Another perspective on guns, guest blogger from Arizona

I live in Arizona halfway between Phoenix and Tucson at the intersection of I8 coming from San Diego and I10 connecting Phoenix and Tucson. I am about 2 hours north of the Mexican border. An Indian reservation stretches from the border all the way to Interstate 8. It is a major drug and human trafficking corridor with about 60% of the drugs coming into the U.S. coming across the Arizona border. I am surrounded by desert and small mountain ranges similar to what you see around Phoenix with Camelback and South Mountain if you’ve ever been there. The population in our area is around 60% Hispanic from many Central American countries with very low income levels, poor English skills and a high number of illegals. We have gangs in the area including MS-13. We have 5 prisons in the area mostly private serving the states of California and Hawaii and an ICE prison. We have an active Border Patrol station here part of the Tucson Sector. People that live here do so because they like the outdoors, nature, climate and of course the scenery including beautiful sunsets and night skies. People love to hike in the desert and mountain climb. Rattlesnakes, wildcats, mountain lions and the cartel members can be encountered on those hikes. It may be hard to believe but most rural roads are still dirt roads.

Having said all that, it is a good place to live. The cost of living is relatively low and access to the cities of Phoenix and Tucson is less than an hour away as is Phoenix Airport. Crime is actually quite low, less than in the larger cities. The biggest issues are robbery and drug related. But, most of the people I know have guns. They carry them while hiking or when traveling in less secure places. They are business owners who are small mom and pop operations. They are ex-military and now gun collectors. They are retired police. They are sheriff auxiliary on patrol with deputies. They are game hunters. They are farm operators with hundreds of acres of open land. They are ordinary people who feel more secure with a gun in the house. There are shooting ranges in the area that are heavily used. People think twice about breaking into a home or starting a confrontation with someone because you never know who has a gun. So in that case it is a deterrent. Most shootings here involve domestic disputes usually around drugs, mental illness or estranged spouses.

Everyone always looks at the mass shooting or violence in the bigger cities but what do you say to my neighbors who have and use guns correctly, for protection or for hunting. How do you structure laws to allow my neighbors to have guns but control mass shootings or inner city killings. I’ve always been taught to look at root causes. In this case is the gun the root cause or is it the laws on the books that are not being enforced or followed? Is it training on the proper use?  Just look at TV and movies and how guns are promoted. Should we start with outlawing video games, or limiting TV violence? It seems to have worked for drinking and smoking on TV shows and commercials.
Truthfully, I’m more frightened about being hit by a drunk driver or impaired driver than by being shot. We have laws against driving impaired, but yet it still happens and people die. What do we do, have laws outlawing cars to prevent drunk people driving them? We seem to be dancing around what to do with driving under drug influences. It’s an emotional issue for those who have been around and used guns all their lives. It reminds me of how traumatic is for someone to have to give up a driver’s license because of age after driving all their lives. A part of your life is being taken away. I also think the discussion is driven by the large number of deaths in any one instance. It’s like one large plane crash where hundreds die being heavily investigated trying to establish fault yet many more smaller plane crashes where one or two people are killed go unnoticed even though the total deaths is more in the single plane crashes.

The wrong questions about immigration; why do we aid Mexico?

We're asking the wrong questions about immigration. Why is Mexico exporting its poor and brown citizens north when it is a wealthy country?

Actually, we know why. Immigrants, legal and illegal, send money home. For Mexico, it's $24.8 billion, higher than oil revenues--and Mexico has a lot of oil. https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/BX.TRF.PWKR.DT.GD.ZS Stop that. It's cheaper than a wall, and more humane.

Have you ever seen a person of color or any ethnic diversity on Telemundo or Univision (both American companies immune from all diversity rules)? Is Mexico working to get rid of its population that is not European heritage? The Mexican government seems to be working with sanctuary cities to make sure they don't get their citizens back, especially the criminal element.

For U.S. businesses, Mexican immigrants are concentrated in service and construction industries and are good workers. For U.S. higher education institutions, Mexican immigrants are a ready source for ambitious students, eligible for aid. About 90% of DACA applicants and renewals are for Mexicans not born in the U.S. 

 

For the Democrat party, Mexican immigrants are seen as voters to be held close through special favors.

What are the NFL protests about?

 I have some suggestions.

•  If some players say this is about police, give each man a copy of the FBI Uniform Crime Reports.
•  If some players say this is about the election, give each man a copy of the constitution and underline the part about the electoral college.
•  If some players say this is about oppression, give each man a history of the civil rights movement since thousands shed blood in the 1860s, beginning with the formation of the KKK and Jim Crow laws (Democrat party), moving on to the desegregation of the schools and military, on to modern socio-economic statistics, and underscore poverty stats and single moms.
• If some players say it's about voting rights, show them the black voter turn out in 2008 and 2012 with higher voting rates for blacks than whites.
• If some think it's about income inequality, hand them a copy of their latest multi-million dollar contract to compare with their high school friends who didn't work as hard or get the scholarships to play in college.

Twitter blocks Rep. Marsha Blackburn

According to Politico and AP, Twitter is barring a top Republican Senate candidate Rep. Marsha Blackburn from advertising her campaign launch video on the service because a line about her efforts to investigate Planned Parenthood was deemed "inflammatory." Really? It's inflammatory to investigate use of fetal tissue, but not to threaten to assassinate the president? https://apnews.com/0d8828bd7d204b40af61172628d0a7f6

Monday Memories--our trip to Illinois and Indiana

We left early Thursday October 5 to make a quick trip to visit the siblings. Due to various frailties, we did a lot of eating out--2 restaurants in Mt. Morris, one in Byron, and one in Indianapolis--which I'll probably notice the next time I step on the scale. 

Brother Stan and me at the new condo in Byron

Stan and Casey with the beautiful view from the deck of their new home

Sister Jeanie and the new puppy, Diva

Getting acquainted with Diva

Niece Joan showing off her new look (lost 86 lbs)

Time lapse at sea

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AHrCI9eSJGQ

30 days of time lapse photography,  about 80,000 photos combined. 1500GB of Project files.  This has been viewed over 2,800,000 times, and I'm sure everyone enjoyed the experience.  Sri Lanka, Singapore, Hong Kong, etc. See how the cargo is loaded, unloaded. You'll feel very, very small.

Social justice warriors are off the leftist cliff

Attacks by the SJW and cultural Marxists are on the rise and going over the edge of reason. Social media assist them in these attacks on other citizens.

“For instance, on July 26, 2017, we [website Intellectual Takeout] published the article “I Was Once Transgender. Why I Think Trump Made the Right Decision for the Military”. The original article was published with a picture of a soldier greeting President Trump, which was acquired through a public domain, military images service. The soldier had nothing to do with the issue, it was just a good photo.

