Don’t worry. . .

Are the campus cry babies and ISIS volunteers just Hunger Games babies?

“The world of the Hunger Games is a commentary on our own. The world in which we live is one in which our greatest goal is comfort, yet their [sic] are children dying in our streets from starvation. This is not just far away, it is right in our own country. This is just one talking point for Christians and the Hunger Games: what is it that we should be doing to curb our own “capitol”-like tendencies?”

Really?  Children dying in our country’s streets from starvation? When our 123 wealth transfer programs amount to $22,000 per person? When the average “poor” family in the US has HDTV, cell phones, regular manicures and over 30% have more than one car?
I’ve read the reviews of the books and movies.  I understand it’s science fiction, but I also understand that this is mind manipulation of children.

http://jwwartick.com/2012/03/25/hunger-games-movie/
https://www.reviveourhearts.com/true-woman/blog/a-parents-guide-to-the-hunger-games/

The Hunger Games movies have always been predicated on an emphatic and high-minded moral: War and death should never be a game. And it instructs that even when wounds from such dire dealings aren't visible, they sometimes never completely heal.

That kind of serious structure makes these movies hard to watch, none more so than this grand finale. Many people wondered how the final half of Suzanne Collins' Mockingjay book could possibly snag a PG-13 rating given its kill quotient. And it is truly a harsh experience—one that could really upset and even scar some moviegoers, particularly younger ones. I can't stress that enough … but even in the midst of such horror, this movie gives us hope.

When Katniss and what's left of her team take a breather under the streets of the Capitol—a metaphorical underworld, perhaps, bedecked with demons—the Mockingjay is overwhelmed by the horror of it all. She blames herself for the growing casualty count: "Everyone's dead because of me," she says.

But Peeta reminds her that those who died in the tunnels, they died as free men and women—unlike those who died in the games.

"All those deaths?" Peeta says. "They mean something. … They chose this. They chose you."

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2 is no more a nice movie than Katniss is a nice person. But it is a courageous movie, just as Katniss is courageous. And it cares about a cause, just as she does.
http://www.pluggedin.com/movie-reviews/hunger-games-mockingjay-part-2

Collective bargaining for teachers result in poor student outcomes

“Laws requiring school districts to engage in collective bargaining with teachers unions lead students to be less successful in the labor market in adulthood. Students who spent all 12 years of grade school in a state with a duty-to-bargain law earned an average of $795 less per year and worked half an hour less per week as adults than students who were not exposed to collective-bargaining laws. They are 0.9 percentage points less likely to be employed and 0.8 percentage points less likely to be in the labor force. And those with jobs tend to work in lower-skilled occupations.”

http://educationnext.org/bad-bargain-teacher-collective-bargaining-employment-earnings/

The new ten dollar bill

Here’s a history of how it’s changed over the years.  We know that this change will be political and that a woman will be chosen, even if she is unknown, unworthy, and undeserving.  It’s time; just like for the Democrat nominee.
https://thenew10.treasury.gov/history/history-10-note
Alexander Hamilton’s face has been on the $10 bill since 1929.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/alexander-hamilton-woman-10-dollar-bill_55a6891fe4b0c5f0322bfcb6
http://www.businessinsider.com/hamilton-to-stay-on-10-bill-says-lew-2015-7
http://www.businessinsider.com/why-the-treasury-is-changing-the-10-dollar-bill-instead-of-the-20-2015-6

Already?

I was talking to my brother in northern Illinois yesterday when he mentioned the snow and predicted chill factor.  I hadn’t been watching the weather report, so I thought he was kidding.  No.  Snow is early this year, especially in South Dakota.

http://www.argusleader.com/story/news/crime/2015/11/20/sioux-falls-snow-weather-forecast-south-dakota/76094970/

Fourteen inches of snow were reported in the southwest quadrant of the city by Friday evening, the National Weather Service office said. On the other side of town, Sioux Falls Regional Airport recorded 7.1 inches by 6 p.m.

The numbers shattered the previous snowfall record for Nov. 20, which was measured at 3.8 inches in 1975.

Other parts of southeast South Dakota had a variety of snowfall levels. In Harrisburg, one area measured a whopping 17 inches of snow, while Huron did not see a single flake, said National Weather Service meteorologist Kyle Weisser.

Snow totals for Friday

Tea –18 inches

Southeast of Harrisburg – 17 inches

Southwest Sioux Falls - 14 inches

Tyndall – 11 inches

Yankton – 8 inches

Salem – 5 inches

Chamberlain – 4 inches

Dell Rapids – 2 inches

Madison – 1.2 inches

Flandreau – 0.3 inches

A solution to the book overflow?

Most of the books designated for give away have at least left the garage counter (one bag is still in the car, one box is on the porch of our summer cottage, and 2 titles snuck back into the house).

A special Thanksgiving menu from November 22, 2007

               

Today is my wonderful daughter’s birthday—she has been such a blessing.  I can get teary remembering the first time I laid eyes on her—and her face really hasn’t changed that much, but she did grow into her long eye lashes.  Last night I came across this “Thursday Thirteen” which listed the 13 items she’d prepared for our Thanksgiving dinner in 2007, so I decided it was worth a delicious rerun.

