Yes, I’m still in Virginia!

I’ve now cycled over 440 miles since Christmas and am still in Virginia according to “Tools to Keep You Active” chart. This photo is near Cedar Springs, VA, in  Wythe County. The health sites say your waist needs  to be at least one half your height measurement, and exercise should be 30 minutes a day. At least for certain health problems.   I’ve lost 22 pounds. No more leg pain. Well, that was easy. Medicare has spent thousands on tests in 2014 for me for blood clots and poor circulation all of which were negative, and all I needed to do was stop snacking, eat more healthy meals and exercise more. Nothing like lugging 40 extra pounds around to make your legs hurt. While I exercise on the bike I also use a finger strengthener.  I always had to ask for help to open detergent bottles or olives or even juice.  I think plastic bottles are sometimes the worst because it’s hard to get a grip. Hand strength is coming a bit more slowly; not sure I’ve seen improvement.

If ethics laws apply to wives, they should also cover girlfriends and mistresses, or whatever a boy toy is called

“Andrew Cuomo, a Democrat, is demanding that lawmakers report income they make from outside jobs as part of an ethics overhaul. In response, Republican lawmakers say it's only fair to require officials to file disclosures including the finances of domestic partners such as Lee, a successful TV chef and author.”

http://news.yahoo.com/tv-celeb-sandra-lee-pulled-ny-legislative-ethics-225547313.html

From my bookshelves.

Let’s have a conversation . . .

14 Ways Consumers Can Reduce Food Waste

“About 40 percent of the United States food supply (1,500 calories/ person/day) goes uneaten. Discarded food in homes and foodservice accounts for 60 percent of this total food loss and is mostly avoidable. The remaining portion is lost or wasted during food production.”  Food Reflections.  I’ve been subscribing to this newsletter for over 15 years. It’s from Extension at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

I looked at the list of 14 things we can do at home, and have been doing 13 of them (I don’t compost ) and I’m sure I still waste food.

Starbucks

I’m a little mixed on this message.  Any business should be responsive to the stockholders.  If the company can’t earn a profit in a black neighborhood, it shouldn’t be there.  However, the CEO should stop being such a hypocrite about race.

Officer involved shooting, Columbus

Police were called to a home by a family.  While the officer was taking the report about their being threatened, the perp showed up with a gun and tried to shoot the officer. The intruder was shot and killed.  Race of either hasn’t been released.  If the criminal was black and the officer white, we’ll hear more.  If not, we’ll have to search for more information on the outcome.  If Al Sharpton shows up with a busload of Soros sponsored trouble makers, that should tell us something.

http://www.nbc4i.com/story/28581173/officer-involved-shooting-on-citys-north-side

http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/local/2015/03/22/officer-kills-man-on-north-side.html

I have a very dumb cell phone (I like it that way), and even I knew she was lying

Liberals aren’t

This past week has seen the outrage generated by parents of donor and invitro-fertilization children following a now-infamous Panorama magazine interview conducted with the fashion designers Dolce & Gabbana, wherein Domenico Dolce proclaimed, “You are born to a mother and a father — or at least that’s how it should be. I call children of chemistry, synthetic children.” Immediately, Elton John advocated a boycott of the designers’ products in retaliation for the perceived offense against his two sons, who were conceived via an egg donor and surrogate mother.”  http://www.npr.org/2015/03/16/393403211/elton-john-declares-boycott-against-dolce-gabbana

In another story a young woman named Heather wrote about how much she loved her mother and her partner (a lesbian couple), yet longed for her father. On the internet you would think she had suggested lynching them even though she wrote of fond memories with her mother’s lesbian friends and gay sponsored events. Children of other disrupted families are allowed to grieve, why not children of gay couples, she wonders. http://thefederalist.com/2015/03/17/dear-gay-community-your-kids-are-hurting/

A black liberal media personality, MSNBC contributor Jonathan Capeheart, in an op-ed apologized this past week for reporting on the Ferguson story before he had all the facts—particularly the “Hands up don’t shoot,” and I’d be surprised if he isn’t fired by Monday. It’s rare for any news journalist to sincerely apologize, liberal or conservative. He should be commended, not condemned. Just ask Juan Williams of Fox who was fired by NPR. http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/fact-checker/wp/2015/03/19/hands-up-dont-shoot-did-not-happen-in-ferguson/

And my goodness, don’t even get started on the high STD and HIV rates among transgendered male to female persons. They are really messing with the stats for women.  I’d be surprised if studies will continue to be reported in JAMA.  It’s a tiny segment of the population with a huge problem. http://www.cdc.gov/hiv/risk/transgender/

And if you point out the high abortion rate for black women (about 38% of black pregnancies in NYC are aborted), then you are a racist—even if the government reports on it first.  I know this from personal experience when I posted the information on Facebook and was dropped by a liberal for being racist. http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr60/nvsr60_07.pdf

Truth is a casualty when ideology is the goal. There was a time, even in my life time, when liberal was a proud word—stood for being open and tolerant to new ideas and exchange of information.  Now it means one must desire and vote for more government control and concede to the current culture or be called a hater.

Good advice for most projects

The original copyright for my Singer Sewing Book is 1953. It has similar pithy words of wisdom.

• "The psychiatrists say that ugly dresses have caused more complexes than have "prettier sisters" or "scolding mothers." Every child has the right to becoming, yes, pretty, clothes." p. 165 [What would we do without the advice of psychiatrists?]
• "There is real advantage in teaching children to sew--boys and girls. No matter what they do with their hands later, whether they become artists or sculptors or electricians or radio or television repairmen--technicians of any kind--if the muscles of the fingers and the hands are trained to sew, this training can be beneficial." p. 166 [Now we have video games for eye-hand coordination.]
• "Boys require only slightly less fabric than girls." p. 164 [Even in the days of poodle skirts?]
• "When sewing for children, study color in relation to their skin color, eyes and hair." p. 163 [Years before Color me Beautiful!]
• "Use both hands when you sew." p. 153 [I'd never thought of doing it any other way, did you?]
• "Look your prettiest for this try-on [basted garment]. A dress in its fitting stage is no doubt passing through its one ugly hour." p. 50
• "An itinerant tailor, Ebenezer Butterick, through the urging of his wife, Ellen, was the first to make patterns available in the United States to women who sew. He made patterns and rented them to customers. . ." p. 35 [Behind every good man . . .]
• "There is no reason for anyone's not making a beautiful seam, because it takes so little time to learn to stitch straight and to "power" evenly." p. 5 [Is that possessive pronoun necessary in this sentence?]

Gas explosion a few blocks from our home—50 firefighters respond

“UPPER ARLINGTON, Ohio - At least seven homes were destroyed or damaged Saturday when a house exploded in Upper Arlington. The explosion was reported around 2:45 p.m. at a home on Sunningdale Way in Upper Arlington.

