How the rest of the country sees the voters of NYC

Here's an interesting letter from "the rest of the country" to the voters in Manhattan, NY:

"By per capita income, Manhattan is the richest county in the country. In New York, and in Manhattan specifically, you have put in place more government programs to address poverty and income inequality than has any other state or locality. You have higher taxes than any other jurisdiction. You have a vast array of housing programs, from extensive low-income public housing, to rent regulation, to multiple “affordable housing” initiatives. Your welfare programs are the nation’s most generous. You have the most generous Medicaid program, too. And you spend almost double the national average per student on K-12 education.

Yet, even with all those programs and all that spending, according to Census Bureau statistics, Manhattan’s poverty rate is above the national average. . ." Read the whole letter--really good..

http://www.city-journal.org/2014/eon1114fm.html

One of the better comments on the letter that really reflects on trying to reason with liberals:

“There is no hope that this message will get across. Theirs is not merely a political persuasion: it is a religious belief akin to Islam in its all-encompassing nature. It is impervious to logic and the lessons of reality. It controls every aspect of their lives: personal, social, and political. It is culturally deadly and is quite incurable.”

One commenter blamed Fox News for the author’s viewpoint.  Boy! Doesn’t that sound familiar.

Egg shell plaintiffs and non-victims on college campuses

The whole article, Microaggression Farce by Heather MacDonald is worth reading, however, since most won’t take the time, I just site her final 2 paragraphs, because it touches on some serious issues beyond academe:

“The universities’ encouragement of victimology has wider implications beyond the campus. The same imperative to repress any acknowledgment of black academic underachievement as the cause of black underrepresentation in higher education is more fatefully at work in repressing awareness of disproportionate black criminality as the cause of black overrepresentation in the criminal-justice system. When a police officer in Ferguson, Missouri, shot an unarmed black teen in August 2014, for example, the media suppressed any information about the incident that complicated its favored narrative about police brutality, all the while pumping out strained stories about racism in law enforcement and public life more generally. The result was days of violence, looting, and arson, from a populace that had been told at every opportunity that it is the target of ubiquitous discrimination.

Colleges today are determined to preserve in many of their students the thin skin and solipsism of adolescence, rather than turning them into dispassionate adults. They build ever more monumental bureaucracies to indulge those traits. By now, of course, many of the adults running colleges are indistinguishable from their eggshell plaintiff students. The rest of us bear the costs, in the maintenance of public policies founded on an equally spurious victimology.”

CCHD director under fire

“Several Catholic Campaign for Human Development (CCHD) grantees are affiliates of Interfaith Worker Justice (IWJ), a worker advocacy group whose leadership is full of individuals who promote abortion and homosexuality, and many who are committed Marxist socialists, according to a report by the Lepanto Institute.”

https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/cchd-head-sits-on-board-of-group-while-he-oversees-grants-to-its-affiliates

“In Fiscal Year 2014-2015, six IWJ affiliates received CCHD grants totaling $280,000, the Lepanto report said.

They include Northwest Arkansas Workers' Justice Center ($50,000), Center for Worker Justice of Eastern Iowa ($45,000), Centro de Trabajadores Unidos en la Lucha ($70,000), New Labor Education & Training Institute ($40,000), Restaurant Opportunities Center of New York ($50,000), and Workers' Dignity Project ($25,000).”

We just got a king

Shadeism in Telemundo and Univision

The whitest media in the U.S. are Telemundo and Univision--both are applauding Obama's illegal behavior. If you've ever seen a mixed race (Indian/European, aka mestizo) performer on those channels, let me know. I'll want to update my blogs about this travesty of racism. Long before cable, our regular broadcast media had blacks, Hispanics, women, disabled in front of the camera--even back in the 1960s. Telemundo is owned by NBC; Univision is headquartered in NYC.

"He owed us," they angrily reported. What do they owe the millions who have crossed the border--besides making them consumers of their Spanish language advertisers, of course.

http://shadeism.com/

Media and Bill Cosby and Bill Clinton scandals

The only thing I'm absolutely sure about is we'll never know the truth about Bill Cosby. The same charges were brought against Bill Clinton, and the main stream press blamed the women. Now in a big reversal, the celebrity is being blamed and smeared by the media. Maybe it's racism, or a cover of bigger stories. Who can tell--we're so manipulated. We've been lied to so often about sex, money, power, celebrities and politics, uncovering what happened 30-40 years ago won't be easy, and do we even want to know? You younger people don't remember what it was like to finally see a black person performing on TV as someone other than a dancer or clown (Cosby in "I Spy", 1965-68). And the millions of families he helped get through those teen years. I weep for him, us and the truth.

http://www.cnn.com/2014/11/20/showbiz/bill-cosby-allegations-repercussions/index.html

http://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/2014/11/21/lou-ferrigno-wife-carla-ferrigno-latest-to-accuse-bill-cosby-assault/

Fetal cells that stay behind in Mom—forever

Fetal microchimerism. Abortion could be behind the huge increase in autoimmune diseases in women. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20607042

Summary: “Fetal microchimerism occurs in normal human reproduction and is a relatively new discovery in biology. Recent data in the scientific and medical literature indicates that some of the autoimmune diseases that show a predilection for women in their child-bearing years and beyond are linked to fetal microchimerism from previous pregnancies. The pathological role of fetal microchimeric progenitor immature T cells in autoimmune disease in women is explored. Fetal microchimerism is increased in women who had a termination of pregnancy and may be associated with the development of autoimmune disease later on in life. Furthermore, the consistently rising incidence of autoimmune diseases in women over the past four decades may be attributed to the increase in the utilization of abortion.”