“It's all about being thankful--for family, friends, country and milestones passed. So yesterday after church we drove along the river and past some woods to my daughter's home for her 40th birthday and our Thanksgiving celebration. I asked several times and offered to bring something, but she wanted to do it all, and she really did. All I did was dry the dishes after dinner.

Here's the fabulous meal that awaited us--and we're going back today for leftovers! Everything was sugar-free, and most dishes were low-fat until we got to dessert. She used her lovely Lenox wedding china and crystal and seasonal decorations.

1. A 24 lb turkey roasted to perfection--I've never seen a prettier golden brown.

2. A spiral sliced honey baked ham.

3. Cubed and roasted butternut squash, the best I've ever tasted.

4. Fresh, buttered beets.

5. Homemade, chunky applesauce.

6. Wild rice and mushroom stuffing (I think I saw one of her Martha cookbooks on the counter).

7. Sausage/corn stuffing (with a side portion without corn for my husband who hates corn)

8. cranberry relish, home made

9. Veggie platters of 4 colors of bell peppers, grape tomatoes, pickles, celery

10. hot clover leaf rolls

11. Mashed potatoes and gravy

12. red wine (2 choices), coffee

13. 2 deep dish homemade pies (apple and cherry) and one pumpkin pie, with crusts so tender and flakey she's getting very close to my mother's standard, served either with Cool Whip or vanilla ice cream.”

We’ll be going to her house this coming Thursday; I can’t wait to see what special things she’s prepared for her family.

Black, female professor is under fire from transgender students

Must be both sexist and racist in addition to anti-Christian bigotry.  I can’t tell which direction the student is going based on the photograph.

Carol Miller Swain is an American political scientist, professor of political science and law at Vanderbilt University, and television host. She is the author or editor of six books. Wikipedia

https://www.outandaboutnashville.com/story/vandy-trans-student-we-are-allowing-culture#.Vk-_efmrRbW

http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2015/11/19/black-christian-conservative-vanderbilt-professor-carol-swain-says-facebook-blocked-account-calls-religious-discrimination/

http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2015/11/20/facebook-restores-carol-swain-account-breitbart-exposes-block/

So conservative Christians are being blocked on social media.  This is the kind of hatred that has turned “progressives” into fascists.

Yes, m’am, women are interested in different things

Yesterday some guy from Apple (I’ve never heard of) got himself into deep do-do by commenting on how women search for music differently than men.  Now he’s been forced to walk it back and apologize!  (It actually made sense to me, having been a young girl thinking about boys at one time.)  Apparently, this angel investor, Christina Brodbeck, co-founder of YouTube which made her fabulously wealthy when she and the other two sold it to Google for for $1.65 billion in stock in 2006, also chooses at least some of her investments based on relationships and “things that interest” her. Really, do you think a guy  (she does have a male co-investor) would have come up with Icebreak, which helps couples increase understanding, excitement, and connection in their relationships.

“Christina was on the founding team of YouTube, the company's first UI Designer, and then later went on to lead design for the company's mobile efforts.

Before that, she worked at NASA Ames, MRL Ventures, and Keynote Systems. She's a proud Chicagoland native and attended the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She holds a master's in Instructional Technologies and Multimedia Design, and is passionate about building technology that makes people happy and improves their everyday lives.

Christina lives in San Francisco.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gV2nxO0y78E

Annual Conference of the Church of the Brethren, Winona Lake, Indiana: Panoramic Photograph, 1913

I don’t have a scan of the photo, but I would be able to see it if I went to Manchester University (formerly Manchester College) in North Manchester, Indiana at the Funderberg Library college archives.  I only note this because I think the archivist was very clever in finding a method to preserve it—a hot humid day.

“Many panoramic and oversized photographs were rolled up and stacked on a metal shelf in the photograph section of the Archives.  These pictures had become dry and were impossible to unroll.  The Archivist took the photographs outside on an extremely humid and hot summer day.  In about 30 minutes the photographs had relaxed enough to unroll and were brought back into the Library and pressed under books, using archival photo file folders as blotters between pictures.”

I think I remember my mother telling me about attending Annual Conference at Winona Lake, and at one time I had a post card of the facility. I may have even scanned it for the blog since it had been addressed to my mother, but after 13 years of blogging, and many tagging systems, I doubt I can find it [after checking I found a mention in a 2006 blog, and noted in 2005 that the Winona Lake post card was from her brother Clare]. 

There must be dozens of rolled up panoramic photos in attics and store rooms—perhaps they could be left in the bathroom with the hot shower left on.

I have a panoramic photo of the Tennessee Reunion, but I don’t believe it was rolled. Very difficult to store or frame.

He’s drowning us in watered down values

“No commander in chief of the U.S. armed forces can be wholly irrelevant, but to the extent one can be, Mr. Obama is,” writes Peggy Noonan. “After the attacks Mr. Obama went on TV, apparently to comfort us and remind us it’s OK, he’s in charge. He prattled on about violence being at odds with ‘universal values.’ He proceeded as if unaware that there are no actually universal values, that right now the values of the West and radical Islam are clashing, violently, and we have to face it.” “ Quoted in Wall Street Journal, Nov. 20, 2015

Using “thou” instead of “it”

“This week’s practice [poetry] exercises included some fun options. Wooldridge suggested changing our perspective by referring to an object as “thou” instead of “it,” and asking questions of it.”

