Cecile the lyin’

Her salary is $400,000/year and her net worth is over $4 million.  It’s a great business model.

The Zuckerberg baby

I've been watching the hype about the Zuckerbergs' pregnancy and their previous miscarriages. I'm having trouble with the value system that says it is a baby in the womb when the parents desire it, but a parasite and clump of cells when they don't. Who gets to decide that? The same people who say Cecil the Lion is worth more than a race horse that breaks its leg and is put down, or dog that doesn't meet breed specs for its size so it is destroyed, or aborted baby parts for sale.

http://www.latimes.com/business/technology/la-fi-mark-zuckerberg-baby-20150731-story.html

Obama and Iran

A new 416 p. book is out in Iran by Ayatollah Ali Khamenei  that describes how to "outwit America" and says their Supreme Leader is the “The flag-bearer of Jihad to liberate Jerusalem.” . . .

“The fundamental flaw in the Obama administration's approach to Iran is one of poor judgment: Obama believes that Iran isn't that bad, and America really isn't that good. He wants to bring them up a peg, take us down and peg, and then over time everybody will be friends.”

Buck Sexton

http://nypost.com/2015/08/01/iran-publishes-book-on-how-to-outwit-us-and-destroy-israel/

Two great worship services, one Sunday morning at the Lake

Services on the East side of the Pavilion at Lakeside at 8:30 a.m. is always wonderful.  Communion looking over the lake, brilliant sun, cool breeze, and a good sermon by Pastor Irwin Jennings. Then breakfast at the patio.  Today I decided to also take in the more formal service at Hoover Auditorium at 10:30  to hear Dr. Sergei Nikolaev, professor of Evangelism and President of the Moscow United Methodist Seminary in Moscow, Russia.  There were four selections by the Firelands String Quartet, prelude, postlude, offertory and anthem with the choir—a different kind of wonderful. Dr. Nikolaev told us a little about himself—raised in a atheist home in the USSR, he became a Christian while studying engineering physics.  One grandfather was educated and a teacher, but an atheist who travelled giving “sermons” on atheism, and the other was a simple bee-keeper, an Orthodox Christian who had icons in his home and would cross himself before meals. When the children of the family would ask what he was doing, they were told he was just a crazy old man.  I’m looking forward to his lectures this week.  He said as a Methodist, he doesn’t experience overt persecution, but his church is considered a cult by many and there is peer pressure and some harassment. With the problems between Russian and Ukraine he doesn’t see the Methodists as having some of the problems of the other Protestant groups in part because they are unified by one bishop and one seminary.  They pray for each other.

http://blog.lakesideohio.com/2015/08/02/preacher-of-the-week-the-rev-dr-sergei-nikolaev/

The BMI doesn’t tell the whole story, but . . .

I took the test. Much better than last summer at this time.

“Congratulations! Your healthy weight is well worth the effort. It reduces your risk of serious health conditions such as high blood pressure, heart disease, stroke and diabetes. To maintain a healthy weight:

•Embrace healthy eating by choosing a variety of nutrient-rich foods, including fruits, vegetables and whole grains and small amounts of energy-dense foods like olive oil, nuts and dried fruits.

•Exercise. Aim for 30 to 60 minutes of moderately intense activity daily.

•Set action goals focused on specific healthy activities such as improving muscle tone through strength training or starting a daily food and activity diary.”

http://www.mayoclinic.org/bmi-calculator/itt-20084938

A high amount of body fat can lead to weight-related diseases and other health issues and being underweight can also put one at risk for health issues. BMI and waist circumference are two measures that can be used as screening tools to estimate weight status in relation to potential disease risk. However, BMI and waist circumference are not diagnostic tools for disease risks. A trained healthcare provider should perform other health assessments in order to evaluate disease risk and diagnose disease status.

Another way to estimate your potential disease risk is to measure your waist circumference. Excessive abdominal fat may be serious because it places you at greater risk for developing obesity-related conditions, such as Type 2 Diabetes, high blood pressure, and coronary artery disease. Your waistline may be telling you that you have a higher risk of developing obesity-related conditions if you are¹:

• A man whose waist circumference is more than 40 inches
• A non-pregnant woman whose waist circumference is more than 35 inches

http://www.cdc.gov/healthyweight/assessing/index.html

Following the logic of the left

 

An inspiration for all people, but especially women

Big game hunting in Zimbabwe is important for its economy

"Hunting in Zimbabwe with Georgia Safaris for some of the finest African dangerous game hunting trips available. Over the past 20 years Georgia Safaris specialized in Cape buffalo hunting, African leopard hunting safaris and sable antelope hunting. John Hunt has been leopard hunting in Zimbabwe for almost 40 years.

We focus on hunting two of the African Big 5 but also have affordable elephant hunting safaris available of up to 30 pounds a side. Lion hunting in Zimbabwe is subject to availability of tags."

http://www.huntinginzimbabwe.com/

Why is the world aflame over Cecil the lion and not Cecile the CEO who sells baby parts?

 ‪#‎lionslivesmatter‬, ‪#‎unbornbabieslivesmatter‬

There is a civil war brewing among librarians

Librarians are missionaries, although non-pacifist.  They are also members of the most liberal of all professions: 223:1 liberal to conservative. There is a disagreement about the mission.

http://insights.uksg.org/articles/10.1629/uksg.230/

There is a growing rift between those who believe the library’s most fundamental purpose is to support and advance the goals of its host institution and those who believe the library’s most important role is as an agent of progress and reform in the larger world of scholarly communication. Although these two areas of endeavor are not mutually exclusive, they are in competition for scarce resources and the choices made between them have serious implications at both the micro level (for the patrons and institutions served by each library) and the macro level (for members of the larger academic community). The tension between these two worldviews is creating friction within librarianship itself

Cecil the lion and Cecile the CEO

Weep for Cecil but remember he's an animal; pray for Cecile and remember she's killing human babies and getting paid for it.

