EpiPen, Hillary and the Media

The latest EpiPen story is one more way to not tell Hillary's story as far as I'm concerned. There are hundreds of companies who buy influence in government regulations to protect their products. That female CEO whose salary they were so outraged about is a Clinton Foundation donor. Why would a drug company seek favors? Planning ahead for when she is given the White House after losing it in 2008.  EpiPen, a very cheap product, is protected by our own federal government. 

Let's not lose focus here. Mylan is not the problem. Lots of prices go up 400% in 9 years, even at the local level, like licenses to braid hair, or walk dogs, or to prepare salads in a cafeteria, so it happens right in your own community to protect various trades.   Why is the College Board allowed to decide who goes to college with the ACT and SAT? What are their qualifications? They don't have any. It's a money train for the owners. The "architect" David Coleman who gave us "common core" to dumb down our students, is now President of College Board. What sort of increases do the publishers get?  We were forced into electronic medical records even before Obamacare--it was part of the "recovery" money of ARRA.  Bill Gates has lobbyists too.  My husband had an appointment in early July with a specialist a few miles away from his internist, yet she didn't have the scans 4 weeks later.  We could have walked the records to her office faster.  It's a huge government give away to IT companies. The EpiPen "scandal" is nothing in comparison to the billions we paid for EMR.

Obamacare has also driven up costs and prices, so the TV reporters could do a bit more digging about price increases and not go for the low hanging fruit and look for Hollywood celebs to boost their ratings while hiding from Hillary's scandals. Twitterverse is not news; it's bullying.

http://wqad.com/2016/08/25/epipen-manufacturer-blames-400-percent-product-price-hike-on-health-care-system/

http://truthinamericaneducation.com/common-core-state-standards/david-coleman-again-demonstrates-he-doesnt-get-education/

https://stopcommoncorewa.wordpress.com/2016/03/25/alternatives-to-satact-to-be-available/

Heroin trafficking by Mexican drug dealers

Heroin Trafficking in the United States, Congressional Research Service, Aug. 23, 2016. "While there are at least eight major Mexican drug trafficking organizations operating in the United States, the Sinaloa Cartel is the most active. The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) notes that Mexican criminal networks “transport the bulk of their goods over the Southwest Border through ports of entry (POEs) using passenger
vehicles or tractor trailers.” In passenger vehicles, the drugs may be held in secret compartments; while in tractor trailers, the drugs are often comingled with other legitimate goods." 

How is this different than what Donald Trump has claimed about our border and about Mexican criminals infiltrating legitimate businesses and been criticized as a racist for reporting the problem?  Yet it is the research of the U.S. Congress division. What is the plan of the "regular" GOP to stop this? Chat across the aisle a few more years with Democrats while Hillary is President? http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/R44599.pdf

Hillary Clinton is definitely outside the mainstream

Why don't the media ever say "Hillary is outside the mainstream?" The only time I knew such a crook was when we were visiting prisoners at the old Ohio Penitentiary in the 1970s.

 I remember a charming, handsome young man in his mid-20s--Jack, I think--who told me he was there on his first offense. Before I could shake my head at the cruelty of the system (because O.P. was indeed an awful place with a reputation of terror and abuse), he chuckled and assured me it was just his first conviction. He had been leading a financially successful life of crime since before his teen years, and when business was bad, he pimped for his wife. She didn't visit, so he was always happy to see the "church ladies." Really, he did far less than Hillary, who's been pimping the U.S. citizen for years.

The story about the Clinton Foundation, Russia and a uranium mine came out in 2015. Don't know why no one jumped on this (actually I do--it's called mainstream media) at that time. The Clinton Foundation is money laundering for foreign interests. http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2016/08/memo-sheds-new-light-on-clinton-russia-uranium-scandal.php

Pants on fire by Ramirez

Binghampton University of New York hates white people

Residential Assistants at Binghamton University in New York are undergoing a new kind of training for the 2016 school year. The program is called #StopWhitePeople2k16.

Now why would universities want to depict minorities as victims? Follow the money. There are enormous grants available from practically every department in the federal government for academic slush funded departments in gender studies, black studies, women studies, disabled and differently abled studies. Grants for minority library students, grants for black women, grants for foreign students of color, grants for Asian graduate students, grants for residents of Appalachia, grants for specific tribes of American Indians, grants for victims of crime, grants from the USDA, EPA, NIH, HHS, DoJ, BLS, DoEd, so on. Federal money is floating state education. If they were to lose their victims, they wouldn't be able to have 3 vice presidents in charge of victimhood. The main cost of price increases in higher education has been at the administrative level, and for that, federal money is needed to supplement tuition increases.

This story was reported by a Columbus radio station, and when I checked, the story has been pulled from the original link. Gee, I wonder why? Maybe Binghamton's alumni association, mostly white, said, OK, I guess you don't need our donations?  So I can't give you the original link.  It's probably out there on other news sources.

Displaced workers, BLS report today

Is this good news or bad news? Democrats will say it's better than the last report. So I suppose it depends if you were one of the 66% who were reemployed. Republicans will say at what job and where and at what wage? Increasing minimum wage sure won't help those displaced workers. The recession was over in June 2009.

(Aug. 25, BLS report) "From January 2013 through December 2015, there were 3.2 million workers displaced from jobs they had held for at least 3 years, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. This was down from 4.3 million workers for the prior survey period covering January 2011 to December 2013. In January 2016, 66 percent of workers displaced from 2013 to 2015 were reemployed, up from 61 percent for the prior survey in January 2014."

The transgender scam

"In 2002, 61 percent of Fortune 500 companies included sexual orientation in their nondiscrimination policies, and just 3 percent included gender identity within those policies. By 2014 those number had risen to 91 percent and 61 percent, respectively." (International Business Times, Dec. 9, 2014.)

So 61% of Fortune 500 companies have bought into the myth that sex is not biological but a decision, fantasy, identity or dream, something we put on or take off. What a sorry mess this agenda has brought down on us, encouraged by our federal government, academic institutions and some churches. And it is women who will be hurt the most as men who have stalled in the career track become transwomen, a woman by choice/decision, or men begin to compete in sports against women previously protected by Title VII and Title IX, specifically written with the word "sex" and reinterpreted by faceless bureaucracy. To be transman or transwoman does not require shots, surgery or counseling, as we've seen from recent bathroom edicts, but only "identifying." But even with genital, chest and facial surgery, even with mascara and designer dresses, he's still a guy in every cell and body part..

 

So that would make "conversion" therapy OK because homosexuality is a decision or mental disorder and can be reversed?

Our anniversary present

This is our anniversary painting, Cloudwork by Rick Dziak.  Most years this is what we do, although last year was a bit more expensive with a trip to Spain where we celebrated with Martti and Riitta Tulamo.  I walked down to the hotel to meet the artist with a check after talking to his wife, and while I was there a man was being celebrated for his 80th birthday by a bagpiper named Patrick. Fun to watch and hear.  I checked the internet for "bagpiper for hire" and there are many sites.

Are you still voting for Hillary?

TEN REASONS TO SUPPORT TRUMP by Steven Mason

I say this as someone who supported Carly and then Cruz; and as someone who'd rather have seen Jindal, Perry, Walker, or Rubio (at a minimum) there instead. This election is not a test of moral probity. Rather it is a test of reality. If Trump does not win, Hillary will. It doesn't matter whether you don't like that: it is fact. The choice, therefore, is between the two and no one else (if you live in a state that is certain to go for Hillary, vote for whomever you want, sure; but if you live in a state that has even a prayer of not falling to Hillary, you should vote Trump). Why?

