The Christmas sweater--almost

I almost had a beautiful, new white fluffy sweater for the holiday season. On one of his daily walks my husband thought he was picking up trash as he does on these walks, and he found a sweater and sports bra, both with all the tags attached. The sweater was about $100 and the bra $28. The next day he found the sack, all torn up. They were from Victoria’s Secret, (Madewell brand, also available at Nordstrom's) so we have no idea if they were thrown out a window by a passing car, or left somewhere and a dog dragged them into the ravine. Only one sleeve was damp on the sweater (there was snow on the ground), and it was my size, so after I advertised it on Facebook and got no response from my local friends who might have been driving on Kenny Road, I washed it on gentle and air dried it. It was unbelievably soft and luxurious. Although it was a “small”, it was sort of baggy and loose with little white “snowballs” attached. The bra had "Victoria Sport" printed across it and was so small it probably wouldn’t make it around one of my thighs. How do people wear those torture garments that cut off circulation? Anyway, the softness must have been created by short threads woven into the yarn, because this sweater fuzzed all over everything. I didn’t dare sit on our dark couch, and my dark slacks looked like I’d been in a snow storm. So it will go to the clothing donation box.

Clipped from a Nordstrom ad.  I wouldn't wear it with jeans.

How do we restore trust in the media? by Matt Waite

Each year Nieman Lab asks some of the smartest people in journalism what they think is coming in the new year. Here is one prediction for 2017. . . Matt Waite, Journalism Professor at the University of Nebraska.

Here’s my prediction for 2017. It’s the safest prediction I could make beyond the sun coming up in the morning. It’s aimed right at the people who run news organizations.

You won’t fix this. Any of this. Not in 2017. Not soon.
You won’t fix trust in news because…
You won’t fix how news gets made because…
You won’t fix how you hire senior leadership to diversify your thinking because…
You won’t fix what stories are selected because…
You won’t change who you hire to do the stories because…
You won’t fix the ways that stories are written to be more transparent and more directly sourced to give people a reason to trust you because…
You won’t fix the lack of training in newsrooms that could retrain reporters to source stories more explicitly because…
You won’t fix the content management systems to require sourcing on stories to be transparent and structured and visible because…
You won’t fix the technology leadership in the company because…
You won’t fix the thinking that makes you believe you’re not a technology company because…
You won’t fix the belief that trust and fake news is Google and Facebook’s problems and not yours because…
You still don’t believe you’re the problem.

Wake me when you do.

 http://www.niemanlab.org/2016/12/the-people-running-the-media-are-the-problem/

What will Trump's economic policy be?

 "Slow growth is anti-poor and anti-minority. Here’s a simple way to analyze economic policy: Ask how the policy changes the probability of a young person finding a job. If the policy increases their chances, it’s good policy. If it decreases the probability, it’s bad policy." Bill Watkins, California Lutheran University

Small business owners being bullied

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NMn3WycWJsg

This cake artist won't produce art for witchcraft, or bachelor parties, or a same sex wedding. He'll serve gays for any other event and has gay friends. But the LGBTQ community began to bully him. Sort of like the left is bullying any celebrity who would go against their Marxists principles and perform for the inauguration of Trump whom they hate. Even a blind opera singer. That hate crime is legal. Jack Phillips doesn't hate anyone, but big government is stepping on his first amendment rights, but it won't step in and stop the leftists harassing a president. Watch the video that follows this one with Neil Cavuto. Pay attention, America.

 https://www.adflegal.org/detailspages/client-stories-details/jack-phillips

Little things mean a lot--Hillary was a weak candidate

Outside of California, Donald Trump won the popular vote as well as the electoral college votes.  Why? Hillary Clinton spent a lot more money and had the backing of her party and Super PACs;  List of key donors to Super PACs. She also had the support of all the major mainstream media outlets--broadcast, ABC, NBC, CBS--public, and cable; New York Times, Washington Post, LA Times.  The Northeast and the far west were Clinton country. But not flyover country.