The shoe box of VHS tapes
By Norma J. Bruce
November 20, 2015

I’ve made an inquiry.
Thou who wait
Imprisoned in the dark
And dust,
Sitting in an old box, a cell size 8 medium
Longing for the glory days
When thou did entertain and
Enlighten.
Alas, the VHS player has been loaned
To a homeschooling Mom
Who knows not thy desire.

Do you ever read poetry?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=srt2j6iVhsM

Christina Rosetti

Remember me when I am gone away,
Gone far away into the silent land;
When you can no more hold me by the hand,
Nor I half turn to go yet turning stay.
Remember me when no more day by day
You tell me of our future that you plann'd:
Only remember me; you understand
It will be late to counsel then or pray.
Yet if you should forget me for a while
And afterwards remember, do not grieve:
For if the darkness and corruption leave
A vestige of the thoughts that once I had,
Better by far you should forget and smile
Than that you should remember and be sad.

Three word Wednesday, post Paris poem

The words to use this week are not difficult to use as looking back to Friday the 13th and the events in Paris:

Enigmatic, adjective: difficult to interpret or understand; mysterious.
Faulty, adjective: working badly or unreliably because of imperfections, (of reasoning and other mental processes) mistaken or misleading because of flaws, having or displaying weaknesses.
Grovel, verb: lie or move abjectly on the ground with one's face downward, act in an obsequious manner in order to obtain someone's forgiveness or favor.

Paris and Beirut, November 2015

We will not grovel
or  submit to your evil
hateful attacks and
beliefs enigmatic
tools in the hands of  leaders’
faulty interpretations.

And speaking of enigmatic and faulty, what a perfect description of our President.  Not only can he not interpret the Quran, he's completely ignorant of what the Bible says.

Links

Why legal abortion is the main cause of family breakdown

http://eppc.org/publications/social-and-economic-costs-of-legal-abortion/

The author writes: Fifteen years ago I published a paper on the “Socioeconomic Costs of Roe v. Wade.”  In it, I estimated the impact of legal abortion in reducing the U.S. population (about 20% so far) and concluded, “taken in its entirety, legal abortion is perhaps the single largest American economic event of the past century, more significant than the Great Depression or the Second World War.”[6]

• legal abortion is single-handedly responsible for the prospective deficits in the pay-as-you-go social security retirement system,[7] and
• suggests that legal abortion was also directly responsible for the 1970s and 1980s rise in crime rates.[8]

ISIS has grown 4,400% under Obama!

“CIA Director John Brennan talked about his thoughts on the Paris attacks, ISIS and the possibility of terrorism on U.S. soil Monday.

In a previously arranged appearance at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington think tank, Brennan said it is likely that ISIS has other attacks planned.”

“I don’t think we are underestimating at all the capabilities of ISIL. Its growth over the last several years in particular – but as you know, that it had its roots in al-Qaida in Iraq. It was, you know, pretty much decimated when U.S. forces were there in Iraq. It had maybe 700-or-so adherents left. And then it grew quite a bit in the last several years, when it split then from al-Qaida in Syria, and set up its own organization.”

http://time.com/4114870/paris-attacks-cia-john-brennan/

Watch the graphic on how the Islamic State attacked

The wars were over before Obama took office, but obviously the countries were not secure.  But he had to do the pull out of troops to satisfy his handlers, and ISIS, the JV team,  filled the vacuum.  He created this mess, and claims “containment” is working. Tell that to the grieving families in Beirut and Kenya and Paris.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/world/islamic-state-attacks/

August 5, 2014

July 12, 2015

The size of circles corresponds to the number of noncombatant casualties in attacks. Data for attacks by Boko Haram is unavailable before July 1.

“Kiss the devil” was being sung

The band was seven songs into a sold-out concert  at the 19th-century Le Bataclan theater in Paris when its performance of “Kiss the Devil” was interrupted by gunfire. Band members escaped through a backstage exit, but their fans were picked off one by one.  On Saturday the band cancelled the remaining 20 dates on the European tour.  For many, the rest of their lives were cancelled.

“Kiss The Devil” – by Eagles Of Death Metal

Who’ll love the Devil?
Who’ll song his song?
Who will love the Devil and his song?

I’ll love the Devil
I’ll sing his song
I will love the Devil and his song

Who’ll love the Devil?
Who’ll kiss his tongue?
Who will kiss the Devil on his tongue?

I’ll love the Devil
I’ll kiss his tongue
I will kiss the Devil on his tongue

As the French death metal fans were singing along with those lyrics, offering their love to Satan, the Devil responded.

Remember this? The compassionate Obama?

http://www.nowtheendbegins.com/obama-refuses-to-allow-yazidi-christians-fleeing-isis-to-enter-united-states/

And he has the gall, and the snark, to say “this isn’t who we are” (to turn down Syrian Muslims, unvetted young men, who could be members of ISIS and sitting in the Trojan horse).

Advent and Christmas Schedule, 2015, UALC

What country is Obama living in?

What a stupid thing (back hand at GOP governors) he said yesterday—that we shouldn’t have a preference for Syrian Christians or Moslems.  Christians are being massacred by Muslim jihadists on both sides.  Where are the surrounding Muslim nations that can take in the Muslim refugees?  Why ship them across the ocean to our country so our naïve, whiny college students can radicalize them?

