and 16 illnesses from Ebola.

http://www.ijreview.com/2014/10/193424-nurse-connected-to-cdc/

http://gotnews.com/ebola-nurse-complaining-quarantine-left-wing-democrat-cdc-employee/

http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/ebola-quarantine-issue-proves-divisive/2014/10/27/

Mauritania—where slavery is alive, unwell, and open (but illegal)

Where there is still slavery--Mauritania. And many don't even realize they are slaves. Something like 10-20% of the population with lighter skinned Arabs enslaving dark skinned Africans. A tradition of centuries.  This is a fascinating video made by CNN, at great risk  Stay with it (it isn’t long) for the interview with the Arab slave owner who became an abolitionist.  http://edition.cnn.com/interactive/2012/03/world/mauritania.slaverys.last.stronghold/index.html

First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt carried a gun due to death threats

Former First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt has lunch with students at the Ohio State University on November 13, 1959.

Notice the purse under her arm in the first photo? Did you know, in her later years, Eleanor Roosevelt was a "pistol packing" liberal? Pictured in the second photo (discovered at the FDR Library) is her pistol permit. Former First Ladies did not have Secret Service protection until 1964 and Eleanor had numerous death threats against her and a bounty for her head by the KKK for her outspoken support of civil rights throughout the 1950s. It is said that she always carried a gun in her purse when she traveled. Tom Betti spoke with tour guides at great length at her home in Hyde Park, New York and they insist she target practiced and was ready to defend herself! She was never afraid of anyone, but prepared to defend friends, herself, and what she believed in. One thing is clear from her ID photo, don't mess with Eleanor!

Courtesy of Columbus Landmarks Foundation

https://www.facebook.com/ColumbusLandmarksFoundation

When we finally have that “conversation” about race. . . let’s tell the whole story

I was probably in my 30s or 40s before I found out that before the Civil War freed blacks in the U.S. owned slaves. I don't recall that was covered in American history in high school or college. But it wasn't until Prof. Henry Gates (Obama's friend in Boston and PBS host) wrote about it, that I learned that free blacks owned slaves at a much higher rate than whites, something like 25% compared to about 1.5%. Some of course, bought their wives and children after they bought their own freedom, although those were still counted as slaves in the census.  But many owned large numbers and nice plantations that needed slave labor. Also, Gates reported that only a very small number of African slaves ever came to colonies that became the U.S.--most of the 10+ million went to South America or the Caribbean where they died in huge numbers and had to be replaced. Free American blacks were voting before the Revolution and most likely helped ratify the amendments and send the men to Congress. There were very wealthy free blacks who owned a lot of property as well as small businessmen and craftsmen of all manner of the arts in the South.

To sustain their economic activities, free people of color acquired increasing numbers of slaves. Urban artisans--carpenters, bricklayers, stonemasons, mechanics-purchased black apprentices, hod carriers, and helpers; merchants and business people bought haulers, carters, and stock boys; plantation owners purchased house servants, cooks, mechanics, and field hands. By 1830, approximately 1,556 free black masters in the Deep South owned a total of 7, 188 slaves. Representing about 42 percent of the black owners in the South, they owned 60 percent of the black-owned slaves. In the Charleston District, 407 owners held a total of 2, 195 slaves. In New Orleans, there were 753 free black owners, including 25 who owned at least 10 bondsmen and women and another 1 16 who owned between 5 and 9 slaves. Although some of these slaveholders owned members of their own families, or loved ones, unable to free them by law, in 8 rural Louisiana sugar and cotton parishes, 43 Creoles of color ( 1.2 percent of the black slaveholders in the South) owned a total of 1,327 blacks, or lout of 9 slaves owned by blacks. In St. John the Baptist Parish, 3 plantation owners held 139 blacks in bondage-an average of 46 slaves each; in Pointe Coupee Parish, 8 planters held 297 slaves, an average of 37 slaves each. In 1830, approximately lout of 4 free black families in the region was a slaveholder.  “Prosperous Blacks in the South, 1790-1880”

http://libres.uncg.edu/ir/uncg/f/L_Schweninger_Prosperous_1990.pdf

More recently, the Cherokee nation has expelled descendants of their black slaves which since the Civil War had been considered part of the nation according to a treaty they had with the U.S.  Before being forcibly removed to Oklahoma, over 7% of the Cherokees owned slaves--more than the whites in the same states and they took their slaves with them on the “trail of tears.” I suspect that the action had much more to do with money than racial animosity--there was a huge government settlement to be divided up a few years ago. Imagine thinking your family was Cherokee since 1866, and then you get exiled from the tribe over a few billion dollars.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/the-cherokees-one-nation-divisible-judge-will-decide-if-black-members-can-be-expelled/2014/05/06/8690e56c-d55e-11e3-aae8-c2d44bd79778_story.html