Whatever happened to free-spirited, open minded college students?

“From freewheelin’ to ban-happy, from askers of awkward questions to suppressors of offensive speech, in the space of a generation. My showdown with the debate-banning Stepfords at Oxford and the pre-crime promoters at Cambridge echoed other recent run-ins I’ve had with the intolerant students of the 21st century. I’ve been jeered at by students at the University of Cork for criticising gay marriage; cornered and branded a ‘denier’ by students at University College London for suggesting industrial development in Africa should take precedence over combating climate change; lambasted by students at Cambridge (again) for saying it’s bad to boycott Israeli goods. In each case, it wasn’t the fact the students disagreed with me that I found alarming — disagreement is great! – it was that they were so plainly shocked that I could have uttered such things, that I had failed to conform to what they assume to be right, that I had sought to contaminate their campuses and their fragile grey matter with offensive ideas.” Samizdat Quote of the Day

– Brendan O’Neill

Things appear to be the same on British campuses—Cambridge, Oxford,Cork,  London--as American.

Obama’s lawless action on amnesty

Why should we believe any promises/assurances the president said last night? Twenty plus times he said he wouldn't do that; in 2009 he claimed we could keep our insurance and doctors. He lies, lies, lies, then parses the lies. If he doesn't like a law, he just goes around it or ignores it. He claims 5 million is not blanket amnesty, that these visa over stayers and border jumpers will have to do x-y-z, that until Congress acts, he must do this overreaching and violate the Constitution.

So if Congress does act in Obama's last 2 years, he'll just veto it; if there are 10 million, he'll just override what he said last night. The man can't be trusted. If you are an O-supporter, remember the next President may be a Republican and decide to undo some of your favorite causes because Obama has shown how to do it.

Senator Barack Obama helped kill immigration reform. "Obama was part of the bipartisan group of senators who began meeting in 2005 on comprehensive immigration reform. But last summer [2007], with the presidential nominating race well under way, Obama backed 11th-hour amendments - supported by labor, immigrant rights, and clergy groups - that Republicans saw as imperiling the fragile compromise. None of those measures passed. But Obama was part of a 49-to-48 majority that voted to end after five years a temporary worker program that had been a cornerstone of the immigration deal. The vote, backed by labor, was seen as a major setback to bipartisan negotiations." (Christian Science Monitor) He couldn't be trusted then, can't be trusted now.

John McCain and Ted Kennedy had been working on a bipartisan immigration reform bill since 2005, but Democrats took control of Congress in 2007 and decided they needed a divided Congress to whip up emotion and more votes from Hispanics; if the solution were bipartisan, then that might not happen.

Although Obama talks up the tragedy of children and parents (anchor babies) appealing to Hispanics, students and workers from all over the world who have just stayed after their visas have run out also have children, friends, and jobs. Obama has relatives in that group. All are coming ahead of those families who have tried to immigrate legally.

His main intention is to make Republicans look bad if they try to undo his illegal actions—all 5 million of them.

Friday Family Photo—1989 at Lakeside—I think

My brother sent a batch of photos I'd sent to my parents, dups or similars, years ago. There's no paint on the new deck in this photo, which is how I'm dating it 25 years ago. There's also about 100 lbs less of us in this photo. Big hair, big shoulder pads. Those were exciting years for us.  It was fun fixing up the cottage to our liking, and taking long week-ends from work.

Cleaning out the Christmas catalogs

I usually pitch as soon as I look at them, but a bunch have been stuffed into the corner magazine rack.  Today it’s bye bye to buy buy.  Over the years we have used Harry and David, and maybe LL Bean many years ago.  Someone has sold our name.

Frontgate (out door furniture)

Gaelsong (Celtic)

Wind and Weather (home and nature)

Plow and Hearth (décor)

Uno alla volta (one at a time) (3)

The shop Monticello (Thomas Jefferson Foundation)

Art Institute of Chicago

National Geographic (3)

Harry and David (fancy food)

Gardener’s supply company (nature)

Smithsonian (4)

Expressions (home accents)

Wine country gift baskets

Vermont country store (2)

Bas Bleu (bookseller)

Acorn

Duluth trading (men’s work clothing)

Signals

Bed and Bath

L.L. Bean (I’ve lost track—probably 10)

NorthStyle (women’s)

Hammacher Schlemmer (tech)

Bissinger’s (chocolate)

Charleston Gardens (home and garden)

Gumps San Francisco

Sharyl Attkisson

I watched a great interview with Sharyl Attkisson-- explaining how there are campaigns to destroy reporters who don't toe the line, how the government bureaucracy extends from party to party, administration to administration, how there is incestuous relationships between staff of government and media (sometimes siblings, sometimes friends, sometimes lovers). Her new book is "Stonewalled." After 3 years, she's just now getting some of the documents on Fast and Furious she requested when she worked for CBS. The plan, she says, is to draw it out so long that eventually the public loses interest.