  In five years, the U.S. has taken in 53 Christians from that war torn area, and thousands of Muslims.  But it is the Christians facing genocide. Meanwhile Jordan and Turkey are buying cheap oil from ISIS, and Obama glad hands them.

This man has no heart; only political goals masquerading as values and ethics, and I might add, pretending to care.  And according to the constitution, he has one job—to keep the country safe. If he didn’t like the job description, why did he run?

http://shoebat.com/2015/02/24/the-massacre-of-the-assyrian-christians-is-on-the-way-isis-kidnaps-117-christians-in-syria-while-christian-fighters-tried-to-defend-them-ran-out-of-ammunition-because-they-had-no-help-from-western-p/

http://www.christianpost.com/news/largest-massacre-of-christians-in-syria-ignored-109566/

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/26/magazine/is-this-the-end-of-christianity-in-the-middle-east.html?_r=0

http://www.thenewamerican.com/world-news/asia/item/17229-world-turns-away-as-rebel-massacres-of-syrian-christians-intensify

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2013/09/08/syrian-rebels-take-christian-village/2781763/

Obama has forgotten, but we haven’t

“We have not forgotten these refugees and asylum beneficiaries -- the Tsarnaev brothers who bombed the Boston Marathon. It's not just Syrians who are problematic. It is the evil and violent geopolitical ideology of Islam. (It's not a religion. Mohammad was a brutal misogynist and dictator). Let's help people stay in the Middle East and deal with the root problem -- Islam: Sharia and Jihad.” Christians for a sustainable economy.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/details-emerge-on-suspected-boston-bombers/2013/04/19/ef2c2566-a8e4-11e2-a8e2-5b98cb59187f_story.html

Neo-fascism on college campuses

Daniel Swindell: “On the same day that Missouri University (MU) President Timothy M. Wolfe resigned over ‘racism,’ the MU Black Studies Department co-sponsored a lecture by David Sheen, a journalist who regularly compares Israelis to Nazis. The lecture was called ‘Racism in Israel.’ The event was hosted by the MU Socialists, who posted the following description: ‘Remember the systematic racism experienced at Mizzou is part of the violent global system of white supremacy. Come to our event tomorrow night to learn more about connections between racism in Israel & racism on campus.’”
http://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/260795/mizzou-black-studies-dept-co-sponsors-speaker-who-daniel-swindell#.Vkozs8WvSUw.facebook

Ed Rogers, Washington Post, defending Obama

“Even though I’m no fan of his, it still stings when non-Americans run down our president. To be fair, I also got a lot of heat about President George W. Bush in his final year in office when I traveled abroad, and I defended him as well. But trying to defend your president from angry charges that he is too tough is easier than defending your president to foreigners who are worried and anxious about him being too weak. Actually, I travel a lot, and these days, no one in any foreign capitals I visit will defend Obama’s foreign policy. Based on what I see, when it comes to the president’s foreign policy, the Democratic national security elite don’t defend him, his former advisers don’t defend him and even current U.S. ambassadors don’t really know what to say. There are a lot of awkward pauses and attempts to change the subject”

James Taranto (WSJ) reported this and says there is no date stamp, but it appears to have been BEFORE Friday’s attack on Paris.

Mr. Obama once described the ISIS as a junior varsity terror outfit and as recently as Friday said “we have contained” it.

Remember when Europe lined up in 2008 to swoon over him? It looked like Berlin in the 1930s with another bad ruler.

Stacy Washington says:

“If you're working or just doing real life stuff, you just missed the most stompy foot, insipid, reactionary display of non leadership - EVER, from our very own president "ISIL is contained!" Obama.

He's angry at Americans for wanting to refuse to take in 200,000 Syrian "Refugees" after a few refugees just killed and maimed hundreds of Parisians. Dude is TICKED because we Americans want these so called refugees vetted.

You wanna know who the president ISN'T angry at? Islam...ic State. He can't even get their name right for goodness sakes.

I blame him and Democrats in advance for what ever happens here next. Own your votes.

Obesity, autoimmune diseases and poverty

“Obesity often comes with a side of chronic inflammation, causing inflammatory chemicals and immune cells to flood adipose tissue, the hypothalamus, the liver, and other areas of the body. Inflammation is a big part of what makes obesity such an unhealthy condition, contributing to Type 2 diabetes, heart disease, cancers, autoimmune disorders, and possibly even neurodegenerative diseases.”  Read this interesting analysis of  Y. Endo et al., “Obesity drives Th17 cell differentiation by inducing the lipid metabolic kinase, ACC1,” Cell Reports, 12:1042-55, 2015.  Especially if you are plagued by any autoimmune diseases.

“High-income countries have greater rates of obesity than middle- and low-income countries.  Countries that develop wealth also develop obesity; for instance, with economic growth in China and India, obesity rates have increased by several-fold. The international trend is that greater obesity tracks with greater wealth.

The U.S. is one of the wealthiest countries in the world and accordingly has high obesity rates; one-third of the population has obesity plus another third is overweight. The situation is predicted to worsen; rising childhood obesity rates forewarn of worsening statistics (4). While it is agreed that both individual factors such as genetic susceptibility and behavior are important in life-long weight gain, evidence is ill-defined with respect to the nature of the environmental influences that impact obesity (5). “  . . .

