Common Core is dumbing down our children

Yes, Common Core is a problem, but it is also a symptom--points back to the creation of the federal Department of Education in the 1970s. Like Obamacare, if you'd ever been allowed to vote on this, it wouldn't have passed. Compared to Common Core, Obamacare is a model of transparency--it was at least talked about and debated. It was in 46 states before people even heard the term! Public schools are supposed to belong to the public. I've included some information from this excellent talk given at a church in California.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wyRr6nBEnz4

Summary: First, he stressed that families and religion are the enemies of teaching sexuality and Common Core and must they be silenced. He gave some examples from curriculum required in many schools and it definitely isn't age appropriate and is useful for nothing except warping the minds and propaganda.

Common Core is the brain child of Bill Gates, founder of Microsoft.  What are Bill Gates' credentials--he bought public education for $6 billion. What if it were the Koch Brothers? Would you hear about it in the media? There is no "benchmark" because the goals of Common Core have never been tested, and they are inappropriate in the lower grades. What are Department of Education Arne Duncun's qualifications? He's a sociologist not an educator, but Obama put him in charge of education. Medical clinics are being made part of the school system--can gather data on your children without your permission. Provide birth control and referrals for abortion with no input from parents.

Our Constitution's 10th amendment prohibits the federal government from meddling in state education. ("The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people.") The Federal government pressured governors to accept Common Core or no grant money. But states have to pay all the costs and the costs swamp the piddling amount received.

The most dangerous lie in Common Core is that your teachers are free to teach. Gates claims you have to align tests to (his) standards. Gates did a great job with Microsoft--why are we letting him control our country's education system? ARRA money went to create Common Core tests--but no curriculum had yet been created. How's that for teaching to the test? David Colman who is the architect of Common Core, now controls College Board (SAT--the exams your kids need to get into college) and he has no credentials in education, has never taught, hasn't written scholarly articles. Even he claims he has no authority, not just other people--watch the fascinating introduction in the film. No one appointed him either, nor was he elected and he controls our entire education system.

"Common" in Common Core means drag everyone down to the lowest level; it's not fair that some kids are good in math and others aren't, so we offer lowest level possible not acceptable at any college with selective standards. The year before becoming president Barack Obama knew the truth about education, then he flipped when getting in office.  Be sure to watch the interviews of the people who grade the tests who earn $9/hr, an essay every 5 minutes.  They were recruited on Craig's List, no experience in education necessary. (Compensation is now up to $11/hr--I just googled it.) Ted Kennedy wrote the "No Child Left Behind" legislation, not George. W. Bush; then the worst of it was remodeled by Common Core which made it bigger and worse.

Arne Duncan was stunned that Republicans supported ESSA, “Every Student Succeeds Act”. It's a real mess.  Hillary supports Common Core--government control of your children, 24/7. Education is not a family issue, according to her. Now it's a federal village, not just any old village where you know your neighbor and her children and values.

There's no safe place for your children in public schools--88% of the parents agree, but only 19% think their child's school is broken. Home schooling may be the only way to avoid this. If even 10% of moms and dads demanded better, this would turn around.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/how-bill-gates-pulled-off-the-swift-common-core-revolution/2014/06/07/a830e32e-ec34-11e3-9f5c-9075d5508f0a_story.html

"Because of the way education policy is generally decided, the Common Core was instituted in many states without a single vote taken by an elected lawmaker. Kentucky even adopted the standards before the final draft had been made public." Washington Post

"Indiana Gov. Mike Pence . . . led a repeal of the standards in his state. In the past week, Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin (R), a former advocate of the standards, signed a law pulling her state out, days after South Carolina’s Republican governor, Nikki Haley, did the same." Washington Post

http://thenotebook.org/articles/2013/05/24/a-major-motive-behind-common-core-is-profit-not-education

Not even Communists and liberals like Common Core. http://www.workers.org/2014/06/17/profit-tech-corporations-gain-common-core-testing/#.V6nRQuRTFPw

What will we learn from Trump's tax returns? What will we learn from Hillary's medical records?

So, the Hillary camp, after finding out that Hillary outed a USA operative via her illegal email server and got him hanged in Iran, needs a diversion. So they are screaming for Trump's tax returns. (Darlene Reynolds)

 It's the timing; Hillary may have gotten Amiri killed by outing him. What do we learn from tax returns. She's certainly not going to show all her illegal contributions to her foundation. http://video.foxnews.com/v/5074591695001/eric-shawn-reports-the-execution-and-the-e-mails/?#sp=show-clips

When Democrats have strange tax returns, like Biden's paltry contributions (or Obama's that jumped up when he knew he was going to run for president) or back taxes not paid by Sharpton, it seems to be a resume enhancement.

Darlene suggests that with all his businesses, Trump's tax returns are probably comprised of thousands of pages and forms. It's the diversion that the Hillary camp is salivating for, because they (and the biased media) would talk about nothing else from here till the election.

Trump doesn't prepare his own tax returns. All tax loopholes (the rest of us call them deductions) have been designed by Congress, Democrats and Republicans. Trump, for all his faults, has never created tax laws to benefit the wealthy, even if he uses them. It would be very easy for Democrats who complain about the wealthy to just prepare their own returns and take no deductions, but no one will do that. Obama has been lusting after medical deductions which tax payers get, and the exclusions businesses get for offering insurance to employees which is the #1 benefit for business, and Obama thinks it belongs to him (the eventual aim of Obamacare). He also wants our tax exclusion on retirement savings and the mortgage deduction--thinks it all belongs to him/government. I'm sure Donald pays YUGE amounts to tax lawyers to get legal deductions, and Hillary's cronies in the media would be all over that like flies confusing the public and ignoring her foundation's shady dealings as a "charitable" organization that benefits only 2 people--Bill and Hillary. Chelsea is so rich she probably doesn't need it.

The way a Democrat politician thinks is that medical, mortgage and retirement deductions aren't fair--the poor really can't use them so the rest of us shouldn't have them.

Why such a slow recovery?

Some liberals/progressives/Democrats say the slow recovery from the recession (theoretically it ended in June 2009 before the ARRA even kicked in) is because Obama was left such a mess by Bush. Recessions, small and large seem to roll around about every 10 years, and the recovery takes longer than the drop. The Great Depression of the 1930s is a good example, or bad, depending on your politics. Many believe Roosevelt extended it by about 5 years through government meddling; others believe he saved the country. But that was then, this is now.

Obama’s policies have created the slow recovery through costly new regulations and a very “efficient“ bureaucracy--which compounds the problem. President Obama’s regulators have completed their 600th major rule. A major rule imposes costs of more than $100 million. Bush also loved regulations, but Obama has exceed him by 20%.  And it isn't over til it's over.

"The Administration has already issued 40 major rules in 2016 and it may have as many as 50 more in the pipeline. In only the past few months the Administration has issued major rules on drones ($2.6 billion); a fiduciary rule for retirement savings ($31.5 billion); and new rules on Arctic drilling ($2.1 billion). Going forward, the Administration plans to finish up greenhouse gas standards for heavy-duty trucks ($31 billion), efficiency rules for manufactured housing ($4.1 billion), and more."

He'll push more through as he packs up to leave Washington, and can be confident if Hillary is elected that she will complete his economy killing plans. http://www.wsj.com/articles/the-all-time-regulation-record-1470435716

Music at Lakeside in Week 7 of season 2016

The evening programs this week at Lakeside Chautauqua have been quite spectacular. Our “week” begins on Saturday, so the Saturday night program is usually the big showcase, and she certainly didn’t disappoint. It was Megan Hilty, a TV and Broadway star with whom I’m not familiar, but she is a niece of long time Lakesiders Tom (deceased) and Jan Hilty. She performed as Glinda in Wicked, and has made guest appearances in Bones, The Closer, Ugly Betty and Desperate Housewives.  She appeared for 2 years in the TV show Smash, and although I didn’t see it, apparently many others did, because the front row seats were filled with fans. Smash is a fictional account of two women who want the part of Marilyn Monroe in a musical stage play. She played Ivy in the show and at Lakeside sang a number of songs from Smash. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OwHH7mbGjBc

I don’t always go down to the park on Sunday evening (usually local performers), but the July 31 program was a group called the Ottawa County Blue Grass Band, and they were wonderful. Even though the park benches can get hard, they were worth the sit. A father and his two sons, plus a friend from Fremont. The weather was glorious and we could see the sailboats on Lake Erie as we sat under the trees. Many people having picnics on the lawn, or sitting in their golf carts on the street watching. This video is from the Hayes Presidential Center in Fremont.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=--jpofPo3hE

On Wednesday we enjoyed the opening night of our summer symphony with a program of “light classics,” followed by a reception. This is music director Robert Cronquist’s 46^th season, and the 53th season of the symphony.