According to firefighters, a Columbia Gas employee was investigating an earlier report of a gas smell at the home at the time of the explosion.
A mail carrier told NBC4's Dan Pearlman that he reported smelling natural gas in the area around 11:30 a.m.

Tremont Road is closed near the OSU Golf course. NBC4 crews reported seeing debris from the explosion as far away as West North Broadway.” NBC TV local

We heard the boom, but had no idea what had happened until it was reported on the news. It could be felt as far south as Grandview and all the way into Clintonville.

Columbus Dispatch photo

Netanyahu’s speech before Congress

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lELXynhbS84

This is what a leader in our times sounds like. If you search his name in the upper left search window, you can find quite a few entries about him over the last few years.

A list of martyred popes—Wikipedia

I’m listening to a lecture (while riding my exercycle) on how the pagans were evangelized in the early church.  Now that Christians are being killed for the faith in larger numbers than the first century, it’s a good message to hear.  It wasn’t Facebook, Twitter and rock concerts, for sure. In some ways it is more difficult today. He mentioned how many popes were killed.  Tough job! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sV_MsGUzN_I#t=1547  Don’t miss the final minutes of the talk where Steve Ray meets his neighbor in the judgment. Story of Steve Ray.

“The full list of popes from Peter up through John Paul II, including many mentioned as martyrs, is found in I Sommi Pontifici Romani, Annuario Pontificio, and the iconography of the Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls. A secondary source, Liber Pontificalis or "Book of the Popes", adds "crowned with martyrdom" for half a dozen of the first 33 popes not specifically identified as martyrs in the primary sources. Several other popes are traditionally said to have been martyred, according to the Acts of the Martyrs and other sources of unknown authenticity.

• Saint Peter (c.67), traditionally martyred by crucifixion^[3]
• Pope Linus (Saint) (c.67-c.76)^[4][5]
• Pope Anacletus or Cletus (Saint) (c.79-c.92)^[6][4]
• Pope Clement I (Saint) (c.92-c.99), thrown into sea with anchor around his neck^[4]
• Pope Evaristus (c.99-c.108);^[4][5] not listed in the Roman Martyrology
• Pope Alexander I (Saint) (c.106-c.119);^[4][5] recognition as the martyred Saint Alexander (feast day May 3) rescinded in 1960
• Pope Sixtus I (Saint) (c.119-c.128)^[4][5]
• Pope Telesphorus (Saint) (c.128-c.138)^[4][7]
• Pope Hyginus (Saint) (c.138-c.142);^[4] martyrdom dubious^[8]
• Pope Pius I (Saint) (c.142-c.154), martyred by the sword;^[9] claim of martyrdom removed from the 1969 General Roman Calendar^[10]
• Pope Anicetus (Saint) (155-166), traditionally martyred.^[4]
• Pope Soter (Saint) (166-175), died a martyr ^[4]
• Pope Eleuterus (Saint) (175-189), died a martyr ^[4]
• Pope Victor I (Saint) 189-199, died a martyr ^[4]
• Pope Calixtus I (Saint) (217-222), died a martyr ^[4]
• Pope Urban I (Saint) 222-230, died a martyr ^[4]
• Pope Pontian (Saint) 230-235, condemned to mines in Sardinia and died on island of Tavolara^[4]
• Pope Anterus (Saint) Elected 12/21/235, martyred at hands of Emperor Maximus ^[4]
• Pope Fabian (Saint) (Elected 1/10/236 and died a martyr 1/20/250 during persecution by Decius)^[4]
• Pope Cornelius (Saint) (Elected March 251 and died a martyr June 253).^[4]
• Pope Lucius I (Saint) Elected 6/25/253 and martyred 3/5/254.^[4]
• Pope Stephen I (Saint) Elected 5/12/254 and martyred 8/2/257.^[4][1]
• Pope Sixtus II (Saint) (Elected 8/30/257 and martyred 8/6/258).^[4]
• Pope Dionysius (Saint) Elected 7/22/259 after year of persecutions and died 12/26/268, martyred ^[4]
• Pope Felix I (Saint) Elected 1/5/269 and died 12/30/274, martyred ^[4]
• Pope Eutychian (Saint) Elected 1/4/275 and martyred 12/7/283. ^[4]
• Pope Caius (Saint) Elected 12/17/283 and martyred 4/22/296, but not at hands of his uncle, Diocletian ^[4]
• Pope Marcellinus (Saint) Elected 6/30/296 and martyred 10/25/304 during persecution of Diocletian ^[4]
• Pope Marcellus I (Saint) Elected 5/27/308 after 4-year vacancy and martyred 1/16/309.^[4]
• Pope Eusebius (Saint) Elected 4/18/309 and martyred in Sicily 8/17/309. ^[4]
• Pope Martin I (Saint) Elected in 649. Died in exile 9/16/655

Israel is our greatest friend in the middle east and Iran our oldest enemy

Someone please tell our president. Someone please give him a map.

40 maps that explain it.

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/192865#!

Of course, he misread the Arab Spring and thought Yemen was our big success. He’s got Muslim Brotherhood advisors in the White House. He pulled our troops out of Iraq allowing ISIS to rush in. He drew lines in the sand and did nothing.  He never says anything about the most persecuted group in the world—the Christians, and didn’t see any anti-Semitism in the Jewish deli incident in Paris. 

http://fresnozionism.org/2010/03/why-obamas-dumping-israel/

It’s détente with Iran and a cold war with Israel.

Blacks in America have been sold out by the very liberals who ardently claim to wish them the most good.

Shelby Steele’s book, Shame. Reviewed by Joseph Epstein

“Liberalism in the twenty-first century,” Mr. Steele writes, “is, for the most part, a moral manipulation that exaggerates inequity and unfairness in American life in order to justify overreaching public policies and programs.” This liberalism, which is not your Aunt Bessie’s liberalism but the liberalism that came into play at the 1972 Democratic convention that nominated George McGovern, “is invested in an overstatement of America’s present sinfulness based on the nation’s past sins.”

Mr. Steele argues that liberalism’s efforts to alleviate the past injustices done to blacks in America have amounted to another botched project of that famously failed political construction firm, the Good Intentions Paving Co. “Liberalism,” Mr. Steele writes, “expresses its inborn racism in the way it overlooks the full human complexity of blacks—the fact that they are more than mere victims—in order to distill and harden the idea of their victimization into a currency of liberal power.”