1. Forget about Trump. Think about the 8,000 partisan political appointees. Trump does not impress his imprimatur upon each and every one of them. But today, those are 8,000 radical leftists, Cloward-Piven, Alinskyite, Valerie Jarrett signed, sealed and delivered people who despise America. Any Republican -- even Kasich, whom I utterly despise -- would replace 99% of the 8,000 with 8,000 Republicans. Whom do you think makes the detailed policies, writes the regulations, stifles the economy, cooks the books on a day-to-day basis? So vote Trump and get 8,000 Republicans or let Hillary win and get another 4-8 years of unrepentant leftists.

2. Radical Islam. Even if you believe nothing Trump has said, he is simply not a good enough actor or talent to be bs'ing his way through this. Hillary is another Obama, ready, with Huma Abedin, whose family has a proud history of supporting shari'a and the Muslim Brotherhood, to allow the religion of misogyny, death to gays, FGM, and the murder, torture and rape of innocents to continue its rampage (Merkel is, by Hillary's own admission, a "great leader" (see Time Magazine, 2016)). Trump may be many things but he is not shari'a compliant nor does he have any tolerance for Islamic terror.

3. LEOs vs. BLM. Just yesterday, in Akron, Ohio, a group of BLM "supporters" savagely beat 5 white men because they were white. Race relations are at a nadir because all Obama sees is race. Hillary is the same. Trump may be boorish, he may have tortured grammar, but he doesn't give a damn what color anyone is. The left's cries of "Nazi, racist," etc. are all one needs to know to see the fatuousness of such claims. Hillary has a history of hating the military and the police; Trump, the opposite.

4. Criminalization of the DOJ, EPA, IRS. Plus destruction of the FCC, sale of the Internet to International "oversight." Is there one chance in a trillion Hillary will fix any of these? No. Trump certainly may and to say he would be as crooked as Hillary is absurd. Anyone would be in prison -- except Hillary. Trump included. His sins are venial; Hillary's are mortal.

5. The perfect is the enemy of the good. The good is the enemy of the OK. There is no perfect candidate. Maybe not even a good candidate. But Trump is a billion times better than Hillary for the reasons I have articulated. It does no good to say: I stand for the Constitution and therefore I am #NeverTrump. What good does that do you when Hillary finishes Obama's evisceration. You cannot save the dead patient.

6. Which leads not just to SCOTUS but to all the appellate courts. Hillary wants to eviscerate the 1st and 2nd Amendments, and likely the 4th, 5th, 9th and 10th. Loretta Lynch has already advocated the criminal prosecution of both climate change "deniers" and those who would "slander the prophet of Islam." Whom do you think Hillary will appoint? Well, we already know her AG: Lynch. The rest will be a mix of Obamas, Lani Guiniers and Eric Holders, because, folks, that's how she rolls and that's who she is. Even Trump's worst selections couldn't be "more worse" than Hillary's. It's like asking what would be worse than an asteroid impact that destroyed the Earth? A bigger asteroid that still destroyed it?

7. The company you keep. Trump's been hanging out with Giuliani. Today John Bolton endorsed him. Dennis Prager has, too. Even Christie is a living god compared to Loretta Lynch. And Newt compared to whom? John Podesta? And what about Pence? Yeah, he's sure some radical leftist. Trump will not make every decision himself. No President does. So look to those around him. Reagan was a great President because he relied on real conservatives and on CATO for economics. Bush immediately went to the Eastern Establishment, so no surprise he went all-in on taxing (Bush I) and compassionate conservatism (spending like a drunken sailor - Bush II). Bush II also gave us the "religion of peace," courtesy of Michael Gerson. There are many reasons to believe, based on the company he's been keeping, that Trump will be better than Bush II.

8. Trade. Trump is big on bluster. He has no more chance of passing Smoot-Hawley II than Reagan had of outlawing all abortions. So it's pointless to go there. The worst that Trump could do isn't something he can do or is going to do. It's impractical.

9. Acceptance. You needn't like Trump. You needn't be a Trumpkin. You can recognize that, without a teleprompter, he's unrestrained and boorish (which is a lot better than I-haven't-given-a-press-conference-in-5,000 millennia-Hillary, since at her last one she uttered the timeless line "wipe it, like with a cloth," sure to go down as one of the great epistemological statements of all time, right up there with Aquinas's proofs of God).

10. A Republic, if you can keep it. Hillary can't and won't and doesn't want to. Just like Obama. Trump may barely understand, formally, what a Republic is, but he is an American. He doesn't hate our country. And isn't it about time we had a President who didn't hate our country and who had the cojones to tell the purveyors of shari'a into which volcanic orifice of Hell they should crawl?

Do you have Amazon Prime on file?

Anna reports:  "My Public Service Announcement for the day. Don't keep a credit card number on file at Amazon. I had a 30-day free trial of Amazon Prime last November/December and cancelled it at the time. The other day I got an email from Amazon telling me that the credit card I had on file at Amazon (so I could do one-click ordering) was no good (it had gotten hacked, so we shut it down a couple of months ago), so they had been unable to charge me $99 to renew my Amazon Prime. I didn't have a current Amazon Prime account that was due for renewal. Amazon just decided out of the blue to bill my card for a year's subscription, just because it was there and they could. Thank goodness the card was no good. I have removed all credit card info from Amazon. So it will take me a few more clicks to order. I can deal with that."

Obama and Clinton bad mouth the one percenters but take their pay to play

"At least 85 of 154 people from private interests who met or had phone conversations scheduled with Clinton while she led the State Department donated to her family charity or pledged commitments to its international programs, according to a review of State Department calendars released SO FAR to The Associated Press. Combined, the 85 donors contributed as much as $156 million. At least 40 donated more than $100,000 each, and 20 gave more than $1 million.

Donors who were granted time with Clinton included an internationally known economist who asked for her help as the Bangladesh government pressured him to resign from a nonprofit bank he ran; a Wall Street executive who sought Clinton's help with a visa problem and Estee Lauder executives who were listed as meeting with Clinton while her department worked with the firm's corporate charity to counter gender-based violence in South Africa. . . .Clinton met with representatives of at least 16 foreign governments that donated as much as $170 million to the Clinton charity." . 

 

 http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2016/08/23/many-donors-to-clinton-foundation-met-with-her-at-state.html

 

http://www.judicialwatch.org/press-room/press-releases/new-abedin-emails-reveal-hillary-clinton-state-department-gave-special-access-top-clinton-foundation-donors/

Who will have the time to vet before the election the 6,000 donors who have already provided the Clinton charity with more than $2 billion?  Certainly not our "free press."

 

Is this the best of the Democrat party?  First they cheat all the American people, then their own party.

Why do liberals lie about poverty? Follow the money.

Liberals lie.
Not sure why.
Their money funnel
 Down the tunnel.
Lies sell their books
and makes them crooks.
It's greed
Indeed.

Based on self-reports of consumer spending, “extreme poverty” has been practically nonexistent for three decades yet these researchers are selling books claiming extreme poverty exists in America. Liberals report that millions in America are poorer than the “disabled beggars of Addis Ababa in Ethiopia.”