Thursday’s program was really different--not exactly a monologue, not exactly a solo music performance. It was called Six Guitars and the artist Chase Padgett performed as 6 different characters playing 6 styles of music--an 87 year old blues player married six times, a Spanish classical guitarist, R & B, folk, rock and country. He was spectacular in each style as he told their stories, and in the end, each character confesses how he enjoys other styles. We also learned a lot about each genre. http://www.chasepadgett.com/shows/6-guitars/video/

My husband was so excited about this show. He's taking guitar lessons from Dr. Richard Smoot in Columbus and drives there once a week. Wednesday evening he carried some sheet music with us to the opening of the symphony because he needed an explanation about notation. The first 2 musicians--an excellent pianist and a public school music teacher--he asked didn't know, then he found a violinist who could answer his question He is really committed.

I learn so much at Lakeside. While waiting for the 6 Guitars program to start, the woman next to me told me about her battle with sun poisoning, which is different than sun burn. Then she pulled out of her purse flesh colored "sleeves" that she can pull on if she's wearing a short sleeve shirt; kind of looked like hose without feet. Sun protective clothing is quite expensive she told me, so she searched the internet and found these sleeves which are for tattooed people who are not suppose to show their tats at work--much cheaper. Next she's going to work on using knee-highs cutting off the feet. But some tattoo sleeve covers are really fake tattoo designs--looks like you have them instead of covering them.

On Friday evening we were just blown away by “The Sons of Serendip.” If they ever come to a venue within 50 miles of you, get there and take some friends. They are 4 men who were friends in college, all have advanced degrees (3 in music performance) and “day jobs,” but won 2 years ago in NBC’s America’s Got Talent. Micah Christian, the lead vocalist (only vocalist as near as I could tell) has a voice you just won’t believe. I think his is what the angels in heaven must sound like. He has an M. Div. and has been a missionary in South America. He works as a teacher. The other three are a cellist, a harpist and pianist. It’s a combination you don’t see everywhere, and as Micah Christian noted, “How often do you see a 6’4” black man playing the harp?” http://www.sonsofserendip.com/bio/ I think they may write a lot of their material, and at least two write for screen plays. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oigeYMKv4yQ

Were our parents sour after the Depression and WWII?

"As Mr. Obama leaves office, the national mood is more sour than at anytime since the 1960s. The polls say some two-thirds of the voters think the country is on the “wrong track,” and a majority say they expect their children to do less well financially than they did. This reflects the historically slow economic recovery and incomes that have only recently begun to return to where they were when the recession ended."  Wall Street Journal

This quote from today's paper gave me pause.  I thought about my parents and their generation.  I wouldn't say they were happy go lucky, but they weren't sour on their future or their children's.  President Roosevelt had extended the Great Depression probably 5 years more than necessary than if he'd just settled in and done nothing.  The war was devastating with my father, his brothers, and cousins all serving and my mother's brother being killed in China. But of all the emotions that come to mind, "sour" isn't one of them. Obama's personal numbers still seem high, but everything he's pushed on us from Obamacare to ISIS to bathrooms has left people more dispirited and distrustful of government.

War memorial in Forreston, IL, pointing to Dad's name, 2007.

Janice Shaw Crouse asks

Which is more "Moral?"

Crudity v. Corrupt
Loud v. Liar
Arrogant v. Criminal...
Bombastic v. Dishonest
Egotistical v. Angry
Pompous v. Phoney

These are important points to think about since this is a very unusual campaign with candidates neither party seems to really like. 68% say they don't trust Hillary, and ROR (regular old Republicans) are sharpening their knives for Trump instead of Hillary because he threatens their power.

Republican politicians are digging their own graves

If our Republican elected officials who are refusing to support the people's choice (after pledging they would), how long do they think they'll have any influence when Democrats marginalize them or completely boot them out? What are their plans to rebuild the party since they didn't support the Tea Party elected politicians who helped them win back Congress in 2010 and now won't support the Trump voters? And how many of these "conservative" talking heads who make the rounds of the TV news and opinion shows for a nice salary will have a job if there is no viewpoint for them to represent?

Sex vs. Gender

There are certain biological malformations at birth that can cause some confusion about sex, but there's no evidence that sex can be changed with surgery, hormones and a president who's being held hostage by an aggressive movement to confuse people. These changes were being developed in 2012 by regulatory staff, around the time that President Obama did his flip on marriage,  not your elected officials. There's also no evidence that a simple, single stall or family restroom can't accommodate anyone who wants privacy, no matter how she expresses her discomfort and desire to use that assigned to a different sex.

It was regulatory bureaucrats who changed the word sex in title IX and VII to gender. This could destroy women's sports. The Courts have interpreted Title VII's prohibition against sex discrimination to mean discrimination against men because they are men and women because they are women. It was people with an agenda within government agencies that conjured up "gender identity." Gender is for grammar; sex is for biology. Don't get snowed by language.

Will ISIS claim this?

Last night, there was a mass stabbing attack in London’s Russell Square where a Somali teenager with a Norwegian passport murdered a 60-year-old American woman and injured five others. ISIS hasn't claimed it yet, but they sure get unhappy when the pope or president claims Islam is a religion of peace.

Showing my shocked face

 "Environmental activists and state government officials, declining to comply with subpoenas by House Republicans probing their "coordinated efforts" to punish climate change skeptics, face additional scrutiny as part of the congressional investigation."

 The Senate’s most liberal Democrats are demanding that 22 national and state-based think tanks disclose their donors. Destroying the first amendment word by word.

 http://dailysignal.com/2016/08/02/democrat-ags-green-groups-defy-subpoena-on-coordinated-climate-efforts/

LEADING FROM HIS BEHIND by Michael Ramirez

 Speaking of being unfit to be President.... It was bad enough that this President has already released terrorists and planners of terrorism from Gitmo for purely political reasons, endangering innocents, while he is putting more American boots on the ground. Now, President Obama has jeopardized the lives of Americans by giving $400 million in untraceable cash to Iranian sponsors of terrorism. Worse, he is allowing Iran to develop nuclear weapons while ...at the same time, they are acquiring and developing three stage rocket technology, creating a nuclear arms race in a region with loads of cash, surrogates of evil, a thriving black market and increasing radical extremism and very little respect for life.

It is unconscionable. The world is a far more dangerous place because of a President who defines being unfit for office.

Using the IRS to take Americans out of an election cycle for 2 1/2 years, arming drug cartels with weapons, lying to the American public, illegal amnesties, importing the unvetted, continuing imperial, unlawful and unconstitutional behavior, endangering troops abroad and citizens at home... One could make a pretty good case for impeachment if there were Republicans with the will to use their constitutional authority and Democrats with a little virtue and integrity, and the willingness to put country before their political party.

It seemed appropriate to resurrect this cartoon from January.

The Obama Iran Policy
http://michaelpramirez.com/iran-policy.html

They are all progressives and authoritarians

"If you value classical liberalism/conservatism, you have to be very uncomfortable with the choices you are faced with this year - there are no good ones. Here are my personal rankings in order of unacceptability:

1. None of the below/not voting: guarantees you have to live with some other idiot's choice - and idiots do vote...early and often.

 2. Jill Stein: full-on red diaper doper baby, Bernie Sanders with a vagina and a bad attitude (but a much better haircut).

 3. Hillary Clinton: crony socialist corruptocratic criminal machine politician - should be rocking a jail cell instead of a five star hotel room right now.

 4. Gary Johnson: Liberalitarian statist pothead - possibly high right now, dude.

 5. Donald Trump: crony capitalist influence peddler - has Tourettes and possible brain damage from his Studio 54 days

Folks, they are all progressives and authoritarians of some degree. There is not a single "smaller government" candidate among them. I know many will say "Trump will eliminate many departments!" but if you listen to his proposals and what he claims to want to do, there will be a need for just as many, if not more, government agencies to administer his "policies."

Mike Pence is Trump's conservative "beard" (the Urban Dictionary defines a "beard" as "Any opposite sex escort taken to an event in an effort to give a homosexual person the appearance of being out on a date with a person of the opposite sex"). Many have bought it but this Trump guy is just as progressive as Bill Clinton.

What a shame it is that the most acceptable candidate for classical liberals/conservatives must be chosen because he is the least unacceptable - but to do otherwise will make for a much bigger disaster for America."  Michael Smith

Yes, Mike, what a shame.

LBGTQ holding Democrats hostage or the other way around?