Liberals, Mr. Steele holds, deal in what he calls “poetic truth.” This is a kind of truth “conceived in reaction to the great shames of America’s past—racism, sexism, territorial conquest (manifest destiny), corporate greed, militarism, and so on.” In poetic truth, the world is reduced to victims and victimizers, with liberals alone innocent of evil and thus excluded, by self-dissociation, from the role of victimizers. Under the realm of poetic truth, Mr. Steele explains, the race riots of the late 1960s could find justification and the feminist slogan “woman as nigger” could be taken seriously, while “fifty years of real moral evolution in America” can be entirely ignored.”

No one wants to be someone else’s “good deed project,” whether in a 3rd world country or urban non-profit.

Another lie—the most transparent administration in history

FOIA says otherwise.  He goes against the law set up for presidents, then claims to be transparent.  Even his supporters know he is lying, but they don’t care.

http://hotair.com/archives/2015/03/18/ap-obama-administration-sets-new-record-for-foia-non-compliance/

Outrageous use of the language

The most divisive president in the U.S. history calls another world leader “divisive.”  Blinders. Ear plugs. Give the man some duct tape for his mouth.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/israel-election-obama-criticises-netanyahus-deeply-divisive-rhetoric--as-us-takes-iran-and-hezbollah-off-terror-threat-list-10118962

http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/mar/18/obama-netanyahu-israel-election-white-house  

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/white-house-scolds-netanahu-divisive-election-tactics-article-1.2154759

Richard Scott Clark, 1969-2015

My nephew Richard died yesterday morning in Alaska. The last time I saw him was at my father’s funeral in 2002.  He and his wife Jessica had had a dream of relocating to Alaska for a long time—and moved there about 5 years ago (maybe longer), and I think they found what they were looking for. Native and transplanted Alaskans both seem to love the freedom and grandeur—there’s really not many places like it on earth.  Rich, who died of cancer, would have been 46 in July, and was “best buds” with our son when we’d return to Illinois in the summers. One year the Corbett grandchildren/cousins dressed up to participate in the Mt. Morris July 4 parade as a revolutionary patriot group.  Rich is the white haired guy with an arm in a sling. Hold on to the happy times; forget the others.

Richard (far right) and his siblings Karen, David and Julie

Kids aren’t expensive. Greed is.

Kids don’t “need” designer clothes, Etsy outfits, brand new everything, more shoes than they can wear before they grow out of them, and 8 thousand of whatever the latest toy craze is. (I believe it’s currently Shopkins, but I might be a week behind the times. It’s so hard to keep up.) Kids don’t need a play room full of more toys than they know what to do with. (I’ll go one step further with this one. They don’t even want it. It’s stressful and overwhelming for them. But anyways.) Kids don’t “need” to be signed up for a different so-called enrichment class every night of the week. They need sunshine, fresh air, freedom to move, and space to create.

Truth. http://thishouseisourhome.net/2015/02/25/kids-arent-expensive-but-that-other-thing-sure-is/

I was going to leave a comment at her blog—great photos and thoughts—but she already had about 600, so she doesn’t need encouragement. She’s a really good “mommy blogger.”

Truth.

That’s why it’s in the 10 commandments.

Old School—rare today

Finally, justice for 400,000 Ohioans treated like 2nd class citizens

Today adult adoptees born between 1964 and 1996 were able to legally apply for their accurate birth records.  It took much too long.

http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/local/2015/03/20/adoptees-line-up-birth-records.html

Starting today, thousands of Ohio adoptees whose birth records had been sealed by law are now free to request the files that contain their original birth certificates.

Applications were being submitted in droves this morning at the Ohio Department of Health Vital Statistics Office.

Internet down

Bummer.

Read between the lines—Obama is no military leader

“Washington spent $25 billion to re-create and arm Iraq’s security forces after the 2003 U.S.-led invasion [under Bush and a large coalition], only to see the Iraqi army easily defeated last year by a ragtag collection of Islamic State fighters who took control of large parts of the country [after Obama pulled out the troops and left them defenseless]. Just last year, President Obama touted Yemen as a successful example of his approach to combating terrorism.”

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/pentagon-loses-sight-of-500-million-in-counterterrorism-aid-given-to-yemen/2015/03/17/

WaPo is an Obama apologist—so you won’t find outright condemnation. Obama pulled out and left Iraqis defenseless.  Our losses in Afghanistan are triple what they were under Bush, and that war—the one Obama said was “good,”--was virtually won before he took office. Gave armaments to a country not strong enough to handle them.

Even with the Benghazi scandal, there were rumors of American arms being part of the story and then it appeared in a report not released to the public at the time. ‘The consulate’s only mission was to provide cover for the moving of arms,’ the former intelligence official, who has read the annex, said. ‘It had no real political role.’ Many of those arms probably ended up in the hands of ISIS who are now killing our allies and Christians. http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2014/04/real-benghazi-story.html

http://www.wsj.com/articles/covert-cia-mission-to-arm-syrian-rebels-goes-awry-1422329582

Iran and Nuclear weapons—Bush vs. Obama

“By the end of the Bush Years Iran not only had sanctions but had US Ground forces to their west (Iraq), US Ground forces to the East (Afghanistan) of Iran and the US navy to the south.

With twenty months to the election of his replacement Barack Obama has withdrawn troops from the west of Iran, is in the process of withdrawing US troops from the east of Iran, has loosened sanctions and is moving forward with a deal for removing those sanctions that his own state department and Secretary of State publicly declares is “Not legally Binding”.

Given these facts which of these men would you logically conclude has the goal to keep Iran from building nuclear weapons?”

Da Tech guy blog

Obama OneVoice people receiving money to influence Israeli election

“The American nonprofit OneVoice Movement – under scrutiny by a U.S. Senate panel over possible links to a campaign to oust Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu – quietly filed paperwork that would allow it to engage in political activism after two leading Republican lawmakers questioned its use of government funds, FoxNews.com has learned.”

Well, no wonder Obama thought his appearance 2 weeks ago would be in conflict with election standards—he was working against BiBi in his own country!

http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/marc-thiessen-obamas-offensive-against-netanyahu-backfires/2015/02/02/

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2015/03/17/obama-linked-nonprofit-filed-for-new-irs-status-after-accusation-meddling-in/

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2015/01/27/former-obama-strategist-advising-anti-netanyahu-campaign-in-israel/

http://freebeacon.com/issues/group-working-to-influence-israeli-elections-still-receiving-state-department-funding/

Food safety

Contamination of produce accounted for 46% of all foodborne illness in the U.S. between 1998-2008. Attribution to non-plant foods was as follows: meat and poultry 22%; dairy and eggs 20%; and fish and shellfish 6%.  Stats from CDC via George Mateljan’s  WH Foods Weekly Newsletter, March 16, 2015.

As a general rule, cooked foods are safer, however, salad bars continue to a problem—especially sprouts.