 "According to spending data reported by the families themselves, the number of families with children living on $2 per person per day is not 1 in 25, as Edin and Shaefer contend, but 1 in 4,469."

http://dailysignal.com/2016/08/22/did-welfare-reform-really-throw-3-5-million-children-into-third-world-poverty-the-facts-may-surprise-you/

Miracles from Heaven with Jennifer Garner the Monday movie at Lakeside

Last night here at Lakeside we went to see the movie Miracles from Heaven with Jennifer Garner. It was really an excellent film, great acting, particularly by Garner and the children, very high on production, directing and photography, and not preachy or maudlin. I went with Lynn and Rob Berridge from our church, then we came back here to the cottage for chocolate pie and a great discussion. It would be a great movie for your church group.  Or if you're looking for something to watch in the coming cold winter nights and a dish of popcorn . . . 

http://www.usatoday.com/story/life/movies/2016/03/14/jennifer-garner-finds-faith-again-miracles-heaven/81600816/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GGHxxnP40-I

Warning for travelers to Iran from State Department

"The Department of State warns U.S. citizens of the risks of travel to Iran. This replaces the Travel Warning for Iran dated March 14, 2016, to reiterate and highlight the risk of arrest and detention of U.S. citizens, particularly dual national Iranian-Americans." This is the State Department web site warning. Do you suppose $400 million in ransom might have anything to do with their kidnapping motives? Hillary's e-mails got one Iranian-American killed.

https://travel.state.gov/content/passports/en/alertswarnings/iran-travel-warning.html

The 19th amendment

Last week was the anniversary of the passage of the 19th amendment, the right of women to vote in the U.S. I'm trying to think of a political movement since 1920 where it made any difference. Women were the ones who got the 18th amendment passed, and that was before they could vote. They were powerful in the emancipation of slaves movement and the equal protection for former slaves in the 14th amendment. They rolled up their sleeves and taught in schools, and ran the underground railroad for those escaping. In all states and townships before 1920 it was women pushing the education and public health issues, getting regulations in place and laws passed. Women's groups in churches collectively raised millions to support missionaries. But in recent years, all I hear from women is something vague about "health care," which is code for the right to abort their children. They are still letting the men do the heavy lifting. And now a very small group of women are delighted to have a female crook running for President. The rest of us, not so much.

Maybe you don't like Trump

But he hasn't used his e-mail server to get anyone killed.

Is it time to bring back DDT

Mosquitoes kill more people than any other creature on earth--even man himself. But environmentalists (today we would call them climate alarmists) were successful in the 1970s with the inaccurate book by Rachel Carson at getting DDT banned, the most effective tool for controlling them. Now we go to war against tanks, planes and bombs armed with home made bows and arrows and bed nets. Yes, all insects eventually come immune to pesticides, but don't pull out the troops before the country is secured and safe, like from new groups called ISIS. Now Zika is here. I see footage of men in yellow suits (or no protection at all) spraying, I don't know what, and I don't know how safe or effective. Will DDT be brought back; are these mosquitoes immune? Will the tree huggers and egg inspectors win again at the expense of the lives of millions of children?

Monday Memories--Mom's pickles

My children have such wonderful memories of my mother, and they are now at the age (late 40s) where nostalgia is really kicking in. When they were small, we'd vacation at her farmhouse near Franklin Grove, Illinois, which has recently been sold by my brother who lived there a few years after moving back to Illinois from Florida. So they remember working with her in the garden, mowing the yard, or picking raspberries, or playing in the dusty barn, or using the building blocks stored in the living room window seat.  I did those same things when I was a child, so it's a pleasant shared memory. Yesterday my daughter e-mailed me photos of her 21 jars of pickles using a recipe my mother had given her 23 years ago. That desire skipped right over me. I canned a few jars when I was 17 and decided it was way too much work to do again. But I will certainly enjoy a pint of these beauties.

Mom working in her garden, watercolor by my husband

Jim Kettlewell, 67 of Canton, Ohio

We attended the memorial service for Jim Kettlewell at Chautauqa Park and Memorial Garden this afternoon. It seems all his friends felt they'd always known him, yet he'd only been a part of our Lakeside community for 6 years. He'd joined the Navy right out of high school and one person said it's perhaps there he learned to get along with all different types. It's definitely where he learned the bakery business.  He was a vice president of Nickles Bakery of Navarre, Ohio, and many of us remember his fascinating talk about the technology and marketing of bakery products he gave during one of our final weeks of the season, and sent us home with loaves of raisin bread.  I've been buying Nickles products ever since.  He was just that engaging.

 

I sat beside him Thursday afternoon at a book review, and saw him that night across the room at Hoover Auditorium with some of his grandchildren.  I heard the ambulance Friday morning when I was on my walk, but that it might be Jim never occurred to me.  In recent years, since retirement, he'd been taking classes at Kent, and I'm sure the young students who sat beside him in class gained as much as those of us who sat beside him in Lakeside lectures.  He was an avid reader and writer, and  in retirement began writing poetry.  He'd been planning to go to Ireland in a few days with his wife and a few friends, but we wish him the best on this latest trip and adventure which no one expected (died in his sleep 3 days ago).

 

 

http://www.shriverfuneralhomes.com/fh/obituaries/obituary.cfm?o_id=3863952

 

Choose romaine lettuce for your salad

"Not all lettuce is created equal, but if you start your meal with a salad made of romaine lettuce you will be sure to add not only a variety of textures and flavors to your meal but an enormous amount of nutritional value. The vitamins, minerals, phytonutrients and fiber found in romaine lettuce are especially good for the prevention or alleviation of many common health complaints.  Due to its extremely low calorie content and high water volume, romaine lettuce is often overlooked in the nutrition world as a very nutritious food. Based on its nutrient richness, our food ranking system qualified it as an excellent source of vitamin A (notably through its concentration of the pro-vitamin A carotenoid, beta-carotene), vitamin K, folate, and molybdenum. Romaine lettuce also emerged from our ranking system as a very good source of dietary fiber, four minerals (manganese, potassium, copper, and iron), and three vitamins (biotin, vitamin B1, and vitamin C). " From The world's healthiest foods.

Today we enjoyed bacon, lettuce and tomato sandwiches on our deck in Lakeside with our friend Harry Parsons from Columbus.  The lettuce was indeed, romaine. He had grown the tomatoes and also baked the zucchini bread which was so tasty.

Tim Kaine needs to review history

The "I'm Catholic but" candidate for the vice presidency seems to think white Americans need to repent for the years of slavery.  Let's look at that.

 Slavery was an economic fact of life for centuries all over the world. Europeans were highly prized slaves in northern Africa. The Englishman who wrote "Amazing Grace" spent years as a slave. Slavery was imported to the colonies by the Spanish, Portuguese, English and Dutch, who bought them from Arabs who bought them from tribal chiefs within the African interior.  How far back does Kaine wish to go?  The U.S.A. went to war to stop it. You can say all you want about states' rights and other economic reasons, but it was slavery; says so in the cessation documents that created the Confederacy.

Slavery exists today in larger numbers than in the 18th century. There are African children working in mines so you can talk on your cell phone and set up illegal servers in homes of politicians. There are Asian children, boys and girls, trafficked on the streets by their pimps in tourist areas. Also, millions of Americans are descended from immigrants who came after slavery ended, and millions of others are descended from blacks who owned slaves at a higher rate than whites, particularly in the south.

If we need to repent, Democrats can say a few words about their terrorist arm the KKK and how Democrat Congressmen even in my life time were members of the KKK. Democrats can repent of how they institutionalized Jim Crow laws to hold blacks down after the Civil War, and how they now use abortion and welfare to achieve the same goals. Yes, Democrats could repent of legalizing abortion and including it in their political platform for the last 2 decades, killing a disproportionate number of black babies.

Trump visits the flood victims in Louisiana

I don't agree when candidates, Democrat or Republican, depict blacks as unemployed, with poor housing and bad schools, as Trump did when appealing for their vote during his recent visits in Wisconsin and Louisiana. Whites out number blacks in poverty and crime statistics, but the incredible gains of blacks in the 21st century, particularly during the Bush years, are amazing. Their rate of enrolling in college has exceeded whites since 2008. Their life expectancy has soared. Not only do we have a black president who has filled many important posts with blacks, as did Bush before him, we have black governors, Congress members, mayors, principals, business owners, first responders (percent of minority police exceeds national figures), military big wigs, investors, hedge fund managers, and just plain folks doing extremely well, living "the American dream," however that is defined. From the candidates down to ‪#‎blacklivesmatter‬, we do a tremendous disservice always playing down accomplishments of any group of Americans, and we help stir up feelings of victimhood.