She was out of touch. Didn't notice, or didn't care what the little guy was seeing or feeling. The recession was over in June 2009, but for many who could tell.   Although she didn't change bathroom policies or close down bakeries and bankrupt the owners, the cloud of Obama hung over her campaign and probably did more to sink her than Comey, Huma's husband and Julian Assange. Everyone knew, because Obama told us, they would be voting on his policies. His personal popularity has never diminished--but his policies were never popular.  She ignored the outrage over rising health care costs. People felt unsafe, believed the borders were being threatened. She did not present a strong image and formerly had supported a wall/fence.

The eleven videos of Planned Parenthood personnel discussing the sale of baby parts came out during the campaign, as did Clinton's support for abortion for any reason, at any time.

"Hillary Clinton defended the practice of partial-birth abortion in the final presidential debate on Wednesday (Oct. 19), obscuring her belief that appeals to the “health” of the mother would make any abortion legal at any point during a pregnancy."  http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2016/oct/20/hillary-clinton-hides-behind-health-mother-defends/

Then there were the Project Veritas Bob Creamer videos explaining how the campaign was being manipulated.  He was a very close insider in the White House--his wife is in the House of Representatives for Illinois. He helped design Obamacare--when he was in prison!

 "The first video explained the dark secrets and the hidden connections and organizations the Clinton campaign uses to incite violence at Trump rallies. The second video exposed a diabolical step-by-step voter fraud strategy discussed by top Democratic operatives and showed one key operative admitting that the Democrats have been rigging elections for fifty years. This latest video takes this investigation even further."

And then there is the on-going FBI investigation of the Clinton Foundation and their foreign donors. 

A honey (baked) of a story

Joyce, who manages the gallery where my husband displays his art work, was standing in line at the Honey Baked Ham store on Sawmill Road, and observed an unusual display of generosity.  She told this story on Facebook today.

"Just witnessed a great example of generosity. Man buys 2 hams, tells the clerk that one is for his family and one was to give away. He buys both, takes them from the counter, and walks over to a lady standing in line. He hands her one of his hams and says "Merry Christmas!" The woman was stunned! Merry Christmas indeed!"

Christmas at a Homeless Camp in the Woods by Rich Garon, guest blogger

There were about fifty people in the woods, behind a strip mall that sits right across from one of the largest outlet malls on the east coast. There were clusters of tents and a shack or two. Looking carefully, I could see the winding paths that led me to another way of life. My first visit was a novelty. My grandson and I had arranged with one of the homeless men at the camp in the woods to bring the group produce from a nearby food pantry. I’ll call him Sam. He was tall and led us to his site, which seemed to be very well organized. We didn’t speak long and he thanked us for the meals our church had brought earlier in the week. The air-conditioning in our car revived us from the stifling heat that hung in the woods that early July day.

A group of us continued bringing produce from the farmer’s market, chickens from Costco, and some gas for the one or two generators that powered some small fans fighting the oppressive heat. We continued this routine for a while and spent time getting to know the men and several women who called these woods home. “I’ll be glad when the fall comes,” a guy named Billy said.

We were all new to helping the homeless, but it soon dawned on us that produce, chickens and gas weren’t really the answer. As we became familiar with the people in the woods, we learned about them and realized their lives were complicated; that divorces, job losses, arrests, addictions, or chronic health issues had led them into the woods. In some cases, events unfolded abruptly. In others, it took a string of setbacks before they claimed the spot on which they set-up their tents. We gave them money at times. It seemed they always needed little things; that is, until we had to shell out $200 to get Randy’s car out of the impoundment lot so he could travel a considerable distance to his job. 

As we tried to help, we realized we really didn’t have a plan, so we decided to give money to groups we were told were more expert in helping the homeless. We still visited the homeless; many who by now had become our friends. We took them out to dinner occasionally, tried to interpret undecipherable forms and letters they received from county and state aid agencies and recognized each individual required more help and guidance than we could provide.

Remember how Billy was looking forward to the fall? Well, fall was short-lived that year and winter rolled-in with chilling winds and heavy snows. We brought shoeboxes full of toiletries and other notions. Billy even erected a beat-up Christmas tree. He situated it near a memorial of Christmas decorations dedicated to his twenty-five-year-old friend, Mantu, who froze to death one night outside his tent. Our friend, Sam, who had become increasingly ill, almost died one sub-freezing night when someone stole his propane heater. Such was Christmas that year in the homeless camp.