Nonetheless, a mob of people searched for the image online and finally tracked down the name of the soldier. They never checked to see if the name of the soldier in the picture matched the soldier's name who wrote the article. Having found the name, they then went after any public contact information they could find and began an e-mail and phone campaign against the soldier (who had no idea what was going on) to try and get the man removed from the service. The social justice warriors emailed him, his relatives, and both his commanding officers and fellow soldiers, they messaged him, his wife, his friends and relatives through Facebook, they called his military base, his home, and anyone else they could get a hold of, saying all manner of nasty things and attempting to destroy his professional career and social circles. How do we know? He and his wife both called our office and emailed to share the details, bewildered by the hate that they were receiving and begging us to pull the photo, which we did.

Again, that is not an isolated incident.“

 http://www.intellectualtakeout.org/article/we-had-pull-article-indoctrination

Are you still blogging?

Have blogs (a diary kept on the internet—web log) died?  Interesting to discover a research article that finds some merit in what I’ve been doing for 14 years. At one time I had 9 blogs, or was it 11? There was my general, catch-all that became increasingly political.  I had a sewing blog, art blog, retirement blog, immigration blog, church blog, health blog, a book blog, a first issue blog.  Many people dropped blogging for the micro-blog of Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, etc. Everyone is in a hurry, no time to write or to read.   I do both—sometimes Facebook my blog, or the other way around, but those short twits are too confining.

I still read a lot of blogs—political or craft or religious, usually. I love the quilting how-to blogs and the theology blogs.  As more and more became corporate or sponsored or cluttered with ads, they became less interesting.  But I’m still going—with no ads. That would be like work, and I’m retired.

http://firstmonday.org/ojs/index.php/fm/article/view/8065/6539

That so-called white privilege

Millions of Americans are designated white by the U.S. Census Bureau that perhaps you, especially on the academic left, have not recognized, such as Asian Indians, Lebanese, Syrians, Armenians, Jordanians, Iraqi, Kurds, Turkish, Egyptians, not just Irish and German ethnicity. Remember this the next time a college instructor hoping to get attention and tenure maligns or tries to "gaslight" white Americans of west or north European ancestry.

And interestingly, many of these "also white" ethnicities have higher incomes than European Americans. The highest is Indian Americans, like our current UN ambassador Nikki Haley, former governor of South Carolina and daughter of immigrants--their household income is over $107,000, (real U.S. median household income was $59,039 in 2016) whereas my poor Irish Americans are #48 at $64,525. Most of the Indian Americans are very entrepreneurial and focused on education, and most households are married couples. Work, education and marriage--it's a formula that can't be beat. Even Nigerian Americans are above Irish Americans, with a household income of $76,172 and 72.2% of the households are married couples. Census.gov
https://factfinder.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?src=bkmk

 Married couples with children under 18 years of age, according to the Census Bureau's Current Population Survey (Table HINC-04), made an average household income of $107,054 in 2013 and a median household income of $85,087. Married couples with NO children under 18 had an average household income of $91,870 in 2013 and a median household income of $70,995. Unmarried couples with children under 18 had an average household income of $65,337 and a median of $50,031. Call me crazy, but I think marriage and children have a positive effect on income and well being. Why do married couples with children do better financially than all others? "Perhaps it is because they are not primarily driven by greed but something quite the opposite: a willingness to make sacrifices so their children may live better lives."

https://www.cnsnews.com/commentary/terence-p-jeffrey/income-inequality-married-couples-kids-make-average-107054
 

Roe v. Wade

"We had an unplanned and unexpected pregnancy in the 70’s when abortion was rampant. And we gave serious thought to going that direction. We were young and active, just out of college and just getting started. We wanted children, but not right then. We decided against termination. Please indulge my “what if” for a moment:

“What If”‘ we had chosen abortion? There would be 4 grandsons I would not know, one of which I watched as a junior in high school pitch in his team’s first district baseball game of the season last Saturday. I would not be able to watch he and his next youngest brother play together on their high school football team that will be looking for their 15th State Championship in the Fall. (They won their 14th State High School championship last year) I would not know their 11 year old brother who is already becoming an accomplished pianist and song writer. Nor would I know their “little” brother, who at 8 years old is the most active, most outgoing and happy young man I’ve ever known, and is already a phenomenal athlete.

I would have not known their Mom who is one of the most amazing women alive today. She is brilliant, focused, hard working, hopelessly devoted to her family, and is the loving glue that holds our extended family together, plans every function and is an organizational and artistic genius. One other “what if” is probably the most sobering: we would be buried in the guilt of knowing we missed all of these people that would have been our descendants because we chose abortion. My “what ifs” are a bit scary. Think for a moment about yours." https://dnewman.org/roe-v-wade/

I want to be like Betty when I grow up

We went to Scotland for a week in June and our friends Howard and Betty, 82, who are in our couples group at church went to England, Wales and Scotland the last two weeks of August so they could see Tattoo, which we missed since it only performs in late summer.

"How was the vacation?"  "Oh it was wonderful!"  Except. . .

Howard had his wallet stolen with their credit cards and cash early in the trip. People on the tour offered them money to tide them over, but they watched every penny, bought no souvenirs, and made do with the cash Betty had.  His wallet was in a zippered leg pocket with a Velcro strip and he never felt the hand that took it until dinner.

Returning to the USA from Heathrow they boarded the plane to fly home, via Houston, and no one mentioned the Hurricane. They were told it was raining.

Theirs was the last plane in and then the airport was closed, and they had to find a hotel in a strange city because none of them would take the vouchers United provided.

Betty is being treated for a serious illness and had no more medicine left by the time they got to the US, and what she did have needed to be refrigerated.

When they finally found one by using Howard's I-pad to make a reservation and using the United van, it was a suite, with a refrigerator, but there were no cooking utensils or dishes. And there was no way to get food anyway, since they couldn't leave the hotel, and even if they could, everything was closed. The hotel experienced some leaking, but not in their room  and it was on the second floor which was good because the elevator was no longer working. The hotel was still serving breakfast, which got smaller each day since no supplies were coming in.

Howard became extremely ill while they were in the hotel, and they had to go to the ER, in a strange city, with almost everything closed. Before the trip he had photocopied all their medical cards, credit cards, passport, etc.

Betty told the clerk at the desk, who had only been working a day or two their dilemma, and she knew of a hospital open in her neighborhood and offered to drive them there after her shift. (There are angels out there). Because he had the photocopies, he was able to get through the paper work even with having had his wallet stolen.

Howard was treated in the ER, and given a prescription for an antibiotic, but the city was on lock down after 8 p.m. to prevent looting and they couldn't get it filled.

Meanwhile their daughter got them reservations on the first flight out of Houston to Chicago when the rain and storm let up and they were able to get out of town 3 days sooner than what they thought.

Neither one is quite well yet, but for 82, that isn't bad.

But it was a wonderful trip, with enough stories to last a lifetime.