Fathers of the Church, an 8 part series

The Fathers of the Church are a swath of history all Christians-- Catholic, Orthodox and Protestants—can share.  As a Lutheran, I’m often distressed that our church history seems to begin in the 16th century, and not with the first century Christians.  This instructor is a layman, Charles Craigmile, a Chicago businessman with seminary training, and I know nothing about him, even after search Google, but he’s very good.  This series was given in the summer of 2014 at St. Mary’s Church, Lake Forest, IL.  Now, it is given from a Catholic point of view, as you notice, when he suggests responses Catholics can provide for their friends of other denominations.  This is the first lecture, then by searching you YouTube or looking to the right hand column of your screen, you can find the other seven.

Update: Checked Mr. Craigmile's LinkedIn page: DePaul University, MA, Philosophy, 1987 – 1989; University of St. Thomas, University of St. Thomas, BA, Philosophy, Latin and Greek, 1981 – 1985. He's currently President and Chief Executive Officer at Revenova LLC of Chicago.

It won’t be long

Our own government is a threat to our power grid

“The Institute for Energy Research released a new study titled Assessing Emerging Policy Threats to the U.S. Power Grid as a continuation of the Story of Electricity initiative. The report finds that the greatest threats to our power grid are not physical or cyber attacks, but rather existing and upcoming Federal and State policies including subsidies, mandates, and regulations.”

From the executive summary: “Reliable, affordable electricity is critical to our well-being and essential to modern life. But today, threats to the reliability of the power grid are  numerous: cyber-attacks, weather, and accidents. Fortunately, the most significant threat is also the most avoidable—bad policy. Federal and state policies are already increasing electricity bills around the country, and the worst effects are yet to come. The federal government, and particularly the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, is
promulgating regulations that will reduce the reliability of the power grid with little thought of the consequences. In fact, these policies threaten to take offline 130 gigawatts of reliable electricity generation sources—enough to meet the electricity needs of more than 105 million Americans, or one-third of the population of the entire United States. Reforming policies that threaten grid reliability should be a top priority for policymakers.”

http://instituteforenergyresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/Threats-to-U.S.-Power-Grid.compressed.pdf

Excellent bibliography, most sources are hot linked.

Same crime, different technology

Nixon and Clinton.

Forget workplace nutrition and exercise classes. . .

“Workplace stress — such as long hours, job insecurity and lack of work-life balance — contributes to at least 120,000 deaths each year and accounts for up to $190 billion in health care costs, according to new research by two Stanford professors and a former Stanford doctoral student now at Harvard Business School.”

I would have guessed that irritation with supervisor or co-workers would have been the biggest cause of stress. I remember how stressful it was when my supervisor threw the phone through the window when she was mad at something (not me), then pulled it back in by the cord and threw it through a second window.  The windows were closed. Now that’s stressful. These days, the light weight phones couldn’t break a sweat, let alone a window.

http://www.gsb.stanford.edu/insights/why-your-workplace-might-be-killing-you

Teachers with benefits earn $56.72/hour

“Private industry employers spent an average of $31.32 per hour worked for total employee compensation in December 2014, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Wages and salaries
averaged $21.72 per hour worked and accounted for 69.4 percent of these costs, while benefits averaged $9.60 and accounted for the remaining 30.6 percent.

Total compensation costs for state and local government workers averaged $43.95 per hour worked in December 2014. Total employer compensation costs for civilian workers, which include private industry and state and local government workers, averaged $33.13 per hour worked in December 2014.

Employer Costs for Employee Compensation (ECEC), a product of the National Compensation Survey, measures employer costs for wages, salaries, and employee benefits for nonfarm private and state and local government workers. Private industry employer costs for paid leave benefits averaged $2.16 per hour worked in December 2014. Private industry costs for paid leave include vacation leave which averaged $1.13 per hour worked, holiday leave which averaged 66 cents, sick leave which averaged 26 cents, and personal leave which averaged 12 cents in December 2014. Paid leave benefit costs are often directly linked to wages; therefore, higher paid occupations or industries will typically show higher estimates for this compensation component. Private industry paid leave benefit costs were highest for management, professional, and related occupations at $4.67 per hour worked, or 8.4 percent of total compensation, in December 2014. Costs were lowest among service occupations at 56 cents, or 3.9 percent of total compensation.  Included in this amount were employer costs for vacations, holidays, sick leave, and personal leave.”

http://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/ecec.pdf

What’s the hold up on a better sunscreen? The FDA.

“Since the 1990s, advanced sunscreens that counter the UV-A rays that contribute to carcinomas have been widely sold in Europe, Canada and Asia. Americans must rely on an older generation that merely prevents sunburn, because since 2002 the FDA has refused to provide up-or-down answers for eight pending applications to approve the superior compounds. . . ”

“The FDA is demanding more studies and safety data from manufacturers, despite decades of world-wide experience. The latest batch of rejections is particularly notable because one of the ingredients, ecamsule, has been approved by the FDA since 2006 as a prescription drug. Sunscreen makers simply want FDA permission to use it in over-the-counter products.”

Wall St. Journal story here.

New Capri pants for summer

The only photo of the Lauren Jeans Co. Capri pants I bought yesterday for $3.00 at VOA with all the tags still on was in navy, so I color filled.  Doesn’t look too great in the photo, but the price was good.  Originally about $70 at Macy’s.  Who would pay that? A little snug, but should fit nicely by June, and it goes with several of my summer shirts.  Looking forward to walks along the Lakefront this coming summer.  Last summer I could barely walk. Physical therapy and weight loss have helped a lot. Now I’m working on my breathing.

“Comparisons and conclusions were difficult to evaluate as treatment interventions and outcome measurements from the seven trials varied considerably. At present therefore no reliable conclusions can be drawn concerning the use of breathing exercises for asthma in clinical practice. However trends for improvement, notably in quality of life measurements, are encouraging and further studies including full descriptions of treatment methods and outcome measurements are required.” Source

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2291775/Asthma-Learning-breathe-aged-41-finally-got-asthma-control.html

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hx-3dt9L72c

The pope wants to go out for pizza

“Speaking to the program “Noticieros Televisa,” Francis displays his usual candor, dishing details about the secret conclave that elected him, talking about how he senses his papacy will be short, how the church must get tough on sexual abuse, and how all he really wants “is to go out one day, without being recognized, and go to a pizzeria for a pizza.” “ Religion News Service

Yesterday I had a chance to visit with Annabelle who lives in San Antonio and was in town visiting her 96 year old mother.  When she was a senior in high school she was our babysitter and now has a 13 year old grand daughter although she’s just as pretty as she was then.  She asked about our daughter whom she babysat for in 1968.  She claims there are no good pizza places in her city, and they were all looking forward to going to Tommy’s last night for pizza. That’s where our family went for years, always calling the order in ahead of time because our little guy was a bit impatient and didn’t like to wait for his food.  But I must say, our children were always the best behaved in restaurants.
That sounded so good we ordered pizza from Iacono’s just up the road for dinner last night.  Usually, we have a Friday night date with neighbors or friends, but my husband’s cold that he picked up on the plane back from Haiti has been hanging on.