I’ve been reading Citizens of London by Lynne Olson, which is about WWII, and although I’m not nearly finished, I see the power of the press and the flesh already and I’m only 50 pages into the story.

http://sharylattkisson.com/

http://humanevents.com/2014/11/20/fast-and-furious-white-house-doj-targeted-sharyl-attkisson/

http://pjmedia.com/tatler/2014/11/20/bombshell-email-proves-that-white-house-doj-targeted-reporter-sharyl-attkisson/

Cheesecake Pumpkin Pie

Cheesecake Pumpkin Pie

2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract...
2 eggs
1 (9 inch) graham cracker crust or regular pie crust
1/2 cup pumpkin puree
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 pinch ground cloves
1 pinch ground nutmeg

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. In a large bowl, combine cream cheese, sugar and vanilla. Beat until smooth. Blend in eggs one at a time. Remove 1 cup of batter and spread into bottom of crust; set aside.

Add pumpkin, cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg to the remaining batter and stir gently until well blended. Carefully spread over the batter in the crust.

Bake in preheated oven for 35 to 40 minutes, or until center is almost set. Allow to cool, then refrigerate for 3 hours or overnight. Top with whipped cream if desired.

From FB page of Cheryl Ciuffreda via Welcome Home

Why amnesty now?

Obama says he taught constitutional law

What Obama plans for illegals is illegal for presidents to do. It's not "just" an executive order. He himself noted 22 times (that is on record) that what he wants to do is illegal.

I also don't agree with him and all the talking heads that our immigration system is totally "broken." You can't break what you don't use. Illegals ignore the law, ICE ignores it, presidents ignore it, politicians at all levels ignore it, unions and corporations ignore it. Why would a new or revised version be any different if the intention is open borders, more Democrats and more low wage workers?

There are many who want immigration reform--legally--but not what Obama gleefully announced. Why is Obama trying to deep 6 his party?

In 2008:

"Senator Obama received a mandate from the voters to fix our ailing economy, which has shed more than a million jobs so far this year, not to enact a massive amnesty," said Dan Stein, president of FAIR, in a FAIR news release. "Voter turn-out increased across the board as record numbers of all Americans expressed dissatisfaction with the direction of the country. Immigration policy was clearly not a decisive factor in the presidential election, as it was not discussed during the campaign, and the records of both candidates were nearly identical."

Sixty percent of respondents said tougher enforcement and a crackdown on employers who hire undocumented workers was important to them. Only 21 percent supported a legal path to citizenship for illegals.

Fifty-seven percent said that amnesty would hurt American workers, while only 26 percent said that amnesty would aid economic recovery.

 https://www.numbersusa.com/…/poll-reveals-no-mandate-amnest…

King Obama

And don’t add the drivel that Reagan and Bush violated the law in the same way.  They didn’t.  Do your homework. Obama appears to not only be shredding the Constitution, but the careers of many Democrats at the same time.  It’s his policies that lost the party the Senate; and he could very well be trying to deep six 2016 for them. There are many supporters of immigration reform in both parties.  No one, out side of his lackies and the media, support this. Is he blind to how unpopular his policies and leadership are?  Even with Democrats?

https://www.numbersusa.com/content/news/november-10-2008/poll-reveals-no-mandate-amnesty.html

Fighting for us?

The Haircut

One day a florist goes to a barber for a haircut. After the cut he asked about his bill and the barber replies, 'I cannot accept money from you. I'm doing community service this week.' The florist was pleased and left the shop. When the barber goes to open his shop the next morning there is a 'thank you' card and a dozen roses waiting for him at his door.

Later, a cop comes in for a haircut, and when he tries to pay his bill, the barber again replies, 'I cannot accept money from you. I'm doing community service this week.' The cop is happy and leaves the shop. The next morning when the barber goes to open up there is a 'thank you' card and a dozen donuts waiting for him at his door.

Later that day, a college professor comes in for a haircut, and when he tries to pay his bill, the barber again replies, 'I cannot accept money from you. I'm doing community service this week.' The professor is very happy and leaves the shop. The next morning when the barber opens his shop, there is a 'thank you' card and a dozen different books, such as 'How to Improve Your Business' and 'Becoming More Successful.'

Then, a Congressman comes in for a haircut, and when he goes to pay his bill the barber again replies, 'I cannot accept money from you. I'm doing community service this week.' The Congressman is very happy and leaves the shop. The next morning when the barber goes to open up, there are two dozen Congressmen lined up waiting for a free haircut.

And that, my friends, illustrates the fundamental difference between the citizens of our country and the members of our Congress.

Korean American describes life for a Christian on college campus

Ellice Young Eun Park: "I went to a school in the Bay Area where the dominant belief was atheism, agnosticism, and Buddhist - and Hindu-informed culture. The hatred towards Christianity and Christians was pretty hot, I have no problem saying this to anyone. They're not radical militants, but they're cool, interesting, and academically super intelligent people. Some are very sweet, and funny. Hatred towards Christians comes wrapped in many faces.

My first week there! I was told, "This school knocks the Christian beliefs out of you. Most people here who start out Christian become atheists or agnostics by the time they graduate." I stared that person square in the eye and asked, "oh yeah? That isn't happening to me, not by anyone here." They looked at me and said, "I guess we will see, but my bet is it will get to you too." Sure enough, I sat in a biology class where the teachers main knock off joke was to mock Jesus, mock the existence of a Christian deity, and mock Christians. They didn't knock my faith out, but they fired me up after being in the comforts of the lca bubble. Maybe I should thank them, huh.