The killing of Cecil the lion has been at the forefront of international outrage regarding big game hunting and now the Obama administration says they will join in helping investigate his death. The Hill reports that the administration is “ready to take action” and offer support to the Zimbabwean government. Earlier this month, American dentist Walter Palmer killed Cecil outside a Zimbabwean park.

Laury Parramore, a spokesman for the Fish and Wildlife Service said, “The Service is deeply concerned about the recent killing of Cecil the lion. We are currently gathering facts about the issue and will assist Zimbabwe officials in whatever manner requested. It is up to all of us — not just the people of Africa — to ensure that healthy, wild populations of animals continue to roam the savanna for generations to come.”

Although it is wonderful that the Obama administration has strong convictions about the killing of animals, it is unbelievable that this concern outweighs the trafficking of baby body parts by Planned Parenthood.

http://www.lifenews.com/2015/07/31/obama-will-investigate-death-of-cecil-the-lion-ignores-planned-parenthood-selling-aborted-babies/

Doesn’t Zimbabwe, which allows big game hunts, have any other problems Obama needs to be concerned about?  Poverty?  Disease?  Education?  He’s done zip for Africa.  Far less than Bush or Clinton during their terms in office.

https://www.facebook.com/SenatorLankford/videos/vb.130873066975024/931954260200230/?type=2&theater

How to make oven baked rice

http://www.wikihow.com/Make-Oven-Baked-Rice

350 degrees, spray a casserole dish, heat 2 cups of water and add butter and salt.  Add 1 cup dry brown rice.  Bake for 25-30 minutes in covered dish.  Remove and fluff.

Now, don’t lose this again, understand?

Hillary Clinton’s e-mails

Foods that fight inflammation

Your immune system attacks anything in your body that it recognizes as foreign—such as an invading microbe, plant pollen, or chemical. The process is called inflammation. Intermittent bouts of inflammation directed at truly threatening invaders protect your health.

However, sometimes inflammation persists, day in and day out, even when you are not threatened by a foreign invader. That’s when inflammation can become your enemy. Many major diseases that plague us—including cancer, heart disease, diabetes, arthritis, depression, and Alzheimer’s—have been linked to chronic inflammation.

Today I’ve had all of these except fish and I had fish tacos on Tuesday evening. Ooh, I feel so healthy!

Safe, affordable healthcare for women

Hillary and the White House are doubling down on the Planned Parenthood (sic) selling of baby parts.  She's calling it "safe, affordable healthcare for women," not evil, not death, not parts for profit, not babies. And the White House is really slick--calls the videos fraudulent, I suppose because restaurant noise was edited out (the entire videos are also available if you have the stomach for pure evil).

Let's say you're a Democrat or an Independent or a Libertarian and OK with abortion or a woman’s right to choose when it's a blob of cells, because about 90% are aborted at less than 13 weeks and don't look like a baby to you.  But 1.4% are over 21 weeks, or about 10,225 a year (CDC reports 730,322 abortions in 2012). Those are live children who could survive outside the womb, who can feel pain, cry, turn somersaults, and hear their mothers' voices. What's a good number for you before you call it what it is?

The word police on campus

"Language has been described as complicated, intriguing and beautiful.” So opens the University of New Hampshire’s “Bias-Free Language Guide,” whose unstated purpose is to make language a lot more complicated and less beautiful. “We offer this guide as a way to promote discussion and to facilitate creative and accurate expression,” the authors assert. “This guide is not a means to censor but rather to create dialogues of inclusion where all of us feel comfortable and welcomed.” 

Oh boy. So what is offensive? Well, the photo with the guide shows no one of European origin--not Irish, German, Serbian, French, Russian, or Finn. Everyone is thin, good looking and dressed alike in denim and white. No one is disabled. No males in the photo, although one person appears to be gender-neutral or transitioning.

 https://web.archive.org/web/20150730183429/http://www.unh.edu/inclusive/bias-free-language-guide?

Senior citizen, elder, and elderly have been banished from the guide—back to “old people.” When I was a college student I thought anyone over 25 was an old person. HA!  Micro aggression has been subdivided to micro-assault, micro-insult and micro-invalidation.

Canadian train tour

Not this summer, but maybe next year. http://www.agawatrain.com/packages-schedule/  We love train travel.

Welcome aboard one of the most popular train tours in North America. This one-day wilderness excursion will transport you 114 miles north of Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, over towering trestles, alongside pristine northern lakes and rivers and through the awesome granite rock formations and vast mixed forests of the Canadian Shield.

Outreach and engagement

Expansion at the highest levels of academe should never surprise me, but it does. "Outreach and engagement" is for vice presidents or associate provosts of universities, and as I look through their names and photos, it's a good way to add females and minorities to white privileged administrations. The titles are often added to "diversity" jobs. They even have their own consortium.

 http://engagementscholarship.org/resources/university-based-engagement-offices

Executive Vice President and Provost Joseph Steinmetz has named a 10-member committee to search for the vice provost for Outreach and Engagement. The committee will be chaired by Vice Provost and Director of University Libraries Carol Diedrichs, and also includes Ola Ahlqvist (Geography), Eric Anderman (Educational Studies), Trevor Brown (John Glenn College of Public Affairs), Ronald Hendrick (FAES), Mark Shanda (Theatre), Natasha Slesnick (Human Sciences), Sarah Thompson (student representative, Social Work), Eric Troy (Student Life) and Kimberly Lambert (Human Resources, ex officio). Associate Vice Provost Stephen Myers will manage the day-to-day operations of the Office of Outreach and Engagement until a vice provost is hired.