What this really shows is that slavery, which exists in larger numbers today than in the 18th century, is a human problem, not a white American problem.  Africans enslaved and sold people of other tribes, and the Arab Muslims were the middlemen to get them to the coast for the Europeans to sell.  Cherokees and other Indians had slaves long before the Europeans stepped ashore, and saw no problem in buying and selling black Africans.

http://ballandalus.wordpress.com/2013/11/24/trans-saharan-slave-trade-and-racism-in-the-arab-world/

http://randomthoughtsonhistory.blogspot.com/2014/04/just-finished-reading-black-property.html/

Lutheran Bible Translators—Ebola

“Lives and well-being of Sierra Leonean and Liberian coworkers are threatened because of the Ebola Epidemic in West Africa – spreading rapidly and claiming the lives of thousands. We have 28 coworkers in Sierra Leone and over 40 in Liberia. They have years of translation and teaching experience and encourage others to use and understand the Scriptures. The loss of even one worker would be a devastating blow to the mission of God’s Word being accessible in the heart language. Because of the Ebola Epidemic, coworkers are having to find new ways to accomplish their work while keeping themselves and their families safe.”

Powdered caffeine is dangerous

Senator Sherrod Brown wants the FDA to regulate powered caffeine.

“Caffeine is an accepted part of our culture – you would be hard pressed to find someone who hasn’t enjoyed a cup of coffee or tea, or a can of soda or an energy drink to concentrate or gain energy. Powdered pure caffeine, however, is not well understood and its high concentration makes it dangerous.

Even a small amount of powdered caffeine can kill.

According to the FDA, one teaspoon of powered caffeine is like drinking 25 cups of coffee all at once. That is more than six times the recommended daily amount of caffeine for an adult. Teenagers – who may be tempted to use powdered caffeine to stay awake in class or to improve their sports performance – are recommended to have no more caffeine than what you would find in a single cup of coffee.
To complicate matters, the recommended serving size of powdered caffeine is one-sixteenth of a teaspoon. That amount is so small that it’s nearly impossible to estimate without a food scale and a special miniature measuring spoon. Most kitchens don’t have those tools, putting powdered caffeine users at risk for fatal measuring errors.

Too much caffeine can cause rapid or erratic heartbeat, seizures, and even death but, despite these risks, powdered caffeine can be purchased online or in stores with little warning or guidance. Kids and teenagers can even purchase this deadly stimulant in bulk online with the click of a button and no parental supervision. “

(Senator Sherrod Brown of Ohio newsletter)

http://www.dispatch.com/content/blogs/the-daily-briefing/2014/10/102714-powdered-caffeine.html

Herman Cain looks at the “good works” for blacks since Obama took office

“If Michelle Nunn wins that means Democrats keep control of the Senate and we can keep on doing some good works.” Barack Obama

Let’s look at the numbers (in all cases giving you the most recent numbers I could get):

• The median income for blacks in 2013 was $34,598. It was $35,387 in 2009.
• In 2013 the number of blacks living under the poverty line -- roughly $12,000 for an individual – rose to more than 11 million. In all, 27.2 percent of blacks were living in poverty in 2013. In 2009, roughly 9.9 million blacks (25.8 of all blacks) lived below the poverty level.
• Non-Hispanic blacks accounted for 37.4 percent of the total federal and state prison population in 2013. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, blacks are 13.2 percent of the U.S. population.
• 43 percent of blacks owned their own home in 2013. The rate was 46.1 percent in the first quarter of 2009.
• Black students had a high school graduation rate of 69 percent in 2011-12. The rate was 66.1 percent in 2009-10.
• From 2009 to 2011, the number of black workers earning only the minimum wage swelled by 16.6 percent, while the same number for whites rose by only 5.2 percent.

http://www.caintv.com/black-stats-obama-doesnt-want

Walnuts or Almonds for brain food—I eat both

Walnuts

Adding walnuts to your diet may help reverse some forms of age-related brain deterioration, according to a study published in the August 2012 issue of the "Journal of Nutritional Biochemistry." In the laboratory animal study, diets containing 6 percent walnuts significantly reduced degenerative protein deposits in the brain and promoted the brain's natural waste removal processes. Existing protein deposits were removed by the walnut-supplemented diets, with greatest effects noted in an area of the brain responsible for cognitive function and memory retention. Researchers also noted that walnuts boosted the brain's normal antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities.