Shoe buying isn’t as easy as it used to be

Some time in the late 1990s, I bought several pair of summer sandals, all costing about $5 each at K-Mart.  I think I still have one pair. Over the years I’ve tried several different styles, sizes, but have never found any summer foot wear that worked for me.  I’ve had some luck with Clark brand, and occasionally can find an 8.5 narrow (usually I have to settle for an 8 medium).  So today I ordered this, not my preferred color (white), but the only one in my size.

Clarks call this style Saylie Medway. I’m hoping those buckles are real, and not just Velcro. I had sandals like this in the 70s and 80s, as I recall, and they seemed to last forever (or because they are summer only shoes just seem that way. I would have preferred a beige or denim, but we’ll see how this works and how many hours I can actually wear them.

As someone wise once said, take care of your feet and they’ll take care of you. And I actually found a blog that says that.

Since the feet are the foundation of the body, they have a direct affect on most aspects of your health, particularly if you are a diabetic of have Peripheral Artery Disease (PAD). But even without these chronic ailments, your feet play an important role in your everyday life and health. They are on the front lines of everything you do and your feet’s skin is the first line of defense.

Hydraulic fracturing (fracking) and horizontal drilling have created the shale gas boom

“The natural gas boom that transformed the energy picture in the United States in the last decade is still in its infancy, says John Shaw, chair of Harvard’s Earth and Planetary Sciences Department. . .

Fracking is probably not a direct cause of associated earthquakes, Shaw said, noting that the pressure to fracture the rock is applied for only minutes and is followed by the gas flowing from the rock into the borehole, which actually lowers the pressure in the surrounding rock. Instead, Shaw said, it is the disposal, by injection into the earth, of the ample waste liquid the process generates that is largely responsible for generating quakes. Some firms are now looking at recycling wastewater as an alternative.”

There are those who see fracking as a threat to renewable energy sources where they are either financially or emotionally invested.  In my opinion, that is behind many of the scare stories.

http://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2015/03/staying-power-for-shale-gas/

Another incident with the Secret Service—8 days ago—not reported to Clancy, Obama, or Congress

I don’t know why Eric Holder criticizes the Ferguson police when the Secret Service can’t even keep the President out of harm’s way and act like the Keystone Cops (silent film comedies).

“Learning that top-ranking Secret Service officials — including the second-in-charge of President Obama's own personal detail — went out drinking, then plowed their government car into a barrier at the White House, would ordinarily ignite shock among administration officials and lawmakers.

Instead, that news Wednesday led only to disappointed head-shaking in Washington, where scandals involving the agency now seem to appear regularly.” CNN report

Interfered with a crime scene, and a supervisor wouldn’t allow them to be tested for blood alcohol for sobriety.  Then the story wasn’t released for over a week.

“[Joseph P.] Clancy has told lawmakers he learned of the allegations Monday, according to people familiar with the discussions. That is five days after the incident, which involved two of his most senior agents, including a top member of President Obama’s protective detail.

Lawmakers did not learn of the episode, however, until it was reported by The Post on Wednesday.” Bomb investigation

Hillary Clinton wasn’t very SMART

http://oig.state.gov/system/files/isp-i-15-15.pdf

OIG made seven recommendations to improve the use of record emails by Department of State employees and mission staff members.

• OIG recommended establishing a process to review record email usage across missions and bureaus, as well as issuing guidance to Department of State employees and mission staff members that specifies their record-keeping responsibilities, provides examples to guide choices among cables and record and working emails, and suggests the establishment of record email policies.
• OIG recommended convening functionally defined focus groups to identify practical examples of official records;
• canvassing through focus groups in all bureaus periodically to identify obstacles to the use of SMART for record emails and cables;
• establishing an Electronic Records Management Working Group to advise on record emails and related issues;
• making introductory and refresher courses on records management a requirement for Department of State employees.
• OIG also recommended expanding the Foreign Service Institute’s current record email training curriculum to include hands-on SMART client and classroom training
• additional material on record-keeping requirements.

A tasty breakfast drink and an easy lunch

The last two days I decided I’d try for my fruits at breakfast.  Usually I have either an apple or an orange, and maybe nuts. But this was really good.

In a blender:

One small banana
Two really large strawberries (or several small)
One slice of fresh pineapple
Frozen blueberries (not sure, maybe 1/3 cup)
¼ cup of orange juice
Some orange peel (cooked and sugared)
About two tablespoons of almond meal

This made about 2 1/4 cups of a very pretty purple drink (red and blue make purple) with some texture. Really good. I have no idea what the nutritional value is.

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

Pierogies are pasta filled with whipped potatoes, and this product includes spinach and feta.  Some ethic groups like to make these, but I think it looks like a lot of work. I drop 3 in boiling water for about 7 minutes, and about 3 minutes in drop in some fresh baby spinach.  Makes a great lunch. This package costs about $2.00.

A different view on Ferguson and Obama

Ron Christie, a black Republican, has a different take than the main stream media, many Obama lap dogs—and it was actually published in The Daily Beast, a left wing, on-line news source. Rare.

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/03/12/media-and-obama-are-to-blame-for-latest-ferguson-tragedy.html#

“. . . most Americans never should have even heard about a shooting involving Michael Brown and police officer Darren Wilson. Every day in communities large and small, criminals commit crimes that elicit interaction from the police. In the instant case, it is a fact that Michael Brown committed a crime in a small town on August 9, 2014, failed to heed Officer Wilson’s instructions, and was shot to death when the officer thought his life was in danger. The shooting never should have happened—a young man never should have committed a crime and never should have rushed at a police officer. . .”

“. . . On matters of race involving local police investigations, President Obama has not been shy about injecting himself into the narrative while shaping the desired outcomes. In 2009 when Harvard Professor Henry Louis “Skip” Gates had a disagreement with a Cambridge police officer outside of his home leading to his arrest, the president opined that the officer “acted stupidly.” Never mind that Mr. Gates didn’t have his keys and was thought to be breaking into a home by the police officer in question. What I found revealing at the time is that the president offered the Gates incident as showing how “race remains a factor in this society today” when the facts revealed race had nothing to do with the interaction between a professor and a police officer.”

And there’s much more.

Ron Christie is CEO of Christie Strategies LLC. He previously served as special assistant to President George W. Bush and deputy assistant to Vice President Dick Cheney from 2001 to 2004. He has written three books on race and politics in America.