Pretend I’m a lion

Another Planned Parenthood video released

The Center for Medical Progress released another in its ongoing series of undercover videos exposing Planned Parenthood’s operations and trade in organ harvesting. Dr. Savita Ginde, the VP of PP’s Rocky Mountains group who appeared briefly in the previous video, echoes Deborah Nucatola in explaining how PP trains its technicians to adjust their procedures to maximize organ and tissue extraction — a violation of the federal law that allows such transfers in the first place. Ginde also discusses how to use language to obfuscate the obvious transaction taking place, the sale of specific organs for specific compensation.

http://hotair.com/archives/2015/07/30/new-planned-parenthood-video-more-price-haggling-admissions-of-procedure-changes-for-harvesting/

“The dissection scene is grisly, to say the least. The same organization that insists it only removes “clumps of cells” has its technician pushing a fetal brain around the pie plate, while pointing out the child’s kidneys, adrenal glands, stomach, heart, and eyeballs. This came from a first-trimester fetus, a stage at which the abortion industry insists that its service has no moral consequences.”

Mike McConnell is back on WLW Cincinnati 770

I used to enjoy Mike McConnell WLW Cincinnati while driving, then he moved to Chicago, now he's back in Cincy. I never knew if he made someone mad, or was too sarcastic or political, but the few times I did find him when we were driving to northern Illinois, the thrill was gone.  One of my favorite remarks from 2007 (from one of my blogs): "I was listening to the local (Cincinnati) talk show in the car this morning and the host Mike McConnell was talking about how over protected children are today. His plan, if he were in charge of the U.S. Dept. of Education, would be, "Sit down, shut up, and pay attention," and it wouldn't cost the tax payers a penny."

Welcome home, Mike.

The word police

But it won't end even for every trans peep you get right, all <1%. Some word police want "wife" and "husband" removed--too sexist and bigoted for same sex. Some want masculine and feminine pronouns removed. I suppose eventually gay and lesbian, brother and sister, mother and father, grandmother, aunt, grandfather and uncle, mare and stallion, stud and bitch, will have to go and male cardinals will not be able to be red with brown, dull mates. It's another way to destroy history, the Bible, the English language, biology, rewrite most laws, all census records, all of literature, theater and film. Some believe their own reality is all there is. The rest is lies, bigotry, hate and anger. Should be a piece for The Onion, but unfortunately, the inmates are in control of the asylum--and the language.

"NBC BLK contributor" Danielle Moodie-Mills (a lesbian activist who has written with her partner Aisha Moodie-Mills) wants to stretch the FCC – which only regulates broadcast radio and TV – into policing the Internet and print for “misgendering.”  - See more at: http://newsbusters.org/blogs/nb/tim-graham/2015/07/27/pronoun-wars-nbc-blk-pundit-wants-fcc-fine-anyone-misgendering?

The “misgendered” man/woman in the story was still using his pre-transitioned name, btw.

LGBT training in the schools

Michael Smith writes:  “I found the recent article about Iowa Safe Schools, the gay advocacy group disguised as an anti-bullying resource, to be intriguingly disturbing. This group has been teaching Humbolt, Iowa middle school students about homosexual relationships and anal sex under the watchful eye of government school administrators – and without the knowledge or approval of parents. According to the article in the Daily Caller, when approached with concerns of parents about such an agenda, “Nate Monson, executive director of Iowa Safe Schools, said parents who worry about middle school kids hearing about anal sex with strap-ons and analingus are ‘disgusting.’”

I’ve been watching with interest the recent SCOTUS ruling on same-sex unions and the very recent decision by the Boy Scouts of America to drop all prohibitions of homosexual scout leaders. I’ve noticed a pattern that develops as a social deviancy is mainstreamed. While it is true that the existence of homosexuality is a historical fact, it is also a fact that members of this group are a distinct minority and their behavior has been viewed as a deviant behavior for almost the entirety of the two centuries of America’s existence.

I am confident my observations are unoriginal – and my views are based on a premise that America is being subjected to a particular form of progressive ideology that demands individuals submit to the cognitive dissonance of the two mutually exclusive concepts that libertine behaviors are to be promoted yet regulated at the same time. I have deduced 6 laws from these observations:

In any given progressive-libertine societal system:

1. Deviant minorities will tend to erroneously define the majority’s tolerance of a specific deviancy as acceptance of the entire minority and/or a specific deviancy.

2. Majorities rarely unconditionally accept deviancy, but they do allow it.

3. The fallacious assumption that allowance constitutes acceptance of the entire minority and/or a specific deviancy leads to an equally fallacious assumption that such allowance mandates active celebration of the deviancy by the majority.

4. When a previously forbidden deviancy is allowed, the aggrieved minority will not treat it as with a passive acknowledgement of equality, it will be expressed as overt promotion of that particular deviancy.

5. Minorities are generally incapable of accepting equality as a contemporary status, they believe reparations and/or retribution for past prohibitions of the aforementioned deviant must be co-equal with the new “equality”.

6. When the deviant minority is challenged, they exhibit transference of guilt and responsibility by accusing the majority of equal or greater sins for retaining any opposition to the allowed deviancy.

For clarity, I do not use the words minority, deviant and deviancy as pejoratives, rather to describe aspects of society that are numerically small and distinctly different from the prevailing social mores of the majority.

LGBT activists have assured that the entertainment industry and government schools have moved quickly from allowance to acceptance to promotion of gay lifestyles, seeking to mainstream behaviors of an admittedly extremely small minority population. With the SCOTUS decision, the pattern is evident as they seek to do the same with commercial and religious activities. One wonders how soon the Boy Scouts will have a Gay Pride badge and what the requirements will be to get it.”