Interfaith dialogue is a joke if the main aim is to mock and try to shame someone out of their beliefs, or scare it out of them, or rule it against them. What, so are the Muslims going to fight for America for Americas protection and interests, and be patriotic to the USA after kicking the Christians out of the military--making it a hostile environment for Christian soldiers?

Pray for the Christian friends and family you have. Write a letter, use your voice, stand for your beliefs because nobody else will do it for you. I think we buy into this idea that Christianity is a dominant religion and sit back to see what others do. But the reality is that popular culture loves bashing on Christians, academics celebrate slashing at Christians, millennials are mostly uninterested in Christian belief, and devout Christians are a real minority. Jesus did say that many would call him Lord And did so much for him, but that he would not recognize them. Let's at least stand for those we love! even if we won't stand for ourselves.

Josh Mandel is still the youngest State Treasurer in America

He won 82 of Ohio's 88 counties in the 2014 election, including traditional Democratic strongholds of Lorain, Jefferson and Trumbull. In fact, Josh won more counties in 2014 than he did in his 2010 election over the incumbent.‎

His 14-point win was the largest margin of victory for any incumbent Ohio Treasurer in a quarter of a century.‎ This is despite his opponent spending over $3 million against him and the unions doing additional independent expenditures.

He beat his opponent in her home county, her own statehouse district that she currently represents, and even her own precinct. Barack Obama won Hamilton County in 2008 and 2012.‎‎‎‎

From e-mail of Citizens for Josh Mandel

‎-

Seeing blacks as victims does them great harm—Thomas Sowell

“Under an implicit threat of losing their federal subsidies, the Minneapolis Public Schools have agreed to reduce the disparity in punishment of black students by 25 percent by the end of this school year, and then by 50 percent, 75 percent and finally 100 percent in each of the following years. In other words, there are now racial quota limits for punishment in the Minneapolis schools.

If we stop and think -- as old-fashioned as that may seem -- there is not the slightest reason to expect black males to commit the same number of offenses as Asian females or any other set of students.

When different groups of human beings have behaved differently in all sorts of ways, in countries around the world, for thousands of years of recorded history, why would we accept as dogma that the only reason one set of students gets punished more than others is because the people who are doing the punishing are picking on them?

Politically -- which is the way the Obama administration looks at everything -- any time they can depict blacks as victims, and depict themselves as their rescuers, that means an opportunity to get out the black vote for Democrats.

On the surface, this may look like a favor to blacks. But only on the surface.

Anyone with common sense knows that letting a kid get away with bad behavior is an open invitation to worse behavior in the future. Punishing a kid for misbehavior in school when he is 10 years old may reduce the chances that he will have to be sent to prison when he is 20 years old.”

A legacy of liberalism

Now 2 people have died from Ebola in the U.S., 12 from EV-D68

TB is a much more serious disease than Ebola, accounting for 1.3 million deaths worldwide. In 2010, foreign-born persons accounted for 60% of all TB cases diagnosed in the United States, as compared to 47% of all TB cases in 2000. The number of states with at least 50% of TB cases occurring among foreign-born persons has increased from 21 states in 2000 to 33 states and the District of Columbia in 2010. The TB case rate was 1.2 per 100,000 for U.S.-born persons and 15.6 for foreign-born persons, and Asians have the highest rate of all groups in the U.S. Foreign-born Hispanics and Asians together represented 79% of TB cases in foreign-born persons, and accounted for 51% of the national case total. From 2009 through 2013, the top five countries of origin of foreign-born persons with TB were Mexico, the Philippines, India, Vietnam and China   (CDC)

http://www.cdc.gov/tb/publications/factsheets/statistics/TBTrends.htm

http://www.cdc.gov/tb/statistics/reports/2013/pdf/report2013.pdf

As we fret over one more death from Ebola in the U.S., there have been 9,000 from CRE, Carbapenem-resistant Enterobasteriaceae. It's highly lethal for the elderly, debilitated, and children with critical illnesses. There are guidelines to reduce its transmission in hospitals, but few have adopted them. 94% of the cases are related to health care.

http://www.wired.com/2014/07/cre-fivefold/

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/07/31/cre-nightmare-bacteria-spread/13322879/

http://www.cdc.gov/HAI/prevent/top-cdc-recs-prevent-hai.html

http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1086/677157#af1  “Rising Rates of Carbapenem-Resistant Enterobacteriaceae in Community Hospitals: A Mixed-Methods Review of Epidemiology and Microbiology Practices in a Network of Community Hospitals in the Southeastern United States,” Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology, vol 32, no.8, Aug. 2014

12 children have now died of a respiratory polio like illness whose numbers are unusually high as thousands more children came across the border than years before. CDC assures us there is no relationship. Just a coincidence.

http://www.cdc.gov/non-polio-enterovirus/outbreaks/EV-D68-outbreaks.html

http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2014/10/08/Sharyl-Attkisson-Lack-of-Transparency-About-Enterovirus-Outbreak-Causing-Americans-to-Question-if-Illegals-Responsible

http://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2014/09/the_invasion_of_enterovirus_evd68.html

Senator Obama

Is popcorn considered “fast food?”