Besides destroying marriage, women's sports and integrating bathrooms, what does the LGBTQ movement want (besides the obvious--power and money through donations and corporate sponsorship)?  Well, the first amendment will be the target. Speech, religion, press and assembly. For 2% of the population Democrats will sell out the other 98%. But even that 2% isn't the problem--Marxism is, and it's any route that works, even sex.  http://dailysignal.com/2016/07/31/a-look-inside-4-important-goals-of-the-lgbt-movement/

On Obama's $400 million bounty for Iran

I was listening to ABC this morning--because it's antenna TV at our lake home, that's the "choice." After 3 seconds on Obama's payoff bounty ($400,000,000 cash) to Iran, it was on to a monologue about Trump saying something stupid.

"Democrats proudly own the channels and their journalists openly toast Hillary. If anyone imagines a Republican -- any Republican -- can possibly withstand the 24-7 anti- Republican blizzard both from the media and a sitting president, Hollywood types, and teachers & professors, he/she is tragically naive. Despite the facts of Obamacare imploding, Obama's bombing in Libya & Afghanistan, the invasion of our borders, the poor and minorities getting poorer, 1% GDP -- leftist media now and forevermore will cut the Republican nominee to ribbons with nonstop negative rants." (Sylvia Lustig Bennion)

Hillary at the crowning

Usually, I just ridicule Hillary for her beliefs, policies and failures but that virgin bride outfit for her coronation . . .

John McCain's anti-Trump article at Weekly Standard

These are selected comments for John McCain on his non-support of Trump at the Weekly Standard (voice in the Never Trump movement) that appeared on Facebook. I looked through for support--but needed to get out for my walk and didn't want to miss the sunrise. Even those like me who don't like Trump have been disgusted with the "party faithful," and McCain represents that hostility.

“Thank you for your service and sacrifice for this nation, Senator McCain. We are forever grateful. Now, it's time to retire. You, Romney, Ryan, Boehner, etc. only have yourselves to blame for the rise of Trump. Had you done what all of you were elected to do instead of falling in lock step with the President over the last 8 years we wouldn't even be having this discussion. Instead you chose to go along to get along and look where it's gotten us.”

“That's fine [McCain‘s remarks on Khan], but sad that it was politicized in the first place. Now, how about the DNC and comments about Ms Patti Smith and attacks on her regarding her son and Benghazi? Let's be consistent.”

“Radical Islam killed Capt Khan not Mr Trump! The 1st thing the constitution calls for is to provide for the common defense-----Mr Trump will do that. Your candidate Weekly Substandard, Hillary will not.”

“So the Khan family thinks Trump would never let them immigrate, so we are supposed to hate him for something he hasn't done. But we are supposed to vote for Hillary who called the families of slain victims in Benghazi liars for repeating what Hillary told them about their sons being killed because of a movie. She had the nerve to call these people who lost their loved ones, liars. That trumps Trump. Hillary is the lowest of low.”

Did Trump take the bait? Khizr M. Khan's story

The EB-5 investor visa program enables foreigners who make an investment in a U.S. business to obtain a green card and become lawful permanent residents, and eventual citizens, of the United States. I think this means they legally buy their green card instead of hiring a coyote to cross the southern border.

"The father of a Muslim-American soldier killed in Iraq who is caught up in a war of words with Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump is an immigration lawyer who specializes in a highly controversial program accused of letting immigrants buy their way into the U.S.
Khizr M. Khan's website notes that he works to help clients with the E-2 and EB-5 programs that let overseas investors buy into U.S. companies and also provides green cards for family members." (Washington Examiner)

Khan's website is down or has been removed. I'm shocked. They baited Trump on this one, but perhaps he can turn the tables.

More photos of Melania

Who knew Democrats were so prudish? They blush at a naked Melania, but not a dismembered naked baby that could live outside the womb.

I would never hold a Democrat responsible for what their party did 150 years ago creating a terror group called the KKK. I do hold them responsible for killing and making it a righteous act more black babies in 4 days than the deaths of blacks in 80 years of lynching.

 Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner signed Senate Bill 1564 forcing Christian doctors and pregnancy centers to promote abortion. Abortion is now the official state-preferred choice for Illinois women in unexpected pregnancies, after Gov. Bruce Rauner signed Senate Bill 1564 into law Friday afternoon.  He held veto power but went against his own party. http://www.lifenews.com/2016/08/01/illinois-gov-signs-bill-bill-forcing-christian-doctors-and-pregnancy-centers-to-promote-abortion/

Dr. Peter Kreeft once quipped in his book Jesus Shock, “Abortion is the Antichrist’s demonic parody of the Eucharist. That is why it uses the same holy words, ‘This is my body,’ with the blasphemously opposite meaning.”

Does election fraud matter? ID is minor compared to hacking e-mails

The DNC hack revealed election fraud according so some sources, but Democrats have been telling us for decades that election fraud doesn't really exist so why do we need Voter ID? Now we find out that the DNC itself engaged in targeted voter suppression, registration tampering, illegal voter purges, and more. But look! Trump is a fraud!

You'll need to click a couple times to reach the report: "Democracy Lost: A Report on the Fatally Flawed 2016 Democratic Primaries."

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2016/7/29/1554022/-Election-Justice-USA-Study-Finds-that-Without-Election-Fraud-Sanders-Would-Have-Won-by-Landslide

"Recently unearthed documents reveal that the FBI knew the IRS was unfairly targeting groups because of their conservative politics two years before Congress even heard about the agency’s misconduct.  The revelation has already added fodder to the conservative case to impeach the current IRS Commissioner John Koskinen."  Judicial Watch

http://dailysignal.com/2016/07/28/obama-administration-knew-of-irs-scandal-2-years-before-congress-but-did-nothing/

Very disappointing.  I doubt that anyone really trusts the IRS, but we expect the FBI to do better.

$50 million vs. $19,000

According to Wall St. Journal, hedge fund managers (the Clinton’s son-in-law is one, I believe) have contributed almost $50 million to Clinton’s campaign, but only $19,000 to Trump. Could be perfectly innocent reasons for this—we always knew Clinton would be the candidate (coat tails, it’s her turn, etc.) And now we know the DNC rigged the primaries against Bernie. Oh, and did you see his new sports car after he endorsed Hillary? So they’ve had more time to flood her campaign with wish lists for regulations and special favors. They haven’t been that sure about who the Republicans would choose until the close of the primaries. Also, since Trump isn’t a politician, they don’t know if he’ll play footsy with the big money interests (he’s not big money, despite his wealth). But it could mean they know who can be bought because they’ve done it before.

The editors of National Review:  "She is an opportunist without anything resembling a conviction with the exception of her unwavering commitment to abortion, a “public servant” who along with her husband grew vastly wealthy exploiting her political connections and renting access to everybody from Goldman Sachs to Vladimir Putin, a petty, grasping, vindictive, meretricious time-server whose incompetence and dishonesty have been proved everywhere from Little Rock to Benghazi."

Hillary's Hate

"She promised to make government bigger and bigger and bigger. A communist at heart, she promised to suck up to the hardcore socialists in her party. She promised to empty the prisons. She promised to create worse-than-useless green jobs with big taxpayer subsidies. She promised to flood the country with aliens, illegal or otherwise, and hard-to-assimilate Muslims. With her grating voice, she attacked Republican nominee Donald Trump shrilly and relentlessly."

 http://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/263681/hillarys-hate-matthew-vadum

Did you hear the one where she shouted she'd get money out of politics?  Yuck it up. That's a real knee slapper.   WSJ reported today she's taken almost $50 million from hedge fund managers, and Donald Trump $19,000.

Leftist film maker shocked by lack of enthusiasm for Hillary

Film director, Josh Fox, best known for his Oscar-nominated anti-fracking documentary Gasland, uploaded a video (below) to his Facebook page.  http://www.dailywire.com/news/7844/leftist-filmmaker-uploads-video-showing-his-shock-chase-stephens

"This is amazing, this place is empty (Wells Fargo arena in Philadelphia). There is nobody left in here. I mean this whole stadium, look at this," as he pans his cellphone to show the lack of cheering Dems. He continues in disbelief, adding, "This is not voter enthusiasm.... I can't believe my eyes. I've never seen anything like this. This is the primetime of the Democratic National Convention right after the nomination of Hillary Clinton and this place is emptied out like crazy. I'm stunned."

I noticed it had well over a million shares--obviously not by Democrats!  He also mentioned that Bernie supporters had the worst seats in the house, and apparently they didn't show up for Hillary's coronation.