There is a natural way

"Dr. Thomas Hilgers’ development of the science of NaPro Technology has helped thousands of women who suffer from the cross of infertility and other reproductive health issues to find hope and healing through the morally licit practice of medicine. While mainstream medicine is quick to send infertile couples to the IVF clinic, the specialized doctors and nurses who practice the scientific and morally sound methods of Restorative Reproductive Medicine, look at the whole patient. Through the readily observable signs of the fertility cycle, which are easily learned by the woman through instruction in fertility appreciation (also known as Natural Family Planning), medical professionals are able to diagnose the woman’s underlying condition, treat it, and help restore them to health. Incidentally, the rate of pregnancies achieved after treating the infertility is higher than the success rate of IVF, and, unlike IVF no embryos are lost, destroyed, or exiled indefinitely to a frozen limbo in the process."

http://www.popepaulvi.com/about.php

Services of the National Center for Women's Health

• Infertility evaluation and treatment
• Repeated miscarriages
• Surgical treatment of endometriosis
• Prematurity Prevention Program
• Premenstrual syndrome
• Abnormal uterine bleeding
• Recurrent ovarian cysts
• Dysmenorrhea
• Postpartum depression
• Perimenopausal/menopausal care
• Polycystic ovarian disease
• Reversal of tubal ligation

An apron themed buffet

I hear sprinkles on the roof and it's getting dark. I guess the Wednesday picnic in the park will be cancelled. But had a lovely luncheon with the herb study group at the Train Station. It was a salad lunch (using herb themes) with a few desserts. It had an apron theme. Cutest table decorations and little apron shaped cookies. A special guest was (?) who owns a coffee shop (Victory?) in Marblehead and makes aprons to order.

I met an outreach librarian on my lakefront walk

On my morning walk along the lake I met Leah Schmidt the outreach librarian of Geauga County Public Library Outreach services. Sounds like a great program. She oversees the delivery and circulation of library materials to the public via the Bookmobile, Amish delivery services, homebound and outreach programming. http://www.geaugalibrary.net/newsite/component/content/article/28-gcpl-news/413-gcpl-promotes-leah-schmidt-to-head-of-outreach

“Ms. Schmidt was originally hired at GCPL as a shelver in 2013 before being promoted to a reference position in spring of 2014. Her extensive education and professional background made her a strong candidate for the Head of Outreach position when it became available this month. She holds a Master’s of Library Science and a Doctorate degree in cultural foundations of education, both from Kent State University. She also has an MBA in finance from Youngstown State University and a bachelor’s degree in psychology from The Ohio State University. Additionally, her work as an educator for Kent State, and in community service at the Trumbull Community Action Program (T-CAP) in Warren, Ohio, provides a solid foundation as Head of Outreach.”

Woman’s suffrage and the right to vote

I’ve now heard three lectures on Woman’s Suffrage and women getting the vote in 1920 at this week’s Lakeside Chautauqua Lecture series.  I used to think it was a very significant part of our history, but not any more.  Nothing really changed for women except voting rights that I can tell.  The parallel 19th and 20th century movements of women’s groups concerning property rights, education, custody of children, safer child birth, dress reform, public health, public libraries, Sunday schools for factory children, female ordination in churches, seminary attendance, temperance,  and general national movements including freedom to travel, mass production of automobiles, cooperative extension, lyceum, Chautauqua, voting in local  and municipal elections, and more technology for the home (sewing machines, indoor plumbing, electricity) had already greatly improved women’s lives by 1920. 

They did vote, by the millions, but not for women or even women’s issues for another 40-50 years. WWI had a much greater impact on women than the 1920 right to vote. Then it was the Great Depression and WWII that changed lives. Women never got to vote on abortion, or even same sex marriage.

Just to be clear, this is my opinion, not that of the lecturer. She believes the Right to Vote was very important. I'm happy I can vote--I just think that by 1920, it made little difference in the lives of women.

The Defense budget—far less than social services

Just when I found the defense percentage of the budget chart, I can't find the liberal web page (Daily Kos, I think)  that totally distorted it. Well, it's between 17-22% of the budget depending on what you count as defense (some include pensions, VA, etc.) Most of the rest is social services like Medicare, Medicaid, WIC, EITC, SNAP, Social Security, Housing, agriculture (nutrition support), 128 programs to move money from citizen A to resident B and of course, interest on the debt. Never trust a liberal chart on the economy; they take our taxes and then say it's never enough.

Hmm.  Looky there.  Federal pensions are more than health care.  Who knew?

For my readers who call me a racist because I don’t like Obama’s policies

Obama is bi-racial, raised by white grandparents in an affluent home, and attended private schools and colleges.

The other six men are not bi-racial, and their families have a long history with the race struggle in America and probably have ancestors who were slaves, unlike the President.

Receive forgiveness

Cecile Richards defends Planned Parenthood

98% of Planned Parenthood’s services to pregnant women are abortion; so how do they go on national TV and lie with impunity? It's not about women's health (a euphemism for abortion), it's about revenue. Abortions are expensive. CEO gets $1.50 for each abortion; the clinic workers have a quota to fill each month.

http://thehill.com/blogs/congress-blog/politics/153699-exposing-the-planned-parenthood-business-model

Can you imagine the evil, demented mind of Cecile Richards? http://www.christianpost.com/news/planned-parenthood-president-cecile-richards-compares-pro-lifers-to-murderers-141968/

These videos aren’t edited to be dishonest—they edited out chit chat and clinking glasses over lunch.  The entire transcripts were published; there are 10 more coming.  These people—there are no words to describe their hate filled hearts.