We were able to get Sam into transitional housing, but his medical condition was beyond what the home could accommodate. He was asked to leave. The snow had been replaced by the brutal heat of July, and his overall health declined rapidly. We tried to get him into a facility, but were told there was a two-year waiting list at most places. We spoke to another agency and they said they’d be pleased to help, but he’d need a fixed address. There was also little help available from non-profits.

We did eventually find a small studio apartment for Sam, and then one for Billy. We schooled ourselves in learning to navigate the bureaucratic tangle of regulations that tried to discourage us from finding out the types of assistance to which they were entitled. 

You see, most homeless people don’t have cars to get to assistance offices, and they don’t have computers to complete forms online. They don’t understand the importance of seeking medical help for a problem before it worsens. Many individuals, church groups, and non-profits—while well-meaning—often support competing programs, and local governments provide inadequate funds to address the problem. 

Sam and Billy have become family to us, and we’re going to continue taking care of them as family. Who would have thought that could have developed from our initial trip into the woods? There are plenty of other Sam’s and Billy’s who desperately need help, especially this winter. If you would like to help, check out non-profits and houses of worship in your area who work with the homeless. Any amount of time you have, can help those so in need. 

Rich Garon is the author of Felling Big Trees (BookBaby, December 2016), a novel about a congressman turning from politics to make a positive change on a disillusioned society. All proceeds from the book will go toward WhyHunger.org.  He currently works with the Immanuel Anglican Church in Woodbridge, VA, where he coordinates the homeless ministry and particularly dedicates his focus to helping individuals who live in the woods. Learn more at www.richgaron.com.

President Obama and Fox News

President Obama has publicly condemned Fox News as against him (all the other media favored him, but he wanted them all). He blames Fox in part for Hillary Clinton's (his) losing the election. This is not true, but Fox did give more coverage to jihadists and massacres than the other channels, and that translates in people's minds as a security failure, aka the president's failure. Fox also gave more coverage to the decimation of Christian communities in war torn countries. Since about 80% of US citizens are considered Christian, Obama was seen as anti-Christian for not admitting Christian refugees. Other media sources ignore the plight of Christians. It starts to add up.

 http://www.newsweek.com/us-bars-christian-not-muslim-refugees-syria-497494

 http://fivethirtyeight.com/features/which-countries-terrorist-attacks-are-ignored-by-the-u-s-media/ 

The Christmas appeals for more safety net programs

 

 

As we transition to a Trump presidency, we'll see the anti-Trump rhetoric increase. Watch particularly for louder cries for anything with a safety net mission for the poor and low income. Despite their expansion over 60 years and 123 wealth transfer programs all of which have been bi-partisan (except Obamacare), you'll be told it is President Trump and the GOP who are the haters and stingy. So find a report published in 2015 or 2016, the height of the Obama reign with the recession over for 7 years, and keep it handy--just so you know that we are always told the programs are a failing, therefore they need to expand. 

 

"There are 42 million people in this country — 13 million of them children and over 5 million of them seniors — living in households struggling with hunger. This problem would be far, far worse if not for the nation’s very effective anti-hunger programs." (WhyHunger.org "School Breakfast at Half a Century," 2016) Every report says something similar. This time of year I am inundated with appeals from non-profits and parachurch groups to "end hunger," and "end homelessness." Often the organizations compete and work against each other.

 

The school breakfast program (about which the report discusses) has grown from about 80,000 in the first year of operation in 1966 to 14,900,000 last year. The total number of meals served annually in the program has climbed from just under 40 million in 1969 to more than 2.3 billion in 2015. If for some reason all the jobs programs of the coming administration were successful and every single mom or out of work dad had an above poverty level job, and every elderly person were reunited with family, there would be millions of government workers (housing, food, transportation, education, social work, academic researchers, etc.) out of a job, and it would start all over.

Remember the Polish jokes?

I was listening to Patrick Madrid this morning, and he observed that we don't hear the Polish jokes we heard back in the 60s and 70s--which were about American-Poles, not the ones living under the oppression of Communism. John Paul II, Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan brought down the Soviet Union--with the help of the collapsing economies of Eastern Europe--something that happens to Communist countries. The Poles survived the Nazis and the Russians and today 90% of the country is Catholic and thriving. According to Wikipedia, Poland has seen the largest increase GDP per capita (more than 100%) both among the former Soviet-bloc countries, and compared to the EU-15 (around 45%). It has had uninterrupted economic growth since 1992, even after the 2007 financial crisis. We could learn a lot from Poland--and that's no joke.