The DNC e-mail scandal on top of Hillary's e-mail scandal

Diane commented:  The e-mail dump had top DNC officials making plans to smoke Bernie. They were going to use his reported religion of Judaism against him down south. They called women Bimbos, reportedly were fully disrespectful to Black and Brown citizens. 

So the question is, "When will the Party in general demand their resignations?" 

 http://truthfeed.com/breaking-complete-list-of-wikileaks-dnc-email-dump/13099/

Examples with links.

DNC discussing their relationship with NBC/MSNBC/CNN and how to get better treatment.

A mole working inside of the Sanders campaign.

Politico writer sending his stories to the DNC before he sends them to his editor.

Democrats using interns to organize fake “protests.”

Trump was obviously joking about Russia and Hillary's e-mails, but the leftist media, who should have been on the story about what happened but gave her a pass, now have their panties in a wad crying "treason." They are so fake. Fake editors, fake journalists, fake outrage. This week they've been accusing Trump of being a mole to expose the DNC's treatment of Bernie and minorities; now he's committing treason. Should be an interesting campaign, but very lop sided media coverage.

The Russian hacker meme

Hillary's campaign manager "Mook provided no proof that Russian agents committed the crime, he clearly painted Russia as an American adversary acting with malign intent. He then yoked Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump to Russia’s neo-Czar Vladimir Putin: “I think that what’s troubling is how he (Trump) praised Vladimir Putin,” Mook said." http://observer.com/2016/07/clinton-campaign-tries-to-deflect-damaging-content-with-trump-smear/

Whoa Nellie. Talk about Trump blabbing nonsense. He might as well have said Norma Bruce--I have ties with Russia that go back to the 1950s! I've even visited there! And I traveled there by train, not cruise ship. I am against Hillary Clinton, and I spend hours on an ancient computer. But it's just not as good a story. Sigh. 

Russia seems to figure prominently in Democrat lies. Remember when they smeared Palin, with a Russia joke when it was Tina Fey who said it? Since the lapdog press never checks it was really a popular story. When caught saying disparaging things about minorities and gays and Bernie in their leaked e-mails, they just deflected it to Russian hackers (they could see them from their kitchen?) instead of the content.

I still think someone needs to check into the murder of that DNC guy. There's a lot of that following the Clintons. But he was just a white, middle class man, not worthy of press coverage. Important only to his family, who would never be asked to speak on national TV about their lost son/brother. http://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/Man-Shot-Killed-in-Northwest-DC-386316391.html

What if Wasserman Schultz was Clinton's key to the nomination?

 
In case this clip doesn't show in your browser: Wasserman Schultz was Hillary's campaign co-chair in her failed 2008 bid for the nomination. What if, in order to lock down the 2016 nomination, she were made the party chair? (The Wikileaks e-mails indicate that Hillary had been chosen before the primaries.) That means some one would need to step down, and that capable, able person was none other than Tim Kaine, the current vice presidential pick, a cafeteria Catholic to scope up those few Democrats who still have scruples.  Quite a pay off for him for stepping aside.

I wonder who the bigger narcissist is, Trump or Obama?

Around here, 3-4 dozen was the high guess. Guess we weren't giving him enough credit for being the Narcissistic in Chief.

"Addressing the Democratic National Convention on its penultimate night to lay out the case for Hillary Clinton's 2016 presidential campaign, President Obama began by recalling his political debut at the 2004 Democratic National Convention. He then described how his family has become so well known to America in the intervening years. He spoke of his time i...n office, how the presidency has physically aged him, but how his daughters euphemistically note he now looks more "mature."

He spoke of everything he is proud to have achieved -- passing ObamaCare, expanding clean energy production, reducing consumption of foreign oil, passing the Iran deal, bringing troops home, killing bin Laden.

He spoke of how inspired he's become meeting Americans of all stripes. He spoke of his optimism. He spoke of the values he imparted from his family.

If it's starting to sound like Obama talked a lot about himself, that’s because he did.
In total, we counted 119 times Obama referred to himself during his speech ostensibly about Hillary Clinton." 
 Grabien.com

He also misquoted the Declaration of Independence AGAIN (4 times before this, at least, 2010, 2014, 2015, 2016?). He just cannot bring himself to acknowledge that rights come from God.

"The Obama version skips over a few words; the actual Declaration of Independence declares, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” But the point is that the Democrats — the Democrats! — are citing the Founding Fathers and the document of our national creation in their argument. This used to be the Republicans’ style. But since the GOP left it unused, the Democrats are picking it up and using it."

Read more at: http://www.nationalreview.com/morning-jolt/438460/barack-obamas-dnc-speech-appeal-conservatives

It was almost worth listening to the speeches of the DNC to hear them plagiarize the Republicans--saying this is a great country. After 8 years of hearing we are gun clingers, Islamophobes, anti-marriage, neo-fascists, war mongers and racists, it was sort of refreshing. Even if they don't believe it.

Not sure where Trump was speaking, but he was obviously joking about Russia and Hillary's e-mails, but the leftist media, who should have been on the story about what happened but gave her a pass, now have their panties in a wad crying "treason." They are so fake. Fake editors, fake journalists, fake outrage. This week they've been accusing Trump of being a mole to expose the DNC's treatment of Bernie and minorities; now he's committing treason. Should be an interesting campaign, but very lop sided in press coverage.

Why are you voting for Hillary (as seen on Facebook)

If you are Gay, why are you voting for Hillary when she wants to bring in millions of refugees that believe gays should be executed?

If you are Black, why are you voting for Hillary when she defends Planned Parenthood and admires Margaret Sanger, who wanted to abort as many black babies as possible and exterminate the black race because they are like "weeds." Most of those clinics are in Black neighborhoods.

If you are a Woman, how can you vote for Hillary when she has buried all of Bill's rape victims under the rug. As an attorney, Hillary also defended the rapist of a 12-year old girl and laughed about it later. She plays the woman-card and acts entitled; implying that she deserves your vote merely because of her sex. How is that gender neutral?

If you are a Miner, Steelworker or have a Factory job, why are you voting for Hillary when she supported NAFTA and TPP, and workers are being laid off because jobs are going overseas? She also welcomes open borders and illegals to get benefits with your tax money and compete for our jobs. Hillary boasts that under her administration miners and steelworkers will lose their jobs.

If you are a Law abiding citizen, how can you vote for Hillary when she is clearly above the law? Hillary deleted thousands of secret e-mails after they had been subpoenaed by the courts (illegal). Hillary kept thousands of classified and top secret e-mails on her private server; servers that had less security that g-mail and Hotmail. You can be sure Russia, Iran, and China have those now. 

The DNC clearly broke the rules by heavy-handedly favoring Hillary over Sanders while they were still competing for the nomination.

If you are a Veteran, in the military, or closely related to a military member, why are you voting for Hillary when she left those men to die in Benghazi and had the nerve to lie about it over and over again? They called for help, but the help was told to stand down.

 Furthermore, Hillary wants to eliminate the NRA, take away your guns, and abolish the second amendment?

Who is left?
‪#‎TheTrumpTrain

Symbols of the United States and Democrats

  





Lots of symbolism in the meme if a proud Hillary in front of an American flag and the Wells Fargo arena surrounded by a fence.

Philadelphia, home of the first American government after our revolution, with a Liberty Bell holding the place of this century in the 2016 Democrat convention. Historic symbolism. The first major party to select a former president's wife to be its candidate.  Some fine day, a woman may actually do it on her own.  Do Bernie's supporters even know about our American Revolution, separating us from a monarchy across the ocean, or the issue of taxes without representation, or how brief and clear our Constitution is with religious freedom, free speech and gun ownership?

I see a photo (?) of a flag behind Hillary--still haven't seen any real American flags on the stage with the speakers--Elizabeth Warren's stage was practically nude for her speech. It was rumored that they rushed in with flags after it made the rounds of social media that there weren't any, but so far, I haven't seen them. The hosting arena is named for a huge bank, Wells Fargo, which had a $25 billion bail out in 2008 (repaid it). It usually hosts sporting events and celebrities, but even with segregated restrooms and fences and ID requirements for delegates, no one is threatening to boycott Pennsylvania--I guess that's just for southern, Republican states.

Looking into the mirror

It's not easy to look in the mirror and not recognize the person primping or combing.  But it's also difficult to see someone who used to be gorgeous, fit and bright 50 years ago when you first met. That image is imprinted in my memory.