Almonds

Almonds improved memory and lowered cholesterol levels in an animal study published in the June 2010 issue of the "Indian Journal of Pharmacology." Doses of 150 milligrams per kilogram body weight of almonds for 14 days improved learning and memory and reversed a form of drug-induced amnesia. Almonds also caused a decrease in levels of an enzyme that breaks down acetylcholine, a neurotransmitter that increases attention and awareness. Low levels of acetylcholine can lead to protein plaque formation and dementia. Researchers concluded that almonds may offer benefits for restoring memory and cognitive function in Alzheimer's patients.

http://healthyeating.sfgate.com/kind-nuts-good-brain-7718.html

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/05/06/healthy-nuts-health-benefits-cashews-walnuts-peanuts-almonds_n_3187731.html

https://memory-brain-function.knoji.com/brain-foods-to-increase-brain-power-nuts-and-seeds-that-improve-your-memory-and-brain-function/

Marc’s on Henderson Road (Columbus) always has the best prices on walnuts, about $2 cheaper than other stores, but they have been going up.  Yesterday I paid $6.99/lb for whole walnuts which is about $2 higher than a year or two ago.

The tragedy in Marysville

The school shooting Wednesday near Seattle, Washington  is looking less like a school shooting and more like a teen love triangle with the school just a convenient place to get them all in one place. So sad. The shooter and male victims were friends, cousins and members of the same Native American group. The name of the female killed hasn’t been released.  Pray for the families.
http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/marysville-school-shooting/marysville-shooting-families-victims-grieve-bedsides-n233806

Two male victims, who were identified Saturday as Nate Hatch, 14, and Andrew Fryberg, 15, are being treated at Harborview Medical Center Seattle. Hatch's grandfather said the boys are cousins of the shooter, Jaylen Ray Fryberg, a freshman football player at Marysville Pilchuck High School — the chaotic scene of Friday morning's violence. “They’re just three complete buddies, and they couldn't be closer than three brothers,” Don Hatch told TODAY, referring to the gunman, who died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, and the two injured boys, who remain in intensive care.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/10/25/cafeteria-worker-washington-shooting_n_6046812.html

Fryberg's Twitter feed suggested he was struggling with an unidentified problem. On Wednesday, a posting read: "It won't last ... It'll never last." On Monday, another said: "I should have listened. ... You were right ... The whole time you were right."
Marysville-Pilchuck High School has a number of students from the Tulalip Indian tribes.

Update: Father of shooter Jaylen was sentenced to 2 years for illegally purchasing guns.  http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2016/01/23/tulalip-school-shooter-father-gets-two-years-prison-163164

How many non-citizens are voting? We might have Obamacare because of them!

Study estimates that "6.4% of non-citizens voted in 2008 and 2.2% of non-citizens voted in 2010." 14% of non-citizens are registered to vote, whether or not they actually do is another matter (It’s a crime, by the way). This could conceivably have changed the make up of the Senate in 2010.  Plus, many of those illegals voting actually have fake documents, which throws in question an ID to vote, doesn’t it?

The Monkey Cage blog at the Washington Post, a “data journalism” hub a la Nate Silver’s FiveThirtyEight that prioritizes insights gleaned from number-crunching above left/right argumentation. In fact, the conclusion to the post isn’t that the study’s results necessarily cast a pall over the integrity of some U.S. elections and even the legitimacy of ObamaCare’s passage.

Democrats claim there isn’t massive fraud in our elections, but how much is enough to poison the results, or people’s respect for our system.  Just the school board outcome?  How about the bond issue for the schools?  Or maybe the city council? State legislature? How do you want to steal YOUR vote? Most of this fraud favors Democrats?  If you are a Democrat are you good with that? Are you OK with a win of say, 312, for your guy if there’s a heavy immigrant turn out? And don’t bring up Florida in 2000!  It was insulting to blacks, registered voters, that they couldn’t figure out a ballot, and Democrats were SO SURE of their power in that polling district they needed hanging chads to determine “intention.”