One of the major fall outs from the women's movement of the 1970s was more children eating in restaurants. We rarely eat at "fast food" places, but all restaurants where we do eat have a lot of children. It's a lot cheaper and healthier to feed them at home. With the money you save, hire a sitter and go out without them. http://archpedi.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx…

You’ll find an excellent graphic at this article

http://www.healthline.com/health/fast-food-effects-on-body

Thinking Spain for 2015

Light blue dot.

The voters who were grubered

How government benefits hurt the poor in the long run

Minimum wage increases will affect only about 1% of American workers.  This is a political club, not a help for workers. The problem is unemployment, lack of skills, under the table pay, low education levels, but Democrats say changing things for 1% will give those families a great benefit.  Not as long as it pays better to receive government benefits if you don't or can't work: if you would lose your Medicaid if you accepted a raise, why would you try to advance? If you had to move out of Section 8 housing if you got a promotion and the pay wouldn't cover the new apartment, would you?

 http://news.yahoo.com/welfare-pays-more-entry-level-shocking-number-states-144812704.html

The authors found that in 11 states, “welfare pays more than the average pretax first-year wage for a teacher [in those states]. In 39 states, it pays more than the starting wage for a secretary. And, in the three most generous states a person on welfare can take home more money than an entry-level computer programmer.”

STEM Women

I've seen stupid stories about women, but this beats all. Feminists got their naked lady tattoos in a knot over this guy's shirt and ignored the science. Now that should help the camaraderie in the lab.

"At first, people were excited. Then some women noticed that one of the space scientists, Matt Taylor, was wearing a shirt, made for him by a female "close pal," featuring comic-book depictions of semi-naked women."

It became a bigger story than Kim Kardashian's naked butt, which as far as I could tell had no scientific merit. Women can wear anything they want or nothing at all, all in an effort to attract men, but by golly, men better stay covered in something gender neutral and pretend they don’t care about what women look like—not even cartoonish women.

 http://www.usatoday.com/…/shirt-comet-girls-femin…/19083607/

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2834451/Philae-comet-probe-scientist-embroiled-sexism-row-shirt-featuring-scantily-clad-women.html

http://www.cnn.com/2014/11/13/living/matt-taylor-shirt-philae-rosetta-project/index.html

Liberal logic

Comment on Democrat voters, Michael Petrino

“The Republicans are deceiving themselves if they think Democrats, or those who vote for them, are disturbed by the fact that Gruber is a liar and a simpleton, or that Obamacare will ultimately bring them great pain. Honesty and integrity are characteristics that are not highly valued by Democrat voters. If they were highly valued, Hillary would not be the leading contender for the Democrat nomination in 2016. Ted Kennedy would not have been returned to office over and over again after he killed Mary Jo. Bill Clinton would not be revered after the no lo plea and the statements by a number of women that he assaulted them. Barney Frank would not have been reelected many times after it was discovered that a prostitution ring was being run out of his apartment by his partner. Charlie Rangel would not have been reelected after he was found to have engaged in violations of the tax code. Democrats just do not care; they want politicians who can be relied upon to give them "free" stuff.”

This comment was made at the article about how Gruber and CBO cooked the books on Obamacare.

http://online.wsj.com/articles/jonathan-grubers-stupid-budget-tricks-1416009107

Obama and amnesty

Why does Obama believe Hispanics need an extra push from Washington?Their college enrollment increased 15% in 2011, and their high school drop out rate is very low. Hispanic families value education and marriage.  Black enrollment in college decreased during the same time 3% and many households are held back economically due to lack of marriage.  Maybe unions and the Chamber are anticipating cheap labor with amnesty, but let's look down the road a few years as these stats translate to graduate school, and white collar jobs. (Pew Report Hispanic College Enrollment, 2012)

How to become a millionaire selling Obamacare

Jonathan Gruber raked in a tidy sum "selling" Obamacare to adoring Democrat audiences who heard about the "stupidity" of American voters who would swallow the poison only with a teaspoon of lies. In the bill there was money to promote it; it went to states in the form of grants, and he was hired by 8-10 states (known at this time) at $300-$400,000 a pop. And Nancy Pelosi who claimed she didn't know him, is in the archives lauding his wisdom and position. The O Team is a piece of work.

http://www.vox.com/2014/11/13/7211279/obamacare-jon-gruber-controversy

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2014/11/14/despite-dem-claims-trash-talking-gruber-was-well-paid-adviser-for-obamacare-and/

http://mainenewsonline.com/content/14111660-jonathan-gruber-was-paid-well-advising-obamacare-programme

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/11/14/vermont-still-loves-jonathan-gruber.html

Charitable giving

Jesus preaches and teaches more on money than any other topic. Liberal Christians will remind you, if you forget. However, he never asks believers/followers to take money from others and pretend it's their own generosity. Nor does he ever suggest they ask Rome to respond to their responsibilities. Nor does he ever promise you will end poverty or change lives if you give--except maybe your own. Although Americans are the most generous in the world--giving to charity more than the GDP of some prosperous countries--the lowest income and least educated Americans (bottom fifth) give beyond their capacity. The wealthiest give proportionately the least. Giving helps your health, your happiness and even your looks! The giving season is coming--don't be stingy. http://online.wsj.com/…/SB100014240527023043374045792143334

http://www.aei.org/publication/arthur-brooks-to-unveil-new-research-on-charitable-giving/

http://allchristiannews.com/less-tithing/

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2009/05/19/68456_americas-poor-are-its-most-generous.html?rh=1

Fried Cabbage with sausage

I love fried cabbage.  I like to buy shredded/chopped cabbage and just toss some in the skillet for lunch. You don’t need this much butter, but it’s in the recipe. Or use olive oil.