Too busy golfing with Bain Capital partner

"President Obama has given no indication he will interrupt his two week vacation in exclusive Martha’s Vineyard to visit the flood victims. The president played another round of golf Thursday with television star Larry David [Bernie Sanders impersonator] and Bain Capital co-managing partner Jonathan Lavine." . . . Bain Capital. Where have I heard that name before? Hmmm. Isn't that the dirty, greedy firm that all the leftist publications from the Beast to HuffPo to Rolling Stone crucified and smeared Romney for in 2012 because of his 1990 connection? Ah, isn't our media just a hoot? This is a 2-fer.

Diversity doesn't build community and is not a Biblical concept

 

The focus by the preacher of the week at Lakeside, Aug. 14-19, has been "community." I've only attended one session, but it has given us and our neighbors a lot to talk about as we walk to programs together, have neighborhood pot lucks, sail together, picnic together in the park, and check each others homes and pets for safety. I've decided the sense community comes much faster in a gated community with a common cultural base, which in our case is Christianity. Lakeside began as a community of Methodists, in the days before Methodists and EUB became United Methodist and is now becoming the un-United Methodists due to social issues. Lakeside welcomes all faiths or non-faiths, but the veneer is Christian in values and it is gated, requiring a photo ID gate pass, costs money to come in because the residents pay the taxes, association dues and keep the place going (hmm, not unlike the USA). There are three Sunday services with different styles and vespers in the evening, plus a preacher of the week (probably over half are women, and mostly liberal).

 

And that happens in other groups, too. There are cruises advertised for gays and also for blacks and for singles. We did a European cruise for U. of I. Alumni as well as other trips, and it was an instant common place for a beginning. (Cruise friendships usually don't last, however.)  Our Lutheran church did a mixed cruise of the Holy Land with a Greek Orthodox Church and although we were all friendly, after the pot lucks and cruise, we never saw them again, although we met new friends who are members of our church. Even if your church welcomes gays, singles, Muslims, Catholics, inner city, or college students, I'm guessing they'll still support their own congregations or feel more comfortable with their group. We have a Chinese family who are members of UALC who still are active in the Columbus Chinese Christian church where they can sing and preach and do service projects in their heart language. Singles clubs on the internet and at home will continue to meet despite your efforts of inclusion. Why do you think that happens? Are the companies, cruise lines and churches prejudiced or against diversity? No. It's community; shared interest. Particularly shared sense of family and faith.

 

When our church went to nine-ten-eleven (varies) communities on three campuses in three cities(Hilliard, Upper Arlington and Columbus) which came together only for projects or service events or concerts (with different styles of worship and an assigned preacher) we stopped being one type of Christian community--a congregation of Lutherans-- and became nine non-denominational communities.  Seeing a friend in the Narthex or parking lot is just an extension of worship; it's part of community. Now we see friends of 40 years ago only at funerals and concerts.

32% of Louisiana is black; where is the president?

Obama during the 2012 election period was immediately on the scene of Hurricane Sandy which hit the northeastern states in a "perfect storm" swamping many cities.  Great photo ops with Chris Cristie. He's made no appearance in the hard hit, flooded Louisiana.  He's on vacation golfing. He bitterly harangued President Bush for flying over Hurricane Katrina and allowing the Democrat governor of the state and Democrat mayor of New Orleans use their plans.  Setting a plane down in the midst of disaster relief areas with all the security needed for a president was not considered a good excuse by him. 

Lakeside snippets

As I was walking to the evening program at Hoover in Lakeside last night I saw a couple walking on Maple going toward the lake. She was talking so loudly I thought perhaps the man was deaf and had forgotten his hearing aids. But no. He was videoing their walk through Lakeside on his phone, and she was loudly speaking the voice-over. They may have been skyping for someone, or saving it for thier own memories.

Today on my walk I noticed there was a 2000 Porsche Boxster convertible up the street with a for sale sign, $1500. That didn't sound right. Beautiful car. Even if it doesn't run, it would look nice parked in front of your house.  So our neighbor Tom and I went up and looked at it and talked to the guy's wife. She said someone put the sign up as a joke, because he'd never part with that car. Used on the internet a 2000 Boxster goes for about $8,000.

I don't know how they find me, but I get a lot of offers to review books and have guests write for my blog. I used to do several a year, and during the primary campaign I received all sorts of very nice books (I always ask for paper because I don't like e-books). But today I got one on how to deal with a controlling boyfriend. Well, I won't post that interview, I've got a 2 word response. "Dump him." He's not going to change and if you were attracted to him in the first place you've got some serious soul searching to do!

My husband has been eating Oreos since he was a little kid. For years, he had a special method of dunking them in cold milk. This week I bought a new flavor (since the brand is now part of a global corporation there have been many new flavors) called Choco-chip Oreos with artificially flavored creme. They weren't kidding about that "artificially" either--neither one of us could place it. So he ate two, said, "Bleh, these are awful," and ate a chocolate covered Twinkie to get the taste out of his mouth.

Have you ever been walking or driving behind a woman out for exercise and asked yourself, "Does she know what she looks like from behind?" To answer that time honored question, Yes, I do. But I'm doing it anyway before it gets too hot.

What's up with the Never Trumpsters? The Trumpumpkins?

"In the land of NeverTrump, it turns out one American is more reviled than Donald Trump. This would be the Donald Trump VOTER.

Lincoln famously described government as of, by, and for the people. Even so, the people are now getting a hard lesson about what happens when they reject the advice of their betters and go with a nominee of their own choosing." WSJ, William McGurn.

Trump made a very sensible, measured speech in Wisconsin. He even used a Teleprompter. You can't slice and dice these words. He called Clinton a bigot. Which she is. But I don't think the RINOs, the Democrats or the media are happy, even though they claimed they wanted something different from him.

"Donald Trump made a new and explicit plea for the support of black voters on Tuesday, saying the Democratic Party had “failed and betrayed” them and accusing Hillary Clinton of “bigotry” in the pursuit of minority voters. “We reject the bigotry of Hillary Clinton which panders to and talks down to communities of color and sees them only as votes — that’s all they care about — not as individual human beings worthy of a better future,” Trump said at a rally in Wisconsin." (Politico)

"Good policing saves lives. My dear friend, Rudy Giuliani, knows a thing or two about this. The policies put into place by Rudy ultimately brought down crime by 76 percent and murder by 84 percent. Think of how many families were saved, how much heartache was prevented, when police were put into communities and criminals were removed." (Donald Trump)

 The Omnibus Crime Bill of 1994 was passed during Bill Clinton's Administration and by cutting crime in half has saved thousands of black lives. Now his wife and our current president support ‪#‎blacklivesmatter‬. Liberals now say it was punitive and crime was coming down anyway. But liberals have never lived in those neighborhoods and never really cared about the people. Just the votes.

"The time for opposition was during the primaries. But now, for better or worse, the issue is settled. Increasingly sounding like leftists, the “never Trumpers” appeal to a higher morality to justify their electoral sabotage, but the fact is their stance is profoundly immoral; sore losers, they demand a rules change after the game is over, and refuse to accept the results." (PJ Media, Michael Walsh)

Dried fruit

We prefer golden raisins to regular raisins, and sometimes I like to use craisins, dried cranberries.  So today I was reading up on the nutrition differences and similarities between raisins and craisins.  They are really pretty close, except for all the sugar that has to be added to cranberries to make them edible. I suppose craisins would be preferable to candy if you have a sweet tooth.  But then I noticed that golden raisins have sulfur dioxide added and regular raisins don't.  So I had to look that up, too.