We moved to Columbus almost 50 years ago.  It was an exciting time for us. New friends, new careers, new city. The possibilities seemed endless.  Everyone we met was so nice, so friendly, so moving ahead in their careers, and it was inspiring for us. The older people--in their mid-40s--were positive and helpful, willing to assist the youngsters and newbies. And so I met a young man, son of a colleague, who was about 20.  He was moving between his divorced parents' homes, dropping in and out of colleges, going between girlfriends and he seemed aimless.  He was drop dead gorgeous--had movie star looks and body. But something was a little odd, and I couldn't place my finger on it because  I was young and naive.  Finally, I realized by talking to others it was drugs, more specifically marijuana, and maybe some worse stuff used when his brain was befuddled.  He wasn't a criminal--that's pretty much a myth even 50 years ago.  People who are regular users of marijuana don't go to jail--unless they've been caught committing another crime or the police need them as informants, then it might happen, but with well off parents and a good lawyer, the most they'd get was a week in jail and maybe probation. The damage was being done inside his head--he had been a brilliant engineering student, and by 20 was just sort of stupid--in the sense of not caring about his class work. Even the party crowd he hung out with eventually moved on; he didn't. So when I see him today with bad teeth, big belly, saggy flesh, I know it isn't just age. He didn't finish college, did support himself all these years at fairly low level, low responsibility jobs. He's not a problem to society--just as you legalization folks promise. But it's still sad.

The pro-marijuana crowd, all with financial interests, will glowingly praise the benefits of the drug, and claim it's not as bad as cigarettes.  Although most users I know do both.  Do cigarettes make you stupid? Do they steal your future?  Do they destroy relationships? Do they make you happy to spend your free time on the couch rather than socializing or learning or progressing?  Do cigarettes lie to you the way weed does?  I know the manufacturers did for decades, and I suspect it's starting all over again.

And in the eighth year of the reign of Barack

"In the eighth year of the Obama presidency, members of his own party surveyed the American landscape and found an abundance of misery. The audience heard of children victimized by immigration law and mental patients not receiving needed care. New Jersey’s Sen. Cory Booker spoke of “stunningly wide disparities of wealth” and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders described a rigged economy benefiting only a privileged few. New York’s Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand spoke of unequal pay, lack of paid family leave, and a mom with two kids working full-time but still living in poverty. Perhaps it’s time for a change."  James Freeman, Wall Street Journal, 7-26-2016

More on e-mails and Democrats

I've seen some memes and posters about the latest e-mail scandal of the Democrats. They are much more worried about who hacked them than what they said about Sanders' supporters and minorities. Not sure the party faithful will see it that way. Now even Donna Brazile has been implicated. It should be a lesson to anyone, anywhere, politics, business or church, don't put it in e-mail if you don't want it exposed.

#‎blacklivesmatter‬ is marching in Philadelphia, the city of brotherly love, with a large sign, "Hillary, delete yourself." Is that a threat?

 http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/25/us/politics/donald-trump-russia-emails.html?_r=0

 http://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2016-07-25/cybersecurity-experts-say-russia-hacked-the-democrats

 http://www.cnn.com/2016/07/25/politics/democratic-convention-dnc-emails-russia/

Meanwhile, in Philadelphia with the Democrats

The parents of the Fairfax County Virginia schools had been petitioning the school board to reconsider its new mixed locker and bath room edict, but with no success. Then. Guess what? Tim Kaine, former governor of Virginia and now a senator from that state, was selected as Hillary Clinton's running mate, and they needed to tap down any backlash for Obama's unpopular transgender policies, and definitely needed to win Kaine's home state. It was a miracle! The Board sent out a letter to parents, stating not that it had reconsidered its crazy policy unpopular with 99.9% of the students, but that it was postponing the implementation of the policy.

 Isn't politics grand? Segregated toilets and ID checks in Philadelphia for the DNC, and a Virginia school board postponing putting boys in the girls' locker room. In North Carolina that gets your tourism industry destroyed.

ISIS hasn't been mentioned in the DNC speeches although the bloody crimes continue in Europe. Today in Normandy an elderly Catholic priest was beheaded at the altar while saying mass by ISIS members. Amazing what can be done with knives. Another dead, another severely wounded. CNN reports it, "Doesn't know the motive?" One of the nuns escaped and went for help. In the U.S., we're killing air conditioners (mine is fried in the van), because according to John Kerry, that's the real danger, not ISIS.

Oh. And someone noticed almost no American flags flying over the DNC. I'm not watching--can anyone confirm?

Michael Brown's mother of the Ferguson riots is going to speak at the DNC. I can understand her grief. Her son is dead. If my son high on drugs had robbed a minority run store and then lunged into a police car to grab the officer's gun, I'd be grieving too. I just wouldn't go to the nation on TV and absolve him of guilt.

Think I'll go eat worms (from a children's song)

BEN SHAPIRO: "Hillary Clinton is in serious trouble. She’s not in trouble just because she’s unlikable. Everybody knew that. She’s not in trouble just because she’s corrupt. Everybody knew that, too. She’s in trouble because she’s politically inept. She’s in trouble because she can’t escape her unlikability and corruption by attacking Donald Trump. That was her game plan, too. She was hoping to sail to the White House on the wings of popular hatred of Trump. It’s not going to... happen – polls show Americans hate her even more than they hate Trump. That’s because she’s totally out of touch. She sees herself as a victim. She went on national television over the weekend and complained that “I often feel like there’s the Hillary standard and then there’s the standard for everybody else.” Americans across the country nodded: if she weren’t Hillary Clinton, she’d be in jail!"

Ninety five degrees and no AC

From Lakeside, Ohio to Columbus is about 2.5 hours, and Saturday after we started out when it was 95 degrees (probably 105 on the asphalt) we discovered our AC in the van had died. It was working fine on Friday. About 10 miles out we returned to our cottage with an almost dead cat, flushed faces and wet clothes. First we tried the nice service station outside Lakeside, and not only was it closed (late Saturday afternoon) but it was for sale. Thankfully, our guests (daughter, son-in-law, niece and husband) came up with a plan after determining it was nothing they could fix when the Wal-Mart trip yielded nothing. We drove in air conditioned comfort in our daughter's new Honda, and our son-in-law Mark followed us in our van sweating out the trip getting us safely home. Then he got back in the cool car and made the return trip for his vacation at Lakeside. I hope he is fishing on the dock now, he deserves it.

What does the priest say to Kaine in confession?

I was reading today the Catholic Catechism section on penance and reconciliation, and wonder how this fits with those who support the killing of the unborn in violation of church teaching, especially those supporting and influencing the laws of a nation of over 300 million. Being pro-choice reaches much deeper than dismembering a fetus or taking a morning after pill. In politics it’s lock step with euthanasia and the designation of male and female which protect families. The pro-choice mind set on the value of another human being, not unlike slavery in the mid-19th century when there were political decisions that could make or break a promising career.  “ I personally wouldn’t own a slave in Maine but support the right in South Carolina”. 

 

I do wonder what a priest says to really powerful, influential Catholics like Pelosi, Biden and Kerry (or even the deceased T. Kennedy), and now Kaine (who I believe rose up through the ranks as pro-life and then flipped to buy his political success) and was selected by Clinton* to make the party platform more compatible with the formerly reliable Catholic constituency http://www.catholiccrossreference.com/catechism/#!/search/1440-1449/fn/1446:47 

 

We Lutherans (and Presbyterians, Baptists, Methodists, Brethren, etc.) have no such rules; we just show up or don’t, believe or don’t, it makes no difference, and no one cares. We can sin as much as we want because no one has any authority to say otherwise, “Jesus paid it all,” as the hymn says.

 

*Yes, Trump did the same political calculation choosing Pence to buy Evangelicals, but where is the church rule that says he can't?

Reasons to love bacon

Yesterday for lunch at the lake house with our daughter and son-in-law and niece and husband, we had  bacon-lettuce and tomato sandwiches.  Gosh, it had been ages since I'd had one. Then I also munched a little on the extra bacon.  Joan had brought along a pound of thin sliced, and I had a pound of thick, so I cooked them up ahead of time, we put out the sliced farm tomatoes, and leaf lettuce and let every one fix their own.  Fresh fruit and chips completed the banquet.

Here is a list of the Top 10 Reasons why bacon is actually healthy for you!

Pork-Powered Protein: The protein found in bacon is extremely valuable to maintaining our energy levels and a fully functioning, healthy body, with a minimum of those nasty, waist, thigh and butt expanding, fat-building carbohydrates.

Bacon’s Blood-Balancing Bounty: Several university and medical center studies have shown that including bacon as a regular, moderate part of one’s diet naturally works to lower the body’s blood pressure and blood sugar levels, helping to prevent and/or alleviate the effects of diabetes, as well as heart disease, stroke and heart attack.