ELCA pastor comes out to youth conference

"Bishop Kevin Kanouse, leader of the Northern Texas-Northern Louisiana synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, [disapproved of] the denomination’s decision to accept gay pastors who are in committed, monogamous relationships [in 2009]. Kanouse voted against the resolution, but says he’s staying in the church and urges others to do so."  But 6 years later he acknowledges he's gay and comes out to a youth conference. Married 40 years with children, he claims the Holy Spirit led him to announce it.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/lutheran-bishop-comes-out-as-gay-after_55b6637ce4b0074ba5a54ac5

It still baffles me that librarians, who came out many, many years ago and lived openly with their partners and enjoyed great careers, are braver and more honest than pastors, movie stars, NFL players, and reality show stars.  Must be the money—librarian salaries are quite low. I just have no sympathy for this man who lied to his wife, family, church, friends and then actually back stabbed other gays with his vote just a few years ago. Disgusted.

Winners and losers in the minimum wage increase

Moving to a $15/hr minimum wage isn't necessarily a win-win for society: Because low-wage workers get less work experience under a higher minimum-wage regime, they are less likely to transition to higher-wage jobs down the road.

"The key intellectual upshot is that, despite what some people want you to believe, the laws of economic gravity have not been suspended. You can’t impose costs on some without trade-offs for others. You can’t intervene in the market without unintended consequences. And here’s a haunting fact that seems to make sense: Raising the minimum wage will produce winners among job holders from all backgrounds, but it will disproportionately punish those with the lowest skills, who are least likely to be able to justify higher employment costs."

David Brooks

This is most certainly true

Right now our elderly cat isn’t well, and we’re doing everything we can to tempt her to eat and drink.  I wonder if she’s just kidding around and enjoying all the extra attention?

The race-based wealth gap

What happens with employees investing in 401(k)s? The investment behavior of  9,600 Alcoa workers was examined between 2003 and 2010 for racial differences.  Outcome:  Blacks and Hispanics invested differently than whites.

• Black and Hispanic employees were less likely to participate in the plans at all
• minority contributors to the plans chose safer, low-returning assets like money market accounts than riskier fare like stock or bond funds
• minority employees were more likely to make early withdrawals from their accounts, or take loans out against them
• black salaried employees were less likely to participate in the plans than Hispanic or White salaried employees

Yet, at the end of the article, despite showing investing behavior was different,  the author still concluded “it’s important to keep in mind that racial inequality can manifest itself in many different ways, including some with the potential to perpetuate the disparity in our retirement years.”

http://qz.com/343369/racial-disparities-can-be-found-even-in-our-401k-accounts/

Will the Clintons pull it off again? Don’t be stupid, Republicans

Republicans should not be fooled. If Democrats wanted to run the perfect candidate to spoil the 2016 election for Republicans, it would be Donald Trump. The few issues he's right about is just a trail of bread crumbs to the big bad wolf of more Democrat statism.

The President’s trip to Kenya

I'm glad Obama finally made a visit to Kenya, birthplace of his father. His attention to anything "African" has been poor. Like President Clinton, President Bush made two separate trips to Sub-Saharan Africa. On one trip he visited three of the poorest countries in the world: Liberia, Rwanda, and Benin. He also made huge strides in HIV treatment and Trafficking in Persons (slavery) prevention. Under Obama, those programs have really limped along after great strides under Bush. I think many Africans expected more from Obama since he is half African, but were very disappointed. He's ignored Africa's problems, especially its fight against radical Islamists for the most part. Making a hash tag about kidnapped girls from a Christian school in Nigeria got his wife a lot of warm fuzzy points on the internet, but didn't save any Christian children.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/boko-haram-mocks-bringbackourgirls-hashtag-campaign-in-latest-video-9604307.html

http://www.usnews.com/news/blogs/washington-whispers/2013/07/01/kenyan-leaders-slam-president-obamas-gay-rights-comments

http://tbo.com/news/church-of-the-brethren-brings-altruistic-message-to-tampa-conference-20150712/

A prophet for our time—speaking over 100 years ago

There’s more to Easter Island heads than meets the eye—bodies

http://www.idealistrevolution.org/easter-island-head-discovery/

We’ve been thinking for all these years that they were just heads, however all along, the sculptures have secretly had torsos, buried beneath the earth.  Some 70 feet tall and 270 tons.

http://www.eisp.org/5454/

https://news.artnet.com/art-world/easter-island-head-bodies-293799

Hulk Hogan, John Kerry and Nicki Minag

I see they are going to ruin Hulk Hogan's career because he used the N word some time in the past. About 45 years ago (after he'd met with the enemy) John Kerry was back stabbing every VietNam soldier before Congress after a tour of 4 months and a self inflicted wound, and yet he managed a career move where he gets to back stab all of us including blacks, Asians, and Hispanics with the Iran deal. Where's the outrage from the word police? And black Nicki Minag gets rich on lyrics like "You a stupid hoe, yeah you a you a stupid hoe" and calling women she doesn't like lab rats and bitches. And please, don't tell me that's her art.

Calls for more gun control

Within minutes the Louisiana theater tragedy had been politicized by the gun controlists. I don’t recall them saying much when an illegal alien felon shot a woman walking with her father in San Francisco.

http://www.slate.com/blogs/crime/2013/12/19/mass_shootings_in_america_northeastern_criminologists_james_alan_fox_monica.html

But it’s a myth that mass shootings are on the increase.  News 24/7 makes it seem that way.   And that’s not the only myth this research busts. Especially more laws.