FRIED CABBAGE WITH SAUSAGE

1 stick butter or margarine
1 small head of cabbage, chopped
1 small onion, chopped
1 pound smoked sausage, sliced into round pieces (I use turkey)
1 (15 ounce) can diced tomatoes or rotel tomatoes
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper

Melt butter in large skillet. Add cabbage, onion, and cook on medium high for about 5 minutes stirring to keep from sticking to pan. Add remaining ingredients, cover and simmer for 20 – 25 minutes.
Makes about 8 servings. Only 4 g net carbs per serving.

Sylvia posted this on Facebook, from Trisha Renee.

Life expectancy at 75, or why are Hispanics living longer?

Bob senior (b. 1913) and sons shortly before his death at 93.

Life expectancy is usually given for birth year, but you can also figure it from current age. Hispanics in the U.S. have the highest life expectancy, then white non-Hispanic, then black non-Hispanic. This applies at birth and ages 65 and 75. So something other than income and government benefits is at work. Those in the upper ranges are all pre-War on Poverty and pre-126 wealth transfer programs. Based on the CDC figures, I think I’ll go with my Mom and Dad’s ages—88 and 89. My two grandfathers were around 93.  My husband’s father was 93.

 http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/hus/2011/022.pdf

"Hispanic" is a made up word to refer to people whose families come from a Spanish speaking country--Cuba, Mexico, South America (not sure if Brazilians are called Hispanic), etc. Generally, they are of European ancestry with a mix of Indian.

Divorce rates are lower; marriage rates are higher for Hispanic households. Hispanics are less likely to co-habit. Living together without marriage does not provide the health and wealth benefits of marriage. If it is an inter-ethnic marriage, those figures hold. Hispanic families are more likely to attend church than other groups. All these factors affect health (and wealth). However, more education = higher divorce rate. Since 2001 the largest minority in the U.S. population, Hispanics now have the highest college enrollment rate for freshmen since 2012, Will we see a lower life expectancy as they take on the culture of the majority?

http://www.gallup.com/poll/17404/Where-Hispanic-Americans-Stand-Religion-Politics.aspx

http://www.care2.com/causes/hispanic-college-enrollment-rate-is-higher-than-white-enrollment.html

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/05/sunday-review/why-everyone-seems-to-have-cancer.html

http://hispanics.barna.org/hispanic-priorities-marriage-family-and-youth/

Today I did go

 

Today I visited Green Lawn Cemetery in Columbus, Ohio, with the Conestoga group. Many famous people await the resurrection here, many species of trees, wonderful sculptures, and hundreds of stories (about 147,000) known only to the families. I'd driven past it for 47 years, and finally visited.  The average temperature this time of year is usually 55, but it was 31, and we were pretty cold.  The Docent did a wonderful job.  I hope to go again when the weather is nice.  Three OSU presidents, Edward Orton, William Oxley Thompson, and George W. Rightmire are buried there and five Ohio governors.   Also, Captain Eddie Rickenbacker, famous WWI pilot.  Samuel P. Bush, grandfather and great grandfather of Bush 41 and 43 is also there. There are over 150 species of trees, and it’s a favorite spot for migratory birds.

Why the media blackout on Gruber? Silly question.

“Kirsten Powers [Democrat and liberal reporter for Fox] called out the mainstream media for ignoring several new videos that show one of the architects of ObamaCare admitting the administration was not transparent about what was in the bill back in 2009 and 2010.

Jonathan Gruber said that the “stupidity of the American voter” helped ObamaCare become law, acknowledging that the administration could not be forthcoming about taxes in the bill.

He said the administration exploited the lack of understanding of the average American.

The White House had not commented until today when Ed Henry pressed Josh Earnest on Gruber's admissions.

Powers said she can't understand why media outlets like The New York Times would not think this is worthy of coverage.”

http://insider.foxnews.com/2014/11/13/kirsten-powers-truly-stunned-media-blackout-stupid-americans-video

http://www.cnn.com/2014/11/12/politics/gruber-obamacare-third-video/index.html

http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/gops-anti-obamacare-push-gains-new-momentum-in-wake-of-gruber-video/2014/11/12/e0d6b4d2-6aa7-11e4-9fb4-a622dae742a2_story.html  WaPo makes the story about the GOP instead of Gruber and Obama!

Required pre-school?

Our federal government has done such an amazing job on k-12 education and in containing costs for college (the cost of higher education has surged more than 500 percent since 1985), that now it wants to require pre-kindergarten education--even though its own program for the poor and low income (Head Start) shows no advantage--just so it can complete the job of state thought control.

 http://www.acf.hhs.gov/…/o…/head_start_executive_summary.pdf

Islam and end times

My husband bought a book this morning at his UALC men's Bible study: "Resurgent Islam and America: The End times," by David Goldmann, (Xulon press, 2010). Goldmann is a former missionary in Northern Africa who lives in Columbus and has a great love for the Muslim people--which is why he brought Christ to them. His wife is in my book club. After he reads it, perhaps I can get him to write something about it.

