Thanksgiving 2015, Friday family photo

Isn’t this beautiful?  My husband has been taking guitar lessons for about a year, and his teacher, Dr. Smoot, wrote an arrangement for him and our son to play together.  So they were practicing in the living room and our daughter came in and looked in the piano bench for something in the same key.  I got all teary.  Had to eat another piece of candy.

It’s my recollection that I bought the piano in 1965 when I was a graduate student at the University of Illinois.  Which would make it 50 years old.  So I looked around and found a photo.

We had some great food, all prepared by my daughter, but she hasn’t sent the photos yet (she was having a contest with her sister in law in Colorado).  All I have are the pies.  For only 5 people, that’s a lot of pie. Hers are always very artistic.

Do you ever feel this way?

Special words

Liberté, égalité, fraternité and #blacklivesmatter

Although the media told us the recent events in Paris by Islamic jihadis were the worst since WWII, it was certainly not the worst religious violence in its history. Compared to what the French did to the Catholics, it was kids' play. In the French Revolution of the late 18th c., France was de-christianized, with thousands of citizens with ties to the church were murdered, imprisoned or deported. Churches, schools, nunneries, monasteries, schools, hospitals, etc. were violently destroyed. About 40,000 churches were destroyed and parishes left with no priest. The violence was at first against the throne with its ties to the Catholic church, then against everything Christian. Cries of Liberté, égalité, fraternité like the cries for "justice" and one group's lives mattering by our spoiled university students of today were meant only for a select few.

http://catholicexchange.com/a-new-look-at-the-french-revolution

http://www.wnd.com/2008/12/84742/

http://www.inthevendee.com/vendee-wars/vendee-wars.html

Ridiculous Black Friday stories

After we left our daughter’s home yesterday they were going to go out to buy . . . king size sheets.  One of the specials for Black Friday which started on Thursday. She should have been exhausted from her 2 days of cooking and planning, but there’s something about shopping that energizes some people.  Maybe I had that sort of energy in my 40s—and just don’t remember.

On Fox this morning I saw a story about 2 women who had shopped for “mini-sports” cars for their kids, and the containers for the toys wouldn’t fit into their cars.  So with the Fox reporter guarding their finds, they went off to find a rental car that would hold their treasures.

Now, think about it.  How much money can be saved if you need a rental car to haul home your treasures?

Students demand the President of Princeton stand up to bullies

Dear President Eisgruber,

We write on behalf of the Princeton Open Campus Coalition to request a meeting with you so that we may present our perspectives on the events of recent weeks. We are concerned mainly with the importance of preserving an intellectual culture in which all members of the Princeton community feel free to engage in civil discussion and to express their convictions without fear of being subjected to intimidation or abuse. Thanks to recent polls, surveys, and petitions, we have reason to believe that our concerns are shared by a majority of our fellow Princeton undergraduates.

http://100percentfedup.com/finally-fed-princeton-students-fight-back-black-lives-matter-terrorists-demands/#

I’m feeling safer already

This quote looks like it should come from The Onion, but unfortunately, it’s just our President speaking stupidly.

http://english.alarabiya.net/en/perspective/analysis/2014/08/28/Experts-ISIS-makes-up-to-3-million-daily-in-oil-sales.html

Nellemann estimates that taxation has quickly become "the largest share of ISIL's income, both through taxation schemes of the local populous," various mafia-like schemes forcing payment with the threat of violence, as well as human trafficking. The expert suggested that "in 2015, [the smuggling] business is likely going to exceed a total of $2 billion, of which the Islamic State will slowly increase their share."

http://sputniknews.com/middleeast/20150912/1026925384/smuggling-migrants-isil.html

http://www.worldbulletin.net/economy/144677/how-isil-uses-syrias-oil-to-fuel-its-advances

In its online English magazine, Dabiq, ISIS lays out its justification for its brutality against the Yazidis on religious grounds:

"Enslaving the families of the kuffar [unbelievers] and taking their women as concubines is a firmly established aspect of the Shariah [Islamic law] that if anyone were to deny or mock, he would be denying or mocking the verses of the Qur'an and the narrations of the Prophet."

http://www.cnn.com/2015/10/08/middleeast/isis-rape-theology-soldiers-rape-women-to-make-them-muslim/

As our president says silly things about the climate and terrorism, these women know first hand that it is an evil ideology, not climate that has created these rape farms and mass graves.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/womens-politics/12000148/Islamic-State-sex-slaves-Sinjar-mass-graves-show-what-were-fighting.html

What was the golden age of television for you?