Being offended is a choice

Maureen Dowd's brother

If you receive or read on Facebook an article by Maureen Down about the Trump victory, before passing it along with that attribution, know that she states in her New York Times opinion piece she is quoting her brother, Kevin Dowd. I don't know if the guy exists or wrote "Election therapy for liberals," or if she's using it as a clever literary device to spice up her column--but the part about Kevin and his relationship to her will probably be deleted from the copy you receive. It just makes too much sense to be her views. It's unlikely that she could keep her job as a liberal columnist saying this:

"The election was a complete repudiation of Barack Obama: his fantasy world of political correctness, the politicization of the Justice Department and the I.R.S., an out-of-control E.P.A., his neutering of the military, his nonsupport of the police and his fixation on things like transgender bathrooms. Since he became president, his party has lost 63 House seats, 10 Senate seats and 14 governorships." [Kevin Dowd]

Never ending battle with books

 I wish my culinary skills matched my kitchen bookshelves. Yesterday we had our entry and kitchen floors cleaned (thanks to our son who made the arrangements), so the furniture had to be moved. I was able to remove maybe 7" of things I didn't need, and rearranged it all when we put it back. I just counted the cookbooks--33 of them--from hard bound, spiral bound, church ladies, and Upper Arlington Public Library Christmas collections, plus the little box of recipes from my mother, all the clippings from the Columbus Dispatch and printouts from internet recipe sites I keep in a folder. I need to entertain more, because it's really difficult to cull the culinary shelf.

My latest purchase for $2.00 at Marc's that won't be used--Taste of Home 2011 Collection--recipes are too esoteric and difficult. But I do like to look at the photos.  https://www.amazon.com/Taste-Home-Christmas-Catherine-Cassidy/dp/0898218306

We are hosting both Christmas Eve dinner and Christmas Day dinner; our son is donating the ham and bringing the wine, and our daughter will be contributing a sugar free pie. I have two sets of Christmas dishes to choose from.  Now to figure out the rest of the story.

Trump also won the popular vote--counting 49 states

Popular vote total outside California:
Trump: 58,474,401
Clinton: 57,064,530
_________________
Trump: + 1.4 million
...

I saw this on another post--that Hillary Clinton's popular vote margin came from Calfornia. If you're wondering why we have a representative government or why we are called United States of America"" instead of "California and Friends of America," this would be why.

Snopes confirms the number, grudgingly, and calls the source, "click-bait," as though Snopes doesn't depend on its advertisers (clicks) to make its profit.

John Rawls vs. Martin Luther King, Jr.

John Rawls, not Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929-1968), is the theorist/philosopher/author who most defines liberalism in the U.S. today.  President Clinton, just a decade after King's death, awarded Rawls (1921-2002) the National Humanities Medal saying he had been the most dominant figure in 40 years in shaping American thought.  In doing so, he moved us forever from King's vision of a community of love based on reconciliation, forgiveness, repentance and friendship to a "justice is fairness," but fairness as defined by Rawls, an atheist, and his followers without considering King's Bible based justice. Rawls believed that if we have consensus, and we can agree to disagree about life’s most fundamental questions, then hatred, bigotry, violence, persecution, and intolerance will be eliminated. As Dr. Phil would say, "How's that working out for you?" We've been at war the entire eight years of the Obama administration and most of the younger Bush administration. We've got riots, burning down cities, lack of participation in the labor force, ballooning student debt, regulations holding back job growth,  massive protests, laws about using bathrooms and locker rooms, and laws that put bakers and florists out of business for their religious beliefs. Tolerance, fairness, consensus and principles are just dictionary words to be learned so we can read an old history book.

"Today, Rawls’s theory—which defends the principles of egalitarianism, toleration, consensus politics, and societal fairness—informs much of contemporary liberalism’s aspirations, constitutional interpretations, domestic policies, and public rhetoric. It is hardly an exaggeration to say that the principles behind such laws as the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare, are most thoroughly argued by John Rawls. Much the same can be said of the Supreme Court’s reference to the “evolving understanding of the meaning of equality” in the 2013 same-sex marriage case, U.S. v. Windsor. Rawls’s silent influence has been immense.