Hello October

Meritocracy, the latest target

I caught the tail end of a Fox story on "meritocracy is a white myth" by yet another professor with pink out of control hair offering a class/workshop on how terrible American culture is. The idea that hard work merits advancement is just so much doggy poo. But then if you google it, you see this has been building at least for 10 years in the media elite like Atlantic and NYT. After all, Jenna Bush and Chelsea Clinton or even George Stephanopolous, a political operative of the Clinton years, didn't get their cushy TV jobs through merit--it was family, influence or money, or maybe all three. What goes around comes around, and soon the journalists who were writing about it 5 years ago, will become the latest victims of the Leftist smears, tossed aside after they are no longer useful, because they didn't deserve their jobs or graduating from Columbia or Berkeley.

https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2012/06/the-cult-of-smartness-how-meritocracy-is-failing-america/258492/

http://brandywine.psu.edu/person/angela-putman

Thinking about Western Civilization

I listen to a Catholic call-in radio talk show, and in August I heard a question that sounded like the man had been to one of those “gaslighting” workshops where the audience is led to believe that western civilization, especially “white” people, has ruined the world (instead of being the gift it is in architecture, music, literature, economics, etc.). How it works: The presenter will move from broad strokes with snippets of truth buried in mountains of lies to the individuals in the room who have probably been forced to attend. They are then brainwashed about white privilege and micro aggression and made to feel responsible for the KKK, Jim Crow and police killing black criminals.

The gist was:  “Why are all the disciples’ names in the Bible, “white” when they all lived in the middle east? “ Yes, the  caller identified certain names, “white.”  I almost giggled when I heard it, except I know he probably didn’t come up with that on his own.  Dr. Anders, the host, was very kind and explained (and I paraphrase), “In the English translation, all the names are anglicized, translated from the Latin and Greek, which were Hellenized from the Aramaic or Hebrew, the original language Jesus and his disciples spoke.  Peter is Pedro in Spanish, and Pierre in French, but it was Kephas or Cephas (stone, rock) in Aramaic, and Petros (rock, stone) in Greek and Petra in Latin (stone, rock).”  

However, the mistake the caller made is one many make when they read or hear a name and make assumptions about race, religion or sex, so I won’t fault him for being misled—if that is what happened.

 

If you click on that show, you'll find my question at about minute 11:12. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ubz1YHTVrPY

Revisionist sociology

Interesting that Ben Carson, who grew up poor, in the projects with a single mom who couldn’t read, is now called “not a typical black man,” but Colin Kaepernick, who has 3 white parents, a white girlfriend, private schools and scholarships, and wealth in the millions,  is supposed to have the scoop on what it means to be a minority male.

Friday Family Photo--Fall Cleanup

Neighbors buttoned up for Fall

A few sprinkles

Cleaning up the east side of cottage

 

Congress is the first word of the First Amendment

Back to the Lake for some fall clean up

Our internet is turned off, so I won't be taking my laptop.  I'll be reading my book, Being Mortal by Atul Gawande for our book club discussion on Monday.

When I was about 40, I noticed I was wearing my mother's hands. So whenever I look at them, she is with me! Dr. Gawande writes:   "40% of the muscle mass of the hand is in the thenar muscles, the muscles of the thumb, and if you look carefully at the palm of an older person (like me) at the base of the thumb, you will notice that the musculature is not bulging but flat. . . The hand has 29 joints, each of which is prone to destruction from osteoarthritis, and this will give the joint surfaces a ragged, worn appearance. The joint collapses.. . . The hand also has 48 named nerve branches. Deterioration of the cutaneous mechanoreceptors in the pads of the fingers produces loss of sensitivity to touch. Loss of motor neurons produces loss of dexterity (I really notice that--have to be very careful not to drop things). . . Using tiny buttons on a phone or touch screen display, becomes increasingly unmanageable."

I have all my permanent teeth, even my wisdom teeth. Dr. Gawande writes:  "In the course of a normal lifetime, the muscles of the jaw lose about 40% of their mass and the bones of the mandible lose about 20% becoming porous and weak. The ability to chew declines, and people shift to softer foods, which are generally higher in fermentable carbohydrates and more likely to cause cavities. By the age of 60, people in an industrialized country like the U.S. have lost, on average, 1/3 of their teeth. After 85, almost 40% have no teeth at all." p. 29, Being Mortal

California crime statistics

Each state compiles crime statistics and sends them on to the appropriate federal agency which then sorts and recompiles them into different category. This is the address of the California Homicide Report for 2015, Kamala D. Harris, Attorney General.

https://oag.ca.gov/sites/all/files/agweb/pdfs/cjsc/publications/homicide/hm15/hm15.pdf

The first thing you notice in this report (and the older ones which I looked at) is that there is a wealth of information on victims; almost nothing on the offenders. Since most violent crimes are committed by younger males within their own ethnic/racial group, we can only guess at the offender, but it's close.

In California for 2015

28.3% of the victims are black, who are 5.7% of the population for a rate of 23.5.

43.1% of the victims are Hispanic who are 39% of the population for a rate of 5.3.

21.2% of the victims are white, who are 38.5% of the population for a rate of 2.6.

http://www.mercurynews.com/2016/09/27/violent-crime-rises-in-california-u-s-but-is-still-low-compared-to-past/

http://www.ppic.org/publication/crime-trends-in-california/

The Athlete Crybullies

I don't care if workers peacefully protest climate change or gender dysphoria or abortion or advocate for their religion or non-science on their own time. If I hire an electrician, or pay a bill at the city building, or ask for an estimate to remove the animal in my attic, or get stopped by the police for speeding on Mountview Road, I don't want to get a lecture or advice on their pet beliefs. Football players are hired to do a job. And I'm disappointed to learn that Obama was paying them to "act" patriotic. So when he's out of office, they can start acting like spoiled kids. Now some are trying to make this about race? Well, OK, why is the NBA and NFL allowed to have 80% and 70% one race and not be subject to law suits by the government?

“Responding to a tip from one of his "boys," Smith brought up the fact that until 2009—eight years and a new Presidential administration after 9/11—players weren't on the field for the national anthem and instead generally remained in the locker room. According to Smith's boy (and the researcher at ESPN who checked it), the switch happened "because it was seen as a marketing strategy to make the athletes look more patriotic." " Sports.vice.com

NFL spokesman Joe Lockhart: "We also believe our players have a right to express themselves." Would that include expressing support for traditional marriage, or ridiculing popular beliefs on climate change, or refusing to accept transgenderism in their daughters’ locker rooms?

LeBron on Twitter: "Going to White House was a great honor until you showed up!" And this isn't the first time he's dissed the president. Probably 20 or so on Google. Poor loser, just like Hillary. Maybe in his next tweet he can list what Obama ever did for black people.  In December he said he’d never stay in a Trump hotel, and in November he was speaking out against the election.

Bill, the WWII veteran

Before the heat became unbearable,  I was on my walk in the apartment complex close by, and he was on his walker. I stopped to chat with him and found out he was born in 1925 and enlisted when he was 17. "I wasn't afraid to die, but I was afraid I might not be able to do what I was trained to do." He was on a destroyer, manning incredibly complex equipment--before he ever had a driver's license. He injured his hip in the war, and later in life broke it, so thus he's on a walker. The complex where he lives is beautiful and I like to walk there, but rarely meet anyone. Lucky me.