So many Catholics are disagreeing with the Pope

R. R. Reno said in the December issue of First Things: “[the Pope] is dangerously wrong when he suggests that the way forward is to obsess less [about sex]. The opposite is true. . . our age is already obsessed with sex.  If we don’t speak—if our church leaders don’t speak—we’ll be absorbed into our culture’s way of thinking, and our children will be catechized by progressive creeds of sexual liberation.”

St. Augustine urged the faithful not to follow their bishops if the Bishops were not following holy scripture. "We may not assent to the teaching even of the Catholic bishops, if at any time they are deceived into opinions contrary to the canonical Scriptures of God; but if they should so fall into error, and yet maintain the bond of unity and charity, let the apostle's saying avail in their case: 'And if in anything ye are otherwise minded, God shall reveal even this unto you.' Now these divine words have so manifest an application to the whole Church, that none but heretics in their stubborn perverseness and blind fury can bark against them." (Cf. Augustine's Reply to Faustus the Manichaean (Contra Faustum), book 11, 5.)  Seems to fit some of today's controversies.

Growth of internet use and church membership

Is internet use and higher education affecting your church's attendance? "In the 2010 U.S. population, Internet use could account for 5.1 million people with no religious affiliation, or 20% of the observed decrease in affiliation relative to the 1980s. Increases in college graduation between the 1980s and 2000s could account for an additional 5% of the decrease." Allen B. Downey, professor of computer science (http://arxiv.org/pdf/1403.5534v1.pdf)

Before turning on your computer, smart phone or I-pad, arm yourself with the Lord's Prayer, one of the creeds, or a favorite psalm to balance out your strong social needs and to make contact with the One who really cares and listens and is never off line or out of range.

The worthy goals of the ACA

The two most important goals of Obamacare were to reduce the number of uninsured (estimated at about 44 million in 2009) and to reduce health care costs. Those were admirable goals with which no one can argue. Almost immediately the CBO figured there was not going to be a reduction in costs, and might even be an increase.

And the uninsured? Well, about half were young and in their youthful way had decided they'd rather have pizza and beer than do that co-pay and deduction at work; another large group made over $75,000 a year and just chose not to insure, or could self insure.

So that left about 30 million uninsured poor people, many of whom were already eligible for Medicaid but didn't sign up. Now even the most Obama-loving estimates are there will still be about 14 million uninsured when this all shakes out. For that, millions lost their doctors, their insurance and their jobs and we taxpayers lost hundreds of millions on a sign up system that didn't work, plus our right to privacy for our medical records. And the Democrats are scratching their heads on why they lost the election?

Maisie Dobbs

Maisie Dobbs Books in Publication Order

1. Maisie Dobbs (2003) [Best Price Here]
2. Birds of a Feather (2004) [Best Price Here]
3. Pardonable Lies (2005) [Best Price Here]
4. Messenger of Truth (2006) [Best Price Here]
5. An Incomplete Revenge (2008) [Best Price Here]
6. Among the Mad (2009) [Best Price Here]
7. The Mapping of Love and Death (2010) [Best Price Here]
8. A Lesson in Secrets (2011) [Best Price Here]
9. Elegy for Eddie (2012) [Best Price Here]
10. Leaving Everything Most Loved (2013) [Best Price Here]
11. A Dangerous Place (2015) [Best Price Here]

http://www.booksinorder.net/authors/jacqueline-winspear/

#11 is a stand alone.

Shortage of training and apprenticeships for skilled workers

83% of construction contractors are reporting a shortage of trained workers. Was it the last recession (ended in 2009) when 2 million were laid off, or something bigger like a failure in the education pipeline for new construction workers? Those factors include the dismantling of the public vocational and technical education programs, declining participation in union apprenticeship training and an increasing focus on college preparatory programs at the high school level. Surely, there must be some recent veterans who can stand in the gap.

 http://www.agc.org/…/2014_AGC_Workforce_Development_Plan.pdf

It’s unfortunate that many ideas in this report want the federal government to come to the aid of the unions, and they want legal recognition for illegal construction workers.  Local schools and communities and businesses need to step up.

One of the promises of the current administration was to streamline the regulations that choke small businesses, but the figure is still over $2 trillion in added costs according to a study by the  National Association of Manufacturers.  http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2014/09/10/study-federal-regulations-cost-us-businesses-2-trillion/

Dr. Gruber, ACA architect, admits they lied—but for a good cause

“This bill was written in a tortured way to make sure CBO did not score the mandate as taxes. If CBO scored the mandate as taxes, the bill dies. [In other words they committed fraud.] Okay, so it’s written to do that.  In terms of risk rated subsidies, if you had a law which said that healthy people are going to pay in – you made explicit healthy people pay in and sick people get money, it would not have passed… Lack of transparency is a huge political advantage. And basically, call it the stupidity of the American voter or whatever, but basically that was really really critical for the thing to pass. It’s a second-best argument. Look, I wish Mark was right that we could make it all transparent, but I’d rather have this law than not.”