"Sulfur dioxide might not sound good enough to eat, but this food preservative does make its way into a number of edibles, including dried fruits such as raisins, dried apricots and prunes. Sulfur dioxide is one type of sulfite, a preservative whose name might be more familiar. Even a small amount of sulfite can wreak health havoc if you're sensitive to it. If you have asthma, sulfite sensitivity or sulfite allergy, eating dried fruits might cause serious health problems, including breathing problems, life-threatening allergy-like symptoms or, in rare cases, death." 

You can buy organic dried fruit and freeze it to preserve it, because that's what sulfur dioxide is used for.

Elevated tau tied to volume loss in the hippocampus and cerebral cortex

Malfunction of a key brain protein called tau is the likely culprit behind Alzheimer's disease and other forms of dementia, a2-14 study in mice concluded. Now there is tau imaging able to distinguish patients with Alzheimer's disease from those without. Making progress. . . http://www.medpagetoday.com/Neurology/AlzheimersDisease/59526?xid=fb_o_

From the editorial: "Now that we can measure brain Aβ in living people we have entered a phase of research in which we can test aspects of this hypothesis during life. The recent addition of tau positron emission tomography (PET) imaging has made it possible to examine the interactions between these 2 proteins, which will be crucial to understanding the etiology of AD and its eventual treatment."

http://archneur.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=2537339

Cimbalom

We  were treated to a wonderful symphony program last night at Lakeside celebrating the 60th anniversary of the Hungarian Revolution which brought so many Hungarians to the U.S. Lakeside's guest performer was Alex Udvary who played a wonderful selection of Hungarian pieces, or those based on Hungarian folk tunes, on the cimbalom. This instrument whose ancestry may be ancient China, is similar to the dulcimer, harpsicord and other hammered strings instruments.

On Monday afternoon Mr. Udvary gave a lecture and demonstration on a small cimbalom he had made himself. Even Lakesiders with many years in the music field were not familiar with this instrument or the make up of a "Hungarian orchestra" but when he mentioned the film music, many of us remembered hearing it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s30aQ95XKZc

Main line churches are anti-Israel

I don't know why most main-line churches are anti-Israel, but they are. They need to look at a map and see what surrounds our tiny ally, Israel. Pro-abortion, anti-Israel, pro-feminist, pro-LGBTQ agenda, pro-Democrat, pro-BLM, pro-illegal immigration, and that just about sums up the political agenda of many "Christian" churches. If you left the church years ago because there was too much "come to Jesus" preaching about sin and not enough about social justice, take a second look. There's something for you if you're missing pot lucks and Sunday School.

This item is about ELCA (Evangelical Lutheran Church in America) the synod our local congregation left about 5 years ago (now NALC), but it's no different in Church of the Brethren, United Methodist, United Church of Christ, etc.

 "The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) has approved two resolutions advanced by anti-Israel activists including a push to end all U.S. aid to the Jewish state until the “military occupation of Palestinian land” ceases, according to CBN News. The resolution was adopted in an overwhelming 751 to 162 vote during the Mainline Protestant denomination’s triennial Churchwide Assembly held in New Orleans August 8-13." https://juicyecumenism.com/2016/08/15/lutherans-israel-resolutions/

Oh, the broadcast spin

At home I don't watch a lot of news on TV, but here at Lakeside where we don't have cable, I see more broadcast TV than at home.  Trying to get the national news about weather and various international events is difficult with the pro-Hillary spin. To my knowledge, ABC hasn't had a report of that huge smoochy huggy Biden and Hillary event.  I saw a photo on the internet and it really looked like he was from TSA trying to check her bra.  She looked helpless.

Watching/listening to ABC (All 'bout Clinton) news this morning. They mention Hillary's scandals after leading with Trump non-scandals, then back to Trump for the non-story of a change in his campaign leadership, but never go back to Hillary's e-mails and scandals. The ABC reporter is outraged (why do they shout like we're in a stadium and they don't have a mic) that Trump talked about the Democrat Party's failures among blacks in a town that is 95% white. Where do they suggest he do this, Milwaukee which has had either Democrat or Socialist control for over 100 years and blacks are burning down their neighborhood?

I wonder how many Americans get their news from broadcast media and don't understand the spin.

It's been Obama's war a long time; where are the media critics?

Bush, 2003-2008; Obama, 2009-2016. It's been his war to lose or expand for some time now. But he's given a pass. Why? Because he's a Democrat.

"After nearly a decade and a half of combating Al Qaeda (AQ) in Afghanistan and Pakistan, the United States faces an increasingly diverse threat from Al Qaeda affiliates in the Middle East and Africa. While senior Al Qaeda figures reportedly remain based in Pakistan, the network maintains a number of affiliates across the Middle East... and Africa including Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), and Al Shabaab. Al Qaeda also retains a small but growing presence in Afghanistan. U.S. officials have stated that Al Qaeda still maintains a foothold in Syria through its ties to Jabhat Fatah al Sham (formerly known as the Nusra Front). This report examines the threat posed by Al Qaeda affiliates in the Middle East and Africa as described by U.S. officials and outside observers , as well as the U.S. approach to date in responding to the threat posed by individual groups.” (Congressional Research Service, Aug. 11, 2015) http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/mideast/R43756.pdf

Louisiana is under water--they had enough rain (no hurricane) for 320 years.  Where is President Obama?  At the golf course.

Joe Biden is stumping for Hillary Clinton; say Trump can't be trusted with nuclear codes, and then announces his military aide has them.  Good old crazy Joe.

Obama's Department of Justice isn't going to investigate the illegal activities of the Clinton Foundation.  It's a 501c3.  That's a license to launder political pay offs. http://www.wnd.com/2016/08/so-is-clinton-foundation-under-investigation-or-not/

"Four murdered, 9 shot in Milwaukee Fri night/Sat morning. Silence. 1 cop kills an ARMED black guy & riots break out?" (Tweet from Sheriff David A. Clarke, Milwaukee),

Milwaukee has been under socialist and Democrat control since 1908. How's that working for you?  Another American city under Democrat "control" going up in flames.  Where is President Obama showing some leadership?   He's at the golf course.  

"The Milwaukee riots should be the last time the policies of liberal Democrats are held up as anything other than misery-inducing, divisive, exploitative and racist manipulation of the urban populations. Unfortunately they won’t.

 

As Sheriff of Milwaukee County, I am furious that the progressive left has put my citizens in harm’s way and that I had to send my officers into cauldrons of anarchy and hatred that were created by the left.

 

As an elected public servant I am livid that Milwaukee’s pathetic, kowtowing city officials and aldermen take this opportunity to abandon their citizens and preen before the Black Lives Matter-enabling media. (Sheriff David A. Clarke, Jr., Milwaukee County)"

The Trinity isn't a job description

If a church/pastor regularly prays (or God forbid, baptizes) in the name of the Creator, Redeemer and Sustainer instead of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, I hope she/he knows how disrespectful it is to call God with whom you claim to have a personal, loving relationship, by a job description. It's utilitarian and objectifies God. To my ears it sounds worse than a TV or radio preacher's health and wealth gospel. It's also a violation of 2000 years of Christian history and culture cutting us off from our past.

Imagine if I were walking with you down the streets of Lakeside, a very friendly community, and we meet someone you know and I don't. And you said, "I'd like you to meet retired librarian, cottage owner, who also donates to my church." This revised Trinitarian formula, now no longer trendy but entrenched in liberal mainline churches, is supposed to be 'inclusive." It came about from the feminist movement of the 70s which is at its core unChristian and Marxist, but has infected the Christian churches like black mold.