Flushing Fat With Flavorful, Friendly Flesh: While people have heard horror stories for years that bacon is full of harmful fat and after all, if you are what you eat, who wants to be a PIG? But the facts are completely the opposite, as bacon helps to fully satiate our appetite with high protein / low carb energy, helping the body lose weight, raise one’s metabolism and build leaner, stronger muscles.
Bacon actually has less total fat, saturated fat and cholesterol than many popular cuts of beef and chicken. While some fish has less fat and cholesterol than bacon, bacon has more protein power and does not contain toxins such as mercury.

Bacon’s Brain Building Business: Bacon is chock full of a very important nutrient called “choline,” which helps increase our intelligence and memory, from conception to Senior Status, and has been shown in University studies to help fight off the debilitating effects of Alzheimer’s Disease and other chronic mental impairments.

Bacon Lets You “Pig Out” On Essential Vitamins & Minerals: Bacon provides us with substantial amounts of the important, necessary vitamins and minerals our bodies need to function healthfully. From bacon, we receive: 65% of our Recommended Daily Intake of Thiamin (Vitamin B1) as well as 47% of our Niacin (Vitamin B3), 38% of our Vitamin B12, 36% of our Zinc, 24% of our Vitamin B6, 22% of our Riboflavin (Vitamin B2), 22% of our Phosphorus, 10% of our Pantothenate, 10% of our Magnesium, 9% of our Iron and the Protein to fat balance in bacon is actually 4 to 1, which is one of the highest protein to fat balances found in any meat, fish or fowl found on Earth.

Effective Mood Elevator: Bacon makes you feel happy, satisfied, blissful, which greatly reduces stress in our lives and effectively relieves the negative effects of frustration, self-deprivation and sense of lack in one’s existence.

Nitrates and Nitrites – Now Non-Issues: The fact is, while it is true that nitrates and nitrites are unhealthy for your body, what most pro -veggie, chicken and fish nutritionists fail to tell you is that you can easily avoid nitrates and nitrites by simply (A) not burning / charring / over cooking your bacon or by (B) Baking your bacon in the oven.

Some people also choose to avoid nitrates and nitrites by (C) cooking their bacon in the microwave, however, some medical research shows a strong correlation between microwaved proteins (all meats and proteins, from beef to fish, from cheese to eggs and even milk) and cancers caused by protein mutation under the conditions of microwave bombardment, so we recommend using the oven, 400 degrees, 8 to 10 minutes per side.

P.S. if you always include some dairy and citrus in your bacon meal, the vitamins A, D and E work to effectively prevent conversion of “nitrates and nitrites into dangerously toxic “nitrosamines” in the stomach, rendering them harmless to the body.

Bacon Power Now Expands To Our Vehicles and Industry: Yes, believe it or not, a company in The United Kingdom, TMI Foods has already successfully found a way to use bacon fat and grease to manufacture a powerful, low emission, environmentally friendly, all-natural, bio-diesel fuel that can be used to effectively and inexpensively run anything from motor vehicles to turbines and from the various engines of industry to illuminating and empowering generators. That’s right … Pig Power now also means “Power To The People!”

Universally Beloved Flavor Enhancer: Because bacon tastes so amazingly awesome, we’re a LOT more willing to set many of our finicky ways aside to enthusiastically eat many of the boring, icky, lackluster, so-called, “healthy, nutritious food items” that are supposedly good for us, as long as they come wrapped in bacon or with lots of bacon bits broken up and served with or within them.

While We Heart Bacon – Bacon Heart’s Your Heart: While people over the years have mistakenly made jokes about bacon being a leading contributor to heart disease, actually there are in fact several studies that show that the Omega-3 Fatty Acids and “choline” found in bacon can actually protect the heart from developing detrimental problems, as well as actually help HEAL such anomalies, after they have occurred!
Unlike the Omega-3 Fatty Acids supplements derived from fish sources, the ones that come from bacon aren’t chock full of poisonous mercury, like most of the popular fish oil versions are. So bacon Omega-3’s can not only help prevent heart disease, as well as lower your cholesterol, reduce inflammation and improve circulation, but also help you to avoid mercury and other toxic poisons being regularly spewed into our planet’s oceans.

Trump is now THE candidate--no agreement on speech

Washington Post was offering readers paragraphs about Mrs. Trump's speech long after it was old news, not mentioning when Obama, an actual candidate in 2008 touted for being such a wonderful speaker, used Deval Patrick's "Just Words" speech (quoting many Americans) or Biden's challenge with borrowing a good line or three. From the Trump campaign's point of view, I suppose all was good if it keeps his name up front. Free publicity.

"The recurring theme of lawlessness, and Trump's determination to stop it, may be the most stark line of demarcation between the two parties. When Democrats hear that, they think racism, which is funny because what that tells you is that they think of black people as criminals who are most put at risk by the enforcement of laws. When Trump says it, he's talking about black and white people alike being protected from criminals." (Dan Calabrese, Herman Cain website)

I do find this odd. Violent crime, although on an uptick under Obama the last 2 years, is at historical lows. Why do Democrats fail to acknowledge the success of Bill Clinton's legacy--The Omnibus Crime Bill?

I did love Laura Ingraham's speech.  Well worth watching. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sqNhDVcvrsg

MACRA and DREXIT

The latest government acronym that will increase your medical cost and lower your quality of service is MACRA, The Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015. It was signed into law over a year ago and is the “law of the land” now with overwhelming bipartisan support in Congress and with much lobbying and cheerleading from medical associations. Obama even joked about having Republicans on board.  And MACRA is very lengthy and very detailed legislation. 962 pages. Does your doctor have time to read it? Efficient, quantifiable, homogenized, controlled and dehumanized. We might get a Drexit. http://hitconsultant.net/2016/07/19/34815/

http://www.forbes.com/sites/theapothecary/2016/07/21/last-years-medicare-doc-fix-is-already-breaking-down-here-are-some-new-fixes/#dff7517154cc

"As many as 58 percent of surveyed physicians would opt to join a larger organization to mitigate individual risk and have access to a greater array of resources. Eighty percent saw physician consolidation as an inevitability under MACRA, with half of physicians viewing financial pressures as the top driver of consolidation."  I suspect this is the true purpose of MACRA.  No independent doctors. https://ehrintelligence.com/news/physician-readiness-for-macra-implementation-found-wanting

The list of suggestions for change looks as long as the legislation. http://advocacyblog.acponline.org/2016/06/macra-solutions-versus-macra-rants.html

How taste in beauty changes

Blue hair. That's what we called women over 65 when I was a kid. It was mean, but that's how kids are. And green hair was for a bad blonde rinse poorly applied. Now hair is lime green, purple, burgundy and polkadot, but on young women. What skin shade looks good with purple hair? And men wear orange running shoes with pink shoe laces and man buns. A nose ring used to be for bad tempered bulls, now they're for baristas serving $5 cups of latte. When I served coffee in the 1950s it was ten cents and if you smiled you could get a quarter tip. A nose ring would have gotten you fired. Tattoos used to be for tough guys, usually military, now they are walking art galleries with skin as the canvas stretched across big bellies and skinny calves and no one knows who the artist is.

Not sure a subjective view cuts it

. . . the researchers looked at 65 different mortality risk factors as they tracked participants through the later years of their lives. Once the number crunching was finished, the factor that rose to the top was surprisingly simple and straightforward.

The most sensitive measure of longevity was the individual’s own subjective evaluation of how healthy he or she felt. In other words, a person reporting that he or she feels healthy outweighed any other single predictor of a long life, including any medical measures such as cholesterol levels and blood pressure.'

It's hard for someone with diabetic neuropathy or COPD to report "I feel healthy." Unless they lie.  Unless they just haven't been to the doctor in years and don't know better.  Having a positive attitude and a fulfilling life is different.  I have a friend about 80 with a wonderful sense of humor, bright fulfilling volunteer life, and so many ailments she should be in a text book.

https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/out-the-ooze/201605/the-surprising-factor-can-predict-long-life

Bikers in Cleveland

 

Maybe you think this is harsh?  Picture an end-term abortion, and get back to me.

Speeches by First Ladies

I've now read more FLOTUS speeches than I care to, and they all talked about parents, hard work, strong values being passed on to their husband and self. Just about the only time Democrats talk about that without charges of racism and white privilege. After all, Obama was raised in a white family and his grandmother was a banker who sent him to private schools. I still think Elizabeth Dole's speech in 96 was the best ever, and no one can borrow from that one. FYI: I'm watching NBC--it is devoting more time to this than necessary. Has NBC ever found fault with the Obamas?

