Black Lives Don't matter in Chicago

They can shut down the GOP convention, but they can't stop the killing in Chicago? 19 homicides and 116 shot just in March. A 98.6% increase since the Black Lives Matter movement.





Article from July. 


Ms. Perry hosted  the “Melissa Harris-Perry” show since 2012, focusing on the state of race, gender and social justice in America, but resigned/was fired on Feb. 28 because she didn't like it that her show was being preempted for political coverage, and she was too good to read the news.

How do these promises get voters? I'll destroy your jobs.

Did I hear that right? Hillary assured coal miners she was destroying their jobs, but offering great benefits? Does that win votes? Maybe Ohio coal miners should talk to Native Americans about how the government takes care of those they relocate--poorest demographic in the U.S. with cradle to grave government benefits.

http://www.weeklystandard.com/clinton-were-going-to-put-a-lot-of-coal-miners-and-coal-companies-out-of-business/article/2001541

Mary Poppins--a subtle dig or just a celebrity stopping by for church

When I first heard about a Mary Poppins figure hoisted over the altar in an Omaha cathedral, I thought it must be from an Onion piece, but no, it really happened. And the janitor who cut it down was fired! I'd say he should be applauded and the church administrator fired for poor taste, and selling out his space for a crappy art show. The custodian takes care of his disabled sister on a minimum wage salary, so I hope someone starts a go fund me campaign for him. WWJD? The same thing (he's on record), in my opinion.

I don't even like to see screens for hymns dangling from the ceiling, or home made felt banners covering up expensive architectural detailing.  I'd be furious if my church sold its soul for a Disney character.


 
What if you stopped in on your lunch hour for a quite time of prayer?

Mark Kenney, 59, who grew up in the parish, had worked at St. Cecilia Cathedral for three years. Around 8 a.m. on Jan. 29, he went to a work shed, picked up a pair of heavy-duty bolt cutters and ascended to a catwalk high above the mostly empty nave, or main sanctuary.
He looked through a peephole, he said, to make sure he wouldn’t hurt any people. And then he cut a steel cable, which sent a suspended, umbrella-carrying, hat-wearing Mary Poppins figure crashing to the floor.

Kenney then went downstairs and removed a cardboard Buddha figure from the Nash Chapel, which also featured costumed mannequins from “The King and I.” He threw the Buddha out one door and proceeded to toss costumed mannequins out two other doors.

He then reported his sin to the priest who had heard the noise.

But they promised! Iran's testing missles. Huge shock.

http://www.cnn.com/2016/03/09/middleeast/iran-missile-test/

Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) test-fired several ballistic missiles on Tuesday, state television said, challenging a United Nations resolution and drawing a threat of a diplomatic response from the United States.

 

 

 

 

The story of Susanna in Daniel 13

The Old Testament reading this morning was one of the longest, and most riveting I've ever heard, and the woman lector did a wonderful job. It was about Susanna (Shoshana), a chaste and devout Jewess, wife of Joakim in Babylon. Two old men, both judges, plot to rape her and she resisted. They lied and she was about to be executed and cried out to God for help. Then Daniel came to her defense and interrogated the men separately, destroying their story. "According to the law of Moses, they inflected on them the penalty they had plotted to impose on their neighbor; they put them to death. Thus was innocent blood spared that day." (Daniel 13)

I thought I'd heard all the interesting Bible stories, but this one is not in the Protestant Bibles, only the Catholic and Orthodox. It was part of the Septuagint (Greek translation of the Hebrew scriptures used in the time of Jesus). I can't find that Luther or Calvin ever made a list for the canon, but apparently the Anglicans did, so we didn't get that one. So I checked for movies, because it would be a great one, and didn't find it, but it does appear in paintings and some poems and music.