Our data comes from the Cooperative Congressional Election Study (CCES). Its large number of observations (32,800 in 2008 and 55,400 in 2010) provide sufficient samples of the non-immigrant sub-population, with 339 non-citizen respondents in 2008 and 489 in 2010. For the 2008 CCES, we also attempted to match respondents to voter files so that we could verify whether they actually voted.

How many non-citizens participate in U.S. elections? More than 14 percent of non-citizens in both the 2008 and 2010 samples indicated that they were registered to vote. Furthermore, some of these non-citizens voted. Our best guess, based upon extrapolations from the portion of the sample with a verified vote, is that 6.4 percent of non-citizens voted in 2008 and 2.2 percent of non-citizens voted in 2010.

Because non-citizens tended to favor Democrats (Obama won more than 80 percent of the votes of non-citizens in the 2008 CCES sample), we find that this participation was large enough to plausibly account for Democratic victories in a few close elections. Non-citizen votes could have given Senate Democrats the pivotal 60th vote needed to overcome filibusters in order to pass health-care reform and other Obama administration priorities in the 111th Congress. Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) won election in 2008 with a victory margin of 312 votes. Votes cast by just 0.65 percent of Minnesota non-citizens could account for this margin. It is also possible that non-citizen votes were responsible for Obama’s 2008 victory in North Carolina. Obama won the state by 14,177 votes, so a turnout by 5.1 percent of North Carolina’s adult non-citizens would have provided this victory margin.

Franken winning a Minnesota seat illegally is a different ballgame. He was the 60th vote for ObamaCare. Replace him in the Senate with Norm Coleman and the law probably never passes.

http://hotair.com/archives/2014/10/24/study-non-citizens-are-voting-in-federal-elections-and-probably-tipped-at-least-one-senate-race-to-democrats/

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/monkey-cage/wp/2014/10/24/could-non-citizens-decide-the-november-election/

http://projects.iq.harvard.edu/cces/home

Children who are poor

“Children living in single female-headed families are especially prone to poverty. In 2013 a child living in a single female-headed family was nearly five times more likely to be poor than a child living in a married-couple family. In 2013, among all children living in single female-headed families, 45.8% were poor. In contrast, among children living in married-couple families, 9.5% were poor.

The increased share of children who live in single female-headed families has contributed to the high overall child poverty rate. In 2013, one quarter (25.0%) of children were living in single female-headed families, more than double the share who lived in such families
when the overall child poverty rate was at a historical low (1969). Among all poor children, nearly six in ten (58.7%) were living in single female-headed families in 2013.

In 2013, 38.0% of black children were poor (4.2 million), compared to 30.0% of Hispanic children (5.3 million) and 10.1% of non-Hispanic white children (3.8 million).  Among children living in single female-headed families, more than half of black children (54.0%) and Hispanic children (52.3%) were poor; in contrast, one-third of non-Hispanic white children (33.6%) were poor.

The poverty rate among Hispanic children who live in married-couple families (19.9%) was above that of black children (16.8%), and four times that of non-Hispanic white children (4.9%) who live in  such  families.  Contributing to the high rate of overall black child poverty is the large share of black children who live in single female-headed families (54.0%) compared to Hispanic children (30.1%) or non-Hispanic white children (15.7%).”

Poverty in the United States

Obamacare has raised non-group premiums in most states

“We’ll lower premiums by up to $2,500 for a typical family per year. . . . We’ll do it by the end of my first term as president of the United States” Barack Obama, a campaign promise made many times.

A new study from the well-respected and non-partisan National Bureau of Economic Research (and published by Brookings Institution), overcomes the limitations of these prior studies [projections] by examining what happened to premiums in the entire non-group market. The bottom line? In 2014, premiums in the non-group market grew by 24.4% compared to what they would have been without Obamacare.  Of equal importance, this careful state-by-state assessment showed that premiums rose in all but 6 states (including Washington DC).

http://www.forbes.com/sites/theapothecary/2014/10/23/now-there-can-be-no-doubt-obamacare-will-increase-non-group-premiums-in-nearly-all-states/

Do women earn less than men? No. Sometimes they earn more

Income gap? Democrats need to update, but won't--they need the women's vote. Census data from 2008--6 years ago--show that single, childless women in their 20s now [then] earn 8 percent more on average than their male counterparts in metropolitan areas. In some metropolitan areas such as Atlanta and LA they might earn as much as 12-20% more. When all variables are taken into consideration--age, marital status, career choice, location, education--many women do better than men. This also means well educated, successful women are probably marrying the same type of man, and living in households that will contribute to an even larger gap, because the key for women is marriage and education, whatever your color or job.