Unequal childhoods and unequal adulthoods

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2xq_iCMgP2Q

It will take about an hour to watch this lecture by Annette Lareau as she follows up her original research (early 2000s) on children in middle class and working class families, with how they did as young adults. I’d noticed in stores how differently some parents talk to their children (who may be in the shopping cart).  Although these days, they may be talking on the phone!  Often I wish they’d just shut up.  My goodness, they talk and talk and talk.  But some don’t.  Low income parents talk much less to their children, and by the time kids get to school there is an enormous gap in vocabulary.  But her research goes a lot deeper—about how middle class families “untie knots,” research ways to do things better, get the better school, or teacher, or activity. They have different social networks, they marry different people, and live in different neighborhoods which have different schools.

It’s worth watching.  But I don’t buy any government solution for this which we’ll hear from the academics.   The common complaint will increasingly be “white privilege,” but Lareau found similar attitudes in black and white families who are in the same socio-economic class. Fathers are more likely to be present in the middle class families; parents have more education; more sibling rivalry in middle class families; more talking; more boredom among middle class kids; and middle class kids stay “younger” longer with fewer responsibilities.  Race was not as big an issue as values and attitudes. Many middle class teaching approaches are the opposite of what works with low income kids. Drilling and memorization work well for them—just not for the teachers. Immigrant parents seem to have stronger academic standards for their children which may be lost by the 3rd generation.

I’m still in Virginia!

How big is this state, anyway?  I’ve ridden my exercycle, Gold’s Gym Power 210 Spin, 380 miles since Christmas using an online program called “Tools to Keep you Active” into which you can log your biking, running or walking, and it will show you a photo of where you are.  And I’m still in Virginia!

Black mayor of Selma wouldn’t play the media game

When asked to compare his city to the Selma of 50 years ago, Mayor George Evans said there was less crime then.  There’s more unemployment now and although there are jobs, the population doesn’t have the skills to fill them.

Jason Riley of the Wall Street Journal says, “Liberalism, moreover, tends to ignore or play down the black advancement that took place prior to the major civil-rights triumphs of the 1960s and instead credits government interventions that at best continued trends already in place. Black poverty fell 40 percentage points between 1940 and 1960—a drop that no Great Society antipoverty program has ever come close to matching. Blacks were also increasing their years of schooling and entering the white-collar workforce at a faster rate prior to the affirmative-action schemes of the 1970s than they were after those programs were put in place to help them.”

Minimum wage particularly hurts youth and disadvantaged

“European nations with the highest minimum wages have unemployment rates that are twice as high, on average, as those with no minimum wages. Especially hard hit by minimum wages is youth employment, which averages more than 25% in these countries.

Compare this to those countries in Europe with no federally mandated minimum wages. Most instead have wages that are privately negotiated between workers, unions, and employers. It's an infinitely better system than a one-size-fit...s-all federal minimum wage. Wages are determined by workers and companies, raised when both parties agree, applied to specific jobs, and do not apply to the whole country. In other words, they are market wages.

National minimum wages, on the other hand, are an arbitrary number, determined by politicians, manipulated through a political process, and applied to every sector, industry, and job in the entire country, regardless of skill, merit, or productivity. It is the economic equivalent of 'intelligent design.'

And it harms the poor, the uneducated, and the disadvantaged. The people who desperately need entry level work experience to begin a career. They are denied the opportunity, because the government tells companies they're not allowed to hire such people unless they do so at an economic loss.” Unbiased America

SOURCE: http://www.tradingeconomics.com/cou…/youth-unemployment-rate

http://stats.oecd.org/index.aspx?queryid=36324

https://cambridgesustainability739.wordpress.com/…/singapo…/

http://www.thelocal.it/…/…/italy-plans-national-minimum-wage

Hillary on the phone scandal

Eric Holder gets what he wants

More riots and 2 seriously wounded policemen.  Now actually, the rioters and Holder and Sharpton would have been happier with dead cops, because removing the police chief was never what this was about.  Ferguson’s ticket writing for minorities?  That’s a laugh.  It’s below the national average.  And if a community is predominately minority, why wouldn’t the majority of traffic stops be for minorities.  Should white police be fired as the community demographics change?

The Democratic party can’t survive if Americans--black, white, Asian, male and female, gay and transgendered, young and old-- all get along because the “diversity” meme, which actually means little tight boxes, is essential for their votes.

http://www.bjs.gov/index.cfm?ty=tp&tid=702

An estimated 17.7 million persons age 16 or older indicated that their most recent contact with the police in 2008 was as a driver pulled over in a traffic stop. These drivers represented 8.4% of the nation’s 209 million drivers. A greater percentage of male drivers (9.9%) than female drivers (7.0%) were stopped by police during 2008. White (8.4%), black (8.8%), and Hispanic (9.1%) drivers were stopped by police at similar rates in 2008. Stopped drivers reported speeding as the most common reason for being pulled over in 2008. Approximately 85% of drivers pulled over by police in 2008 felt they had been stopped for a legitimate reason. In 2008, about 74% of black drivers believed police had a legitimate reason for stopping them compared to 86% of white and 82% of Hispanic drivers.
http://www.bjs.gov/index.cfm?ty=pbdetail&iid=4780

http://www.bjs.gov/index.cfm?ty=pbdetail&iid=4914

Capitalism and the Rule of Love

All systems are made of people who fail, and some of those people are evil.  But capitalism is the best of the bad, and offers the world the most loving system.  This article was originally published in 1953, and the author Clarence Philbrook (1909–1978) contends that interventionism and extensive government serve the rule of love less well than capitalism does: “capitalism does less violence to the rule of love than would any other system so far conceived.”  This is important for liberal Christians of the 21st century to know—pushing our responsibility off on to government is not loving, especially when it does such a poor job.

The link is to a descriptive abstract, but the full article will open in pdf. http://econjwatch.org/articles/capitalism-and-the-rule-of-love?ref=articles

“Capitalism is capable of giving us a much better society than we have known. Even apart from its fabulous tendency toward increased production, immense change expressive of the rule of love is available in that depression can be largely eliminated and inequality of income mitigated, both of these by methods quite in keeping with the logic of the system. Moreover, fantastically more brotherly love than has ever been exercised can be given expression through individual attitude, decision, and action in a capitalistic society. But if we repudiate that system by making changes which conflict with its essential mechanism, we give up one of the few protections we have against the evil that is in us.” ECON JOURNAL WATCH 11(3)
September 2014: 326-337.

These are the people many want to give more power

Where do we get these data managers who work for the federal government? Are they like school children who get passed along to the next grade level, only for step increases?  Maybe we should hire some known hackers to straighten it out.  Millions of Social Security card holders don’t exist—or if they do they are using someone else’s record.