In November 2011 Peggy Noonan wrote a column about the two golden ages of TV,  for which she was giving thanks that year. Here’s what I wrote about my TV memories in 2011.

“Looks like I missed both golden ages. My parents didn’t have TV when I was growing up so if I ever saw Playhouse 90 (1956-1961) I don’t remember it. I was just too busy going to school, dating or working at the drug store to sit down and watch TV. And of the second group I’ve only seen Law and Order (now in its 20th season), and much of it only in reruns--miss Jerry Orbach. Hardly ever watch it these days--too predictable. The others in the second golden age I’ve never seen. [Noonan cited "The Sopranos," "Mad Men," "The Wire," "Curb Your Enthusiasm," "ER," "24," "The West Wing," "Law and Order," "30 Rock." ]

Over the years we’ve enjoyed Dick Van Dyke Show (1961-1966) both when it was current and later in reruns; Mary Tyler Moore (1970-1977) and the spin-offs Rhoda and Phyllis; Love Boat (1977-1986) was great for seeing all the stars not usually seen; Cheers (1982-1993); the Bill Cosby Show (1984-1992) and still laugh and identify with the family situations and love the fashions [aside: unfortunately that memory has been tainted by recent sex charges]; Murder she wrote (1984-1996) with Angela Lansbury was never missed and we enjoyed it in reruns too; Golden Girls (1985-1992) although I think I saw this mostly on reruns; Murphy Brown (1988-1998)--great ensemble cast; Frasier (1993-2004) again mostly seen in reruns; Ellen (1994-1998); some of the movie channels like TNT and AMC for the movies I never saw when they were current; Third rock from the sun (1996-2001)--hard to believe Tommy is almost 30 [now 34]; we enjoyed Dharma and Greg (1997-2002); Monk ([was]still current and watching it tonight); The Closer ([then] now in the 5th season).

And remember the great variety shows--Sonny and Cher (1971-1974), Donny and Marie (1976-1979), The Captain and Tennille (1976-1977), Hee Haw (1969-1993) and now we even watch Lawrence Welk, which we never would have done in the 1950s and 1960s, as archives were dusted off with added interviews from the “Welk family” (1986- current) for its old time slot on Saturday evenings (tomorrow will be the Thanksgiving special on PBS). “

Democrats try to destroy the spirit of Thanksgiving. . .

I’d heard this before—actually from all the talking heads in the news, about how everyone is supposed to stay off politics on Thanksgiving.  But Democrats have carried it to new levels (low), according to James Taranto, of the Wall Street Journal.

“It’s Thanksgiving, and the Democratic National Committee is declaring war on uncles. “The holiday season is filled with food, traveling, and lively discussions with Republican relatives about politics sometimes laced with statements that are just not true,” the DNC declares on a website called YourRepublicanUncle.com. “Here are the most common myths spouted by your family members who spend too much time listening to Rush Limbaugh and the perfect response to each of them.”

There are 10 “myths,” with accompanying talking points in response—five about Republican presidential candidates, five about political topics. If you’re a Republican uncle and want to stump your DNC-informed niece or nephew, you might want to say something disparaging about Hillary Clinton or bring up national security, as these don’t make the list.

The talking points are unsubtle and tendentious enough that one suspects they were written by the unwieldy named Debbie Wasserman Schultz herself. Example: If your uncle says, “I like that Donald Trump! He says what he means,” you’re supposed to respond:” . . . you can fill in the blanks.

Happy birthday to my bouncing baby boy

From the first day he’s kept our life interesting and lively. He’s got the curly hair and long legs I’d love to have. Smart as a whip and intellectually stimulating.  Loves to talk politics with mom.  The light in the corner is probably his guardian angel checking in.

Posters about the jihadi risk in immigration

One of the memes/posters going around Facebook in the last few days concerns America’s rejection of European Jewish refugees in the 1930s, equating it to the current fear that there might be jihadis among the newest Syrian immigrants with no way to vet them. Let’s parse what was happening in the 1930s.

Our government’s response to the Great Depression.  In the 1930s the U.S. was weighed down by a terrible economic depression, and had the leadership of the Democratic party and Franklin D. Roosevelt (FDR) who continually failed to reenergize the economy. I don’t personally remember, but it colored the lives and behavior of my parents who were teen-agers in 1929.  Other countries had pulled out of that world wide depression in 3-4 years, but with the tinkering and social goals of FDR, we were well into it for a decade. People lost their savings, careers, farms, businesses, dreams and self esteem and were not thinking about the problems in Europe. Many Americans were still first and second generation immigrants from WWI and 19th c. recessions--thousands returned to their birth country.