However, if you don't like a candidate the wife is fair game it seems.  I remember when a group from the American Library Association refused to attend (or maybe picketed) a speech by Laura Bush, a former librarian and big supporter of reading and archives.  ALA is so left it could fall off the planet. And I remember people on the right criticizing Mrs. Obama for her toned arms! She always looks great, and is a great role model for girls who can't get out of jeans, but detractors couldn't see it.

I read one account that Michelle’s speech 8 years ago was the same as that 7 habits of highly successful people book. But can’t imagine why Trump's campaign staff wasn’t more careful. At least she didn’t say it was the first time she’d been proud of her country. Although, maybe she did—I didn’t hear the speech.

I was a speech writer for a state politician in my 1983 job for the state of Ohio; it was a lot of cut and paste from her old speeches plus mixing in current issues, then making sure it had her rhythm and style. In those days you didn’t have the internet for checking word phrases.

Bursitis and walking update

Finally, I saw a sunrise. I'm getting 6-7 miles a day in walking, and mornings are best. All broken into small segments of one mile or less so I don't risk inflammation.  I use only the flat, east-west streets of Lakeside which indicate where the shore line was about 8-10,000 years ago.  We had a glacier in this area of the U.S. and then that darn climate change and global warming.  It was very hazy today, and promises to be very hot, but those first few moments as the sun pops over the horizon are glorious.

 I've seen several people using hiking poles, and when checking I seek trekking, hiking, walking, shock absorbing, ultralight, women's, cork, rubber, etc. Sure looks better than using a cane. https://www.rei.com/learn/expert-advice/trekking-poles-hiking-staffs.html

One woman I saw with walking poles is getting ready for the 500 mile Camino in Northern Spain where hikers stop at monasteries, villages and churches. She did it several years ago, and is planning another one. She talked about it for a Women's Club program.  http://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/article-2159915/Walk-lifetime-Why-epic-Camino-trail-Spain-route-true-happiness.html

Dockside church service

  

Maybe Windows 10 photo feature isn't so bad after all. I think it auto corrects for wrinkles. It even cleaned up the ladies behind us. Actually, by the time the service started, it was packed. Sometimes over flows to park area.

Now you can be on the Ferguson Grand Jury

  What happened in Ferguson that makes ‪#‎blacklivesmatter‬ a lie and "Hands up don't shoot" a fake? This is all a myth - an evil nasty story that has no relation to the truth, but has led to the deaths of many police officers and life time crippling injuries of others.

There was a Grand Jury investigation into the shooting and that has been made into a play. It is verbatim eyewitness testimony with nothing added. It's the truth. Now you can judge. But it is an hour and 22 minutes, but riveting. The set and costume design are amazing, as are the actors. The creator--the man who used only the words of the testimony--is Phelim McAleer and it was performed by professional actors on stage in Los Angeles. Now you can see it on YouTube.  But you can also see how witnesses see things differently, and how some are mentally unstable or frightened.

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

"If Michael Brown had just stopped running, it could have ended another way." Eyewitness

Donald Trump has a new voter

Harry writes:  "Sitting at a stop-light, I was rear-ended last night on Bruckner Boulevard by a beat-up old Toyota going about 15 mph. No damage to my crash-resistant rear bumper, but whiplash to my neck. I got out of the car to confront the driver of the other car, and discovered it had no license plates, and there were four Mexican occupants (speaking Mexican Spanish). I asked for his drivers' license and insurance five times. No response. He sat in his car, looking terrified. Finally, one of the other occupants got out of the car, and offered me $5 cash for my troubles. I could have called 911 for the cops, but this is Deblasio's New York. I thanked the Mexican offering me the cash for his generosity, rejected his donation, and drove off. My neck aches, and Donald Trump has another voter."

Obama and race relations

President Barack Obama began his administration by criticizing Boston police for responding to a break in call from a neighbor. As it turned out, the man owned the home, had forgotten his key, was trying to get in, and he was black, a friend of Obama's, Louis B. Gates of PBS. Well, I live in a condo complex of 30 units and I don't know all my neighbors, and I too would call the police if I saw a break in attempt. But Obama made it about race. And today, he has to speak out yet again after exacerbating race relations for the last 8 years.

Now we have three more police dead, after five dead in Dallas, and Obama making things worse.  I hope he doesn't decide to speak at their funeral.

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/veteran-officer-rookie-baton-rouge-police-killed-article-1.2714978

http://www.reuters.com/video/2016/07/17/obama-condemns-shootings-of-police-offic?videoId=369292433&videoChannel=1

http://www.breitbart.com/video/2016/07/17/cleveland-police-officer-on-baton-rouge-shooting-obama-has-blood-on-his-hands/

Nothing lasts forever

My favorite cup, far right middle row with the gulls, develop a chip, then a crack that looked unsanitary, so it had to go. Probably had 25 years of good service because I bought it here in Lakeside at a now defunct gift store. All the added text had worn off years ago. Now I'm using my Fire King, top row middle that I got in 1961. I'll bring one up from Columbus so I don't have an empty peg. I'm VERY particular about size, so I'll have to choose it.  Each cup sort of has its own story.  The gray with teal is for Central Ohio Watercolor Society (COWS); the navy blue is advertising for Alt Realty in Columbus--Marti Alt and I worked together for many years; the white with black was to commemorate the Abigail Tea room 1933-1991; the yellow mug is from Coffee 'n Cream shop here in Lakeside, but the pottery is in Ohio. The Abigail sold and reopened in 2008 under new ownership, but failed. In 2010 it was auctioned, and now the building is two cottages again, as it was originally.

All Lives Matter suspension in Canada

Tenor Remigio Pereira was recently suspended from The Tenors of Canada for singing, "all lives matter," changing the words of "O Canada" at an MLB game. Not clear to me if they thought it was disrespectful to their national anthem or to blacks. But I fear it is now racist to claim all lives matter. Is it disrespectful to mention baritones and basses also count if a group is named THE TENORS? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bpxsJ-_vdPU

Quercus muehlenbergii Engelm, the chinkapin oak.

"Chinkapin oak  (also called Chinquapin) is usually found on warm, moist Udalf Alfisols, Dystrochrept Inceptisols, Udoll Mollisols, and Udult Ultisols over much of its range.  In the extreme southwestern part of the range chinkapin oak also grows on warm, dry Ustoll Mollisols and Astalf Alfisols."  I have no idea what those soils are, but the only  place I've ever seen these trees is Lakeside, Ohio. They have a wide range in northern and Midwestern United States.

The tree's scientific name honors Gotthilf Heinrich Ernst Muhlenberg (1753–1815), a Lutheran pastor and amateur botanist in Pennsylvania. He was the son of a German Lutheran missionary Henry Melchior Muhlenberg. In publishing the name Quercus mühlenbergii, German-American botanist George Engelmann mistakenly used an umlaut in spelling Muhlenberg's name, even though Pennsylvania-born Muhlenberg himself did not use an umlaut in his name. (Wikipedia)

There's a very large one on the corner of Third and Walnut, next to Hoover Auditorium, but at Third and Oak I can see 8-10 of them.  Very tall and shady. Our soil is rocky and the roots shallow and spread, so when they fall in a big wind, it is incredible.

Ohio abortions, 2014

This appears to be the newest report from Gov. Kasich's Department of Health.  I found some of the numbers don't match up, but perhaps it's resident and non-resident  Break down by race is about 51% for white and 39% for black with Cuyahoga County with the majority.

https://www.odh.ohio.gov/~/media/ODH/ASSETS/Files/health%20statistics%20-%20vital%20stats/Induced%20Abortions%20in%20Ohio%202014.pdf

The other Joan from the other Rome writes

"A 92-year-old lady I know had to traipse all over town today to pay a $100 fine she received for parking in a handicapped parking space at Walmart for a few minutes last week. She is in good health for her age but doesn't always have an abundance of energy. She was an "undocumented" parker, but all our "undocumented" residents are not fined or dealt with in any way; in fact, they are given special cities where they can avoid any penalty for their crimes. Maybe we should establish a "sanctuary city" for people who park illegally, so they can avoid the results of their violation of law?? Or maybe she could be elected to Congress so she doesn't have to obey the law? It's nice to know that we're punishing the offenses that really matter!"

(There is a reporter for EWTN who lives in Rome, Italy, and reports on the Vatican.  This Joan lives in Rome, Georgia)

A baby or a fetus

Diane's sixth great grandchild arrived five weeks early--perfectly formed and healthy.  But another woman carrying her could have chosen a late term abortion and called her a fetus....a lump of inconvenient tissue.