 

Updating the poverty articles

I'm not seeing the "failure of poverty programs" articles that I saw 2-3 years ago--the figure used to be federal and state programs combined amounted to over $22,000 per poor person to feed, house, medicate, educate and lift people. But our poverty rate was 14% when Johnson launched the War on Poverty in 1964, and now it's 16%. I'm still getting an awful lot of appeals to alleviate "desperate poverty" from church groups and non-profits. Maybe it's the Bernie fall out? Really folks, if $80,000+ doesn't lift a family of 4 out of poverty, how much more will? No sensible person thinks a family in the inner city or an Indian reservation actually sees that money; it goes to people in the suburbs working for non-profits, universities and government agencies. Poverty is good business; why solve it?

Kay's business is struggling to find health insurance for its employees

I suggest we all pay close attention to employers like Kay. She actually owns a business and has to sort through the mess Obama has left us.  Too many of us have worked in academe, or for state government, or large corporations.

 "Annually our business shops the market for health insurance and this year we are looking at 18% (and more!) increases in just premiums. (We have been looking at these kinds of annual increases ever since Obamacare was passed.) Not only do we see higher premiums, the annual out of pocket amounts have gone up. The insurance companies are tweaking their plans wherever they can...this year the proposal from our current health insurance company will take away access to many providers. (In our business, our insurance carrier must have access to providers like Mayo Clinic or Iowa City or hospitals as close Rockford, IL. These and others were taken out. To many of you,  please understand that a person can go most anywhere, but at a premium cost as insurance reimburses at a considerably less amount.)" (personal correspondence)

Yes, the goal of Obamacare is single payer, Democrats like Pelosi admit it, but it won't be like Medicare, it will be Medicaid lite and the cost will be horrific. Remember, Obama destroyed a system that was serving about 85% of the population well, and another 5% probably were self insuring and didn't use insurance or were young and healthy and didn’t want to do the co-pay at work. I never thought employment based health insurance was good (started after WWII as a way to attract employees), but with all the brilliant minds in business and government, nothing between that and jail or fines was available? We already had federal and state insurance for the poor, Medicaid, plus VA for veterans, Medicare for seniors, and S-CHIP for children to age 23, but that wasn't enough for him. The end goal is government control of everything. Some people had better insurance with more benefits than others—Oh, the horror! 

Obama, or his successor if a Democrat, wants the billions of tax write offs that businesses get for providing insurance, and the additional billions in taxes that the rest of us don't pay because it's a non-taxable feature of employment. In Obama’s eyes and his party of socialist/progressives, all those taxes belong in Washington to be redistributed after bureaucrats and lobbyists get their share. 

Not for a minute was this about the poor, dear friends, relatives and trolls, or that could have easily been fixed with a plan for the 10% who didn't qualify for other programs (usually young men without families to support and either couldn't or wouldn't work). 

My blood pressure rises just thinking of the Americans he completely fooled with that lie.

But Donald Trump loves this country and hates political correctness!

Oh, please! Mike Huckabee loves the country; Rick Santorum loves the country; Bobby Jindal loves the country; Rick Perry loves the country. Donald Trump loves The Donald, he loves the game, making a deal, making shocking remarks, and appealing to the lowest common denominator and the cheapest laughs. I still can't see a single Carson supporter--I mean someone who donated money that could have gone to someone else, or who campaigned for him, or wrote supportive messages on Facebook or blogs or other social media--going for this gas bag, values deficit, blow hard clown.

Shouldn't churches be taxed, she asked?

Emanuel Lutheran Church, founded by Swedish Evangelical Lutherans, Hartford, CT

 It wasn't really a question.  I know what she thinks.  But that's what she said. So that's what I'll answer.

Churches are mostly 501c3 and donations are tax exempt for the donor—there are millions of these and in order to change that you’d have to go after the huge violators that are fronts for political action like the Clinton Foundation or George Soros’ spidery web of groups. Until Lyndon Johnson's run for Senate, churches weren’t muzzled (it's called the Johnson Amendment to the tax code, 1954)--and probably isn't even legal, but its never gone to the Supreme Court. Just the threat of a law suit keeps pastors quiet.  If churches have a business, (selling books, running restaurants, etc.) those profits are taxable, but in the normal sense of the word, they don’t have profits. 