School closing due to heat

I don't know how many MMHS graduates remember this, but they actually did close the school one September in the 1950s because it was too hot. I was there. Of course, our homes didn't have AC or fans either, but . . . Today Columbus is sending the kids home early due to the heat.

Monday Memories--jury duty September 2002

From a letter. "I am on jury duty for two weeks and have been selected for a jury, but we’re not meeting until 1:30 this afternoon.  It seems like a strange way to run a circus, but apparently the judges are several weeks on civil and then on criminal, so our judge this week has been moved to criminal, so our case is being squeezed in to her new schedule.  This is the county, so there are about 90 people called for each week and you are on duty for two weeks. On the first day several women in our group went to City Center for lunch.  The orientation told us to get to know each other, and it seems a very compatible group. It is interesting to see the different ages, races, genders sitting around chatting like old friends. I'm feeling really patriotic. We get pep talks from court workers, lawyers and judges when they see us wilting from the waiting and the heat. I read on the bulletin board in the jury room that only 45% of Americans are called for jury duty and only 17% ever actually sit on a jury. Most cases go to mediation or are settled before they come to trial. The biggest challenge is getting there and parking.  I practiced several times the week before.

Now that I'm getting really good at navigating the streets of downtown Columbus, dodging the utility trucks tearing up streets, the orange barrels, and the construction sites, I have time to actually read the names of streets as I pass on my way to the construction site called Rt. 315. One main street is called "Commit to be Fit." It was apparently renamed by our mayor who is unhappy that we have won the honor of 5th fattest city in the USA.

 But I came down with a cold late Thursday.  Fortunately, my case didn’t meet on Friday, so I just laid around most of the week-end.  I had to cancel my birthday dinner with Phoebe and Mark, but Phoebe stopped by Sunday with a nice present, and on Saturday Mark brought me a box of Puffs and some tapioca.  Because of my heart medicine I’m not suppose to take any over the counter cold remedies.  So I just have to snuffle and sneeze through the testimonies."

Update 2017:  The case for which I was seated involved Ohio's infamous Scott-Pontzer insurance law which was finally reversed in 2003. It was incredibly confusing and caused me to lose chunks of faith in our laws and our jury system. It was referred to as the Golden Turkey award and had allowed employees and their families injured on their own time in their own cars to collect from their employers’ auto insurance policies

https://www.clevescene.com/cleveland/absurd-at-any-speed/Content?oid=1481862

Think about it.

From Russia, Russia, Russia to KKK

President Trump is tarred and feathered for not naming "Nazi" (before the invesigation) in Charlottesville. Naming them the next day wasn't enough, because, well, he was Donald Trump and no matter what he did, it would be wrong.

But the left, Democrat and progressive media and politicians all gave Obama a pass for refusing to say "Islamic Terrorist," even when the bodies were in front us in Orlando (49 people killed and 58 wounded), Ft. Hood (13 people killed and 30+ wounded, all military) and San Bernadino (14 people killed and 22 others seriously injured) and numerous other sites since 2009. Even when gays and military were targeted and a Christmas party were the scenes of massacres. Couldn't be Islam. Oh No.  Had to be something else. Workplace violence, an unhappy arranged marriage. Discrimination.  Only social media called Obama on it. Never the news media or his star struck supporters.

Donald Trump didn't refuse to use the word Nazi, but Obama refused to link Islam and terrorism. He called them murderers. Which was true. Using their own tactics and reasoning, was Barack Obama an Islamic Terrorist because he refused to say it?

And the media? Based on how they covered those attacks by angry Muslims, wringing their hands that there could be blow-back, they should have been writing editorials after Charlottesville worrying about how Nazis and supremacists were being maligned.

http://www.cnn.com/2016/09/28/politics/obama-radical-islamic-terrorism-cnn-town-hall/index.html

White hoods and black hoodies--who are the real fascists?

"At the annual party rally held in Nuremberg in 1935, the Nazis announced new laws which institutionalized many of the racial theories prevalent in Nazi ideology. The laws excluded German Jews from Reich citizenship and prohibited them from marrying or having sexual relations with persons of "German or related blood."" (Wikipedia)

"Yes, there is a fascist threat in America—but that threat is from the Left and the Democratic Party. The Democratic left has an ideology virtually identical with fascism and routinely borrows tactics of intimidation and political terror from the Nazi Brownshirts." (Dinesh D'Souza)

D'Souza in his book The Big Lie says to implement the Nuremberg Laws used the laws implemented by Democrats in the U.S. to determine racial identity, except they modified the "one drop" rule--the Nazis thought that was excessive.

Today Progressives suppress their nasty, vile history, and have moved fascism to the right wing column and distance themselves. If they admit it, it is simply "America," and not the Democrat party of the 19th and 20th century who imposed Jim Crow.  Today, we have Antifa--which is basically fascism, and Democrats won't denounce them. No free speech for fascists, right? Word play and twisting. And increasingly, Trump's Jewish children are being attacked, as bankers were in the last administration, because "everyone" knows who controls the banks. The Jews. The pattern continues.

The leftists who got tired of crying "Russia, Russia, Russia" and now realize Obama hacked the election, have turned to KKK smears, white supremacist links, nationalism, etc. Do Democrats remember the KKK was their terrorist organization and how many years Republicans fought their lynching terrorism? Democrats also know, from electing Donald Trump with constant negative publicity, they can do the same with the KKK. Encourage its growth by giving them free advertising. They are the modern fascists--who else would require citizens to purchase a crappy product and then fine or jail them if they refused?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X9YRmWFPZH0

Oregon offers free abortions for all--even illegals

Oregon Governor Kate Brown signed a bill which makes abortion free for every resident of the state by mandating insurance companies not charge a co-pay for an abortion. Additionally, the bill sets aside $500,000 tax payer dollars to pay for the abortions of illegal immigrants.

She'd better set aside massive amounts for counseling and increased cancer rates. In Finland the suicide rate among women who had undergone abortions in the prior year was three times higher compared to women in the general population and six times higher compared to women who gave birth. Induced abortions, particularly with a first pregnancy, increases the risk of breast cancer.

The Church's response to Islam

 William Kirkpatrick, The Catholic Thing

"Ironically, one of the factors that is driving people out of the [Catholic] Church is its response to Islamic terror. After every terrorist attack, the Vatican (or some prominent bishop) assures us that the violence has nothing to do with Islam, which we are told is a “religion of peace” – a response not a whit different from the politically correct, secular liberal response.

In fact, Church leaders often put secular leaders to shame in their advocacy for Islam. The Obama administration called for the admittance of 10,000 Syrian refugees; the USCCB called for 100,000. When European leaders began to admit that Muslim migration should be restricted for the sake of national security, Pope Francis responded by insisting that the safety of migrants was more important than national security."