Does eating breakfast at friends' home count?

Eating at home (if it's healthy food) may be protective.

"The researchers analyzed health and dietary data from nearly 100,000 male and female U.S. health professionals who were followed for more than 20 years. They found that people who ate 11–14 homemade lunches or dinners per week had a 14% lower risk of developing type 2 diabetes during the study period than those who ate six or fewer weekly homemade meals. People who ate more homemade meals ate more fruits, vegetables, and whole grains, and consumed less soda, according to the study."

https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/news/hsph-in-the-news/homemade-meals-type-2-diabetes-risk/?

Today we're going to the Idlewyld B & B for breakfast for Dan's homemade pancakes.

Don't know him, but he's called it

  

 

Here is another post by Mark:
So someone just asked me; "what do you think black people need to do to solve the issues you keep talking about?" Here's what I think; the first step is with black males. Black males need to go home and start being MEN IN THEIR HOMES instead of BOYZ N THE HOOD. They need to start DEALING with the crime in their communities instead of DEALING the dope that causes so much of it. They need to start realizing that nobody fought and died so you could live like a fool and die like a coward. And they need to take this load off their women's backs and take their rightful place of responsibility in their families.
Do that.....
and everything else will fall into place.

Liberals call it voter suppression

Whether you call it "voter identification requirements" or "voter suppression" depends on your political views. In my city I have to show photo ID, sign a book, and have my signature compared as well as stating my address is the same as my ID. For every dead person who votes, or parking lot listed as an address, or non-citizen who votes, someone's vote is being stolen and people lose their confidence in the process. Only one party objects to clean voter rolls, and to my knowledge they don't roam the hills of southern (rural) Ohio looking for people Hillary Clinton wants to put out of work to take to the polls. However, when marijuana is on the ballot, I suspect both parties will be offering assistance.

Little black lives

It's a shame that ‪#‎blacklivesmatter‬ isn't a slogan for the unborn. 78% of abortions in New York are for black and Hispanic babies, but no one is rioting. 72% in Mississippi, but no one is marching or clogging freeways. In 2010 in New Jersey 55.9%, the District of Columbia 64.8% and Georgia, 73.2% and in Texas 63.7% were Black or Hispanic, all supported and financed by white, liberal Democrats, but no days of rage are planned.

Printed group prayers

Some group prayers sound more like sermons and I have to stop after the first sentence and wait for it to end. Who writes prayers that include words like "diversity," "seeking new opportunities," "inclusiveness," and "tolerance?" A government bureaucrat?

Are we being manipulated by trending stories on social media?

I think it was either Wall Street Journal or Washington Post that posted a side by side view of what trends on Facebook on various issues. I suppose they calculate from hashtags, which I rarely use. You can check any of about 10 issues and see how we are being told completely different versions by the (mostly) on-line media which are often connected to mainstream TV and print. For instance, much on the left about bathrooms is posted by an LGBQT rights organization that probably few on the right have ever heard of.  I see I'm not the only one posting statistics about percent of white offenders shot by police exceeding black, but that news isn't crossing over. Some reporters definitely don't know the difference between percentage and rate, and believe crime should reflect percentage of population. If that were so, 50% of homicides would be by females. Although both left and right could read Department of Justice reports that homicide rate declined from 9.3 homicides per 100,000 in 1992 to 4.8 homicides per 100,000 in 2010, they disagree on why, and rarely cite it in #blacklivesmatter stories, even though blacks have benefitted the most. Unfortunately, there is something called the Ferguson affect and crime is on the uptick--again, disagreement on why.

November 2011, NCJ 236018

What if you read a story about Chicago murders and that most occur on street and alleys and parking lots, in fact that the outdoor rate of murders had gone from 61.3% in 1991 to 82.4% in 2011.  Scary, right?  But what if you read that in 1991 the outdoor murder number in Chicago was 928, and by 2011 had dropped to 435, and the streets of Chicago are safer than 20 years ago?  Both figures are true, but it depends on the slant the reporter chooses to use to manipulate the reader. Black Lives Matter will probably not tell you that most of the falling crime rate in the last two decades has been for blacks, because the white rate was low 20 years ago, and is still low.  It is the black community, the one complaining about increased police presence in the neighborhood and more black criminals in prison that has benefitted the most from the Clinton era omnibus crime bill.

Chicago murder analysis, 2011

Cleveland Browns running back Isaiah Crowell posted a drawing/cartoon of someone dressed all in black (a message?) slitting the throat of a policeman. He's since apologized for his poor decision. Sorry. That's not good enough for me. He needs to hear from President Obama and AG Lynch and lose his flying privileges and the Browns should fire him. Where was his outrage at black men being killed by black men, which is about 4,500 a year or 40— criminal or innocent — for every one killed by a cop, and where was his rage when whites, mostly committing crimes, were killed by police to protect him, his family, and job--that number is higher than blacks. He's disgusting. And the media can step up and take the blame for race pimping and never telling the truth, only reporting about blacks, and often erroneously.

Update on real and fake olive oil

I think I blogged on this years ago.  Found this today.

"The brands that failed to meet the extra virgin olive oil standards, according to this study: Bertolli, Carapelli, Colavita, Star, Pompeian. Eat Grown Local also reports: Filippo Berio, Mazzola, Mezzetta, Newman's Own, Safeway, and Whole Foods in this list; the data may be from the earlier 2010 study when more brands were evaluated.

 

The real deal: California Olive Ranch, Cobram Estate, Lucini. Kirkland Organic, Lucero (Ascolano), McEvoy Ranch Organic are also noted by Eat Grown Local."

http://lifehacker.com/the-most-and-least-fake-extra-virgin-olive-oil-brands-1460894373

How do we find the real thing? Olmsted recommends a few reliable retailers, including Oliviers & Co. in New York and New Jersey. Otherwise, look for labels reading “COOC Certified Extra Virgin” — the newly-formed California Olive Oil Council’s stamp — or the international EVA and UNAPROL labels.

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/your-favorite-food-its-probably-fake-2016-07-10

Marketing strategy for Lakeside

While looking for my map of the Great Lakes (wanted to figure out exactly where Lake Superior was) I found a power point illustration for a 2010 lecture at Lakeside on marketing strategy for our little town. I found a chart showing the recession of 2000 was over by November 2001 (how often are you told Geo. W. Bush inherited a recession) but with slow job growth and the recession of late 2007 was over in June 2009 with even slower job growth, and with both, plus the one in 1991, it was the private sector, not government programs that created the recovery. Looks like we're about due, doesn't it? But government won't learn, no matter who is in office.

Advertising

How many believe the hype, labels and advertising? I just made some "bullet proof" coffee, and the coconut oil label promises that it's pure, extra virgin, gluten free, certified organic by QAI (which has USDA approval), chemical free, Hexane free (a petroleum based solvent used in some processed foods), cold pressed, no trans & hydrogenated fats, a BPA free container which is reusable, bottled to retain nutrients, flavor and color. Ah, but here's the clincher. It promised me a "healthy soul." Not even my church promises that.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/01/10/bulletproof-coffee_n_6424258.html

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/14/style/the-cult-of-the-bulletproof-coffee-diet.html?_r=0

Black lives matter

Black lives matter began on social media, was picked up and distributed by mainstream news, all about the false narrative that police kill blacks out of proportion to the population. But crime isn't committed that way. The victimization rate for Blacks (27.8 per 100,000) was 6 times higher than the rate for Whites (4.5 per 100,000). The offending rate for Blacks (34.4 per 100,000) was almost eight times higher than the rate for Whites (4.5 per 100,000). (Homicide Trends in the United States, 1980-2008 NCJ 236018) From 2003-2009 among reported arrest-related deaths, 42% of persons were white, 32% were black, and 20% were Hispanic. And crime rates for blacks is 8x that of whites. (Bureau of Justice. Arrest related deaths, 2003-2009. NCJ 235385) So Whites are being killed at a higher rate than Blacks. We don’t see it on tv.

Is voter ID racist

True the Vote released one of its largest voter-roll research findings to date this week, flagging more than 36,000 records in 16 counties for cases of duplications, death, double voting, minors registered, illegal addresses and so on. Maybe you're saying "so what," but this was Florida, the state where Democrats try to read minds in elections they lose based on hanging chads (a paper fragment when a hole is made). Every fake voter steals the right of someone who is a valid voter.

 If voter ID is racist , how was Obama able to get 99% of the black vote and the black voter turnout exceeded white voters in both 2008 and 2012? Two elections aren't a pattern, but if black voters don't turn out for Hillary, don't say it's the fault of voter ID.