These days, everything is political, even marriage and gender. Do you really want churches not concerned about dirty air or lead in the water in Flint?  Should being tax exempt prevent a pastor from preaching about prison reform, or the condition of the local schools, or the merger of a local hospital or chaos on the school board, corruption on city council or child pornography, or trafficking in persons or marriage or abortion? Some local, state or federal politician or political party has a stake in it for personal gain, I guarantee. 

I vote at a Catholic church; our Lutheran church is also a polling place. In our old neighborhood it was at an Episcopal Church. Can you imagine the scramble for spaces if all churches didn’t donate space for voting, or food pantries? They also sponsor Scouting and Boys and Girls clubs and AA, blood drives, and art and music events (non-religious) as well as literacy classes. Our church has a huge Muslim and Hispanic population for ESL. Want to stop that? (Actually, proselytizing is forbidden due to government rules because some Vista volunteers are employed.) 

The tradition of not taxing churches predates our country's establishment because religion isn’t just what happens in the building or your personal prayer closet, but what believers take into the community. In the Middle Ages, Kings and monarchs didn’t take care of the poor, or educate them, or run the hospitals, the churches did that (still do). However, our country was settled by people fleeing a state controlled church, so our first amendment is written to prevent the state from interfering with churches, although some are confused about that.

When you hear the phrase, “I’m spiritual, but not religious,” think of the misunderstanding it represents (usually heard from lapsed Christians). That was not Jesus’ command. He established communion, baptism, a hierarchy for service, honored his mother, performed his first miracle at a wedding, preached to large gatherings, observed many Jewish laws and traditions and sent missionaries, etc. That’s being religious. 
 

Black churches particularly are very active politically. And as far as I know, no government entity has removed any politician campaigning from their pulpits. Barack Obama created his political career speaking in black churches in the Chicago area—learned his speaking style there (he didn’t become a Christian until after college), because he grew up in Hawaii and Indonesia and wasn't familiar with the cadence or how to sound "black."

I personally believe (and it’s not a popular belief) churches should “donate” the real estate tax value of their land because in many small communities that have mega churches, it removes huge swaths from the tax rolls. Also, some churches have bought up old, decaying sections of malls, which cleans up the area and reduces crime, but also removes property from tax rolls. And from the obvious wealth of some TV preachers’ lifestyle (Creflo Dollar and Joyce Meyer for instance), I believe someone needs to keep a closer eye on the books, not for tax purposes, but for their own souls and credibility.

Downsizing for seniors

Everyone I know has this problem.  Stuff.  Except maybe my cousin.  She moves too often to accumulate much. Today I stopped at Half-Price Books and bought. . . are you ready for this. . . .Bill and Hillary paper dolls.  At $2.00 it was such a bargain.  I also bought yet another How to draw book.  We must have at least 5.  If books could tell you how to draw or paint, I'd be a famous artist.

We actually thought we were downsizing when we bought this condo in 2001.  And we were, sort of. The problem is it actually has an attic over the garage and storage space in the basement, two storage areas we didn't have in our home on Abington.

Here's advice from AARP on what to get rid of.

Know anyone who collects paper dolls?

A new era for apple pie at our house?

Right now I have a frozen Marie Callender Lattice crust apple pie in the oven.  I've got to admit it sure smells yummy.  I've been famous for my pies for years, but no longer bake.  As far as I'm concerned, it's all in the crust.  No crust, no pie.  So we'll see how Marie can do.

Here's what one reviewer wrote.  She's so ecstatic, I suspect a put up.

This Pie, called The Lattice Apple Pie is upon first steaming spoonful; your ticket to paradise lost. Where memories began. Your first smells. My Mom makes a mean Apple Pie! But when Marie Callendar's came around. Even she knew that there was a New Chef in Town! Back to the Pie. The apples used are sweet Fuji apples, with mind you, imported cinnamon and Sugar! My kind of Pie!, But the Pies de Resistance, is: The Crust. They could have just covered it, but they really went all out and LATTICED It! And it takes extra time and effort to do that. Just like Mom and Grandma and Great Grandma all did it! Which to me, hearkens back to an simpler time, listening to the radio tell stories. And the smell wafting up from the freshly baked pie is pure heaven like waking up to Christmas and your first snow and everything cozy and good and wholesome, all wrapped up in Marie Callendar's Wonderful, Lattice Apple Pie. And To Everyone whom is recommended this Pie, Friendship ensues! Love this Pie!