The review found that one individual opened bank accounts using Social Security numbers for individuals born in 1869 and 1893.

The official database of active Social Security numbers showed that both beneficiaries were alive, meaning they would be older than 145 and 121 years, respectively.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/federal-eye/wp/2015/03/10/thousands-of-u-s-workers-older-than-100-that-might-be-social-security-fraud/

Who believes Hillary?

I have two e-mail addresses (my faculty address at Ohio State, and my Road Runner).  I used to have three (Medscape) so I could access and send e-mail when not at my own computer. If you have a Medscape in your address book, just delete it.  I don’t use it. I don’t use my phone for e-mail, although do occasionally text.

I have never had a problem “carrying around 2 devices.” Does anyone believe anything a Clinton says? She doesn’t lie as well as Bill, but Democrats haven’t changed. They believe the lies. And I don’t think the Obama Administration is being her friend.  Remember, during the 2008 campaign it was not the Republicans who leaked all that dirty laundry about Obama—it was the Clinton campaign.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/wp/2015/03/10/3-reasons-why-hillary-clinton-convenience-argument-on-her-email-controversy-probably-wont-work/

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2015/03/10/hillary-clinton-emails-blackberry/24725993/

President El-Sisi and President Obama don’t agree about ISIS and Islam

http://www.trevorloudon.com/2015/03/egyptian-president-crushes-jihadists-while-obama-coddles-them/

Trevor Loudon a conservative writer and political activist from New Zealand was interviewed about the world situation on the Glenn Beck show Monday night.  Links many of the world problems back to Putin. This story is from The Blaze and was posted at his blog, New Zeal.

“While President Sisi’s Ministry of Religious Endowments has granted 400 preaching permits to Salafist leaders, his move to close down 27,000 mosques — in the world’s most populous Arab country — is as dramatic as it is telling.

Consideration of such a policy would be unthinkable in America, as it would be seen as a violation of religious freedom, even if the facilities in question were to house those espousing anti-social and anti-American acts bordering on treason.

In fact, under President Obama America has taken a diametrically opposed approach: Actively seeking to partner with mosques, and creating significantly tougher standards for surveilling them.”

President Sisi of Egypt sees the Muslim Brotherhood as the root of ISIS and Islamic jihad and has banned the organization.  Obama welcomes the Brotherhood at the White House. Obama attempts to embrace Iran and reject Israel.

Here’s a interview which ran on Fox News; and he was very careful about what he said about Obama—nothing negative. It’s well worth watching.

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2015/03/09/exclusive-el-sisi-urges-arab-ready-force-to-confront-isis-questions-if-us/

Another Arab at MEMRI opines on Obama’s strange anti-Israel, pro-Iran behavior.

"I will conclude by saying the following: Since Obama is the godfather of the prefabricated revolutions in the Arab world, and since he is the ally of political Islam, [which is] the caring mother of [all] the terrorist organizations, and since he is working to sign an agreement with Iran that will come at the expense of the U.S.'s longtime allies in the Gulf, I am very glad of Netanyahu's firm stance and [his decision] to speak against the nuclear agreement at the American Congress despite the Obama administration's anger and fury. I believe that Netanyahu's conduct will serve our interests, the people of the Gulf, much more than the foolish behavior of one of the worst American presidents. “ Saudi daily Al-Jazirah, columnist Dr. Ahmad Al-Faraj  http://www.memri.org/

And no DDT

In slightly more than a year, the Americas have seen more than 1.24 million cases of chikungunya virus, a mosquito-borne disease that causes high fever and debilitating joint pain.

But there are hopes for a vaccine. http://www.medpagetoday.com/InfectiousDisease/Vaccines/50288

National napping day

was apparently yesterday, to help you gain back that hour you lost due to the crazy, useless thing called Daylight Savings Time.  It doesn’t save daylight.  There will always be the same number.  But here’s some interesting factoids about naps. http://www.mindbodygreen.com/0-3423/What-You-Need-to-Know-About-Napping-Infographic.html

I have a black belt in napping.

Pittsburgh has the best deal for home owners

http://www.hsh.com/finance/mortgage/salary-home-buying-25-cities.html#cleveland

In Pittsburgh home buyers would need an annual income of $32, 617 and the median home price is $135,000.

http://www.trulia.com/property/3191271042-116-Woodgate-Rd-Pittsburgh-PA-15235

But in San Francisco, at the other end, buyers would need an annual income of $142,338 to buy a home in the median range of $742,900!

http://www.trulia.com/homes/California/San_Francisco/sold/7146643-138-Shakespeare-St-San-Francisco-CA-94112

A 7 month old girl was murdered by a relative with a saw. No protests—she wasn’t a policewoman.

“A 7-month-old girl was found dead in the Little Village neighborhood Monday morning, her throat cut by a power saw, authorities said.

Police found the child, identified as Rose Herrera, after being called to a building in the 2800 block of South Avers Avenue on the West Side about 9:40 a.m., according to police and the Cook County medical examiner's office.

Authorities said a relative, a 52-year-old woman, used a circular saw to cut the baby's throat, apparently because she wouldn't stop crying. The woman initially tried to shove something in the baby's mouth -- possibly cloth -- to get the girl to quiet down, a source said.

The woman then tried to kill herself and was found by another relative, according to authorities. The woman was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital, where she was stable and in police custody.

Detectives were conducting a "domestic-related murder investigation," police said.”

http://touch.redeyechicago.com/#section/-1/article/p2p-83010570/

There were 11 people shot, 3 of whom were killed in the Chicago area yesterday—including a 2 year old boy and a 5 year old boy.  I think the student protesters in Madison concerned that an unarmed criminal was killed after bizarre behavior should start out for Chicago, and interview some police. How would they like the job of taking pre-schoolers to the hospital or finding a baby with her throat cut. 

http://my.chicagotribune.com/#section/-1/article/p2p-83011459/

Why do unarmed men battle police who are armed?

Maybe because they are already criminals and don’t want to go back to jail, or they are accustomed to taking risks and have escaped in the past?

In Madison: White Officer Matt Kenny shot unarmed (racially ambiguous) Tony R0binson, 19, who was on probation for armed robbery and whose school/police records show ADD, anxiety and depression. The writer for Reuters opined, “Robinson tended to an impulsive risk-taker and faced a choice between a middle-class lifestyle and the gang world.”  Police had been called to investigate reports of an assault and a man dodging cars in traffic.  The suspect was followed into a dwelling where the officer was struck in the head and he then shot the man (called a teen by Reuters).