Dr. Gruber: A lot of people weren’t stupid, many of the violations and problems were noted early on, but Obama controlled both houses of Congress, and even then it only passed by one vote.  Last Tuesday, many Democrats lost their jobs, thanks to your lies,  although to listen to the media and the president, they can’t figure out why.

American economic policy hides or obscures subsidies or costs—it’s not just the ACA

• As Dr. Gruber points out, in ObamaCare the healthy cross-subsidize the sick. He does not point out that embedded within this the healthy subsidize the sick for the portion of their sickness related to unhealthy behaviors. A Congressional floor vote to defend such a value choice, if made transparent and explicit, would certainly fail.
• ObamaCare also forces young people to subsidize older people by limiting the width of premium “rating bands” for insurance sold in the individual market. This was the result of closed-door lobbying by AARP. This one might pass Congress if voted upon explicitly, but the ACA’s architects hid it to avoid admitting that they were shafting young people.
• Social Security conflates forced individual retirement saving, insurance programs, and massive cross-subsidies, in part to hide the latter.
• So does Medicare. The biggest cross-subsidies are across birth year cohorts but there are plenty of others as well. Don’t get me started on trust fund accounting.
• The employer-side half of FICA payroll taxes that finance most of Social Security and part of Medicare are often framed as if they “are paid by the employer” when their true economic burden is borne by the employee in the form of lower wages. If all FICA taxes were imposed on the employee-side they would be more transparent and less popular.
• A minimum wage increase forces low-skilled unemployed workers to subsidize the wages of the low-skilled employed. Expanding the earned income tax credit is a more transparent way to help the low-skilled unemployed but it puts the costs on budget and in full view. The Left pushes to hide the costs and lies, claiming it’s a free lunch.
• CAFE fuel economy requirements are less transparent than a gas tax that would achieve a similar goal. But gas tax increases are wildly unpopular while raising CAFE standards appear only to make things harder “on the auto companies.”
• A global CO2 cap-and-trade system would have obscured the redistribution of global economic growth from developed economies to developing economies. An explicit and transparent carbon tax imposed only on developed economies would achieve a similar endpoint but would have made explicit this massive proposed global redistribution.
• For years policymakers used Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to subsidize homeowners through hidden credit subsidies. The Left pushed this for low-income homebuyers through affordable housing goals, while elected officials across the political spectrum supported the same thing for all homebuyers through special advantages conferred by government on these two firms.

http://keithhennessey.com/2014/11/10/honesty-about-lying/

http://michellemalkin.com/?p=161169

http://economics.mit.edu/files/6829

http://economics.mit.edu/files/6829  In this 2011 NBER research article , Gruber states it is doubtful that health care costs can be controlled through Obamacare.

http://hotair.com/archives/2014/11/10/video-obamacare-architect-brags-about-lack-of-transparency-in-law/

Baking in the new oven

I'm not sure how you baptize a new oven, but I just baked Pecan Lemon Loaf with a glaze in my new noisy oven (fan runs the whole time plus 10 minutes when cooling). I like Taste of Home magazine so I used a recipe from one of my annuals, and here's the on-line. Made a few mistakes--I don't bake much any more, but it will probably be edible.

 http://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/pecan-lemon-loaf

Donny and Marie—teen-agers dancing, singing and skating

I’m looking over a 4 leaf clover.  Look how covered up Marie is.  A little different than some exploited teen stars.

My new kitchen appliances

I know this is a first world problem and petty, but I've spent ca. $3000 on new kitchen appliances and I'm not sure I like any of them. Styles have changed and they don't look that terrific with my 1990s cabinets. All appliances are much larger than 20 years ago when this kitchen got a make-over by the previous owner. Then everything was flush. Now they look like they've been on steroids and everything is muscular and loud. Yes, loud. The new wall oven has a fan that doesn't turn off when it is in use! It actually blows my hair when I walk by! I upgraded the dishwasher for silence and get a noisy oven! We need to have a contractor slice about 1/2" off the counter so we can push the oven in all the way, but it will still stick out further than the old one. Sunday night we had dinner at a friend's and I noticed they have the same problem.

Now about that war on women the Democrats are waging . . .

The cost of a big wedding may not be worth it

The more you spend on the engagement ring and the wedding, the more likely you are to get a divorce according to this research: " ‘A Diamond is Forever’ and Other Fairy Tales: The Relationship between Wedding Expenses and Marriage Duration" Andrew M. Francis and Hugo M. Mialon. (September 15, 2014). Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=2501480 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2501480

We've been married over 54 years. Our wedding was low budget. I borrowed my sister's wedding dress; I didn't even have a shower. My husband's parents bought him a new suit. It was punch and cake in the church basement. I'm guessing weddings are really for brides and their mothers; men probably don't give a hoot. The important thing about a wedding is to be surrounded by friends and family, and skip the park or beach and find a church! And even that doesn't always take. If you can't get along before the wedding, a few words by a pastor won't change anything.

http://www.theknot.com/Vendors/Longaberger-Golf-Club-Event-Center/Profile/CAR/054/542850/profile?sid=FeilhLC0c4HJxNUWNuxbEw

http://www.eventective.com/USA/Ohio/Heath/68040/The-Dawes-Arboretum.html

http://www.jamesallen.com/engagement-rings/

http://www.whiteflash.com/engagement-rings/designer-rings.aspx

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.