The role of the media.  There was no social media in the 1930s, but radio and newspapers did a good job of misinformation and propaganda. Then as now the media lied to the American people about the seriousness of the situation.  Just has they sat on the information about the slaughter of the Christian Armenians and the Ukrainian famine and who was to blame (Moslems in Turkey and the USSR in Ukraine), so American intellectuals, Communists in the administration and politicians kept the public in ignorance.

Blame the Jews. America then as now, was awash in anti-Semitism.  If you think the publicity about Israel and Palestine on college campuses is lop-sided now, go back and read original material from the 1930s.  Rich Jewish bankers were blamed for everything that was wrong with our economy,  just as the “rich,” banks and investment companies were blamed for the collapse in 2007-2008.  Then as now, it was government manipulation of the markets and regulations  not Jews that created the mess, but a scapegoat was needed.  Following the traditions of centuries, it was “blame the Jews.” Today, even though the income gap is greater under Obama than any previous president, “the rich” has become a code word for our problems and Jews.

Black Professor reports on discrimination and bullying

“I can confidently say that when I was in graduate school, my identity as a Christian was far more under attack than my identity as a black,”

“I was repeatedly informed, ” [George] Yancey continued, “that Christians like me were the source of most of the problems in our society, and challenged to leave my Christian identity behind. Like many Christians today, I did not feel safe.”

https://rowman.com/ISBN/9781442224070/So-Many-Christians-So-Few-Lions-Is-There-Christianophobia-in-the-United-States

Usually those who do not like blacks or Muslims admit that they are intolerant but simply try to justify their intolerance. Those with Christianophobia tend to deny that they are intolerant but rather that they are fairly interpreting social reality.

Envisioning themselves as fair and free of intolerance allows them to blame those they detest rather than recognize how their emotions have distorted their intellectual judgments.

By documenting just how hateful some of the attitudes are toward Christians, and who tends to have such hateful attitudes, I hope to bring Christianophobia into the light so that we, as a society, can discuss this social problem and how we might address bigotry in all of its myriad forms.

http://freethinker.co.uk/2015/01/29/so-many-christians-so-few-lions/

Note: “So many Christians so few lions” is an anti-Christian  bumper sticker/slogan, which I assume is the reason for the title of the book.

http://heterodoxacademy.org/2015/11/24/i-should-not-write-this-op-ed-confessions-of-a-non-leftist-professor/

Do you ever feel like you’re from another time and place?

German Muslims join ISIS, then return to Germany

“Former militants who used to fight in the ranks of so-called Islamic State (former ISIS/ISIL) and other terrorist groups against the troops of the Syrian and Iraqi governments are now coming home, raising the threat of potential terror attacks to a new high, German Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere told Bild am Sonntag.

The number of potential attackers currently living in Germany is “higher than ever before,” de Maiziere said, estimating the number of German citizens joining terrorists at 760 people, about one-fifth of them women, who usually do not fight among jihadists, but rather “assisting” the terrorists “in other ways,” de Maiziere said.

The vast majority of Germans fighting in Syria and Iraq are men in their 20s who were raised in Germany and had German or double citizenship, De Maiziere added.

According to the minister, some 120 German citizens have died in the conflict in the Middle East; while about 200 have managed to return back home. The rest is still somewhere out there, participating in terrorist activities, he added.”

Europe closed its eyes—all countries, not just Germany—to the dangers of their insipid multiculturalism, where all cultures are of equal value, and the U.S. is going down that path.

http://www.eurasiareview.com/23112015-germany-760-citizens-have-joined-islamic-state-200-returned-home/

Fellowship or worship? What do you look for in a church family?

Former Fundamentalist and Evangelical Dr. Wesley Vincent shares his faith journey to the Catholic Church. Hosted by Marcus Grodi.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mYSp9Q3CsEU

Dr. Wesley L Vincent, CP has a medical practice at 139 Hazard Ave, Suite 7, Enfield CT. He specializes in clinical psychologist, and has over 27 years of experience in the field of medicine.