In Denver: A 37 year old black man, Naeschylus Vinzant, was shot by police in Aurora, Colorado, who were seeking a male who was wanted for kidnapping and robbery and was known to be armed and dangerous.  He was shot while they attempted to take him into custody.  He was on parole and had removed his ankle monitor. Meanwhile, there were many other black men shot by black men/non-police, whose stories didn’t get into the Columbus Dispatch because the shooter was not white.

In Ferguson:  Eric Holder’s Department of Justice has taken over local police control in a town that is predominately black.  Traffic stops and the court system are for mostly blacks and therefore they are racist and profiling.  In my opinion, Holder is pouting because he couldn’t pin anything on the police after Michael Brown’s death and has decided to crush them or break the city budget.

http://www.wnd.com/2015/03/obama-pressing-for-federal-control-of-local-police/#!

Abortion doesn’t take just ONE life

 

Abortion interrupts the entire lineage of that unborn child. While it’s true that abortion has killed approximately 57 million unborn children in the United States since 1973, this number excludes the millions upon millions of future generations that have been snuffed from existence.

http://onlineforlife.org/blog/abortion-is-not-just-an-economic-issue/

What a shocker—Obamacare co-ops are failing and we’re on the hook

“The insolvent Iowa-based health insurance cooperative, CoOportunity Health, had to be taken over in December by Iowa insurance regulators. Iowa and Nebraska's Guarantee Associations - and state and federal taxpayers - are now on the hook for millions in claims the insurer could not pay.

CoOportunity Health wasn't a traditional health insurer. Rather, it was a taxpayer-funded, non-profit health insurance cooperative (co-op) established under the Affordable Care Act (ACA). The co-op program is plagued by numerous flaws. When co-ops were established, they had no customers and no historical actuarial data to assist in setting plan premiums. Startup funds and cash reserves were mostly borrowed from taxpayers. According to industry data only one of the 23 co-ops was profitable last year (a 24^th co-op located in Vermont failed before it even got off the ground). While some of the remaining co-ops are losing money because of small size, others appear to have the strategy of losing money to gain market-share at taxpayers' expense.”

Read more here.

More on e-mailgate—Clinton’s buddy system

“Sen. Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa), who heads the Judiciary Committee, had previously questioned Clinton’s use of a program that allowed some political allies to work for the government while pursuing private-sector careers.

Grassley had sought e-mails and other documents from the State Department.

But he didn’t know until last week that Clinton was exclusively using a private e-mail account that could contain relevant information about her use of the so-called “special government employee” program. Huma Abedin, a Clinton confidante and adviser who was granted the special designation, also used the private e-mail system.”

Washington Post

I know that Bill Clinton and his cronies were looking forward to getting back into power, but somehow, I can’t help but think he’s chuckling a little at this pay back.

Thank you, President Obama, for the hasty, ill-advised withdrawal from Iraq and Afghanistan that brought the world to this point

“Sunni violent extremists are gaining momentum and the number of Sunni violent extremist groups, members, and safe havens is greater than at any other point in history. These groups challenge local and regional governance and threaten US allies, partners, and interests. The threat to key US allies and partners will probably increase, but the extent of the increase will depend on the level of success that Sunni violent extremists achieve in seizing and holding territory, whether or not attacks on local regimes and calls for retaliation against the West are accepted by their key audiences, and the durability of the US-led coalition in Iraq and Syria.

Sunni violent extremists have taken advantage of fragile or unstable Muslim-majority countries to make territorial advances, seen in Syria and Iraq, and will probably continue to do so. They also contribute to regime instability and internal conflict by engaging in high levels of violence. Most will be unable to seize and hold territory on a large scale, however, as long as local, regional, and international support and resources are available and dedicated to halting their progress. The increase in the number of Sunni violent extremist groups also will probably be balanced by a lack of cohesion and authoritative leadership. Although the January 2015 attacks against Charlie Hebdo in Paris is a reminder of the threat to the West, most groups place a higher priority on local concerns than on attacking the so-called far enemy—the United States and the West—as advocated by core al- Qa‘ida.

Differences in ideology and tactics will foster competition among some of these groups, particularly if a unifying figure or group does not emerge. In some cases, groups—even if hostile to each other— will ally against common enemies. For example, some Sunni violent extremists will probably gain support from like-minded insurgent or anti-regime groups or within disaffected or disenfranchised communities because they share the goal of radical regime change.

Although most homegrown violent extremists (HVEs) will probably continue to aspire to travel overseas, particularly to Syria and Iraq, they will probably remain the most likely Sunni violent extremist threat to the US homeland because of their immediate and direct access. Some might have been inspired by calls by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) in late September for individual jihadists in the West to retaliate for US-led airstrikes on ISIL. Attacks by lone actors are among the most difficult to warn about because they offer few or no signatures.

If ISIL were to substantially increase the priority it places on attacking the West rather than fighting to maintain and expand territorial control, then the group’s access to radicalized Westerners who have fought in Syria and Iraq would provide a pool of operatives who potentially have access to the United States and other Western countries. Since the conflict began in 2011, more than 20,000 foreign fighters—at least 3,400 of whom are Westerners—have gone to Syria from more than 90 countries.”  “Terrorism,”  Worldwide Threat Assessment of the US Intelligence Community, Senate Armed Services Committee, James R. Clapper, Director of National Intelligence
February 26, 2015

http://www.dni.gov/files/documents/Unclassified_2015_ATA_SFR_-_SASC_FINAL.pdf

Planet Fitness expels female member for complaining about a man in her dressing room

Planet Fitness Welcomes Men in Women’s Locker Room, Kicks Out Objector

“Woe to those who call evil good and good evil,
who put darkness for light and light for darkness,
who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!”
~Isaiah 5:20

On Saturday, Feb. 28 Yvette Cormier entered her Midland, Michigan Planet Fitness gym to work out. To her surprise, she found a man just inside the locker room entrance. She reported the incident to the front desk and was told that the man “identifies” as a woman and that Planet Fitness gyms—including their locker rooms—are “no judgment zones.” It should be noted that girls as young as 13 can join Planet Fitness and enjoy their “no judgment zones.”

I’ve seen his photo.  There’s just no way this is a woman. I don’t know why men think a padded bra, tights and a wig makes them  women.

Planet Fitness

“In the service of maintaining a “non-intimidating, welcoming environment,” corporate bigwigs allow a man in a women’s locker room and expel a woman from the gym because she doesn’t want to get naked in front of a strange man. Yes, the man in question was an actual man—you know, the kind born with anatomically correct penises. Even “transactivists” know humans can’t change their sex.

How, pray tell, do club managers verify the “sincerity” of a male member’s or guest’s claim that he wishes to be a woman? And why does sincerity of desire about one’s sex trump the objective state of one’s sex?”