And, perhaps most dispiriting, the authors argue that pretty much every policy proposal intended to reduce mass shootings has been worthless. Increased funding for and access to mental health treatment? A well-meaning idea, but likely ineffective in preventing mass murder, given that, “with their tendency to externalize blame and consider themselves as victims of mistreatment, mass murderers see the problem to reside in others, not themselves,” and thus would likely avoid all opportunities to receive psychiatric help. Would renewing the 1994 federal assault weapons ban do any good? Probably not: “a comparison of the incidence of mass shootings during the 10-year window when the assault weapon ban was in force against the time periods before implementation and after expiration shows that the legislation had virtually no effect, at least in terms of murder in an extreme form.”

I bought a copycat Feta cheese

Real Feta cheese is made with goat or sheep's milk, according to this article, but I bought a "copycat" Feta made with Buffalo milk from Bulgaria. Didn't know there were buffalo in Bulgaria, but apparently the Indian breed has spread around the world. From 1962 to 1990, Murrah buffaloes from India were imported into Bulgaria and a new population of buffalo was created by upgrading the local buffalo.  https://www.marketdistrict.com/foodie/foodie-focus/a-betta-feta

Black lives matter

Self-Compassion-Based Eating Awareness Training

That’s the title of a workshop.  Supposed to teach one to trust her taste buds and loose weight, but with “mindfulness” (aka Hindu meditation).  Ha. Self compassion for me meant slices of cheddar on crackers, and baking lots of cookies.

I trusted my taste buds and “felt my hunger” 3 years ago and put on 30 pounds, which I’ve now taken off the old fashioned way—eat less, move more.

Truth overruled by Ryan Anderson, it’s not over

Summary:  Marriage is, as the author Anderson explains,

“a human institution which predates the state. Why did it form? In order to make men and women responsible to one another, and to maximize the outcomes for both the adults and any children which result from their union. As such, "Marriage is society's least-restrictive means of ensuring the well-being of children."”

“Once you move away from the original purpose and definition of marriage, you enter a world in which the institution is infinitely plastic. Which means that if you support same-sex marriage today, you need to be comfortable with whatever marriage will be defined as tomorrow. And there will be future redefinitions.”

“With marriage now redefined, we can expect to see the marginalization of those with traditional views and the erosion of religious liberty. The law and culture will seek to eradicate such views through economic, social, and legal pressure. With marriage redefined, believing what virtually every human society once believed about marriage will increasingly be deemed a malicious prejudice to be driven to the margins of culture.”

The tactics of gay activists came out with the book’s release.  Protests without having read it, no honest discussion even though it should appeal to honest gay couples who respect their own marriage, and even that of others. In short, religious bigotry and intolerance on display for why the book was necessary.

Regnery Publishing
Paperback • 2015 • $16.99
ISBN: 978-1-62157-451-4

The ongoing Planned Parenthood scandal

The unedited Planned Parenthood video will be released. They insist that “crunchy” is part of clever editing, and the doctor’s comment about a Lamborghini. They may regret being so snooty about "out of context" and "edited." May show without a doubt who they are for those who were in denial. The MSM are quick to be quiet, except to defend PP and call “donation” of “tissues” and “specimens” a generous act.  Creepy people completely without a moral center.

How much government control?

What and how much should government control? According to these circles, we currently have socialism-lite. Not quite Europe, but getting there. In my life time, the federal government has taken over education and energy, Social Security was Depression era, whereas for my grandparents it was just roads, police, military, courts. All else was handled privately or by churches and group associations (usually ethnic or religious to protect their own groups like Lutheran Swedes) with homes for elderly and orphans, or there was some at the county level of government, for instance, my grandmother received benefits for the blind from her county. The control is getting tighter, squeezing out private initiative. If you look at employed blacks, they have lowest small business, and highest government employment but still have the highest unemployment and dependency on government. This template has left out prisons, always for the state, and a huge industry.

Keep in mind, the biggest killer of citizens is not war with other countries, but death by government.

Martin O’Malley, left of Hillary, Democrat candidate for President

In 2008, construction was completed on the 757-room Baltimore Hilton, a $305 million publicly-funded hotel spearheaded by Baltimore’s mayor at the time, Martin O’Malley. The hotel, in seven years of operation, has never turned a profit. The best year of operation saw a $2.9 million loss.

http://dailycaller.com/2015/07/21/omalley-pushed-for-publicly-funded-hotel-thats-been-hemorrhaging-money/

I looked at the website: $159 starting. Wow. Sounded great, so I went to booking, and couldn't find a single room at that rate. I don't think this is a place for lower income, retirees so public funding is supposed to bring in people who can spend money. But I guess no one wants to go to Baltimore where the police can't protect them.

http://hotair.com/archives/2015/06/10/baltimore-cops-on-soaring-crime-rate-the-public-wanted-a-softer-police-force-and-now-theyve-got-it/

Only the names are different

This morning at Metro Fitness I was chatting with the man at the next machine.  He thinks the Iran deal is just fine and he plans to vote for Hillary Clinton.

From Dennis Prager's column this week:

"The American and European negotiations with Iran have so precisely mirrored 1938 that you have to wonder how anyone could not see it.

The Nazi regime’s great hatred was Jews. Iran’s great hatred is the Jewish state. The Nazis’ greatest aim was to exterminate the Jews of Europe. Iran’s greatest aim is to exterminate the Jewish state. Nazi Germany hated the West and its freedoms. The Islamic Republic of Iran hates the West and its freedom...s. Germany sought to dominate Europe. Iran seeks to dominate the Middle East and the Muslim world.

And exactly as Britain and France appeased Nazi Germany, the same two countries along with the United States have chosen to appease Iran.

Today, people mock Chamberlain. But just change the names, and you realize that we are living through a repetition of Munich. Substitute the Islamic Republic of Iran for Nazi Germany, the Ayatollah Ali Khamenei for Hitler, Barack Obama and John Kerry for Chamberlain, Israel for Czechoslovakia and for Europe’s Jews, and the increasingly unsafe world of 2015 for the increasingly unsafe world of 1938."