“Sedentary individuals move 2 hours per day less than active individuals and expend less energy, and they are thereby prone to obesity, chronic metabolic disease, and cardiovascular death. . . “

“Poverty and Obesity in U.S.,”  James Levine

There’s an easy solution . . .

Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and our media (and the British media) refuse to use the term Islamic terrorism.  So instead using the acronym, let’s all use the term they use: “Islamic State” (IS) or Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) or  Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).  Of course, not all Moslems are terrorists, but many do support Shariia law and many do financially support organizations that feed into fundamentalism.

I liken this to the abortion movement in the United States.  There are many women who say, “I would never have an abortion myself, but I believe in a woman’s right to choose” and donate to Planned Parenthood. They financially support a killing machine. Islamic terrorism and Planned Parenthood are not equal, of course,—Planned Parenthood has killed many more human beings than ISIS.

Butternut squash and apples recipe

Recipe is from the November 2015 issue of Illinois Country Living.

Recent research on cranberries

For about 50 years I hardly used this handy piece that came with my Revere Ware set.  Things cook quickly and you don’t get water logged, tough vegetables.

I’ve been making a bowl of steamed carrots with a handful of cranberries and a touch of honey for breakfast.  Then the remaining water also makes a good hot drink, or is good for cooking brown rice.

• Recent research has shown that it's not the acidity of the cranberries, but the unusual nature of their proanthocyanidins (PACs) that is related to prevention of UTIs.
• recent research has shown that the anthocyanin content of cranberries (the phytonutrients that give the berries their amazing red color) is increased in direct proportion to the amount of natural sunlight striking the berry. If berries floating on top of water get exposed to increased amounts of natural sunlight
• whole cranberries consumed in dietary form—in comparison with purified cranberry extracts consumed in either liquid or dried supplement form—do a better job of protecting our cardiovascular system and our liver.
• The cancer-preventive benefits of cranberries are now known to extend to cancers of the breast, colon, lung, and prostate.

From the Whole Foods newsletter, November 16, 2015

Is it too early to think about Christmas cookies?

In 1993 I made a family recipe book for a reunion.  This page has cookies.  None of these are family secrets, to my knowledge, and Neno’s cookies never tasted quite as good when I made them, but were a real favorite with my husband’s family.

This isn’t my mother’s—I just thought it was funny.

A clever poster making a statement about The University of Missouri protesters

http://www.wsj.com/video/opinion-journal-the-roots-of-campus-illiberalism/C1628A58-0177-489C-98BE-0115EBAE2C2E.html

The threat of climate change

Still plan to accept more Syrian refugees

By 2017, the U.S. could accept as many as 100,000 refugees from Syria, up from its current annual total of 85,000, according to the Wall Street Journal.  Common sense would seem to dictate caution and more planning on the part of Congress and the President who want more non-vetted immigrants, but then that is in short supply in DC. I don't see this group harvesting crops or writing software for Google and Amazon to satisfy Big Ag or Big Tech lobbyists.

http://www.investing.com/news/world-news/obama-moves-to-accelerate-syrian-refugee-plan-in-wake-of-paris-attacks-371265

Write a note this Advent

North America, PBS

I was watching a PBS program on. . . possibly fossils, but it was all over the map on topics (I googled it an I think it is called Making North America).  Anyway, they were examining marine fossils in Kansas, so the narrator who had been deep sea diving looking at bacteria in an earlier segment was describing with nice graphics how oceans and seas came and went, rose and receded over millions of years across North America.  In the next program he'll probably be telling us that humans, especially American capitalists with global investments, are to blame for climate change.

Governor Jindal writes to President Obama

My letter to President Obama: In light of Paris terrorist attacks, time to pause process of refugees coming to the US.

Dear President Obama,

In the wake of another round of appalling terrorist attacks, I write to express great sadness at the events in Paris, as well as my grave concern about the unreported diffusion of Syrian refugees in the United States.

Last week, the city of New Orleans began receiving its first wave of Syrian refugees. As with former immigration crises and federal relocation policy, Louisiana has been kept in the dark about those seeking refuge in the state. It is irresponsible and severely disconcerting to place individuals, who may have ties to ISIS, in a state without the state’s knowledge or involvement.

As Governor of Louisiana, I demand information about the Syrian refugees being placed in Louisiana in hopes that the night of horror in Paris is not duplicated here. In the wake of these atrocities, I also ask for details on the below:

1) What level of background screening was conducted prior to entry in the United States?
2) In light of the fact that some of those responsible for last night’s attacks held Syrian passports, what additional protections and screenings will be put in place?
3) Will all Syrian refugees seeking relocation in the United States now be cleared by the Terrorist Screening Center?
4) What degree of monitoring will be sustained after initial placement in Louisiana?

As Americans, we embolden freedom and opportunity to the rest of the world, but by opening up our borders and refusing to collaborate or share information with states, you are threatening that reality.

Mr. President, in light of these attacks on Paris and reports that one of the attackers was a refugee from Syria, it would be prudent to pause the process of refugees coming to the United States. Authorities need to investigate what happened in Europe before this problem comes to the United States.