Shirley in San Antonio, TX

At a frozen pie evaluation site, which admitted they didn't care much for frozen pies, I found this:

 Marie, you know how to make a pie. Actually, you know how to make about forty of them, but we only tried the Marie Callenders Lattice Apple Pie ($6.79). Sure, it still had a bit of that jelly-goo apple thing happening, but c'mon, it's a frozen pie. Well-spiced with a nicely browned, crumbly crust, this was everyone's favorite of the six. And those cinnamon specks on the box's photo? Those were no joke. If you hate cinnamon (do people hate cinnamon?) then stay away, but otherwise, this was a plenty satisfying pie. 

It won't be out of the oven for another 30 minutes, then it's supposed to cool for 2 hours, so I'll have to update this after supper.

Todays new words--pericopes and icipits

I knew what the Lectionary is, sections of scripture read in church or privately in a systematic or topical way so that all the Bible is covered in 3 years.  One of the 3 synoptic gospels is featured, and John is interspersed. It is an ecumenical effort, at least for Protestants. It's not unusual for our church, UALC to wander off the path and have a sermon series unrelated to the Lectionary.  However, I was unfamiliar with how the Lectionary is in turn divided.

"Individual readings in the Lectionary are called pericopes, from a Greek word meaning a "section" or "cutting." Because the Mass readings are only portions of a book or chapter, introductory phrases, called incipits, are often added to begin the Lectionary reading, for example, "In those days," "Jesus said to his disciples," etc."  USCCB

Today's New Word--Apostle

We--at least I--think we know what an apostle is, at least in the Christian meaning.  But do we really?  It's not the same as a disciple--one of the 12, otherwise Paul couldn't be an apostle.

"By combining material from various texts, scholars conclude that an apostle was one who had seen the risen Jesus and who had a personal commission from Jesus to proclaim the gospel.  The number who could claim the title is not determined, but that the title was important is clear from Paul's insistence on his right to be called an apostle.  If there are any officers of the Church in the New Testament, they are apostles. . .

The Greek word, apostolos, from which our English word "apostle" comes, means in classical Greek literature a naval expedition and, in later literature, a delegate or a messenger. There is no parallel in Greek to the religious use of the word; but in Judaism the corresponding Aramaic word was a title given to men sent from Jerusalem to Jewish communities abroad.  This may have influenced the Christian use of the word."   John L. McKenzie, Authority in the church, Sheed and Ward, 1966.                          

Head of an apostle by Jean-Michel Moreau, public domain

How first century Christians faced pagan Roman sexual practices

The Didache, or Teaching of the Twelve Apostles, written in A.D. 80, begins with a frank assessment of the culture and the Christian Faith. “There are two ways, one of life and one of death: and great is the difference between the two ways.” The text then discusses the way of life which combines the Ten Commandments and the teachings of Christ. An important part of the way of life is morality, and the particulars of moral living involve marriage and the conjugal act:
“You shall not commit adultery.
You shall not seduce boys.
You shall not commit fornication.
You shall not steal.
You shall not practice magic.
You shall not use potions.
You shall not procure abortion, nor destroy a newborn child.”
The Didache urged Christians to avoid these practices and choose the way of life in imitation of Christ the Lord.
(Steve Weidenkopf, Of Human Life course material, Ch. 1)

I thought he'd have a better excuse

After Obama's Scalia no show, I'm not surprised, but this guy really has no class.

She did it! Took iPads away from her kids, by guest blogger Sarah

In case you were curious how #operationipadelimination was going...