And before you think this is just a Catholic problem, you can hear the same thing in Main Line Protestant churches--just different "authorities." He continues.

"As recently as ten days ago, on the anniversary of 9/11, Pope Francis declared that religions “cannot desire anything other than peace.” Well, technically, yes. Islam desires peace – except that Islamic scholars say that peace can only be achieved by the subjugation of the entire world to Islam.

Church leaders haven’t quite figured out that when Islam talks peace it really means war, but ordinary Catholics are not so Pollyannaish. And as the gap widens between what the hierarchy says about Islam and what Catholics can see with their own eyes, we can expect that many more Catholics will become alienated from the Church."

My adoption story, by guest blogger

I’ve known the guest blogger most of her life and used to sit behind her in church when she was an adorable, wiggly little girl, a little younger than my kids.  She was adopted as an infant and later was joined by two brothers.  She located her birth mother as an adult.

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I had two burning reasons on why I wanted to find my birth mother:

1. Thank her...
2. Discover my heritage

Now, in my case, when I found out who she was, I made sure to research that she didn't have a family, and wasn't married, as I didn't want to upset the apple cart, so to speak. Once it became known that she was single, living with my birth Aunt, and never had any other kids, I made the call to thank her. This is the very reason of why I do not kick my birth father's nest; he does have children, a few years older than me, and he is still married to the woman he took a brief "break" (wink, wink) from, to "meet" with my birth mother, to create me, I see no need to upset the apple cart there.  Anyhoo, back to my birth mother...

At first, I was told that I had the wrong number, knowing I didn't, but I accepted that and thanked my birth Aunt profusely for taking my call, and apologized profusely for my error (again, even knowing I hadn't made an error, because it was the respectful thing to do).
I hung up the phone, and tried to calm the trembles that had taken over my body, and thought, "Well, at least I have a name and can research my heritage from that," and then the phone rang.  I answered it, a deep, raspy voice, similar to mine, asked for me. 

She identified herself as my birth mother, and her first question to me was, "Did you get an education?" It blew me away, I immediately responded yes. She then went on to say that she was not able to provide for me the way she thought she should, and that is why she chose to give me up for adoption, especially when she learned that there was a couple (my Mom and Dad) who was so anxious to start a family and couldn't, and would be able to provide for said child (me) in the ways in which she couldn't (my Mom and birth mother shared the same OBGYN).

At a later date, she said that she had been considering abortion, which brought a whole other round of Thank You's from me. And no, I wasn't angry with her for sharing that with me;  it had to be a tough decision for her.  Thank Heavens, the mutual OBGYN offered another solution, and my parents were there, waiting, to call me their own . I then apologized over and over for finding her, but that I had to tell her Thank you for her choice to allow me to have the life that I have had.

The conversation progressed from there and we wound up meeting each other, and continued to do so for awhile, until life seemed to take over and we lost touch, but again, I am OK with that because I accomplished my two objectives and after meeting her, I am sure she is OK with it too

Orthodox Jews overwhelmingly support President Trump

"The same religion that enabled the Jews to survive slavery, exile and oppression for thousands of years also held the secret to defeating the left. Even when totalitarian systems command your body, only you can give them control of your mind. The left seeks physical power as a means of controlling your mind. What it most wants is for you to become complicit in your own corruption at their hands. If it fails to control your mind, it will lose. That is the lesson to be taken away from the fall of the Soviet Union. If the left is defeated in America, that is how it will fall." They  voted 71% for Trump and 90% for Romney. And their marriage rates and birth rates are much higher than liberal Jews.

Daniel Greenfield in an article about Orthodox Jews

http://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/267920/most-pro-trump-jews-america-daniel-greenfield

http://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/265449/trumps-jews-and-obamas-jews-daniel-greenfield

Oliver North speaker at PDHC banquet

PDHC had its "Life & Liberty Celebration" at Villa Milano Thursday night, September 21. There was a huge crowd to hear Lieutenant Colonel Oliver North, grandfather of 17. At the end of his speech, he held up a check for $1,000 and challenged the audience to contribute 36 checks in that amount for each of the years since it opened.  He raised $50,000 within a matter of minutes.

 

In 2016 PDHC provided support for 872 life decisions, talked to 8,000 middle and high school students in 50 schools about healthy relationships and sexual integrity, provided education and support for 531 families through parenting classes and resource programs, and provided abortion recovery programs for hurting women and men. On average, PDHC has 154 interactions each day through intervention, prevention, extension and recovery components.

Mother of a heroin addict knows her son is safe

If you've watched 60 minutes, you've heard about the heroin epidemic in Ohio.  It happens to good, Christian families who have done everything "right." A terrible tragedy.  Here's a message from my friend whose son died from this scourge.

Hebrews 13 tells us , “I will never, never, leave or forsake you.”

I never realized the true meaning of this verse until I experienced the death of my mom, and then my son. When my mom passed, her last word was, “Jesus.” He then gave me a beautiful vision of my mom walking hand-in-hand with her Lord into paradise. When my son passed, although he was a heroin addict, Jesus showed me my son was not alone when he died. JESUS WAS THERE. He also showed me he was in his grandmother's arms. He was in paradise with Jesus and his grandma. He was freed from the power of that drug. He was healed and made whole.

OUR GOD LOVES YOU WITH AN EVERLASTING LOVE. DRAW NEAR TO GOD AND HE WILL DRAW NEAR TO YOU!

  "The study, published online August 14, 2017 in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, found that food purchases paid for with SNAP benefits consisted of higher spending on less healthy foods, including sugar-sweetened beverages, red meat, and convenience foods, and lower spending on healthier foods such as fruits and vegetables, compared with purchases paid for with other means."

https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/news/features/snap-program-spending-less-healthy-foods/ 

http://www.ajpmonline.org/article/S0749-3797(17)30343-4/fulltext

Using the S word--sustainable

 
If you need an "S" word, use "stewardship." Sustainable is a totally squishy word which used to imply renewable resources, respect for early methods and traditions of planting and harvesting, and kind to the earth. Increasingly it has come to mean anti-capitalism, anti-good jobs, thousands of little organizations and non-profits with ties to big-left money and handsome salaries for their CEOs standing on the backs of people who produce, foundations begun by capitalists now controlled by marxists, and efficient laundering funds for Democrat candidates.

Sustainable? Don't wear clothes, especially cotton (it's also racist) sit on the floor because couches and chairs use fabrics, sleep on the floor without mattresses or blankets, no rugs or carpets, no towels for showers, no curtains or lampshades, don't live in cold climates because you can't have coats. Floors should be mud, because otherwise you're cutting down trees or using fossil fuel to make fake wood. Native American women chewed leather to make it soft for clothing, you can, too. Oh wait. Check with PETA before you use animal skins.

Facebook will help with Russia investigation

So Facebook will turn over records of a Russian firm using ads on FB during the 2016 campaign. Given all the money the government of Russia sunk into the Clinton Foundation, it should be interesting.