Rawls believes that by rethinking America’s first principles we can make our world better. The difficulty, as he sees it, is that American society is filled with many competing notions of the good life and therefore different views of justice. This, in turn, leads to conflict. Rawls’s resolution is to define a theory of justice upon which everyone could agree without having to give up their personal convictions about the good life."http://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2014/08/john-rawls-theorist-of-modern-liberalism

So a man you've probably never heard of is influencing everything you think and do and the air you breath every day, and one you've learned about in school or watched on TV when he was alive has been all but forgotten.

We need more bullying PSAs

Ash Khare, immigrant from India, is an elector for Pennsylvania. He reported (on Fox) that he was getting 70,000 emails a day, 500 phone calls a day, and 1,000-1,300 letters a day, every day from people demanding, begging, bullying, pleading that he change his vote. When he got back from voting, he had 11,000 more emails waiting. He said, our name is not America, it is the United States of America, and the founders were very wise to set up a system where all the states can be represented. Their wisdom was certainly proved this year.

And how about harassing a blind singer so he won't perform at the inauguration. Andrea Bocelli, Italian born opera singer. These are certainly open minded, thoughtful people, aren't they?  Always concerned that the immigrant and the disabled be properly and fairly treated.

 http://www.telegraph.co.uk/music/news/andrea-bocelli-backs-away-trump-inauguration-much-heat-fans/

The Electoral College has voted--Trump will be president

It got wild the last few days, didn't it?  Wasn't sure the Electoral College system for protection against mobs and cabals was going to work.

I saw this clip several times. . . "This is my America," a 40-ish woman kept screaming giving the Hitler salute (what it is called when Republicans raise the fist) when the electors did the legal and moral thing--respected the voters of Wisconsin. I'm guessing that will go viral. Hope her mother wasn't watching. Or her kids. Not sure why she thought her one vote mattered more than all the rest of the Wisconsin voters.
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PBTAN3VlADA

The Left is really ramping up the Russia paranoia.  The Democrats are getting all prissy about Russia without knowing how the Russians will respond to strong leadership by our country. I would have guessed Putin would have preferred Clinton--it's been proven she can be bought.  Trump is probably too rich.  Obama seems to like Cuba and Iran--any others?

 http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2016/dec/18/obama-democrats-decry-trumps-ties-to-putin-after-o/


As a blogger, I get the strangest offers and announcements. "To many the election of Donald Trump brought confusion and despair, but it also roused new energies of political engagement. Convinced of the power of poetry to shape the way we understand and intervene in political life, Boston Review is proud to announce the publication of "Poems for Political Disaster." Sweet. So if you've been writing poetry in your safe space, here's a place to send them.

"Thirty percent of Democratic women reported cutting off online communication with someone for political reasons since the Nov. 8 election, according to a Public Religion Research Institute poll published Monday. They are more than twice as likely to blot out dissenting points of view from their social media timelines as Democratic men, who reported doing so at a 14 percent rate." Washington Times, Dec. 19, 2016.  Of course, if they've blocked me, they can't see this. My female Democrat relatives beat the rush--blocked me in 2015. I don't mind dissenting viewpoints, but it really bothers the soul of some people. Of course, I was a Democrat for forty years and understand the mindset.

The Rust Belt blames Obama, and rightly so

"Donald Trump hasn’t wasted time moving to revive America’s economic growth, with an emphasis on manufacturing. Critics may say the recent Carrier deal, which will save 800 American jobs, is small potatoes, but Mr. Trump’s pledge to reduce regulation is decidedly not. A new analysis confirms that the average industry’s regulatory risk has increased nearly 80% from 2010—and that this burden particularly hurts manufacturing and heavy industry. . . as regulatory risks grew and capital expenditures shrank, major corporations also cut jobs by more than 1.1 million. Among the biggest losers were heavy manufacturing, airlines, railroads, information technology and consumer products—America’s industrial core." The Rust Belt is Right to blame Obama, Wall Street Journal, Dec. 18, 2016