Between 2006 and 2008, 32.7% of women between 25 and 34 had a bachelor's degree or higher, compared with 25.8% of men, according to the Census.

Bob Trube on staying intellectually fit

1. Work out with somebody else. What I have in mind here is that people decline mentally as well as physically when they are isolated. Pursuing some mentally engaging activity with others — whether a book group, a painting group, a choral group (all pursuits of mine!), or some other interest group that involves people and conversation — all that can help keep us mentally fit.

2. Healthy diet is important for our minds as well. A little “mind candy” is probably something all of us indulge in. A steady diet of “mind candy” might not be so helpful. A balanced intellectual diet might mean not getting all our mental stimulation from one source, like the television, or graphic novels. Mixing that up with books, discussions with friends, and different perspectives are all important. I would also suggest not being a “junkie” in any one area–particularly a news junkie! That seems to me to be a prescription for depression.

3. Are you developing your “core strength”? What I take this to mean is cultivating the core convictions and practices around life’s most basic issues, whatever those might be for you. For me as a Christian, this involves things like prayer, reading of scripture, self-examination, and the regular practice of gratitude. “Core strength” seems to me critical to navigating the challenges of getting older and those who haven’t addressed this sometimes spend their later years very badly and unhappily.

4. Attending to our mental “cardio” health seems vital as well. We can experience a “hardening” of our thought life when we nurse bitterness, anger, unforgiveness, or resentment. Similarly, I’ve watched people develop skewed views of reality where they worry themselves about conspiracies, rivalries, or killer bugs on every surface. All this impinges on how we think and hear the ideas of others. Mental “cardio” involves letting go of anger and bitterness, and, at least for me, trusting that I will live as long as God wants me to and realizing that worry will probably only shorten my life, not lengthen it.

5. Mental flexibility is another quality that sometimes seems to deteriorate with age. It is easy to begin to think in ruts. After all, it took us six decades to get to where we are, why change now? One thing I try to do is replay those mental tapes from when I was in my 20s that said, “I never want to become an old ‘stick in the mud'”! All of us knew people like that. The question is, are we becoming like that? Some of this is trying new things–for me this has been in the area of art. I still don’t think I have much artistic talent, but drawing makes me see things differently, and that is good. Do you just read the writers who agree with you or get all your news from one news outlet with a particular perspective? While disagreement can be uncomfortable, it also enlarges my view of the world and at very least helps me see why someone could see things so differently than I.

Bob blogs at Bob on Books

Walking and Weight Watchers eliminates 200 lbs and her diabetes

Airport employee sits for 10 years and reaches 370 lb. Starts walking the halls of the airport--loses 200 lb. and her diabetes. Plus she was an overweight child.

 http://www.kcci.com/news/she-walked-off-more-than-200-pounds-at-the-airport/29295568

God’s plan for the human race

Canadian work-place violence

To quote George W. Bush, “a thumpin’”

"Democrats this year—what a rhetorical, emotional and policy disaster. In ’08 they were on fire with hope, in ’12 they were keep the faith, stay the course. This year they are surly. They are unloving and unlovable. It’s race and gender politics, it’s wheelchairs, it’s endless defensiveness about voting for or with the president. Republicans may have failed to unite, but the Democrats divide."  Peggy Noonan http://online.wsj.com/articles/can-obama-find-thumpin-to-say-1414106272

The history of beer

I have never tasted beer. Not once. The smell puts me off. But yesterday our Conestoga (Ohio history) group attended a fascinating lecture on the history of beer in the world, in the U.S., in Ohio and Columbus, and the growth of craft beers. I learned why you should never drink beer out of a bottle and why you want to have as much foam as possible when you pour it into a glass. Our instructor at the Winking Lizard was Richard Seemueller, lifelong beer enthusiast. Retired brewer of 38 years turned beer educator, he's an excellent host, presenter and author. He is a "beer ambassador" for the Master Brewers Association of the Americas. We also learned a little about the interesting architecture of brewery sites--many in Columbus which have been converted to other uses.