It's not that we don't ever describe the wonderful things God does for us--in fact, words fail when we try. They are so fabulous we have a book of stories, parables, miracles, poetry and laws to refer to. This is change that never made sense, and I don't know who started it, but probably the offering plate is the only way to stop it.

"Baptisms performed in the name of a gender-neutral Trinity are not true baptisms, the Catholic Church's highest doctrinal authority decreed on Friday (Feb. 29, 2008) Christianity Today." Most protestants don't know our baptisms, sprinkled, splashed, dunked or poured, are valid in the Catholic church--unless this formula is used because it's meaningless.

A-List Conservatives in the media

I haven't finished adding the links, but I'll get a roundtuit soon. List is from Christopher Buckley who said I could use and revise. You can read, follow, listen to or watch these folks for more insights on the news, politics, religion and entertainment. I think all but two are U.S. citizens.

-------------------------

Sharyl Attkinsson: Investigative Journalist. "Full Measure." NYT Bestseller
Fred Barnes:  executive editor of The Weekly Standard; appears on the Fox News
Glenn Beck: political commentator, author, television network producer, filmmaker, and entrepreneur
Bill Bennett: pundit, politician, political theorist, author; Reagan's Secretary of Education,1985-1988
Brent Bozell: Founder, President Media Research Center; columnist, TV commentator
Breitbart
Tammy Bruce: nationally syndicated radio host, author, and political commentator. Lesbian.
Bernard Chapin
Pat Condell
Ann Coulter: Lawyer, author of numerous books, columnist, frequent TV guest
Steven Crowder
Monica Crowley: Columnist, political commentator on Fox, talk radio personality, and author. PhD.
Mark Dice
Matt Drudge
 Dinesh D'Souza
Larry Elder
Eric Erikson
Nigel Farage
Richard Fernandez
John Fund
Mike Gallagher
Pamela Gellar: Commentator, blogger. Activist for the Counter-jihad movement
Paul Gigot
Jonah Goldberg
Joe Dan Gorman
 Greg Gutfield
Sean Hannity
Daniel Hannon
Victor Davis Hanson
Daniel Henninger
Hugh Hewitt
Jim Hoft
David Horowitz
Mike Huckabee
Brit Hume
Laura Ingraham: radio talk show host, book author, political commentator, guest host for O'Reilly
Boris Johnson
Alex Jones
Andrew Klavin
Charles Krauthammer
Bill Kristol
Michael Ledeen
Mark Levin
Dana Loesch: talk radio host, television host at TheBlaze and author. Big 2nd amendment fan.
Rush Limbaugh
Frank Luntz
Heather MacDonald: political commentator, journalist City Journal, author War on Cops
Andrew McCarthy
Gavin McGuinness
Michelle Malkin: political commentator, blogger, author 4 books, weekly syndicated column.
 Michael Medved
Dennis Miller
Dick Morris
Charles Murray
Peggy Noonan
James Okeefe
Bill O'Reilly
John Podhoretz
 Dennis Prager
 AlfonZo Rachel
 Michael Ramirez
 Glenn Reynolds
Rockin Mr. E
Karl Rove
Michael Savage
Buck Sexton
Ben Shapiro
Thomas Sowell
Bret Stephens
Mark Steyn
John Stossell
Kimberley Strassel:Wall Street Journal Editorial Board, weekly "Potomac Watch"
James Taranto
Stacy Washington
 Matt Walsh
Michael Walsh
Paul Joseph Watson
Allen West
Bill Whittle
 Geert Wilders
 George Will
Walter E. Williams
 Kevin Williamson
 Milo Yiannopoulos

Gluten free snacks--bleh

There are many people buying gluten free products who don't need to--but I actually bought a snack item yesterday because I thought it tasted better than the "real" product.  At the after-church fellowship hour at UALC, gluten free honey mustard pretzels had been offered.  I'd tried them, and really liked them.  So I bought a bag of Snyder's Honey Mustard and Onion Pretzel sticks gluten free to have for snacks before dinner last night with guests.  Now perhaps I over did--I've been known to have a soft place for salty snacks--but I had a lot of stomach distress later in the evening.  So today I looked at the list of ingredients.

Corn starch
Potato starch
Palm oil
Tapioca starch
Dextrose
Sugar
Water
Salt
Cellulose Gum
Onion powder
Baking powder
Soy lecithin
Citric Acid
Maltodextrin
Yeast
Mustard flour
Modified cornstarch
Vinegar,
Spice and herb
Vinegar powder
Honey Powder
Spice and coloring (contains turmeric)
Natural flavoring
Soda

Interestingly, in small print, "We are not connected with "Snyder of Berlin" of Berlin, PA 15530.  This is package is Snyder's of Hanover.  I wondered if they were originally together and so I did a little research and learned that descendants of the Snyders of the 19th century who had their plant in Hanover relocated in Berlin and had different ideas, particularly about potato chips. So there was a split.  But that's neither here nor there; why did the gluten free snack cause me digestion problems when regular (less flavorful pretzels) didn't?  The basic ingredients of pretzels are wheat flour, sweetener (usually sugar or corn syrup), water, yeast, and salt with some egg wash to make them crispy.  In my case, less is better than all the tricks to go gluten free.  I wonder how many people pick up gluten free processed food at the market and don't read the ingredients?

Still have half a bag.  I think it goes into the trash.

Brief explanation of Obamacare

Borrowed from Chris Long who borrowed it; a short explanation of how Obamacare works.

Here is the 2700 page Obama Care condensed to 4 sentences.....

As it seems to be working, this is according to plan!
1. In order to insure the uninsured, we first have to un-insure the insured.
2. Next, we require the newly un-insured to be re-insured.
3. To re-insure the newly un-insured, they are required to pay extra charges to be re-insured.
4. The extra charges are required so that the original insured, who became un-insured, and then became re-insured, can pay enough extra so that the original un-insured can be insured, free of charge to them.

(This is called “redistribution of wealth” … or, by its more common name, SOCIALISM.)

Probably not potato chips and ice cream

“The Mediterranean-style diet (MedDiet) involves substantial intake of fruits, vegetables, and fish, and a lower consumption of dairy, red meat, and sugars. Over the past 15 years, much empirical evidence supports the suggestion that a MedDiet may be beneficial with respect to reducing the incidence of cardiovascular disease, cancer, metabolic syndrome, and dementia. A number of cross-sectional studies that have examined the impact of MedDiet on cognition have yielded largely positive results. The objective of this review is to evaluate longitudinal and prospective trials to gain an understanding of how a MedDiet may impact cognitive processes over time. The included studies were aimed at improving cognition or minimizing of cognitive decline. Studies reviewed included assessments of dietary status using either a food frequency questionnaire or a food diary assessment. Eighteen articles meeting our inclusion criteria were subjected to systematic review. These revealed that higher adherence to a MedDiet is associated with slower rates of cognitive decline, reduced conversion to Alzheimer’s disease, and improvements in cognitive function. The specific cognitive domains that were found to benefit with improved Mediterranean Diet Score were memory (delayed recognition, long-term, and working memory), executive function, and visual constructs. The current review has also considered a number of methodological issues in making recommendations for future research. The utilization of a dietary pattern, such as the MedDiet, will be essential as part of the armamentarium to maintain quality of life and reduce the potential social and economic burden of dementia.”

Adherence to a Mediterranean-Style Diet and Effects on Cognition in Adults: A Qualitative Evaluation and Systematic Review of Longitudinal and Prospective Trials. Roy J. Hardman, Greg Kennedy, Helen Macpherson, Andrew B. Scholey and Andrew Pipingas. Frontiers in Nutrition, vol. 3, page 22 -, 2016. DOI 10.3389/fnut.2016.00022

If you're on the fence; if you call yourself a Christian. . .