Obama visits a prison

Obama must have used a lot more drugs and committed crimes while doing so or sold them to others if he's comparing his drug use to those in prison. His current crimes against the country are probably more serious. Maybe that's what he really meant?

In the 1970s we used to visit men in the old Ohio Penitentiary in downtown Columbus --black, white, Christian, Muslim, young, old; murderers, thieves, organized crime and white collar--you name it, we met them and developed relationships. One charming young guy in for burglary and drugs had even pimped for his wife. I never met one who said he didn't do the crime, but they didn't like the time or the parole board because it was "unfair" that someone else did less, or got released early. Taking risks was an even bigger "high" than drugs. Nor were they crime free before what sent them to prison (except for "crimes of passion" which were usually one time) they were caught after many years of pulling it off.

http://truthuncensored.net/obama-visits-jail-compares-himself-to-criminals-video/#!

http://www.salon.com/2015/07/19/why_americas_prison_problem_is_so_much_worse_than_even_barack_obama_wants_to_let_on/

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2015/07/16/obama-el-reno-federal-correctional-institution-criminal-justice-reform/30234017/

Ohio’s governor Kasich has joined the crowd

It's not embarrassing to have sixteen candidates on the Republican bench, 14 of whom could run the country, it's richness beyond imagining. But it is embarrassing that there are so few Democrats willing to challenge Hillary. There aren't many Democrat governors (31 Republicans, 18 Democrats, and one independent) and that's usually the best preparation for the presidency. And it's not true that there are just right wingers running--it's a media scare tactic. The Democrats have moved so far left that it just appears that way. Three candidates with failed European socialist model. . . 2 of whom have had to apologize for thinking all lives matter and one of whom won’t talk to the press or anyone not selected for her audience (wouldn’t appear at Netroots where the other 2 were skewered).  But it is the party that had to take a special vote to keep the word God in the party platform, and then it barely squeaked through.

http://www.cnn.com/2015/07/21/politics/john-kasich-election-2016-announcement/

http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2015/07/what-john-kasich-believes/399044/

As speeches go, his was pretty dull; sounded like a Democrat from the 1980s.

This is what white privilege looks like

Wealthy.  Lived abroad.  Private schools. Top colleges. Power.

Prevent neck hump

Do you have years of poor posture?  Hours of sitting at a computer?  Or just getting old? 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5X1D8RgWpZQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xJ7kNF5s9gA  Several posture videos.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4uzd_nFzj0Y

http://saveourbones.com/weekend-challenge-the-hump-straightener/

http://2beingfit.com/super-effective-hump-back-correction-exercises/

There’s a lot we didn’t know, but now we do . . .

Black lives matter, white not so much

People of European, Asian and Indian ancestry will need to leave the Democrat Party. Saying "white lives matter," or "All lives matter," is now forbidden among the black radicals who are trying to control the language (blacks are now the minority among the minority). They haven't even read the police statistics--more whites are killed by police and at a higher rate than blacks. The leading cause of death of black children under 5 is not guns or whites or police--it's the people who care for them--fathers, mothers, step-parents.  And 38% of abortions are for black babies. Obviously, someone in that "black lives matter" movement doesn't know or care that even black children in the womb and crib and Head Start have lives. Someone hasn't looked at the CDC stats on AIDS among young black men.

http://www.cnn.com/2015/07/18/politics/bernie-sanders-netroots-nation-black-lives-matter/

This morning I watched a Fox News commentator Jehmu Greene call Donald Trump a douche bag on national TV; what does she call these Black Lives matter Lovers of Ignorance? And she applauds HuffPo for refusing to recognize Trump as a candidate (she uses him to smear all Republicans). But she refuses to address these crazies who took over an entire Netroots forum. How much does she get paid for this bias on Fox? She's a Liberian-American, another product of white privilege wearing a black mask.

I’m with Fred Kaan, Dutch hymn writer

“The post-war years witnessed an explosion of hymn writing that can loosely be categorised into two groups. There were those writers who worked in a traditional style, seeking to add their 20th-century contribution to the corpus of hymns used down the years by churches of all traditions. And there were those who introduced a new style of "worship song" designed to appeal to today's congregations.

Kaan was impatient with this second group, referring somewhat disparagingly to their songs as "the nursery rhymes of the church". His place was firmly with the former group, standing alongside the likes of Fred Pratt Green, Alan Gaunt and Brian Wren. His hymns, which include both original work and translations from a variety of languages, address the modern challenges to faith, notably issues of peace and justice, and are known and used right across the spectrum of Christian churches.”

His story.

Political posters

It’s not economics; it’s ideology

Katie Steinle, questions from Megyn Kelly for Obama

Kate’s murder has exploded into a national debate on illegal immigrants, sanctuary cities and crime,with the White House ducking the issue of its own acquiescence in these cities’ decisions to flout the federal immigration laws which were duly enacted.

When asked repeatedly this week to speak to this case, White House spokesman Josh Earnest declined to weigh in other than to refer folks to the Department of Homeland Security.

A stark contrast to what we saw after Michael Brown was killed in Ferguson. A man whom we know was attacking a police officer at the time of his death. His funeral saw three Obama officials in attendance, his death drew comments from President Obama personally and his administration also sent in the DOJ and 40 FBI agents dispatched to Missouri after Michael Brown was killed.

Where is the swarm of agents in San Francisco?

Then there was Freddie Gray in Baltimore, a repeat drug offender who was killed in police custody. Here again his funeral was attended by three Obama administration officials and again the President spoke personally to Freddie Gray’s death. And again sent the DOJ in to investigate. When Trayvon Martin was killed in Florida, the president spoke to his death which was later ruled to be in self-defense.