Sincerely,

Governor Bobby Jindal

Cc: The Honorable Sylvia Burwell, Secretary, Department of Health and Human Services
Cc: The Honorable Jeh Johnson, Secretary, Department of Homeland Security
Cc: The Honorable James Comey, Director, Federal Bureau of Investigations

Trump Tabby

Probably the last time he’ll say that

College snowflakes demand their safe space

I wonder if the college kids demanding safe spaces would defend a little girl's right to have a toilet room safe from little boys who think they are little girls?

Black journalist claims first amendment not such a good idea.

http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2015/11/how-campus-activists-are-weaponizing-the-safe-space/415080/

http://www.nationalreview.com/article/426911/university-missouri-student-protests-safe-spaces

Because Perry has male anatomy, many students simply see her as a boy in a wig changing in the girls' locker room -- and that makes them uncomfortable. They whispered about her in hallways, complained to faculty and told their parents, who brought it up at the school board meeting on August 27.

http://www.cnn.com/2015/09/03/living/missouri-transgender-teen-feat/

Where is the United States in prophecy

I'm not a dispensationalist, but I'm familiar with their writings. About every 10-20 years someone finds a new phrase in the Bible that pin points exactly when Jesus comes back. I've always wondered why the United States never figures in those prophecies. Now I know.

We've got a very smart, pathological liar criminal on the left, and a very dumb, bombastic real estate mogul on the right running for president. The fringes are on fire for them and the middle is running in circles looking for the extinguishers. Which ever one wins, we all lose. There will be no U.S.A. when Jesus comes back.

BTW, both the Quran and the Hadith refer to Jesus' 2nd coming. But like Christians, Muslims don't agree on future events.

The ISIS Threat in Paris and here

When GW Bush left office, the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq were essentially over; only security and mop up of dangerous elements plus training of local government forces remained. But "ending the war" was Obama's campaign promise in 2008 and it had been taken from him. Never mind. We lost more military in his first term than 2 of Bush. He continued with that theme, ignored the fragility of the wars' end, and foolishly let ISIL (IS) rise to the power it is today. The whole world will pay for his hungry pride. The terrorists of yesterday's French attack put us on notice by saying they thirst for America's blood.

Watching a British news source last night I notice they referred to this as "the situation," and "the event." Now that's the worst PC-isms I've ever heard. Perhaps we need to return to plain English, Mr. President.

The daughter of Geraldo Rivera of Fox News was at the Paris soccer stadium where one of the attacks took place. There was a very moving first hand account from her, after her rescue by family friends when all the public and private transportation shut down. Rivera has represented the liberal view on the Fox show,The Five, since pundit Bickel went to rehab. But last night he sounded like Donald Trump. That's what fear looks and sounds like, and that is the purpose of terrorism.

Urban farming

Currently, estimates are that 15 percent of all food in the United States is produced in a metropolitan area, said Mike Hogan, educator with Ohio State University Extension in Franklin County, Ohio. That includes food grown in home and community gardens, urban farms, and even urban aquaculture facilities.

Hogan will be speaking Monday, November 16, at Ohio State at 109 Physical Activity and Education Services – PAES

PAES was completed in 2006 and replaced Larkins Hall which was built in 1931.  According to the contractor’s website (Gilbane) it was estimated at $152 million, and has 650,000 sq. ft. The complex which I believe includes RPAC  includes a seven pool aquatic center, basketball, volleyball, badminton, racquetball and squash courts, more than 27,500 SF fitness and conditioning space, student wellness center, synthetic turf gymnasium, as well as a climbing wall and outdoor adventure center.

If you’ve ever wondered why college costs are so much higher than when you attended, even accounting for inflation, PAES type buildings are part of the reason, along with expanding faculty and administration staff.

How to get out of college debt free

This young man’s father doesn’t make $6 million a year like the Mizzou hunger striker.

Steroid Shots No Long-Term Help in Knee OA

“In the study, which was funded by the National Institutes of Health, there were no significant differences between patients who received injections of triamcinolone hexacetonide every 12 weeks and those given placebo in change in pain on the Western Ontario and McMaster University Arthritis Index (WOMAC), with differences of -2.2 in the steroid group and -2.8 in the placebo group (P=0.3), reported Timothy E. McAlindon, MD, of Tufts University in Boston.”

Read here.

"I think we can conclude that intra-articular corticosteroids used at the dose of 40 mg for 2 years has no major effect on structure in the joint -- either deleterious or beneficial -- and that over the long-term we don't see an overall effect on patient-reported outcomes or physical function," he said [Timothy McAlindon].

Add "slave" to the word list

Tiger Woods' former caddy (obviously bad blood there) used the word "slave" in describing his working conditions in his book. That's pretty silly on the surface, considering his pay, but to claim that whites can't use the word? Do these rabble rousers know there is more slavery today than in the 18th century? Instead of making up trouble, do something about the new term, "trafficking in persons." Probably would help to go back to the old term.

http://ftw.usatoday.com/2015/11/tiger-woods-ex-caddie-explains-why-he-used-the-word-slave-to-describe-his-work

Three Word Wednesday, venom, wiggle, distracted

Venom, noun: a poisonous substance;  extreme malice and bitterness shown in someone's attitudes, speech, or actions.