Well, I'm pleased to say we are well over a month iPad free and loving it! The girls are more creative than ever before and getting along better too! Hmm. My house may look like a homes chool but I'm just fine with that. The girls tape EVERYTHING they make to my walls!  I'm noticing they are also watching much less tv (maybe 30 minutes a day) and Wii use is down to just the weekends. I thought they'd want more of other stuff but they don't. And I'm not having to entertain them all day either, moms!  Our quality time together is much richer too. I'm actually starting to like my daughters. LOL!  (If you know me, you'll laugh at that) So if you're like me and on the fence, with a nagging feeling that electronics are taking over your home and the brains of your developing children, give it a try and see how your kids do for a month. Maybe two. Maybe six. I'm not sure I ever want to bring them back out. I sort of like these kids sans technology!! In fact I like them a whole lot better!! ❤ And I kinda feel like I'm a better mom too. Who knew?!

By guest blogger Sarah (I've known her since she was 14--now has 4 kids, from teen to toddler)

For my trolls and Obama supporters

I often hear that Republicans are racists because they don't like Obama. Or Republicans hate the poor.

Well, let's take them at their word if that is their gauge of morality.

• Is racism worse than killing millions of black babies with the blessings of the Democrat party? More in 4 days of abortion than 80 years of lynching, which was also a Democratic party scheme. 
• Is racism worse than letting black children flounder in failing public schools because the Democrats in the local and state government are afraid of the teachers union?
•  Is racism worse than letting many millions of black and brown third world children die of malaria because you caved to environmentalists on DDT? Would you want your children under bed nets?
•  Is racism worse than the blacks who will be robbed or murdered when you undo the 1993 crime bill and start going soft on black crime because you think the poverty pimps can turn out the vote for you?

And the poor?

• How ethical and moral is it for you to pretend you care about illegal immigrants, when they are taking jobs from low income Americans? Or overstaying their visas and taking jobs from college graduates in the tech fields? 
• Or that you say IRCA failed, when you never enforced it either for business or illegals crossing the boarder and now we have 30-40 million counting their children born here.
•  How ethical is it for you to prop up the all white Mexican government which depends on those ethnic workers to send cash home for the 2nd highest source of income in a very resource rich country? 
•  And the way you fight good jobs in the fuel industry and take them from coal miners so you can feed on fear about climate should really make you feel morally superior. 

There are worse things than what you've called Republicans.

Sending chills--horn arrangements for hymns

James K. Taylor, a retired band director and composer in Texas. He is arranging public domain hymn tunes for four horns. You can find these for listening on YouTube by searching for the name, James K. Taylor.

These arrangements can also be accessed at http://www.diary.cadenza.org/james-taylor/ along with other types of hymn arrangements and experimental sound files. Permission is granted for the use of audio recordings. Sheet music for these arrangements may be purchased for $20 from sheetmusicplus.com

I listened to a few of these.  Wonderful. Thrill your congregation now!

Photo not related to story--this is Quadre,

Neither Democrats nor Republicans can make promises about Detroit

Comments by Mike Smith

"Neither China nor Mexico "killed Detroit." Detroit committed suicide. The Democrat led city government loaded the gun and the labor unions pulled the trigger. When wages and taxes got to a point that the cost of doing business made companies noncompetitive, they had two choices - cut costs or go out of business. Since capital flows to wherever it is most efficiently used to generate profit and companies follow capital, the work went to locations where cost could be reduced. It is as simple as that. Detroit wasn't left behind because China and Mexico had some sort of secret plan to kill it, Detroit died because it gave jobs away, jobs that Mexico and China were happy to accept.

Progressive economic policies are the equivalent of salting the earth. Without changes in those policies, there can be no fertile ground in which companies can plant seeds of job growth."

Spending patterns of older Americans

 

 

  By 2050, when our children are 80+ there will twice as many seniors as today. So the purpose of this study (BLS) is to figure out how do people over 65 spend money (we’re consumer units). If businesses and investor are going to plan, they need to know where the opportunities are.