But Katie Steinle, nothing. No comments, no swarm of FBI agents, no DOJ investigation, nothing. Why?

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2015/07/09/megyn_kelly_why_is_obama_ignoring_murder_of_katie_steinle.html

Obama remains silent because he cannot make Steinle’s murder about himself.

Obama remains silent because her murder illustrates the dilemma with one of his schemes profoundly to transform the United States.

Obama remains silent because her murder illustrates the dilemma so indelibly.

Obama remains silent because Sanchez represents the politically incorrect illegal alien crime wave.

Obama remains silent because he cannot plausibly turn Steinle’s death to his narrow political advantage.

Scott Johnson, http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2015/07/the-meaning-of-obamas-silence.php

Lakeside’s Herb Class (Wednesday 8:30, Train station)

This week's herb group was on cinnamon. Large crowd probably because the weather eliminates anything else, and everyone knows what it is. We learned all about history and countries of origin, and difference with cassia. Donna Shoemaker submitted the recipe for Cincinnati's famous Skyline Chili which contains cinnamon. We all got a sample. It was delicious. I intend to try it. You can use it over spaghetti; or add red beans, or put it on a hot dog.

We were all big girls (plus 2 men and a boy) with probably combined 900 years in the kitchen, so no amounts were given in the recipe. Ground beef & pork, warm water, canned tomato sauce, tomato paste with water, dried yeast, fresh cinnamon, salt, fresh diced onions, fresh garlic, dash of paprika. Cook all together slowly, low heat 1-2 hours stove top or low in crock pot. If you need amounts, here’s a recipe.

On another delicious topic:

"Trail mix" sounds so healthy. I think it's from that eco-friendly 70s era. But today it means you're not burning up calories hiking in the woods, looking for grubs and berries, but sitting on the couch munching an addictive sweet/salty mix while watching unreality shows.

Democrats obsessed with race

Democrats are obsessed with Obama's race. I think it's left over from the days of Jim Crow and fighting lynch laws the Republicans proposed in Congress to protect blacks. If Obama makes a bad deal with our enemy Iran, then it's his race we don't like, not his treaty. If he destroys our health insurance system, then we are racist to complain when the system crashes, our medical records are vulnerable and rates go up. If he attacks Catholic nuns who are taking care of the elderly poor, then we must be paranoid birthers to not see the good intentions behind his destruction of our First Amendment rights.

Christians need to be examining who buys the fetal tissue

Christians, politicians and many secular pro-aborts were justly horrified by the recent video of a PP CEO discussing selling body parts of aborted babies. Well, are we showing equal horror at the research components of drug and medical companies (aka capitalists) that are buying them from supplier StemExpress? Using fetal tissue and embryos was never illegal, even during the Bush years, and Obama opened the Federal coffers to do so in 2009. That said, all major break throughs are using adult stem cells, not fetal.

http://www.christianpost.com/news/planned-parenthood-director-accused-of-selling-baby-body-parts-names-stemexpress-company-that-offers-fetal-liver-cells-for-24k-in-product-catalog-141600/

What is so unreasonable about negotiating for four Americans? He did it for Bergdahl and released five Taliban.

http://dailysignal.com/2015/07/16/obamas-annoyance-shows-major-garrett-asked-the-right-questions/

http://www.frantzradio.com/2015/07/13/obamas-iran-negotiation-worse-than-5-taliban-for-bowe-bergdahl/

Why can’t Obama take the tough questions? Bush did.

Buck Sexton writes:  “President Obama's response to Major Garrett today was snide, arrogant, and completely unbecoming of the Office of the President.

You can't ask this President a real question without being scolded.

You can't interrupt the administration's victory dance on this calamitous Iran deal without being punished.

...

It's preposterous to read the commentary from many on this who say the question was "disrespectful to Obama."

First of all, the question was completely legitimate. Not everything is about how awesome Obama needs to look all the time.

But more importantly- with 5 seconds of searching, you can find the kind of questions the press used to ask of President Bush, like this undermining, loaded question tossed at him back in 2006 that accuses him of being a liar and a warmonger:

"QUESTION [Helen Thomas]: I'd like to ask you, Mr. President -- your decision to invade Iraq has caused the deaths of thousands of Americans and Iraqis, wounds of Americans and Iraqis for a lifetime.

Every reason given, publicly at least, has turned out not to be true. My question is: Why did you really want to go to war? From the moment you stepped into the White House, your Cabinet officers, former Cabinet officers, intelligence people and so forth -- but what's your real reason? You have said it wasn't oil, the quest for oil. It hasn't been Israel or anything else. What was it?"

That's what disrespect looks like. “

http://www.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/03/21/bush.transcript/

Garden and storage sheds of Lakeside, pt. 5

The graceful, classic gable

I think the door is on the other side, and molding has been added to dress up the window.

I have my suspicions that this might be a reuse of a privy.

It’s difficult to see the colors, but this is behind the classic 19th c. cottage at 4th and Sycamore.  Nice details added.

Handsome and roomy dressed with a nice cupola. Cottage has a gambrel roof with lovely porch.

This is next to the Plymouth House as seen from parking lot.

Some garages become sheds, but I think this is a shed made in a garage design.  It has a foundation and sits above ground.

Somewhere there must be a pink cottage I can’t see. Very large door.

Garden and storage sheds of Lakeside, pt. 4

Gambrel, or barn roof, or Dutch Colonial

You’ll see a lot of gambrel roof styles because it offers the most storage space in the attic when compared to a gable or saltbox style shed roof and at Lakeside every little space counts.

The brick drive way and flower pots dress up this gambrel shed.

This one has extensions.

Healthy ferns add a nice touch and color match.

This one probably has some loft storage.

Obama and Kerry are laughing too