As an adult he found a church with wonderful music and powerful sermons and after about 2 years discovers that the pastor’s “wife and daughter” were not—she was his girlfriend, and not divorced from her husband.  At another church, he felt he needed to correct what his son was learning in confirmation class. Some churches didn’t teach the trinity; another refused to use The Lord’s Prayer. He finally began to read the early church fathers thinking he would find justification for all the protestant churches different beliefs.

Music is good for you, especially in your later years

“Music, the most-studied art reviewed, has been shown to have a number of benefits. One landmark study compared older adults who were invited to join a choir to those not invited. Twelve months after the study began, choir members showed decreases in doctor visits, falls, and over-the-counter medication use. Improvements were seen in overall health rating and number of activities performed. In a larger study that randomly assigned individuals to a choir program or a control group, the choir partisans had lower scores on a depression/anxiety scale, and higher scores on a quality of life scale. A survey of older amateur singers before and after joining a musical group showed increases in emotional well-being, social life, quality of life, and self-confidence. In studies of instrumental music, 98 percent of 1,626 survey respondents said that playing an instrument in a group affected their health in a “uniformly positive” way. A study of organ players not only showed decreases in anxiety and depression, but also revealed increases in human growth hormone, a molecule associated with a number of positive health outcomes. Another study that compared the length of time a musical instrument was played (from zero to over 10 years) showed a possible linear relationship between the amount of playing and cognitive performance. However, not all studies reviewed showed such significant results, and in some cases the positive impact of a musical program were not maintained as early as three months after the program was completed. It should be noted that the studies with significant results were considered to be more rigorous.”

http://www.investigage.com/2014/01/22/can-music-dance-and-other-arts-programs-enhance-healthy-aging/

If you used to be active in the arts, but no longer are, perhaps you need to rethink why you’re enjoying life less, why there is more anxiety and depression, why you don’t feel well.  Pick up the trumpet, or sit down at the piano, or join that choir.  It’s good for you.

Republicans have led the way for women

Have you noticed how feminists have taken the back seat to LGBTQ issues, or to “blacklivesmatter” issues, or white microaggression, or any of the other victimology themes in today’s political and academic streams of thought? Now the media have to trot out Bruce Jenner for woman of the year, as if  hormone supplements, a manicure, and a glamorous dress make one a woman—accoutrements that a few years ago were an anathema for feminists. 

So looking back to the 2008 campaign I think Sarah Palin stole their thunder.  Feminists just didn’t know what to do with her, and gradually disintegrated, at least as victims.  The left had to seek new and fresh victims--trust fund black students, transgendered reality stars, and anchor babies wanting in-state tuition.

This item appear in SF Gate, September 21, 2008, written by Phyllis Schafly. Sarah Palin never became the first female vice president, but she perhaps did more—she led women out of the feminist swamp even if that looked impossible in 2008.

"Feminist anger against Sarah has exposed the fact that feminism is not about women's success and achievement. If it were, feminists would have been bragging for years about self-made women who are truly remarkable achievers, such as Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, or former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina, or Sen. Elizabeth Dole, or even Margaret Thatcher. Feminists never boast about these women because feminism's basic doctrine is victimology. Feminism preaches that women can never succeed because they are the sorry victims of an oppressive patriarchy. No matter how smart or accomplished a woman may be, she's told that success and happiness are beyond her grasp because institutional sexism and discrimination hold her down. . . Sarah Palin is an exemplar of a successful, can-do woman, and the feminists simply don't know how to deal with her. I hope she will usher in a new era where conventional wisdom recognizes that feminist negativism is ancient history and American women are so fortunate to live in the greatest country on Earth." SF Gate, Sept. 21

What Obama has given us

1.  ISIS.  No matter what you think of the wars of the Bush era, they were essentially over before Obama took office.  He only had to do the mop up and withdrawal.  He hastily left a vacuum into which ISIS/ISIL/IS poured.  Then he underestimated them more than once—first calling them the JV team, then calling them contained.
2. Iran.  The other Arab/Muslim countries should be able to work out a solution to the Syrian refugee problem, and join forces to defeat ISIS (they are afraid too—different branches of Islam).  But because Obama made a deal with the devil (Iran), they don’t trust him and won’t work with him.
3.  Trump.  Probably the worst “Republican” candidate of an otherwise terrific bench, any one of which could run circles around Hillary Clinton, is Donald Trump.  But Americans are so fed up with our juvenile, lead from behind, hate America first, know-nothing president they are falling for Trump’s glib, bombastic “just bomb ‘em” and “close the mosques” temper tantrums.

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.