 

The first thing you notice is how income, which peaks in the 50s, drops in the 70s (retirement pensions, savings, investments—which is why we need to elect capitalists). I think the food category is high, but that’s because it probably includes eating out—and we sort of tuck that into entertainment (we don't do much for entertainment). Everyone eats out much more than they need to—food is pretty reasonable, but if you’re paying someone to prepare and serve it, not so much. In 2013, Americans spent 5.6 percent of their disposable personal incomes on food at home and 4.3 percent on food away from home. 

  

I was surprised that housing costs (as percent of income) were as high as the study shows.

Contributions got lumped into “other” so that’s a pretty sloppy category. I know there are all sorts of categories we could reduce, but really don’t have the will. Clothing costs are down for older Americans.  I just love shopping for clothes at resale stores and getting brand name jeans for $1.00. I didn’t discover them til after I retired. For nice stuff, I just let my daughter do that for Christmas and birthdays. But that trend isn't good for some malls and retail stores with such a shift in demographics.

http://www.bls.gov/opub/btn/volume-5/spending-patterns-of-older-americans.htm

Today's new word--verisimilitude and book club selection

Definition:  In a literary work, verisimilitude is likeness to the truth i.e. resemblance of a fictitious work to a real event even if it is a far-fetched one.

I heard this word used in a Ted Talk I was watching by Laura Bates, author of Shakespeare saved my life; ten years in solitary with the bard, the book our Book Club will be discussing today.  However, she showed a brief video of Larry Newton, featured in her book, speaking about Shakespeare's impact on his life, and he used the word, verisimilitude.  I thought that if a guy whose last full day in school was somewhere around mid-elementary, and he could use the word, perhaps I should use it, or at least know how.

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lahX4dq8OAE

 http://www.npr.org/2013/04/22/178411754/teaching-shakespeare-in-a-maximum-security-prison

                                                       

 "A literary agent contacted Bates after seeing an MSNBC broadcast on the Shakespeare program. She told Bates, "There's a book here. You need to write this book." Bates turned to her hundreds of recorded hours with Newton and to her memories and notes from teaching the inmates and began to write.

 Reviews by Booklist and Kirkus have praised the book. The reviewer at Booklist called it, "A powerful testament to how Shakespeare continues to speak to contemporary readers in all sorts of circumstances." The Kirkus review described it as "An eye-opening study reiterating the perennial power of books, self discipline and the Bard of Avon."

Bates worked with about 200 prisoners in segregation at Wabash Valley during the program. She examined the records of 20 who spent the most time studying Shakespeare. Before Shakespeare, the men had more than 600 write ups, with most of those falling into the Class A felony and violent felony categories. After studying Shakespeare, Bates examined the inmates' records for a similar number of years and found only two violations for cell phone possession."
 https://www2.indstate.edu/news/news.php?newsid=3505

Today's new word--SACERDOTAL

I came across sacerdotal  in one of the letters of the church fathers, I think it was Irenaeus. This is another word I've seen many times, was sort of confused about the meaning and had no idea how to pronounce because in English, the C has no sound of its own--it is either an S sound or a K sound.  So yes, it is the S--as in sassy.  So just picture this as Saserdotal, and you've got it.  And the root is in so many words.  

From the Merriam Webster web site: "Sacerdotal is one of a host of English words derived from the Latin adjective sacer, meaning "sacred." Other words derived from "sacer" include "desecrate," "sacrifice," "sacrilege," "consecrate," "sacrament," and even "execrable" (developed from the Latin word exsecrari, meaning "to put under a curse"). One unlikely "sacer" descendant is "sacrum," referring to the series of five vertebrae in the lower back connected to the pelvis. In Latin this bone was called the "os sacrum," or "holy bone," a translation of the Greek hieron osteon."

The Reformation and the response of the Council of Trent

The Council of Trent addressed the two biggest issues of the Protestant Reformation--justification and original sin.  Father Robert Barron--always an outstanding, kind and thorough, yet poetic, lecturer.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VRZK92T8k28 

Christendom is gearing up for the 500th anniversary of the Reformation--1517-2017.  Be prepared!