Will Facebook turn down fake ads from American firms, even Democrats?  Will it turn down Washington Post, owned by Jeff Bezos, probably the biggest seller of misinformation. Will Facebook turn over ads by U.S. interests (aka U.S. government) appearing during Brexit campaign, or Canadian elections, France, Germany etc.? They were worth billions.  Where does the collusion between FB and Congressional Democrats end? What other special interest ads, say, from conservative PACs, or from Christian non-profits and para-church organizations, will FB decide were subversive or at least working against Clinton?

And what about the billions in free advertising our own main stream media provided Trump by covering every outrageous thing he said, did or rally he held? Or even the constant attention he got on FB and Twitter from his enemies which seemed to energize his campaign base? I was a Cruz supporter in the summer of 2016, and stopped watching Fox because of all the freebies it gave Trump.

About a month ago former President Obama was "interferring" again in Kenya's election. Does that count? Or can retired presidents influence foreign elections? Charges against Kenyatta for his violent tactics are well over a decade old, yet Obama supports him.

https://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/24/us/cash-flowed-to-clinton-foundation-as-russians-pressed-for-control-of-uranium-company.html?mcubz=1

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2740140/Its-time-America-Barack-Obama-Joe-Biden-use-Labor-Day-fire-Democrats-ahead-Novembers-elections.html

http://www.latimes.com/politics/la-na-facebook-russia-20170921-story.html

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/africa/kenyan-president-uhuru-kenyatta-funded-and-orchestrated-violence-of-feared-mungiki-militia-after-9991224.html





 

Happy Fall

Sustainable--a growing industry for non-profits

 

 

 I wonder if this sustainable fiber and textile advocacy group knows they have a racist photo of cotton on their website July 2017 report. A customer in Hobby Lobby recently took to social media to be outraged about cotton stalks in the store, and a college president apologized to black students for having them in decorative floral arrangements in his home.

 

 I think this is an organization to fight "fast fashion" which provides much of the market for cotton. The word "sustainable" has become a political buzz word; always be careful when you see it.

"This paper argues that U.S. foundations currently have a key moment of opportunity to invest in the sustainable fiber and textile sector in ways that will mobilize consumer awareness and accelerate improvements in many stages of the textile production  chain. Such improvements would in many cases tie into and further strengthen the sustainable agriculture movement in the U.S. and abroad. Sustainability in textiles also involves many aspects of toxics reduction and labor issues, thus highlighting the close connections between environmental and human health impacts and presenting opportunities  for foundations already involved in environmental  health and justice work. http://www.safsf.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/SAFSF_CommThrd_D7_FINAL.pdf 

Investing in young children

Head Start, a federal program for pre-schoolers to prepare them for school, was declared a failure after 40 years and again after 50 years and trillions of dollars by the government’s own assessment. No politician for 55 years has dared suggest dismantling it, and the only solution was more money and more fiddling with the design which tries to make up for no dad in the home, low income of young single moms and the chaotic living conditions of the children, which may include mom’s boyfriends, or abuse, or foster care, couch surfers, poor nutrition, unsafe neighborhoods, etc.
Then came Early Head Start in 1994—practically beginning with pre-natal care. EHS had by 2009 over 650 programs. Despite marginal increases in the percent of parents who read to children through EHS, by age 5 there was no improvement even with rigorous studies.  EHS and Head Start don't change the family dynamics. So I was somewhat surprised when I read about a genetic design (although nothing surprises me much these days where bureaucracy and government grants are concerned).

“Using genetically-informed designs. Because genetic differences play an important role in children’s academic achievement and behavioral adjustment,  research to inform EHS should make use of methods that take genetic factors into account. Examples are studies using twins and adopted children as experimental subjects.”  (10 ideas, Nicholas Zill)

That’s the kind of talk that gets Charles Murray kicked off liberal college campuses. Even so, it’s darn scary to put “genetic differences” into the hands of the federal bureaucracy, the only component that has grown and advanced ($100 million in 1965, $16 billion in 2011)  in the whole Head Start half a century of no progress.

 http://nieer.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/Investing_in_Young_Children.pdf

https://www.brookings.edu/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/1013_investing_in_young_children_haskins_ch3.pdf

The Impact of Islam on Christianity

Since the 7th century, the enslavement, rape, forced conversions and mass murder of Christians, Hindus, Buddhists, Greeks, Africans, Europeans, Persians, Jews, Turks, Egyptians--all in the Golden Age we hear so much about.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NxLa-5gy9pY

1400 years of Islamic history. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uj8J62BqRMo by J. K Sheindlin.

“There are 1.2 billion Muslims in the world today. Of course not all of them are radicals. The majority of them are peaceful people. The radicals are estimated to be between 15-25%, according to all intelligence services around the world. That leaves 75% of them - peaceful people. But when you look at 15-25% of the world Muslim population, you're looking at 180 million to 300 million people dedicated to the destruction of Western civilization."

Courageous Trump at the UN

"I think it's safe to say, in the entire history of the United Nations, there has never been a more straightforward criticism of the behavior, the unacceptable behavior of other member states," [John] Bolton said.

In addition, he said Trump's critiques of the nuclear deal revealed the White House would not tolerate "half-measures and compromises" that allowed Iran and North Korea to progress to the verge of having deliverable nuclear weapons.

He also praised Trump's line, which was met with near silence at first, that the collapsing regime in Venezuela was an example of socialism being successfully implemented.

"There are a lot of people in the UN. who have never heard anything like that from an American president," Bolton said. "I think this was an outstanding speech, and I think it will serve the president very well."

http://freebeacon.com/national-security/bolton-trumps-u-n-speech-the-best-of-his-presidency/

"In over 30 years in my experience with the UN, I never heard a bolder or more courageous speech," [Benjamin] Netanyahu tweeted. "President Trump spoke the truth about the great dangers facing our world and issued a powerful call to confront them in order to ensure the future of humanity."

http://freebeacon.com/national-security/netanyahu-praises-trumps-u-n-address/

Georgia Tech student shot by police

I was wrong when I said there are no riots when whites are shot by police. The media do not identify Scout's race as they always do when a black man is shot, nor are they identifying (with pronouns) his gender, since he was an LGBTQ leader confused and unhappy in his body which is probably why he was asking to be shot while approaching police with a knife. And the rioters are not students--they are equal opportunity mobsters. Students were having a peaceful memorial, at least to an interview I watched.

I've read four accounts from NYT to ABC to Fox--all are extremely careful how they identify him-- "Scout," "student" and "LGBTQ activist." I've chosen the male pronoun because he was either a man trying to be a woman, so his DNA tells the story, or he was a woman trying to be a man and was using testosterone, which has been shown to be at the root of most violent and risk taking behaviors regardless of whether it is natural or injected.