An excellent analysis, with the first point pretty much saying it all.

 1) The Democratic and Republican party platforms are as different as night and day, in my opinion, as far apart as evil vs. good. The 51-page Democratic platform is the most leftist ever. . . It is thoroughly socialistic (a socialist is a communist without a gun). The 54-page GOP platform is one of the strongest GOP platforms ever. A biblically alert person could be comfortable with almost all of it. Party platforms are a big issue to me. Although some "blow off" party platforms, I do not. . . If a person is not drawn to the "top-of-the-ballot" candidate, they ought to at least consider voting for the candidate attached to the best party platform.

http://www.charismanews.com/politics/opinion/59206-answering-the-big-question

4) There is no need to rehash them [Trump's bad behavior and language] here. So we won't. But let's turn to the other candidate. Although America has had some scandal-ridden candidates in its history, we have never seen any one major party candidate more constantly scandalous as Hillary (along with her husband). She seems to exceed all previous boundaries for wrongdoing. The scandals just don't stop. In the same way we did not take time to list all of Trump's misstatements, neither will we here rehash the seemingly continuous string of horrific scandals of the Clintons.

16) Freedoms come in "threes." Political freedom, economic freedom and religious liberty coexist together. Take one away and the other two will eventually disappear. One cannot exist without the other two. The genius of America is that it had all three, until recently. Trump fully grasps the loss of religious liberty. I have heard him speak on it in person on several occasions. He knows that economic and political freedoms are evaporating. He will reverse that. Hillary will decimate all three.

Why we need to stop Hillary

If every pro-life advocate voted against her, she wouldn't win. Don't sit back and let someone else do it because your candidate didn't win. My first three choices didn't either and boy, did I pout for a few days. But I looked at her views on abortion, the pending Supreme Court nominees, and her general criminal behavior, and had to suck it up.

She's not keen on the 2nd amendment although she does use armed security guards to protect her property and person. She criticizes Trump for wanting better vetting of Muslim refugees, but there was a fence around the DNC in Philadelphia and strict ID requirements so that no one could get in if not a delegate. (Although they did have to hire actors to sit in the seats for her speeches.)  She doesn't like our religious rights guaranteed in the Bill of Rights and will probably bring the full weight of her office to stop anyone from speaking out against government policies in any organization that has government grants or tax benefits--like all churches. It's already in the Johnson tax law, but haven't seen it used.

The email leaks, her tax returns showing her "charity" deductions all go the Clinton Foundation, the trail of bodies following her (another one recently in a suburb of DC--explosion, fire I think), the gun running reveals of this week, her record as Secretary of State during the creation of ISIS, her outrageous speaking fees which are just pay to play for foreign governments, hiring lawyer Khan to speak against Trump at the DNC, and on and on.  If you're supporting Hillary Clinton, why?

Hillary's pay to play Foundation and her gun running

I'm pretty sure Glenn Beck was claiming this in explaining 4 years ago what happened in Benghazi, but was probably ignored or called crazy by the other media. I recall his drawing on his chalk board a map of how the armaments moved, but ended up in the wrong hands.

"In Obama’s second term, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton authorized the shipment of American-made arms to Qatar, a country beholden to the Muslim Brotherhood, and friendly to the Libyan rebels, in an effort to topple the Libyan/Gaddafi government, and then ship those arms to Syria in order to fund Al Qaeda, and topple Assad in Syria". http://www.daily-sun.com/post/157634/Wikileaks-confirms-Hillary-sold-weapons-to-ISIS

96% of Hillary and Bill's charitable deductions went to the infamous Clinton Foundation.
Somehow, I don't think this is the way a 501c3 is supposed to work, if it were, we'd all set one up and pay ourselves and claim it on our taxes. But I'm guessing it's legal because Congress sets up these laws and rich politicians campaign against rich businessmen saying they are the crooks.
http://dailycaller.com/2016/08/12/96-percent-of-hillarys-charitable-donations-in-2015-went-to-clinton-foundation/

Why didn't she release her tax information during the primaries when running against socialist Bernie Sanders? I don't care if Trump ever releases his tax returns--they couldn't be as damning as Hillary's. He may not even be as wealthy as she is.  Over $10 million in speaking fees--ranging from $225,000 to $400,000. We've all heard this gravel voiced granny Gertie speak. Hopefully, her foreign audience had to listen through headphones to a translater.   That's just pay for play. And Washington Post is so biased in this article it doesn't even mention the "charity" she donated to--her own foundation. I also watched the ABC coverage of this, and it also didn't mention where her charitable deduction went, and immediately pounced on Trump!   https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/clinton-releases-2015-tax-return-calls-on-trump-to-release-his/2016/08/12/759bf95a-60a7-11e6-8e45-477372e89d78_story.html

Joe Biden and Gay Marriage

For the life of me, I don't understand why the "I'm Catholic but" people don't leave the Roman Catholic church and join any one of 35,000 different Protestant groups, probably 20,000 of which don't care at all what you believe. Joe Biden, Nancy Pelosi and John Kerry give Catholicism a bad name. Catholics have a central authority, they cover more scripture in a month of daily masses than other churches do in a year, and they have a Pope, some better than others. They have up to the minute documents written by scholars on marriage, abortion, education, serving the poor, government, war, immigration, euthanasia, etc. and a catechism so fat you can use it as a door stop. They have beautiful cathedrals and great music.

Anything goes in Protestant churches, and you can leave because of the sermons or the potlucks and walk down the street and join one more to your liking. You can choose from hard rock or old hymns and liturgy for your worship style. You can be your own pope and decide what the Bible says about marriage and abortion and no one can contradict you because the Holy Spirit told you. 

 

 I just wish someone would ask them to leave and stop calling themselves Catholics. Many churches are looking for them and their wealth and would welcome them. http://www.ncregister.com/daily-news/joe-bidens-unfaithful-catholic-witness-on-marriage/

Republican Party leadership is dishonest

The media are really jazzed that Mark Foley was at a Trump campaign rally. Yes, a gay Republican they drove out of office for phone calls with teen boys. Like when have they ever cared before--they want to name a ship after Harvey Milk who had a 16 year old sex partner. They think this is equivalency for the Muslim father of the gay night club shooter being at a Hillary speech.

The Republican "leadership" is acting badly. After making all candidates in their primaries pledge support for the winner they are saying NO, NO, we didn't mean Trump. He's not a politician and he says ridiculous things. So they'll support Hillary who actually DOES ridiculous things, illegal things, sneaky and awful things. Hillary who says it's OK to abort a baby on it's due date. Ayesha Kreutz says,

"Look I might not be a Trump fan but he won the Republican nomination fair and square, which is more than I can say for Hillary, those of you who are talking about the RNC pulling funding and support from him are wrong. We have a primary process and he won. The RNC has an obligation to support him now. If you/I didn't want him we should have found a way to win. Period. It is petty to keep pushing the RNC to ditch him. It is not American, don't like the process get involved and get it changed, like so many of us have done and keep trying to do, with little to no help although the voices of whining are many. I get Trump is a progressive Republican or blue dog Democrat and having him as the nominee sucks, I get it but HE WON it. So the issue is not him but us. As well let me say about Trumps situation now, if he wants votes the onus is on him to win the votes. No one owes him their vote, he has to earn it or win it. We are in the general and you have choices, vote for Trump, Killary, the Libertarian, or just vote down ticket and leave President blank but please stop with all the Trump withdraw stuff, it is weird and sad.

http://www.cnn.com/2016/08/09/politics/hillary-clinton-emails-judicial-watch/index.html

Do you remember the film about the Bush assassination?