Wiggle, verb: move with small rapid movements, (wiggle out of) avoid (something)

Distracted, adjective: unable to concentrate because one's mind is preoccupied.

See web site for clues and how to participate.

A noun, verb and adjective.  Hmm.  This almost screams for a poem about today’s college campuses of the United States, doesn’t it? For the internationals who contribute to this website, it refers to current college protests in the U.S. led by wealthy students, a massacre in Kenya in April of college students, and looks back the the 1960s when protests were common.  The term “snowflake” is American slang for young, coddled adults who melt under criticism.

Fifty years later.

“Don’t trust anyone over 30!” was the cry of the sixties.
Can’t be too critical of the venom spewing from
From Mizzou, from Yale, from Ithaca,  
Solidarity walk outs, sit ins,  protests and marches.
Except, they want the opposite of free speech.
No investigation of rumors, just
Fire the president! Remove the faculty!
Especially that creep that gave me a D.
(Don’t be distracted by the cry from Kenya, 
Kill the Christians!
Almost 150 killed on campus for that crime.
No wiggle room for these young revolutionaries.)
Our snowflakes at home, deceived who
Shout, raise their fists, then go off 
to have a beer with their trust fund money,
Ignoring the blood spilled on the other side
Of the university world.

Bill O’Reilly on the current witch hunt on campuses

I don’t care much for Bill O’Reilly—he constantly interrupts his guests and experts.  However, the witch hunt piece is spot on.  A black female professor  at Vanderbilt is currently a victim of such a witch hunt—her crime?  She’s a conservative Christian, and has suspicious thoughts. Accusing a fellow student or professor of a racial slur is an easy way to get rid of someone you don’t like. Social media has exacerbated the problem.  No evidence is needed; just the charge.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UV0JtMwU1yU

University of Missouri protests spread, while delicate snowflakes melt under scrutiny

So the protests are spreading. Remember, "Don't trust anyone over 30." Jack Weinburg was my age, he came up with it, and this was a popular slogan in the 1960s. I can't believe the ignorance of the students being interviewed. Now it's gone from snowflake hurt feelings to demanding no tuition.

Neil Cavuto on Fox interviewed the most naïve student organizer yesterday.  She’s read the posters from the leftists, but apparently has never had to fill out an income tax form.  He was very polite and kind and let her hang herself with the rope of ignorance and youth.

"The Million Student March is a movement for an equitable and fair system of education," Mullen told Cavuto. "The three core demands of the National Day Of Action are free public college, cancellation of student debt, and a fifteen dollar minimum wage for people who work on the campus."

Kelley Mullen and her organization seem pretty good at making demands. Explaining how it'll all be paid for? Not so much.

"So how's that going to be paid?" Cavuto casually asked.

"Ummm...great question...I mean...so...," Mullen stammered.

Cavuto proceeded to demolish Mullen's claims that "the 1%" would be footing the bill for her organization's demands.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zmji36q8E4o

One student I listened to being interviewed said 50% of the U.S. budget went for military (not); another said 50% of Americans were poverty level (not). They seem to be stuck on 50 percent.  Maybe it’s Common Core Math?

Defense is 19%; Medicare Medicaid 23%; Social Security 20% of the budget. About 14% of Americans are at or below poverty level although it has increased some under this administration, with $22,000 per poor person going to anti-poverty programs each year. Student loans are high and climbing because of the government tweaking which simply allows universities and colleges to raise tuition. Some students seem to think education is a right, not a privilege. We've raised a generation of numbskulls.

I haven't checked the details, but apparently the student body president of Mizzou, black and gay and homecoming king/queen, is from a wealthy Chicago family, interned with Rahm Emanuel as a community organizer, has met with President Obama, and lied about the KKK threat which has caused some of the uproar. Well, liberal college faculty and administrations are getting what they asked for the last 20-30 years. Now the movement is spreading and other college presidents are being asked to step down from colleges that have no diversity of thought.

Really funny parody by Matt Walsh. “Someone insulted me,” fire the CEO.

http://www.theblaze.com/contributions/dear-walmart-someone-insulted-me-in-one-of-your-stores-your-ceo-must-now-resign/

Perhaps the poor melting snowflakes on the Mizzou campus could view footage of the carnage on another campus, this one in Nairobi earlier this year, of 147 students, mostly Christians who couldn't recite verses from the Koran to their Islamic killers. Mizzou protesters are apparently confused about terrorism and threats to their personal space.

 http://www.cnn.com/2015/04/03/africa/kenya-garissa-university-attack-witnesses/index.html

I saw this comment about the gay black student at Mizzou who spread the KKK rumors  (later admitted it wasn’t true) which helped get the president "fired," then had to apologize.

"Clearly, a Duke LaCrosse playing KKK member from a fraternity at UVA grabbed some U Delaware light hanging nooses and drew the poopsticka. Then dated Lena Dunham, hard. It's the only explanation that makes sense. Heads must keep rolling."

Come let us eat

I heard this lovely call and response hymn on Sing for Joy today. But it was a choral arrangement (Schola Cantorum) which I can’t find on YouTube and I didn’t care for the drums and organ samples, so just a small item about the Liberian composer. I is a very popular communion hymn.