Monday Memories--my ablation and hospitalization

From a letter. "I had my ablation (AV node reentry slow pathway) on January 18th [2002].  Then while I was wearing a Holter monitor on the 29-30th, it picked up some serious a-fib again (this was my fault for doing too much while we were moving to our condo and having the house closing).  Apparently the pulmonary veins don’t know the ship has left the dock and they continue to do what they’ve always done.  So it was back to the hospital for 3 days to be put on Rythmol. It sure is good to be out of the hospital!  The doctor didn't make rounds until about noon, so I didn't get out until about 1:30 Friday. I had lunch there--it was pretty good, a vegetable lasagna.

I only got 2 hours sleep each night.  The woman in my room was on some sort of machine suctioning fluids and gurgling--sounded like a creek running through the room.  A long time smoker, she had emphysema and an aneurysm. Plus, because her surgery was so serious, there were always medical staff trooping in and out, and when they weren't testing her, they seemed to be taking my blood pressure or temperature or giving me medication, but not all at once, just spacing it out so I couldn't sleep. Anyone who can survive in a hospital must be pretty darn healthy. I felt sorry for this woman's daughters though. They had flown in from different states, and would sleep in the lounge and then come in and try to watch her. They were exhausted, and of course, it is pretty boring just sitting. And they frequently had to alert the nursing staff to problems, so I think it is very important that family be around when there is surgery recovery.

My first morning there, about 5 a.m., I was watching two male staff, one teaching and one learning, drop off our medication.  They unlocked the two boxes for 4007 for bed A (Bruce) and bed B (her name), and I heard the one tell the other “this is for Bruce,” and he pulled out box B, looked at the name, and put mine in it, thus mixing up our medication.  The learner was definitely old enough to need glasses and he had a white pony tail hanging from his almost bald head. So when the RN came in I told her.  She went over and unlocked the boxes, looked at the names, and switched them.  The next morning, I noticed he was wearing glasses.

Holly brought in dinner Thursday night to the hospital, and all the stuff for a manicure (a huge bag of colors to choose from) and gave me a nice relaxing manicure. So that evening I had Bob, Lindsey, Holly, and Mark and Phoebe at my bedside, but only one chair. Phoebe brought me tapioca from the Chef-o-Nette which is located in our old neighborhood.  Either the manicure or the tapioca could be a special gift to anyone in the hospital.  Holly has artificial nails, but knows how to do it. Phil stopped in on Thursday and Friday morning and brought me Caribou coffee from my favorite coffee shop."

Little Golden Books

Yesterday I received a “Little Golden Book,” EVERYTHING I NEED TO KNOW I LEARNED FROM A LITTLE GOLDEN BOOK. It’s adorable AND Printed in China. Little Golden Books were part of Western Publishing which bought Kable Printing in 1957, a firm in the town where I grew up, Mt. Morris, IL. The town provided a nice living for many and printed, published and supplied magazines and serials for the world, especially in agriculture. It's struggling now. Although eventually, changing technology would have downsized it, Kables was ruined by a union strike in Mt. Morris in 1974. Western was purchased by Mattel in 1979 and possibly another 4 times that I know of before the permanent closing of the plant we continued to call Kables a few years ago. Now the town has a retirement home as the largest employer, no elementary or high school, and a community arts program to bring in visitors. It should be Trump country. Its story is repeated all over mid-America.

http://www.fundinguniverse.com/company-histories/western-publishing-group-inc-history/

https://collectingmythoughts.blogspot.com/2010/12/story-of-kables-and-mt-morris-timeline.html

A humorous "guide to life" for grown-ups! One day, Diane Muldrow, a longtime editor of the iconic Little Golden Books, realized that, despite their whimsical appearance, there was hardly a real-life situation that hadn't been covered in the more than 70-year-old line of children's books—from managing money, to the importance of exercise, to finding contentment in the simplest things. In this age of debt, depression, and diabetes, could we adults use a refresher course in the gentle lessons from these adorable books, she wondered—a "Little Golden guide to life"? Yes, we could! Muldrow's humorous yet practical tips for getting the most out of life ("Don't forget to enjoy your wedding!" "Be a hugger." "Sweatpants are bad for morale."), drawn from more than 60 stories, are paired with delightful images from these best-loved children's books of all time—among them The Poky Little Puppy, Pantaloon, Mister Dog, Nurse Nancy, We Help Mommy, Five Pennies to Spend, and The Little Red Hen. The Golden greats of children's illustration are represented here as well: Richard Scarry, Garth Williams, Eloise Wilkin, J. P. Miller, and Mary Blair, among many others. Sure to bring memories and a smile, this book is a perfect gift for baby boomers, recent grads, lovers of children's literature—or anyone who cherishes the sturdy little books with the shiny cardboard covers and gold foil spines! (Good Reads)

The kitchen sink protest

“Angeles Maldonado, a professor at Arizona State University, gave her Global Politics of Human Rights class the option of completing a group project or taking a final exam.

Her students opted for the project, and the 20 students in Maldonado’s class decided that their final project would be a protest against President Trump’s policies.” Breitbart News

Just protesting the wall wasn’t enough—after both Clinton and Obama had voted for it as senators, so they also included  LGBT rights, women’s rights, Black Lives Matter, immigration, and the prison system.  And the kitchen sink.

What really happened—Wall St. Journal

"The Democratic Party saddled itself with an ethically compromised and joyless candidate, because it had nobody else. Hillary spent eight years planning her first presidential bid, and the next eight warning Democrats not to get in the way of her second. The Clinton Foundation was erected to serve as bank and Rolodex, and to enable the Clintons to retain their grip over the party. And that party was committed to a Clinton coronation, right up to Mr. Sanders’s cheeky assault.

Mr. Obama aided Mrs. Clinton’s ambitions by decimating his party. By the time Barack Obama finished his eight years in office, his party held 65 fewer House seats, 14 fewer governorships and controlled 30 fewer state legislatures. It had turned a once-filibuster-proof Senate majority into minority status. The big-tent Democratic coalition shriveled to a coastal, progressive minority, wiping out a generation of Democratic politicians and most of the party’s political diversity." Kimberley A. Strassel, Sept. 15

Childhood Cancer Awareness Month

Another beautiful story by Carol Shaw Johnson whose granddaughter Lily is being treated for cancer after 5 years in remission.

"Today is September 17th – the 17th day of Childhood Cancer Awareness month. Today I want to honor Matthew LaRocca. Matt’s journey with childhood cancer began in November of 2009 when he was 11 years old and in the fifth grade. His family was living in Florida, and his parents took him in for an MRI to confirm a sinus infection. Instead, the doctor looked at Matt and said, “Buddy, you have a pretty big brain tumor in there.” The LaRoccas’ lives changed forever in that moment. The tumor was over 5 cm, and the doctors thought it had been there from birth. That would’ve explained some minor issues Matt had dealt with for years for which they never had answers. Matt had brain surgery on November 16, 2009, but the surgeon was only able to remove a small piece of the tumor for a biopsy. The tumor was a Ganglioglioma and it was benign. However, it was growing and it was located on Matt’s brain stem, and that made it very dangerous. The brain stem controls major bodily functions such as breathing and heart rate. Amazingly, Matt returned to school within a week of surgery.