No? Well, it was in 2006, I think. It won a prize. The Left can make a film about shooting an American Republican President in 2007 and win a prize, but it also invents threats against unqualified presidential candidates. The outrage and spin about Trump "threatening" an assassination of Hillary isn't real--it's an opportunity to smear Trump. Hillary mentioned in 2008 when Obama was the obvious choice that the campaign wasn't over--after all, look what had happened to Bobby Kennedy to change that campaign. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-405644/George-Bush-assassination-film-wins-award.html

"Death of a President" chronicles the sniper shooting of Bush on October 19, 2007, during a trip to Chicago and the ensuing investigation.

The film blends archival footage of Bush interspersed with fierce anti-war protests and other fictional scenes crafted by the filmmakers.

Actors posing as administration officials and Secret Service agents were digitally grafted into some images of the president and his entourage.

The filmmakers said they chose to use Bush rather than substitute a fictitious president to heighten the authenticity.

"I'm thrilled that the film is going to be shown in cinemas in the US in the near future," Mr Range said. "That's proof that people can see beyond the premise and see that it's a film about this post-9/11 world that we live in."

However, the £2million movie sparked controversy in America and the British film-makers had to be guarded by private security men at the film festival after threats were made on their lives.

The Republican and Democratic National Conventions, guest blogger Gerard J. Gianoli, M.D.

A Tale of Two Conventions—Controversy and Deceit

Gerard J. Gianoli, M.D.

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times…” It was a time of controversy and a time of deceit. The Republican and Democratic National Conventions, now just over, showed some stark contrasts.

The Republican National Committee along with many in the GOP were less than pleased with the eventual nominee—Donald Trump. However, the controversy surrounding Mr. Trump’s nomination, for all its warts, was open for everyone to see. There was never any secret that the “GOP establishment” didn’t want a Trump nomination. Some of the prominent GOP stalwarts refused to endorse Mr. Trump and were absentees from the convention. In fact, Mr. Trump invited his vanquished opponents to speak at the convention and, like Senator Cruz, they were not constrained in what they could say. Such is the reality of a true democratic process—someone wins, the others lose, and some are sore losers. That’s all pretty much normal and expected. Regardless of who wins, there will always be discontent.

Contrast this to the Democrat primaries. All along the Democrat Party claimed to be neutral during the primary process, while Senator Bernie Sanders, among others, claimed there was favoritism and collusion. Recently leaked emails show that the process was anything but open and fair. It seems that the Democratic National Committee was in the tank for Secretary Clinton from the beginning, and worked at undermining the Sanders campaign.

Of course, Senator Sanders was unaware of the collusion against him when he endorsed Hillary Clinton, and he has since left the Democrat Party—a move that has not made many headlines in the press, but should have. When was the last time a presidential contender left in such manner? Even Ted Cruz—the sore loser of the GOP that made national headlines with his non-endorsement speech—is still a Republican. With its dishonest and conniving nature exposed by the emails, can we believe anything the DNC espouses?

Another claim long held by conservatives—of a liberal bias in the media—has been more than confirmed with the email leaks. They show not just bias but actual collaboration with the DNC and the Clinton campaign. Can we rely on independent information from the media, after seeing this collusion?

Although FBI director James Comey refused to recommend prosecution of Hillary Clinton, he did expose her extreme dishonesty with the American people, while essentially stating that Secretary of State Clinton and her staff were guilty of extreme incompetence. Both the dishonesty and the incompetence were known in advance of Comey’s statements. The only surprise was his refusal to recommend prosecution. Currently, Mrs. Clinton is professing that she has been exonerated by Comey—another untruth. How can we trust anything she says?

Donald Trump has been a very polarizing candidate, but looking at his past, he generally accomplishes what he says he will do. You may or may not like his policy positions, but we can generally conclude that they are what he says they are. One of the most important qualities of a leader is honesty. A leader who is not trusted cannot lead. While dishonesty is always a factor in political elections, dishonesty to this degree has not been a presidential election issue in my lifetime. The choices we have from our major parties are between a polarizing figure and a dishonest one.

While controversy surrounded the GOP convention, deceit was the overriding theme of the Democrats’ convention. Regardless of one’s feeling about Mr. Trump, he’s been forthright in his positions. Now knowing via the leaked emails of the media’s collaboration with the DNC and the Clinton campaign, we can understand why they will hammer Mr. Trump on any issue they can. However, given the level of deceit emanating from the Democrat Party, Secretary Clinton, and co-conspirators in the media, any rational American should disqualify them for this presidential election.

Gerard Gianoli, M.D., F.A.C.S. specializes in Neuro-otology and Skull Base Surgery.  He is in private practice at The Ear and Balance Institute, located in Covington, but is also a Clinical Associate Professor in the Departments of Otolaryngology and Pediatrics at Tulane University School of Medicine.  He pioneered treatments for Superior Semicircular Canal Dehiscence and other vestibular disorders.  His private practice has a worldwide reach, with patient referrals coming from all over the United States and from around the world.

Dr. Gianoli opted out of Medicare in 2001 and has had a 100% third-party-free practice since 2005.  He’s lectured and written extensively (as well as had numerous media interviews) on third party free medical practices and free market medicine.  His editorials have appeared in The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Investor’s Business Daily, The Hill and other popular periodicals.

He has received numerous awards, including the American Academy of Otolaryngology’s Honor Award, and has been named in America’s Top Doctors and America’s Top Physicians every year since their inception in 2001 and 2003 respectively.  Dr. Gianoli practices all aspects of neuro-otology but has a special interest in vestibular (balance) disorders.  He has researched, lectured and published extensively on the topic of vestibular disorders.  Website: http://www.earandbalance.net/

For loyal Democrats

DEMOCRATS. I know how loyal you are. It's an admirable quality, except at the fringes of insanity. I used to be one of you and never questioned a candidate selected by the party. But how long will you hang in there with this?

"Hundreds of pages of emails, including many that Hillary Clinton didn’t turn over to the government, have been released by the nonprofit Judicial Watch. A report in the Wall St. Journal’s news pages says they “offer fresh examples of how top Clinton Foundation officials sought access to the State Department during Mrs. Clinton’s tenure.” Among the foundation donors that Clinton aide Huma Abedin offered to assist was Gilbert Chagoury. The Journal notes, “In the mid-1990s, he was known for his close association with Nigeria’s military dictator, Sani Abacha, which helped him land lucrative business contracts in construction and other areas.” (Wall St. Journal, August 10, 2016)

In case you're inclined to discount the WSJ, studies have shown that in its news coverage, it is our most liberal national newspaper.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3732075/Secret-emails-reveal-Hillary-s-closest-aide-took-orders-Clinton-Foundation-open-State-Department-doors-one-biggest-donors.html
 
http://nypost.com/2016/08/09/new-emails-show-huma-scheming-for-hillary/

                                           

Trump has no blood on his hands; Hillary does

Trump is trying to rally and warn pro-2nd amendment Americans about Hillary's Supreme Court choices changing the face of America, and Democrats are calling it an assassination threat. Didn't they scream that about Palin using the word crosshairs in a campaign blaming her for Gabby Gifford's shooting? Democrats actually do kill thousands and thousands of helpless Americans every year, who can't fight back or even speak out, the unborn, so they are very quick to blame others to deflect their bad behavior and abortion for any reason, even sex, platform.

Now Hillary can deflect attention from her behavior which caused the deaths of Americans in Benghazi and focus on imaginary fiction building on Trump's calling for gun owners to vote.

While Democrats cry out about Trump's words, Republicans are doing a body count, adding up the suspicious non-combat deaths of journalists and DNC staffers in Hillary's wake during this campaign. Broadcast media will never report these "suicides" and "murders." I wouldn't even expect to see it in a poorly made PAC ad, although if it were reversed, Democrats would have the jail cell ready for Trump.