KWILLIA, Billema. b. ca. 1925. Kwillia is a literacy teacher and evangelist from Liberia in West Africa. He is best known for the hymn ‘Come, Let Us Eat’ (‘A va de laa mioo’), which has been included in several hymnals and ecumenical collections. Kwillia composed the hymn in the 1960s and it employs a characteristic call-response pattern. Margaret D. Miller (b. 1927) transcribed the hymn from a recording in a church service in 1969. This hymn, in the original Loma language and in Miller’s versification, appeared first in Laudamus, a hymnal for the international gathering of the Lutheran World Federation in Evian, France in 1970. (Dictionary of hymnology)

My Luther bookmark

I was pretty sure I’d found this in Luther’s writings and then designed the bookmark, but couldn’t figure out which, so I googled, “if you were able and did not” and sure enough found it was LW 51,9.  It was on a page for sex and gender diversity at Luther College in Decorah, Iowa.

Inbreeding among Muslims for 1400 years?

I am not at all familiar with Pickerington Post blog. So I haven’t confirmed this “research.”

Massive inbreeding among Muslims has been going on since their prophet allowed first-cousin marriages more than 50 generations (1,400 years) ago. For many Muslims, therefore, intermarriage is regarded as being part of their religion. . .

The BBC’s research also discovered that while British Pakistanis accounted for just 3.4% of all births in Britain, they accounted for 30% of all British children with recessive disorders and a higher rate of infant mortality.

It is estimated that one third of all handicapped people in Copenhagen have a foreign background and 64% of school children in Denmark with Arabic parents are illiterate after 10 years in the Danish school system.

The research appears to be only at right wing website and all cite the same Danish psychologist, Nicholai Sennels .

http://joemiller.us/2015/09/muslim-inbreeding-has-corrupted-islams-psyche-and-the-results-are-alarming/

http://pjmedia.com/blog/the-problem-of-inbreeding-in-islam/

The dissenters: http://theamericanmuslim.org/tam.php/features/articles/robert-spencer

Dear Mr. Reno, editor of First Things

I don't know about the progressive because I'm a conservative, former liberal, humanist and Democrat. But I do know how disappointed I was in the December issue, "Crisis of our Time." If I could have found your e-mail, I would have said,

"What are you thinking? Capitalism is more dangerous than powers of government and you're leaning to Francis' view?"

Really? Name any global capitalist cabal that has murdered 100 million of its customers as the USSR and China did in the 20th century! What about the kings, monarchs, tsars, caliphates, Imans, and tribal leaders of past eras? Who do you think was at the foundation of 18th c slavery if not the petty tribal and Islamic leaders of that era who sold souls to slavers? Do you think capitalists have killed more of their citizens than they did? Only mosquitoes have killed more people than governments. /And statist governments are the worst.

Indirectly I suppose you could say the abortion industry is capitalism, but in the United States it is the plank of the Democrat Party, and it has destroyed millions of lives and caused American families to decay at the roots.

I've eagerly read your columns with each issue; now I could cry. I'm a Lutheran so technically have no skin in your game, but I do know the Roman Catholic church is the greatest defender of social and political rights in the world, the only entity strong enough to stand up to powerful government interests, especially Marxists. Once you weaken that with this drivel that Francis is promoting, the 40,000 Protestant groups and denominations might as well fold their tents and let the culture die.

Coloring books for adults

Have you seen those coloring books for adults at the book stores? Yesterday I bought some colored pencils and I picked up two Sunday school children's bulletins with b & w drawings at church. It's all good.

Jesus probably didn't wear purple on earth--too expensive, but he is King of King and Lord of Lords, so I took some artistic license for heaven.

http://time.com/4106154/crayola-coloring-book-adults-color-escapes/

http://www.newyorker.com/business/currency/why-adults-are-buying-coloring-books-for-themselves

There’s a gremlin in your diet plan

Ghrelin, a hunger inducing hormone, sounds like the word “gremlin,” at least to me. After weight loss, regardless of the diet employed, there are changes in circulating hormones involved in the regulation of body weight. Ghrelin levels tend to increase so that makes you more hungry and levels of the nine appetite-suppressing hormones decrease, so they aren‘t doing their job. The word gremlin became popularized in the early 20th century, originally used as a creature that sabotaged aircraft, but the word works for diets, too. Even after 3 years, your body still responds to diets this way. 

http://www.webmd.com/diet/your-hunger-hormones

Report insults and slights to Police—it’s not illegal, but do it anyway

"While cases of hateful and hurtful speech are not crimes, if the individual(s) identified are students, MU’s Office of Student Conduct can take disciplinary action.”  Police at University of Missouri ask students to report speech to the police that hurts their feelings.  Would that be "fatty fatty two by four," or "you're ugly, bitch," or "you're a retard," or "You've got man boobs," or "No, I won't buy you a beer, chink" or accusing a male of "white privilege" when he's 1/16th native American and on campus as a minority scholarship despite blonde hair and blue eyes? Is it OK for a gay guy to use a homosexual insult?  Can a black guy use the N-word? How far will police take this? Really, this hate speech stuff is out of control. Shame, shame on all academe. It's much worse than the "in loco parentis" of the 40s and 50s.

A lesson in good manners

I thought I was done with this, but in case you’ve forgotten how to be polite and cheerful, here it is.