Matt’s parents, Dean and Kim, left no stone unturned as they sought out the best treatment for Matt. They sent Matt’s records and scans to doctors throughout the country to get opinions to help them determine what to do. Matt was started on a chemo regimen to hopefully shrink the tumor.
Meantime, the family realized that they couldn’t make the journey alone. In addition to Matt, they had an older son, Jordan (15 at the time), a daughter, Alyssa (14 at the time), and then Ryan, age 5, who was the youngest of the 4 siblings. Since so much of their extended family lived in Nashville, they decided to move back home to Tennessee. There, they would not only have a large support system of friends and family, but they’d have Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital as well. Once they were back in Nashville, Matt continued his chemo while Dean and Kim continued their search for Matt’s best treatment options.

Matt had varied interests. One thing that Matt enjoyed was cooking. He had the idea that he would start making and selling snickerdoodles, 7-layer bars and “crazy croutons.” He named his made-from-scratch goodies “Miracle Matt’s Munchies.” He often took treats for the nurses and other patients when he went to clinic, and they looked forward to his homemade yummies. Matt even had a cookbook printed that was sold to help raise money for his treatment. I was happy that I was able to buy one. Kim wrote: “ He loved to bake for the very people that would stick him with needles, administer chemo, and make him do such odd facial gestures for neuro checks. He took his cooking seriously and did it all with such joy, passion, and love. I sometimes would wonder how such a young man could be so giving in spite of such a frustrating plight. But He pushed himself in everything he did. He kept up with school as best he could, read with his little brother, and offered to help bring the groceries in from the car when it was all he could do just to walk on his own.”

Matt had a great sense of humor, and he applied that humor to his brain tumor! His family started a website: http://www.braintumorhumor.com. Matt loved seeing the looks on people’s faces when he wore one of his t-shirts with a funny quote or saying about brain tumors. He felt it was a way to break the ice when people didn’t know what to say to someone going through such a difficult experience. Leave it to Matt to find humor in even the direst circumstances.

Matt also loved Legos. They were a signature interest for him. He enjoyed putting together Lego kits and creating designs with them. It was good therapy, both emotionally and physically. One day Matt said, “Hey mom, you know how sometimes people send me a little money in the mail?” Kim replied, “Yes.” Matt continued, “Can you tell them to just send Legos instead?” The boy loved his Legos!
Cold weather was something that Matt especially enjoyed, and so when he was offered a wish through the Make A Wish Foundation, he chose a cruise to Alaska. That trip was one the whole family will always remember.

As Dean and Kim explored options, they unexpectedly were able to talk with Dr. Ben Carson at Johns Hopkins. Dr. Carson discussed Matt’s case with Dr. George Jallo – another doctor in his group and the top doctor in the country on brain stem tumors. Everything fell into place to the point that the LaRoccas felt assured that this was the path God wanted them to follow. They went to Baltimore to meet with Dr. Jallo who would perform the surgery. As they were leaving, Dr. Carson came in and said, “So this is Matthew LaRocca!” He told them the story of a little boy who had a tumor similar to Matt’s and how he had been given 6 months to live. He laughed and said, “That was 20 years ago and he is in college now.” Kim said that the look on Matt’s face was priceless – a mix of relief and shock. That trip gave them hope. Matt’s surgery to de-bulk the tumor was done by Dr. Jallo at Johns Hopkins in January 2011. Matt had been suffering for 16 months from violent hiccups because of the tumor, and the surgery finally gave him relief from that, too.

Matt returned home and seemed to be doing well when, without warning, on April 6, 2011, his battle on earth ended. He was twelve. His mom wrote: “He won! Matt beat that cowardly brain tumor. While we are broken and void in heart, we are so thrilled that Matt is free to run again! Life will never be the same, but we are thankful for the battle he waged.”

Months after Matt’s death, Kim wrote on his CaringBridge page: “Matt was brave beyond his years and fought with the knowledge that the end of his life's story wasn't promised to be long. I recall him taking me to lunch not long after he was diagnosed. We talked about many things, I'm sure - music, food, school, life - but I clearly remember him looking at me and casually saying, ‘You know, Mom, there is no guarantee I'm going to make it through this.’ I recall looking him in the eye to see if I could read anymore into what he said (which I couldn't) and knowing my only response could be, ‘Matt, no one is guaranteed tomorrow. Not me, not your dad and not you, but I am going to see to it that you out-live us both because parents aren't supposed to bury their kids.’ In a way, he did outlive us. He accomplished real living sooner than we did.”

After his death, Matt’s family donated lots of Legos in Matt’s memory to help kids with brain tumors in their therapy. If you're reading this and wondering what you can do to help, here it is. Why don’t you buy a couple of Lego kits and take them to your nearest children’s hospital. Tell them you’re giving them to honor Matt LaRocca – a young boy who battled a brain tumor with humor, determination, snickerdoodles, and Legos. If you do, come back to this post later and leave a comment letting us know. Matt’s family would love to know that people are still honoring his memory by giving Legos to kids in the hospital.

Matt, you must be smiling down from heaven as you see how your family has continued your work to help others who are battling brain tumors. You taught us all lessons in treasuring life and helping others.

Boycotting Grey's Anatomy and NFL games which I never watched anyway!

Ellen Pompeo says she doesn't want Trump voters to watch her show, the popular and over rated Grey's Anatomy. She hasn't aged out of any influence on that show (14 seasons and she's almost 50--worth over $30 million), so gen-xers are sticking by her. She also used a lot of profanity in kicking her supporters and fans off the train.  I didn't know the show was still chugging along, since I've only seen it occasionally in reruns. She always looks like an angry frump--plays to type. With her political views, and if she were a real doctor, I'd be terrified to have her near me. So self important. And then there's the NFL millionaire jokers who disrespect the flag and national anthem, a publicity stunt begun by the ungrateful Colin Kaepernick (3 white parents, white Muslim hot girlfriend, bad stats). So darn it, can't even watch football!   Filthy rich people who've never read the Constitution.  What would we do without their telling us what to think and where to go?

When I Googled "Ellen Pompeo wants a boycott" I see she's done this before for other shows she doesn't like usually for presenting ideas that conflict with her personal far left views (why do TV and movie celeb-millionaires who read other people's words for a living have such missionary zeal for Communism?) But by telling Trump voters to not watch her show seems counter productive if she wants a platform.

https://www.yahoo.com/celebrity/celebs-stop-polite-start-getting-real-fans-twitter-195857527.html

Friday family photo--the laundry

This is the laundry at Lakeside after I decided the dryer was unsafe. Pink, blue and cream are our colors

I've had a lot of jobs in my life time from newspaper carrier to agricultural worker to author to librarian, however for 57 years I've been a housewife. Let me tell you my most exciting laundry story. I've been buying bargain laundry detergent my whole career, but recently bought a small jug of Tide. Hey. It works. My husband does all the hard stuff and gets really dirty. His work jeans look fabulous.