Now about drinking from a glass, and how to pour it into the glass. He explained that the mouth can sense 4 tastes (sweet, sour, bitter, salty), but the nose can pick up hundreds (it actually can detect many thousands, but there aren't that many in a beer) and so you loose much of the beer experience if you don't have it in a glass. We did that experiment with gum drops and pinching our noses closed while eating them. No flavor. And the reason you want to pour it to encourage the foam is to release the gas (carbon dioxide and/or nitrogen). He poured it two different ways, then inserted a folded paper towel in each glass to simulate eating something after the beer was in the stomach. When more gas has been expelled before swallowing, there is less bloat in the stomach with food.

http://www.mbaa.com/districts/midwest/About/Pages/District-Cincinnati-Profile---Rick-Seemueller.aspx

WMD threat rewritten by MSM

“The presence of a large former Iraqi chemical weapons production plant in territory seized by the Islamic State has compounded those fears, although officials and chemical weapons experts say the 2,500 degraded rockets filled with nerve agents that remain there are unlikely to be fit for use. Weapons inspectors sealed them off with concrete in a bunker more than 20 years ago.” Washington Post, Oct. 23, 2014

Since sealing them off didn’t work, I would guess they could still be in pretty good condition.  Remember?  There weren’t any?

Cute t-shirt

Or, the double whammy.

 

Girl Scouts and Planned Parenthood

Abby Johnson writes: “I worked at Planned Parenthood for 8 years. I personally saw the connections between the Girl Scouts of America and Planned Parenthood.

You may be in a place where the troop says, "But our local troop doesn't partner with Planned Parenthood." Fantastic. But here's what you need to know. If a Girl Scout troop sells cookies (they all do), if they buy uniforms (they all do), if they buy badges (they all do), and if that local troop pays national due...s (they all do), then they are supporting Planned Parenthood.

Now, you may be in a church that says that it's fine to partner with Girl Scouts. You may be in a diocese that says it's perfectly fine (like mine). But IT IS NOT. It is never okay to cooperate with evil...especially within the confines of our CHURCHES!!

These are our kids! They are more valuable than any Girl Scout troop they could participate in! It's time to take a stand and teach our kids the value of standing for moral absolutes. And abortion is ABSOLUTELY wrong. Planned Parenthood is ABSOLUTELY wrong.

I just found out that my daughter's Catholic school is about to start a Girl Scout troop. (My daughter is in American Heritage Girls). You better believe that I'm not going to be silent about this. Take a stand against abortion. Take a stand against Girl Scouts.

For more information about these connections, please visit:
www.mygirlscoutcouncil.com
www.girlscoutswhynot.com
www.speaknowgirlscouts.com

Crescendo—a film

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CafJJNETvqM

Don’t blame the dryer

Obama and the mid-terms, by Krauthammer

CHARLES KRAUTHAMMER: “ Look, this is a guy who six years ago had a worship service at a Denver stadium, being cheered by people while he was behind Greek columns, a few weeks earlier, he had been the hero of 200,000 Germans in Berlin. I still don't understand what that speech was about. Here was a man -- I mean, as Rich Lowry said earlier tonight, he was a citizen of the world, the most interesting, most sought after political rock star on the planet. And now he's got to hide under his desk until November. This is a total humiliation for him and every once in a while he can't take it so it pops out. This is his way of saying, I transcend the party, I'm bigger than the party, I still am, and I'm still here. I mean he's not going to go out and campaign in these states, obviously, but this is hard for him to take so I would extend a little bit of sympathy for the man. He's under stress.”

Hide under his desk?  Hardly.  He’s been attending all kinds of fund raisers. In fact, when he called 2 off because of Ebola, that was news for days. And he’s back stabbed those running from him by claiming that although he’s not on the ballot his policies are and the incumbents voted with him 99% of the time.  That’s not stress, that’s rude.

And in a black studies program

Not just changing a grade, but the classes didn’t even exist!

“More than 3,000 students at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill received credit for fake classes over an 18-year period as part of a program that allowed many of them to remain eligible to play sports, according to a report released on Wednesday. . . Various personnel at the school were aware of red flags, yet did not ask questions, the report said. “  And in 18 years, no one ever spoke up?  The power of sports.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/sports/wp/2014/10/22/wainstein-probe-implicates-over-3000-students-in-university-of-north-carolina-academic-scandal/

It was originally reported in November 2012.  I wonder why we’re just now seeing it front page?

Need, greed and compassion

"Today, wanting someone else's money is called 'need,' wanting to keep your own money is called 'greed,' and 'compassion' is when politicians arrange the transfer." -- Joe Sobran